Sounds weird right? Well it was impulse and I could not be happier with the way it turned out! I was making chicken for the week (more like a couple of days) and wanted to do something different with the marinade instead of just dumping my trusty no salt-seasoning from Costco on it. So I started with paprika and then saw the honey in my cupboard and thought it could make a nice glaze. This recipe can be used to marinade other types of meat as well, but chicken is great because it is so versatile. It's like a chameleon...or something. I had this for lunch with spinach and goat cheese and it was on point...I think that any vegetable/cheese combo would be a great way to balance the marinade on the chicken! Anyways, hope you are not too deterred by the sound of this recipe to give it a try!
Directions: Place chicken breasts in a bowl and pour olive oil on top. Mix well and add salt and paprika. Rub mixture into the meat thoroughly, making sure that both sides are adequately covered. Next, add honey and cinnamon, also making sure that all breasts are evenly coated. If you have time, cover and let the marinade sit for a couple of hours. Otherwise, place breasts on a baking sheet, and pour leftover mixture from the bowl over the meat for added flavor. Bake for about half and hour on 350-400. Remove, and once again, pour the extra juice from the pan over your meat when serving (optional but delicious in my opinion). I'm sure this meat would also be delicious from the grill, but I will have to try that next time.
Ps. The amounts for the spices are approximations, so feel free to tweak them according to your judgement. I just kind of eyeballed it and did what looked right.
I do, however, have to say that I went to this natural market in midtown yesterday and got coconut flour and arrowroot powder though and I can't wait to experiment! Also got chapstick and tea (caramel and peach!!) and coconut flakes among other things...Groupon well spent!
Enjoy your weekends everyone, and let me know if you're cheating this weekend or have any groundbreaking frozen watermelon ideas! Also, please remember to follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/livehealtheasy and like me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Healtheasy/668192006543588, thanks for the support!
It is incredibly hot here in the Bronx...like I don't even have to work out and I already sweat balls, but thankfully I got to the gym anyways for a lifting session and did hang snatches, bench press, and some plyos among other things. Granted I did feel like I was going to pass out afterwords, but still so worth it. I didn't even feel like eating a lot of food afterwards but had been craving a sweet potato (post weights clean carbs am I right?) mostly because I always crave them and honestly don't see the obsession ending anytime soon...but I'm not mad about it.
I also had some mushrooms that I wanted to use up before they went bad, so that is where my brainstorming process started. Wasting food is a huge pet peeve of mine, and I already had to throw away an eggplant because it didn't survive the heat :((( I figure you can't really go wrong with roasting things, so I decided to move from there. Have I mentioned by the way that having a toaster oven is one of the best things ever? It is so great for when I am lazy to use the oven or am not trying to make a lot of food. (Sidenote: when I was getting our apartment I was able to score a beautiful knife set, toaster oven, and coffee maker on Craigslist all for $25, one of my proudest moments ever...I will have to post pictures eventually).
Anyways, what ended up happening was this: a nice and light mix that you can have just by itself, as a snack with celery or any other vegetable, or as a side to some grilled meat or something. The great thing is, you do not even need a lot of the goat cheese to get the great taste, and the sweet potatoes easily play up the creamy texture.
1. Grease a sheet with olive oil, and roast the chopped sweet potato in a (toaster) oven. This should go pretty quickly, but could depend on the strength of your oven as well as the size you cut your potatoes. I would say that around 20 minutes in the oven at 375 should do it.
2. After waiting about 10 minutes because they roast quicker, add the mushrooms to the sheet and sprinkle all vegetables with salt and ground lemon pepper.
3. When the sweet potatoes are soft, remove everything from the oven.
5. Finely chop your roasted mushrooms (I learned that a sharp knife makes this job a lot easier, and stir into sweet potato mixture.
6. Add in the 2 tbsp of goat cheese, and microwave to melt a little if necessary. When the goat cheese melts a little it becomes kind of translucent, so it isn't very noticeable, but the taste is definitely there!
7. Add more goat cheese/salt/pepper as you feel is necessary.
Ps. Does anyone else have any obsessions to share so mine of sweet potatoes, goat cheese and toaster ovens don't feel so weird? (or feel even weirder, which is completely fine too). Feel free to share!
Heat small pan on high with a teaspoon of olive or coconut oil. Reduce the heat and add cut up sausage, sauteeing until the edges are nice and bronzed. Throw in the spinach and vegetables, and continue to sautee for 1-2 minutes. Pour eggs over the mixture, liberally adding salt and pepper (my vegetables were already salty from being previously roasted, so I only used a little). At this point, start scrambling with a spatula and continue to mix until your eggs start to get toasted from the pan, or if you prefer, cover and make in omelette form until eggs set. Transfer to plate (or in my case tupperware) and you're done! You now have a high protein meal for the day ready in less than 10 minutes!
What did you guys bring to work for lunch today??
I used to just take pictures of food whenever I was proud of anything that I made, just to be able to look back on it later and remember what and how I made it. This was before I realized how great it could be to actually write some of this stuff down and potentially share it with people...genius right?? So anyways, I made these burgers on the Fourth of July but I can assure you (and hopefully some of my friends who tried them could too) that they would be just as delicious on any other day of the year! I am eyeballing the amounts for the recipe because I ended up splitting the ground turkey I had and making other burger variations, so when you are making these use your best judgement! I'm pretty sure you really can't go wrong either way.
Combine everything in a bowl, working through the mixture with your hands to make sure that all ingredients bind together. Form patties of your choice and stick on a well heated grill. You probably know the rest, but just make sure the sides are brown and the patty is well cooked throughout before serving. With this particular recipe, the more grilled the burgers are, the sweeter and meltier and more pronounced the apricots get...absolutely amazing, but don't take my word for it! I prefer my burgers without a bun, and the taste of this patty by itself on a bed of spinach was enough for me, but I'm sure these would be delicious with anything. The next time I make these, I'm thinking I will try them with goat cheese!