Greek Chicken and Tabouleh Meal Prep

If you follow me on Instagram, you'll notice I'm skipping weeks a bit and have gone from week 1 to week 3. This is because I'm not entirely pleased with how week 2's Korean Beef bowls turned out and I need to tweak the recipe a bit before sharing. 

This one, though, this is a really good one! There are a LOT of components and ingredients but when you actually get down to it, it's really quick and easy to prepare. I also love the lightness and freshness of the whole dish, and the flavours are bright and hits all the high notes. 

I'm definitely going to add this to the rotation for my lunch meal preps, along with the last recipe I shared on Chipotle Chicken. 

Greek Chicken Tabouleh Bowls

Yield: 4 servings 

Time to cook and prepare: 1 hour

Step 1: Prep and Cook the Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt

1. Combine all ingredients and rub into chicken breasts
2. Arrange on a foil covered baking tray and cook in a preheated oven at 180°C for 20-25 minutes (depending on the size of the chicken)
3. Remove from the oven and allow to rest/cool slightly before slicing into them to assemble

Step 2: Assemble the tabouleh

• 1 bag of cauliflower rice
• 1/2 medium cucumber, diced
• 2 medium Roma tomatoes, deseeded and diced
• 1 1/2 cups parsley, chopped
• 1/4 cup mint leaves, chopped
• 2 green onions, white and pale parts only, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced (I use a garlic crusher)
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp lemon zest
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon
• 1/4 tsp chili flakes
• Season to taste

1. Mix everything together in a large bowl

Step 3: Make the Tzatziki 

• 1 cucumber, peeled and grated
• 1 cup plain Greek yoghurt
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced (again, the crusher)
• 1 tbsp white vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp dill (I had to use dried as the supermarket was out of fresh)

1. Combine all ingredients and resist the temptation to eat it all with a bag of crisps! 

Step 4: Assemble!

Cravings for Chipotle

I made a huge mistake when I went to the States for work last year - I went to a Chipotle Mexican Grill branch for lunch. I remember suffering from a particularly awful bout of jetlag, was close to being sick at one point but I just needed some food inside my belly before I went back to my hotel room and passed out. There was a Chipotle just around the corner from where I was staying in SF, and I walked over... and boy oh boy, despite how I felt, I finished everything!

Now here's why it was a mistake: I live in Malaysia - all the way on the other side of the world from a Chipotle... the only thing close to this here is Chili's, and well... come on, it just doesn't compare. So what's a girl to do but try to recreate some of their recipes?

Lucky for me, there's no shortage of helpful recipe hackers on Pinterest and I pulled together various recipes to form what is fast becoming one of my favourite meals of all time. Also, this is definitely one of my top 3 recipes for chicken!

Pollo en Adobo with Cilantro Lime Quinoa and Cilantro Lime vinaigrette
I don't know which one of these 3 components I love most! I lie, it's the chook. 

The Chicken:

• 4 - 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Juice of half a lime
• a handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, minced (use a fork!)
• Fajita seasoning*
• 1/4 cup olive oil

1. Slice the chicken breasts in half across so you get thinner strips and they cook faster
2. Mix the lime juice, cilantro, chipotle peppers, fajita seasoning and olive oil and marinade the chicken for about an hour
3. Preheat the oven at 180°C, then cook your chicken breasts on a foil covered baking tray for about 15 minutes
4. Remove from heat, allow to rest before slicing into chunks to serve

The Quinoa (you can easily substitute this for rice):

• 1 cup quinoa/rice
• 2 cups water (adjust according to rice - see notes below)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro

1. Cook the quinoa or rice in the water, with salt and the juices from the lime and lemon
2. Once cooked, fluff up and stir in your chopped cilantro

The Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette (pictured above)

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 handfuls cilantro
• Juice of 2 limes (or 1/2 a lemon if you prefer)
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Blend it all together with an immersion blender and pour over the rice and chicken

For my meal prepped lunches, I also sauteed some red onions and green and red peppers, throw in some toasted tinned corn kernels and rinsed black beans (also from a tin). I can't for the life of me remember what I put in the peppers and onions, but both were quite basic and I tend to use an olive oil and butter base with some chili powder, salt and pepper. Sorry! Will update if I find my notes!

*Fajita seasoning: you can use the pre-packed stuff, which I do in a pinch, or save some money and make your own batch as below:
1 tbsp each of:

• Chili powder
• Ground cumin
• Ground oregano
• Smoked paprika
• Onion powder
• Garlic powder
• Cayenne pepper
• 1/2 tbsp each of salt and pepper

Notes for rice:
There are 3 main types of rice (that are most common in home cooking) - long grain (like Basmathi and Jasmine rice), short grain (usually like sushi rice, arborio, Thai sticky rice, etc) and brown rice (it's ... brown). When cooking your rice, your ratio of water to rice and cooking times will vary depending on which type you're going with.
First tip - read the package for instructions. Usually can't go wrong there.
If there are no instructions, I tend to go with the following ratios and cooking times:

• Long-grain rice: 1 cup rice:2 cups water; I usually cook it for 15 minutes covered on low after the initial boil
• Short-grain rice: 1 cup rice:1 cup+2 tbsp water; cook covered and bring to a boil, then lower the heat and cook for another 5 minutes. THEN leave it covered off the heat for 10 minutes - DON'T PEEK
• Brown rice (long-grain): 1 cup rice:2 cups water; bring to boil, then reduce heat to a very low simmer and cover and cook for 45 minutes. Take the rice off the heat and let it continue to cook in its own steam for another 10 minutes

I shall, of course, caveat this by saying... I'm no expert rice maker and it's touch and go for me most times! 

If you have a rice cooker, well bully for you! I have yet to get one despite living in this house for 2 years and being Asian. This really is due to the fact that my kitchen is tiny and I only have 2 power points - don't ask me, my theory is the people who designed this apartment building don't cook. 

Looking forward to moving into our new place and having a kitchen to be my very own playground!

Cranberry and Almond Granola

I've been on this 1500 calorie a day thing for a few weeks now, and plan on keeping it up for a long time so I've been trying to find ways to manage my snacking - which really is the biggest problem area for me! Some of the stuff I've done is swapped out all milk chocolate for dark chocolate only (lucky I already love dark choc!), cutting out cakes and cookies that I don't know for a fact are totally worth the calories (you know what I mean? Only the great stuff!), and no sweet, flavoured or sugary drinks. 

Last night I decided to make some granola for my night time TV snacking (in our house it's Netflix and Snack) and I have to say I'm really pleased with this specific mix and baking times. The last time I made my own granola it was a bit too crunchy and I think I burnt some of the components. 

Without further ado, here's the recipe for my Cranberry and Almond Granola:

Yield: 3 cups granola

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 3 tbsp melted coconut oil 
• 2 tbsp honey 
• 1 + 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract 
• 1/4 tsp sea salt 
• 1 + 1/2 cup sliced almonds 
• 2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
• 1 cup dried cranberries*

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 150°C/fan and line a baking tray with parchment paper
2. In a large bowl, whisk the maple syrup, coconut oil, honey, vanilla and salt until thoroughly mixed 
3. Add the rolled oats and sliced almonds and stir to coat everything in the maple mixture
4. Spread the mix out on the prepared baking tray (I just used a standard cookie sheet) and pop in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven at the 20 minute mark and toss the granola with a forked spatula to "turn" them in a way, and then put it back in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes*
5. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes before adding the cranberries, use a fork or spatula to stir so that it mixes well. Then store in an airtight jar or container and it should keep for 2 weeks max 

*Notes:

• You can use other dried berries of your own preference, I've also done this with chocolate chips and coconut flakes!
• For step 4, if you feel after 20 minutes that it has toasted to your preferred crispiness, then stop there.

Blueberry Coconut Breakfast Biscuits

I made a massive booboo last week.Was supposed to go to Bangkok with a girlfriend for her hen weekend but a day before the trip I realised that my passport had expired. Completely idiotic, classic Nabs. So I found myself with a free weekend instead of hitting the spas and cheap shopping centres in Bangkok. It was the first weekend I've had to myself in a very long time, and I chose to spend most of it wining and dining with good friends then took Sunday to try one of the recipes I've put on my "to bake" list.

That list is fast growing, by the way, as I find time has become a scarce resource in the past few months. After ramen, churros, sangria, milky coffees, and lord only knows what else I put in my body on Friday and Saturday, I decided to try one of the healthier options on the list. The organic, high fibre, gluten free Blueberry Coconut Breakfast Biscuits.

They turned out delicious, but not as crunchy as I had hoped. I might need to keep them in the oven for an extra 5 minutes to truly get it crispy and golden.

Blueberry Coconut Breakfast Biscuits

Recipe from kumquatblog.com 

• 1 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
• 1 tbsp golden flax seeds
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup roughly chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried blueberries
• 3 very ripe bananas, mashed
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, warmed until liquid
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Line a shallow muffin pan with butter, preheat the oven to 180C 
2. In a large mixing bowl mix the oats, coconut flakes, flaxmeal, salt, pecans, and blueberries. Stir in the bananas, coconut oil, agave nectar, and vanilla until combined
3. Divide the mixture into the muffin pan (around 1-2 tbsp each) and bake for 25 minutes or until golden, cool in the pan

A well balanced diet

The Happiness Initiative has been going fantastically well, and I think my constant smiling state has been pissing quite a few people off around the office. I'm sorry if I'm too perky in the morning, I'm sorry if I gush about how yummy my lemon and cucumber flavoured water is, I'm sorry cos I totally get it. I hate perky people! lol

4 days into THI and Alena and I are totally (I've also been using the word totally far too much) excited about trying the many different recipes we've found or just thrown together as a result of random stuff we have in the fridge.

Today, I'm going to share the recipe for Pistachio Baked Salmon fillets and Alena's Mango Salsa:

Pistachio Baked Salmon fillets

• 4 fresh salmon fillets
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 tbsp dijon mustard
• Ground pistachio (measurements relative)
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 200C, and line a baking tray with foil
2. Line the salmon fillets skin side down on the tray, lightly season with salt and pepper (very sparse, ok?)
3. Spread dijon mustard over the top of the fillets, but also a light layer, then scatter ground pistachio to cover
4. Pour lemon juice over all fillets, and drizzle sparsely with olive oil (I think I used about 1 1/2 tbsp or less)
5. Then season once more with salt and pepper
6. Pop into the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes

Mango Salsa 
Recipe courtesy of Alena

• 2 yellow mangoes, diced
• 1/2 a large cucumber, diced
• 1 tsp chilli flakes
• Handful fresh coriander leaves

1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl

I would never have paired salmon with mango salsa, but I suppose you learn something new every day.

Also, my cousin came up from Borneo this week with her daughter, who celebrated her 2nd birthday yesterday. I baked her a wittle rainbow chocolate cake, and she put on a Snow White costume and proceeded to be cute and princessy about the house! I think I'm in love, guys, seriously, this little girl with her apple cheeks and tinkling laughter just stole my heart. Baking for children who totally love your cake is my new high. Warning: I'm gonna be that aunt with the cake to all my friends kids.

Love!

The Happiness Initiative

Mountain bread wheat wraps with beetroot hummus, tuna & apple, tomato salsa, and lentil salad

My good friend and colleague, Alena, (hello, it's been a while since she's been mentioned here) and I have decided to follow our other healthier, fitter friends' footsteps towards clean eating. We're really into food, desserts, and cooking though, so we're going to take things one step at a time. 

Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to go all health-freak on you and stop with my cakes completely. This is about making a sustainable lifestyle adjustment, it's not a crash diet, and I hope that it becomes something I can maintain for the rest of my life. I just enjoy food far too much to cut out a lot of it, so instead of a clean eating initiative, we have decided to call it The Happiness Initiative. 

What are the guidelines of THI, you wonder? Well, I'm glad you asked, buddy, cos here they are:

1. Eat well prepared food made of the best ingredients
2. Do something fun and artsy (check out the local music scene, paint a table, I dunno, anything!)
3. If you're going to have dessert, bake a friggin cake and have a bite 
4. Don't sweat the small stuff. Adopt our mantra: It's NACHO problem, you don't have to TACO bout it
5. Wake up, and smile at yourself in the mirror even if you're hungover
6. Oh yea, have a drink every now and then, but don't push it
7. Let's get physical, physical, I wanna get physical (walk, ride a bike, swim, play tennis, have sex, tickle your siblings, dance to corny music) 
8. Do at least 2 things you've never done, in 2 places you've never been in a year
9. Treat yourself, have something to look forward to every month

Easy, right? lol this is by no means a list to follow, this is simply our list of how to be happy. I'm a strong believer that you don't chase happiness, you simply have to be happy, and so these are just a few things I do to make myself happy on a daily basis. 

For our first week of putting the THI into motion, we prepared a few dishes that we can store in the office fridge for our lunches and daytime snacks. Thank the stars for a good pantry, by the way. These recipes are SO easy, and takes about 15 minutes to prepare so it doesn't take anything to whip them up the night before and bring them in to work the next day. Hope you give them a shot! 

Beetroot Hummus

Tahini:

• 5 cups sesame seeds
• 1 1/2 cups of olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, toast sesame seeds for 5-10 minutes (do not let it burn, a golden brown will suffice)
2. Blend the tahini and olive oil until you achieve a pourable texture

Beetroot Hummus:

• 1 16oz tin of chick peas
• 1/4 cup liquid from the chick peas tin
• 3-5 tbsp of lemon juice (or to taste)
• 1 1/2 tbsp tahini
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• Salt to taste
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium sized beetroot, peeled and cooked

1. First, peel and chop the beetroot into small 1cm and cook in a saucepan over a low heat. I just brushed the saucepan with olive oil. Cook until soft, so about 30 mins? lol sorry
2. Blend all ingredients for 3-5 minutes on low speed until thoroughly mixed and the texture is smooth

Apple & Tuna salad

• 1 can tuna flakes in water, no salt added
• 1 Granny Smith green apple, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of half a lemon
• Pepper
• Pinch of sea salt flakes

Hello! Just mash it all up in a small bowl, you can eat it as it or use it as a filling for wraps and sandwiches

And a recipe contribution from Alena:

Tomato Salsa

• 3 large tomatoes, remove pulp, chopped into cubes
• Handful of coriander
• Dried oregano
• Olive oil
• Red wine vinegar
• Sea salt
• Pepper

Once again, just mix it all up in a bowl and chill in the fridge

Sorry for the radio silence lately, but so much has been happening and I simply haven't found the time to type up posts worthy of you readers. I'll try to get some time in this weekend, but between a concert on Saturday and fancy dinner cooking party on Sunday, I'm not sure when I'll be able to do it. But no worries, I am a miracle worker, I'll have a post up in a week.

Much love, be happy, and enjoy this amazing painting done for me by the lovely and talented Alena:

Alena is a very talented painter, and she's taking commissions now, so if you're interested in owning a piece of her art, drop her an email at alena.murang@gmail.com 

Quick and tasty lunch option

There's a bakery in town called The Bread Shop where they serve one of the best lemon tarts I have ever had. Something else they also have on the menu is healthy and light lunch options! We went there for a quick lunch yesterday, and I ordered this amazing tomato and cheese on toast that they have. It was so good, and such a filling lunch, too, that I got cravings for it when I woke up today.

It's a good thing I also bought a load of their "broom bread", which is basically super high fibre bread, to attempt to recreate the lunch I had yesterday! Easy enough, though probably not as aesthetically pleasant as theirs was... I realize now that I should have probably used room temperature sliced cheese, as opposed to pre-grated cheese straight from the fridge.

Anyway, give it a shot, it's good for breakfast, lunch, or even a snack.

2 slices of tomato (per bread)
Cheese of choice (I used grated gruyere, to cover the top)
Thick slice of good bakery bread

Preheat the oven to 200C, assemble the ingredients for the open faced sandwich on a baking sheet, bake for 7-9 minutes. Serve warm.

Cheers!
x Nabs

Savouring 2012

It's the first day of a brand new calendar year, however unlike my school days, a new year means little besides switching my desk calendar to a brand new one (I think I'm going with a word a day calendar this year...) as everything else remains the same. Mayhaps I'll start tracking a change in calendar years based on my birthday. Every 22nd September will mark a new year, otherwise it's business as usual, peeps!

However, I do have one thing I'm going to try and promise, or rather suggest... this First of January 2012: Share more savoury recipes in addition to the desserts. I love my desserts and sweet things, but my younger brother called me Jelly Belly the other day... which I don't appreciate. So it's time to cut down on my sugar intake (and make everyone else around me eat more of those) and find alternative, healthy (... ish) staple foods.

For this first time, I'm going to share my go-to lazy pasta lunch or weeknight dinner recipe. This is suuuuper yummy, and contains all my favourite tastes, and I've been whipping up variations of it since my uni days. It can be eaten hot or cold, though I prefer it right off the hob, sometimes I'll pack the leftovers in a container to be taken to lunch at work the next day.

Pasta and butter, trick I picked up from Jess

Roast Vegetable Pasta 

• 2 cups (or thereabouts) of instant pasta (I like Fusilli, though it's your choice)
• 1 eggplant, sliced thinly
• 1 zucchini (though for the pictured dish, I used japanese cucumber due to lack of resources)
• 1 cup of cherry tomatoes (you may use 3 normal tomatoes, quartered), sliced in half
• 2 sundried tomatoes, diced 
• 1/2 cup pitted olives, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, sliced or crushed
• 1/3 cup olive oil (plus extra for drizzling at the end)
• 1/4 cup red wine balsamic vinegar (plus extra for drizzling at the end)
• 1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 180C 
2. Slice and dice your vegetables of choice, and place them in a baking tin (mine pictured here is ugly and dented and probably as old as I am... which isn't very old at all), pour over the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, lemon juice and salt and pepper
3. Then get in there with your hands (wash them first, you dirty wee scrag) and toss them around to ensure every slice of vegetable gets a good coating of the "dressing" 
4. Pop the tin in the oven and allow it to roast for a good 20 minutes, or until the vegetables get toasty around the edges. Yum. 
5. While waiting for the veggies to roast, boil the pasta in salted water, then upon draining the water when it's done, toss in a sliver of butter to mix with the hot pasta. I assure you it smells SO good, you'll be salivating at this point
6. Pour the prepared pasta into a medium sized serving bowl or plate, followed by the roasted vegetables then toss to mix. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and season to taste
7. In the wise words of Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore: Tuck in! 

I've really got to start writing proper instructions, without the constant commentary. On those nights when you've just about dragged yourself home from the office, are too lazy to defrost a chicken breast or even order take out, this is the perfect recipe to quell the hunger with. 

Hope you enjoy it, and happy new calendar year! 

x Nabs