Tandoori Chicken

This is great served with riata, a yogurt cucumber sauce similar to tzatziki sauce, and actually what I use.  This is fun to serve as an appetizer, after the chicken is cooked, just cut it into thin 1 inch squares and top with a dollop of sauce, stick a toothpick in the middle and serve on a tray.

4 large chicken breasts

Lemon Juice, About 2 Tablespoons

1 c. plain yogurt (all I had around was sour cream so I used that)

Red food Dye (optional)

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. cumin

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. ground ginger (fresh would be better, I didn't have any)

2 tsp. coriander

1 tsp. paprika (make sure it's a nice vibrant red color)

1 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/2 tsp. black pepper

Pinch Cayenne (I like about 1/4 tsp. to make it spicy)

Pinch Cloves

I removed the fat from the chicken breasts so that only meat was remaining. Then I just the chicken in half lenght-wise and then in half again through the middle.

Rub the chicken with lemon juice. Mix the spices and rub the meat with the mix. Combine the yogurt (or sour cream) with red food dye until it is bright pink. Add to the meat and spices and make sure each piece of chicken is completely coated.

Marinate for 2 - 12 hours.

Turn oven on to broil and move a rack to the highest spot in the oven. Place the chicken on a wire rack or a roasting pan.  Broil from 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through.

I served mine over a qunioa pilaf but rice or couscous would also be good.

Pina Coladas and Saag

I have gotten hooked on saag. I have a friend that made me some and it was wonderful (Thank you Cheryl for introducing me to this wonderful dish!) Saag is an Indian spiced spinach curry that you can puree and eat with naan, or in my case soft fluffy pitas. But I only had a little spinach so I could only make a half batch, leaving me with a half can of coconut milk.


So I made pina coladas.


It needed more coconut milk though so I still have a half a can of coconut milk leftover. It's just a different half can than I had with the saag.

I'll post pictures as soon as my computer and cell phone figure out how to bluetooth again.

Pina Coladas
1 (20 oz) can pineapple, undrained
1 can coconut milk
20 ice cubes
1 scoop vanilla ice cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. coconut extract
1 - 2 Tbsp. agave

Put all in a blender and blend until ice is crushed and drink is mixed throughout.
Since it was 10 in the morning and I don't drink this is (obviously) a virgin pina colada


Saag
Splash Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
3 - 6 cloves garlic
3 inch piece of ginger
1 1/4 c. water, divided
1 Tbsp. ground coriander
1 tsp. turmeric
1 lb. spinach
1 can coconut milk
1 tsp. vegetable bouillon (I used Superior Touch Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base)

Peel and chop the ginger a bit. Blend the ginger and 1/4 c. water until chopped pretty fine. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a pretty large skillet. Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook just until fragrant. Add the ginger water and simmer until most of the liquid is gone.

Add the spinach, seasonings, remaining water and vegetable soup base. Let that simmer, stirring, until the spinach cooks down and is dark.

Pour into a blender and puree until smooth and, then add the coconut milk and puree until combined. Taste and season with salt to taste.

A family member had cooked turkey over rice and poured this on top. All the while commenting on the radioactive green color.