Hello and good day from the rainy Land Down Under! Hope all of you are having a great week.
I was asked by one of my bloggy friends, Toni of Wifely Steps, to join in the celebration of her wedding and blog anniversary by sharing my own wifely steps.
It was such a great honour to be a part of her celebration so I especially wrote “Lessons Learned from Marital Fights” (click! click! click on the title) for her blog.
If you want a change from your usual chicken recipes and lessen your time in prepping and cooking, I suggest you try this recipe.
This dish is healthy and very easy to cook. All you need are a few ingredients, an oven and 35 minutes of your time. If you don’t have an oven, a mini-oven or toaster oven will do.
What you need:
4 Chicken Breast Fillets
2 cups Multigrain Bread Crumbs
3 tbsp Parmesan Cheese, finely grated
2 Spring Onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup Lemon Juice
4 tbsp Unsalted Butter, melted
1 tbsp Parsley, chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp Olive Oil
What you need to do:
1. In a small bowl, mix in your multigrain breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, spring onions, melted butter, salt and pepper.
2. Using your hands or a fork, press the mixture on top of the chicken breasts, to form an even coat.
3. Transfer the chicken breasts to a greased shallow oven tray. Before putting inside the oven, pour the olive oil and lemon juice on top of the coated chicken breasts. Bake for 20 minutes at 180 degrees Celsius.
4. Remove chicken from the oven and keep warm. Add the parsley on top and serve.
Tips:
1. The type of breadcrumbs is up to you. I use multigrain breadcrumbs at home to up the fibre nutrient of this dish.
2. Go easy on the salt. The breadcrumbs and Parmesan Cheese has a certain saltiness already so taste your mixture before pouring in the salt.
3. Pour a bit of water on your oven tray before placing it inside the oven to avoid dryness of the chicken. Other than a tasty, delicious flavour, we want the chicken juicy as well.Bon appetit!
In cooking, it starts with the produce that you buy from the market or grocery store. There are some produce that I buy in the market and there are some that I buy at the grocery store. I’m currently lucky to have a mini-market two blocks away from where we live. Some days, I don’t have any planned meal in mind and I just figure it out when I’m in the market. I let my senses lead me to the freshest and most beautiful produce I could find on a certain visit.
I’m grateful for my mom for bringing me to markets when I was a kid. I learned about traveling inside a big market, being friends with sellers and butchers and knowing when a certain produce is fresh or not.
On Buying Fresh Produce
(1) Do the squeeze test and look for bumps and bruises before buying.
(2) Take your time. Fresh produce is vital to our diet and it is worth shopping around for.
(3) Be friendly with local grocer owner/s or market sellers or butchers. They will be of great assistance should you need help in finding the right produce for you.
On Choosing Fresh Produce
(1) The freshest produce are the ones in season–take advantage! In spring, buy apricots, artichokes, asparagus, avocados, beets, carrots. In summer, buy berries, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, figs and garlic. In fall, buy apples, broccoli, fennel, pears, sweet potatoes.
(2) Buying out-of season produce does not mean it’s not fresh. It may only mean that the produce may be smaller or weaker in taste compared to in-season produce.
On Buying Vegetables
(1) Be selective. Examine each vegetable individually. Be on the lookout for rotten pieces mixed in with the good group.
(2) Look for bright color.
(3) Check for firmness and crispiness. If you see wrinkles or wilted looking greens, that is not fresh at all.
On Buying Ripe Produce
(1) Remember that overly ripe produce is squishy and overly juicy.
(2) Check the color. If a produce has pale color, choose another one that has more color.
On Buying Fresh Fish
(1) Look for bright and clear eyes, plus shiny, metallic and clean skin.
(2) Fresh fish smells like clean water or has a scent of the ocean.
(3) The place where you buy seafood should not stink! If you find yourself in a fish market that reeks, leave.
On Buying Fresh Meat
(1) Look at the color. Beef should have reddish color, pork should be pink, poultry should be white or pale yellow.
(2) Smell the produce. Avoid buying if the meat has a rancid or strange smell.
**This post is also in response to Fave Diets Blog‘s monthly Healthy Bite. The question for April is
“What is your favorite healthy cooking tip or trick?”I get my fruit fixes for the day by eating fruits during morning and afternoon tea. Sometimes, I make fruits my appetizers before my main course for lunch and dinner. Or make them my after dinner snack.
