Uncooked carne asada, pesto chicken, kebabs, meatballs etc are too easy and delicious. I pick them up once in a while when they become available. This pesto chicken mmmMMM… Just buy it, shove it in the oven for an hour and a half to bake at 400Β°. I cannot for the life of me remember what the side was.
This is a bit messy but the roommate and I finished it in one night. Β It must’ve costed me $10~11. What a deal!
Pro Cooking Tip 7: Grab your favorite marinaded meat ASAP!
Look at these cuties! It’s the usual bagels, cream cheese and smoked salmon PLUS the guests of honor onions, capers and avocado. This was a great Saturday breakfast with the girls. The healthiest thing about this is having breakfast at all on a Saturday morning. Good friends, good food and good time π
Eggs, spinach and quinoa are my other protein options which aren’t very many. So I rotate and how!
Safety rules:
Chicken is scarier because of salmonella. So if you are new to cooking,
Refrigerate it immediately
Wash your hands immediately after handling it raw.
Wash any bowls or spatulas you use immediately after handling it raw as well
Take it out only when you’re about to heat it
Fish, you never know but I follow the same rules
Cuts I use:
Curries – Thighs, drumsticks, neck (I pull out the meat before serving)
Baking – Things and wings (smaller in height) or whole chicken π
Grilling – boneless tenders as they are lighter
You want to cook a portion on medium flame for at least 20 minutes and bake for at least 25 and cook all the way ALWAYS
Fishes:
I use any kind of white fish for tacos or stew. Halibut is if I want to go fancy. Catfish is my favorite but I’ll do Red snapper, Dover, Sole, Cod even.
I only bake Salmon with glaze. I don’t see the point of putting a flavorful fish like that in a curry.
Cook/ shallow fry 5 minutes on either side for a small fillet.
Shrimp:
Mr shrimp is the love of my life! crunchy and delicious! The thing to note about cooking it is, it has 2 veins. One on top and one at the bottom. remove both by cutting it from head to tail on both sides and remove it. Remove the tail too please. No one’s into it. Red wine adds a yummy flavor to any shrimp dish.
One portion cooks in 15 minutes on medium flame
Crab:
Too much work to make at home. I just eat this outside
Lobster:
So tasty and delicious and so easy to make. I steam them with butter-pepper-garlic, serve with some brussel sprouts and the taste great.
Red meats:
Mutton is good well done. Beef is good medium rare. Lamb is good either way and hence I love it more β€
Rib-eye, Filet mignon, Sirloin, NY, T bone are all very tasty beef cuts. But they are huge and I phased them out as my doctor kept telling me my cholesterol could be better. Now I do tri-strip steak, lamb chops, lamb shoulders usually. Mutton is too expensive in the Pacific Northwest and hard to find so pass.
3.5 minutes on medium flame on either side for any of the above
Another thing about meat is there isn’t a big demand for organs and bone marrow I wonder why. Its not that gross. Liver is rich in vitamins. Bone marrow is a good source of unsaturated fat. Chicken brain is just yummy. It’s also a good way to break the monotony of the same meats over and over and get a different flavor.
Pro Cooking Tip 4: Expand your meaty horizons π
This is a very traditional dish from my community, Bohra, and very easy to prepare.
This one of my staple foods. My mom stocks me up with the spice when I visit India but it’s also available here. I keep it refrigerated. Fancier version of the recipe is here.
Fry 4 tbs of this spice with oil on medium flame for one minute
Add a can of coconut milk slowly while mixing the spices
Add Β 1/2 a can of water to the mixture
Add ~2 dried red chili peppers (available at Mexican stores). Skip if you don’t do a lot of spice
Add ~1.5 lbs of skinless chicken (I prefer thighs)
Cook for ~20 minutes
Add lemon and salt to taste
(Optional) Add cilantro/lettuce strips for garnish
What I like about this simple recipe is it offers a unique taste and flavor and is very good value for time. It works with various subs. I could swap out the chicken for boiled eggs if they are about to go bad. I could add corn to the recipe. I could make a vegetarian version with mushroom, baby corn and bamboo shoots. The garnish in the picture is spinach – not ideal but I needed to work some leftover greens in.
It goes well with boiled rice or sweet bread like potato bread.
I’m an unmarried working professional. I love to go out, eat healthy but not spend my paycheck on it. This IS possible. My credentials are maintaining the same weight for 12 years through exams, break-ups, deadlines, lay-offs and weddings. So let me share some of my dirty ghetto cooking tips as I perfect them.
Pro Cooking Tip 1: Though shalt not waste
See the assortment of meat and veggies in my picture. I had no idea I was having that for dinner till I opened the fridge. I go to a store and pick healthy good food that looks good to me. I rotate, sure. That night, it looked like I would have to use the meat and chip away on the veggies before they spoil. I even asked my roommate if he had veggies that would spoil soon.
Lamb chops – Seasoned only with Trader Joe’s lemon pepper, red meat’s best friend
Onion – Sour cream (past expiry but not not smelly or moldy, just watery)
Red Snapper – Sour cream and chopped garlic
Mushrooms – Sour cream and Thyme
I grilled the above for 25 minutes and ate out of the tray. The tray is elegant. Its not like eating out of a pan. Boom dinner is done!