Pineapple Glazed Chicken Kebabs

Posted on August 27, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

This past weekend was a rainy one. We cleaned, we organized, we did a step-by-step photo shoot. I sewed until I broke my last needle. But really, we wanted to be at the lake. We wanted to be grilling. We wanted to soak up every last bit of summer in Bavaria.

So could we grill when it was bucketing? No, but we could still make kebabs.

Pineapple Glazed Chicken Kebabs

The Marinade {inspired by Tupelo Honey Cafe}
1/3 cup pineapple juice {orange or grapefruit juice would work as well}
3 Tbsp soy sauce
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1-2 chicken breasts

The Veg
1 bell pepper {I generally use some combination of red, green or yellow.}
1 medium sweet onion
4-5 button mushrooms
1/2 of a zucchini

Soak 6-8 bamboo skewers in water. {This will prevent the wood from splintering and if you’re grilling, it will keep the wood from burning.}

Combine all the ingredients for the marinade in a tupperware container. reserve a couple tablespoons and set aside. Cut the chicken into bite sized cubes and pop it in the marinade. Best case scenario, marinate the chicken overnight, but if that’s not possible at least marinate it while you’re prepping the veggies. {If you can do overnight, I swear the chicken will actually melt in your mouth.}

Wash and dry your veggies then cut them all into bite-sized bits.

Thread the skewer through the veggies and chicken. Get creative with the order. It doesn’t really matter/have to be exact. {Unless you’re OCD, in which case, carry on with your patterns.}

If you can grill these babies, do it! We couldn’t due to rain/lack of grill device, so I just popped them in a pan on medium high heat for about 3-4 minutes on each side. Remember that bit of the marinade you reserved before you put the chicken in? Brush it over the kebabs each time you flip it.

Perfection.

Serve with some green beans or maybe some potatoes or baked beans and dig in!

{This post contains an Amazon affiliate link. That means that if you head over to Amazon from the link and choose to buy the book, a tiny bit of the money you spent on the book will come back to me for the referral.}

Quinoa Stir Fry

Posted on August 7, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

My first experience with quinoa was back in college in one of my food science labs. My teacher presented its as this wonder food that was a grain AND a complete protein {meaning that it contains all 9 essential amino acids which are usually only available in animal products}. We then proceeded to make one of the most delicious casseroles I’ve ever had with it, so naturally I was hooked.

But quinoa really is the wonder grain now. I can understand why its been a fave for vegans, but I’m loving that all us omnivores have jumped on the bandwagon too. In theory, and for a while there it did make it easier to get. A few weeks ago I posted an article about the economics of quinoa, and I understand that it’s not always an easy or cheap grain alternative. We are so lucky that a 500g bag is still just 5 euro here which, compared to a lot of places is a steal.

If quinoa is scarce in your area right now, then go ahead and try it with some brown rice. However, I would throw in a chicken breast or and extra egg just to get that extra protein!

Quinoa Stir Fry

{adapted for two from DamnDelicious}

The Quinoa
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
1 tsp salt

The Egg
olive oil
1 egg
1 green onion {optional}

The Veg
olive oil
1 clove of garlic
1 small white onion {or 1/2 of a large one}
1 cup fresh mushrooms
2 cups of broccoli {or 1/2 a head}
1/2 of a zucchini
1 ear of corn, cooked

The Juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp. ginger

Start heating a medium sized pot and a large pan with deep sides on medium high heat. Go ahead an boil your jug. In a sieve, rinse your quinoa under hot water for a couple of minutes to rinse off the powdery saponin on the grain that has a really bitter taste. Very important step!

Once the jug has boiled, measure your water and add it to the pot along with the salt. Once it comes to a boil, add the quinoa and reduce the temperature to medium low. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is soft.

While the quinoa is cooking away, pour a bit of olive oil in the pan {just enough for the egg not to stick} and add the egg. Scramble and cook until done then put it in a bowl and set to the side. Return the pan to the heat. {If you have a green onion, slice it up and scramble it in with the egg.}

Now get to chopping. This is all about timing. Mince your garlic and onion first. Then get to work on the mushrooms, broccoli, and zucchini. Wash the mushrooms, remove their stems, and then slice ’em up. Cut the florets off the head of broccoli and give them a rinse. Wash your zucchini, slice into half inch-ish sized slices, and then quarter those slices. Cut the kernels of corn off the ear and break them up into individual kernels.

Add the olive oil to the hot pan and toss in the minced garlic and onions. Cook for about 3-4 minutes.

Toss in the mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, and corn and cook until the broccoli and zucchini are soft enough for your liking. {Usually 5-7 minutes for us.}

The quinoa should be finishing up by now, so use a fork to fluff it up a bit and remove it from the heat.

When your veggies are appropriately soft, add the quinoa to the pan. {I push all the veggies to the side, add a little bit more olive oil to the empty part of the pan and then add the quinoa a little at a time so that the quinoa can get a little bit crispy.} Go ahead and throw that scrambled egg back in there too and mix well.

Season with a little soy sauce and ginger and cook for a couple more minutes. Serve it up and enjoy. I always use a little sriracha sauce on mine for an extra little kick, but it’s just as delicious without.

Lauren’s Summer Favourite

Posted on June 27, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

The Kiwi has lovingly volunteered to help me out and share a few recipes of his own while we are away on holiday. Today’s recipe was the first thing he ever made for me {before he even knew about my love of coconut}, so I find it quite fitting that it’s the first thing he is sharing with y’all as well! So, without further ado, I’ll turn it over to the Kiwi.

I have no idea what the original source for this recipe was—I appropriated it from a couple of friends I was staying with after watching them make it and then made it my own—so there isn’t really a name for it. This was the first thing I ever cooked for Lauren {having not yet located a supply of lamb mince in Munich to make my usual favourite}. Ever since then it’s just been known to us as “Lauren’s favourite”.

Suffice to say, this dish comprises a range of diced vegetables in a coconut sauce, served over pasta. As well as being extremely tasty, it features an agreeable spectrum of colours and feels perfect for a summer’s evening. If you’re feeling carnivorous, or you just have some leftover {cooked} chicken to use up, then you can stir it in at the end, but it’s really not necessary.

Lauren’s Summer Favourite

The Pasta
200g {6 oz} whole wheat spaghetti
1tsp salt

The Sauce
½ a large zucchini
1 small red bell pepper
1 small yellow bell pepper
½ a large eggplant
2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp whole wheat flour
½ can {200mL or 6 oz} coconut milk
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
⅛ tsp ground black pepper

Chop all of the vegetables into roughly 1.5cm {½ inch} cubes. Eggplant can sometimes have a bitter taste in the liquid around the seeds, so chop that first, place it in a bowl and sprinkle liberally with salt to draw out the moisture. Set aside while you prepare the other ingredients, or even do this step half an hour ahead if you have time.

Preheat a large frying pan on medium-high. You’ll be sautéing the vegetables so that they cook quickly without turning to mush.

Separately, bring a pot of salted water to the boil in preparation for the pasta. Where I come from not even the poorest English Lit grad student could imagine life without an electric kettle and this job takes two minutes. However, in America folks prefer to eschew such cheap and easily-available conveniences in favour of heating the water laboriously on the stove.

The zucchini takes the longest to cook, so add it to the frying pan first along with the oil and start sautéing. After a couple of minutes add the peppers and finally, after a few minutes more, wash the salt off the eggplant cubes and add them to the pan as well. You’ll want to begin cooking the spaghetti as directed at about this point. Continue sautéing until the vegetables are soft, but not yet starting to break down. This process takes about 5-10 minutes in total.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the flour to soak up any remaining oil. Stir for about a minute, then add the coconut cream. Grind in the pepper and grate in the parmesan cheese. I recommend moving to Europe, where you can bind blocks of genuine Parmigiano Reggiano in every supermarket fridge. That doesn’t make a big difference to the recipe; it’s just something I like to recommend.

Continue cooking and stirring for a few minutes until the sauce is thickened. Serve over the spaghetti with a little grated parmesan and black pepper for garnish.

Veggie Drawer Pasta

Posted on June 19, 2013 by kiwiandpeach

A big part of cooking for two is planning your meals so that you can use leftover ingredients before they go bad. For the most part, I’d say that the Kiwi and I do pretty well on that front, but we certainly aren’t perfect. Veggies are the hardest for us. We always end up with random halves just hanging out on the veggie shelf.

It’s always handy to have a couple super flexible recipes up your sleeve so you can just use up anything that is about to go off. This is one of my favorites for using up leftover veggies. You can throw just about any veggie in this and it’s going to taste great.

Veggie Drawer Pasta

{heavily adapted for two from Goddess of Scrumptiousness}

The Marinade
2 chicken breasts
1 Tbsp olive oil
juice from 1/2 of a lemon
zest from 1/2 of a lemon
salt and pepper

The Tomatoes
15 cherry tomatoes
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper

The Pasta
4 oz whole wheat pasta

The Veggies
1 Tbsp olive oil
whatever you have on hand {I’ve had success with zucchini and bell peppers, but spinach would be great too.}

The Garlic Sauce
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp whole wheat flour
2 cloves of garlic
1 cup chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 300F/150C.

First we need to put our chicken in to marinate. Cut your chicken breasts in to bite sized pieces. In a small bowl mix your marinade ingredients together and toss the chicken in. Coat well with the marinade and put it in the fridge until you’re ready for it.

Slice your cherry tomatoes lengthwise and scatter them on a lined baking pan. Drizzle with olive oil and toss on your rosemary, salt, and pepper. Give it a stir so that all the tomatoes are covered and pop it in the oven for 45 minutes.

Take a break. Have a nice glass of tea and peruse Pinterest for a bit.

When the tomatoes have about 20 minutes left start heating a large pan on medium high heat. Boil your jug and start heating a large pot on medium high heat too.

When the jug finishes boiling put your pasta on. Cook according to the directions in the package {usually 11-13 minutes for whole wheat}. When the pasta is finished drain the water and set it to the side.

Chop the veggies you’re using into bite sized pieces and grab your chicken from the fridge. When your pan is nice and hot, pour in the olive oil and add your chicken and veggies. Let cook them cook for about 3 minutes on each side.

Now we’re going to get fancy with the sauce. Push the chicken and veggies to the edges of the pan making a whole in the middle like a donut. Drop in the butter and when it’s melted sprinkle with flour. Add your minced garlic. Slowly add your chicken stock whisking while you pour to avoid clumps. Stir your chicken and veggies in with the sauce and then let it simmer away for about 5 minutes our until the sauce is thick enough for your liking. Add the pasta to the pan and mix well. Plate up and top with the roasted tomatoes and some yummy parmesan cheese.