Oh those days, when you are like a bottomless pit. Do you know those days?
They’ve been striking me often, I don’t know if it’s because it’s the dead of winter, some sort of subconscious knowledge that the end of the world is approaching, or the fact that a growing munchkin is stealing 600 calories from me daily. Nooo he’s not stealing it, I’m happy to donate those calories to my growing bean, but it makes a momma damn hungry to say the least.
Protein is the best hunger quencher, so I find myself noshing lots nuts, seeds, eggs and delicious pastured meats. I got a great deal on some free-range chicken recently and have been searching for creative ways to use it. Queue, sticky sweet chile lime chicken, oh my yum, this is so easy to prepare and just loaded with spicy, sweet and sour punch. We had this for lunch with rice noodles and sunshine sauce with added turmeric and some greens. It was just pure nourishment and subdued my momma bear hunger for a good while.
1 Tbs sambal olek chile hot sauce OR Lee kum kee chili garlic sauce
1 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs honey
2 tsp fish sauce
pinch of salt
Instructions
To get your chicken breasts to cook evenly, I suggest putting them in a plastic bag (one at a time) and smashing them with a mallet or anything hard really, this simply evens the thickness and makes for a tender piece of chicken.
Heat a cast iron skillet or frying pan and melt a bit of fat or oil.
Place the chicken down and cook for 5 minutes on med-high heat. Flip and pour half the sauce onto the seared side. Allow the other side to cook for 5 minutes and top with the rest of the sauce.
Cover and allow to cook for another 2 minutes so that everything gets nice and sticky.
This recipe is for medium sized chicken breasts, for larger chicken breasts the total cooking time will increase by a few minutes.
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I’ve been writing a lot you guys and just wanted to share with you what I’ve been doing. So check it out…
This tender tomato beef stew is spiked with sweet dried apricots and delicate creamy squash. We love it as an alternative to the old classic beef stew. I’m not sure how traditional this stew is, I know that in Argentina they usually add a healthy glug of wine, and a sweet pumpkin, I would love to travel there one day and learn how to make it all proper. Until then, this is my rendition, and I tell you it is pretty damn fine. With a nice glass of red this is a meal to warm your heart on a cold day.
We’ve finally arrived at my parents place for the holidays, it’s been a 2 day adventure to get here and I am so happy to get to spend time with my lovely, crazy family. There has already been a riot of inappropriate jokes and puns, and the fun has just begun. Bring on the good times, amazing food, heartfelt laughter and connection, I love love love it.
A few years back I stopped watching television, it’s a time suck and I hate all the ads. But I still can’t help myself from watching cooking shows on you tube, and as you may be able to tell from the name of my website Naked Cuisine, Jamie Oliver, the original naked chef, is my all time super fave 10 year ongoing crush and inspiration. I’ve though about doing a Julie and Julia, momofukufor2-esque blog with only Jamies recipes, you never know, maybe someday. The other day I caught up on Jamie’s Ministry of Food show, where he highlights super simple recipes for people who may not think they are very good cooks. I never fail to learn a thing or two, really who needs cooking school when you’ve got the food network, especially with Heston’s new show, all the best shows seem to come out of Britain for some reason.
I wish all my favourite food bloggers had cooking shows, it would be so cool to see people in their home kitchens working their magic. I love the little videos that Green Kitchen Stories puts out and Perennial Plate travelling the world. What are some of your favourite cooking shows? Do you prefer reading food blogs and looking at photos over food video? Someone contacted me recently about a new iPhone app they wanted me to try where you make little cooking videos and post them a food gawker for video type website. I had to decline since I’m likely one of the last people on the planet without a cell phone. We actually just moved from an area where there wasn’t even service. They were going to put a cell tower on our friends land but there was massive revolt and hardcore hippies uttering death threats so I think they put a pause on the project.
This chicken is absolutely simple, perfectly cooked every time, and pretty classy too. It’s really easy to whip up the whole lot in under 20 minutes with a nice fresh salad. If you want to watch Jamie cook up prosciutto parmesan chicken check it out here. The method for perfectly cooked chicken is to make the chicken breast or thigh equally thick by bashing it under plastic with a rolling pin or other heavy object. It cooks a lot faster that way and comes out perfectly juicy every time.
4 boneless, skinless free range chicken thighs or breasts
½ C parmesan cheese, grated
1 Tbs olive oil
fresh cracked pepper
Instructions
Place one piece of chicken at a time in a ziploc bag, bash it with a rolling pin a few times so that it has an even thickness.
Lightly sprinkle parmesan on one side of the chicken pieces. Cover with layers of prosciutto so that the cheese is protected.
Heat a frying pan with a bit of oil, when its nice and hot put the chicken in, prosciutto side down and cook for 3-3½ minutes per side over med-high heat.
Lets be real, I like curry any time of year, but there is something extra grand about a rich, full bodied Thai curry when the snappy weather starts to hit. Especially one with juicy ginger infused meatballs and creamy coconut chile lemongrass gravy. Dull cloudy days call for meals like these, with some pillowy jasmine rice, or if your weird like us, leftover Thanksgiving mashed potatoes. Unfortunately there was no turkey on the thanksgiving scene, since 2 people and a baby hardly qualifies for turkey feasting, a humble roast chicken gladly took its place. Though I suppose the real Canadian Thanksgiving is today, so technically we celebrate all that we are grateful for with this divine Red Thai Meatball Curry, and I tell you, it is worthy! Um, and guess what, on a side note, I built a table, yes the one beneath this meatball wonder meal. The only other thing I’ve ever built was a birdhouse, when I was 10. I think I may just have a new obsession, the chop saw, the gratification of slicing doesn’t end at vegetables, oh no, wood is just as fun. Building things is my new favourite fall activity, It’s surprisingly gratifying. Plans for a boot rack, bedside table and bookshelves are officially in the works.
7 Remedies For the Autumn Blues
Tea- drink tea, under a tree and watch the leaves fall to the ground on their way to becoming fertile soil for the oxygen giant to continue growing.
Snuggles- Find your lover, friend, child, cat or dog and cozy up under a warm blanket. There’s nothing like a good cuddle for boosting oxytocin (the love hormone) and making you feel a zillion times better.
Have a piece of pie- Welcome to pie season, where the apples and pumpkins almost seem to bake themselves. Even if you don’t normally make pie, try! This paleo pumpkin cheesecake looks epic!! (even though it’s not pie…)
Soak up the sun- Even though it’s a little more chilly out, it’s still important to get outside and absorb as much sunshine vitamin as you can. This is the time of year when our Vit.D banks are starting to dwindle, with shorter days and less skin exposed it might be a good idea to start supplementing.
Reflect- Autumn is a great time for reflection, look back on the last year and jot down what your grateful for, ways you want to improve, favourite moments from the last year. Don’t be critical of yourself, instead shift into a positive place where you can see that everything happened for a reason (even if you don’t know it yet).
Listen to the tunes you forgot about all summer- Or try an awesome playlist on songza, spine tingling piano serenades, celestial love, so many good ones.
Make some comforting curry and infuse your house with good smells!
Oh yes, this salad is a rainbow of yum- crunchy, zingy, and super satisfying. There are times when I look in my fridge and think I have nothing and it’s like this separate section of my brain chimes in and goes, but wait, you have cabbage, you have leftover roast chicken, you have sesame seeds and carrots, you have yourself an epic Korean style salad! Have I ever told you how much I love kimchi? It seriously is one of my favourite fermented foods, the delightful umami flavour is hard to compare to anything else. You can buy it at most asian markets and health food stores and if you haven’t tried it I urge you to give it a go. Making it from scratch is a little more involved than a basic ferment like sauerkraut but well worth it! I have a recipe for making your own kimchi here, check it out.
I’m not going to lie…the cabbage you see has been waiting to be used for some time now. Thankfully cabbage lasts a long time, because I tend to use it sparingly. Then there are times when the satisfying crunchy nature of cabbage is the only thing that will do. I like to break it down yo’ by really getting in there and massaging the dressing into it, along with the kimchi, this helps make it easier to digest and really helps the umami flavours work their magic.
2 C cooked chicken torn into bite size pieces (I used leftover roast chicken)
4 C purple cabbage, shredded
4 C napa cabbage, shredded
3 medium size carrots, grated
½ C kimchi
2 Tbs sesame seeds (preferably toasted)
1 garlic clove, minced
1 inch piece of ginger, finely chopped
1 small chile, deseeded and finely chopped, OR 1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp lime juice
½ tsp fish sauce
1 tsp tamari or coconut aminos
1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs olive oil
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
2 tsp coconut sugar or honey
1 green onion stalk, finely chopped
2 eggs, fried to your preference (optional)
Instructions
Combine cabbages, carrot,kimchi and sesame seeds in a large bowl and set aside.
Mix together garlic, ginger, chile, lime juice, fish sauce, tamari, rice wine vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil and sugar, whisk together until well slightly emulsified (you could also do this in a blender)
Add half the dressing to cabbage and massage it in with your hands until cabbage starts to soften.
Fry your eggs and warm up your chicken in a frying pan with some of the leftover dressing.
Top with chicken, a fried egg, green onion and a generous drizzle of dressing.
This Almond sauce I make always makes everyone happy. It’s multi-purpose, I make a really similar sauce for my pad thai, but you could use this sauce for satay dipping sauce for skewers, salad dressing, stir-fry sauce, roasted sweet potato…My parents are visiting, so I toned down the hot chili spice and focused on creating a flavourful umami dish even the pickiest of eaters will love. I’m betting even kids would gobble down this sweet & sour almond chicken. Roasted sweet potatoes are the perfect side, they soak up all that luxurious sauce just perfectly.
As the move continues I realize how much stuff we have amassed in the past year, and just how much of it is unnecessary. It’s nice to have a well stocked kitchen, and I’m a sucker for cool gadgets and pretty things but I’m realizing I could fare pretty well with just my cast iron skillet and the vita-mix. Those are the two things I would bring to my desert island if it had electricity. And a stand up paddle board, those are rad, I really want one wide enough that you can do yoga on the water.
This meal is a cinch to whip up, it’s paleo friendly, but you’d never know.
½ tsp sambal chili sauce of ½ of a bird chili, seeds removed
1½ tsp lime juice
1 Tbs tamarind concentrate
2 Tbs honey or coconut sugar
1 tsp fish sauce
1 Tbs coconut aminos or tamari
1 tsp rice wine vinegar
1 Tbs tapioca starch (optional)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400F
In a blender or food processor add almonds,coconut milk,garlic,chili,lime juice, tamarind,honey, fish sauce, coconut amino or tamari and rice wine vinegar and blend until smooth.
For a thicker more gravy like sauce, mix 1 Tbs tapioca starch with 1 Tbs cold water to form a paste and add this to your sauce.
Heat a skillet on high and add coconut oil, place chicken skin side down and lightly salt. Allow skin to get nice and crispy, about 3 minutes per side.
Hey I'm Chantelle, my alter ego would be a mermaid if I wasn't such a terrible swimmer. I love writing authentically and cooking in my pyjamas. My favourite pastimes include eating avocados, travelling the world and hanging out with a toddler.
