CHICKEN, CASHEW & CURRY PIZZA

I love making pizza on days & nights when I'm pressed for time. I do sometimes make my own pizza base, however the point of my recipes are to be fast, simple & easy so I often use wholemeal pita bread as a pizza base. The recipe below uses 2 larger Lebanese pita breads (around 80-85g each) to serve 4 (therefore 1/2 a pizza per person). If you are only able to find the 4 pack of smaller pita bread (around 45g in size), each serving would equal 1 pita bread and the quantities below would be split into quarters. This pizza was conjured out of thin air the other week and took on a random but delicious direction with the addition of baby spinach, spring onions and cashews. 

INGREDIENTS

• baking paper
• 500g chicken breast, preferably free-range, sliced into even 3-4cm pieces
• 1 heaped tablespoon curry powder 
• Optional- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 garlic clove, finely diced
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 x Lebanese wholemeal pita breads (around 80-85g each)
• 1/4 cup lightly packed reduced-fat grated cheese
• a generous handful of baby spinach, washed & drained 
• 1/2 a small red onion, finely diced
• 1 spring onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons unsalted cashews, either whole or roughly chopped 

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius fan-forced. Line a large oven tray with baking paper. 

2. Place the chicken strips, curry powder, smoked paprika (if using), garlic, and olive oil in a medium bowl and mix to combine. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat and cook chicken, stirring constantly, until no pink flesh remains (this will take around 5-7 minutes, depending on how thick the chicken pieces are). Remove and cover to keep warm until the next step.  

3. Spread 1 tablespoon of tomato paste over each of the 2 breads. Next evenly distribute the cheese, red onion, baby spinach, cooked chicken, spring onion and cashews to each pita bread. 

3. Bake in the oven for around 10-12 minutes or until the base browns and the cheese is melted. 

Serves / 4  

Total Preparation time / 10 minutes 

Total Cooking time / around 20 minutes 

x Emily 

SWEET POTATO & BROCCOLI CURRY

I’m loving the cooler weather we are having at the moment, as it means that I get to use my stove without sweat in profusely. I have had so much sweet potato to get rid of this week that I decided a big curry would be the best way to utilise it. A very simple curry to make, the spices really are essential here as otherwise this dish could be considered bland. Garam masala is a strong blend of spices that is used in Indian cuisine. The spices that are often used to make this fusion are coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. I usually use around 1/2- 1 teaspoon of this spice with every 500g of meat or vegetables I cook as it is an intense combination of flavours. You can find ground garam masala, ground turmeric and ground coriander from your local big supermarket.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 tablespoons coconut or rice bran oil 
• 1 leek, white part only, finely chopped
• 700g sweet potato, peeled & chopped into even cubes
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon ground garam masala 
• 2 cups water
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 1 large head of broccoli, florets cut evenly and stalk roughly chopped
• Optional: coriander leaves, to serve 

COOKING

1. Rinse the quinoa over cold running water throughly, using clean hands to remove any grit. Then place the quinoa in a saucepan with 2 cups of water, cover and bring to the boil over high heat, then simmer once boiled for 8-10 minutes or until the quinoa is cooked and the water is absorbed. Remove from heat and fluff with a fork. 

2. Whilst the quinoa is cooking, heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. After 1 minute add the leek and stir, cooking for 2 minutes. 

3. Add the sweet potato and stir to coat in with the oil. Lower the heat and add the ground coriander, ground turmeric and ground garam masala to the pan. Stir vigorously to combine so that the spices do not stick to the pan. 

4. Pour in the water and coconut milk and bring to the boil, covered. Then reduce the heat to a simmer for 4 - 5 minutes. After this time add in the chopped broccoli, stirring to the combine with the curry sauce and cover again for another 5 - 7 minutes. After 5 minutes check the tenderness of the sweet potato and broccoli by sticking a fork into the vegetable (if the fork slides in smoothly, then the curry can be taken off the stove; if the fork meets resistance, keep simmering for another few minutes before checking again). When the vegetables are tender remove from heat. 

Serve the curry on a bed of quinoa topped with coriander leaves, if desired. 

Serves / 6

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / max 25 minutes

x Emily 

VEGETABLE, TOFU & COCONUT CURRY

I love curries and am a little sad that the warm weather is upon us, as I feel that I did not make enough curries throughout winter. I had so many vegetables in the fridge this afternoon that I decided to whip up a purely vegetable curry. I didn't use any rice as I will be eating this meal late at night after work and am trying to limit my complex carbs after lunch. If you want more flavour, feel free to add chilli flakes, chilli powder, ground coriander and/or other spices in step 1 of cooking. The Indian spice blend garam masala is a great way to pack lots of spices in to a dish without adding numerous individual spices, as it often contains a combination of turmeric, black & white peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and ground cumin. Garam masala can be found in all major supermarkets. (This recipe has been loosely based on a Michelle Bridges recipe). 

Ingredients

• 1 heaped teaspoon coconut oil / rice bran oil 
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1 teaspoons garam masala
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or crushed
• 1 large sweet potato (450g), chopped into even 2-3cm pieces 
• 2 medium carrots (175g), chopped into even 2-3cm pieces
• Optional - 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• water
• 1 x 400ml light or full fat coconut milk
• 2 heads of broccoli (400g), stalks and florets chopped
• 1 large zucchini (230g), chopped into even 3cm pieces
• 250g firm tofu, sliced into even small pieces
• Optional- 2 finely chopped green onions, to garnish and / or fresh coriander leaves. 

Cooking 

1. Heat the oil in a large deep saucepan over low-medium heat and swirl to coat the pan. Add the curry powder, garam masala and garlic and stir constantly until it makes a runny paste. 

2. Add the sweet potato, carrots and thyme if using to the pan and stir well to coat with the paste. Pour in half of the coconut milk (200ml) and 1 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat, covered, then reduce the heat to low and cook for around 8-10 minutes or until the potato and carrot is just tender. 

3. Add the broccoli and zucchini to the pan and stir well. Add the rest of the coconut milk and more water if you like. Cover and cook for 3 minutes or until the broccoli and zucchini is just tender. 

4. Add the tofu to the pan and stir well to combine, seasoning with sea salt and ground black pepper. Remove from heat and divide into four bowls. Top with chopped green onions and/or fresh coriander leaves, if desired. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / approximately 20 minutes 

x Emily 

PENANG CHICKEN CURRY

This week Chris & myself embarked on the Michelle Bridges 12 Week Challenge. Whilst we are very health conscious, we recently noticed that our portion sizes have become bigger and bigger during winter. We wanted to get a handle on this quickly! Due to the fact that we own a Pilates studio healthy eating has organically become a part of our lives, however we just felt a need to fine-tune our eating habits. Hence this is the start of several recipes straight from (and adapted) the Michelle Bridges Transformation. To see the whole collection of recipes that I test out over the coming weeks and months you will need to go to soulfulsandwiches.blogspot.com. Premiumpilatesstudio.blogspot.com will feature one weekly recipe and a snapshot of Chris and my improved eating. We hope you follow us on this journey. Remember that weight loss is 10-20% exercise and 80-90% what you eat!!

First up is a Penang Chicken Curry. If you are not a meat eater, substitute the 1500g of chicken for 1150g firm tofu and cook the same way. The recipe calls for 1/3 brown sugar, however I do not think this is a necessity for this curry and by removing this ingredient you save 30 calories a serve (yay!). The name of this curry refers to the island of Penang in Northen Malaysia. Whilst this healthy version tastes creamy and delicious, I am sure the authentic Penang curry tastes quite different! Remember that this recipe feeds six, so divide it into six even serves and refrigerate the remaining serves so that you are not tempted to eat more! 

Ingredients

•   2 heaped tablespoons red curry paste 

•   1500g / 1.5kg free range chicken breast, cut into even strips OR 1150 / 1.150kg firm tofu, cut into even pieces

•   1 x 400g tin light coconut milk

•   1 tablespoon fish sauce

•   1/3 cup organic peanut butter

•   1 head of broccoli, cut into even-sized florets and stalk chopped

•   200g green beans, trimmed 

Cooking 

1. Heat a large, deep frying pan over medium heat. Add the curry paste to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, until the paste is spread across the bottom of the pan. 

2. Add the coconut milk and cook, stirring for 2 minutes. Make sure that the liquid does not boil by continually stirring and keeping the heat at a medium range. 

3. Pour in the fish sauce and peanut butter and stir until the mixture is smooth and not lumpy. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until the chicken is just cooked and tender. Make sure to keep the heat from the stove low so that the sauce does not boil, as it will separate. 

4. After step 1, bring a saucepan of water to the boil and cook the greens (broccoli & beans) in a steamer over the water. Cook for a few minutes until the greens are just tender and not soggy. 

5. Divide the chicken, sauce and vegetables into six equal serves. 

Serves / 6 

Total Preparation time / 20- 25 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 10 minutes 

Calories / 464

x Emily 

SWEET POTATO & COCONUT CURRY

I’m loving the cooler weather we are having at the moment, as it means that I get to use my stove without sweat in profusely. I have had so much sweet potato to get rid of this week that I decided a big curry would be the best way to utilise it. A very simple curry to make, the spices really are essential here as otherwise this dish could be considered bland. Garam masala is a strong blend of spices that is used in Indian cuisine. The spices that are often used to make this fusion are coriander, cumin, cardamom, cloves, black pepper, cinnamon and nutmeg. I usually use around ½ a teaspoon of this spice with every 500g of meat or vegetables I cook as it is an intense combination of flavours. You can find ground garam masala, ground turmeric and ground coriander from your local big supermarket.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup brown rice 
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil 
• 3 spring onions, finely chopped
• 3 large garlic cloves, finely chopped / crushed
• 700g sweet potato, peeled & chopped into even cubes
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1/2 teaspoon ground garam masala 
• 2 cups Massel vegetable stock (or 2 cups water)
• 325 - 400ml light coconut milk
• 1 head of broccoli, florets cut evenly and stalk roughly chopped
• extra chopped spring onions & coriander leaves, to serve 

COOKING

1. Place the rice in a saucepan with 2 cups of water and a generous pinch of sea salt. Cover and bring to the boil over high heat, then simmer when boiled for 20 - 25 minutes or until the rice is cooked and the water is absorbed. Remove from heat. 

2. Whilst the rice is cooking, heat the oil in a large, deep saucepan over medium heat and swirl to coat the bottom of the pan. After 1 minute add the spring onions and garlic and stir, cooking for 2 minutes or until the spring onions begin to wilt slightly. 

3. Add the sweet potato and stir to coat in with the oil, onion and garlic. Add the ground coriander, ground turmeric and ground garam masala to the pan and stir vigorously to combine so the spices do not stick to the pan. 

4. Pour in the stock and coconut milk and bring to the boil. Simmer, covered for 4 - 5 minutes, then add in the chopped broccoli and cover again for another 5 - 7 minutes. After 5 minutes check the tenderness of the sweet potato and broccoli by sticking a fork into the vegetable (if the fork slides in smoothly, then the curry can be taken off the stove; if the fork meets resistance, keep simmering for another few minutes before checking again). When the vegetables are tender remove from heat. 

Serve the curry on a bed of brown rice, topped with chopped spring onions and coriander leaves. 

Serves / 4 - 6

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes (including cooking the brown rice)

x Emily 

CURRY CHICKEN SALAD

Even though the Brisbane air is super hot, I am missing the cooler weather. Hence this curry salad was created. Perhaps this year I did not treat myself to enough homemade curries as I found myself missing curry spices last week. This salad is my protein champion, with chicken and egg taking centre stage. A tip: try to eat immediately as the salad is not nearly as nice the next day!

INGREDIENTS

• 500g free range chicken breast, cut into even-sized 4cm pieces
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1/2 large continental cucumber, grated
• 1/2 large carrot, peeled & grated
• 100-125g four leaf lettuce 
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
• the juice of 1/2 a lime
• 3 hard-boiled eggs, thinly sliced
• sea salt 

COOKING 

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot add the garlic and stir for one minute. Add the chicken and curry powder to the pan and cook, stirring often, until the chicken is cooked (that is, no pink flesh remains; you can test this by cutting the biggest piece of chicken you can find in the pan in half). Remove the pan from the stove and cover, to keep warm. 

2. Prepare the rest of the salad by combining the cucumber, carrot, lettuce, basil leaves and cooked chicken in a large bowl and tossing together. Add the juice of the lime to the bowl and toss again. Add the slices of egg on top of the salad, sprinkle salt over the egg and gently toss to combine. Serve immediately. 

Serves / 4

Total Preparation time / 15 minutes

Total Cooking time / 10 minutes 

x Emily 

VEGETARIAN JUNGLE CURRY

Spring is well and truly in my neighbourhood and I am beyond happy about its reappearance. My daily walks with my energetic pups involve passing deep purple and bright yellow flowers blossoming and I can’t help but walk past them with a goofy smile on my face. Saying this, on my walk this morning all I could think of was curry and how I could not recall making one single curry dish this past winter. So I raced home and got cooking, throwing every bright vegetable into my large pot that I could find. 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 5cm fresh ginger, finely grated
• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or crushed
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 tablespoon garam masala
• 1 tablespoon turmeric
• 1 tablespoon chilli powder
• 900g sweet potato, peeled & cut into 4cm even pieces
• 400ml light coconut milk
• 3 cups (750ml) water 
• 1 head of broccoli, chopped into florets and stalk roughly chopped
• 1 large carrot, washed & chopped into small pieces
• 1 red capsicum, seeded removed and cut into small pieces
• 125g bean shoots
• 1/4 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves
• 3 cups cooked basmati rice 

COOKING 

1. Heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and swirl to coat the base. Add the ginger and garlic to the pan and cook for 30 seconds or until fragrant. Add the curry powder, garam masala, turmeric and chilli powder and stir quickly to prevent sticking. Add the sweet potato and stir until the potato is well coated with the spices. 

2. Add the coconut milk and one cup of water to the pan and bring to the boil, covered. Reduce the heat to a simmer for 10 minutes before adding the broccoli, carrot and capsicum to the pan. Add two cups of water, cover and bring to the boil again, then reduce to a simmer for 8 minutes, or until the broccoli and sweet potato are tender. Add the bean shoots and stir well to combine. 

Remove the curry from the stove and serve on top of rice with coriander leaves sprinkled on top. 

Serves / 4 - 6

Total Preparation time / 20 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 30 minutes 

x Emily