During the winter months, I enjoy warm, hearty meals with a bit of a kick to fight off those lazy days and over-eager bugs! The Spicy Winter Soup with chicken proved very popular among my family and friends, however, being vegetarian this month meant that I would be getting my protein source from elsewhere! Cue, pulses, in the form of beans, the tinned variety!
Beans are hearty, full of vitamins and minerals, and loaded with protein! Tinned or dried, we have been eating them in various meals for years in our household! If you want to have this as a chilli con carne type meal or increase the protein content, simply reduce the water and add in mincemeat, Quorn or tofu.
I had a busy day and was hungry so had my soup with German rye bread, which is naturally love in gluten and heavy! Two slices do me every time! You can have your soup with whatever you wish! You can even serve it with rice, quinoa or any other carb staple, just remember to not add 1 litre of water, unless you want a sloppy mess!
This recipe is meat free, gluten free, and dairy free, but highly nutritious and delicious, even if I do say so myself!
Ingredients – Four Bean Soupreme!
INGREDIENTS
Four Bean Supreme Soup
1 red onion
1 onion
3 spring onions
4 cloves garlic
1 cm ginger
½ red chilli
½ green chilli
½ red pepper
½ green pepper
½ teaspoon dried coriander
1 tin chopped tomatoes
¼ tin red kidney beans
1 tin mixed beans (containing Adzuki, Cannellini and Haricot beans, you can use any mix you like)
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons coconut oil
1 litre filtered water, boiled
RECIPE
Four Bean Supreme Soup
In a large saucepan, melt 2 teaspoons coconut oil, and add in sliced and diced red, normal and spring onions (keep the green leaves until the end), crushed garlic, chopped ginger and turmeric, and sauté until golden brown, cooking on 3/4 heat;
Add in 1 tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates for an infused and blended taste. I added in the chillies at this step because I wanted a spicier soup;
Add in the chopped peppers and beans, mix gently and add in the boiling water;
Cover and leave to cook for around 10 minutes on ¼ heat, stirring occasionally and to check the ingredients are done as you like them;
Your Four Bean Soupreme is served! (If you wish, garnish with fresh coriander, parsley, basil or even mint!).
Four Bean Soupreme is served!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Eating time: 15 minutes
Serves 2-4 people
Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂
Continuing the theme of more fish in November, and going vegetarian for December, I had a craving for grilled salmon! Now normally, mum or myself will cook it by topping the salmon with garlic, ginger, chilli and seasoning and eating with some salad, but I wanted some taste and a little of a kick to my food, so I came with this! And even mum enjoyed the sauce, even if she’s not a big fan of salmon!
Salmon is a big part of my diet for my breakfasts and occasional lunches, where I eat the smoked variety on top scrambled eggs and avocado or with a mouth-watering salad!
Instead of normal onions, I went with a red onion this time, because the scent of salmon is lovely but for me the red onion breaks up the taste and adds a layer of pungency to the dish! I added the green chilli and pepper for both taste and colour, otherwise it would be a very red dish! And as usual, I had it with some quinoa! I made sure that had a good mix of protein, fats and healthy carbs in this dish, and this one has the macronutrients covered!
You can have this dish with rice, naan, chapatti, bread, bulger, buckwheat or anything like that but I love my quinoa so had it with that!
Spiced Up Salmon Ingredients!
INGREDIENTS
Spiced Up Salmon
2 salmon filet
1 fresh lemon
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper
Mixed herbs
Spiced Up Sauce
1 red onion
3 cloves garlic
1 cm ginger
1 cm turmeric
½ red chilli
½ green chilli
½ red pepper
½ green pepper
½ teaspoon dried coriander
½ tin of chopped tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 teaspoons coconut oil
Quinoa
40 g quinoa
½ small onion
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon coconut oil
200 mL filtered water
RECIPE
Spiced Up Salmon
Lay the salmon filets onto aluminium foil;
Season with salt, pepper and mixed herbs (as I said in the vlog, you can do what I used to do, which is top the salmon with garlic, ginger, chilli and seasoning and have it with salad but I wanted something tastier!);
Wrap the aluminium foil around the fish, closing all ends and leaving space for it took, it should look like a boat tent;
Place on the middle shelf of your oven at gas mark 5/375F/190°C for 30 minutes;
Bring out, unwrap the aluminium foil, place on your dish and top with slices of lemon, and your almost there!
Spiced Up Sauce
In a large saucepan, melt 2 teaspoons coconut oil, and add in ½ sliced and diced red onion, crushed garlic, chopped ginger, and chopped turmeric, and cook and stir until the smell goes, cooking on 3/4 heat;
Add in ½ tin chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, ½ teaspoon salt, and cook until the water evaporates;
Add in the chopped chillies and peppers and cook until you have a tight sauce with all the water evaporated, around 10 minutes on ½ heat;
Continue to stir occasionally and check the vegetables are done as you like them;
Spiced Up Sauce is served! (If you wish, garnish with fresh coriander, parsley, basil or even mint!).
Quinoa
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 teaspoon of coconut oil (put the filtered water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the ¼ onion and stir, sauté until the onion caramelises;
Add the quinoa and stir gently for 30 seconds, and then add in the boiling water and a ¼ teaspoon of salt, and allow the quinoa to simmer by turning the heat down to a quarter and covering with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds intact. Repeat until the quinoa is cooked and all the water has evaporated;
Cooking time is about 20 minutes and your quinoa is ready to eat!
Spiced Up Salmon is served!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking/baking time: 30 minutes
Eating time: 15 minutes
Serves 1 person – mum loved the extra sauce I made her but didn’t fancy the salmon!
Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂
Biryani, be with any type of meat and/or vegetables is very popular during special occasions across the India subcontinent, and of course amongst immigrant Indian families across the world.
Traditionally, we have always enjoyed chicken biryani at home, such as the Eid (feast) after the Muslim holy month of Ramadan (Eid-ul-Fitr or Feast of Fast breaking) or 60 days later for Eid-ul-Adha (Feast of Sacrifice). Mum’s also made it for birthdays, family gatherings and so forth, and I have enjoyed it at weddings, engagements and other events.
As much as I love this speciality dish, I wanted to modernise it for my health and fitness needs. Therefore, I used only fresh ingredients (mum likes using frozen garlic and ginger), swapped the olive oil for coconut oil and used quinoa instead of rice! (I know what you’re thinking, I should rename this blog Spiced Up With Quinoa!).
You will need 3 saucepans for this, 2 medium sized ones and one large one, which you can line with aluminium foil like we do at home for easy washing.
INGREDIENTS
Chicken Mix
2 chicken breasts
100g lentils
100g soya yoghurt (you can add any type of yogurt; I am lactose intolerant!)
1 onion
1 red onion
1 tomato
4 cloves of garlic
1 cm of ginger
1 cm haldi (turmeric)
1 long red pepper (didn’t have this available at the time!)
1 long green pepper
1 long red chilli
1 long green chilli (didn’t have this available at the time!)
1 spoon dried coriander
1 teaspoon red chilli powder
1 pinch of saffron
Coconut oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 litre of filtered and boiled water
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)
Quinoa
200 g quinoa
Coconut oil
400 mL of filtered water, boiled
Salt
ChiQuin Ingredients
INSTRUCTIONS
Chicken (saucepan 1)
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, melt 2 tablespoons of coconut oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the onions, and stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
Add the garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger to the saucepan and stir;
To the mix, add one freshly chopped tomato, 100g soya yogurt, dried coriander, turmeric and a half a teaspoon of salt (feel free to add gharam masala);
Chop in the chillies and peppers (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
Cook this mix while stirring gently until the water evaporates (points 1-6 should take 5 minutes cooking time);
Begin preparing the quinoa;
Cut the chicken breasts into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook until all raw bits disappear, stir gently;
Turn the heat down to a quarter, add salt to taste, cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
You are now ready to mix with the quinoa!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Quinoa (saucepan 2)
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, melt 1 tablespoon of coconut oil (boil 500 mL filtered water);
Add in the quinoa and mix with the coconut oil (helps to keep the quinoa grains separated);
Add in 200mL boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Allow the quinoa to simmer until the quinoa is cooked (add more water if needed) and all the water has evaporated;
You are now ready to mix with the chicken!
Preparation time: 1 minute
Cooking time: 15 minutes
ChiQuin Biryani (saucepan 3)
Spread 1/3 quinoa at the bottom;
Spread 1/2 lentils over the quinoa;
Spread 1/2 of the chicken mix over the lentils;
Spread remaining 1/2 lentils over the chicken;
Spread remaining 1/2 chicken mix over the lentils;
Spread remaining 2/3 quinoa over the chicken;
Cook on half heat for 15 minutes, and check the chicken with a knife to see if it has almost cooked through;
Transfer onto an elevated gauze or saucepan (to stop the bottom quinoa layer from burning) for 15 minutes on 1/4 heat;
Check to see if chicken has cooked and the mix is to your liking;
You are now ready to eat!
Preparation time: 2 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves up to 2-4 people –I made enough biryani to last us another day!
Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback!
My mum’s prawn curry has to be one of my all-time favourite dishes that I look forward to every month! We tend to limit the amount of prawns we eat because of the high level of LDL cholesterol in prawns but once or twice a month we can’t go wrong!
I looooove the delicious sauce my mother makes, it is absolutely divine, and back when I was eating chappati, I could have 1 or 2 easily by dipping then piece by piece into the sauce and devouring, without even having touched the prawns! Mum usually adds potatoes but I felt that wasn’t enough for what I wanted to achieve.
I believe in serving you up the tastiest, healthiest, most nutrient-rich and of course spicy, food as possible to help you continue to make fitness gains without compromising on taste! Who said Indian food was unhealthy?! As you may already know, I am off the chappati and my mission is to create spicy, tasty, healthy, complex-carb rich food without the need for refined carbs, which block my plumbing and, well, I really am not going back to that painful place! Therefore, protein-rich pillau quinoa, with the method we use to cook pillau rice, is the way forward for me and for you if you want!
Now my mother uses fresh unpeeled and uncooked king prawns which I love because their shell adds to the gorgeous sauce, however, being someone who doesn’t like to get his hands dirty whilst eating (call me lazy and particular if you wish!), I decided to go for the easier option of shelled and cooked prawns!
The delicious vegetables!
INGREDIENTS
Spicy Green Prawns
1 onion
1 red onion
3 spring onions
4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food!)
1 cm of ginger
1 cm haldi (not tamarind as I say in the video, my apologies!)
1 red chilli
1 green chilli
1 long red pepper
1 long green pepper
1 medium cauliflower
2 heads broccoli
1 carrot
150g cooked king prawns/300g fresh king prawns
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 tablespoon dried coriander
1 litre of filtered and boiled water
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
200ml of filtered water, boiled
INGREDIENTS
Pillau Quinoa
100g quinoa
1 onion
4 cardamom seeds
8 cloves
8 black pepper seeds
200ml of filtered water, boiled.
Salt
Olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Spicy Green Prawns
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil for the quinoa);
Slice and dice the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger and add to the saucepan to sauté. Stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
To the onions, add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, tamarind and a half a teaspoon of salt and chop in the chillies (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
Allow to simmer and continue to stir gently until the water evaporates;
Slice the carrots, and cut the broccoli and cauliflower into manageable chunks;
Add the boiling water to the saucepan and then add in the carrots, broccoli and cauliflower (and stir gently for a couple of minutes);
Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste;
Cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
Add the prawns and chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!
Pillau Quinoa
Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 6 of cooking the spicy green prawns;
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
Add the quinoa and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa first in lukewarm water and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
You are now ready to eat!
Spicy Green Prawn Curry With Quinoa
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Eating time: 15 minutes
Serves up to 4 people
I made enough curry to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!
Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂
I love chicken curry! It is in my top 5 for meals I love to enjoy! However, I am not a big fan of having to prepare an entire chicken when the only part I enjoy is the breast! My mum noticed that I only enjoyed chicken breast when I was a teenager, so around the late 1990’s, my mum, my late father and I began experimenting in the kitchen with chicken tikka masala. My dad had friends who ran Indian restaurants and after some advice, we decided to have some fun in the kitchen!
Coming from a family and culture based on a daily staple of spicy and tasty Indian food, I knew I had to learn from the best, my parents, and so chicken tikka masala was the first dish I ever created with them!
For me, chicken tikka masala is probably the easiest dish to prepare. Having lived away from home in both the UK and Germany, I could rustle it up with pillau rice in about 45 minutes. Living on my own, I also developed my own way of cooking it with some tweaks here and there to help give it a sweeter base for taste through using a mix of onions to adding in vegetables to increase the nutritional value.
Since it was International Ladies Day on Sunday 8th March 2015 and today is Sunday 15th March 2015, i.e. Mother’s Day here in the UK, I decided to add some greens in the form of okra aka lady’s fingers, hence the name, Lady’s’ Chicken Tikka Masala!
Traditionally, all Indian dishes are served with rice or chappati. Since I am off both due to health reasons, I decided to spice up the quinoa just like we spice up our pillau rice!
You will be seeing my favourite ingredients today which are onions, red onions, spring onions, garlic, ginger and of course chilli! Give me those ingredients, and depend on the order they are used, I can cook you Indian, Italian and Turkish dish!
Here is my first ever cooking video! It’s very long at 23 minutes but my aim is to create videos of about 5 to 10 minutes in length to keep you informed and entertained!
Ingredients Board!
INGREDIENTS
Chicken Tikka Masala
2 chicken breasts
1 onion
1 red onion
3 spring onions
4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)
1 cm of ginger
1 red chilli
1 green chilli (I didn’t have any to hand but do use one for colour and extra spice!)
1 long red pepper
1 long green pepper
6 okra aka lady’s fingers
1 tablespoon dried coriander
¼ teaspoon powdered tamarind
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 litre of filtered and boiled water
1 tin of chopped tomatoes (you can use fresh if you wish but it’s quicker and easier to use a can!)
200ml of filtered water, boiled.
Pillau Quinoa
100g quinoa
1 onion
4 cardamom seeds
8 cloves
8 black pepper seeds
200ml of filtered water, boiled.
Salt
Olive oil
INSTRUCTIONS
Chicken Tikka Masala
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger to the saucepan to sauté. Stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
To the onions, add in the tin of chopped tomatoes, dried coriander, tamarind and a half a teaspoon of salt and chop in the chillies (if you want your dish less spicy, add the chillies in with the other vegetables in point 7);
Allow to simmer and continue to stir gently until the water evaporates;
Cut the chicken breasts into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook until all raw bits disappear, keep stirring gently;
Add the boiling water and then add in the okra and chopped peppers and stir gently for a couple of minutes;
Turn the heat down to a quarter, taste the soup and add salt and pepper to taste;
Cover with the lid and leave the mix to cook for about 10 minutes;
Add the chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes
Feel free to add any coriander to finish and you are ready to eat!
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Serves up to 4 people
Pillau Quiona
Begin making your quinoa preparations at point 6 of cooking the chicken tikka masala;
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (put the water on to boil);
Slice and dice in the onion and stir, sauté until the onions caramelise;
Add in the spice mix of cardamom, black pepper, cloves and cinnamon sticks;
Add in the boiling water and a ½ teaspoon of salt;
Add the quinoa and stir gently. I gently rinse the quinoa first in lukewarm water and then drain it before adding it to the saucepan;
Allow the quinoa to simmer, turn the heat down to a quarter, and cover with the lid;
Check on it 3 to 5 minutes later and gently turn the quinoa over with a plastic or wooden spoon to ensure you keep your quinoa seeds in tact;
Repeat step 8 until the quinoa is cooked and all the water evaporates;
You are now ready to eat!
Ladys’ Chicken Tikka Masala with Pillau Quinoa!
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves up to 2 people –I made enough chicken to last us another day and my mother and I like to eat our quinoa fresh!
Let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide feedback 🙂
During the winter months, we are particularly prone to picking up colds and chest infections. For me, winter is THE season to ensure my diet is nutrient rich to help stave off those nasty bacteria and viruses! To do this, keeping warm is absolutely essential, and there is nothing better at raising the body temperature than a hot’n’spicy winter soup!
Soups are a great way of getting vitamins and minerals quickly into your body. The nutrients from the plethora of ingredients seep into the water which packs a powerful nutritional punch!
So, onto my Spicy Winter Soup for up to 4 people!
I have some favourite ingredients which you will see over and over again in my main dishes and those are onions, red onions, spring onions, garlic, ginger and of course chilli! Give me those ingredients, and depending on the order in which I use them, I can cook you an Indian, Italian or Turkish dish!
INGREDIENTS
1 onion
1 red onion
3 spring onions
4 cloves of garlic (I love garlic in my food)
1 cm of ginger
1 large tomato or 6 cherry tomatoes
1 red chilli
1 green chilli
1 long red pepper
1 long green pepper
1 Parsnip
1 Leek
1 Sweet Potato
1 Carrot
1 Chicken Breast
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 litre of filtered and boiled water
INSTRUCTIONS
In a saucepan on ¾ heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil (put the water on to boil in a kettle);
Slice and dice the onions (hold back the green leaves of the spring onions until the end), garlic (I cut the garlic knobs up, press them in a garlic crusher and add them directly into the saucepan) and ginger and add to the saucepan to sauté. Stir regularly until the mix starts to bronze;
Chop in the tomato(es) and cook until they soften;
Cut the chicken breast into cubes, add to the saucepan and cook (and stir!) until all raw bits disappear;
Chop in the parsnip, leek, sweet potato and carrot and add them to the boiling water for 5 minutes;
Chop in the chillies and peppers (if you want your soup spicier, add the chillies with the boiling water);
Taste the soup and add salt and pepper according to your preference;
Cover with the lid and leave the soup to simmer on a medium heat for around 10 minutes;
Add the chopped spring onion leaves and cover for 5 minutes;
Feel free to add any coriander to garnish and you are ready to !
Spicy Winter Soup IngredientsOnions, garlic, ginger, chilliesChopped Chicken!Cooking MixChopped Peppers and ChilliesAdd in the tomatoesAdd boiling water and chopped vegetablesSimmer for 10 minutesSpring Onion Green Leaves
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Eating time: 5-10 minutes
Serves up to 4 people
Do let me know how you get on and please feel free to provide me with your feedback!
