Rice and Crunchy Baked Chicken with Vegetables, Guest Post by Sandra of Sandra’s Easy Cooking

Aug 10, 2012 by

Today I have a very special guest post by Sandra of Sandra’s Easy Cooking. Sandra was one of the first food bloggers that I came across shortly after joining Foodbuzz a year ago. Ever since, I have been enjoying Sandra’s recipes, stories and photographs. Sandra is one of the nicest foodies that I have come across and I’m so glad I met her. Please check out her blog and see the healthy meals that she creates. She’s a woman with my own heart! We eat to live and take great care in what we put into our bodies! A few of my favourites from Sandra are: Caribbean Chicken Curry With Rice, Dinner Frittata, and Thai Green Chicken Curry, as well as Banana and Apple Nut Muffins! Guys, if you don’t know of Sandra, please go to her blog and get to know her! 

Sandra, thank you for taking time from your busy schedule in order to contribute to The Lovely Pantry! I understand the limited time we mothers have when we have little ones, so please know how much I appreciate you!

Enjoy today’s post by Sandra: Rice & Crunchy Chicken with Vegetables.

***

My name is Sandra from Sandra’s Easy Cooking. I am honored and grateful that Lyn asked me to guest post here on her beautiful blog while she is on vacation. I enjoy spending time here looking at her amazing pictures as my mouth is watering every time I visit.

I have great meal for you all today. It is nutritious and delicious like my eldest son would say.

My blog is full of balanced meals and I try to keep it that way in hope that my readers can have and find an idea what to make for their next meal. I tend to try always something new and experiment with other cuisines so this particular recipe have a lot of Asian influences. Since I am cooking at least twice a week Asian based meals, I wanted to share this recipe with Lyn’s readers too. 

Now let me show you how I made this delicious and pretty easy dish.

 

Rice and Crunchy Chicken with Vegetables. Photography by Sandra of Sandra’s Easy Cooking

 

 

5.0 from 5 reviews
Rice and Crunchy Chicken with Vegetables, Guest Post by Sandra of Sandra's Easy Cooking
 
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 tsp. Oil
  • 1 head of Broccoli, cut the florets
  • 1 head of Gai Choy {bok choy or savoy cabbage if neither is available}
  • 1 red Bell Pepper
  • 2 large Carrots
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • 1 tbs. Soy Sauce
  • Pinch of Salt
  • Marinate:
  • 1 tbs. Soy Sauce
  • 1 tbs. Honey
  • 2 Garlic cloves
  • ¼ tbs sea salt
  • ¼ cup Chicken or Vegetable Stock
  • Sprinkle of Crushed Red pepper
  • For chicken you will need:
  • 4 Chicken fillets
  • 2 eggs, beat
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 2 cups of Bread Crumbs
  • Pinch of Salt and Pepper
  • Rice:
  • 3 cups of short grain Rice
  • 4 cups of water
  • Pinch of salt
Instructions
  1. Chicken
  2. Mix the ingredients for the marinate and add chicken fillets; it can marinate for few hours or over night in a bag or airtight container {refrigerate}. Mix the eggs, and in other 2 bowls add in each all-purpose flour and Bread crumbs. Season the bread crumbs with pinch of salt and pepper. Preheat the oven on 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Dip the chicken starting first with flour, than egg, flour, egg and finally bread crumbs. Chicken fill be completely coded. On a baking sheet line parchment paper and place the chicken on it. Bake for 20-25 minutes; if the fillets are thicker allow it to bake for up to 35 minutes.
  3. Rice:
  4. Put the rice in a large bowl and wash it with cold water. Repeat washing until the water becomes almost clear; drain. Place the rice in the pot and double the amount of water. Cover the pot with a lid and bring to a boil on high heat. Turn the heat down to low and cook about 20 minutes, or until the water is almost gone. Stop the heat and let it steam for about 15 minutes before opening the lid. Fluff the rice with rice spatula
  5. Vegetables:
  6. Boil the salted water and drop the gai choy. Let it cook for 2 minutes in a boiling water; drain and set aside.
  7. Put a Wok or large skillet and heat over medium high temperature, add oil and vegetables. Stir fry for few minutes and sprinkle with crushed red peppers and pinch of sea salt. Pour Chicken or Vegetables stock to enhance the flavor; Continue to stir fry until the vegetables are tender yet crisp {2-3 minutes}. In a last few seconds add splash of Soy sauce, stir and serve.

 

Vegetables. Photography by Sandra of Sandra’s Easy Cooking

 

Rice and Crunchy Chicken with Vegetables. Photography by Sandra of Sandra’s Easy Cooking

 

Rice and Vegetables. Photography by Sandra of Sandra’s Easy Cooking

 

I made two versions, one for meat lovers and the other for vegetarians. So use your imagination and add your twist on this dish.

 

Serve it HOT and Enjoy!

 

Thank you Lyn for inviting me today to be your guest, and thank you all for reading!

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White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad, Guest Post by Renee of Magnolia Days

Jul 24, 2012 by

Today’s post is by the lovely Renee from Magnolia Days. I have the pleasure of interacting with Renee almost daily through Social Media and the various food groups that we belong to. I not only enjoy her recipes, but also her involvement  in #SundaySupper and the wonderful advice she gives me about gardening. Renee, I’ll have my indoor herb garden flourishing in no time under your wonderful guidance! Check out some of Renee’s lovely recipes! A few of my favourites are Rosemary Focaccia, German Potato Salad, and her Crumb Cake! I have a date with that Crumb Cake recipe!! 

Thank you, Renee for being so helpful to me and for guest posting today while I spend some quality time with my family in Jamaica. I appreciate you!!

Please enjoy today’s post by Renee: White Balsamic Tomato Salad

***

Hello! My name is Renee and it is an honor to guest post on this beautiful blog. I have been following it for a while and each post brightens my day. I wish I could be in Lyn’s kitchen when she is cooking her Jamaican cuisine. Her recent post of cornmeal pudding was over the top. Being a southerner, I have had cornmeal in many ways but never as a sweet dessert. It is a recipe I will make and I will think of Lyn and the family story she shared with it too.

The recipe I am featuring is a White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad. By now farmers and gardeners should be harvesting tomatoes. Fortunately for my area (Atlanta) they have been available since the end of May.  There is something so wonderful about a fresh-picked tomato. We enjoy them so much I will simply slice them and serve as a side dish.  The flavorless tomatoes sold in stores do not compare.

Salads are something we eat a lot of in the summer. The chilled greens help to beat the heat. It is also a way to use the available fresh produce and not be stuck in a hot kitchen. The season’s temperatures here are in the mid to upper 90’s and with the added humidity it is stifling hot. A cool salad sounds a lot better than a big heavy warm meal.

The dressing for the salad is homemade. I prefer making my own dressings because I like the simplicity of the ingredients.  Sometimes I add more oil or vinegar or fresh herbs or whatever I am in the mood for that day. I switch out the vinegars depending on the salad. Once you make your own dressing you will find it is quite fun to experiment with all the possible variations. It is very easy to do.

The recipe can be for one or up to four salads. Use the amount of salad greens and cheese you prefer for each salad. Any leftover ingredients can be refrigerated for future use (only a few days for the tomato mixture and salad greens).

 

White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad

 

 

5.0 from 1 reviews
White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad, Guest Post by Renee of Magnolia Days
 
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Ingredients
  • For the Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing:
  • 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon (packed) brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon chopped fresh garlic
  • Good pinch of sea salt
  • Pinch of fresh cracked pepper
  • ⅓ cup balsamic vinegar
  • ½ cup olive oil
  • For the salad:
  • 1 cup chopped fresh tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
  • 1 can white cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • Spring salad mix
  • Blue cheese crumbles
Instructions
  1. In a blender, add mustard, brown sugar, garlic, salt, pepper, and vinegar. Blend on high to combine/liquefy. Turn the blender on low and slowly pour in the olive oil. Transfer vinaigrette to a salad dressing container for serving.
  2. In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes and balsamic vinaigrette. In a ramekin (about 6 to 7-ounce size), add ¼ cup of the tomato mixture. Top the tomatoes with ⅓ cup of beans. Place the ramekin(s) in the refrigerator for ½ to 1 hour. (This will marinate the tomatoes).
  3. Spread the salad mix on a plate. Invert the ramekin onto the salad and lift off the ramekin to stack the beans and tomatoes on top. Sprinkle the salad with blue cheese crumbles. Serve with additional balsamic vinaigrette to use if more dressing is desired. Enjoy!

 

White Bean Balsamic Tomato Salad – Renee Dobbs, Magnolia Days

I hope you will enjoy this salad during the summer. Stay cool and fuel up on all the glorious produce of the season!

 

 

 

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Spicy Thai Tuna & Fennel Salad

Apr 16, 2012 by

I’ve been doing a lot of eating over the past week. I think its time to slow it down and get back into my usual eating habits. I was looking through my recipes and realized that I really don’t post enough salads. That is not to say that I don’t eat salads ~I just haven’t posted. I made a dressing that I adapted from Everyday Food over a year ago. I don’t fancy store bought dressings that much. Generally I have my salad naked – sans dressing. I adore crunchy romaine with garden vegetables. But I also like warm salads that include Quinoa, Zucchini and other root vegetables.

Today’s recipe is a quick and easy, nutritious salad. I usually serve the dressing on the side so that I pour what I desire. For the Tuna, I added only to the plate because it was too spicy for my son so I could not mix it into the main bowl. I find regular tuna to be one of my least favourite things when its plain, so the Spicy Thai version is the one I prefer. It is quite spicy for me, so I don’t eat more than half a can at a time. A little goes a very long way for me. Regular tuna can certainly be substituted and you can use as much as you would like from the can. You can also choose to omit the tuna and serve the salad along with dinner. I am also using Fennel for the first time in a very long time. I forgot how much I liked it. I’m happy I was able to incorporate it in this freestyle salad. I believe the Fennel and Tuna are the unusual suspects and so, I named the salad for them 🙂

 

Spicy Thai Tuna and Fennel Salad

 

Spicy Thai Tuna & Fennel Salad
 
Prep time
Total time
 
A quick salad with Spicy Thai Tuna and Fennel
Author:
Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • Vinaigrette:
  • 2 Tbsp White Wine Vinegar
  • 3 Tsp Honey Mustard Dijon
  • ⅓ Cup Olive Oil
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Salad:
  • 1 Head Romaine Lettuce, chopped and washed
  • 2 Baby Cucumbers, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tomatoes, diced
  • 1 Fennel, thinly sliced
  • 1 85g Can Spicy Thai Tuna (or any tuna you like)
Instructions
  1. Add all the ingredients for the vinaigrette into a jar. Shake and set aside
  2. In a large bowl, add romaine, tomatoes, fennel and cucumbers
  3. Toss to combine
  4. Add tuna and dressing, toss to coat or serve dressing on the side, serve Tuna in individual plates

 

The dressing before I shook it. Not sure why, but it looked like a flower to me. I see beauty in weird places, I guess. OK, don’t stare at it! lol

 

Salad Dressing

 

I almost omitted the tuna when I saw how attractive the salad looked. Way to go tomatoes!

 

Tossed salad!

 

So here was my turning point. Do I add the Tuna? Or have it on its own, this gorgeous salad.

 

Fennel, Romaine, Cucumbers & Tomatoes

 

I added the dressing to the salad, followed by the tuna.

 

Spicy Thai Tuna and Fennel Salad

 

I feel much better about all that eating during Easter. Much better.

 

~Lyn

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Hoisin Salmon with Quinoa & Zucchini

Jan 25, 2012 by

Salmon and Quinoa were first paired together by me about 4 years ago when I started to make serious changes to my diet. My chiropractor at the time, taught me about the benefits of whole grains and consuming less sugar. I was determined to learn more about how food can help heal the body. It took me a while to get used to eating certain vegetables that were fairly new to me. Zucchini was one of them. With benefits like – being a great source of vitamins A & C, folate, fibre and potassium, I had to find a way to LOVE this green goodness. Combining it with Quinoa, a grain I fell in love with immediately, seemed pretty practical 🙂

Simple. Healthy. Delicious.

 

Hoisin Salmon with Quinoa & Zucchini

 

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Hoisin Salmon with Quinoa & Zucchini
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Salmon seasoned with hoisin sauce and served with Quinoa and zucchini
Author:
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 2
Ingredients
  • 2 pieces skinless, boneless, salmon steaks
  • salt & pepper
  • 4 Tbsp Hoisin Sauce
  • 1 Cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained
  • 2 Cups fat-free, reduced sodium Chicken Broth
  • 1 Medium zucchini cut up into ¼ inch pieces
  • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil
Instructions
  1. In a medium sauce pan, add chicken broth and quinoa. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover for about 10 minutes
  2. Add chopped zucchini, stir and cover for another 5 minutes or so until all the broth has been absorbed
  3. Season salmon steaks with salt and pepper
  4. using a brush or the back of a spoon, spread hoisin sauce on both sides of the salmon
  5. Add olive oil to a skillet and set heat to high
  6. Add salmon to the hot skillet, presentation side down first
  7. cook for about 6 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from heat
  8. Remove quinoa from heat and fluff with a fork
  9. Serve and enjoy
Notes
Optional: Add sweet corn or diced sweet peppers to the quinoa in addition to or instead of using zucchini

 

I always say that eating healthy doesn’t have to be hard. Perhaps I say it often to remind myself. At the same time, I hope I am reminding others. I think this recipe is a perfect example. I started making this dish a few years ago and now I make so many variations of it, I can hardly keep track. Adding various vegetables in the quinoa mix is always a great idea. Diced Carrots, Sweet Peas, Sweet Corn, Sweet Potato, Butternut Squash, to name a few. All these things go nicely with quinoa.

I hope everyone is having a great week so far. Take good care 🙂

 

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Smoked Paprika Chipotle Chicken with Spirali Pasta and Kale Pesto

Dec 16, 2011 by

Every now and again I tend rebel. I’ve been using recipes because that’s how I learned to cook. But some days I just want to throw caution to the wind and follow my heart and do what comes to mind. And that’s exactly what I did. I gave my friends on Facebook a quick peek at what I prepared. Because I didn’t follow a recipe, I don’t have a fancy name for it so the ingredients will have to do for now.

On my recent grocery shopping trips, I picked up a few items just for fun. White/Black Truffle Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Smoky Paprika Chipotle Seasoning. Both completely out of my comfort zone but I’m all about expanding my horizons. The risk was well worth it. Although I did hold back, just a little.

I used Kale for the “pesto” because I really like the health benefits and it has a nice flavour. However, after smelling the Chipotle seasoning (that bad boy is strong), I opted to leave the cheese and any form of nut from the pesto. Traditional pesto consist of  Basil, Parmesan or Romano Cheese, Olive Oil, Pine Nuts and Garlic. It makes me smile to myself and ask the question – is it still really pesto if it doesn’t have cheese and nuts? Ah well. It tasted great so I’m still calling it pesto. There. I’ll try it with all the ingredients next time.

 

Black / White Truffle Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Smoky Paprika Chipotle Seasoning

Smoked Paprika Chipotle Chicken

 

 

Kale Pesto

 

5.0 from 2 reviews
Smoked Paprika Chipotle Chicken with Spirali Pasta and Kale Pesto
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
A spicy meal suitable for any day of the week
Author:
Recipe type: ntrée
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 5 Chicken Breast Cutlets
  • 2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika Chipotle Seasoning
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 3 Cups Spirali Pasta (Or any pasta you have - Penne or Fusili)
  • 1 Cup frozen Kale, defrosted
  • 2 Tbsp White Truffle Olive Oil
  • ½ Cup Frozen Sweet Corn, thawed (optional)
Instructions
  1. Prepare Pasta according to package instructions
  2. Season chicken on both sides with salt, pepper and chipotle seasoning.
  3. In a large skillet, cook chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.
  4. In a small food processor, combine Kale and White Truffle Olive Oil.
  5. Drain pasta. Add Kale and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Cut chicken into strips. Serve with pasta and corn as garnish if desired.

 

Smoked Paprika Chipotle Chicken, Pasta, Kale Pesto & Sweet Corn

 

There’s no need to panic if you didn’t plan dinner tonight. The possibilities are endless…

 

 

 

 

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