Indian made quick and healthy!

Yesterday was such a great day! My cousin who was in the city for her husband’s special event came out to Long Island City to visit and see the apartment! It was wonderful to catch up and laugh even if our lunch at Comunitea was less than wonderful. I will review that later when Bo and I do our first installment of LIC restaurant/cafe reviews later this week. In addition I was able to have the windows open all day while I was working which allowed for a wonderful breeze. Making a healthy, inexpensive, and tasty dinner that both of us THOROUGHLY enjoyed only made the day better!
On Sunday, Bo and I discussed how much we’d like to make cooking and eating in a goal since we now have a great kitchen and grocery store at our fingertips. In addition, I’m working from home for six more weeks so this makes cooking dinner easier than it will be once I start working in the city. Yesterday I looked to Cooking Light and the internet to answer my craving for Indian food. In addition I had three ingredients that I wanted to use since I had them on hand: boneless skinless chicken breasts, a large head of cauliflower, and chickpeas. These recipes were a great success and the whole meal took about 45 minutes from start to finish! It was also quite inexpensive. It easily made four meals (hooray for leftovers tonight) and the cost (including chicken since I know how much I paid for the breasts) was around $14. I realize my cost was on the low end since I had most of the spice on hand but you get the idea!
Bo and I were both amazed with the flavor in these dishes. The tomato chutney is a perfect compliment to the spice rubbed chicken and the peppers added a definite kick. I would recommend doubling the spice rub mixture if you are using more than a pound of chicken breasts though as it doesn’t go very far. We served the cauliflower and chicken with a large salad of greens and tomatoes topped with Annie’s Naturals dressing! We were both satiated and already talking about how wonderful the leftovers would be after marinating for 24 hours! ENJOY 🙂
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and about 2 1/2 tablespoons chutney)
Ingredients


CHUTNEY:


1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil


1/4 cup chopped shallots


1 teaspoon minced seeded serrano chile


1/4 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger


1 garlic clove, minced


1 cup coarsely chopped seeded tomato (If you need to save time buy a can of chopped tomatoes but make sure not to get one with seasoning. I bought no salt added and used the remaining 1/4 c to add to the cauliflower)


2 tablespoons red wine vinegar


1 tablespoon sugar


1 teaspoon mustard seeds


1/2 teaspoon salt


CHICKEN:


2 teaspoons olive oil


1/2 teaspoon ground coriander


1/2 teaspoon curry powder


1/4 teaspoon ground cumin


1/4 teaspoon black pepper


4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves


1/2 teaspoon salt


Cooking spray


Preparation

To prepare chutney, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and serrano; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add ginger and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add tomato, vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes or until mixture is thick. Set aside, and keep warm.
Prepare grill. (We cooked the chicken in the oven since we don’t have our indoor grill unpacked yet. It took 20 minutes at 375 degrees)
To prepare chicken, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add coriander, curry, cumin, and black pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Brush mixture evenly on both sides of chicken; sprinkle evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Serve chutney over chicken.

Ingredients


1 Tbsp. olive oil


3 med. carrots, chopped


1 med. onion, chopped


1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger


1 Tbsp. curry powder (I added a 2nd Tbsp)


Salt


2 1/2 C vegetable broth (I used low sodium veg. broth)


1 med. head cauliflower, cut into small florets


2 (15 oz.) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I only used 1 can as I forgot to buy a 2nd can)


1/2 C chopped cilantro leaves


1/4 C plain lowfat yogurt (I used Dannon FF plain)


Directions


In a dutch oven, heat oil and add carrots and onion. Cook 10-12 mins or until tender. Stir in ginger, curry, and 3/4 tsp. salt into mixture, cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth, cover and heat to boiling. Stir in cauliflower and chickpeas. Cover and cook on medium 15-20 minutes longer, gently stirring until cauliflower is tender. Stir in chopped cilantro and yogurt.
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A healthy easy meal for busy nights!

After what was hopefully our last weekend of moving, the last thing Bo and I wanted tonight was takeout or a meal that would take a long time to prep or cook. We walked downstairs to Food Cellar & Co in search of an easy, nutritious dinner that would leave us satiated while still provide us time to enjoy a movie together! Without further ado, I leave you with our recipe:

Ingredients:
2 bags of Shirataki noodles
leeks
1 red pepper and 1 yellow pepper
1 pack baby bella mushrooms
1 jar of your favorite organic pasta sauce
1 package of fresh italian chicken or turkey sausage
Assorted italian seasonings
Salt & Pepper
Garlic Cloves
Freshly grated parm or pecorino cheese

Directions:
Sautee peppers and 1 pressed garlic clove in a small amount of extra virgin olive oil over medium heat
Add mushrooms and sautee until soft and season as desired
Meanwhile, squeeze sausage out and form into small “meatballs” and cook over medium to high heat in a pan coated with PAM or EVOO
While these two pans are cooking bring a pot of water to a boil
Rinse noodles thoroughly before parboiling
Once water boils, add dash of salt and parboil Shiritaki noodles
Add your favorite sauce to the pan with the sauteed vegetables and add a few leaves of chopped basil and oregano
Let simmer for 2-3 minutes while you parboil the noodles
Rinse and drain noodles
Remove the meatballs from the heat once cooked thoroughly and blot any access oils
Toss the noodles and meatballs with the vegetables/sauce mixture and top with freshly grated cheese
Plate for dinner and enjoy leftovers for an easy lunchtime meal tomorrow!

Don’t forget to enter our Newman’s Organics Contest!! 

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Cooking Light finally gets it right and don’t forget to help sponsor NHerShoes!

*P.S. Click Here to Help Bobbi Run the San Diego Rock N Roll Marathon this May!*
$95.35 Raised so far people are so generous! We only need to raise $25 more!
Thank you!!!

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 Yes, I know, you all are jealous of my amazing hair and outfit choices for this picture! I mean really, how could you not be? Who else sports air dried ponytail hair and a NYRR race tshirt that is two sizes too big at 8pm? For six more weeks, this is my daily wardrobe as I work from home four days a week in my current role! 

But, enough babble and onto the amazing recipe! Bo and I have always been hesitant of Cooking Light recipes as they seldom have enough flavor. Last night when I was planning our weekly menu and grocery list, I decided to give CL another chance and peruse this month’s issue for inspiration. Bo had requested a fish dish tonight so I quickly flipped to one of Cooking Light’s best features- their index in the back that is sorted by dish and protein! I quickly found a recipe that combined plenty of herbs, a healthy pesto, and green beans! Tonight’s dish was grilled halibut with three pepper relish with haricots verts salad . I made on adjustment and used tilapia instead of halibut as I couldn’t stomach the price of halibut that didn’t look incredible. You can often substitute tilapia for any white fish in a recipe if you need to cut costs. But, make sure you adjust the cooking time as tilapia is thinner than most other white fish. Bo and I absolutely LOVED this recipe and would make it again in a heart beat. It wasn’t that difficult either though there was quite a bit of prep involved. But, from start to finish it took only an hour!

ENJOY!


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