Two other things you can do with your chicken

I made these two chicken meals about a month or two ago and never got around to posting them. Chicken went on sale at the local grocery store – a very rare event – so I bought several pounds and grilled it all at once. I had to get creative with the leftovers over the next couple of days. The first meal was very well received by a couple of friends:

Chicken Broc & Guac

Chicken with broccoli and some tomato topped with guacamole – or “Chicken Broc and Guac” as it has come to be known. Guacamole is easy to make: find a very ripe avocado or two, mash, and add some crushed/minced garlic, tomato,onion, and chili pepper. Then add some lime juice, olive or coconut oil, black pepper, and some paprika and stir it up really well. You can use a food processor if you have one and it makes the process much easier, but it isn’t required. This is all done to taste, so there’s no secret to making good guacamole except to not dilute it with water or sour cream or god-knows-what-else restaurants put in their guacamole to make it awful. The broccoli in this meal was very briefly stir-fried along with some of the tomato that didn’t make it into the guacamole. There are about 650 calories, 60grams of protein, 34g of fat, 26g of carbs, and16g of fiber in the meal pictured and it was quite tasty.

The next day I used the leftover chicken alongside a green pepper, a few celery stalks, and another avocado for lunch:

Chicken & Greens – That’s paprika sprinkled on everything, in case you were wondering.

Almost the same nutrient profile here: 600 calories, 60g of protein, 30g of fat, 25g of carbs and 16g of fiber. I eat peppers and celery raw from time to time, but for this meal I stir fried them just enough to heat them up. I hate overcooked vegetables and I usually cook them just until warm.

Both meals here were very cheap: a couple of dollars for each meal’s portion of chicken, a dollar for each avocado, and maybe another dollar or two for broccoli, peppers, and tomatoes. I spent about 30 minutes cooking this food, but I got 2 meals out of it, so once again we have healthy $5 dollar meals that take fewer than 15 minutes to prepare. It doesn’t get much easier than this.

Who needs buns?

Hamburgers are a great example of food that people ruin by adding bread. Hamburgers – assuming they’re made from good-quality beef – have the potential to be a great food. They have tasty, textured ingredients like beef, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, mushrooms, cheese, onions, bacon, and peppers. For some reason, people choose to hide all this goodness between two bland, chewy slices of bread. If you ask me, it’s a waste. Here’s a Chimichurri burger dish that kicks the ass of any burger not man enough to stand alone:

That’s half a red bell pepper, half a green bell pepper, half an onion, some mushrooms, bok choy, and two grilled hamburger patties topped with Argentine Chimichurri sauce. Chimichurri sauce is a standard sauce in Argentina that is quite tasty. I added lime to mine and I think it added a great flavor. This meal has about 600 calories, 47g of protein, 38g of fat, 16g of carbohydrate, and 5g of fiber. I brushed some olive oil on the veggies and then grilled them lightly alongside the burgers while making the Chimichurri sauce. Another very easy meal that is under 5 bucks and takes about 15 minutes to make. I’ve made this (or something similar) a few times since then and have loved it every time. The vegetables are crunchy and full of texture and flavor that contrasts really well with the beef. Since bread has more or less the texture of a sponge, sticking something like this between a bun would be a complete waste. Instead of a burger with a bun, try this next time you get a hamburger craving and I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

To make the lime Chimichurri sauce I put 1 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves, 3 scallions, 2 cloves of garlic, 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, some red pepper flakes, salt, and half a lime (peel-on) into my little food chopper until well-chopped and mixed.

Lamb feast

I’ve never cooked with lamb in the US because it’s relatively expensive compared to other meats. Here in Australia lamb is everywhere and it is very cheap, so I figured I’d add it to my meat rotation. Last week, I cooked it (for the first time) by searing it briefly and then broiling it and I had pretty good results. Last week’s indoor-cooked lamb paled in comparison to tonight’s grilled feast, though:

2 pieces of a lamb (a chop and a leg) along with some asparagus, half a red bell pepper, mushrooms, red onion slices, and jalepe̱o chunks. The other plate is a small dessert: a few bites of grilled apple with nutmeg and cinnamon. Everything was excellent. The apples were particularly good Рif you try nothing else on this site, grill up some spiced apples for dessert sometime. I imagine that adding a spoonfull of greek yogurt to the top of them would be excellent, too.

I marinated the the lamb with some red wine/garlic marinade, a bit of olive oil, and some bourbon and then rubbed it with rosemary. I prepped the veggies by pouring a couple teaspoons of coconut oil on them and then adding some lime, pepper, and finally a very small amount of honey (a teaspoon or so). I put a small amount of oil on the apples as well and then sprinkled them liberally with nutmeg and cinnamon. I cooked the lamb for 4-5 minutes on each side and I skewered the fruit and veggies and cooked them kebab style for a few minutes.

This was one of the best meals I’ve ever had in my life. What you see in the picture is only one third of the amount that I cooked, and I’m very happy that I made more as I’ll get to enjoy the leftovers for another day or two. As an aside: cooking double and triple portions of food is a great way to save time on your meal preparation. I spent about around 45 minutes cooking this meal, but if I get 3 meals out of it I’ve spent only 15 minutes per meal. Another one of (the many) reasons that I laugh when people say they don’t have time to eat properly!

This meal has something like 830 calories, coming from 90g of protein, 40g of fat, and 25g of carbohydrate, with about 10g of carbs from fiber. There are so many minerals, vitamins, and antioxidants in this meal I couldn’t even begin to list the quantities. Despite eating such a huge meal, I didn’t feel sleepy, sluggish, bloated, or “stuffed” afterwards – just satisfied. I love feeling energized after a meal and it’s one of the main reasons I eat this way. In fact, I walked for about an hour (quickly, over hills, and in cold weather) after dinner and felt great.

Breakfast down under

I threw together a quick breakfast the other day using Australian ingredients. I ate outside on our deck and enjoyed the sun while eating this awesome meal:

A couple of eggs, omelette-style, with a few pieces of Australian bacon, some grapefruit, and a kiwifruit. This meal has lots of protein, fat, and some clean carbs. It’s full of vitamins, color, and texture and definitely won’t leave you feeling tired or sluggish afterwards. This meal has around 450 calories, provides 40g of protein, 20g of fat, and about 20g of carbohydrate, with 4 or 5 grams coming from fiber. The cost of everything is in the 3 or 4 dollar range and it takes all of 5 minutes to cook the eggs and ham.

I could go on and on with breakfast posts, as it is by far the easiest meal of the day to get right. The only reason I felt this meal was newsworthy was the usage of Australian products. The eggs are free-range and grain fed and have bright, orange yolks and a great flavor. The ham I used is called “short-cut rindless bacon” and is similar to Canadian bacon. The Kiwi is organic and very fresh and the grapefruit was of great quality too. With good stuff like this available, I just can’t imagine how people can eat bagels, muffins, and cereal for breakfast.

California Salad

While traveling out west I had a “California Salad” that I found to be very tasty. I prepared one myself but changed a couple of things:

The salad is spring mix topped with turkey breast, some avocado, walnuts, raisins, Jarlsberg lite swiss (more protein than regular swiss), and a few bacon bits. I used a small amount of balsamic vinaigrette but I think a slightly sweeter dressing (like raspberry vinaigrette) would have tasted better. The salad has about 45g of protein, 25g of fat, and 15g of carbohydrate in it. Next time I think I’ll add more turkey and a couple of green apple slices for some extra protein and crunchy texture. Feta or Gorgonzola cheese might be better than the chunks of Swiss that I used. This meal only cost me about $5 dollars and I didn’t even have to cook anything.

Late, Light Breakfast

I had a late breakfast today of some simple items after shopping at the new Trader Joe’s in Atlanta:

• Trader Joe’s Smoked salmon topped with fresh packed salsa. The salmon was amazing and the fresh salsa doesn’t have that thick soupy texture of your basic salsa but instead has lots of textures and strong flavors.
• Cottage Cheese with a small bit of Honey. Cottage cheese is high in casein protein and the honey is organic and fresh harvested by a friend in Florida
• Black Olives
• A few strawberries

This meal has 40g of protein, 15g of fat, and 15g of carbs, with about 5g of carbs coming from fiber. The cost of all the ingredients is between 3 and 4 dollars total. It’s simple, light, tasty, and took me about 2 minutes to put together. It doesn’t get much simpler than this.