Lean Mean Chilli

Working full time, going to the gym and cooking doesn’t always go together and sometimes the thought of a take-away is just too tempting! So today I am posting my weeks batch of dinners/lunches, you can freeze portion sizes and just heat it up when you come home.

Makes around 6-8 portions

This is what you need;

• 500g Lean beef mince (if you can’t eat beef just substitute this with lamb)
• 450g a good cut beef, so ideally sirloin but you can use hip, anything with a low fat %, but you can use beef offcuts as this will be simmering for hours!
• 2 finely chopped yellow onions
• 2 red paprika, diced
• 1 pickled jalapeno
• 2 minced garlic cloves
• 3 tbsp Chili powder (I use a Vietnamese chili powder but any chili powder will do)
• 2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 tsp crushed black pepper
• 1 tbsp hot paprika powder
• 1 tbsp celery salt
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 cup beef stock
• 1 tin pinto beans and/or kidney beans
• 1 bottle of light beer (330ml)

All the above spices are everyday spices so if you if you buy them you will be using them for curries, chilies and stews in the future. Start by chopping your onions, garlic, paprika and jalapeno, then in a pot add around 1 tbsp of groundnut oil, when hot add the chopped veg. Brown the onions then add your meat, once brown add all the spices and mix, let the spices really marinate the meat, put the lid on and leave for 5 min. Then mix and make sure the meat has been properly coated. Add the chopped tomatoes, beef stock, beer and beans, mix and let this simmer on a low heat for about 2-3 hours.

Serve this with some brown rice and root vegetable tortilla chips with a small sprinkling of cheese.

Enjoy x

Jerk Chicken and Brown Rice

This is one of my favorite meals and such a perfect post workout meal, by using brown rice and making your own coconut milk you have a super healthy option to this Jamaican classic.

Serves 2 people

This is what you need;

150g brown rice
350 ml coconut milk
1x chicken stock cube
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp All purpose seasoning
1x minced garlic clove
50g kidney beans
1 scotch bonnet chilli
soak the rice in 1 hour before you start cooking.

2 chicken thighs
Marinade;
4 Scotch Bonnet chillies
1 small yellow onion
2tbsp allspice
1 inch fresh ginger root
2 garlic cloves
1tsp dried thyme
1tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
juice of 1 lime
1tbsp olive oil

Start by making the marinade to the chicken, put everything in a food processor until you have a smooth marinade. Score the chicken on the skin side and put in a bag, then add the marinade and leave it for at least 2 hours.
Now simmer 1 cup water but don’t boil, then in a food processor add 0.5 cup of dessicated coconut and blend until creamy.
Heat up your oven to 200 degrees, then in a frying pan on medium heat fry the chicken skin side down for 3 minutes and the same on the other side then put the chicken in the oven for 30 min.
In a saucepan add the rice and all the other ingredients bring to the boil for 5 minutes then but the lid on and bring down the heat so it simmers, stir occasionally until all the liquid is absorbed.

Serve with a salad, enjoy x

 

Turkey Biryani

Over the vast amount of Christmas dinners there are so much leftovers! After this period of overeating I think it’s time for some healthy options for Curry Thursday. So rather than making a boring sandwich or fajitas I made a Brown Rice Turkey Biryani which is perfect with a little side salad and a dal and it’s perfect as you can make so much of it so it works out to be really cheap and you can have it for lunch the next day.

Serves 8-10 people

This is what you need;

leftover Turkey, diced or shredded (as much or little as you want, I used one breast)
600g brown rice
4 tbsp hot milk with a pinch of saffron
1 red onion
2 cloves or garlic
3 tsp rose water
4 freshly chopped tomatoes
3cm grated ginger
2 fresh red chilies, finely sliced
bunch of fresh coriander
1tsp chili powder
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam maasala
25g unsalted butter

This is how you do it!
Soak the rice in water for one hour, once done drain, then add 1.2 l of water together with 1 tsp salt and boil for 10 min until the rice is almost cooked. Whilst that is happening chop your onion and garlic and pan fry until soft then add the turkey and all your spices and stir once all the turkey is coated in goodness stir in your chopped tomatoes and fresh coriander. Let this simmer away until you are ready to layer the Biryani, once the rice is done get a heavy base cooking pot or a casserole dish and start building. Start with half the butter and 2tbsp water and then a layer of rice and 1 tbsp saffron milk and then the turkey, repeat this until you are left with the final layer which should be rice, I did 4 layers. Cur out a circle that’s the same size as your cooking pot and put over the rice simmer on a really low heat for 35 min and serve with some fresh vegetables and dal and sprinkle some pistachios on top.

Enjoy x