1 New Recipe A Week Challenge

This week I've tried not 1, but 2 new recipes! Dinner is where I usually find myself quite 'bored' shall we say but seeing as it was pancake day I decided I would try a clean pancake recipe and a new dinner recipe - chicken Jalfrezi.

So here we go :)

Banana & Coconut pancakes. Serves 1 (big portion)

You'll need:
1 really ripe banana
2 eggs
33g of desiccated coconut
1 handful of blueberries
Coconut oil (for frying)

1. Whisk 2 eggs in a bowl
2. Mash the banana (I used a fork)
3. Mix the eggs and banana together and mix around so it's well combined
4. Add in the coconut & blueberries and give it another stir
5. Heat coconut oil in a frying pan and add the mixture to the pan once hot - I did them one at a time as it was the first time using this recipe - I just used a big tablespoon.

I must admit these are not the easiest to flip! They're extremely flimsy so I found I had to get a spatula as far under as I could and then use a fork as well to flip them quickly. I ended up with about 6/7 small pancakes from this - and yes I ate them all! I avoided the maple syrup and dusted some cinnamon over the top of my stack et voila! Gluten free, dairy free pancakes. These taste very strongly of coconut and banana (no surprise there). These are two of my favourite things so obviously I loved them but if you're making these expecting them to taste like ordinary pancakes you will be disappointed. Surprisingly, the texture was not much different! The coconut must have thickened them up.

I was really happy with these and very much looking forward to making them again, they'll make the perfect weekend brunch <3
Next up I decided to make chicken Jalfrezi, now this recipe does make quite a lot - I always make my dinners in big batches so I always have left overs for lunch or a healthy dinner in the freezer when I have no time to cook.

A word of warning, this curry had my nose running! I don't think it was spicy but it does have quite a lot of ginger paste in it which I think you could easily put in less of OR completely miss it out if you really hate ginger. Also I was aiming to make the recipe for about 3 portions so used 2 chicken breasts but kept all the other ingredients the same. Now that I think about it that was rather stupid.
I quite like ginger though and I find it gives it quite a fresh taste, it gave me a nice warm feeling in my belly, you know that feeling you get when you see puppies? Or someone you really hate looking miserable? It's definitely a guilt free, no nonsense, flavoursome curry! So enough about it - here's the recipe.

Chicken jalfrezi. Serves 4-6
4 tbsp vegetable or grounds oil
8 skinless, boneless chicken thighs sliced - I just used chicken breasts (on a smaller scale)
1 large onion
2tbsp garlic & ginger paste
2 green peppers (I used one orange and one red) deseeded and chopped
1 large fresh green chilli deseeded and finely chopped
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4-1/2 tsp chilli powder
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp salt
400g canned chopped tomatoes
125ml water
Chopped fresh coriander to garnish

Heat half the oil in a frying pan and add the chicken pieces, cook for around 5 minutes and then put aside.
Add the rest of the oil (if necessary) add the onion and fry until golden brown, sir in the garlic and ginger paste and stir frequently for 2 mins. Add the peppers and keep moving again for 2 mins. Stir in the fresh chilli, and the spices, add the tomatoes, and water and bring to boil. Reduce the heat to low and bring to simmer, pop the chicken back in and leave for 10mins.
Just make sure the peppers are cooked to your liking and the chicken is definitely cooked through. Sprinkle with coriander if you have it - I had it and still forgot! I had this with a small portion of couscous Instead of rice but brown rice would also be a good option.

There you have it, a really easy weeknight dinner that is just as good (if not better) reheated for lunch the next day. Much better than a sandwich!

I hope you guys enjoy them and maybe give them a go!

Minnie
xXx

Trying new things

Some of you may find this hard to believe, but I used to hate vegetables. As a child growing up I would only really eat carrots and my brother (the one still living at home at least) would only eat peas. It was a match made in heaven. I would eat sweet corn and I considered potato - and yes fries, 1 of my 5 a day. In the last 2 years my taste buds decided to wake the hell up and let me taste all the amazing fresh foods that are available.

Now in Maldon (where I live) the Morrissons (pictured right) has just been revamped and I got mega excited walking in there the other day. I couldn't believe the amount of fresh fruit and veg available, I've genuinely never seen anything like it - in England at least. You know all those recipes where you've gone 'oh well I've never heard of that, I won't bother'? Morrissons probably have it. I was upset I didn't need to by more veg! So I had a little wonder in the exotic fruit section and thought I'd treat myself to something new. I'm trying this whole 'one new recipe a week' thing so I thought I may as well try completely new foods too!

So the first thing to catch my eye was prickly pears. Possibly because I'd been listening to the bear necessities a couple of days before. The store kindly offers a little description under each fruit detailing its taste and how to eat it. Oh and for those of you that don't know, prickly pear is the fruit from a cactus, or cacti? Hence the name 'prickly', it usually has little spikes sticking out all over it that are supposedly relatively easy to remove in water. Mine didn't really have any on it but you should still handle with care just in case!

It has a very mild taste, almost like melon (which I think the description might have actually said). It was very soft and had seeds all the way through it, but you can't crunch the seeds, they were a little pomegranatey - not in taste but in texture. So I just kind of swallowed them down with the fruit which didn't really require much chewing. Haha I'm not really selling it am I?

Next up I thought I would try dragon fruit. I always see pictures of it in exotic fruit salads and it looks like nothing I've ever seen before. I split this at the office with my 'colleague' - seems formal. Kelly and I took half each and both really enjoyed it. Texture I would liken to that of kiwi - and you can even eat it the same way. It's quite mild in taste and very refreshing. I will most definitely be eating this again! To eat, just chop in half and use the skin as a little bowl. Simple and delicious!

Trying new things can be so exciting. These fruits might be strange to us but are probably eaten daily by people on the other side of the world - and we're lucky enough to have access to them so why not take advantage? Just another small way to make healthy food more exciting. I can't wait to try more of their exotic range, mini pineapples look awesome, I saw tiny little melons that were completely edible, star fruits (I remember trying in primary school but haven't seen since!).
Get yourself down there and have a try of something new if you can!

I'm so excited about trying new foods I've even agreed to eat seafood on Friday night. I've been terrified of fish for years, I had a (traumatic) experience when I was about 5 years old at school in France and I was force fed fish - which I had always hated and refused to eat. This seems to have scarred me and make me resent fish haha. I'm old enough now to realise how ridiculous it is to let something that happened so long ago control my emotions. I went snorkelling in Egypt 2011 and was terrified but I swam the full length of our little coral reef section after about 10minutes managed to relax (a little) and enjoy the views. I then toyed with the idea of eating fish but even thinking about bringing some seafood to my mouth makes my heart pound. Stupid I know, so I'm going to go for it! I'm trying not to think to much about the smell and taste and texture and hopefully I will be pleasantly surprised when I bite into my prawn tempura!

Wish me luck all!

Minnie
xXx