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.
  

Lemon Pepper Chicken Burger

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Whole grain bread rolls - 4 servings
• Romaine lettuce - 4 servings
• Red onion - sliced
• Tomato - sliced
  

• Sauce:
• Mayo - 3 tbsp
• Sweet sour sauce - 2 tbsp
• Sweet pickle relish - 1 tbsp
• Hot sauce - 1 tsp
• Ranch dressing - 1 tbsp
• Black pepper - 1/2 tsp
• 
  
• Chicken Patty:
• Chicken mince - 500gm (1 lb)
• Cilantro - 1/2 cup, chopped
  
• Spring onions - 1/2 cup, chopped
  
• Lemon pepper - 2 tbsp
• Salt - to taste
• Cumin powder - 1/2 tsp
• Coriander powder - 1/2 tsp
• Black pepper - to taste

Methods:

• 1. Mix in all the ingredients for the chicken patties with your hands thoroughly. Form into patties ( recipe yields 4) and place it on a plate. Cover it with a plastic wrap and let it marinade for 2 hours in the fridge.
• 2. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick frying pan. Crank the heat to med-high. Cook the patties one at a time, for 2-3 min on each side. Remove and set aside.
• 3. Meanwhile, whisk in all the ingredients for the sauce. Set aside for the flavours to develop.
  
• 4. Once the patties are cooked, toast the buns on both sides.
  
• 5. On the heal (bottom half) of the bun place a dollop of the sauce, top it with a leaf of romaine lettuce, couple of slices of onions and tomatoes finishing with a chicken patty. If you like add a bit more sauce to the inner part of the crown ( top half) of the bun before placing it on top of the patty.
• 6. Serve. Bon Appétit!

Grilled Chicken Kebab

I love to grill and BBQ. AND I like to do it straight on the fire or charcoal which does create a bit of mess and smoke when it wants to ( which is most of the time!!). Due to these hazards my mom decided to buy an electric grill which desperately needed my magic touch. Thus here are the results......the kebabs turned out so delicious that when I asked my loyal subject ( my little brother) what should I name it, he promptly suggested "pet-bhora kebab" which in English means "Stomach filling kebab". I guess you just have to try it to find out whether his naming for this kebab is perfect or not.

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast fillet - 1 kg(2 lb), cut into 1 inch thick long strips
• Naan bread - for 4 servings
• Tomato - sliced into 1 cm thick rings
• Onion - sliced into 1 cm thick rings
• Green capsicums - sliced into 1 cm thick strips
• 
  
• Marinade:*
• Natural Yogurt - 1 cup
• Garlic cloves - 4-5, mashed/paste
• Green chilies - 4-5, mashed( depending on heat preference)
• Lemon juice - juice of half a lrg lemon
• Ginger - 1.5 cm pc, mashed/paste
• Mustard seeds - 1 tbsp, powdered/crushed
• Caraway seeds - 1 tbsp, powdered/crushed
  
• Coarse salt - 1 tbsp, crushed
• Chili flakes - 1 tbsp, crushed
• Cinnamon stick - 1 inch long pc, crushed
• Cardamon pods - 2-3, crushed
• Whole cloves - 2-3, crushed
  
• 
  
• Dipping Sauce:
• Natural Yogurt - 1 cup
• Hot sauce - 1 tbsp
• Ketchup - 1 tbsp
• Lemon juice - 1 tbsp (freshly squeezed)
• Salt & pepper - to taste
• Garlic clove - 1, grated finely

Methods:

• 1. Blend all the ingredients together for the marinade and marinate the chicken strips for 4 hours refrigerated.
• 2. Mix in all the ingredients for the dipping sauce, set aside for the flavours to develop. Heat your electric grill or your stove top grill** to maximum.
• 3. Take the chicken strips out of the fridge half hour before cooking. Mix in 1/2 cup of oil in the chicken strips. Make sure to coat all the pieces evenly.
  
• 4. Place the chicken strips side by side on the grill and cook for 3-5min on both side, or till cooked through in few batches. Depending on the type of grill you have the cooking time will vary. If you have an electric grill, it might take shorter time to cook since you can close the clam shell lid and cook on both sides simultaneously.
• 5. Once all the chicken strips are cooked, place the vegetables or some other vegetables of your choice on the grill and spray some oil and season with salt and pepper, grill for 3-4 min till they get a nice dark grill mark.
  
• 6. Once the veggies are done, place the naan breads on the grill and cook for 1 min on each side, this is just to warm up the breads as well as giving them a char grill taste.
  
• 7. Serve the chicken kebabs with side of the dipping sauce, grilled veggies and naan. Bon Appétit!

Hints:

• * I like putting all the ingredients except the lemon juice and yogurt in mortar and pestle and crush it all up together to a paste. It does not need to be a fine paste, I like it pretty coarse. But make sure that you carefully grind all the mustard seeds and anise seeds finely before adding the rest of the ingredients to the mortar.
• ** If you do not have a grill, you can also bake this in the oven or cook it in out door BBQ .

Chicken Pad Thai

Servings: 4-6

Ingredients:

• Flat rice noodles - 500gm(1lb)
  
• Chicken breast fillet - 500 gm( 1lb), cut into strips
• Bean Shoots - 3 cups
• Carrots - 2 med, julienne cut
• Broccoli florets - 2 cups
• Soy sauce - 1 tbsp
• Garlic cloves - 4, minced ( half separated)
  
• Green chili - 3, minced
• Peanut butter - 1 tbsp
• Eggs - 4
• Salt & pepper - to taste

• Sauce:
• Soy sauce - 3 tbsp
• White Vinegar - 1 tbsp
• Fish sauce - 2 tbsp
• Brown Sugar - 1 tbsp
• Chili flakes - 1 tsp

Methods:

• 1. Cook the rice noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
• 2. Prepare and chop the veggies, set aside. Mix in the ingredients for the sauce, set aside for the flavours to develop.
  
• 3. Marinate the chicken strips with soy sauce, black pepper, salt, chilies and half the minced garlic.
  
• 4. Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a non-stick wok. Add the chicken strips. Saute on high heat till they are cooked through. Remove from wok and set aside.
• 5. Wipe the wok clean with a paper towel. Add 2 more tbsp of oil and heat up. Cook the eggs by scrambling them. Once they stiff up a bit, add the carrots and broccoli. Season with salt & pepper. Saute on high heat for about 3-4 min till they are softened a bit. Make sure you don't over cook it. They still need to be nice and crunchy.
• 6. Return the chicken to the wok. Stir to combine. Saute for a min. Remove everything from the wok on a plate and set aside.
• 7. Add 1 tbsp of oil to the wok, add the left over minced garlic and saute till they are fragrant. Add the noodles and saute for a min. Return the chicken and veggies to the wok, stir to combine.
  
• 8. Add the sauce to the noodles. Saute on high heat for about 2-3 min, or till the noodles absorb all the sauce. Turn the heat off.
• 9. Serve immediately.
  

Chili Beef

Servings: 4

Ingredients:

• Beef strips - 500 gms
• Onion - 1 lrg, sliced
  
• Chilies/capsicum - 1 cup, sliced (seeded if heat is not preffered)
  
• Corn flour - 1 tbsp
• 
  
• Marinate:
• Soy sauce - 1/2 cup
• Tasting salt - 1 tbsp
• Black pepper - 1 tbsp
• Chili powder - 1 tsp

Methods:

• 1. Mix in the ingredients for the marinade and marinate beef strips overnight.
• 2. Heat oil in a pan, add the beef and saute on high heat for 4-5 min, till cooked through, remove from the pan and set aside.
• 3. Add the onions and peppers to the pan, with some black pepper and tasting salt. Add a splash of oil if required, however you should not need to. Saute on high heat till the onions are browned on the edges a bit, but still crispy.
• 4. Return the beef strips to the pan. Stir to combine and saute for 2-3 min on high heat.
• 5. In a bowl mix 1/2 cup of ice cold water with the corn starch and 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp soy sauce and 1/2 tsp tasting salt. Whisk to combine smoothly.
• 6. Add the mixture to the beef. Stir vigorously so that the corn starch does not lump up in one place. Once the gravy starts to thicken and simmer a bit, turn the heat off.
• 7. Serve immediately on a bed of pasta or rice. Bon Appétit!