ASIAN CHICKEN BURGERS

What a fresh, easy & simple recipe to kick off the new year! I hope you all had a great New Years Eve and that your New Year's Day hangovers are a thing of the past! I wish you all a happy, prosperous and FUN 2015. 

To be completely honest, I found this recipe hidden away in my saved drafts and realised I had never posted it. It's one of my favourite quick meals and is perfect for a summer feed. So what is my version of an Asian chicken burger? A very simple chicken patty made with brown rice instead of flour. Ideally these burgers would be served alongside a salad, as they contain no vegetables. 

INGREDIENTS

• 500ml chicken mince, preferably free range 
• 1 free-range egg, beaten
• 1/2 cup brown rice, cooked and cooled
• 1/4 cup fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon gluten-free soy sauce 
• coconut oil

COOKING 

1. Combine all ingredients bar the oil in a large bowl (tossing with clean fingers is the best way to go). Shape the mixture into even sized burgers. Cover with glad wrap and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

2. Preheat a fan-forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Line a large baking tray with baking paper. 

3. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil in a large frying and swirl to coat pan. Place a few patties in the pan, taking care not to overcrowd them. Push the burgers down a little with a spatula and cook for a few minutes each side until browned. When all burgers are brown, transfer them to the prepared baking tray and bake in the oven for 6-8 minutes or until no pink flesh remains in the middle of the burger. (Remember that everyone's oven temperature is a little different, so keep checking the burgers). Serve warm, drizzled with fresh lime juice if desired. 

Makes / 8-10 

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes (plus time to cook and cool the rice)

Total Cooking time / 15-17 minutes (plus refrigeration time)

x Emily 

SAN CHOY BAU

I have missed my kitchen beyond belief over the past 7 months that I have been renovating my new digs. And my new kitchen does not disappoint. Beautiful off-white shaker cabinets and vintage black handles have greeted me the past few days since we have moved in. Several metres of ultra-clean ‘midnight’ benchtop not only beckons to be used, but longs for me to make a mess on it. So I have been busy in my kitchen instead of focusing on the boring task of unpacking boxes labeled ‘knick knacks’ and ‘lots of shit’ (thanks Chris for doing such a good job packing). I made San Choy Bau several times over the past few months whilst living with my in-laws and I have had lots of practice to perfect the sauce and ingredients. I usually like to add some cooked rice vermicelli noodles into the mix with the cooked meat to add some healthy carbs to the recipe. Sesame seeds are optional but really add some extra flavour to this dish and using both white & black seeds is a very pleasant experience. I’m off back to my black & white sanctuary of a kitchen to make muffins now. Have a wonderful night everyone and I hope you love your kitchens half as much as me. 
P.S- if you are looking to carb this recipe up a big add 100g rice vermicelli noodles. If going vegetarian, omit the mince for tofu and instead of adding the fish sauce to the dressing, add 1 teaspoon sesame oil instead or go without. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon rice bran oil / sesame oil 
• 2 green shallots, roughly chopped, plus extra to serve 
• 1/2 teaspoon dried chilli flakes 
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
• 500g extra lean pork, chicken or beef mince
• 200 - 250g bean sprouts and / or 200g green beans, trimmed & roughly chopped 
• 1 Lebanese cucumber or 150g continental cucumber, cut into small pieces
• A whole iceberg lettuce, leaves carefully separated into cup shapes 
• Optional - fresh coriander leaves, to serve 

Sauce

• 3 tablespoons soy sauce (gluten-free if possible)
• 1 teaspoon fish sauce
• the juice of 1 large lime
• water
• 1 tablespoon (tbs) white sesame seeds & 1 tbs black sesame seeds (or 2 tbs of whichever you have)

COOKING 

1. Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat and add shallots, chilli and garlic. Stir for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Add the mince and cook, breaking up any lumps of meat with a strong spoon / spatula. When meat is cooked, that is, it has changed colour and appeared to be cooked, turn off the stove. (If not 100% sure that the meat is cooked, leave the mince on the stove and cover, so it can cook while it rests). 

2. Prepare the sauce by combining all the ingredients and adding a teaspoon of water at a time, tasting the sauce each time. (You do not want the sauce too watery however you want to thin out the sauce so that you have enough!). 

3. Combine the bean sprouts / green beans and cucumber in a large serving bowl. Add the cooked meat to the bowl and toss. Pour 1/2 -3/4 of the sauce over the top of the meat and toss well to combine. Heap each lettuce cup with a big spoonful of the meat mixture and top with more sauce, more green shallots and fresh coriander, if desired. 

Total Preparation time / 15-20 minutes 

Total Cooking time / 15 minutes 

Serves / 4 

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 

MIXED SALAD with POMEGRANATE and SUMAC DRESSING

Thank goodness for the Brisbane storms, as I had no choice but to hang up my renovators' hat this afternoon and come home and cook. We all have something in our lives that helps us relax, that rejuvenates us and makes us feel like US again. For some people it is sex, for some it is reading, for some it may even be playing Playstation (oh my Chris you fall straight into this category). For me my way to unwind is cooking (and exercise). But when you can’t run or walk outside or drive to your Pilates studio, cooking quickly becomes the best option. I have sorely missed blogging about my daily dishes over the past few months and I will try my hardest to continue with at least a few dishes a week as my life continues to spin in crazy circles. Hope you enjoy this vibrant salad as much as I truly enjoyed creating and eating it. 

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 generous handfuls of mixed 4 leaf lettuce
• 1 large tomato, finely diced
• 1/2 heaped cup red cabbage, roughly shredded
• 1 x 400ml tin of brown lentils, washed & drained
• 1 medium ripe avocado, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 large pomegranate, little jewels removed and insides discarded 
• 2 teaspoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 lime, cut into quarters

Dressing

• 1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or 1 teaspoon crushed garlic granules
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• juice of 1/4 of a lemon 
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 tablespoons water 
• sea salt 

COOKING / PREPARATION 

1. Combine the lettuce, tomato, cabbage, lentils, avocado and pomegranate in a large bowl and toss well to combine. 

2. To make the dressing combine all ingredients in a small screw-top jar and shake well. Depending on how runny you want your dressing you can chose to add either 1 or 2 tablespoons of water (I used two). 

3. Pour the dressing over the salad, sprinkle the parsley and squeeze lime juice over the vegetables. Toss well. 

Serves / 2 as a main / 4 as a side 

Total Preparation / Cooking time / 15 minutes 

x Emily 

VIETNAMESE SHREDDED CHICKEN SALAD

I love making this recipe during summer, as it is fresh, light and filling. If you are looking for a substitute for chicken, 300g of tofu will do nicely. Don't be put off by the ingredients list and cooking steps, as this salad is really quite simple to make. It also serves EIGHT, which is wonderful for those of you out there that are not cooking crazy and want a dish to last you lunch and dinner for several days.  I've kept this salad as basic as possible, however you could add red cabbage, ginger, coriander, mint and other vegetables and herbs. 

INGREDIENTS

Salad

• 2 x 250g chicken breast fillets, fat removed 
• 300g wombok (Chinese cabbage), finely shredded
• 2 large carrots, grated
• 250g cucumber, roughly chopped
• 100g green beans, trimmed and roughly chopped 
• 3 green shallots, finely chopped
• 200g rice vermicelli noodles 
• Optional- extra shallots, fresh coriander 

Dressing

• the juice of 3 large limes or 4 small to medium limes 
• 2 teaspoons fish sauce
• approximately 6 tablespoons water 
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar or rice wine vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 

COOKING

1. *Because step 1 involves poaching the chicken, which takes around 25 minutes, you can use this time to prepare the vegetables*.  Place the chicken breasts in a medium saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil, covered, then simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the stove and let the saucepan stand, covered, for 5 minutes. Remove the poached chicken from the pan and leave to cool for a few minutes. 

2. Meanwhile, make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a small bowl and stirring well. Taste the dressing as you go and add more of any ingredient if need be. 

3. When the dressing is finished, soak the noodles in a large bowl or pot with boiling hot water. Make sure all the noodles are covered with water and leave to stand for 5 minutes or until the noodles are soft. Drain well in a colander or large sieve and rinse with water until cool enough to handle. I like to cut the noodles with kitchen scissors so they are easier to toss and serve. 

4. When the chicken is cool enough to handle, shred into small pieces. 

5. Combine the shredded chicken, wombok, grated carrot, cucumber, green beans, shallots and cooked vermicelli noodles in a large serving bowl. Drizzle the dressing over the top and toss well to combine. Serve, topped with extra chopped green shallots or coriander, if you wish. 

Serves / 8 as a main

Total Preparation time & Cooking time  / approx 35 minutes

x Emily 

SPROUT SALAD

This meal in a salad does involve a little pre-preparation- such as cooking the beetroot, cooking the lentils (or draining and washing canned ones if you prefer or are time-poor) and hard-boiling the eggs. Luckily I had all those ingredients in my fridge ready to go yesterday night as all I wanted to do was sit down with a big bag of salty, greasy chips. Yes I do get those cravings occasionally, especially when my body and mind feels very tired and overwhelmed. That is one of the main reasons why I try to prepare as much food as possible on Sunday- I hard-boil eggs, I roast beetroot, I cut green beans, carrot and celery, I made date balls to combat my weekly desire for sugar. It stops me from reaching for the chips…most days. Everything in moderation, including moderation, as a beautiful client of mine says. 

INGREDIENTS

• a generous handful of snow pea sprouts, roughly chopped
• 100g mung beans
• 100g brown lentils, cooked
• 1 beetroot, cooked & cut into thin wedges
• 1 large tomato, cut into small pieces
• 2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped into wedges
• a handful of sunflower seeds 
• sea salt & garlic flakes 
• balsamic vinegar, to dress 

PREPARATION 

1. Combine all the ingredients in a medium to large salad bowl and toss well. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, if desired. 

Serves / 2 
Total Preparation time / 5 minutes 

x Emily