Warm spiced chicken and mango salad with yoghurt dressing

This recipe is from the lovely Susan our nutritional cook. New season mangoes are appearing at the markets and in the produce aisle... so be very QUICK. This is a yummy combination and I can't wait to try it myself, the crispy greens, sweet mangoes and cumin chicken make a wonderful combination!



Warm spiced chicken and mango salad with yoghurt dressing

1-2 tsp ground cumin
Salt,pepper
2 chicken thighs
Mixed green leaves
Snow peas (we had heaps in the garden!)
1 cucumber, sliced
1 mango, slightly under ripe
Dry roasted cashew nuts, optional

Preheat oven 200 C. Rub chicken thighs with cumin, salt and pepper (could also add some chilli or cayenne pepper if not serving to kids). Cook chicken in the oven for 15-20 mins, or until cooked through. Slice while still warm.

Serve on a salad of mixed green leaves, raw or very slighly blanched snow peas, dry roasted cashews and sliced mango. Drizzle over yoghurt dressing.

Yoghurt dressing
1 cup natural yogurt, 1/4 cup mint leaves chopped, 1/4 cup coriander leaves chopped, 1 small clove garlic crushed, 1 tsp finely grated ginger, juice from half a lemon. Combine ingredients or blitz in a food processor. Season to taste. Also good with a 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper added or 1 tsp of honey.

Chicken, fresh turmeric, shitake mushrooms, tamari, lime and ginger chilli garlic hotpot with kale

This is a killer chicken hotpot, it will boost immunity, fight off any bugs and keep you strong and healthy. I even drank some left over broth, I just can't get enough of this yummy and extremely nutritious dish. My butcher at Richards meats cut the fresh bird into 8's (saves my knife) the skin on the bird adds a deep robust flavour. I browned the chicken in a saute pan and then finished the dish off in a slow cooker, alternatively you can use a stock pot. If you can cook this dish once a week over the cooler months.


1 fresh organic or hormone free chicken,
cut into 8
1 small knob fresh turmeric, sliced finely
4 garlic cloves, sliced finely
1 small red chilli, remove seeds and dice small
1 small knob ginger, sliced finely (don't worry too much about peeling the skin unless its not organic ginger)
1 litre free range chicken stock (I use pacific brand avail at always organics)
1/2 cup tamari (wheat free soy sauce)
2 carrots, peeled and cut into 6
1/2 bunch kale, roughly chopped
2 fresh limes, juiced
1 packet fresh shitake mushrooms, sliced finely


Heat a saute pan and brown the skin off the chicken, once done put into the slow cooker or stockpot.
In the same pan add the ginger, garlic, turmeric and chilli saute for 3-4 minutes adding a little water if it starts to burn.
In a small saucepan heat the chicken stock. Add all remaining ingredients except for the kale and carrot to the slow cooker and cook for 2 hours, at the 2 hour point add the kale and carrot and cook for a further 20 minutes. (You do this so the vegetables are fresh and crisp)
Taste and season accordingly, make a big pot of organic brown rice or basmati and enjoy

Burrawong baked chicken, roasted pumpkin, garlic spinach and cultured olive cheese

Yummo this is such a easy, delicious and nourishing meal, I got my butcher to bone the whole bird, I then seasoned it with sea salt, pepper some fresh rosemary from the garden and baked in moderate oven for 25 minutes, the roasted pumpkin started to caramelise ( the starch converted to sugar) I have been using the Babushka cultured cheese it quite a few recipes for clients it really is a beautiful and highly nutritional product click on the link for more info on cultured foods and probiotics, and the garlic spinach and slow cooked caramelised onions finished it off. The perfect weekend recipe. These burrawong chickens are all organic, pasture feed roaming free happy birds and you can taste it in every bite!

Spanish chicken casserole

On the weekend I cooked a chicken casserole for a student who was having family and friends over for dinner, she asked me to cook a dish I had created in one of my cooking classes a year ago and as I put the ingredients together I realised what a beautiful and jam packed nutritional recipe it is. In the photograph are some ingredients fro the recipe, dutch cream potatoes and Sicilian green olives......the rest is as follows.


1 whole chicken (cut into 8) get your butcher to do this for you
3 cups chicken stock
1 bunch thyme
fresh pepper and sea salt to season
2 tablespoons organic clarified butter
1 brown onion (diced)
5 cloves garlic (cut into halves)
200g good quality green olives
2 tablespoons pine nuts - roasted
1 cup white wine
1 kg dutch cream potatoes


In a large stockpot saute the onions and garlic in the clarified butter, in a large fry pan seal the chicken and get the skin crispy.
Put the chicken into the stockpot with the fat from the fry pan and add all the remaining ingredients (it's so simple)
Cook for 25 minutes on medium heat and then serve with brown rice

Chicken meatballs with parsley pesto and roasted red capsicum tomato jus

Thanks to Michal my dear Israeli friend for always inspiring a meatball makeover.
Yep so easy and such a great way to get protein in a simple form, you can reheat them in a saucepan with sauce, you can steam them to rejuvenate and always have them on hand for last minute to add with some vegetables and perhaps a grain if you desire. The secret ingredient to these meatballs is the preserved lemon and parsley pesto giving them a zingy flavour.

500g organic or certified free range mince chicken ( I use la ionica) ask your butcher to mince fresh
100g green beans, diced finely
1 tablespoon parsley pesto (recipe below)
sea salt and pepper to taste
small amount dried chilli flakes
1/4 preserved lemon, diced finely (pulp and skin)

parsley pesto
1 bunch parsley
handful of raw almonds
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup extra quality olive oil
dash sea salt

red capsicum sauce
1 red capsicum
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 fennel dced finely
1 cup vegetable or chicken stock


Method

Take the mince chicken, parsley pesto, green beans, preserved lemon, and mix together, form into small balls and bake in the oven for 20 minutes
Roast the capsicum for 20 minutes and peel the skin off, saute the fennel, cumin seeds and add the tomatoes and stock, cook for 10 minutes, in a blender place the tomato sauce and red capsicum and blend until mixed
serve the meatballs with red sauce and green vegetables.

Storage hint - you can freeze meatballs and sauce in container and simply reheat and make fresh vegetables to go with it

Chicken and black bean tortilla with smokey chipotle and guacamole

I really love great mexican food and when you find the good stuff in the states it is healthy and so delicious, when I visit new york I always eat at chipotle it is a fast food place but they use organic chicken and pasture fed beef and have a huge selection of vegetarian dishes as well, all the sauces and guacamole are made fresh on the premises.

Here is my take on a a chicken black bean dish I would eat at Chipotle.

My secret ingredient in this recipe is sweet potato it balances out the spice perfectly!

It is real simple and I found my smokey chipotle peppers at harris farm (of all places) you can also order them online from a fab latin/mexican wholesaler in sydney fireworks foods


2 can's black beans (amy's or goya)
packet of diago's gluten free tortilla"s (available at supermarkets)
1/4 small sweet potato, diced very small
1 chicken breast poached and shredded (IF VEG SKIP THIS)
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 red chilli, diced small
1 garlic clove diced small
1 smoke chipotle pepper
1/4 red onion, diced
2 avocado
1 lemon juiced

Mash the avocado and add lemon and sit in the fridge
Take the onion and garlic and gently fry in ghee of olive oil for 5 minutes, add cumin.
Add the black beans, sweet potato and shredded chicken and cook for 10 minutes, when beans and sweet potato have softened mash up with a whisk or fork
Lastly add the chipotle pepper (medium heat) and cook for another 5 minutes until all the smokey chipotle flavour is soaking into the beans.
Heat the tortillas in a warm oven or grill and eat with beans and guacamole

Organic Chicken Liver Brandy Pate'

Sometimes when I have been cooking all day it is a challenge to have the energy to prepare a meal myself... So all I want for dinner is good quality Pate on fantastic small bite sized pieces of baguette. Hm and the nutrition is very dense.


Organic Chicken Liver Pate with Brandy (for a lazy decadent evening with a glass of red)

400G fresh organic chicken livers
1 stick of butter (I used paris creek biodynamic unsalted butter)
1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon leek
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons brandy

Take 20g of butter and melt in a fry pan on a gentle flame. Add the leek and garlic and also bay leaf and thyme and slowly saute for 7 minutes.

Trim the chicken livers removing any spots or other bits.

Add to the fry pan and cook for 5 minutes turning over the livers they should be soft (not tough and over cooked)

Remove the bay leaf and thyme and put the livers and leek mixture into a food processor with 100 grams of butter.

In the same fry pan deglaze with 2 tablespoons brandy and then pour into food processor

Add fresh black pepper and sea salt. Adjust seasons for taste

In the same fry pan melt 30 grams butter, pour pate into a ramekin or container and pour melted butter on top to set.

I ate my pate with common ground spelt sourdough that I toasted and cut into small pieces. It really was the most delicious and decadent dinner for a lazy night.