Lime and Coriander Chicken Flatbreads with Avocado

Its summer(ish). Yay!

Time to break out the light and tasty meals!

Tonight I made Lime and Coriander Chicken flatbreads with Avocado.

Fresh, zingy, and so healthy I was tempted to eat a massive slice of chocolate cake,

 just to make up for it!

Makes 6 Flatbreads and fillings.

Cost: ~ £5 for 6

Ingredients for chicken

3 chicken breasts, sliced

3 limes, juiced

2 tablespoons fresh coriander, chopped

1/4 cup oil

seasoning

Combine all ingredients and let marinade for 4-24 hours/

 (the longer you leave it the more flavour in the chicken)

Flatbreads

1 cup warm water

2tbsp garlic oil

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp salt

3 cup flour

1 tsp yeast

Add all ingredients in order to the breadmaker.

Use the dough setting.

Other ingredients

1 ripe avocado, diced

12 Cherry Tomatoes, halved

Lettuce, shredded

1 Carrot, grated

 

Once the dough is ready,

Take the marinaded chicken and place the chicken WITH the marinade onto a foil lined tray 

Oven cook @ 180C for about 20 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, take the dough and divide into 6 portions.

Roll out flat, but don't eliminate all bubbles.

Using a dry frying pan, cook the dough lightly on both sides to seal.

Put the breads on a tray and cover with foil, and finish off in the oven while the chicken is cooking.

Assembly:

Take a flatbread, and put chicken, avocado, salad, and some of the juices into the middle, fold in half and voila! 

Macaroni "Cheese" with Bacon

A great dairy free alternative to Macaroni Cheese, 

and much cheaper than any of the recipes out there with Nutritional Yeast in them!

Serves 3-4

Cost Approx: £1

Ingredients:

1tbsp dairy free margarine

3 tbsp flour

1l soy milk

2tbsp mustard

seasoning

1 pack smoked bacon, chopped and cooked

1 pack penne pasta, cooked 

Method

Make a bechamel sauce with the first 4 ingredients.

(follow below if you've never made bechamel before)

Melt dairy free marg in a pan

Add flour, mix in flour

Gradually add soy milk, stirring well with a whisk each time to avoid lumps

NB: if you get lumps, they are easily eradicated by forcing the sauce through a sieve.

Once all milk is added, bring to a boil, then let simmer

Add mustard and seasoning to taste.

The mustard will thicken the sauce quickly, so watch that.

Combine pasta, sauce and bacon in an ovenproof dish

Bake @ 200C for around 1/2 an hour, until the top is nice and crispy.

Spanish Tomato and Pea Risotto

A great light meal, and perfect as a side dish also. 

It is also a great meal to freeze ahead.

Makes 4 full portions.

Cost: approx £2

Ingredients

1 onion, chopped

1 pack smoked bacon, chopped

1tb garlic

1 cup peas

1 packet passatta

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chilli flakes

2 cups quick cook rice.

seasoning

1-2 litres water

1 cube chicken bullion (or 1 litre fresh stock replacing water)

Method:

fry onion, bacon, garlic and chilli flakes until onion is soft.

Add passatta.

Add rice and peas

Add 1litre water and stock cube

Let simmer, keep an eye on it and add more water if needed.

Let it simmer slowly until it is slightly sticky and the rice is still a little chewy.

Alternatively: Sautee onion, bacon and seasonings.

Add to rest of ingredients in a slow cooker, and cook for a couple hours until risotto-like.

 Again, keep and eye on the liquid amount and add if necessary.

 

Baked Falafels, and Rosemary & Garlic Sweet Potato Stacks

I had a friend round for tea tonight, and while it was rainy, it was quite warm outside, so I decided to make something summery and healthy... and it went down quite well I think!

There's a little more work to these recipes than I usually post, but its worth it.

I made the falafels and cooked them immediately, but I think they would taste better if you left the mix to mellow for a few hours in the fridge. Make your garlic oil for the sweet potatoes at the same time for the flavours to blend, especially when using dried rosemary.

The great thing about these dishes is that they cook and are ready at the same time, so no fiddling about with times!

Baked Falafels:

Makes around 30.

Cost:  £3 (10p each)

Ingredients:

1 red onion, chopped roughly

2-3 cloves garlic

1 small bunch parsley, roughly chopped

1 small bunch coriander, roughly chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp cumin powder

Seasoning

2 tins chickpeas, drained

~ 4 tbsp flour (wheat or gluten free) to bind

Method:

Place everything except the chickpeas and flour into a food processor and pulse until you have a smoothish paste (this may take a while depending on how roughly you have chopped your herbs, as they can get tangled on the spindle and you may need to stop it to untangle them!)

Once you have a paste, add the chickpeas and a little oil.

Pulse until the chickpeas are incorporated into the mix.

Check the texture of the mix. If it is too wet, add flour little by little and pulse, until you get a firmish, yet still wet paste. (Think thicker than cake mix, but not as thick as dough)

Let it sit and mellow for a few hours in the fridge.

Line a few cookie trays with greaseproof paper.

Put dessert spoon sized blobs (for want of a better word)  onto the trays.

Bake at 200c for about half an hour, or until the outside becomes crunchy.

Alternatively you can fry them.

Sweet potato stacks:

Makes ~20 stacks, or 5 servings 

Cost: ~£1.25 for 20, or 30p per portion.

Ingredients:

2 medium sweet potatoes

For the oil:

 100ml vegetable oil

2-3 cloves garlic

1tbsp dried rosemary

salt and pepper.

Method:

Combine oil, garlic, rosemary and seasoning in a jar. 

Let sit for a couple hours to let the flavour emerge.

Wash and dry the sweet potatoes.

Don't bother peeling them.

Use a mandolin, or slice very thinly, both sweet potatoes.

If waiting a while, soak the potatoes in cold water until you need them.

Drain the sweet potatoes.

Make 15-20 stacks from the sliced potatoes on trays lined with greaseproof paper.

Drizzle stacks with the flavoured oil.

Bake for 30 minutes @ 200c

I served these with the rice salad on my previous post.

Balsamic Rice Salad

The weather's warmer, the sun is shining.... who doesn't love a salad when its summer?

I was inspired by a lovely salad I saw on pinterest.

 If you want to see the original recipe, go to: 

http://iowagirleats.com/2012/07/24/grilled-chicken-with-moms-barley-corn-salad

This modified salad is good on its own, or as a side to chicken.

Serves 4-6 as a side, or 2-3 as a main.

Cost: 65p per serving.

Ingredients

Vinaigrette:

1 pack cherry tomatoes, halved

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4tbsp oil

2tbsp water

seasoning

Add all to a food processor and blend well.

Put in a jar and leave till needed

Salad:

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 cucumber, diced

1 red onion diced

1 tin canned (or 1/2 cup frozen) sweetcorn

1 avocado, diced

1 pack cherry tomatoes, halved.

Combine well in a bowl.

Serve with vinaigrette to taste.

Easy Peasy!

Nut Free Vegan Pesto

Nut free pesto? Oh yes! And vegan too!

In a processor add:

1 small packet of rocket or spinach
1/2 a bunch of basil
1 tsp garlic puree
Small handful of defrosted peas

Salt and pepper to taste

Blend with oil until you have a smooth paste. Use with pasta, chicken or as an alternative to pizza sauce!

Cinnamon Buns

My stress fracture has been really bothering me lately, and all I've wanted to do is bake. So time for a new recipe!

Makes about 20 buns.

Cost ~ £1

Ingredients

In the following order, put the below into your breadmaker:

3/4 cup room temp milk (I used soy, but you can use any)

1/3 lukewarm water

2 eggs

1tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

4tbsp butter or margarine

3-3.5 cups bread flour

 2 tsp (two sachets) quick yeast

Put the breadmaker onto the "dough" setting.

While waiting for the dough, mix:

250g butter or marg,

2tbsp white sugar

2tbsp dark brown sugar

1 tbsp mixed spice

in a bowl. Leave out to keep soft.

Once dough is ready, take out of bread-maker, punch out the air,

and cut in half.

Roll the first half into a rectangle, roughly 10"x6".

Spread half the butter mixture onto the dough.

Roll like a swiss roll and cut into roughly 9-10 sections.

Place with the swirl on the top on a floured tray, and lightly press down to make sure it stays upright.

Repeat with the second half of the dough.

Leave the trays out, covered with cling-film for an hour, to let them rise a bit more.

Remove covering, bake @ 180-200 degrees C for around 20-30 minutes until browned.

Remove from tray and let cool.

Once cool, mix roughly 250g icing sugar with enough water or milk to make a paste, 

and drizzle on the top.

Some people sprinkle fruit in their buns before rolling, but as I had never tried this before, I figured I'd just make the buns plain.