Ricotta Spinach Walnut Stuffed Chicken

                                                

I have prepared this stuffed chicken quite a few times now. And each time it came out very good. It might look daunting, at least it did when I first saw it here, but these are all very easy steps to follow.

Ingredients

1.   Chicken breasts – 3

2.   Onion – 1 big, chopped

3.   Baby Spinach –3 cups

4.   Walnuts – ¼ cup

5.   Ricotta – 3 tbspn, fat-free

6.   White wine – ¼ cup

7.   Salt, pepper – for seasoning chicken

8.   Spice powder – Dry roast and grind the following spices: almonds – 2 tspn, peppercorns – ¼ tspn, red chilli – 4 dried, cloves -2, cardamom pods -2, cinnamon stick -1/4 inch, and fennel seeds – ½ tspn. (I made extra powder for later use as you can see from the pic below)

9.   Oil – 3 tspn

Method

1.   Toast walnuts in a pan, and keep aside.

2.   Heat around 1 tspn oil in the same pan, add the chopped onion. Once it is translucent, add the ¼ tspn of the spice mix , and the spinach.

3.   Once the spinach is wilted, take the spinach mix off the heat, and let it cool

4.   Once it is completely cooled off, add the ricotta cheese, and toasted walnuts.

5.   Next rub pepper and salt on each side of the chicken breast, and brown it in the same pan, with little oil (around 2 tspn), on all sides.

6.   Once the chicken is cool enough slit one side just enough (make sure not slit it all the way) and stuff the spinach ricotta mix. Rub the remaining spice mix on all sides of the chicken sides.

7.   Pour the white wine in a baking pan, and arrange the stuffed chicken pieces in it. With a spoon take little wine from bottom and pour over the chicken pieces. This helps to keep chicken moist.

8.   Bake for 40-50 mins and 375F. It is ready to be enjoyed with salad or sauted vegetables on the side.

Amla (Gooseberry) Pickle

     

                                                  

This recipe is courtesy of my sister. We fell in love with this pickle that she prepared especially for us when we visited her. The gooseberry was soft, and so rich in flavor that every bite was so yum! 

Well, now you get to enjoy as well!  Here is the recipe.

Ingredients

1.   Indian gooseberries (Nellika or Amla) – 650 gms

2.   Green Chillis – 7,  chopped

3.   Garlic – 20 pods, chopped small

4.   Curry leaves – 2 sprigs

5.   Mustard seeds – 2 tspn

6.   Pickle masalas: chilli powder-1 tspn, fenugreek powder- 2 tspn, asafoetida – ½ tspn.

7.   Vinegar – 2 tbspn

8.   Water – 1 cup

9.   Turmeric powder – 1/4 tspn

10.        Salt – ¼ to  ½ cup (as required)

11.        Gingerly oil – ½ cup (I used vegetable oil)

Method

1.   Boil the gooseberries in water, till the color changes to yellow, and becomes soft. Keep it aside to cool, and then cut it into 4-5 pieces after removing the seed. Note: if using fresh gooseberries, this step will take longer unlike the frozen kind.

2.   Heat oil, add the mustard seeds. When it splutters, add garlic, chopped chilli, curry leaves. Once the raw garlic smell is gone (around 4-5 min on medium heat), reduce the flame, and add the pickle masalas. You do not want to burn the masalas, as that will alter the taste. Add salt.

3.   Mix in the cut gooseberries, excluding the water, and sauté for 3-4 minutes.

4.   Add the water the gooseberries were cooked in, and allow it to boil. Once it starts to boil, switch off the stove.

5.   Once the pickle has cooled down, add vinegar, and store in clean dry air tight container.

6.   Voila, yummy amla pickle is ready to be enjoyed as a side dish to rice or chapathis along with other curries! Keep refrigerated to enjoy for 2-3 weeks.

Pineapple Pachadi

                                     

I am not a huge fan of having a sweet fruit dish along with my meals, but I had to try this one! Mixing pineapple with ground coconut turned out to be a winner combo!

This is a common side dish in an onam sadya. This recipe was adapted from here.

Ingredients

1.    Pineapple – 5 cups, chopped (see pic below)

2.    Turmeric powder – ½ tspn

3.    Red Chilli powder – 1 tspn

4.    Salt – as required (I added 1 tspn)

5.    Jaggery – 1 block (or 5 tbspn grated)

6.    Grated coconut – 2.5 cups

7.    Cumin seeds – 1 tspn

8.    Yogurt – 2.5 cups

9.    Tempering: mustard seeds – 1.5 tspn, dried red chilli -3, curry leaves – 2 sprigs

Method

1.    Add the chopped pineapple pieces, turmeric, and chlli powders, jaggery block with 1/4 cup water (since the pineapple pieces will be releasing water you don’t need to add much) and cook on medium flame till the pineapple is fully cooked, and all the water evaporates.

2.    While the pineapple is being cooked, grind the coconut, and cumin seeds to a coarse mixture, and keep aside.

3.    Once the cooked pineapple has cooled down, grind it to a coarse mixture.

4.    Return the ground pineapple mix to a pan, add the coconut mix, and cook this till the raw smell of coconut goes away, around 5-6 mins on medium flame. (Since this mix is thick when it gets hot, it will start splattering, so be careful. Reduce flame, and/or keep the lid on.) After it cools down, add yogurt.

5.    On the side, heat oil, splutter mustard seeds, add dried red chilli, and curry leaves .Add this temper to the yogurt-pineapple mix. Voila, pineapple pachadi is ready to be enjoyed with plain rice!

Note: if the pachadi is not sweet enough, add sugar. However, if it is too sweet, add more yogurt!

 

Chocolate chip Zucchini muffin

Healthy and tasty! This is very easy to bake, and very nicely hides the fact that you have a vegetable in the muffin! This recipe was adapted from here.

Ingredients

1. All Purpose flour –3 cups
2. Baking soda- 1 tspn
3. Baking powder – 1/2 tspn
4. Cinnamon – 3 tspn
5. Nutmeg – 1/8 tspn
6. Sugar – 1 3/4 cups (I used 1.5 cups of brown sugar instead)
7. Eggs –3
8.  Oil - 1 cup (olive or vegetable)
9. Vanilla  extract – 2 tspn
10. Zucchini – 2 cups (I used like 3 cups)
11. Salt -1 tspn
12. Chocolate Chip (optional) – 1 cup (I used mini chips, which had the right amount of sweetness with each bite)

Method

1. Prepare the wet ingredients – beat eggs, mix in sugar, vanilla extract, and mix well.
2. Lightly peel, and grate zucchini. Add this to the wet ingredients.
3. Prepare dry ingredients – mix flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt together.
4. Add the dry to the wet ingredients. Mix well. Add chocolate chips and/or nuts to the wet mix.
5. Pour into 2 (already greased, and floured) bread pans or as I did 1 muffin tray, and one bread pan.
6. Bake at 350F for 35 to 40 minutes or till poking center portion with a toothpick comes out clean.