Chicken with white wine, olive and caper sauce

A couple of weeks ago when I went to Ruby lake resort I had tuna with a wonderful olive caper sauce on it. I thought at the time that this would be a good sauce for chicken breasts, which need a little kick to pump up their flavour.  After sailing on Sunday afternoon, I made this for 5 sitting out  on our deck, but in fact it would not be a stretch to make this for just one as well.

For 4 people

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 cup of pitted green olives
1 large garlic clove
1/4 cup of capers
1/2 cup of white wine.
handful of parsley

Bash the chicken breasts with a rolling pin to even out the thickness.  This really helps them to cook evenly, if you leave them with a thicker end I find that the thinner end dries out before the thicker end is cooked through.  Add the olive oil in a large frying pan, then add the chicken breasts.

While the chicken is cooking add everything except the white wine into a mini chopper.

If you don't have one (you really should think about getting one) then chop everything together on a large board or use a mezza luna.

Stuffed pork tenderloin nuggets

I struggled with what to name this dish, as stuffed pork tenderloin sounds like a whole tenderloin stuffed, but nuggets does sound like you would buy it at MacDonalds! Anyway since I can not remember what Jamie Oliver called it, that is what I am calling it.  This is another dish from the sleepless night with Jamie and it would make a really good weeknight dinner, but we had it for dinner on a girls weekend in Whistler.

This made enough for 6

2 large pork tenderloins
About 1 cup of goat feta cheese
125 grams prosciutto
2 tablespoon olive oil
About 4 tablespoons of balsamic reduction

Cut the pork tenderloin in to 2 inch slices.

Quick and easy jerk style pork tenderloin

The other night I was suffering from insomia, this happens about once a month or so, and when it does, I get up and find something to watch on the tv or utube, or perhaps a season of Downton abbey on the ipad.  Well this evening I started watching 15 minute meals by Jamie Oliver.  I watched many episodes, I really like the way he cooks, we have similar styles, fast and furious and when we are finished the kitchen is a disaster.  In these shows he talks a lot about getting dinner on the table in under 15 minutes, but he does not discuss how long it takes to clean up afterwards.

This recipe comes from that night of Jamie Oliver, he was using some interesting techniques to speed up cooking processes and this sauce was one of them.  The ingredients are based on what I remember and what I had in my fridge. This made enough for 2 of us for dinner and 3 lunches for me.  I am lucky in that I am quite happy to eat the same thing for lunch several days in a row as long as it is something I like.

2 pork tenderloin
2 tablespoons of ground coriander
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tomatoes
1/2 red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 inch piece of ginger
1 small red chili pepper
handful of mint
handful of cilantro
1 teaspoon of honey
Juice of one lemon
1 tablespoon of vinegar

This sounds like a long list of ingredients but it comes together really quickly.  Cut the pork tenderloin into 1 inch slices.

Sour cream chicken

I am always on the look out for quick and easy (and low fat) dishes to make for dinner.  I saw on Pinterest a recipe for cooking chicken breasts with sour cream on top, which seemed like a good idea, but they had added a packet of ranch salad dressing powder.  I do not like to cook with packages of anything, as then I am not sure how much salt and chemicals I am getting and any way often I do not like the taste.  So I took the idea and changed it up a little.

Feeds two

1 clove of garlic crushed or grated
1/2 cup of grated parmasan cheese
4 tablespoons of low fat sour cream (not no fat)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Place the chicken breasts in a small baking dish.

Combine the sour cream garlic and most of the cheese and spread over the chicken.

Spaghetti squash with ground turkey sauce

It is that time of year, the after Christmas, after Birthday time to lose a few lbs before summer takes hold.  This year the goal is 10lbs by the end of April and my trip to Croatia.  Sadly this is an annual thing for me, but if I didn't do it I would be the size of a house so back on the wagon again.

Though I want to lower the calories in my food, I do not want to eat "diet" food or artificially lightened foods like low fat cheese or pre made low cal dinners.  The challenge is come up with tasty healthy food, but at the end of the day portion control is really the biggest thing for me.

My husband loves pasta, and as I do not really care for it that much, it always seems like a waste of calories.  But I saw this small spaghetti squash the other day and decided that in fact this was answer to all my problems, (well a couple anyway)  I could cook pasta for my husband and then I would have the spaghetti squash which he does not really care for, and everyone is happy.

I cut the squash in half, scooped out the seeds, placed it in a microwaveable dish and filled the cavity with water.

Slow cooker Asian beef

I recently bought a freezer back of beef from Hopcott's, so my freezer is full of beef looking to be used.  Much of it is the less tender cuts that need to be cooked slow and long, which really I prefer as they have so much flavour.  Also I have replaced my slow cooker which died last fall and so I was looking to make a dish that I could throw in to cook when I leave for work and have waiting ready to eat when I came home.

Sauce

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup of hoi sin sauce
1 garlic clove chopped
1" piece of fresh ginger chopped
1 tablespoon of Sriracha sauce (optional)

The night before combine all the ingredients ready for the morning.  Of course you could do this in the morning, but I never have that much time.

Next morning pour over the beef in a slow cooker, I used two braising steaks.

Set the slow cooker to low and leave for work, or cook for 7 hours.

Avocado Chicken salad

Avocado seems to have taken over from the quinoa as the new super food. It is high in antioxidants, helps lower cholesterol and of course it tastes great.  Though anything that creamy tasting has to have fat in it,  half an avocado has the same grams of fat as one and half tablespoons of mayonnaise, most of it being unsaturated. I saw this idea somewhere, I would like to give the due credit, but I am afraid I do not know where it was that I saw it, but it was an idea I had to try.

I had a cooked chicken breast left over last week and it produced chicken salad for one sandwich and topping for a salad for a quick dinner as well.

1 large cooked chicken breast (or perhaps left over turkey)
1 avocado mushed
Juice of one lime
4 green onions chopped
2 tablespoons of cilantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Mush up the avocado until there are few lumps and then add the lime juice, green onions and cilantro.

Mix together and taste for salt and pepper, and then add the chopped chicken.

Quick chicken and italian sausage dinner

I made this for dinner the other night because I needed dinner for two and had only one chicken breast.  Necessity being the mother of invention, I came up with this simple but actually delicious quick dish. This is not only a quick dish to make, but also a quick post as I do not have many pictures.

1 Teaspoon of olive oil
1 Chicken breast cut into bite size chunks
2 Italian sausages cut into bite size chunks
2 cups of roast tomato sauce (or any other tomato sauce you have on hand)
1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs or enough to cover the top of the dish
1/2 cup of grated Parmesan

Roast butterflied chicken and potatoes

I have seen recently this method of cooking a whole chicken several times in the last month or so and have been meaning to try it for a while.  I have seen it cooked on top of a bed of vegetables, as well just potatoes and on the barbecue.  Butterflying the chicken in this way allows it to cook much quicker, and my family decided because of this it kept the chicken moister.

The thought of the chicken roasting on a bed of potatoes appealed to me, I recently cooked a roast rack of lamb on potatoes and the potatoes were wonderful.  With all the juices that come out of a chicken this could only be better.

Butterflying (or spatchcocking) is quite easy to do, but you do need a good pair or kitchen shears.  I expect any decent butcher would do it for you.

Feeds 4

1 whole frying chicken
4 medium potatoes sliced
1 onion sliced
sprig of thyme
sprig of sage
Drizzle of olive oil

Quick chicken with lemon and capers

I am always trying to find and create quick tasty  meals that can be cooked after coming home from dinner and this week I came up with a new one which I loved. Sometimes I am on my own for dinner, but I do like to cook a decent meal even if it is just me, this is something that could be easily cooked for one, but this night there was two.

To feed two

2 Skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 tablespoon of olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons of capers


Wrap each of the chicken breasts loosely in plastic wrap and hit with a rolling pin until they are flat and about 1" thick.  This helps them to cook evenly, quickly and tenderizes them. Then sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

bacon and egg salad

I have been working long hours the last while due to year end and other complications at work. Often I get home after everyone else has had their dinner. Frankly I do not want to know what that dinner consisted of, and as we are all adults now I trust them to make wise choices.

I however do want to have something tasty but speed is of great importance, so if I do not have any convenient left overs or something made ahead, I often opt for a quick stir fry or salad.  This a bit of a rift on the warm salads that are popular in France, but using the ingredients that are always in my fridge.

I love hard boiled eggs in a salad and am always drawn to them on a menu.  So this is my very quick and easy weeknight breakfast salad for one.

1 hard boiled egg
3 rashers of bacon
3 or 4 green onions chopped (or 1/4 sweet onion thinly sliced)
2 or 3 cups of salad greens (I really like either arugala or the mixed with herbs)
2 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar

Easy chicken lettuce wrap

One of the dishes that I almost always order in Chinese restaurants is lettuce wrap. It is tasty, fresh and I do not think that it can be too loaded with calories.  Iceberg lettuce is one of my least favourite lettuces, but it works very well in this dish, I think the only substitution for iceberg would be romaine (or cos as they say in the old country).

I decided to make a quick weeknight version for dinner and this is what I came up with. I used ground chicken thighs, but ground turkey, pork or even beef would work as well.

For two
1 tablespoon of olive oil
About 2 cups of raw ground chicken
1 bunch of green onion chopped
1 large garlic clove finely chopped
2 inch piece of ginger finely chopped
3 tablespoons of light soy sauce
1 cup of steam fried noodles
1/2 cup of prepared hoisin sauce
1 Iceberg lettuce.

Heat the oil in a frying pan, then add the ground chicken.

Cook until the chicken has lost it's translucency, then add the green onion, garlic and ginger.

Mexican lettuce wraps - Mexican pot roast part 2

On the weekend I made Mexican pot roast and there was some leftover. Normally I would have made a type of fajita wrapping the heated up meat along with cheese salsa and peppers in a flour tortilla.  But I was on my own for dinner so I decided to make a take on one of my favourite Chinese dishes lettuce wraps, it is really the only time I like to eat iceberg lettuce.

I replaced the flour tortilla with an iceberg lettuce leaf, replaced the hoisin sauce with a fresh salsa and added cheese. You could of course use ground beef (or turkey) if you had no left over beef, but this is certainly a light refreshing way to use left over roast or pot roast beef.

For 2

For the filling

• 6 oz left over beef pot roast chopped
• 1 tablespoon of chili powder (or less to taste)
• 1/2 cup of beef stock (or left over juices from the roast or even water)

Quick fresh Salsa

• 1 tomatoes chopped
• 1/2 a small onion chopped
• 1 tablespoon of fresh cilantro chopped
• Juice of 1/2 lemon or lime
• Hot sauce to taste

1/2 an Iceberg lettuce with the leaves separated
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese.
Sour cream would also a good addition

Turkey chili

In an ever more desperate attempt to find tasty food that is weight watchers friendly I have turned more than once to ground chicken or turkey.  This is something that in the past I have never used, but anything made with ground beef is very high in calories and therefore not on the menu right now.

This week the weather is really feeling like fall and on the way home from work on Wednesday I felt like chili, so I thought I would try it with some ground turkey that I had in the freezer. I added a fair bit of carrots as I was trying to make it as healthy as possible and due to the short time available I used canned beans, not usually my preference.

Serves 4

• 
  
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1 garlic clove sliced
• 1lb of ground turkey or chicken
• 1/2 tablespoon of chipotle chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of regular chili powder
• 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon of ground coriander
• 3 carrots chopped
• 3 large tomatoes chopped (or equivalent canned)
• 1 can of red kidney beans (though any beans would do)

Sweat off the onion and garlic in the olive oil until they are transparent. Then add the ground turkey and stir until the meat is cooked through.

Week night dinner - Steak with mushroom sauce

This is a quick dish to make, that although it meets the criteria of a weeknight dinner, quick and easy, it is good enough to serve to company.

Serves 2

1 tablespoon of olive oil
2 steaks (I found strip loin on sale)
1/2 onion finely chopped
1 clove of garlic thinly sliced.
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup of red wine
handful of chopped parsley

Salt and pepper the steak then cook in the olive oil in frying pan to your preferred doneness rare for me well done for my husband.

Roasted potatoes and cauliflower

After an extravegant meal on Saturday night and substantial lunch provided by my son for Mothers day I was feeling something simple and uncomplicated for dinner on Sunday night.  There were some good potatoes in the cupboard, some salsa left over from the night before and a cauliflower that really needed to be used.  I added to this some fish I picked up at the fish store as I had a hankering for fish.

4 small potatoes cut in to quarters
1/2 a cauliflower cut in to florets
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of ground coriander
1 tablespoon of turmeric.
a pinch of cinnamon
1 teaspoon of chili powder.
a handful of chopped cilantro

Chicken schnitzel - Week night dinner

Wednesday after a long day at work I came home to find I was on my own for dinner. There have been times that this means I sit down with a large bowl of popcorn and call that dinner or cook something that no one else in my family will eat like liver or curried eggplant. But this night I was feeling like schnitzel this along with it's very close cousin veal milanese, often my choice on a menu. You could of course make this with veal or pork, chicken breast is what I had so chicken it would be.

This is a quick easy way to cook boneless skinless chicken breasts that manages to keep them from drying out.

First thing I did was throw a potato in the microwave for 2 minutes and then into a 400 oven, so that by the time my chicken was cooked so was the potato.

Stir fried pork with red peppers and cashews

Tonight I was craving some Chinese flavours.  One of the good things about living in a city that has such a cosmopolitan population is that you can eat in restaurants of almost every cuisine in the world and there are not many ingredients that you can not find if you try hard enough. I also have friends from many different cultures and I am always trying to pick their brains for techniques and recipes.

I have been working on my Chinese food over the years, and though this may not be completely authentic, I think it is pretty close and it tastes good.

Serves 3

Saute chicken in white wine cream sauce

This is a simple weeknight dinner, but in fact would be good for company too.  I had chicken thighs (really my favourite part of the chicken), but you could use breasts or a mixture of chicken pieces.

Serves 3

• 6 chicken thighs or equivalent
• 3 green onions or shallots
• 1/2 cup of chicken stock
• 1/4 cup of white wine (then you can drink the rest with dinner)
• 2 tablespoons of 1/2 and 1/2 cream

Pork tenderloin with a lemon sticky glaze

Saturday night My Father and husband were going to "The kings speech" (great movie) as we were going to the early show I needed something quick and using what I had in the house as I was not going shopping.
I did a little research and found this recipe on the Canadian Living website I have adapted it a little as I did not have any limes and it sounded a little sweet for my taste and any way it is almost genetically impossible for me to follow a recipe verbatim.

Marinade/sauce ingredients

1/4 cup  soy sauce
1 tablespoon liquid honey
2 tsp  grated lemon rind
Juice of one lemon

3 green onions cut

2 tbsp  minced ginger root
2 cloves of garlic, minced