Middle Eastern Flavours: Chicken Marrakech

I decided to experiment a little with Middle Eastern flavours as they combine some of my favourite ingredients - chickpeas, lamb, cilantro and number of spices such as cumin, turmeric, cinnamon.
Chicken Marrakech is one of the popular dishes and is very easy to make. It has chickpeas in it so it is a major plus for me! I looked at a number of recipes for this dish and created my own version of what I felt would work best.
I just love chickpeas, it is my perfect main dish as well as a perfect snack; I cannot go long without chickpeas on my plate.
My son loved this dish. Judging by the quantity of the food he ate today, it is probably one of his favourites.

Serves: 6


Ingredients
5 chicken thighs (I prefer using thighs in dishes like that as they have more fat, hence add more flavour than chicken breasts)
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
3 medium carrots, peeled
1c chickpeas, cooked (you can use canned if you want; I always cook it myself as it is very easy to do and is a lot cheaper)
1 medium onion
2 garlic cloves
1t cinnamon
1T turmeric
1T cumin
1t black pepper
1 red chilli, deseeded
500g canned diced tomatoes
2T tomato paste
fresh cilantro, chopped
1T olive oil
1c water

1. Chop sweet potatoes and carrots. Set them aside.
2. Roughly chop onion and garlic; then puree it.
3. Heat oil in the pan and add onion and garlic paste. Cook for 3-5  minutes on a medium heat.
4. In a meantime prepare chicken by cutting it into bite size pieces.
5. Add spices to the pan with onion and garlic paste and cook for another 3 minutes.
6. Add chicken to the pan and cook for 5-7 minutes until chicken is well coated.
7. Add chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, chickpeas, and tomatoes and tomato paste. Add a cup of water. Mix well and let it cook for about 40 minutes.
8. Once it is cooked serve with generous amount of chopped cilantro.
9. Enjoy!

Back in Time: Leniwe (Lazy Pierogi)

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #leniwe

This is the very first dish I was able to make all by myself at the age of 5. My first dish will always stay very close to my heart so today you will have a chance to see how to get your kids cooking and what is possible for them to do at that age. I believe that at the early age kids should be involved in the kitchen as much as it is suitable to their abilities. If they don't get burned and cut then it will happen 10 or 15 years later  so we are not really protecting anyone here, just delaying when it will happen. Getting kids involved early will help them love cooking and with that often comes passion for healthy eating.

My mom showed me how to make this dish as I was requesting to to have it way too often. At the age of 5 I mastered it and never forgot how to make it.
In Poland there are number of ways how people enjoy leniwe - some people eat them with sugar, some like them with cream. This version is with breadcrumbs with butter. I made them this way since I was 5 years old and it is still my favourite version.

Ingredients:
250g quark or cottage cheese (I prefer quark as it has not added salt)
2 eggs
0.5-1c white flour
2T cinnamon (cinnamon gives you a feeling of sweetness)
1 packet of vanilla sugar (you can add more if you like; I don't like using too much sugar)
3T butter
3T bread crumbs

1. Mix quark with eggs until fairly smooth.
2. Add flour to the quark mixture. Work it with your hands to stretch gluten, add more flour if required.
3. Once dough is elastic roll it with your hand on a flour dusted chopping board. Cut into pieces.
4. Bring a pot of water with a pinch of salt to boil.
5. Place pieces of dough into the water and cook until they start floating on the top.
6. On the pan, add breadcrumbs, let them brown a little bit then add butter. Once butter is melted pour over cooked leniwe.
7. Enjoy!

Asian inspiration: Tofu sensation

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #tofu

This dish was brought from the need to increase the quantity of cooked greens in our diet. We eat raw greens quite often, but in the recent months cooked greens were not frequent guests on our plates. Cooked greens are abundant in a number of nutrients hence I made a commitment to have them back on our plates at least twice a week.

Serves 4

Ingredients

250g extra firm tofu (you want to use firm or extra firm)

0.3c soy sauce

1T sesame oil

1c stock (vegetable, mushroom, or chicken will work well)

2T sesame seeds, toasted (you can use white or black or a mix)

3 garlic cloves

1inch ginger root

3 scallions 

3 large bok choys

0.5 red pepper

2T olive oil 

1 packet of Soba noodles or bean noodles

1.5t cornstarch or arrowroot 

1. Remove tofu from packaging, dry it with a paper towel. If you want you can bake it for 30 min on 175c; I do it when I have time as it helps in absorbing marinate.

Cut tofu into thin slices (about 0.5cm in thickness). I cut the tofu block into quarters then slice them thinly (you can make them larger or smaller, whatever you like).

2. Mix soy sauce with sesame oil and add tofu slices. Mix it and let sit while you are preparing other items.

3. Put water to boil for the pasta. I like using Japanese soba noodles but Korean bean noodles would work really well too.

4. Julien scallions and red peppers. Chop bok choys.

5. Crash garlic and grate ginger.

6. Put half of the oil in the wok and fry tofu (reserve marinate for later) for a few minutes. If you baked it there is no need to fry it. Remove it from the pan leaving oil in.

7. Add garlic and ginger to the marinate, mix it and let it sit.

8. Stir fry bok choy, scallions and red pepper for a few minutes. Add tofu, stock and marinate with ginger and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes.

8. Add cornstarch mixed with cold water to the dish. Mix and take off the heat.

9. Your pasta should be ready now. 

10. Place pasta on plates and top it with stir fry veggies and tofu. Top it all with sesame seeds.

11. Enjoy!

Heavenly Froggies

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #oatmeal

I remember my sister making those cookies when we were young. They are so simple and yet so delicious.

I had some hot dark chocolate mix left so I decided to use it in this recipe. I felt for extra vitamins ovaltine would work in it too so about 3T of the chocolate mix consists of ovaltine.

Ingredients

3c quick oats

0.75c coconut flakes

1 packet of vanilla sugar

4T icing sugar

3T honey

7T hot dark chocolate (if it has sugar added you may need to cut down on adding extra sugar) and ovaltine 

0.75c warm coconut milk (I used the packet ones as you need to add hot water to it and it is quite a bit cheaper than can version. Milk in milk containers is a little too watery and does not have a lot of fat so I am not sure how it would work)

1. Dissolve chocolate and ovaltine in the coconut milk

2. Mix all ingredients together.

3. Spoon them into desired sizes and place on the plate or baking sheet. Store in the fridge for at least 1 hour (they will become harder).

4. Enjoy!

Healthy Egg Benedict

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #eggs

This is one of my favourite Sunday breakfasts. We do not eat it too often any more as my son refuses to eat eggs in any form or shape. It is a very nutritious breakfast loaded with proteins.

Serves: 2

Ingredients
1 English muffin, cut in half (typically I use Ezekiel brand)
2 eggs
dill (you can use parsley or cilantro instead)

Sauce:
200 g natural Greek yoghurt
2T lemon juice
1t mustard (either in a jar or powder)
1T paprika powder
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish and decorations:
you can use any vegetables you have on hand - mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, tomato
I used sliced tomatoes and yellow sweet paprika.

1. Toast muffin halves, until slightly brown.
2. Mix the sauce ingredients together until smooth.
3. Prepare 2 eggs sunny side up.
4. Place muffin on a plate, put your vegetables (tomato and paprika slices in my case), pour 2T of sauce, place an egg on top. Decorate with chopped dill.
5. Enjoy!

Curry Time: Mung bean coconut curry

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #curry

Recent assessments for my food nutrition indicated that I need to add more potassium to my diet. I am doing my best to incorporate more bens and legumes in our dishes on weekly basis. Beans and cooked tomatoes are great sources of potassium and this recipe came out really good, so I am sharing it with you.

Serves: 6

Ingredients

2 c cooked mung beans (I soaked them just for a few hours; they cook for about 30-40 min)

1inch fresh ginger root

4 cloves of garlic

1T ground garam masala

1t turmeric powder

1T cumin seeds

1 green chilli (I don't remove seeds but it is up to you)

2c coconut milk

3c diced tomatoes (I used caned ones, but fresh would work too if you remove skin)

2T olive oil

0.5c fresh cilantro

1. Heat the oil on medium heat, add cumin seeds and wait for them to start popping before adding turmeric and garam masala. 

2. Add chopped garlic and fry for about 1 minute then add grated ginger root.

3. Add tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.

4. Add beans and coconut milk and cook for further 10-15 minutes.

5. Before serving mix in chopped cilantro.

6. Serve by itself or with a naan bread or rice.

7. Enjoy!

Healthier Popsicle: Blueberry Popsicles

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #popsicles

Serves: 14 large popsicles

Ingredients;
1.5 frozen banana, sliced

0.5 raw medium size beet, cut into cubes

1 handful of raw spinach leaves

1 slice of lemon

2 c fresh blueberries (I used high bush blueberries, also called American blueberries)

200g natural Greek yoghurt (I used full fat)

1. Blend all ingredients together in a fast speed blender.

2. Pour into Popsicle moulds and freeze for at least 5 hours.

3. Enjoy!

Healthier Treat: Mango Popsicles

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #popsicles

Serves: 14 large popsicles

Mango Popsicles

1/4c large carrot, cut into smaller chunks
1/4c green cabbage
0.5 large avocado
1 ripe banana
2 c frozen mango chunks
100g-150g plain greek yoghurt

1. Blend all ingredients together.
2. You can serve some immediately as ice cream if you want. Place mixture in popsicle moulds and freeze for at least 5 hours (Usually I leave them overnight).
3. Enjoy!

Fiber packed snack: Carrot Pulp Muffins

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #muffins #leftoverstation

Once every couple of weeks I make freshly squizeed juice, usually it is carrot or beet or a mix of those two. This time I had just over 2 cups of leftover carrot pulp that I did not want to waste.

I found the recipe for the carrot pulp muffins online. They were so good that I felt I need to share it.
It comes from the website: fitnessandfeta.com; recipe is called "Erica's Carrot Pulp Muffins".

Carrot Pulp Muffins
2c whole wheat flour
1t salt
2t cinnamon (I added more, close to 2T)
1t nutmeg
2t baking soda
3/4c brown sugar (quite a lot of sugar for my liking but since most sugar from carrots was gone with the juice there is a need to add some sweetness back to the carrot pulp)
1c olive oil
2t vanilla powder
4 eggs (I added 3 as I am not too fond of eggy testing cakes)
2 c carrot pulp (I added more, about 2.33c)
1c soaked, chopped pecans (can use walnuts)

1. Preheat oven to 200c
2. Mix all ingredients together.
3. Place the mixture in the muffin forms.
4. Bake for 20 minutes (mine took exactly 20 minutes).
5. Enjoy!

They were all gone before I managed to take the picture; will take one next time.