quick & easy – Page 5 – OwlCat Designs

January 26, 2012December 16, 2017

Chicken with Yellow Pepper and Mushrooms

Part II of Chicken for every day of the week

See more quick and easy, yet no chance of boring chicken recipes here

Could you use more quick week night meals? Maybe? Well, this one is just as quick as you need at the end of a long day, yet it’s tantalizing flavor will tempt even picky eaters. It takes all of 15 minutes to make, if you got all your duckies lined up 😉 So chop and mix everything before you start and you’re ready to rock the kitchen!

Pounding the chicken until it is an even 1/4″ thickness ensures quick and even cooking, saving time and energy. Using a spice mix to rub or sprinkle on the chicken let’s you build flavor without having to add a lot of salt or spend hours roasting and basting. And using white wine, well, ask the French on that one, it works. The alcohol evaporates before this dish ever gets on your plate, but you could definitely use broth or water instead.

Did I tell you about my new magnificent skillet??? It’s got a slick white ceramic coating, I think I am in love 🙂

The spice mix makes more than what you need for this recipe you can use it on chicken, salmon and it’s awesome on pork chops too.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1 skinless boneless chicken breast half
1/8 tsp cumin
1/8 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 dash ground pepper (white or black)
1 pinch oregano
1 pinch cilantro
1/2 clove garlic, minced or crushed
1/4 tsp lemon peel
1/4 cup white wine or water
1/4 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced ( I used Shiitake and Maitake, but any mix of mushrooms would work)
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 tsp thyme

Directions

In a small bowl, mix cumin through cilantro, set aside
Pound the chicken breast flat in between two layers of cling wrap, using a meat mallet or the bottom of a heavy pot. (Don’t do this after 10, or your neighbors might not like you anymore)
Remove top layer of cling wrap, sprinkle the top of the chicken with the spice mixture
In a skillet, heat a teaspoon oil over medium high, add the chicken, seasoned side down, removing the other layer of wrap from the top, then season that side as well. Cook 3 minutes or until slightly browned on the bottom.
Flip chicken over, add the garlic to the pan (next to the chicken) and cook for about a minute until starting to look golden, then add the lemon peel, mushrooms, bell pepper and thyme.
Cook for 2 minutes, so some of the juices release, then add the wine, cover the pan and give it another 2 minutes, uncover and cook until most of the liquid is evaporated.
Et voilà! Yummy dinner!

January 24, 2012December 16, 2017

Paprika Coriander Chicken

Paprika Coriander Glazed Chicken Breast (shown with red and golden beets)

Part I of the series: Chicken for every day of the week!

Chicken, the easy way out, right? When you just don’t feel like putting that much effort into your dinner, there’s nothing easier or quicker to cook. And let’s face it what else is as perfect of a ‘canvas’ for different flavor as mild chicken?

Each one of these recipe’s makes 2 servings, so make ahead as lunches for the week, something I started doing lately, since there are days when I simply don’t have any time to cook something and end up, you guessed it, eating less than healthy or worse, not at all. Not good, not good, at least not when you’re trying to get back to eating small meals every three hours to have more balanced energy and leave the Christmas pounds behind in January.

This one can be made in the pan or the oven, your preference really. It tastes delicious with steamed red and golden beets and some broccoli…

Ingredients

1 chicken breast half
1 1/2 tsp paprika, mild/sweet
1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds, whole
1 tbsp lemon juice, preferably fresh squeezed
1 1/2 tsp raw honey
1/8 tsp salt

Directions

Pound the chicken breast between two sheets of clear wrap, using a meat mallet or bottom of a pot
For the glaze, crush the coriander seeds in a mortar using a pestle, until roughly ground
In a small bowl combine crushed coriander, salt, paprika, lemon juice and honey and stir to combine
Stovetop: Heat oil in a skillet over medium or
Remove top layer of cling wrap from flattened chicken, and spread half of the glaze over the surface using the back of a spoon, then pick up and flip over into the pan, removing the second layer of cling wrap as you do so.
Spread the remaining glaze over top of chicken in the pan, cook until bottom is nicely browned, about 2-3 minutes, flip over, cook 1 minute then add 1/4 cup water to prevent from getting too dark and dry, cook until cooked through about another 2 minutes.

Oven: preheat oven to 400°F and line a small baking sheet with foil
Place the chicken on the sheet, then spread half the glaze over the top, reserve the rest to re-apply once the chicken is done
Bake 15-20 minutes depending on thickness, or until chicken breast is cooked all the way through, remove from oven and spread the remainder of the glaze over the chicken before serving.

January 24, 2012December 16, 2017

Portable Chicken Meatball ‘Muffins’

Chicken Turkey Meatball Muffins

I came to thinking about this the other day. Can you name a snack that would deliver protein versus carbs, just one thought, on top of your head, …nothing? Right, thought so. Short of protein bars (mostly containing sugar=CARBS and soy), there really isn’t much we ‘snack’ on that would fall into this category. So when I came across a recipe for a turkey meatloaf a light went on, and I tinkered around in the kitchen until I came up with this variation.

I’ve made two versions so far, one with chicken breast meat and venison, (all ground) the other with turkey thigh meat and chicken thigh meat with the addition of vegetable.

Chicken Venison Meatball Muffins, (I think I added some jalapeno, see the green?)

I notice using breast meat and venison makes the muffins denser, the second version is a bit softer and juicier due to either using only thigh meat, or the additional vegetables. For vegetables I used the pulp from my juicer. I like having fresh squeezed vegetable juice in my diet, since the micro nutrient content of fresh homemade vegetable juice is out of this world, but having no compost, feel bad throwing out the dry pulp that is left over. Well, I stuck it in these and let me tell ya, it tastes awesome! If you don’t have a juicer, I am sure you could just shred and/or blend some vegetables, if juicy, squeeze in some paper towels and reduce the egg whites a bit or add some additional oats. Have not tried that, but don’t see why it wouldn’t work.

Meatballs to go, now who wouldn’t love that??

Eat them cold or microwave for 20-30 seconds to warm up. You could also put them on a salad as a protein addition, if you like.

Chicken Venison Meatball Snackie

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground chicken thigh meat
1 lb ground turkey thigh meat
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup quinoa flakes (optional)
1 cup liquid egg whites (about 5-6)
2 tsp paprika, sweet
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp chipotle* pepper, ground (optional, makes it spicy, yum!)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried thyme

* if you don’t have chipotle pepper, use cayenne

Chicken Turkey Vegetable Meatball Muffins

Ingredients

1 lb lean ground chicken meat (I used breast meat)
1 lb ground venison (which is always lean, you know, no junk food or CAFO’s in nature)
1 cup mixed vegetable pulp (I used a mix of celery,kale, kohlrabi, carrot and golden beet)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup liquid egg whites (about 5-6)
2 tsp paprika, sweet
1 tsp salt
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp chipotle pepper, ground (optional, makes it spicy, yum!)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried thyme

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F
Place meat, egg whites (if using, vegetable pulp and quinoa as well) and oats together in a large bowl.
Mix the spices and salt in a small dish, add to the large bowl and mix into the meat using a fork until well incorporated.
Line a muffin pan with (jumbo) muffin cups or grease well
Form into 12 balls, about baseball sized and place in muffin pan
Bake 30-35 minutes or until cooked through.
Cook in muffin pan for 5 minutes, then place on cooling rack
Keep in the fridge or freeze for later use

Each chicken venison muffin has 20 g protein, 3 g fat, and 5 g carbs, 123 calories

Each chicken turkey muffin has 18.3 g protein, 5.3 g fat, and 8.3 g carbs (includes fiber from the vegetable pulp) 156 cal (with Quinoa 18.8 g protein)

January 15, 2012December 16, 2017

Napa, Kumquat and Asian Pear Salad with Cashews

Unless I am warm I am not drawn to cold foods, so in the colder months it can be a challenge to get exited about eating raw vegetables or salads. Unless I am working out or running and my body temperature goes up, me and salad are not usually friends this time of year. So in order to make me want to eat cold things like raw vegetables, it has to be pretty special, texture, taste, all of it. This a little unusual salad combines crunchy Napa Cabbage, citrusy (is that a word, really?) Kumquats and crispy fresh Asian Pears along with cashews into an explosion of flavor without too much of the weight you too often find in rich winter salads. The dressing is simple and light and accentuates the sweetness of the Kumquats with a refreshing lime dressing.

If you’ve never tried Kumquats, you’re in for a treat. They are an about pecan sized member of the citrus family, but the whole fruit is edible, including the shell which is not bitter (like in an orange for example).

Crispy salad with creamy cashews, yummy!

Ingredients

1/2 of a small Napa Cabbage
1 Asian Pear
6 Kumquats
1/2 cup raw cashews
1 lime, juice and pulp only
2 tblsp olive oil

Directions

Cut Napa cabbage into 1/2 wide slices.
Core and slice Asian pear thinly.
Slice kumquats into 1/8″ thick slivers, remove any seeds and reserve Amy juices.
In a large salad bowl, combine Napa, Asian pear, kumquats and juices.
Juice the lime into the same bowl.
Toss to combine.
Drizzle the olive oil over top and sprinkle with cashews.

January 10, 2012December 16, 2017

Colorful Vegetable Soup with Celery Root

Celery Root or Celeriac is what we use back home as winter vegetable for soups, salads, stews, you name it. It’s cheap, readily available and has a great flavor both raw and cooked. You could most definitely use regular green celery, which has a bit more of a pungent flavor, compared to the almost a bit nutty or earthy flavor of the root crop.

Cerliac

Making vegetable soup from scratch could not be easier, and I am giving you a basic recipe that can be made in as many variations as there are cooks.

For this particular soup I chose colorful veggies, and I am foregoing the usual potato for the sake of the ‘getting lean in the new year’ and all the paleo eaters out there and I am using, as I just said, celery root instead, which has a much lower Glycemic Index (GI) than a potato. choosing vegetables (and foods in general that are low on the glycemic scale keeps you full longer, therefore helping to control your appetite. In very simple words (yes there is more to it, but I’ll spare you) the idea behind the glycemic index is to measure how quickly a particular food affects your blood sugar/insulin response, meaning how quickly the sugars in it get digested and find their way into your blood stream.

Alright, now that we fed the brain, let’s look at our tummy 🙂

Ingredients

1/2 medium onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 celery root, peeled and cut into chunks
3-4 large tomatoes, diced * see note
2 carrots, diced
1/4 to 1/2 a head of cauliflower, separated into florets (depending ont he size of the cauliflower you get)
1/4 of a head of a medium savoy cabbage, cut into chunks (or use some leaves off a large one)
4-5 stalks Swiss Chard, chopped(any color you like, rainbow colors look pretty)
1 tsp salt

* I used frozen ones from my Garden in the summer: when they are at the peak of ripeness, just chop and put in zip top bags for soup in the winter. Alternately you could use a can of no salt added diced tomatoes)

Makes one 3 1/2 qt pot full

Directions

In a stock pot (mine is 3 1/2 qts, or so it says on the bottom) heat one tablespoon on olive or coconut oil over medium, then add the onions,a dn cook until translucent but not brown
Add the celery and carrots, stir and cook until the onions are beginning to brown
Add the tomatoes, with any juice that collected on the cutting board (if using frozen, partially thaw in the fridge overnight) stir and allow to cook 5 minutes to allow some of the juices to come out
Add water to cover the vegetables and bring to a boil, cook 5 minutes, then add the cauliflower and chopped Swiss Chard, bring to a boil again,then reduce the heat, add the salt and simmer until celery, carrot and cauliflower are tender when pierced with a fork.
Serve hot with some crackers or a slice of rustic bread, or enjoy as a first course.

To make this your own:

Instead of celeriac, use 2-3 stalks of celery and a medium potato
Use kale instead of Swiss Chard (but remove the tough stems)
Use spinach, but add right before serving into individual bowls, ladle hot soup over
Don’t like cabbage? Leave it out
Instead of cabbage and kale, use thin cut or quartered Brussel sprouts
Add green beans or snow peas towards the end of cooking time
Leave out the tomatoes
Go through your fridge, anything vegetable can most likely be used up in your yummy soup, the potions are endless 🙂

January 9, 2012December 16, 2017

Green Power Watercress Omelet

I know many resolutions for the new year are to get fitter and be healthier. What kind of New Years resolution did you come up with? Well instead of resolutions and radical changes, how about something more playful? Here’s a New Years challenge for you: Instead of cutting out things in your daily diet and feeling deprived, start with adding nutritiously dense foods! I am challenging you to incorporate more greens into your diet, and here is a great way to start, if you are not quite ready yet to steam or saute kale, collard greens or water cress.

Watercress, a leafy green native to Europe, has edible leaves and stems, but I find that I do not enjoy the stems as much as I could. I tried it as salad, addition to soups, but those crunchy stems I just can’t get used to. So…. besides puréed soups, what to do? In comes my blender and the Green Power Omelet !

Oh yeah, it’s wicked green, (trust me, you can’t really tell from the picture) and the odd thing in there, you ask? I added some ‘free form’ meatballs from a jalapeño chicken sausage for extra flavor

Some of the ‘goodness in watercress:

Fresh cress has more concentration of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) than some fruits and vegetables. 100 g of leaves provide 47 mg or 72% of RDA of vitamin C. As an anti-oxidant, vitamin C helps to quench free radicals and reactive oxygen species (ROS) through its reduction potential properties. Lab studies suggests that regular consumption of foods rich in vitamin C helps maintain normal connective tissue, prevent iron deficiency, and also helps body develop resistance against infectious agents by boosting immunity.

It is one of the excellent vegetable sources for vitamin-K
; 100 g provides over 200% of daily recommended intake. Vitamin K has potential role bone health by promoting osteotrophic (bone formation and strengthening) activity. Adequate vitamin-K levels in the diet helps limiting neuronal damage in the brain; thus, has established role in the treatment of patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.

Cress is also excellent source of vitamin-A
and flavonoids anti-oxidants like ß carotene
, lutein and zeaxanthin.

It is also rich in B-complex group of vitamins such as riboflavin, niacin, vitamin B-6 (pyridoxine), thiamin and pantothenic acid that are essential for optimum cellular metabolic functions.

It is also rich source of minerals like copper, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese and phosphorus. Potassium in an important component of cell and body fluids that helps controlling heart rate and blood pressure by countering effects of sodium. Manganese is used by the body as a co-factor for the antioxidant enzyme superoxide dismutase. Calcium is required as bone/teeth mineral and in the regulation of heart and skeletal muscle activity.

Watercress (Nasturtium officianale), fresh,
raw leaves, Nutrition value per 100 g.
(Source: USDA National Nutrient data base)

See the table below for in depth analysis of nutrients:
Principle	Nutrient Value	Percentage of RDA
Energy	11 kcal	<1%
Carbohydrates	1.29 g	1%
Protein	2.30 g	4%
Total Fat	0.10 g	0.5%
Cholesterol	0 mg	0%
Dietary Fiber	0.5 g	1%
Vitamins
Folates	9 mcg	2%
Niacin	0.200 mg	1%
Pantothenic acid	0.310 mg	6%
Pyridoxine	0.129 mg	10%
Riboflavin	0.120 mg	9%
Thiamin	0.090 mg	7.5%
Vitamin A	3191 IU	106%
Vitamin C	43 mg	72%
Vitamin E	1.0 mg	7%
Vitamin K	250 mcg	208%
Electrolytes
Sodium	41 mg	3%
Potassium	330 mg	7%
Minerals
Calcium	120 mg	12%
Copper	0.077 mg	8.5%
Iron	0.20 mg	2.5%
Magnesium	21 mg	5%
Manganese	0.244 mg	11%
Phosphorus	60 mg	8%
Selenium	0.9 mcg	1.5%
Zinc	0.11 mg	1%
Phyto-nutrients
Carotene-ß	1914 mcg	—
Carotene-α	0 mcg	—
Lutein-zeaxanthin	5767 mcg	—

Now that I bored you all with just how good it is for you, on to the recipe! (Be warned the color is unreal, it looks like you put food coloring in there when you’re done!)

Ingredients

3 egg whites + 1 egg (or 5 egg whites)
1 good handful fresh watercress

Directions

Add the watercress to blender, add eggs, pulse until combined and the greens have been emulsified (You may have to push the watercress down as necessary with a spatula so it can get chopped up before it will all blend)
Heat a skillet over medium, add a tsp coconut oil (or oil of choice), swirl to coat the pan then add the green goodness from your blender
Cover and cook until firm.
Enjoy and feel good about your self for all the greens you already ate 🙂

December 31, 2011December 16, 2017

Green Monster Power Smoothie

No pretty pictures, I know, but healthy and yummy none the less 🙂

There are great benefits to eating lots of greens, yes, you all heard it before, but some days it is hard to fit all that healthy stuff into your food chain between running from work to get the kids or whatever your busy life dictates. Well for days when you don’t have the time to sit down to a hearty spinach omelet you can, even if you don’t have a juicer, make yourself this amazing tasting green power smoothie. Having a juicer can be a great addition to your healthy diet, as long as you’re aware of he fact that you’ll be missing out on all the healthy fiber that you would have consumed eating the veggies. I also want to caution you on juicing fruit, you definitely want to stay HEAVY on the vegetable side. Fruit juice no matter if store-bought or homemade will affect your blood sugar level drastically, much more so than eating the whole fruit would have done. From a weight loss and even a ‘having even energy all day’ point of view, not a good thing. And if you are borderline pre diabetic, just plain BAD idea.

So in this Smoothie you’re not only going to get your greens (without feeling like a cow on the pasture) but all the healthy fiber is still there, hurray!

Added benefit when you’re maligned this with spinach: the lemon juice in the Smoothie provides vitamin c which is essential for your body to absorb the iron from the spinach!

Ingredients

2 handful of Spinach leaves (or stemmed lake or collards, chopped)
1 ripe banana
2 cups water
Juice of 1 large lemon
2-3 tbsp coconut/palm sugar, or honey or agave syrup (add more if you like it sweet)
(Optional: 2 tbsp egg white powder or protein powder)
You could also add a peeled Kiwi

Directions

Place greens in the blender and add the two cups of water, pulse a few times to get started, pushing down the top layer of leaves if they don’t incorporate.
Add the banana, lemon juice, sugar and if using protein powder. Pulse and blend until smooth
Serve. Makes about 4 cups

Note: you should drink this right away, don’t make it in advance, first the Smoothie separates into solids and liquid pretty quickly (I just re-blend for the second glass) but secondly the nutrients that were happily stored inside the leaves are now exposed to the air and will start oxidizing and therefore loose potency.

December 19, 2011December 16, 2017

Thai Red Curry Chicken ‘Slow-Cooker Friday’

I love Thai food and I am a little bit of a Thai food snob, I have to admit. But I guess it might come as no big surprise, after travelling in South East Asia extensively, and my brother living on an island in Thailand (I know, don’t get me started, he gets to enjoy the sun while we have cold toes here ;P ) While travelling and meandering through Thailand and other South East Asian countries, I ate with local families, and therefore ate some ‘Thai Food’ you’d never see in a restaurant, in short I acquired some first hand knowledge of real Thai cooking. So this recipe really should be called Thai Inspired Red Curry Chicken, since the slow cooker is not traditional, but the flavors are still reminiscent of warmer places, so this is my Americanized Friday evening version 😉

Serves 4

Ingredients:

2 chicken legs/thigh quarters, bone in (about 1 1/2lb)
2-4 tbsp red curry paste (if you are very sensitive to spice, use less, for extra spice use more)
1/2 of a 14 oz can of coconut milk
1 cup brown Jasmine rice
1 cup broth
2 cup mixed vegetables, cut into bite size pieces (preferably fresh, I used snow peas, red bell pepper, and broccoli)
1 lime, cut into wedges for garnish

Directions

Heat a heavy frying pan over medium.
Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook the chicken skin side down until browned, about 4-6 minutes, turn and cook repeat on the other side (Chicken will cook more in the slow cooker, this is just to give it some extra flavor) Transfer to slow cooker
To same skillet, add the coconut milk, half the broth and the curry paste. Stir and loosen any browned bits. Pour over the chicken in the slow cooker insert.
Pour the rice around the chicken , add the remainder of the broth and cover.*
Turn slow cooker on low and cook for 5-6 hours, or until chicken is sift and starts to fall off the bone.
Half hour before you’re ready to eat, place the vegetables on top and turn up to high. Alternately you could also steam the vegetables separate and serve over the chicken and rice from the crock-pot.
Garnish with lime wedges and serve.

* The rice will be soft and flavorful from cooking in the sauce, if you prefer your rice to be less ‘risotto’ , add it about half way through the cooking time.

November 19, 2011December 16, 2017

5 minute Snack Cakes

Pumpkin White Chocolate version here shown made with rolled oats…

and Tropical Mango version with Raspberry Mango Sauce, shown made with Quinoa (I know, it looks like Ketchup; Trust me it tastes TOTALLY different!)

For breakfast, as a snack and the best part, it’s utterly delicious cold as well AND when cold, they are portable (minus the garnish)

You can make these with rolled oats or any other flakes such a quinoa or barley flakes. You might have to adjust cooking time a little, but whatever is on hand works for these!

As an easy alternative to getting a mango, peeling and pureeing it, I have used mango baby food. One of my friends turned me onto the idea of using baby food as a flavoring for plain greek yogurt. Check the ingredients, but the brand I use has no added sugar, some flavor varieties use fruit juice to add extra sweetness. Don’t like mango? Make it juts with apple sauce or maybe a pear baby food?

Tropical Mango Banana Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup quinoa or oat flakes,
1/2 ripe banana (1/4 cup)
1/4 cup mango purer (use 1 small glass of mango baby food, 4 oz)
1 tbsp sugar (palm sugar, etc)
(1 tbsp Chia seeds, optional)
1/4 cup rasbperries, frozen or fresh
Mix 1/4 cup of the mango, banana, oats (or quinoa), sugar, and Chiang seeds if using in a bowl
Grease two 8 oz ramekins with some oil on a piece of papertowel
Fill and smooh the top
Microwave on high for 3-5 minutes, depending on the power of your device. It’s done when the top does not look liquid anymore and the sides gently separate from the bowl.
Run a knife around the edge, inverted on a plate and serve with raspberry mango sauce (below), or your favorite topping. Such as maple syrup, almond butter, Apple sauce.
Or eat out of the bowl

For the raspberry mango sauce, heat the raspberries in a small saucepan then stir in the remainder (1/4 cup) of the mango puree

Pumpkin White Chocolate Oat Cake

Ingredients

1/2 cup rolled oat or quinoa flakes
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1 tbsp sugar
1 dash cinnamon
1 dash pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp vanilla
White chocolate chips and coconut for garnish (optional)

Mix all ingredients except chocolate and coconut in a bowl, then divide into two 8oz prepared ramekin forms.
Microwave on high for 2 min 30 sec to 3 minutes.

Run a knife around the edge, inverted on a plate and decorate with white chocolate chips, cover with the just removed ramekin and allow heat to steam the chocolate until soft (you can also re-microwave for 30 seconds), serve with coconut, or your favorite topping.