Pesto Chicken and Roasted Vegetables

I took my son to soccer practice at 7:30, then went to work for about 12 hours with no time to stop for lunch or a tea break. Driving home, I was in the mood for some satisfying home-cooked family food but I wanted to be on my butt wearing my elasticated pants as soon as possible. I threw this thing together, with very little forward planning, but it turned out to be a perfectly good after work meal. It only took about 30mins to make and was very healthy and satisfying.

First, I started the roasted vegetables. I preheated the oven to 425F. I sliced two leeks, a punnet of button mushrooms and chopped the florets of two broccoli. I spread the vegetables out onto two oven proof trays. I drizzled with olive oil and generous helpings of salt and pepper. I put them in the oven and set the timer for 20mins. You can tell they're cooked when they're sizzling.

To make the pesto chicken, I warmed some olive oil in a pan to a medium-high heat. I sliced two large chicken breasts into small pieces and put them in a bowl with about 1/3 of a pot of pesto and stirred it all together until the chicken was coated. When the oil was hot, I fried the chicken breast slices for about 3-4 minutes on each side, so that they were golden on the outside and still juicy on the inside. I did this in two batches, keeping the pan very hot throughout.

I served with tomato and spinach cous cous and a sprinkle of freshly grated Parmesan. The cous cous was a little dry and as none of the food was particularly wet, some might say that it's a pretty dry meal. That didn't bother me or my family too much, but I might try to think of something other than cous cous to serve it with -next time.

I enjoy roasted vegetables more than most. I think they're delicious, especially the leeks. By the end I was bursting full and still trying to shovel the last remaining veggies into my face. The pesto chicken was also very flavorsome and juicy. It;s not a show stopper, but it was a very nice meal for a week night.

Flopping on the sofa, with a belly full of healthy home-cooked food after a busy day is very satisfying. A rare guilt-free moment where you don't worry that you shouldn't have eaten that, or should be doing something more productive right now. You just get to sit, and have a beer and feel satisfied. Good times.

Kung Pao Tofu!

I give vegan food a hard time, but it's actually pretty nice. I really like tofu, and the best nachos I ever had were vegan nachos from the spiral diner. I made this kung pao tofu without even realizing it was vegan until the end. It was really nice. I've got to stop giving vegan food a hard time.

I pretty much followed the recipe but I made a few substitutions. I couldn't get purple sprouting broccoli, so I replaced them with mushrooms. I didn't have rice wine vinegar so I used apple cider vinegar instead. I have no idea what Sichuan peppercorns are so I just used black peppercorns. I didn't make a separate stir fry, I put some thinly sliced bok choi in with the broccoli near the end. I severed with with a few egg noddles because my son is a growing boy who needs his carbs, so un-vegan-ified it, but I'm not a vegan, so that's fine.

I had to chop everything before I started cooking, which I have never in my life done before, because once you get going, it's a fast and furious recipe.  The crushing of peppercorns,  chopping of many vegetables, mixing of sauces and making of emulsions makes this a pretty labor intensive recipe for a mid-week supper, it was ready in about 30minutes, was very healthy, and very delicious.  I already owned the sherry and vinegar, so the total cost of ingredients for this meal was only $15!

Note: I burned the cashews - don't have the pan super hot when you throw them in. They were still good enough to eat but not ideal.

Sweet Potato and Kale Medley

My husband and I are trying again to exercise more and to weigh less. We have been going to the gym every week day, but our meals have not been great.  Yesterday,  our housemate and good friend took us out for hibachi dinner to celebrate a promotion in work. It was very exciting, I've never eaten Hibachi before. It was very delicious but it was a huge meal that contained a lot of fried rice, and it was followed by a tempura cheese cake which is really not a thing anyone needs to consume. I think if a starving survivor from the battle for Stalingrad ate a tempura cheesecake, they would immediately develop type two diabetes or die from shock.

The upshot of all of this is that we're not very good at taking care of ourselves and it makes me feel guilty.  I resolved to make a healthier meal this evening. I made a kale and sweet potato hash with chicken, cloves and lemon juice. I followed this recipe but doubled all the quantities so it would be enough food for four hungry people. I added a sliced chicken breast to make it more hearty for my growing boy. I used the juice of half a lemon and a few red pepper flakes in place of chilli powder.

It didn't look as green as the one in the recipe.  The kale wilted and shriveled but the sweet potatoes kept their volume so it was a very orange looking dish instead of a green one. I also had more liquid on my meal than the pictures in  the recipe. I was a little disappointed with the look of it. I was not disappointed with the taste. I've never used ground cloves for anything. It reminded me of putting cloves into oranges at christmas when i was a girl. The overall flavor was very interesting and rich with the lemon juice and the cloves. It was also a fast and easy after work meal that is very healthy. Everyone liked it. I would certainly make it again

Butternut Squash and Turkey Bake

The squash was a little too orangry, the turkey was a little too winey, and it didn't really fill us up. Everyone seemed to enjoy it but I thought it was weird.

I followed this recipe.

Pasta meals that I've not written down.

I have a few pasta meals that are at least somewhat healthy (apart from cheese) that I have neglected to blog about. Both are very delicious and very quick to make. I'm going to write them here so I remember them in future.

Chicken Nutmeg Pasta

I don't remember where I got this recipe from, but I do remember being confused by the addition of nutmeg to a chicken meal. The source doesn't really matter any more because I've played with it so much over about the last two years that it's not likely to be very similar to the original anymore. I have grown very accustomed to the idea that nutmeg should go in creamy pasta dishes. It's like having eggnog for dinner, but with no bourbon and lots of vegetables. Its really not very healthy, but the original version contains double cream, so I have at least made it a bit better. Despite my changes, it remains a firm favorite with my husband and son.  It's the meal that they most often ask me to make. 

Cut up one broccoli, and two leeks, put in a roasting dish along with a whole punnet of mushrooms. You may need two baking trays to get them to fit without over crowding. Sprinkle the vegetables with olive oil, season generously with salt and black pepper. Bake them at 420F for about 20mins. Fry one or two chicken breasts (diced) with two cloves of chopped garlic until cooked. While this is happening, boil water for pasta and stock. I like to use big fat pasta shapes in this meal, like rigatoni. When the chicken is cooked through, remove it from the pan and set them aside for later. Cut up one or two rashers of bacon and cook them in the pan that had the chicken (the bacon is totally optional, I very often leave it out, I also sometimes fry an onion after the chicken if the leeks are small). Then add a spoon of flour to the pan and cook until the fat has been absorbed. Slowly add the chicken stock to the flour to make a sort of gravy. Then add two-three tablespoons of sour cream to make a creamy-chicken sauce. Add about one teaspoon of nutmeg and black pepper. to the sauce, taste it and add more seasoning if necessary.  I have not found it possible to add too much nutmeg.  When you're happy with the sauce, put the chicken back in, add some grated Parmesan and let the chicken warm through.  When the vegetables are roasted add them to the sauce. I like to add the vegetables just before serving so they keep their distinct seasoned-vegetables flavor and don't get amalgamated into the delicious goo. Serve over big fat pasta with more Parmesan on top. 

Cherry tomato & Arugula spaghetti

This is currently one of my favorite dishes but my husband is not so into it. I've been playing with the recipe,  using fresh basil and fresh spinach. The combination I put together today with arugula and olives was my absolute favorite,  and my husband certainly liked it, but I think this will always be more my kind of dish than his. 

Boil water for pasta. Heat olive oil in a pan.  Add one clove of garlic, a whole punnet of mushrooms to oil and let cook. Cut a boatload of cherry/grape tomatoes in half, season with salt and add to the mushrooms. You don't want to over cook the tomatoes, so don't add them too early. Then add a large handful or arugula/rocket. Cook until the arugula has wilted. Spinach or fresh basil also work very well with this but arugula is better. Add a few olives, chopped and serve over angel hair pasta. Its fucking delightful and so far, no cheese! Here comes the cheese.... add plenty of shaved parmesan to the spaghetti with a drizzle of oil and toss together,  and, if you are interested in experiencing joy, top the dish with one or two blobs of cold fresh mozzarella. It's joyful. All the flavors stay separate, the mushrooms taste of olive oil and garlic, the tomatoes are sweet and salty, the olives have a kick, the arugula has the earthy mustard flavor, and then the cool creamy mozzarella tastes like the cheeks of an alabaster goddess. I just love this meal. 

In addition to being nutritious and divine it's also practical as a quick after work meal. Angel hair pasta takes about 6 minutes to cook. You don't want to over cook any of the vegetables, so it's very quick and light - like a quick stir fry for spaghetti. I just love it. I wish my husband enjoyed it more, but he's really a meat and two veg sort of man. If I add beer to a meal that was originally based around beef, that would be his favorite every time. I like those meals too, but honestly, a good salad makes me just as happy - maybe more happy even. because it has all the deliciousness but none of the shame and guilt. 

Coley with Tarragon Sauce Vierge

This is a healthy meal, that's pretty quick and easy and involves no cheese!

After yesterdays blue cheese bonanza we needed something much lighter today. Yesterday's meal felt like I'd eaten a rugby ball, and a French cheese-eating rugby team were rucking my insides. Not today!

I wanted to use up the rest of the tarragon that we bought before it went bad, so I searched for a fish recipe involving tarragon and I found this one. It was very easy to make, and was light and tender. My husband and I are sharing one car at the moment so he went to get the ingredients. He was intimidated by the crazy fish counter at our local Korean supermarket and so just purchased the only white fish that he could buy without interacting with the fishmongers. He found Tilapia, which is a perfectly nice fish, but it may have changed the overall feel of this dish, which was designed to be served with coley - a much lighter white fish. It was very nice, but I'd be keen to try it again with a different fish.

The fish was simply seasoned with salt and black pepper and fried in olive oil. The more exciting part was the Sauce Vierge (Virgin Sauce). This was made by adding olive oil (120ml), and lemon juice (1 lemon) to a medium pan, with a shallot (diced), two tomatoes (diced with skin and seeds removed) and lots of fresh tarragon (3tablespoons). The sauce was very light and flavourful.

I served with a green salad and a balsamic dressing.

Gorging on Gorgonzola

Baked leek, Gorgonzola and Walnut Penne

I've got into Gorgonzola, but mostly I just put it on leafy salads. I figured I'd try making hot food with blue cheese so tried a version of this recipe. The result was, however, just a little disappointing. It was mac and cheese with knobs on, but they weren't nice knobs. The grocery store that we use doesn't do much frozen vegetables. The peas that we got were so hard and powdery that for a moment I thought we'd got dried peas by mistake. The overall dish was really quite heavy, so much pasta and cheese and bullet peas with a side of garlic bread. It was a much more dense meal than I imagined. I shan't be making this one again but I'll put the details here anyway for the sake of continuity.

First, I heated a small amount of vegetable oil in a pan until it got very hot, and I quickly fried some sliced chicken breast. I added a two cloves of garlic and a pinch of pepper to this. When the chicken was cooked, I set it aside. While this was cooking I boiled penne pasta. Then I washed out the pan, and returned it to the heat. I melted 100g of butter, fried 3 leeks and half an onion until soft. Added frozen peas, lots of fresh tarragon and the juice of one lemon. I stirred ricotta cheese, and gorgonzola (150g of each) and a handful of walnuts. When the cheese was melted and warm through I added the chicken and the penne and served.

Gorgonzola salad

I have totally ripped off this recipe from a local restaurant called Breadwinners. It's called "Pear & Gorgonzola" salad. The menu lists that it contains tomato, pear, pecans, greens, balsamic Parmesan vinaigrette". It is the best salad I've ever eaten, so I imitate it regularly. I make my own balsamic Parmesan vinaigrette, out of olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and freshly grated Parmesan (my ratios are about 1:1:1) put into a blender to combine. I have to go back to figure out exactly which greens they're using, but I'm pretty sure that one of them is arugula. It's HEAVENLY!

This picture isn't exactly of the Breadwinner's salad, but it's almost exactly the same, it just has apple instead of pears and feta instead of Gorgonzola. I made it for out housemates birthday to serve alongside a smoked brisket of beef. Everyone complimented it. The fools thought that they were eating something healthy, but really there's a whole block of Parmesan in the dressing.