Shredded Chipotle Chicken

For Halloween, we invited friends over for a ghoulish feast and potions (cocktails). We had seen the idea of a dissected man online so decided to go with it...

In all honesty, we cheated quite a lot. We've been decorating, I still had a lot of school work to do so we went for quick and easy options. The intestines (Taste the Difference apple and pork & pork and caramelised onion sausages) and ribs (apple BBQ pork ribs) were out of a packet and we take no credit for them (other than for choosing a very good selection from Sainsbury's!). However, the shredded flesh (chipotle chicken) is a recent Slimming World recipe from one of their magazines, and I love it. Luckily, our friends really enjoyed it too, so much so that they wanted the recipe. And here we are...

Ingredients (serves 4):

3 skinless chicken breasts

Sauce: 

4 tbsp tomato ketchup

2 tbsp cider vinegar

1 tbsp mustard powder

2 tbsp chipotle paste

2 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 tsp black treacle

2 tsp smoked paprika

Salt & pepper

Instructions:

1. Boil the chicken for 2 minutes, then turn off the heat and cover. Leave in the boiling water to poach for 30 minutes. Remove from the water and set aside to cool for 5 minutes. 

2. Mix together the ingredients of the sauce and set aside. 

3. Using two forks, pull apart the chicken breasts until appropriately shredded. Stir through the chipotle sauce. 

4. Add the chicken and sauce back to a pan, and cook over a medium/low heat for 10 minutes until hot and serve as desired.

The recommendation in the magazine was to serve in bread rolls, but we enjoyed with the other meat, fries and coleslaw. This is currently 2 syns per serving, but please check syn values before cooking. 

Fanta Chicken

This is a recipe that does the rounds in Slimming World. I must admit when hearing about this and the diet coke chicken I was pretty skeptical, but this is delicious.

This creates a sweet and sour type meal, which I think rivals anything you'd get in a jar in the supermarket minus the calories and syns you'd find in those. I'm already looking forward to having it again.

Ingredients (serves 2):

2 chicken breasts

Your choice of vegetables (I used pepper, onion, mushrooms and baby sweetcorn)

330ml diet Fanta (or any substitute fizzy orange drink)

250g passata 

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice powder

Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Fry the onion and chicken in some fry light until the chicken turns white. Don't overlook as it will cook in the sauce

2) Add your vegetables and fry for a few minutes

3) Mix the Fanta, passata, 5 spice and Worcester sauce in a jug, and add to the saucepan bringing to the boil.

4) Season before turning the saucepan down to simmer. Cook until the sauce is reduced and thickened (about 30 minutes).

5) Add some fresh pineapple and stir through (don't cook or this will add syns), then serve with the accompaniment of your choice.

Indian Chicken

The other day we watching Celebrity Masterchef and they were asked to make a cumin and coriander chicken dish, with an Indian flatbread and raita of sorts. The dishes they made looked amazing and Rhys had commented on how nice they looked. I decided I would have a go at a similar recipe (after all, the way to please a man is through his stomach) and so for once, this is me thinking off my own head and putting in what I think tastes nice... I hope you (and Rhys) enjoy it!

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts

2 cloves garlic, crushed

125ml natural yogurt (I used fat-free yogurt)

1 tbsp cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1/2 tbsp hot chilli powder

1/2 tbsp cayenne pepper

Salt

Pepper

Instructions:

1. Cut diagonal slits into the chicken breast. Place into a dish for marinating (I used my small oblong Pyrex dish).

2. In a mixing bowl, mix the yogurt, garlic, spices and salt and pepper. Taste the mixture - add more of any flavour as required.

3. Spoon the mixture over the chicken breasts, making sure you tuck some into the slits you cut earlier.

4. Put the dish in the fridge to marinate. Leave it at least 3 hours to allow the flavours to develop, but overnight would be preferable.

5. Preheat the oven to 220c (200 for a fan oven). Put the chicken in the oven for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

6. Serve as required!

Chilli Chicken Noodles

It's been a while since I've posted anything but with the start of term, Rhys has done most of the cooking. Such a god send! However, today I've been inspired after telling some students about my blog so here is tonight's dinner.

Ingredients (per person):

FryLight

2 large cloves of garlic

2 chillies

1 chicken breast, cubed

1/2 pepper

1/2 onion

5 mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 portion dried egg noodles

Instructions:

1. Boil the noodles as stated on the packet instructions. Drain well, and rinse in cold water.

2. Crush the garlic and finely chop the chillies. Add the FryLight to a wok, and cook the garlic and chillies for 30 seconds.

3. Add the chicken and vegetables and cook for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

4. Add the soy sauce and mix well before adding the noodles to the wok. Toss to coat the noodles in the mixture.

5. Serve immediately.

Chicken, Bacon and Mushroom Risotto

I think I should be Italian! I seriously love all their food - pasta, risotto, pizza, calzone... We're currently considering going to Rome for October half term but I could come back the size of a house! This is an adaptation of a recipe I found a long time ago on a website. I've cooked it for just about everyone I know and they've all loved it - even my brother who's just the teensiest bit fussy!

Ingredients (serves 4):
4 chicken breasts, diced
8 rashers of smoked bacon, sliced
1 onion, finely chopped
250g sliced mushrooms
300g arborio risotto rice
1 glass white wine
1 litre chicken stock
30g Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
1. Cook the chicken in some fry light until the outside is just white, and add the bacon. Cook until the chicken is completely cooked through and set aside.

2. Add the onion to the pan and cook for 3-4 minutes until soft. Then add the mushrooms and cook for a further 3-4 minutes.

3. Stir the rice through. Cook it for 1 minute until it starts to go transparent. Then add the white wine, and cook until evaporated before stirring through the cooked chicken and bacon.

4. Add the chicken stock a ladle at a time. Make sure that the stock is absorbed before adding any more but do not allow the pan to go dry.

5. Once all the stock has been added, sprinkle the Parmesan over the top and stir it through. Season as required and serve immediately, with a salad.

Note: Always taste the rice about 15 minutes after you first started adding stock. Cook until it is "al dente" - there should be a little bit of resistance when you chew but it shouldn't be rock hard in the center and mushy on the outside.
Also be prepared to add more liquid if required (add hot water) or less stock than is stated in the recipe. It will depend on your risotto.

Chicken Parmigiana

Well this is not truly speaking 'parmigiana' as I had no parmesan in my house, but it's my take on it anyway. Today is the first time I've ever made this, but I was actually impressed with myself and how delicious this turned out (although time I'll probably mix some parmesan in with the cheese on top).
I've been trying to follow the Slimming World diet this week to try and lose some summer pounds so the recipe I came up with takes into account the extra easy plan (using both the healthy B and healthy A options). You can however make this as naughty as you want it and if I wasn't trying to be good, I'd probably mix some parmesan in with the breadcrumbs too.

Ingredients: (serve 2)
2 large chicken breasts, halved
2 slices bread (800g loaf), whizzed into breadcrumbs (use dry bread but don't be tempted by stale ends)
1 egg
Paprika
Mixed herbs
Salt and pepper
400g tinned tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp tomato purée
150g spaghetti
Cheese (to top)

Instructions:
1. Prepare your breadcrumbs and sprinkle over some paprika and mixed herbs. Mix in gently (and add more to taste if you desire). Whisk up an egg in a bowl.

2. Season the chicken with some salt and pepper. Dip each chicken piece in the egg, and then roll in the breadcrumbs. Lay out on a baking sheet, and put in the fridge while you prepare your sauce.

3. Preheat the oven to 200C. Finely dice an onion and fry for about 5 minutes. Add the onion and cook for a further minute. Add in the tomatoes, sugar, tomato purée and a pinch of mixed herbs. Season to taste.

4. Put the chicken in the oven for 20-25 minutes. During this time, blend the tomato sauce before bringing it to the boil and allowing it to simmer.

5. Add the tomato sauce to an oven-proof dish. Place the chicken on top of the sauce and cover with cheese. Put the dish in the oven for a further 10 minutes.

6. Serve on the spaghetti.

Piri-Piri Chicken with Roasted Mediterranean Veg

This is probably my absolute favourite thing that we eat at home. It requires absolutely no skill, and essentially the flavours come from a packet but it is so tasty that I had to add it to the blog!
There is easily enough vegetables here to serve 4 but I love these more than the chicken so I'm always happy to fill up my plate with the veggies. You can chuck just about anything you want in; normally we do peppers, mushrooms, onions and courgette. I had some new potatoes left over from last nights lamb dish so I parboiled them for 5 minutes and added to the vegetables before putting in the oven.

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 courgette
200g mushrooms
1 red onion
1 sachet Schwartz Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables mix
1 sachet piri-piri spice mix (Nando's or the supernarket's alternative)

Instructions:
1. Slice all the vegetables and place in an oven-proof dish.

2. Pre-heat the oven to 220c (200 for fan oven) or gas mark 7.

3. Mix the vegetables with the mix and 1 tbsp of olive oil. Spray with Fry Light before putting in the oven.

4. Cook in the oven for 25 minutes tossing the vegetables regularly. Respray with Fry Light as necessary.

5. Whilst the vegetables are cooking, butterfly your chicken breasts. (I prefer smaller pieces of chicken so cut them in half length ways too but that's up to you!)

6. Season the chicken pieces lightly with salt and pepper before sprinkling the piri-piri mixture over them. Spray lightly with Fry Light.

7. Spray the griddle with Fry Light (or lightly oil) and heat. Add the chicken. Cook until the chicken is cooked through (about 5 minutes each side although this is dependent on the thickness), turn the chicken regularly and spray with Fry Light intermittently so it doesn't dry out.

8. Serve immediately, with some Nando's dipping sauce for those who like a bit of spice.

Note: If you don't like spicy food, this also works well with lemon and herb rub instead of the piri-piri.