February 1, 2017
This week I wanted to share with you a delicious recipe that I came up with last week when I was deciding what to cook for weeknight meals. I had some chicken to use up and some kale that was getting a bit sad, so I took it upon myself to try a new recipe and see what happened. I was so pleasantly surprised with the results that I decided it was worth sharing with everyone on my blog!
Everyone who’s been reading my blog for a while knows how much I love a good weeknight meal. Because I work full time and live with a vegetarian, I need things that I can prepare in advance that are quick, simple and healthy for the week. I usually cook in batches as a result, because it’s hard to cook for one, and time consuming! By cooking a big batch, I don’t have to worry about meals for the rest of the week, and if I come home from work or the gym late, I can just grab out something pre prepared. I haven’t gone steamed chicken and broccoli meal prep level yet, but I do see the merits!
I find I often end up cooking with chicken for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it’s quite a healthy meat to cook with, and I know if I cook with it I can rely on a delicious, healthy meal for the week. It’s also a really versatile protein, meaning that if I get a big batch of chicken breast, I can make a few different meals out of it depending on what I have on hand. I know it gets a bit boring having the same thing all the time, but with chicken I always feel like every meal is different, depending on what you add, how you cook it, and what you serve it with. It’s also pretty cost effective as a protein, as I find that steak and pork often cost a lot more than chicken. So when it comes to cooking for one, chicken is usually my go to.
This recipe, I have to say, is one of my favourites I’ve made recently. Although I didn’t really marinate the chicken for that long, the lemon flavours really shone through and made for an absolutely delicious meal. There’s nothing worse than flavourless chicken, and, if you love lemon, I guarantee you’ll love this simple, delicious meal!
- 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
- 1 brown onion sliced
- 1 chicken breast chopped into small slices
- Zest of one lemon
- Juice of one lemon
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 teaspoon of thyme
- 2 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
- ½ bunch of kale or a generous couple of handfuls
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In a medium bowl, combine the lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic and dried chilli flakes. Add the sliced chicken and stir to coat. Set aside to marinate.
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Heat the coconut oil over a medium heat in a non-stick frypan. Add the sliced onion and sauté until browned.
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Add the chicken and remaining marinade to the fry pan, and stir to combine with the onion. Cook until chicken is browned on both sides, stirring occasionally.
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When the chicken is browned, add the kale. Cook until the kale reduces and softens, about 5 minutes, ensuring you stir occasionally.
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Serve with salad, quinoa or rice right from the frypan.
So there you have it, my Italian style stir fry of sorts. The addition of the kale to the chicken almost made the dish more moreish, which I really loved. It certainly was nice and filling, and I felt great after eating it! This is actually a really healthy meal, and perfect for during the week when you’re trying to stay on track. You could easily add in whatever greens you wanted, if you didn’t have kale on hand. I would recommend the kale though because it really lent itself to the lemony flavours of the dish.
This chicken was really simple and quick to make, so perfect for a weeknight when you get home and need something on the table quite quickly. You also don’t need to do much once everything is in the pan, so you can do other things and leave it to do its thing. I served it with a simple salad, which was actually really delicious, but if you wanted something more filling, you could easily put this with some quinoa or rice. Regardless of what you do, this meal is perfect for the time poor!
The flavours in this dish, as I said earlier, are some of my favourite flavours I’ve cooked with. I think I might have put too much lemon in, but this actually worked really well because the lemon flavour was nice and punchy throughout, and really permeated the chicken and kale. If you don’t love lemon, you could easily halve the amount you put in, but I felt it was pretty balanced. It also meant you didn’t need to marinate the chicken for long at all, which is a plus when you’re trying to cook quickly. I can’t stand those weeknight cooking recipes that require you to marinade for hours, I just never have the foresight!
What’s your go to chicken dish? As you can tell I’m chicken obsessed!
Until next time, happy eating!
Ella xx
