Yesterday was such a great day! My cousin who was in the city for her husband’s special event came out to Long Island City to visit and see the apartment! It was wonderful to catch up and laugh even if our lunch at Comunitea was less than wonderful. I will review that later when Bo and I do our first installment of LIC restaurant/cafe reviews later this week. In addition I was able to have the windows open all day while I was working which allowed for a wonderful breeze. Making a healthy, inexpensive, and tasty dinner that both of us THOROUGHLY enjoyed only made the day better!
On Sunday, Bo and I discussed how much we’d like to make cooking and eating in a goal since we now have a great kitchen and grocery store at our fingertips. In addi
tion, I’m working from home for six more weeks so this makes cooking dinner easier than it will be once I start working in the city. Yesterday I looked to Cooking Light and the internet to answer my craving for Indian food. In addition I had three ingredients that I wanted to use since I had them on hand: boneless skinless chicken breasts, a large head of cauliflower, and chickpeas. These recipes were a great success and the whole meal took about 45 minutes from start to finish! It was also quite inexpensive. It easily made four meals (hooray for leftovers tonight) and the cost (including chicken since I know how much I paid for the breasts) was around $14. I realize my cost was on the low end since I had most of the spice on hand but you get the idea!
Bo and I were both amazed with the flavor in these dishes. The tomato chutney is a perfect compliment to the spice rubbed chicken and the peppers added a definite kick. I would recommend doubling the spice rub mixture if you are using more than a pound of chicken breasts though as it doesn’t go very far. We served the cauliflower and chicken with a large salad of greens and tomatoes topped with Annie’s Naturals dressing! We were both satiated and already talking about how wonderful the leftovers would be after marinating for 24 hours! ENJOY 🙂
Yield
4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and about 2 1/2 tablespoons chutney)
Ingredients
CHUTNEY:
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 teaspoon minced seeded serrano chile
1/4 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cup coarsely chopped seeded tomato (If you need to save time buy a can of chopped tomatoes but make sure not to get one with seasoning. I bought no salt added and used the remaining 1/4 c to add to the cauliflower)
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon mustard seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
CHICKEN:
2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
Preparation
To prepare chutney, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and serrano; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add ginger and garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring frequently. Add tomato, vinegar, sugar, mustard seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Uncover and simmer 5 minutes or until mixture is thick. Set aside, and keep warm.
Prepare grill. (We cooked the chicken in the oven since we don’t have our indoor grill unpacked yet. It took 20 minutes at 375 degrees)
To prepare chicken, heat 2 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add coriander, curry, cumin, and black pepper; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Brush mixture evenly on both sides of chicken; sprinkle evenly with 1/2 teaspoon salt.
Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Serve chutney over chicken.
Ingredients
1 Tbsp. olive oil
3 med. carrots, chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
1 Tbsp. curry powder (I added a 2nd Tbsp)
Salt
2 1/2 C vegetable broth (I used low sodium veg. broth)
1 med. head cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 (15 oz.) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained (I only used 1 can as I forgot to buy a 2nd can)
1/2 C chopped cilantro leaves
1/4 C plain lowfat yogurt (I used Dannon FF plain)
Directions
In a dutch oven, heat oil and add carrots and onion. Cook 10-12 mins or until tender. Stir in ginger, curry, and 3/4 tsp. salt into mixture, cook 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Add broth, cover and heat to boiling. Stir in cauliflower and chickpeas. Cover and cook on medium 15-20 minutes longer, gently stirring until cauliflower is tender. Stir in chopped cilantro and yogurt.
