Jamaican Style Red Beans and Rice

I found this delicious-sounding Red Beans and Rice dish from Emeril Lagasse and decided it must be done. With some minor alterations. Okay, a LOT of alterations. But the deal remains the same; you'll need a good two and a half hours to make this, so get onnit early!

You will need:

8 oz dried kidney beans ( about 1 1/4 cups)
6 garlic cloves, chopped big. ly
3 cups cold water
946 ml chicken stock, unsalted and fat free (sounds DELISH, right??)
1 cup light coconut milk
6 sprigs fresh thyme
1 small onion, chopped fine
1 tablespoon butter
2 tsp salt
4-6 Thai chiles, or 1 giant Scotch Bonnet pepper (I don't even know what that is)
1/2 tsp ground all spice (about 10 seeds)
2 cups uncooked brown rice
8 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2)

Prep! You can do most of it while the beans start, so rinse them and throw in the pot with the garlic, water and chicken stock. Bring them to a boil, then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Now do the rest!

Strip the thyme off the sprigs; save those stalks for your stock, yo! I lurrrrvvvvvee fresh thyme, I just wanna lick my fingers after.

Chop your onion, halve your chiles, cut your chicken into bite-sized pieces and um, open your canned coconut milk. After cutting the chicken, you may as well cover it and put it back in the fridge. You don't need it for awhile.

After the 30 minutes, add in the thyme and coconut milk, cover and cook for another 45 minutes to an hour.

So then it looks..thusly

Now dump in the onion, chiles, salt, butter, all spice and some pepper, stir and cover for three minutes.

Dump in rice! Stir well, bring to a boil, stir again, cover, let cook for five minutes then stir and cover again. Whew! Got all that? Awesome! High fives all around, go take a break, let that cook for 25.

Until it looks thusly. Ish

Now add in the chicken, stir well AGAIN, cover and let cook for 10 more minutes.

Now set it aside and don't look at it for 10 minutes. Eyes up here, soldier!

Give it ANOTHER good stir (we're gonna have wrestler forearms soon!), portion between 6 people at 359 calories per, that's not bad, right?? We could have a salad and a wee eensy bit of dressing and we'd be in around that 400 calorie range, woo hoo!

Enjoy!

I like walks on the beach, days that end in Y and sunsets and rainbows...

Morrocan Chicken and Lentil Stew with Peppers

I found this great recipe in Chatelaine magazine called Moroccan Lentil Stew; I liked it so much I cooked it a bunch of times in a really short period of time, fancy dinners, lunches and then I started thinking...I bet it would be magic with chicken in it. Ooh, and peppers! Yeah! Peppers! And then this is what happened:

You will need:

2 tsp vegetable oil, divided
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasteses
1 large onion
1 red, yellow or orange bell pepper
4 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp Madras curry paste
1 c lentils, dried
3 cups water
796-ml can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp salt
Pepper

Frist, prep!! Chop up your pepper and onion, mince your garlic and slice your chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Rinse your lentils, open up your can of tomatoes

Heat one teaspoon of the oil in a large heavy pot / pan dealie (Smurf-bum lid optional),

add in chicken and cook until no longer pink, about 4-5 minutes. Ish.

 Remove the chicken from the pan and add in the remaining teaspoon of oil. Cook the onions and peppers for 3-4 minutes, until almost softened and then add in the garlic and cook for just one more minute. Just until you can smell it! Don't you burn that garlic! I'm such a garlic nerd nagger.

Stir in the curry paste, lentils and water, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.

Return the chicken to the pan, pour in the tomatoes and cook for 20 minutes, stirring here and there, with the lid off

As t thickens, it will go from this

To this. Ish

This works out to 6 big protein-rich servings at 223 calories per, according to MyFitnessPal, you could serve it on it's own, or over rice, either way, es delish.

Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Nuggets and Freedom Fries

Have you ever really wanted some nuggets and fries but thought that taking an extra hour and a half was the way to go? Then this is your recipe! Seriously, though, I love feeding the boys this type of thing, but the pre-made stuff is all chemicals and preservatives and deep fried and exactly what the kiddos love. So I make my peace with it by doing it myself; then I at least have an idea of what's actually in it and they will eat anything that looks close enough to store or restaurant bought fries. This recipe makes a couple of meals' worth, depending on how many / how big mouths you have to feed.

You will need:

2 lbs red-skinned potatoes, scrubbed
2 Tbsp Olive oil (I've said this before, but not EVER EVOO for cooking, right? Save it for salads)
Kosher salt
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
5 egg whites or egg-related substance (about 3/4 c)
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 c whole wheat / whole grain flour
Kosher salt, pepper
1 1/2 c panko bread crumbs
Dried thyme leaves, ground sage, fresh rosemary
Spray oil

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Prep! I have an awesome freedom fry (sorry, I read online that there was actually a bill put in after 9/11 to change French fries to Freedom fries and it was too awesome to not repeat) cutter, made by Starfrit, but if you don't, chop your potatoes into 1/2 centimetre matchsticks. Approximately. Ish. Cut your chicken into bite-sized chunks, depending on the size of your chompers.

Set up your breading station, starting with the egg wash. Mix your egg whites and mustard in a pie plate or equivalent. Instead of using shallow dishes, given the size and amount of the chicken pieces, we are going to use sealable plastic bags for the rest. Put the flour and some salt and pepper in one bag, the breadcrumbs, sage, thyme and rosemary in another. Get two sets of tongs!

For whatever reason, whenever I strip herbs, I always think of the line in Brokeback Mountain about "you boys playing stem the lily". I don't even know what that means.

I like to get the fries going first; put all your 1/2 centimetre matchstick potatoes into a large-ish bowl, drizzle on the (NOT EVER EVOO) olive oil and kosher salt. You can really use any coarse salt, I really like sea salt also, but my kids don't know from fancy.

Swirl around with  spatula, then spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.

Bake for 30 minutes, flipping halfway. On to chicken!

Take your cutup chicken, dump by batches into the flour bag, bounce around until completely covered.

Take the floured chicken out of the bag and dip it into the egg wash. Flip once to make sure completely wet. I suggest tongs, but it's your fingers.

Dump the eggy chicken into the breadcrumb baggie, bounce around until coated.

Lay out in a single layer on a baking sheet (I strongly suggest parchment paper), spray with oil and bake for 25 minutes, flipping halfway through. More tongs!

When you are done, the should look something like zo:

I didn't work out the calories because I kind of messed around with serving sizes, but I would guess this is way lower than whatever you can buy at a store or restaurant. Approximately. Being a Canuckleadian, I also usually add a homemade gravy for the Freedom Fries, but that is totally up to you.

Enjoy!

Thursday (But Crazy Late): Chicken Casserole

Can you tell I am happy to have use of my ovens again? Because I am so excited! As I have been stockpiling barley over the years, I always jump all over a recipe that includes it in any form. Hence this week, two times. You can use whatever veggies you have handy, I have a lot of peppers, so a red pepper and some mushrooms it is.

You will need:

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped or grated
1/2 c pearl barley (that's the prettier, more conformist one)
2 1/4 c chicken stock
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, preferably cooked and dicd
1 red pepper
1 c mushrooms, sliced and / or diced
Salt, pepper, thyme

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Then, prep! Look for your Dutch oven. Not there? Check in the cupboard under the counter? Not there either? Pantry! Score! Chop / grate your onions, mushrooms and red pepper into bite-able pieces. Rinse your barley under cold water until the water runs clear.

Here is a big part of prep that you can skip if you have cooked chicken breast: poaching the chicken. If your chicken is cooked already, just carry on. If not, pour the chicken stock into a large saucepan that has a lid. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken, cover and reduce the heat to a simmer. Poach for about 20 minutes, flipping halfway, until cooked all the way through.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, heat the oil in your newly found Dutch oven, add in the onion and barley and stir to coat. Cook for 2-3 minutes, until the onions start to soften.

When your chicken is done poaching, remove from the pan and set aside to cool. Dump all the stock into the onion /barley mixture, let boil for a minute, then cover it and bake for 45 minutes.

Chop your chicken when it is cool, reserving any juices.

Take the dish out of the oven and add in the chicken, mushrooms and peppers, along with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper. Back in the oven! This time for 30 minutes, until the moisture is mostly absorbed.

I portioned this into 4 servings at 265 calories each; add some steamed veggies and a salad and you are good to goooo.

Enjoy!