Chicken Kebabs with Mustard & Roast Tomato

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast fillet - 1 kg( 2lb), cut into 1 inch thick, long strips
• Small red onions or shallots - 2-3 per person
• Roma tomatoes - 4, cut in half
• Salt & pepper
  
• Olive oil for grilling
• Wooden skewers
  
• 
  
• Marinade:
• Jarred roasted tomato - 4-5 pcs, or 2 tbsp paste
• Dijon mustard - 1 tbsp
• Garlic cloves - 3-4
• Green chili- 3-4 ( or depending on heat preference)
• Salt & pepper - to taste
• Olive oil - 1 tbsp
  

Methods:

• 1. In a mortar and pestle (or a grinder), mash in all the ingredients for the marinade except the olive oil.
• 2. Cut the skinless, boneless chicken breast fillets into 1 inch thick long strips. Marinate the chicken strips in the mixture for 2 hours or overnight.
  
• 3. When ready to grill, mix in the olive oil in the chicken strips. Thread the chicken strips onto the skewers. The recipe yields about 10 skewers/kebabs.
  

• 
• 4. Heat up your griddle on high heat. Once smoking hot, brush the griddle with a little bit of olive oil and lay the chicken kebabs onto the grill. Grill the chicken kebabs for about 3-4 min on each side, until cooked through and charred a bit. DO NOT cook the chicken for too long or press it down with your spatula as that will make the chicken loose its internal juices and make it really dry and hard.
• 5. Once the chicken kebabs are grilled. Toss the veggies with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill the veggies till they are a bit charred.
  
• 6. Serve with grilled naan or pita bread.
  

Grilled Basa

My beloved readers, first of all please allow me to apologize for vanishing from the face of the earth, i. e. face of this blog for the last few months. :D I have been doing some traveling and it took longer than I expected to settle down and shower you with my newest concoctions. However, here I am, back and buzzing with an aromatic and smokey recipe just for you.

Servings : 4

Ingredients:

• Basa filet - 1 kg (2 lb)
• Olive oil for grilling
• Onions or any other veggies of choice for grilling
• 
  
• Spice rub:
  
• Cajun spice - 1 tbsp
• Caraway seeds - 1 tsp
• Cayenne pepper - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1 tsp ( or to taste)
• Dijon mustard - 1 tbsp
• Mixed dried herbs - 1 tsp
• Black pepper corns- 1/2 tsp
• Garlic cloves - 4-5
• Green chili - 4-5 ( or depending on heat preference)
  

Methods:

• 1. In a mortar and pestle (or a grinder), grind in all the ingredients for the spice rub.
  
• 2. Wash and pat dry the Basa fillets with a paper towel. Lay the fillets side by side flat on a tray. Rub a generous amount of the spice mixture on the fillets and let it marinate for 1/2 hour to 2 hours. Keep it covered with a plastic wrap and in the refrigerator if it s a hot day.
• 3. Heat up your grill till smoking hot. With a BBQ brush spread a bit of oil on the grill so that the fish wont stick.
• 4. Grill the fish fillets for about 2-3 min on each side, till they are cooked through and gets a charred look. Make sure you do not over cook the fish as it will get very dry.
• 5. Serve on a bed of rice or with a side of garden salad and some grilled onions*.

Hints:
* For the grilled onions, just cut some sweet onions in ring. Toss the them with a bit of olive oil, pinch of salt and black pepper and grill them. The salt is only added to bring out the natural sugar in the onions, which allows it to caramelize nicely, so don't add to much salt.

Spicy Fried Potatoes with Mustard Seeds

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Potatoes - 4 cups, , skinned & cubed
• Onion - 1 med, thinly sliced
• Jalapeno - 1 lrg, thinly sliced
• Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp, coarsely crushed(some should stay whole)
  
• Turmeric powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Salt - taste
• Paprika powder - 1/2 tsp

Methods:

• 1. Blanch the skinned and cubed potatoes till they are half cooked, in salty water. Drain and set aside.
• 2. Meanwhile chop the onions and jalapenos and set aside.
• 3. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a non-stick wok. Add the mustard seeds. Add the onions, pinch of salt and the jalapeno. Saute for couple of min.
  
• 4. Add the potatoes, and the spices. Saute on med-high heat till they are fully cooked through and get a little charred on the edges. It should take you about 5-6 min. Turn the heat off.
  
• 5. Serve warm with a side of naan bread or rice.

Pan Fried Salmon with Lemon-Pepper

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Salmon fillet - 4 servings ( 1 lrg fillet cut into 2 inch wide pieces)
  
• Tomato - 2, cut into wedges
• Onion - 1 sml, thinly slices
• Cilantro - 1/2 cup, chopped
• Green chilies - 2-3, sliced lengthwise
• Lemon-pepper salt - 1/2 tsp
  
• 
  
• Spice rub:
• Lemon pepper salt - 1 tsp
• Chili powder - 1/2 tsp
• Cumin - 1/2 tsp

Methods:

• 1. Wash and pat dry the Salmon fillets with paper towel.
  
• 2. In a bowl, mix in the ingredients for the spice rub. Rub the Salmon fillets with the spice rub gently but thoroughly. Set aside to marinate for 1/2 hour.
• 3. Chop the rest of the veggies and set aside.
• 4. In a non-stick frying pan heat 2 tbsp of oil to high heat. Fry the Salmon fillets 2-3 min on each side, just to get a crispy sear on both sides. This will make the outer surface of the fillets charred but still store in the moisture. Remove and rest it on a plate.
• 5. If required add 1 more tbsp of oil to the pan. Add the onions. Saute for 2-3 min till they are translucent.
  
• 6. Add the sliced tomatoes and chillies and the lemon pepper salt to the pan. Saute on high heat till the tomatoes soften a bit and the skin shrivels up.
• 7. Return the Salmon fillets to the pan, cook for a min and flip them over gently so that both sides will be covered with the tomato-onion saute. Turn the heat off. Sprinkle the chopped cilantro leaves on top. Serve with rice.
  

Chicken Pasta Salad with Lemon & Dill Dressing

This is one of the most easiest recipes I think I have ever put together. In other words, this is a salad and a meal, all in one for a lazy night's dinner. This is also a great recipe for getting rid of any left over roast chicken or fish or even red meat. As I used a thick but moist dressing, the roasted (slightly dried) meat goes well with the recipe. There is one slight word of caution, if you are not a big fan of lemons/limes then this might not be the right salad for you. However, I am confident once you taste this you will fall in love with those little round juicy fruits for the first time!!!

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• Pasta(any kind) - 500 gms(1 lb)
• Leftover rotisserie chicken - 2 whole breast fillets
• 
  
• Dressing:
• Mayonnaise - 1/2 cup
• Plain yogurt - 2 tbsp
• Fresh dill - 2 tbsp, chopped finely
• Lemon juice - juice of 1 lemon
• Salt & pepper - to taste
• Hot sauce - to taste
  
• Sweet pickle relish - 2 tbsp
• Zest of 1 lemon.
  

Methods:

• 1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Make sure you salt the boiling water properly before adding the pasta, as this is the only time that the pasta will absorb any flavour. You can also cook the pasta in chicken or vegetable stock if you have them handy. Once cooked, drain the pasta and set aside. Save a little bit of the pasta water aside.
  
• 2. Meanwhile, de-bone and tear the roast chicken into bite size pieces with your hands.
• 3. In a large enough bowl to hold the salad in, whisk in all the ingredients for the dressing. Before squeezing out the juice of the lemon, zest the rind and also throw it in the dressing.
• 4. Carefully stir in the chicken pieces in the dressing with a spatula. Be gentle enough not to break the chicken pieces in crumbs, since they will be very delicate as they are already cooked.
  
• 5. Stir in the drained pasta to the chicken mixture. If the sauce seems too thick for the pasta to be stirred in, add a bit of the saved pasta water to thin it out a bit.
• 6. Serve the delicious salad warm or even in room temperature.