A Taste of India Tandoori Chicken with Yogurt Slaw

I know the majority of you will look at that title and think I've gone out on a limb with the Indian cuisine, and that's okay. But, this is TAME. I've had some heavily influenced Indian meals, and this was not one of them. This is just a TASTE of Indian spice with turmeric and ginger (staple spices of Indian cuisine!)

I hope you'll try this! It's so easy, so healthy, and as always, so delicious. Don't skip out on the yogurt slaw!

Easy Shopping List:

1 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Coarse salt and ground pepper

4 bone-in, skinless chicken breasts halves (10 to 12 ounces each)

2 Granny Smith apples

1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro

(Rice: Optional)

For your chicken:

1. Preheat oven to 475°. In a large bowl, mix together 1/2 cup yogurt, garlic, turmeric, ginger, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken; toss until well coated.
2. Transfer chicken to baking dish and roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of breast (avoiding bone) registers 160° , 25 to 30 minutes. Mine was done at 30 minutes
3. Meanwhile, peel apple; coarsely grate into a medium bowl. Add cilantro and remaining 1/2 cup yogurt; season with salt and pepper. Serve sauce alongside chicken, with rice, if desired!

Loved this yogurt sauce! We put it right on top  of our chicken, but you could just dip if you prefer!!

Enjoy :)

Adobo Meatballs with Chunky Sauce!

These are absolutely incredible. I found this recipe about a year or so ago on eatingwell.com. They are a little involved, I just want you to know that up front, but they are well worth the effort! Please note, all herbs can be substituted with dry herbs as long as you HALF the amount I used! For those of you with herb gardens (cough cough AMY)- go for the real thing!

Now, let me also say, this is BEST served over spaghetti (duh, like spaghetti and meatballs!)- but I ran out of time and was too lazy to dirty another pot, so, we had them plain! MAKE THE PASTA! So worth the full effect! Here we go:

Start by making your sauce:

• 1 medium onion finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves finely minced
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes (fire roasted if you can find them)
• 3 T tomato paste
• 1 large chipotle in adobo sauce, minced (if you like it HOT, add 2: Amanda Tucker ONLY USE ONE)
• 2 tsp fresh chopped oregano
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary
• Salt
• 1/4 cup torn fresh basil leaves 

Saute your onion for about 5 minutes, or until it turns translucent. Then add in your garlic and cook 1 more minute. 

Add remaining ingredients (except basil!) and cook for 10 minutes and let liquid get thick!

Meanwhile, work on making your meatballs:

• 1 lb ground turkey (or chicken) meat
• 1 slice of whole wheat bread pulsed into crumbs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup finely shredded carrot
• 1/2 cup finely diced onion
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 T minced fresh parsley
• 2 tsp minced fresh thyme leaves
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Lots of fresh ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and form into small balls. It should give you about 12 if you make them the right size!

Pop them in the oven (ON BROIL) for 10 minutes.

Once they come out, well browned, and mostly cooked through, add them to your sauce!

*If you are making spaghetti, start it at this point!*

Let meatballs cook while pasta is cooking. Cover them. Remove sprig of rosemary and throw in your fresh basil.

Once spaghetti is done, drain, and then add to large pot with meatballs and sauce. Serve and garnish with fresh Parmesan and chopped parsley

Serve it up, and enjoy! These are to die for!

Peppered Pork Chops with Parmesan Spaghetti.... SQUASH!

This is a dinner that I made when we had our first house guests. I just got around to remaking it this week! It is actually from one of my Rachael Ray Cookbooks.. yes, I actually opened one of them! 

 

 

 

I actually added an easy spinach side dish to this meal when Amanda and Carter were over, but i was too lazy to go all out for just Nick and I, but I'll post the recipe if you want it!

First, let me walk you through the spaghetti squash! For those of you who have never heard of it, or seen it, it is an oval squash, yellow on the outside, and when you cook it, it SHREDS itself apart like spaghetti noodles!

First, you'll want to slice it in half and seed the squash. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, and then place squash in the pot, flesh side down. Boil about 20 minutes and then remove. (For this recipe, reserve 1/4 cup of your cooking liquid)

Once its cooled enough to the touch, take a fork and shred the flesh out:

You should be able to get it all the way to the skin:

See that? You use it ALL! Then, just add to a medium sized bowl, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, your reserved cooking liquid, LOTS of fresh ground pepper, salt and 2 t of Olive Oil. Serve it up!

If you don't think this looks good, get an opinion from Amanda:

Onto the Peppery Pork Chops! These are awesome, and so easy!

All you need:

4 boneless pork loin chops, about 1inch thick each

Salt and Pepper

2 T Olive Oil

1 small-medium yellow pepper, sliced

1 small-medium orange pepper, sliced

3 sweet cherry peppers, sliced (find these jarred near the roasted red peppers)

1/2 cup white wine or chicken broth (mainly used to de-glaze your pan!)

 2 T chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)

Salt and Pepper both sides of your chops

Cook in 1 T of your oil in a skillet over medium-high heat about 5-7 minutes per side, or until cooked through. Remove from skillet, and set aside

Now, add a little more oil to your pan and throw in your bell peppers. Saute about 5 minutes, then add your cherry peppers. Cook about 5 more minutes and then add your white wine, or chicken broth to get all the yummy parts stuck on the bottom of the pan!

Once most of the liquid has been re-absorbed, pour pepper mixture over your pork chops and garnish with the fresh parsley!

Enjoy :) This is a keeper! And, yes, I know you cannot see the pork in this picture, but its just because of all those healthy veggies covering it up :)

Fresh and Easy Asian Salad

This is a good one! Easy and quick to throw together! Not too much to it. Just throw and go! Now, of course, I didn't get a good picture, but I have a GREAT reason. I made this at 7am so that my husband would have dinner while I made the opening day of ECLIPSE. So, sorry if you are motivated by pictures, but believe me, this is EXTREMELY tasty!!

Combine the following:

1 bag (or head) of lettuce of your choice (romaine, butter, etc.)

1 8 oz can mandarin oranges, drained

1 pkg of grilled chicken strips (pre-cooked)

1 cup of Chow Main noodles

1 cup of snap peas, cooked to al dente

1.5 cups cooked and shelled edamame

1/2 red or yellow bell pepper chopped or sliced

(You could easily add almonds to this!)

Kraft Light Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

Add dressing to individual servings, because you WILL have leftovers :)

ENJOY!