Eye for a Recipe

This is a great recipe from Half Baked Harvest. Cook ground chicken and then add garlic, ginger, peppers and cashews. Cook for a few minutes and then add tamari, fish sauce, chili paste and honey. Cook until the sauce thickens, then remove from heat and add the herbs. I omitted the mint and mango.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

I used tamari instead of soy sauce, Simply Organic sriracha and Cock brand fish sauce. Check to make sure the oil and the almonds don’t contain additives.

Brown the chicken

Add the garlic, ginger, peppers and cashews and then the sauce

Remove from heat and add the herbs

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons (30 ml) sesame or peanut oil

1 pound (454 g) ground chicken

Black pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced or grated

1 inch (2.54-cm) fresh ginger, grated

2 red or orange bell peppers, chopped

½ cup (125 ml) raw cashews

½ cup (125 ml) low sodium soy sauce or tamari

2 tablespoons (30 ml) fish sauce

¼ cup (60 ml) honey

2-3 tablespoons (30-45 ml) chili paste

1 cup (250 ml) fresh basil, roughly torn

¼ cup (60 ml) fresh mint, roughly torn

Steamed white or brown rice, for serving

1 mango, thinly sliced or diced

Preparation:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the chicken. Season with black pepper and brown all over, breaking the chicken up as it cooks, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, peppers, and cashews, cook another 2-3 minutes, until the garlic is fragrant. Pour in the soy sauce, fish sauce, chili paste, and honey. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until the sauce coats the chicken, about 5-8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in the basil and mint.

Serve the chicken and sauce over bowls of rice. Top with mangos and additional basil. Serves 4.

From Half Baked Harvest

This quick fish dish from the New York Times is tasty and uses your garden-fresh scallions, cucumber and herbs. Roast the fish for a few minutes and then add julienned scallions. While the fish cooks, make a quick sauce of scallion, yogurt, cucumber, herbs, lemon juice, garlic and oil. Serve the fish with the charred scallions and sauce. You can use halibut, cod or any firm white fish in this recipe.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

I use tamari instead of soy sauce, because it uses alcohol as a preservative instead of sodium benzoate. Astro Original Balkan-style yogurt and Cock brand fish sauce contain no artificial ingredients. Use only freshly squeezed lemon juice, as the concentrates are bitter and contain sodium benzoate. Check the red pepper flakes to make sure they don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents.

Make the cucumber yogurt sauce

Arrange scallions around fish

Serve fish with charred scallions and sauce

Ingredients:

1 bunch scallions, green and white parts separated

3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 (6- to 8-ounce/170- 226-g) boneless, skinless halibut fillets

1 ½ teaspoons (7.5 ml) soy sauce

1 teaspoon (5 ml) fish sauce

⅔ cup (165 ml) plain Greek yogurt

⅔ cup (165 ml) finely chopped cucumber

1 tablespoon (15 ml) minced fresh dill or mint

2 teaspoons (10 ml) fresh lemon juice, plus more for serving

1 garlic clove, finely grated or mashed to a paste

Red-pepper flakes

Flaky sea salt, for serving (optional)

Preparation:

Heat oven to 450 degrees F (232 C). Mince enough of the scallion greens to equal 2 tablespoons (30 ml) and reserve. Halve remaining scallion whites and greens lengthwise to make ribbons. Place scallion ribbons in a bowl and toss with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) oil and a pinch of salt; set aside.

Season fish with salt and pepper, and place on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle fish with a little oil, soy sauce and fish sauce. Transfer to the oven and roast, 2 minutes. Add scallion ribbons to the baking sheet, spreading them out in one layer around the fish, and roast until the fish is opaque in the center and golden at the edges, and scallions are browned in spots, 6 to 10 minutes.

While fish roasts, make the sauce: In a small bowl, mix together remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) olive oil with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) minced scallion greens, the yogurt, cucumber, dill, lemon juice, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, arrange fish and scallions on serving plates and squeeze lemon over the top. Dollop yogurt sauce over the fish and garnish with remaining scallion greens, red-pepper flakes, more black pepper, and sea salt, if you like. Serves 4.

From the New York Times

These spiced chicken thighs from Real Simple are simply delicious. Rub the chicken with spices and toss the tomatoes with oregano, oil and vinegar. Combine mayonnaise, yogurt, garlic and vinegar. Cook the chicken, set aside and cook the onion. Shred the chicken and serve with onion, tomatoes, sauce, naan and garnish with extra oregano.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Check your spices to make sure they don’t contain colour or anti-caking agents. I used Astro Original Balkan-style yogurt and Hellman’s mayonnaise. Instead of white vinegar, I used Eden Organic red wine vinegar and Suraj original naan.

Make the tomato salad

Coat the chicken with the spice mixture

Cook the chicken

Set the chicken aside while you cook the onions

Serve the chicken and onions with sauce, salad and naan

Ingredients:

½ teaspoon (5 ml) ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon (5 ml) ground coriander

½ teaspoon (5 ml) ground cumin

¼ teaspoon (2.5 ml) smoked paprika

¼ teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground cloves

¼ teaspoon (2.5 ml) ground turmeric

3 teaspoons (15 ml) kosher salt, divided

2 pounds (900 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 8 thighs)

½ cup (125 ml) plain whole-milk Greek yogurt

2 tablespoons (30 ml) mayonnaise

1 large clove garlic, grated

3 tablespoons (45 ml) white wine vinegar, divided

1½ pounds (680 kg) tomatoes, quartered

1 tablespoon (15 ml) fresh oregano leaves, plus more for serving

¼ teaspoon (2.5 ml) freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup (60 ml) olive oil, divided

1 red onion, cut into ½-inch (1.25-cm) slices

Naan, for serving

Preparation:

Combine cinnamon, coriander, cumin, paprika, cloves, turmeric, and 2 teaspoons (10 ml) salt in a small bowl. Rub mixture evenly over chicken; set chicken aside.

Stir yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic, and 1 tablespoon (15 ml) vinegar in a small bowl. Toss tomatoes with oregano, pepper, 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil, and remaining 1 teaspoon (5 ml) salt and 2 tablespoons (30 ml) vinegar in a medium bowl. Set bowls aside.

Heat remaining 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high. Working in 2 batches, add chicken to hot oil; cook, flipping once, until browned and a thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 165°F (74°C), about 5 minutes per side. Transfer to a cutting board.

Add onion to skillet; cook over medium-high, stirring often and scraping up browned bits from bottom of skillet, until onion is browned, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

Shred chicken into bite-size pieces. Transfer to a serving platter with any accumulated juices. Add onion and any remaining juices in skillet to platter. Top with oregano. Serve with yogurt mixture, tomato salad, and naan. Serves 4.

From Real Simple

This scrumptious salad from Canadian Living is bursting with summer blueberries, arugula and corn. Grill corn and halloumi, remove the kernels from the cobs and combine with couscous, arugula and blueberries. Serve topped with the grilled halloumi, almonds and a blueberry-balsamic-honey dressing. Cook’s note: I removed the kernels from the cobs before cooking and sautéed them in a pan on top of the stove. I grilled the halloumi on a grill pan on top of the stove. I used watercress instead of arugula and sliced almonds.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Check the halloumi to make sure it does not contain additives or preservatives. Use butter that contains only cream, with no colour added. I use a balsamic vinegar with only naturally occurring sulfites and President’s Choice Old-Fashioned Dijon.

Make the blueberry dressing

Cook the corn

Cook the couscous

Couscous salad with grilled halloumi and blueberries

Ingredients:

Salad

2 cobs corn, husks and silk removed

2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil

Salt and pepper

1 7 oz (200 g) pkg halloumi, cut into 8 slices

1 cup (250 ml) couscous

2 tsp (10 ml) butter

1 cup (250 ml) arugula

1/3 cup (85 ml) fresh blueberries

2 tbsp (30 ml) coarsely chopped almonds

Blueberry dressing

2 cups (500 ml) fresh blueberries

3 tbsp (45 ml) balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp (15 ml) liquid honey

2 tsp (10 ml) Dijon mustard

1/3 cup (85 ml) olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Corn and halloumi

Preheat grill to medium-high heat; grease grate well. Brush corn with oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place corn and halloumi on grill; close lid and grill, turning occasionally, until corn is tender and halloumi is well marked, about 15 minutes for corn and 6 minutes for halloumi. Let corn cool slightly; remove kernels from cobs.

Blueberry dressing

Meanwhile, in blender or food processor, purée blueberries, vinegar, honey and mustard. Add olive oil in thin drizzle until mixture is smooth; season with salt and pepper. Dressing can be made ahead and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

Salad

In large, heatproof bowl, mix together couscous, 1 cup (250 ml) boiling water and butter; cover and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with fork. Add corn kernels, arugula and blueberries; toss until well combined. Top with grilled halloumi and almonds and serve with dressing. Serves 4.

From Canadian Living