Author Archives: Bettina Kaiser

Avocado salsa chicken recipe

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This avocado salsa chicken recipe is two of my favorite things:  Scrumptious and easy!  It’s not often you can make something very impressive with only a few ingredients.  This one is a keeper for sure, perfect for busy weeknights or impressing dinner guests.  Goes great with Easy Black Beans and Rice! Inspired by Avocado Chicken Parmigiana by Cuisine Paradise.

Servings Prep Time
4 10 minutes
Cook Time
25 minutes
Ingredients:
  • 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breasts
    pounded to about 1/2″ inch thick if pieces are large
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup fresh salsa or pico de gallo
  • 1 avocado
    sliced thin
  • 1 cup pepper jack cheese
    shredded
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix olive oil, chili powder, cilantro, and salt. Add chicken breasts, and toss to coat. Allow to marinade while oven preheats.
  3. Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake in preheated oven approximately 20 minutes, until cooked through and juices run clear.
  4. Remove chicken from oven and turn on broiler.
  5. Spread about 1/4 c. salsa on top of each piece of chicken. Arrange avocado slices evenly over salsa. Carefully spread a layer of cheese on top of avocado.
  6. Broil for 3-5 minutes, until cheese is melted. Serve and graciously accept compliments.

 

Lunch Box

Featured

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Fruit

  • grapes
  • strawberries
  • blueberries
  • apples
  • mandarins

Carbs

  • bagels
  • pikelets
  • zucchini fritters
  • muffins
  • crackers

Veggies

  • carrots
  • peas
  • seaweed
  • capsicum
  • iceberg lettuce
  • cucumber
  • baby tomatoes

Protein

  • chickpeas
  • dried snack beans

Warm

  • pasta/meatballs
  • sausage rolls

 

 

Addictive Lemony Kale

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Enough for 1-2
large hunk of butter
1 bunch kale
1 clove garlic, finely chopped or crushed, optional

a few anchovis
3-4 tablespoons lemon juice
1-2 handfuls ricotta, optional

  1. Heat butter on a medium heat in a largish saucepan.
  2. Wash kale. Don’t dry as the water will help it steam. Cut into ribbons about 2cm (1in) or finer across the stem.
  3. Add kale and garlic and anchovies to the pot. Cover and cook stirring every few minutes until the kale has wilted down. Will take about 5 minutes.
  4. Remove from the heat and stir in lemon juice. Season and serve with ricotta on top, if using.

Cabbage, yeah cabbage, but super yum!

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Conny’s Version adds half a cup of barley/DIBKEL, and cumin or Kümell seeds, plus is stewed with 1/2 l water for 3/4 of an hour. We used this time 1 tub of light sour cream and it was de-ee-licious.

Suspiciously delicious cabbage

When you look at the list of ingredients, this dish doesn’t seem like much. But the resulting dish is creamy, infused with the flavours of onion, garlic, and ginger, and amazingly addictive. So very much more than the sum of its parts.

Serves 2-4
2 tbsp butter
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 heaped tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 medium green cabbage, cored and thinly sliced
200ml double cream
Salt and black pepper to taste

1 In a very large pan, heat the butter over a medium heat until it is melted and starting to bubble a little. Stir in the onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes, until softened.

2 Stir in the ginger and cook for about a minute. Then, add the cabbage, stirring well to coat it with the butter and other flavours. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15-20 minutes, until the cabbage is soft and caramelised.

3 Turn the heat down to low and stir in the cream, making sure to scrape any browned bits up from the pan bottom. Cover and continue to cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Uncover, add salt and pepper to taste. Then cook for a few more minutes, stirring once or twice, to let some of the liquid evaporate. Adjust the seasonings as desired and serve.

Philly Beef Stroganoff

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http://www.kraftrecipes.com/recipes/ultimate-creamy-beef-stroganoff-121726.aspx

1 tub  (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread
2 Tbsp.  milk
1/2 tsp.  garlic powder
1-1/2 lb.  beef sirloin steak, cut into strips
1/2 cup  chopped onions
1 Tbsp.  butter
1 pkg.  (8 oz.) sliced fresh mushrooms
1/4 tsp.  pepper
1/3 cup  fat-free reduced-sodium beef broth
3 cups  hot cooked noodles
1 Tbsp.  chopped fresh parsley

Cauliflower Gratin

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Ingredients

1 smallish head cauliflower, cut into large florets
25 g butter
25g flour
1 ¾ cups (375 ml) milk
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 ½ cups tasty cheese, grated
Salt and pepper
½ cup fresh breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Steam or microwave the cauliflower until tender. This will take about 6 minutes, covered on high in the microwave.

Make sure any excess moisture is drained off and arrange the florets in individual gratin dishes. Try to keep the “flower” side up where possible.

To make cheese sauce, in a medium saucepan melt butter and add flour over medium heat. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon until it gathers into a dough.

Continue to stir for another minute or so. This begins to cook the flour.

Add a little milk – about ¼ cup. This will incorporate fairly quickly into the dough and will once again come away from the sides of the pan. Once this happens you can add another ¼ cup milk and repeat until all the milk has been added.

Stir in mustard, then add one cup of the cheese and stir until it melts. Taste, and season with salt and pepper if required.Pour the cheese sauce over the florets, making sure there are no gaps.

Mix the remaining cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the cauliflower.

Bake uncovered for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown on top.

 

Broccoli and Pumpkin Pasta

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Broccoli and Pumpkin Pasta Recipe
 Ingredients:
  • 200g Broccoli , 1 small broccoli cut into florets
  • 250g Pumpkin , cut into 1 cm pieces
  • 1/2 onion, sliced
  • 250g Bow Tie Pasta
  • 3 cloves garlic crushed
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small can (185g) evaporated milk light and creamy
  • Basil leaves torn (approx 12 large)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • Pepper
  • Grated Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Recipe Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 180C.
  2. Place cut pumpkin on oven tray lined with baking paper and drizzle a tiny amount of olive oil and mix around so all of the pumpkin is coated.
  3. Bake in oven for around 20 mins until softened.  Take out and set aside.
  4. Cook your pasta as per instructions.
  5. Heat oil in large non stick pan and cook onion for 5 mins. Then add 1/2 cup water into pan and place your broccoli florets in the pan and cover with lid on med heat and simmer for 5 mins.  Add crushed garlic and stir for 1-2 mins.
  6. Add Evaporated milk to pan and once simmering add pumpkin, pasta and basil leaves and stir until all coated.  Grind pepper and keep stirring.
  7. Take off heat and add parmesan cheese and serve.

Fish, Honey Lime Fish

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Serves: 4

Ingredients

For the fish and marinade:
  • 4 (4-5oz) fish fillets (thawed if frozen)
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1½ Tbsp honey
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp pepper
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
For dredging and cooking:
  • ½c flour (I tried both white flour and whole wheat pastry flour with good results)
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1-2 Tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. Assemble marinade by combining lime zest, lime juice, olive oil, honey, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a gallon-sized zip-top bag or shallow container with a lid. Add fish and marinate in the refrigerator anywhere from 1 hour up to 24 hours*.
  2. When ready to cook, combine flour with salt and pepper on a plate. Remove each fish fillet from the marinade and dredge lightly with the flour on both sides (just a light, light coating).
  3. Heat 1-2 Tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook fillets 2 at a time for 3-4 minutes per side or until opaque and browned (this works best if you don’t disturb the fish much while letting it cook).
  4. Serve with lime wedges or peach salsa.
Notes
*If you want to plan this meal in advance, you can prepare the fish and marinade in a large freezer bag and keep it in the freezer. Move frozen fish and marinade to the refrigerator the morning you plan to serve the fish and allow it to thaw in the refrigerator. It will marinate while it thaws!

Quinoa veggie burger

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Ingredients:

  • 5-6 potatoes, peeled & chopped into cubes
  • 1 cup of quinoa (cooked as per packets instructions)
  • 2 cups of grated vegetables (e.g. carrot, zucchini, sweet potato, pumpkin)
  • 1 handful of fresh herbs, chopped finely (i use mint and parsley, but if for fussy kids just use parsley)
  • 2 shallots, chopped finely
  • zest of 1 lemon
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce (Tamari for gluten free)
  • Herbamare, to taste (or sea salt) – Herbamare is a vegetable flavoured sea salt found in the healthfood section of supermarkets
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup (approx) polenta (to coat burgers) – you can substitute with bread crumbs.
  • Coconut oil, for frying

Method:

Fill a large pot with water and bring to the boil.  Add potatoes and cook until tender but not too soft.  Drain the potatoes and dry mash – set aside to cool.

In a large bowl add the cooked quinoa, grated vegies, herbs, shallots, potato, soy sauce and lemon zest and stir to combine.  If needed add herbamare or salt to taste.  Add in the eggs and mix thoroughly.

Pour polenta into a large bowl.  using your hands shape quinoa mixture into balls and roll into the polenta.

Heat a large frypan and add enough coconut oil to shallow fry.  Once oil has melted, place rolled balls into pan and press down with a spatula to create burger shape.  Cook on each side until a light golden colour.

Serve the quinoa patties with a nice crisp salad or add to a burger bun with your favourite sauce and salad ingredients.