Healthy Recipe of a Previous Week: Mushroom Cups

Non-guilty Nom

After publishing my first ‘Recipe of the Week’ in mid-July, it appears that I am in recipe arrears.  Don’t get me wrong – I have been eating healthily.  It’s just that for the last few weeks I simply haven’t been feeling it in the kitchen creativity department, just making the same old boring stir-fries and pasta salads again and again.  However, this week I’ve struck lucky twice, and so here’s the first of two healthy, tasty recipes that I’m posting today in order to make up for the lack in the previous weeks.  Hope you enjoy!

MUSHROOM CUPS – 2 cups serves 1

Apologies to the mushroom-haters – this one isn’t for you.  (But please read on, there’s countless variations).  I love this dish.  It’s low cal, low fat and yet so filling!  And it’s one of the quickest, easiest recipes. Ever.

Ingredients

2 lettuce leaves (iceberg is ideal)

Two handfuls of chopped mushrooms (around 6 or 7 medium ones)

1 slice wholemeal bread, cut into crouton-sized pieces.

1 small red onion, sliced

1 garlic clove

1/2 tsp wholegrain mustard

A little oil for frying.  I used grapeseed – low in sat fats.

Lots of seasoning

Method

1. Fry off the onions in the oil.  Add in the mushrooms and crushed garlic, and fry until soft.

2. Next, add in the bread pieces and mustard.  Season well.  The bread should soak up the juices from the other ingredients.  Continue to heat in the pan for a minute or two.

3. Spoon the mixture into your lettuce leaves (cups).  You’re done.

It might not look like the most colourful dish, but it’s packed with flavour.  What’s more, the single slice of bread makes this a good choice  if you’re watching the carbs, but still has the effect of filling you up along with the mushrooms.  Give it a go and you’ll see for yourself!

Variations

Endless, really.  Why not add diced chicken breast or a poached egg on top for a protein hit, or replace the mushrooms with cherry tomatoes for a lighter, more summery meal?  Try it with a can of tuna and wrap the lettuce cups tightly in foil for a great new packed lunch idea!  Please comment with your own versions and let me know what you think!

Healthy Recipe of the Week: Warm Asian Chicken Salad

Hi guys!

My fiancé might be the chef of the household, but I love to get creative in the kitchen too.  Occasionally, I stumble across something quite successful and tasty; so I thought I’d start sharing these recipes with you!  Please let me know if you make them and leave your thoughts in a comment below.  P.s. They’re super-dooper easy!

WARM ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD – serves 2

Perfect for a weekend lunch or a feel-good, protein-filled weeknight dinner!

Ingredients

2 skinless chicken breasts

1 large carrot, peeled

1/2 a large courgette (zucchini)

4 heaped tbsp of frozen sweetcorn

4 heaped tbsp pasta shapes.  I used emiliane (>>>) because it’s tiny and looks like cute little flowers, but any small-ish shape will do.

6-8 cherry tomatoes

1 clove of garlic*

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp sweet chilli sauce (mild or hot – up to you, but for this recipe I’d go for hot as there’s not much in the dish anyway)

very small piece of ginger, crushed or grated

salt and pepper

oil to fry – I used grapeseed as it’s one of the healthier options

Method

1. Ribbon the courgette and carrot using a peeler, or finely slice them.  Chop the tomatoes finely.

2. Fry this veg in a little oil with salt and pepper.  Add garlic and continue to fry until veg is soft and slightly golden.  Set aside.

3.  Meanwhile, boil the pasta and sweetcorn together in a saucepan until al-dente. (This is why small pasta shapes come in handy – then you can boil the sweetcorn in the same pan without overboiling it whilst waiting for the pasta to cook.  I’m all for saving on the washing up!).

4.  Cut your chicken breasts in half lengthways through the midde i.e. making two thin slices of breast. Using the pan you fried the veg in, fry your chicken, turning occasionally, for 4-5 minutes.  In the middle of this process, add the soy sauce, sweet chilli and ginger, ensuring that the chicken gets a good coating.

5.  Drain the pasta/sweetcorn mix and return to the heat along with the fried veg, mixing well.

6.  Serve up the chicken on top of a bed of veg, and enjoy!

Free Garlicky Goodness

* On a side note, I used wild garlic here that G and I dug up and turned into a garlic paste yesterday.  We managed to get 400g of garlic from a metre square patch of wild garlic in the woods!   We washed and pureed it with a generous measure of salt and oil.  It’ll last a couple of weeks in the fridge or you can freeze it in ice cube trays and add a cube to each dish requiring a clove of garlic. Why not have a go if you happen to have any nearby? (Check a foraging blog for identification – several bulbs belong to the wild garlic family, and generally if they smell strongly of garlic, they’re edible. The leaves of these plants are starting to go over now, but if you’ve seen

some, bulbs can be dug up until roughly december).  Happy cooking!