SPINACH AND ALMOND PENNE PASTA WITH GRILLED HERBED CHICKEN

Tonight I wanted to make a really light and simple meal. Something tasty, nutritious and healthy. I looked through my pantry and found an open pack of penne pasta, slivered almonds, and extra virgin olive oil. Ok, a pasta dish was coming to mind. Now, what was in my freezer? I found a Tupperware of chicken breasts and a bag of frozen baby spinach...hmmm....I think I know what to do! An olive oil based spinach pasta and grilled chicken sounded good! Here's what I came up with.

 For the pasta:
3 cups Penne pasta, cooked
1 1/5 cups frozen spinach, blanched and drained
2 Tbsps Almond slivers
Salt and pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 or 2 chicken bouillon cubes, with 1/2 cup hot water
Mix everything together and adjust seasoning and oil according to your taste.

For the grilled chicken:
Marinate chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and thyme. Add some crushed garlic and a squeeze or two of lemon juice. Let sit for at least half an hour to marinate. Grill until done. Cut into thin slices and top on the pasta.

YOGURT HONEY DILL DRESSING

Ingredients:
Non fat yogurt
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Crushed garlic
Honey
Chopped onions
Fresh dill.

Mix all ingredients together, adjust seasoning to your liking, and let the dressing sit for at least 30 minutes for all the flavors to meld together.

5 SPICE PORK MEDALLIONS AND SALTED FISH FRIED RICE

I just arrived from a month long trip to San Francisco so I am still on a high from all the wonderful food I ate there! One place that really stood out was a chinese restaurant called Yuet Lee. They serve an awesome salt and pepper pork chop with five spice that I knew I could easily replicate at home, sans the MSG of course. So last night I was craving, and so I made the pork! Came out really good! And of course, I had to make some Salted fish fried rice and broccoli in oyster sauce to go with it.

I used pork tenderloin, cut them into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick pieces diagonally into medallions. Then I seasoned them liberally with salt and pepper. The 5 spice, I added the cornstarch which I added a bit of salt and pepper to as well.

Dredge the seasoned pork medallions into the seasoned cornstarch mixture. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, in a shallow frying pan, heat some vegetable oil, about an inch deep is enough to deep fry these babies.

When the oil is hot, fry them up. Be careful not to overdo them because they cook fast. They come out really nice and crispy. Deelish!

For the rice:
Sauté onions, garlic, chopped carrots, chopped bell peppers, green peas and salted fish flakes (I used bottled daing).

Then add your rice. Season with salt and pepper.

Voila! While you're cooking the rice, sauté the broccoli in another pan with some oil and when almost cooked, add some oyster sauce for flavor. Easy Chinese food at home in less than an hour. Enjoy!

MUSHROOM CONSOMME WITH A POACHED EGG AND TRUFFLE ESSENCE

Being on a diet, it is sometimes so hard to think of something to eat in the morning that is filling without having rice, noodles, bread or cereal. This morning was one of those mornings wherein I needed something filling. Ok, more like, I was craving for something filling. There I was like a little mouse, scrounging around the refrigerator looking for some ingredients to stir my creative juices, when I found portobello mushrooms! Immediately, I thought, Mushroom Soup! but how could i make mushroom soup without cream? Ha! Mushroom Consomme!!!! So, here it is! And it was deelish by the way.

Mushroom Consomme

Saute slivered garlic and onions in a bit of olive oil. When slightly brown, add thinly sliced portobello mushrooms and saute until soft. Pour in enough water to make a soup, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder.

Transfer the mushrooms without the soup into a bowl. Poach the egg in the mushroom stock. When done, place the egg in the bowl with the mushrooms. Adjust the seasoning the soup, then pour in the bowl of mushrooms and egg. Drizzle some truffle oil over it and garnish with spring onions.

Simple and filling! Enjoy!

KOREAN SESAME-GARLIC BEEF AND CABBAGE STIR FRY

I was in the mood for some korean food today. And since my pantry is newly stocked with korean ingredients, I came up with this recipe. I am on a diet so I can't eat rice, but this dish is so tasty that you HAVE to eat it with rice. Though i didn't, it was still so yummy and tasty! And it is such a simple dish to make, you only need 10 minutes from preparation to cooking it! Try it and let me know how you like this dish. 

Saute 1 teaspoon crushed garlic in a small amount of olive oil until golden. Add 100 grams of beef strips, until almost cook then season with salt, pepper and a teaspoon of Ssam-Jang korean paste. Then add 100 grams of cabbage cut in strips, a little water and simmer until everything is cooked. Add a few drops of sesame oil and mix altogether. Transfer to a bowl, top with roasted sesame seeds, Go-chu-jang (korean chili paste) and spring onions. Serve with steaming hot japanese rice! yummy!

100 grams cabbage, cut in strips

Check out this link, it tells you about the different korean pastes. 

http://jehankimaddiction.blogspot.com/2010/04/koreanize-your-mealkitchen-001-korean.html#links

DATE AND CERVEZA NEGRA LAMB STEW

Put everything in the stockpot for 6 to 8 hours on low!

Dates, chopped

Onions, chopped

Lamb Chops

Cerveza Negra

Paprika

Garlic powder

Cumin

Coriander seeds

Cinnamon

Honey

Black pepper

Salt

Adjust seasoning when cooked!

Biryani rice: Put everything in the rice cooker!

Rice

Black pepper, ground

Cumin, ground

Coriander seeds, ground

Garam masala

Cinnamon, ground

Chicken or beef stock

Ghee, clarified butter

Raisins

Simple!!!!

CHICKEN WITH OLIVES IN SOUR CREAM SAUCE

2 Chicken leg quarters

2 Tbsps Fish sauce

Black pepper, freshly ground

1 Tbsp Olive oil

4 Cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 White onion, chopped
2 Tbsps Green olives, pitted

1 Salad Tomato, chopped

2 Tbsps Roasted Green Bell Pepper, chopped

2 Tbsps Sour Cream

Cut the chicken leg quarters into 2 segments. Score the chicken, then marinate in fish sauce and black pepper for 5 minutes.

Saute garlic and onions in olive oil until transluscent. Add the chicken pieces with the marinate. Wait until brown, then add the tomatoes,olives and the green bell pepper. After a few minutes, add some water and let the chicken and the vegetables stew. 

When the chicken is almost cooked, add the sour cream and let the chicken thoroughly cook and sauce thicken.

I served this to the kids with mashed potatoes and a salad. :-) (And i forgot to take a photo! But the kids loved it!)