Not KFC Chicken

Tags

Chicken, fast food, food, healthy

The last time I had KFC was a long, long time ago and I remember being so unwell after it. Needless to say, I’ve not had it since.

I’ve made this dish before but without specific measurements and I’ve also tweaked it a little. So here is my version of a NOT KFC Chicken pieces to share with at least 4 people. Unless you’re really hungry!😋

Ingredients
• 8 pieces of Chicken thighs & drumsticks
• 1 cup of milk
• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 tsp dried parsley
• 2 tsp garlic granules
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp mixed herbs (or you can use Oregano)
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp sea salt

Method
1. Soak the chicken pieces in the milk for 20 minutes.
2. Combine the flour, garlic granules, paprika, dried parsley, mixed herbs, black pepper & the sea salt in a large bowl and mix thoroughly.
3. Pre heat oven to 200 degrees C.
4. Heat a little oil in a pan.
5. Coat the chicken pieces thoroughly in the seasoned flour mixture and sear both sides in the hot pan before transferring them onto a baking tray and into the oven. Lower the oven temperature to 180 degrees C.
6. Cook for about 45 minutes or until golden and crispy.
7. Remove the chicken pieces from the oven and let them rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serve with a side of salad and oven baked fries sprinkled with dried parsley, sea salt & black pepper.

Happy cooking! 💛

*I came across this and it made me laugh, had to share it!

A Rainbow On My Plate

Tags

fast food, fish, food, healthy, rainbow, salad, salmon

I have been quite picky with what I want to eat lately…well, not exactly picky but more of a loss of appetite during the day and I’ve also been too lazy to cook anything that takes too much of my time.

So for lunch yesterday, I plated up… A rainbow!

Smoked Salmon on toast, topped with raw spinach, baby romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, capers, sweetcorn, red onions and drizzled with extra virgin olive oil & lemon.

Season with a little sea salt & cracked black pepper and there you have it…a beautiful rainbow of food prepared in less than 10 minutes!!!

This is my idea of fast food!

What’s your favourite fast food?

Happy no cooking needed!😊💕

Eggplant Dip

Tags

dips, eggplant, fast food, food, healthy, vegetarian

I don’t know about you but I just love eggplants! I always try to have them available in my kitchen. I usually tend to just roast them but yesterday I bought a lovely warm Moroccan bread and wanted a dip to have with it.

So off I went online looking for inspiration. Most of the recipes called for roasting the eggplant and removing the skin but I love the skin of an eggplant so I decided to pan fry them, skin on, with a little olive oil. So here’s my take on Baba Ganoush…

Ingredients
• 1 large eggplant (sliced)
• 1 tomato (quartered)
• 2 cloves of garlic (whole)
• 125gms Greek yoghurt
• juice of half a lemon
• 1 tsp fresh mint leaves
• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro
• half tsp cumin
• sea salt & cracked black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil

Method
1. In a skillet, heat a little olive oil and fry the sliced eggplant until golden brown and set aside.
2. In the same skillet, throw in the garlic & tomatoes and sauté till the garlic is slightly brown and tomatoes are soft.
3. Place the Greek yoghurt, cumin, lemon juice, mint, cilantro, the tomatoes & garlic in a food processor and blitz.
4. Now add the cooked eggplant, salt & pepper into the food processor and pulse it. Have a taste to make sure it has a nice balance of flavour.

Garnish with cilantro and serve with crusty warm bread…

Add a drizzle of olive oil before serving if you wish…

It was tasty, tangy and very filling!

What’s your favourite dip?

To end off, just thought I’d share this gorgeous photo my sister in Singapore sent me this morning…

Do you love eggplants as much as I do?💞

Oh So Sweet, Sweet Potatoes

Tags

fast food, food, healthy, sweet, vegetarian

I found some lovely sweet potatoes at a recently opened fruit & veg store in the old town on Friday. Both my husband and I just love sweet potatoes! So without wanting to lose the beautiful natural flavours, all I did was roasted them with some herbs & onions.

Ingredients
• Sweet potato (cut into chunks)
• Onion (quartered)
• Dried mixed herbs
• a little salt to taste
• cracked black pepper
• a drizzle of olive oil

Method
1. Pre heat oven to 180 degrees C.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
3. Place on a baking tray and roast for 20 to 25 mins or until slightly crunchy on the outside.

Serve warm…

Have it as a side dish or even as a light dinner. Sweet & tasty, it’s simplicity at its best!

Enjoy!💞

Simple Salad Dressing

Tags

fast food, food, salad, salad dressing, summer

I don’t know about you but I’ve never been a fan of the salad dressings you can buy in supermarkets…or any dressings for that matter. I tend to like my salads with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil & lemon or lime to keep it fresh and simple or this one I make to have with salads or pasta salads.

What you will need…
• Fresh lemon juice
• Honey
• Extra virgin olive oil
• a little salt & cracked black pepper to taste

Method
1. Mix everything in a jar and shake away or whisk it all up in a bowl. Make it according to your taste. That simple!

Drizzle on any salad of your choice…

What’s your favourite dressing?💞

Leftover Homemade Coleslaw?

Tags

coleslaw, fast food, food, healthy

I just wanted to do a quick post today on the leftover Colourful Crunchy Coleslaw that I made on Saturday…

To the leftover coleslaw, I added a green apple that I roughly diced and a roasted chicken breast marinaded with salt, cracked black pepper and dried parsley. I diced it, mixed it well and…there you have it…another quick meal! 😋

Have a happy Monday! ☺️

Crunchy Colourful Coleslaw

Tags

coleslaw, fast food, food

I’ve always loved coleslaw but I find that the ones you can get at the supermarkets are always way too creamy and even sweet sometimes. I think the last time I actually bought a tub of coleslaw was maybe 2 or 3 years ago. I now enjoy making my own colourful coleslaw where I use purple/red cabbage instead of the usual white ones to give it that bright pinkish, purple tint!

What you will need…
• half a Purple cabbage (sliced lengthwise)
• 3 Carrots (sliced lengthwise)
• half a red onion (thinly diced)
• 2-3 tbsp Mayonnaise
• juice of half a lemon
• A handful of walnuts
• a little salt & half tsp cracked pepper to taste

Method
1. Prep all the veg by slicing them. You could easily use a grater but I like lots of texture and crunch in my coleslaw.

2. Place all the sliced veg in a large bowl. Loving the colours already!!💜

3. Add lemon juice, salt & pepper and mayonnaise to the veg…now comes the fun, messy part…with your hands, mix them up…get in there and get messy! (…or you could use cutlery). You can add the walnuts now or just before serving. Cover with a cling film and leave to refrigerate for at least 30 mins before serving.

Serve with any meal of your choice!

I had mine with my homemade mini-ish cheeseburger and homemade potato wedges…but that’s a recipe for another day!

Do try out the coleslaw, it’s crunchy, tangy and far healthier than the ones you can get from the supermarkets! Lots of leftovers for lunch today too!

Have a fabulous Sunday! 💛

Za’atar Infused Roasted Aubergines

Tags

fast food, food, vegetarian

A good friend gave me a spice called Za’atar (Zaatar) that she brought over from Kuwait. Za’atar is a mixture of sumac, sesame seed and herbs frequently used in the Middle East and Mediterranean areas. It’s usually used on meats or mixed with olive oil to have with bread.

So, last night I tried it out on some aubergines ~ Za’atar infused roasted aubergines on pitta bread, topped with Greek yoghurt.

What you will need…
• Aubergines (cut into squares)
• Garlic (whole)
• Onion (roughly chopped)
• Cherry Tomatoes (whole)
• Za’atar spice
• salt & pepper to taste
• a good olive oil
• Greek yoghurt
• Cilantro
• Lemon
*I’ve left out the quantity as this can be done according to your own taste*

Method
1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius and place the aubergines, onions, garlic and tomatoes on a tray. Sprinkle the za’atar spice, salt & pepper to taste along with a good drizzle of olive oil.
2. Place in the oven and cook for 20 mins or until aubergines are cooked.

3. Once cooked, set aside and warm the pitta bread for 5 mins.

4. Remove pitta bread from the oven, place the aubergines on top of them and return to the oven for another 10 mins.
5. In a bowl, mix some greek yoghurt with salt & pepper, a little lemon juice, za’atar spice and chopped cilantro.
6. Top the aubergines on pitta bread with the greek yoghurt and serve immediately.

I had mine with a simple side of baby romaine salad with tomatoes, black olives and soft white cheese drizzled with olive oil and lemon juice.

This dish was filling, fresh, tasty and most of all, dedicated to my fellow vegetarian bloggers.💗

I also ended up abandoning the cutlery and used my hand instead to devour this dish! Messy, but oh so worth it!

Enjoy! 😊

Note: I think you can purchase Za’atar spice in any middle eastern food store or even online.

A Quick & Easy Lunch

Tags

fast food, food, pesto, tagliatelle

I had a good friend who stopped over for a weekend visit from Manchester before heading back to Poland to spend Easter with her family. So, for the last 3 days, my days and evenings were spent being a tour guide.

Seeing as it was her first time in Spain, we were out almost all day, everyday and I did not spend any time in the kitchen cooking at all! With all that going on, I did not do any food shopping so today’s lunch was very simple.

What you will need…
• Fresh Tagliatelle
• Tinned tuna
• Pesto
• Rocket leaves
• Cracked black pepper

Method
1. In a pot, bring water to boil and drop the tagliatelle. Cook this for 5 to 6 mins.
2. Drain water, return the tagliatelle to the pot and add the tuna, pesto & cracked black pepper. Stir well.
3. Add the fresh rocket leaves, stir it around and serve with a sprinkle of grated parmesan.

Simple yet tasty!

I will get myself round to food shopping once I have recovered from all the walking my friend and I did!

Happy Tuesday to all! 😊

Chicken in Oyster Sauce

Tags

asian, Chicken, fast food, food

For the first time last night, I did not fancy a spicy asian dish. I wanted something tasty and I wanted rice with it. It must be an asian thing that you HAVE to have rice if not everyday, every few days…or perhaps it’s just me! So, dinner was a quick stir fry of chicken, oyster mushrooms, tofu and oyster sauce.

Ingredients
• 1 piece of chicken breast (sliced)
• 3 cloves garlic (minced)
• a thick slice of ginger (minced)
• 1 white onion (quartered)
• Oyster mushrooms
• Ready fried tofu
• half a sweet Italian red pepper (sliced length wise)
• 2tbsp oyster sauce
• 1tbsp sunflower oil
• 1tbsp sesame oil
• 1tsp cracked black pepper
• Plain flour (seeing as I did not have cornflour to hand)

Method
1. In a wok, heat both the oils and add the onions. Sauté for 2 mins before adding the chicken and the cracked black pepper.
2. Once the chicken is cooked or even slightly brown, add the minced garlic and ginger. Fry this for another 2 mins before adding the tofu, oyster mushrooms and oyster sauce.
3. In a glass, mix 1 tsp of plain flour to 100ml of water. Add this slowly into the wok while stirring. If you see that the mixture is getting too thick, don’t panic, just add more water. You may need to adjust the taste by adding salt if need be.
4. Add the sliced red peppers just before serving so you get a crunchy texture.

With the above quantity, we got 2 meals, including seconds!!! AND enough for my lunch today!

I washed it down with some refreshing coconut water!

Yet another dish without salt and only 15 mins from wok to table!

Enjoy! 😊