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The days are drawing in, it’s getting darker earlier, and my photos are no longer in lovely sunshine. I’ve done the best I can to get this one to the point I wasn’t ashamed to post it, with less that great success. We spent the summer BBQing a lot of old favourites and I just haven’t been tempted to explore new recipes until I saw one in the Sunday paper that looked like it could be adapted to the slow-card lifestyle with little effort. I tweaked the spice levels a bit, dropped the brown sugar, and used it for 8 chicken breasts. It was yummy. DH would have liked it better with some heat (and adding a finely chopped, de-seeded chili pepper would do just that) but DD and I both enjoyed it just the way it was.
a pinch of saffron (yes, it’s expensive, but it really does add to the flavour)
1 tbls each of coriander seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds (it’s not really the same with powdered spices)
juice of a lemon
1 tbls red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbls paprika (not smoked paprika)
1 tbls garlic (more if you want, finely chopped)
3 tbls olive oil
3 tbls finely chopped coriander (cilantro)
Start by putting the saffron in a couple of tbls hot water to steep.
Put all the seeds in a small dry frying pan. Toast them for a few minutes till you can smell the spices and they are dry and toasty – don’t burn them!
Grind the toasted spices in a mortar and pestle.
Combine all the other ingredients and whisk to emulsify.
Put the chicken breasts in a zip-lock bag with the marinade. Leave it for at least an hour or two, turning and massaging the bag every so often.
BBQ.
Served with runner beans (every gardener we know has given us bags of them!) and black lentils with mushrooms and thyme. They went well together. It was only at the last minute that I grabbed my camera to snap the photo, I am so out of practice. I hope we will be doing more experimental cooking now the summer is over and will hope to add more recipes in the coming months.
No cooking today, but I have been meaning to mention this for AGES.
Our usual Sunday Night dinner is Indian. Most things I’m not too sure of in terms of ingredients so I’ve settled in to a routine that I look forward to. That, and actually NOT having to cook one night.
What I order is Chicken Shashlic – now I know from experience that Indian takeaways will vary greatly as to what actually arrives even if you order the same thing. At OUR local Indian, the Shashlic is basically marinated chicken, with onions, peppers and tomatoes, obviously cooked on a skewer, based on the holes through it all, and with a bit of juice (not sauce, just the natural juices from the meat and the veg)
What I usually do is 1/2 the portion first so I have 1/2 for lunch the next day, especially if we get the shami kebabs (the one that looks like a reddish lamb burger, at least at ours) as a side. I tip out the juices and heat my can o’ beans (not a huge Dal fan myself) then mash the beans into the juice, add a bit of salt and pepper and tuck in.
This eases us back into the slow-carb way for the next week.
Still using the BBQ most nights, although the weather has take a turn for the worse. Honestly, EVERY other place in the garden is less windy than the EXACT spot where the BBQs live!
Easy peasy lemon squeezy, this one.
1 can of coconut milk (feel free to use the lower fat version)
Thai red curry paste
garlic
In some ways you should figure out the proportions you like for this. I don’t like things spicy hot, DH likes it lethal. I mixed the can of coconut milk (and do make sure you mix it up so you get a good mixture of the thick cream AND the watery “milk”) and what I had left in the jar of red curry paste (which was about 3 teaspoons) Even I could have stood it a little spicier, despite the warnings on the side of the jar to use it sparingly. I suspect the heat of the curry paste will vary greatly from brand to brand. Salt and lots of pepper. Garlic paste or fresh chopped garlic (say a tablespoon for the whole can, maybe even more)
Divide this. Use slightly more than 1/2 to marinate 6 -8 chicken breasts. Then BBQ as normal.
In a pan, mix the remainder of the curry paste and coconut to 2 cans of butter beans. Bring to the boil then mash ( I used a wand blender, which made it quite thin, so added another can on unmashed beans, which gave it a more interesting texture, more chunky than baby food!) Leave to simmer on very low – the action of the thick liquid as it cooks is a bit like molten lava when it bubbles and spurts, so be warned! The only reason to do that is to thicken it. If you use less of the milk mixture you shouldn’t need to, but I’d mixed it up so damn it I was going to use it!
We both loved it.
Now, a bit of a musing on the success of the whole slow-carb thing. A couple of observations. First, I think the rapid weight loss in the first few weeks is what makes people stick with it – that and the fact most people aren’t hungry between meals. I was a champion snacker before, but now I almost NEVER eat between meals, maybe a carrot or a roll-up of a ham slice if I’ve been very stingy with lunch. I LOVE 99% of the meals I’ve made, and I’ve discovered a love for beans that I would have never expected.
BUT, after a rapid drop of about 20 lbs, and with virtually no cheating except on cheat day (very occasionally adding a dollop of sour cream to something, or a sprinkle of a teaspoon of Parm cheese) and making sure I drink water all day long (ok, I DO add a squeeze of lemon to my water and often in my cooking) things have stabilized. DH was keen to try this diet, which I initially dismissed as “crazy talk” but I love the guy and he really wanted to give it a go, so I said OK (despite often having to make 3 different meals, or at least extra elements of every meal to satisfy the kids peculiar needs.)
While I am NOT willing to abandon the plan, I do think that after the first few months you really cannot avoid adding in the exercise program – I have not done regular exercise since I stopped playing basketball and soccer in college. I also worry that so long without enough fruit in your diet cannot be healthy, despite the reference to people in the past not getting fruit all year round and surviving. I also am not convinced that the “unlimited portions” really work. We don’t do the extra 2nd lunch, so maybe that would help make the dinner portions smaller to achieve fullness, and focus the greatest calorie hit during the day when we are most active rather than at night when we aren’t.
I know Tim says you need to experiment on yourself, to take his basic tenets and derive from that a plan that works for you. so I think over the summer I will be tweaking things to suit me – my standard lunch almost every day when the weather is warm is cottage cheese salad (cottage cheese with chopped celery and carrot mixed in, served with ripe tomatoes) and I am going to add that in rotation with the tuna and lentils we love and a large green and leafy salad. I’m also going to consider limiting portion size, esp. of the beans, at dinner. I don’t eat them with breakfast now and am still not hungry till lunchtime, so I don’t think this will matter too much. I will also add in occasional fruit, because I miss it too much. Grapefruit for sure, and perhaps melon and strawberries, and apples.
I don’t feel any real need for cheese other than cheat day, other than Parm or Grana as a condiment, so still keeping to that. And cheat day is hitting me hard every week, so this may need an every other week rotation or maybe more of a big cheat meal and a treat but breakfast and one of the other meals more “diet”.
I would dearly love to drop at LEAST another 20 lb, and 30-40 would be excellent. I’d like to see what I can tweak to get the scale moving downward again – I am bloody tired of losing the same 3 lbs every week!
Is it me or have I noticed that more and more people echo these thoughts? The enthusiastic people who are over the moon about their weight loss all seem to be the ones in the first month or two. But women like me, over 50, having had multiple kids, seem to struggle – I suppose I should be happy I dropped any at all, to hear some of them talk! Having said THAT, I am constantly surprised when people say “I never cheat and I’m not losing weight” then list all the things they add in, like nuts and chocolate and loads of diet sodas and protein shakes full of sweeteners. Heck I said I didn’t cheat then went on to mention the things I add! Minimal to be sure, infrequent to be sure, but nonetheless NOT strict adherence to the plan Tim laid out (which worked great for HIM, for HIS level of fitness, for HIS body chemistry, for HIS lifestyle). I think some of the basics are sound, I do love the taste of the food, and have not tired of the meals, but I think it is unrealistic to stick to a plan as close as we have while seeing no changes. And yes, inches and all that – sorry, no, most of my clothes are looser, about as loose as you would expect 20 lbs to make, but no more.
So now I will enter a real experimentation phase and see what happens. Either I will start dropping weight again, or I won’t. If the weight creeps up, I will know that the tweaks aren’t working, and I am pretty sure that exercise and smaller portions are the next tweak to try. We shall see.
Oh, and EVEN MORE WATER….
sorry that turned into a massive ramble.
Although I started this blog because I was not happy with simply dumping a can of this and defrosting a pellet of that to make my meals, and not in a position to eat out two meals a day, and while I do like cooking some days, many days it’s all about how fast I can get to “dinner on the table” from raw ingredients in the fridge. And I am not a food snob at all – I am happy to make use of pre-made or pre-prepared stuff, like garlic paste or ginger, squeezy tubes of lemon grass, and dried herb mixes if the taste is good at the end and I can get there faster.
My fall-back marinade for almost any meat is lemon juice, olive oil, garlic salt, pepper, and some fresh herbs (thyme because I love the smell and the taste is a fave, and rosemary because we have a HUGE rosemary bush it back so its on hand all year) but I do like to mix things up (lime juice instead of lemon, white balsamic vinegar or red wine vinegar instead of lemon with beef, etc) Looking for some inspiration in the spice cabinet I found an ASDA Garlic and Lemon Herb Grinder. It has all the named item plus fennel seeds, basil, mint, dried green olives, parsley, green peppercorns lemon myrtle, and toasted dried onions! Yowza.
In a bowl:
1- 2 tbls of the grinder contents
2 tbls of olive oil
the juice of a lemon
Into a Zip-lock bag. Add chicken breasts – we did six – and in the fridge for a couple of hours and BBQ
You CAN always do what it says and simply oil the chicken then grind over the mixture, but I think making the marinade deepens the flavour.
On the side I did leeks and peas, sautéed in ghee with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice at the end and some black lentils (pre-cooked bag) sautéed with a few grinds of the same spice mix, a splash of oil, and half a chopped red onion. The flavour of the chicken was wonderful, and it with the two sides made for a great meal. The herb mix isn’t the sort of mix I would make from scratch (even if I could get lemon myrtle easily) but it worked a treat for this. A single grinder would get be at least 4 -6 marinades.
I do know I will be looking at some of the pre-made spice and herb grinders in a new way after this. It was a fab way to add a real flavour kick with minimal effort.
Sorry, I’ve been slack this week as DH has been working hard and not home for dinner much. The fall back on those sorts of days, when I am cooking for myself or things that suit DD as well, tend to be roasted chicken or the sautéed pork chops or a pizza-treat for her and leftovers (usually chicken!) for me.
But last night was a rare night this week in that we were all home for dinner so I wanted to make something a bit nice, hopefully that everyone would eat, with leftovers for lunch.
8 chicken breasts (not massive)
1 tbls. olive oil
1 tbls garlic
finely chopped shallot
Saute the chicken, garlic and the shallots in the oil till the chicken is lightly browned. Don’t let the garlic burn!
Add 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and cook it on hight till the vinegar reduces and glazed the chicken breasts. Remove the chicken.
Add two cups of hot chicken stock and 1 cup of red lentils. I added a handful of chopped basil at this point too. And lots of fresh ground mixed peppercorns.
Now here is where I have a problem! My pack of lentils (from Sainsburys) says to boil them for 10 minutes then simmer for 20. Rubbish. I know from past experience that these red lentils take nothing LIKE that long to cook! So I just bring them to the boil in the pan, add back the chicken and any juices that have come out on the plate, cover, and simmer till the chicken is cooked thru (about 20 minutes for normal sized breasts. I might try it in the oven next time, but it was quite warm today and in the oven, much hotter than needed for the chicken I already had a tray of the long, sweet red peppers and onions, tossed with olive oil and garlic and salt and pepper roasting. My word they were good! in a single layer, at least 200C up to 220C, for about 20 minutes, or until the edges of the peppers and the onion start to char. Sure, they would be better out on the grill, but this works in a pinch.
On a bit of steamed spinach, it all worked together very well. Add hot sauce if you like. I think green lentils may have held their shape a bit better (and remember that was well less cooking time then the red lentil pack suggests) but I do love red lentils. Further experimentation required!
It won’t surprise you that this is SOUP. OK, so it’s coming up on summer, but we still have the odd cold day, even in summer, so soup is never totally off the menu.
After having a meal from the roast chicken, I save all the bones in a baggie in the freezer. Two chicken carcasses will make enough soup for DH and I to have a dinner and a lunch from that. One carcass works, but it’s more like a hearty lunch or light (single bowl) serving or needs to be augmented with some commercial chicken stock.
Basically I pop the bones in a stock pot (for more than one chicken, or a large saucepan if it’s just the one) and add
1 carrot broken or chopped in half
1 large onion, quartered
the inner leafy fronds from the celery stalk
a couple of smashed garlic cloves
some herbs – usually thyme or sage
This all simmers happily on the stove (uncovered!) till it is quite reduced. Strain it. From a single chicken I want about 4 cups of stock, and test it for flavour. If it is thin and not very flavourful, which it can be if you have really eaten every shred of meat from the chicken, I add a Stock tub (you know, the little Knorrs jelly like pots) or a tub of fresh chicken stock to enrich it a bit. Discard the veggies, as they will have given up any flavour they had to offer, then pick over the bones, collecting the bits of meat in another container and popping it in the fridge.
Now add any and all veg that you have hanging about. This is good for stuff that is near to being good only for the bin – shriveled carrots, limp celery, leeks, green beans, I sometimes add a can of corn but not lately. Nothing like brocoli, unless you do it last minute as the long cooking time will reduce it to mush. Add a can of chopped tomatoes (no sugar added, in their juice) and all the veg and simmer for another hour. Again taste and add whatever you think it needs – salt, pepper, more garlic.
It will reduce a little during this cooking
At the end, maybe the last 10 minutes or so, you can add a can of beans and the chicken meat – indeed any other meat you want (bacon lardons are good, or cooked turkey or ham) then add, if you like (DH does, I don’t) a few frozen spinach pods.
Make some lovely besan fritters on the side and this is perfect for a rainy night comfort supper. Not fast, not minimal ingredients, but so satisfying.
Sometimes, the simplest things are perfect.
I have taken to popping a chicken in to roast on a weekday (!) and then getting two meals from it. First meal is the roast.
Cut up a couple of carrots, a large onion, a couple or stalks of celery and maybe a leek and make a little bed in the bottom of a roasting tin. Wash and pat dry the chicken, put it on the veggie bed and drizzle with oil then season the chicken as you like – we love the “chicken seasoning” from the Indian food aisle here in the UK.
Roast as per you usual method till the juices run clear. I like to turn it on it’s breast for the last 20 minutes so the bottom skin gets crispy too.
Skim the fat from the pan juices – the veg should be soggy with the cooking juices but a bit crispy and caramelized from the long cooking. They will taste A-MA-ZING. You can do a couple of things at this point:
- simply mix up a can of flageolet (or any other) beans with the drippings and the roasted veg and serve on the side
- with a stick blender whizz up all the yummy pan goodness, adding a bit of water or chicken stock if it is too thick, to make a rough gravy with all the flavour but no flour
- toss in the beans and mashed them up with the pan juices, with or without the veg
It’s all good. Sure it takes time, but it’s mostly all in-the-oven-cooking-on-its-own time so not something that has to wait for Sunday lunch (although it’s great for that too!)
Tomorrow I’ll tell you about meal two from the leftovers.
Not bad for £3.33.
We tend to eat spinach simply prepared, just wilted in oil or butter, as much of what I cook has other strong flavours, but this was something I tried out and liked:
washed and picked spinach
sliced leeks
vinaigrette dressing
Saute the leeks in the dressing and add the spinach to wilt for 5 minutes or so.
We were having roast chicken for dinner, with a butter bean mash (so lovely when the beans are mashed with the de-fatted pan drippings!) and it gave an added flavour-boost to the meal. The dark colour of the mash is from the well browned pan juices and the seasonings.
It was DHs birthday and not a cheat day so I wanted to make something a little bit special. I roasted a chicken, seasoning it with Rajah Chicken Seasoning, and defatted the pan drippings. Putting it in a smaller pan I boiled it down till it was nearly syrup-y in consistency and added a can of flageolet beans. I added a spoonful or two of the “gravy” (sans beans) back to the roasting pan and put a bag of baby spinach, covered it with foil and popped it into the oven to wilt.
Served up, chicken with the bean/gravy over the top, and the spinach on the side.The caulifllower with turmeric on the side, and dinner is served.
This was just stunningly delicious and very easy to make!
12 deboned, skinless chicken thighs
Marinade:
juice of 2 limes
2 tbls Dijon mustard
1 tbls mixed Italian Herbs (dried was what I had)
1 tbls olive oil
Mix all the marinade together. Open up the thighs into a flat piece and put them in a zip lock bag with the marinade. Pop in the fridge for an hour, although you can just toss them around in the marinade and cook straight away.
Lightly oil a roasting tin. Lay out the thighs in a single layer. Cook in a 180C/350F oven for about 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and there are some slightly crispy edges.
Remove the chicken and toss a can of rinsed and drained Puy Lentils in the pan juices. Feel free to stir in an extra tbls of mustard at this point. Pop the chicken back on top, back in the oven for 5-10 minutes to heat the beans, then serve.
It was so good We ate it straight away so no photo. Next time!
Variations:
- any other beans
- add a tsp of hot English mustard to the marinade for more punch
- this should also be delish with pork chops or turkey cutlets, and maybe even as a marinade for flank steak, which I would grill and slice thin across the grain.
