Chicken Tikka Masala

Perfect Pairing:  Tandoori Rice and Naan

A few years ago I went on a girl’s trip with some friends to Washington, D.C. to visit our mutual friend, Ashley.  We spent our days seeing the sights and visiting monuments, and had a fantastic time.  One of the nights we got all gussied up and went to a very hip restaurant for dinner that turned into a club.  It was probably too hip for me.  I remember thinking the other patrons looked like the cast of Gossip Girl.  Anyway, the cuisine was Asian and Indian fusion and the food was outstanding.

Ashley happened to know the owner of the restaurant.  This will come as no surprise if you know Ashley. To know her is to love her, she is full of personality, spunk, and style.  In fact, she just started her own styling business and I have absolutely no doubt that she is going to be a huge success.  Check out her charming website at www.TheStyleEffect.com.  Since she could pull some strings at the restaurant she ordered us some dishes that were not even on the menu.  One of those was Butter Chicken.  Oh, my goodness.  I was expecting chicken dripping in a garlic butter sauce, but it was a spicy tomato based sauce and I was in love. 

After that trip I did some research on butter chicken and realized it is very similar (if not the same thing) as chicken tikka masala, which is a very popular Indian dish.  I have made a few versions of tikka masala and they were good, but this one was definitely the best.  I think what really made the difference in this version was the chicken preparation.  It is spiced, then dipped in greek yogurt, and cooked under the broiler.  I have never considered doing this before and was a little dubious.  It was amazing!  The chicken was moist from the yogurt and had the perfect amount of charred flavor. 

Oddly enough, there is no butter in the recipe and the entire dish is light and healthy.  I served it with Tandoori Rice (made with brown rice) and store bought naan.  It was even great leftover. 

 

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Chicken and Pineapple “Fried” Quinoa, not Rice

Perfect Pairing: Pre-rinsed quinoa

Since my parents just moved my mom has had an opportunity to analyze all of her kitchen tools before storing them in their new home.  She ran across a lot of duplicates, and superfluous gadgets that did not make the cut.  She called me the other day as she was organizing her pantry and asked if I could think of any reason for her to keep the electric skillet.  We went over what we have used it for in the last few years and pretty much came up with one thing, fried rice.  We both agreed that this was not a good enough reason to keep a bulky piece of equipment and into the trash it went.

That discussion got me thinking about the fried rice she used to make.  I loved it.  It was salty from the soy sauce, filling, and about as ethnic as we got growing up.  I decided I was going to make my own variation of fried rice.  My recipe is very different from that original.  I guess they both had peas, soy sauce and eggs in.  That is where the similarities end!

Instead of rice I decided to use quinoa.  I LOVE that stuff.  Side note: If you are a fellow lover of the grain you may want to try this Spicy Quinoa, Tomato, Spinach and Chicken Sausage Soup and this Quinoa, Shrimp, Asparagus and Goat Cheese Salad.  Quinoa's health benefits far outweigh even brown rice.

To keep it extra healthy I used lots of vegetables like broccoli, mushrooms, peas, and edamame.  Fried rice from the local restaurant is going to be full of oil; this recipe uses only two teaspoons.  It is spicy, slightly sweet from the pineapple, filling, and delicious.  Most importantly, it is good for you!   

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is pre-rinsed quinoa.  I made the mistake of buying un-rinsed quinoa once, and will not be doing that again.  I didn’t have a colander small enough to rinse it and had to come up with alternate methods.  I tried coffee filters, paper towels and draining through my fingers.  Long story short, I had a bit of a mess on my hands (literally) and a lot of wasted quinoa.  Do yourself a favor and buy the pre-rinsed variety!

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Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Perfect Pairing:  Rotisserie Chicken and Ready Rice

While I am not a huge fan of casseroles, there are times where they definitely fit the bill.  Usually that is when you need a one-dish meal of comfort food.  One of my all-time favorite recipes, which is famous in my family, is corn casserole.  We literally have it at every family function.  It is ridiculously easy and delicious.  I can’t believe I have not posted about it yet.  It is on my to-do list…

Anyway, a couple of weeks ago I had a hankering for a good ole’ casserole.  I didn’t really consult a recipe because I was pretty sure I knew that I wanted it to include chicken, broccoli, rice, and mushrooms.  So, I just went to the store, got all of those tasty items and took it from there.

I was so pleased with this recipe.  It was absolutely delicious and comforting.  I made the sauce from scratch using a basic white sauce with seasonings and sharp cheddar cheese.  It took just moments and was a lot healthier than using a can of soup, and it tasted great.

So to recap we have a healthy base of chicken, whole grain brown rice, broccoli, mushrooms, and a from-scratch sauce made with skim milk.  Health food, right?  Well, so far.  Now add a sleeve of Ritz crackers to the top.  I’m going with the 80/20 rule here.  These little suckers are what make this casserole really good.  You could definitely use breadcrumbs or Panko, if desired.  I added some poppy seeds for a little visual appeal and texture.

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is rotisserie chicken and Ready Rice.   When I need to use chicken in a recipe like this I almost always buy the rotisserie variety at my grocery store.  It is perfectly cooked and juicy, and most importantly, a huge time saver.  The Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice is a fantastic invention.  Don’t get me wrong, cooking rice is easy, but when you are trying to get dinner on the table after a long day at work any shortcut is appreciated.  I used the Whole Grain Brown Rice variety and it was perfect in this recipe.

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Risotto with Corn, Roasted Peppers, and Pepper Jack Cheese

Perfect Pairing:  Ladle

Risotto is such a lovely thing.  I just had the best risotto of my life on a recent work trip to Portland at a restaurant called Metrovino.  This stuff was insanely good.  It was a mushroom risotto with shitake and oyster mushrooms and truffled mascarpone.   We had it as a shared appetizer, which was perfect, because I think it would have been way too rich as a main course.  I don’t know what they put in it, but it was out of this world.  I probably don’t want to know.  Restaurants sneak in so much unhealthy stuff.

Risotto with Corn, Roasted Peppers, and Pepper Jack Cheese is relatively light in comparison to the heavenly mushroom concoction I had in Portland.  There is no butter, cream, or mascarpone cheese.  I have been making this recipe for years and it is one of my favorites.  It is a little spicy from the pepper jack cheese and the hot sauce, slightly sweet from the corn, and balanced out by the fresh green onions.

Risotto can be a little daunting.  It is all about the liquid/stirring method.  I have no idea if I am preparing my risotto in the correct way.  No doubt, risotto purists would have something to say to me when I get distracted in my kitchen and forget to stir the rice, or add more than the appropriate amount of liquid.   Oh well!  All I know is that I am always pleased with the result. 

The Perfect Pairing for this risotto recipe (or any risotto recipe) is a ladle.  You have to add a small amount of liquid to the rice in intervals and then stir it until it is almost completely absorbed, and then repeat the process until the rice is cooked and creamy.  The simple ladle is the perfect tool since it is usually about ½ cup measure.

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Tandoori Rice

Perfect Pairing – Empty spice jar

If you hang around this blog long enough you probably notice that I don’t focus on a certain cuisine or type of dish. People always ask me what kind of things I like to make and I never really know what to say because I really enjoy a wide variety of dishes, cuisines, etc. 

I love going out for Indian food but it kind of overwhelms me when I think about cooking it myself.  I have a few simple recipes that are hard to beat.  One of those is tandoori chicken, a classic Indian dish.  It is basically roasted chicken that has been marinated in yogurt and seasoned with tandoori masala, or tandoori spice.  You can buy ready-made tandoori spice or you can make you own.  I found a great recipe from Bobby Flay.  The tandoori spice mixture is great on chicken, fish, or rice. 

I came up with this rice recipe when I needed a simple side dish for an Indian dinner.  It is very easy, healthy, and delicious.  I chose to use brown rice to keep it on the healthier side but I am sure you could use white rice.

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is an empty spice jar.  The spice mixture makes quite a bit, more than you would need for this rice recipe.  You will probably empty at least one spice jar after making the mixture, don’t throw it away.  It is perfect to store the leftover spices until your next Indian cooking adventure!

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Tropical Rice

Perfect Pairing:  Tomorrow People – Ziggy Marley (click to listen)

I have a slight obsession with all things tropical in nature.  When I was 10 or 11 years old my mom and dad brought me a cassette tape from the Bahamas with some local music.  I was hooked, really hooked.   I wore that poor tape out.  I saw the Caribbean blue waters for the first time in person when I was in jr. high and the obsession just multiplied.  I dream about tropical vacations all the time, listen to reggae music more than is normal, and love to make tropical food to remind me of island life.

This Tropical Rice is full of beachy flavors and is the perfect accompaniment to fish or chicken.  I use brown rice and light coconut milk to keep it healthy.

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is the song Tomorrow People by Ziggy Marley.  Ziggy Marley is the son of the great Bob Marley and you can definitely tell when you listen to him.  His voice is eerily similar to his legendary father.  This song evokes sandy beaches, hot sunshine, fruity drinks and azure waters.  Ahhh…

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