Chicken and Chickpea Curry

Enjoy a delicious homemade curry for dinner tonight with this simple and quick recipe. 

I love making up quick and easy curries for dinner. I am also a big fan of including chickpeas in curries and this recipe can easily be turned into a vegetarian dinner by omitting the chicken and doubling the amount of chickpeas. I serve this recipe with couscous, but it also works with pitta bread or rice instead. Read how to cook couscous here.

Serves 2

Half tsp ground cumin
Half tsp ground coriander
Half tsp garam masala
Half tsp curry powder
Quarter tsp chili powder

1 chicken fillet, chopped into pieces
Half tin chickpeas
Half tin tomatoes
50ml chicken stock (or vegetable stock)
1 medium onion
1 clove garlic
Half tsp chopped ginger

Heat some olive oil in a pot over a low to medium heat.

Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger in olive oil until the onion begins to turn golden brown.

Add the spices and sauté for a further minute.

Add the chicken and cook for two minutes or until the chicken has almost turned white.

Add the tomatoes, chickpeas, and stock, and stir well. Reduce to a simmer and leave for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle chopped coriander over the curry to serve.

Chicken Pesto and Mozzarella Bagel

For me, this is the ultimate and best way to eat a bagel. I used to eat one very similar to this from a bagel cafe beside my University. I really cannot recall how many of those I ate during my college years...A lot, but it never got old  :-)

It was called 'The Italian Job', although they used to put mayonaisse and red onion on it too. I don't think this bagel needs that many flavours to make it delicious. Chicken and pesto is a classic combination and buffalo mozzarella is fabulous with both. For a slight change I like to use smoked chicken breast, which really complements the other flavours. But this will taste great with plain chicken as well.


100-125g smoked chicken breast, sliced
1 tbsp green pesto
50g buffalo mozzarella, sliced
1 wholewheat bagel

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

Prepare the bagel. Layer the ingrediants - chicken first, pesto, mozzarella, and a little more pesto if you like.

Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Check that the bagel has become crisp on the outside and that the mozzarella has begun to melt.

Enjoy!!

Also, try this with a different flavoured pesto. Sun-dried tomato pesto or chili pesto are delicious as well.

Chicken Noodle Soup

With Christmas over, all that remains of winter is the cold...and holding out for the first signs of spring, which will probably be cold too anyway...But at least the cold provides a need for some hot and spicy dishes. Food can provide both a defense and comfort against the harshness of winter and one thing I generally opt for is a good, hot and spicy soup. Chicken noodle soup is a classic and for good reason. The inclusion of noodles make it feel like you are having a proper meal. The addition of a chili adds the necessary heat to tackle the winter chill. This soup does work without the chili, but in winter I love the cosy comfort offered by a good, spicy soup. This is a very quick recipe and can be easily reheated - in fact, this soup is delicious reheated as all the flavours have had time to combine together.

Serves 2-3

2 chicken fillets
800ml chicken stock
1 tsp finely chopped root ginger
1 red chili, sliced
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
50g wholewheat noodles
2-3 mushrooms, thinly sliced
1 spring onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp chopped basil

Pout the stock into a pot with the garlic, ginger, and chili. Bring to the boil and add the chicken fillets. Reduce to a simmer, partially cover, and leave for 15-20 minutes.

Remove the chicken from the pot. Slice into small pieces then return to the pot with the noodles, mushrooms, spring onion, and soy sauce.

Simmer for a further 5 minutes. Add the basil and stir.

Ladle into bowls and serve with crispy bread to really bulk this meal up.

****It is easy to make a vegetarian version of this soup. Use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock and omit the chicken. In place of the chicken, add more mushrooms or an extra portion of noodles. Or you can include additional vegetables, such as sweetcorn - just add with the mushrooms and noodles.

****For a lighter, or carb-free version, omit the noodles. This makes a delicious, light, and spicy broth. Perfect as a starter.

Chicken and Cashew Nut Stir-Fry with Oyster Sauce

A stir-fry is one of my favourite meals. And if I am in the mood for something really nourishing and packed with goodness, it's my number one option. Stir-fries are also incredibly versatile. They work with most meat and you can choose to include pretty much any vegetables you want. Make sure that you do vary the vegetable selection and try some less common vegetables, such as pak choi (Chinese cabbage) or tender-stem broccoli.  The other great addition to a stir-fry is the cashew nut. If you have never tried cashew nuts in a stir-fry then get to it now! Cashew nuts taste great in a savoury meal, and their crunchy texture works perfectly in a stir-fry.

This recipe can also works as a vegetarian dish - just treble the amount of cashew nuts and remove the chicken. Or, just replace the chicken with tofu. If using tofu, make sure you add it at the end of the stir-fry, just before adding the sauce.

Finally, if you don't have a wok don't worry. It's the best to use, but I've made plenty of delicious stir-fries in a good sized pot. But do try to have two wooden spoons or spatulas to cook the stir-fry. In order to stop overcooking the food needs to be constantly moved around the wok, this is easiest to do with two wooden spoons.

Serves 2

2 chicken fillets

1 onion

Selection of vegetables (pick 3-4), such as mushrooms, red pepper, broccoli, green beans, mangetout, or pak choi

2 cloves of garlic, chopped finely 

1 inch of ginger, chopped finely 

1 green chili (optional), sliced (I keep the seeds in)

75g cashew nuts

6-7 tbsp Soy sauce (you will need about 4 tbsp for the marinade and the remainder for the sauce)

4 tbsp Oyster sauce

1 tbsp Nam pla (fish sauce)

Pinch of chili flakes (optional)

Olive oil

First prepare the chicken. Do this 2 or 3 hours beforehand if you can. If not, give the chicken at least 10 minutes to absorb some of the flavours. Cut the chicken into good sized chunks. Place in a bowl and add the ginger and garlic, and the chili if you want to add a little spice. Then add the soy sauce - about 4-5 tbsp should ensure that all the chicken pieces are covered. Next, using your hands (make sure they are clean first...) massage the chicken pieces, ensuring that all the flavours from the ginger, garlic, and chili get right into the chicken. Cover the bowl and leave to sit in the fridge. 

To prepare the veg, chop it all into chunks. The key for a stir-fry is that the vegetables maintain their crunch so make sure you don't chop anything up to small. This goes for the onion too. I like to chop an onion into 1.5-2 cm wide rings, then cut each ring in half and peel off the pieces of onion. This means that the pieces of onion won't get lost in the stir-fry and can maintain a nice crunch which is the perfect stir-fry texture. 

Heat the oil in a wok over a medium heat. Add the chicken to the wok along with the rest of the contents of the bowl. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, constantly moving the chicken pieces around the wok. Make sure that the chicken is white all over but don't let it cook too much as this means will be quite tough by the end of cooking.

Add the cashew nuts next and stir-fry for about a minute. 

Then begin adding the veg. If you are using mushrooms I would add these first, to ensure that they are cooked through by the end of the cooking. Leave then to cook for about 2 minutes. Then add the remainder of the veg and stir-fry for 3 minutes, again, making sure that you keep everything constantly moving around the wok.

Next, add the sauce. Add about 2 tbsp of soy sauce and 1 tbsp of nam pla (fish sauce). Then add the oyster sauce - about 4 tbsp. Add as much of these sauces as you think necessary, depending on the amount of sauce you would like, and the amount of vegetables you cooked. However, don't add too much soy sauce as this will overpower the oyster sauce. 

To finish off, add some chili flakes if you want some added spice. 

Serve with brown rice or wholewheat noodles. 

  

Chicken and Pesto Spaghetti with Walnuts

This is Italian fast-food – it can be prepared and cooked in around 15 minutes, so it is perfect for dinner if you’re in a hurry or had a long, long day at work. It’s also better for you than a take-away :-)

The tomatoeas are optional but I think they add a nice juicey flavour to the dish.



Serves 2

2 fillets of chicken

1 tbsp green pesto

25g walnut halves

10 cherry tomatoes, halved (optional)

1 tsp basil

Salt/Black pepper

200g spaghetti



Chop the chicken fillets into bite-size pieces. Sprinkle some basil over the pieces and set aside.

Boil water in a large pot and add the spaghetti. Cook per instructions on the pack.

While the spaghetti is cooking, heat some oil in a pot, add the chicken and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat when cooked.

Drain the spaghetti when cooked. Return to the pot and add the cooked chicken and pesto and salt and pepper. Stir well.

Add the walnuts and tomatoes (optional) and stir.

Done and delicious!

Quick Moroccan Tagine

I have had the pleasure of eating some great tagines in the last while and I have an ever-growing obsession with cous cous so cooking and enjoying both of these at home is a must. To cook a 'real' tagine can take several hours but this 'cheaters' tagine can be prepared and cooked in under a hour, and still tastes delicious. This is a vegetarian recipe but it is easy to add chicken to this for a meat version.

Serves 2

1 400g tin tomatoes
1 400g tin chickpeas, drained
100ml vegetable stock
1 onion, finely chopped
1 green chili, chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 cm cube of ginger, grated
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp coriander leaf
Salt and black pepper

To serve

100-120g of cous cous
100g green beans
2-3 small pitta breads


Sweat the onion for 10 minutes in a pot on a low heat.

Add the garlic, ginger, and chili and stir for a minute

Add the spices and stir for another minute

Add the tomatoes, vegetable stock, chickpeas, and the coriander leaf and stir. Season with salt and black pepper. Simmer for 20 minutes on a low heat, stirring occasionally. With 5 minutes to go, add the cherry tomatoes.

With 5 minutes to go, prepare the cous cous (about 100-120g for two people)

Serve the tagine with the cous cous, some green beans, and some warm pitta bread.


*****Chicken Version

If you want to add some meat to this quick tagine then simply cut some chicken into cubes and place in a bowl. Add the garlic, ginger, and chili to the bowl, and rub the ground cumin and ground coriander into the meat. Leave to marinade for a hour or two, if you can. When cooking add the chicken (with the garlic, ginger, chili and spices in the bowl) to the pot after you sweat the onions, the continue with the recipe as above. I would switch the vegetable stock for chicken stock too, put it will not impact on the recipe if you stick with the vegetable stock.