This week I decided that I probably needed to knuckle down and start eating a bit healthier. It’s been a bit hard moving to Melbourne with all the changes to my lifestyle to keep eating healthy, and as a result I’ve been feeling out of my routine. I find it quite difficult to eat healthy when I’m not in my normal routine, and with all the travelling I’ve been doing it’s been hard to get back into now that I’ve moved in to my new place. So this week I vowed to give it a go, and so figured I needed something delicious to make if I was going to stick to it.
As I’ve said before, I hate cooking for one. Firstly, you need to buy the ingredients, and if you are just cooking for one it’s hard to buy small portions of meat and other ingredients, which usually means you end up buying way too much! Secondly, when you do cook something delicious with your ingredients, you have no one to share it with. I much prefer to cook for others so that they can enjoy it with me, and it’s not quite the same when you are congratulating yourself on a delicious meal! I could cook for my roommate but she is vegetarian, and sometimes I just need some meat! So I am starting to try and get over my dislike for cooking for myself and just embrace it. At least I can share anything I make that is delicious with you guys! I also combatted the issue of having to buy too much food by making enough of the meal to last me the week for lunches and dinners, so that I don’t have to worry about cooking after work and the gym.
I decided to go with chicken, because it is the meat I’m most comfortable cooking with. I love everything you can do with it, and how delicious it is in salads for lunches! I was also organized enough to buy my ingredients the night before, which meant that for once I was able to marinade the chicken to make it super delicious (I never usually bother with this because I usually decide what I’m making when I’m already far too hungry to be deciding what to eat).
When it comes to flavours, I’m always a sucker for lemon. It’s so zingy and really brings a lot to chicken as a flavour. Chuck in some extra herbs and hey presto, you have a delicious, simple dish! The beauty of this marinade is that you don’t even really have to let it sit overnight, it can be done 30 minutes before cooking. The benefit of marinating it is that the flavour intensifies, so if you do have the time I would make the effort!
Ingredients
- 1kg of chicken breast, chopped into smaller pieces
- The zest and juice of 2 large lemons
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon of dried thyme
- 2 teaspoons of chilli flakes (this is personal preference, if you don’t like it spicy you can leave out)
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 2 teaspoons of olive oil
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine your lemon zest and juice, garlic, oregano, thyme, chilli flakes, salt and pepper.
- Place the sliced chicken breast into the bowl and mix through the marinade, ensuring each piece of chicken has been covered by the mixture. Use glad wrap to cover the bowl and place into the fridge, ideally overnight but 30 minutes before cooking will suffice.
- When you are ready to cook, get your chicken out of the fridge. In a griddle pan, heat oil over a medium heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook on both sides until cooked through completely. This should take 5 – 7 minutes each side.
- Serve with steamed vegetables or salad, and a wedge of lemon to go over the top of the chicken.
This chicken is the perfect weeknight meal. It is simple, uses only a few ingredients and is really quick to cook. Once you have the chicken marinated it is so quick and easy to grab it out, chuck it on the pan and cook it. If you are pressed for time in the evening just put the chicken in to marinate in the morning before you go to work, and it will be so quick and easy when you get home to have a meal on the table!
In terms of a healthy dinner, this one ticks all the boxes. But more importantly it didn’t compromise on flavour, which is perfect when you are trying to eat clean. This chicken had a delicious lemony taste which packed a lot of flavour punch from the herbs. I loved the charred taste from grilling it too, even if it made my apartment a little smoky (at least I know the fire alarm works!). This was also delicious when I ate it the next day in my salad, which is always a plus as I usually need something to look forward to for lunch! I’m looking forward to being able to go home tonight and having dinner all ready to go. All I need to do is cook some veggies and I’ll have a delicious meal all set!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
Olivet
Great recipes and interesting blog
Ella Eats
Thanks so much, Olivet! I’m glad you’re enjoying my blog 🙂