Chicken (or Pork) Spring Rolls or Lettuce Cups

Delicious crispy golden spring rolls, with a juicy tasty filling!

Easier than you'd think, especially when you can rustle them up with a stir fry mix - super tasty and you can either fry, bake or cook in an air fryer depending on your preference.

 

For a low carb version, this is also delicious wrapped in lettuce leaves while it's hot, san choy bau style.

How To Velvet Chicken

Tired of dry and chewy chicken breast in your stir fries, Chinese dishes and Thai or Indian curries etc.?

This technique is just the most amazing way of keeping chicken breast pieces moist and tender (even though it's hard to make lightly poached chicken pieces look appetising in a photo!).

You can either poach in water or shallow fry, depending on your preference. Personally, I like to lightly poach as a healthier option. You could use this technique for almost any chicken dish as the flavour is so neutral.

Easy Fajita Spice Mix (Gluten Free) and Chicken / Beef Fajitas Recipe

Delicious with Chicken or Beef and Peppers!

Want to knock up your own tasty fajita spice mix in seconds, and know what's in it?

This is my delicious fajita spice mix, similar to commercial brands which you simply sprinkle over your chicken (or beef) strips and stir in just before you cook it - no need to marinate, and you just stir together the spices. It couldn't be more simple, and you know what's in it!

If you don't have onion powder or garlic powder, no problem, you just grate fresh garlic and onion onto the chicken (or beef) and stir in before you add the spice mix, and it tastes just as great either way!

This makes enough to make a generous serving for four people (using 640g chicken cut into 1/4 inch strips, 3 red/orange/yellow peppers, and two small-medium onions - see below for instructions how to use). Easy to double (or more) and store. This quantity makes about 5 x 15ml tbsp, so if you make a big batch, just measure this out for a 4 person serving.

Quick Chinese Chicken and Sweetcorn Soup

This tasty soup is so simple to make, it is quicker to rustle it up yourself than pop to your nearest takeaway and bring one back!

Plus when you make it yourself, you know what's in it - and I like to make my version a little more filling and flavourful than the versions I've had in some Chinese eateries, which can err on the side of insipid at times. It's also a great way to use up roast chicken leftovers (although you might need to adjust the calories, if you're counting!).

We had this for our Chinese New Year starter (followed by my favourite of beef in black bean sauce) - the added bonus of making it at home being that I knew it was safe for my daughter to eat as I could guarantee it was gluten free - which won't make a difference to most people, as it's mostly a case of just making sure you use gluten free soy sauce (or tamari) instead. And before anyone says anything, my apologies to anyone of Chinese descent for the authenticity of this soup... it's very popular in the UK!

Serves four people from 195 calories a portion. (A quarter portion weighs around 350g, so you could make them smaller to serve more, e.g. six portions of 235g and reduce the calories to 130 if you like!).

Creamy Chicken, Leek and Mushroom Pie with Tarragon (includes Thermomix method and gluten free options)

A luxurious creamy chicken pie, beautiful comfort food to share and enjoy...

If you like to cook a big roast chicken (or even turkey) on a Sunday and want something delicious to make with the leftovers, then here it is! Or if you just want to make a mouth-watering chicken pie, then you could roast one just for this (or cheat and grab a rotisserie chicken on your way home - one large bird should give you enough for this with a little bit left over for sandwiches - but shhh, don't tell anyone I said that!).

This is a luxurious deep fill pie, with a really generous filling to pasty ratio. I use a lasagne-style pyrex dish which is 19cm x 25cm and 6cm deep, which is filled pretty much to the brim when using the full 800g of chicken. If you prefer a more shallow-filled pie, then you could bake this in two slightly smaller pie tins, and use two packs (or quantities) of pastry and put one lid on each (you'll need to reduce the cooking time to around 35 to 40 minutes or so). Or of course, you can make it into individual pies. You can freeze it once topped with the pastry - either before or after cooking it (leftovers!), or simply as portioned up pie filling depending on your preference.

If you'd like to make this gluten free, you can use my easy gluten free rough puff pastry recipe, and instead of making the sauce with butter and flour, just mix a few tbsp of GF cornflour with some cold milk, and add to the heated milk and stock at the end, until thickened to your likening.

Serves eight to ten. Freezes well. [Calories in square brackets]

Calories: The entire pie is 3,827 to 4,161 calories (using a pack of sheet puff pastry, according to weight of chicken used). For a tenth portion of a pie using 600g chicken, it would be 383 calories. For an eighth portion of a pie using 800g of chicken it would be 520 calories, and so on.

Tom Yum Gai (Hot and Sour Chicken Soup) or Goong (Prawns) with Vegetables

This fragrant and healthy, hot and sour Thai soup is deliciously simple and tasty, and what's more you can make it into a filling meal with the addition of rice or noodles

This is a really tasty Thai soup, which you can make a healthy meal of by adding a few optional vegetables, and even some rice or noodles in the bottom of the bowl before you ladle on your soup, if you want something really hearty (if a little inauthentic)! Keep it minimal for a great starter to a Thai meal.

You can make this with prawns instead of chicken if you prefer, adding them right at the end to make Tom Yum Goong, the popular prawn version of the dish (you can even make the stock up from the prawn shells, cooking them in a little oil until pink, then adding a litre of water and simmering for 20 minutes before straining), or make a vegetarian version with vegetable stock and add tofu to it for the protein element.

A more recent version of the soup, Tom Yum Nam Khon involves adding some coconut milk to the finished broth (usually when making with prawns), and a small amount of toasted dried chillies, if you fancy something a bit creamier - just splash some in at the end - you could also use 100g creamed coconut, or to taste, whizzed into the stock.

For the Thermomix instructions for this recipe, see here.

Serves four to six, from 211 calories per serving for a quarter portion (served between four), or 141 calories for a sixth portion, made with home made curry paste and skinless chicken breast and vegetables as stated.  

With prawns - 181 calories per serving for a quarter portion.

With tofu - 177 calories per serving for a quarter portion.

Add on 165 calories per portion, per 50g raw rice, or if you want a filling soup without the extra calories, you could use konjac / magic / slim noodles for only a few extra calories. Rice or beanthread noodles would be delicious with this too. [Calories in square brackets]

Spicy Chicken Salad - Yo Sushi Style

I do love a bit of sushi and sashimi - and yet if I go to Yo Sushi!, I can't resist a bowl of their spicy chicken salad whilst I'm there!

So, one not-so-fine Saturday afternoon, after a discussion about edible seaweed, I was craving a bit of Japanese food and got it into my head that I really fancied a Yo Sushi! style chicken salad. Not living in the vicinity of a Yo Sushi!, I did a bit of scouting around the internet for a recipe... and a bit more... and for once, it really wasn't very successful, so I had to make up my own!

Apparently, they have a cookbook (which I don't have), and I was able to find the ingredients (minus quantities) online on Eat My Books - however... maybe it's an old book, or they've changed things now, as they just didn't seem quite right compared with the colour and flavour of the chicken I was used to eating at Yo Sushi, and the other ingredients in the salad. I'm accustomed to a spicy, orange-coloured, highly-flavoured chicken on a bed of lettuce, julienned carrot, edamame beans and a few bean sprouts etc., but I couldn't find anything that convinced me it would recreate this. I couldn't even find a Japanese name for the salad - although I'm quite familiar with Japanese food - and to be honest, although delicious, the flavours of the chicken had always seemed a little out of sorts with my experience of Japanese food.

Turns out there's a reason for that! 

Spicy Szechuan Chicken

Try something outside of your Chinese cooking comfort-zone, that’s very easy to cook, and surprisingly subtle in terms of flavour, with a little bit of a kick to it!

The official name of this dish is Hot and Numbing Chicken (Ma La Zi Ji), but don't let that scare you off - it's really not *that* hot and it isn't going to anaesthetise your mouth, I promise!

Nowhere near as spicy as you might think, this dish gets its name from the numbing, tongue tingling qualities of the Szechuan / Sichuan pepper (not used to excess in this dish, so don’t worry, it’s quite subtle!) and the heat from the chillies (which you can also moderate, by leaving out the seeds, for quite a mild dish). It’s actually a Hunanese dish, which is why the amounts of pepper in it are quite conservative, because the Hunanese are not overly fond of the strange tingling flavour of their neighbours’ peppercorns!

Serves two, 235 calories per portion. Easily doubled, or halved.

Sticky Sichuan Chilli Chicken Wings (including Instant Pot Pressure Cooker method)

Whether on the BBQ, or under the grill, you can't beat spicy, sticky chicken wings!

With only four ingredients, and no chopping, these wings couldn't be simpler, and they have a unique umami kick from the Sichuan chilli bean paste.

          

There's no need to marinate (although you're welcome to if you'd like to!), and you can pop them in the pressure cooker for 10 minutes before barbecuing or grilling to ensure your wings are perfectly moist and tender inside with crispy sticky skin on the outside.

Serves: 1kg chicken wings will serve four to six people as a starter, or as a main with another dish of similar proportions (e.g. with one quantity of my Sweet and Sour spare ribs).

Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Salad with Griddled Courgettes

Quick and delicious - classic flavour combinations in a tasty salad that is ready in minutes.

Pop the griddle or grill on to heat up while you chop up your salad and shake up your dressing, and you can have this ready to eat in ten minutes or less.

Great for a light packed lunch too - just take your dressing in a separate little pot.

Serves one as a main, or two as a starter.

475 calories for a main portion, 238 calories for a starter.

Want to cut the calories? Leave out the avocado and take it down to 317 calories for a main portion.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken (includes Thermomix instructions)

One of the best known and loved Jamaican dishes, jerk chicken is quite literally packed full of flavour and brilliant for a barbecue if you're having one!

In the town near to where I live, there is a Caribbean Carnival every year which I like to visit with my family. Members of the local community organise the most fantastic parade full of absolutely amazing home made carnival outfits around the city, and there are all kinds of stalls including many selling traditional Caribbean foods and drinks.

A helping of jerk chicken from one of the stalls from an enormous barrel-shaped barbeques smoking away, together with some curry goat from a huge, simmering pot, rice and peas, and salad on the side has become a must, washed down with the milk of a fresh young coconut - its top skillfully hacked off by a young man with a machete, and replaced with a straw for drinking it with... sitting on the grass in the sunshine with the family, eating it and getting sticky fingers with the sound of reggae music in the background... Summer bliss! And what's more, having eaten it so often I'm completely happy that I've really nailed the flavours of the marinade in this recipe, so I hope you enjoy it too!

Pollo al Chilindron - (Spanish) Chicken with Peppers and Tomatoes

Simple and tasty at its best, Spanish-style...

I've blogged this recipe, which I've had in my 5:2 group for a while, because it is how I learnt the real name of a 'Half Man, Half Goat'... make of that what you will!!! This is a classic Spanish dish, originating from Aragón. You can choose whether you use all red bell peppers (which are sweeter, and some say is the most traditional), or a mixture of red and green, or even all green for a slightly more peppery flavour. Choose chicken thighs for moist and succulent tasty meat, or chicken breast for a leaner, slightly quicker option.

Chilindron - the pepper and tomato sauce - is simple and yet soooo good - great hot or cold, and delicious with meat, chicken or fish - and if you're a vegetarian, you could just make the sauce and crack some eggs into it to poach shakshouka style for a delicious brunch, and mop up with crusty bread.

Serves four as a main meal, 275 calories per serving (if using chicken breast and Serrano ham. Add an extra 23 calories per portion if using skinless, boneless chicken thighs, and an extra 32 calories per portion if using rindless streaky bacon instead of Serrano ham). For a vegetarian version, with four medium eggs cracked in, it would be 178 calories per person.

Tom Yum Gai / Goong (Hot and Sour Chicken / Prawns) two ways in the Thermomix TM31 or TM5

This fragrant and healthy, hot and sour Thai soup is deliciously simple and tasty, and what's more you can make it into a filling meal with the addition of rice or noodles

You can choose to take full advantage of the Varoma dish, and steam a whole chicken over a bowl of simmering stock which you then use for your soup base (using around half of a chicken to feed four people, giving you enough leftovers for another meal or two, plus a carcass for stock/broth), or you can use raw or pre-cooked chicken breast or thigh, weighed out to suit you, whilst steaming vegetables in the Varoma tray to add to your soup (if cooking a whole chicken, you do this whilst it rests).

You can also make this with prawns instead of chicken if you prefer, adding them right at the end to make Tom Yum Goong, the popular prawn version of the dish (you can even make the stock up from the prawn shells, cooking them in a little oil until pink, then adding a litre of water and simmering for 20 minutes before straining), or make a vegetarian version with vegetable stock.

A more recent version of the soup, Tom Yum Nam Khon involves adding some coconut milk to the finished broth (usually when making with prawns), and a small amount of toasted dried chillies, if you fancy something a bit creamier - just splash some in at the end - you could also use 100g creamed coconut, or to taste, whizzed in at the end to avoid diluting the soup unduly.

Serves four to six, from 206 calories per serving for a quarter portion (served between four) made with home made curry paste and chicken breast and vegetables as stated. Add on 165 calories per portion, per 50g raw rice. [Calories in square brackets].

Juicy Whole Roast Chicken in the Varoma (or Steamer) - Thermomix TM31 and TM5

Have you tried cooking a whole chicken in your Varoma (steamer) yet? Skeptical? So was I! But read on, pleasant surprises were in store, and my chickens won't be going back into the oven to roast from now on...

Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm pretty particular about my chicken, and to put it politely, I'm really not a fan of dried out chicken breast - you might have seen just how serious I am about this, if you've seen my blog on how to cook chicken breasts sous vide (includes how to do it in a Thermomix, of couse!).

          

So, it took me a fair few pokes to actually reluctantly give this a go. I was finally persuaded to have a go by the proclamations of it being deliciously moist chicken, by a few members in the Thermomix Owners UK group on Facebook who had given it a try (Facebook has a lot to answer for!). I wasn't really expecting great things, so I have to say it was a very pleasant surprise when I actually went for it! I mean... steamed chicken? As you can see from the photo, if you wish to serve it as a roast rather than using the meat for other dishes it can have a final 'browning' but only needs 10 or so minutes in a high temperature oven, just to give the skin that lovely golden crispiness, giving it that delicious roast-chicken flavour, but with infinitely moister meat! So I had a bit of a tinker, and came out with a method and timings to suit us in the TM31, and then in the TM5 too...

Harissa Chicken with Spiced Puy Lentil and Tomato Stew and Steamed Green Beans - All-in-one (universal) Thermomix Meal

Tender chicken on a bed of lentils and tomatoes, rich with aromatic spices and fresh herbs, served with fresh green beans.

All in one meals don't have to mean rice or potatoes in the internal basket every time, and this healthy and delicious lentil and tomato stew is packed with different flavours and textures and is cooked at the Varoma temperature making it perfect for steaming vegetables and harissa-spiked chicken (or fish) at the same time.

      

The harissa chicken couldn't be simpler, with only 4 ingredients, and with the lentils, the Thermomix does all of the hard work for you! The lentil dish in itself is vegan, so if you wanted to make this into a vegan or vegetarian main dish, you could miss out the chicken, and add extra vegetables, and top with some crumbled feta (not vegan), and/or roast some spiced squash or sweet potato wedges and red peppers in the oven.

Harissa-spiced lamb, or firm white fish steaks or salmon would work equally well with these flavours, but lamb would probably be better grilled, griddled or barbecued, and you would need to put the fish on for less time.

Servings
Serves up to six (chicken and green bean servings can be to suit you, see ingredients below - you can freeze or chill the extra cooked lentils if you make this for less than six (which is what I do), but I don't recommend reducing the quantities etc. as they are calculated to have enough liquid to cook in and steam the chicken and vegetables, and may dry out and/or burn).

Calorie information
171 calories per serving of lentil stew (between six - or you could divide it between four more hungry people!); 173 calories per serving of harissa chicken, and 23 calories per serving of green beans (total 367 calories per serving). [Calories per portions]

Easy Harissa Chicken (includes Thermomix instructions)

This is so simple, it's barely a recipe at all - unless you make your own harissa paste!

However, it was a part of an all in one dish which I posted - the rest of which happened to be vegan, hence I thought I'd post the chicken part separately! And if you do want to make a manageable amount of harissa paste just for this recipe, you could do worse than check here for a recipe from my good man!

       

However, it's not quite so easy when you make the own, so you can cheat and use a ready made one if you like - I used 'Al'fez' brand for this easy version (as it has no artificial ingredients), which is widely available, to test out how hot it was - don't worry, it won't blow your brains out, but it is, of course a little spicy. So my apologies, this isn't really a recipe (or not what I'd class as one), but it was part of a bigger dish and delicious on top of my spiced Puy lentil and tomato stew/'mélange' (from 171 calories per portion) served with steamed green beans (add 23 calories per portion for an 80g serving each). Serve it with anything you fancy - something Middle Eastern would be good - if you're going along with the 'easy' theme, cous cous is very quick and easy to prepare - add vegetable stock, serve with a nice big salad. My salad Shirazi with pomegranate seeds would be a delicious side to this too, and it's only 38 calories a portion!

Serves two, easily doubled (of course!). 173 calories per serving, if you're counting. [Calories in square brackets]

Joojeh Kabab - Persian Chicken Kebabs with Lemon and Saffron (includes Thermomix instructions)

More delicious flavours for chicken - something just a little different, perfect for the barbeque or grill.

The zesty marinade helps keep the chicken tender and moist while cooking, and the subtle flavours infuse the chicken with Middle Eastern flavours, whilst the saffron gives it a delicious golden colour.

If possible, cook over a barbecue to really capture the authentic smoky flavour of this dish - if not, you will still get incredibly tasty and moist chicken if cooked under the grill or on a griddle. Ideally marinate this the night before, or several hours in advance - although if you're pressed for time you could probably just get away with an hour or two.

Joojeh kababs, (aka Jūje-kabāb) are a popular dish in Iran, commonly served with rice or lavash bread (Persian staples), along with grilled tomatoes and peppers. We enjoyed them with some quinoa and lentil salad with roasted vegetables, sumac and fresh herbs (recipe here), and a deliciously refreshing Persian salad Shirazi with pomegranate.

Serves four, at 166 calories per serving. [Calories in square brackets, 1/4 marinade calories used as the majority left in the bowl once chicken is threaded onto skewers].

Calorie information
Serve with a portion of salad Shirazi (38 calories) and a portion of my quinoa and lentil salad (an eighth for 174 calories) for a total of only 378 calories for the whole meal.

If you're keeping the carbs down serve with a 200g portion of cauliflower rice instead of the quinoa salad for just 76 calories (you could stir in some chopped fresh coriander, mint and parsley with a squeeze of lemon for less than 10 extra calories, and bags of flavour!), and a total of 280 calories for the whole meal including a serving of salad Shirazi.

Teriyaki Chicken Meal with Sesame-Miso Green Beans, Cucumber-Radish Pickles and Rice (or Cauliflower Rice)

If you want a guide to cooking the whole meal in under half an hour, here it is...

Obviously, the time might vary a little depending on a couple of things, but there's really not that much to do, and it can certainly all be cooked in under 20 minutes once you've prepared your ingredients.

This serves two people, at 304 calories per serving for the teriyaki chicken (breast), green beans and cucumber-radish pickles, plus 76 calories if serving with 200g cauliflower rice per person (380 calories in total), or add on 175 calories for a 50g (raw weight) serving of rice (479 calories - although I find that I can only eat half of this quantity of rice with everything else on the plate, so it's 391 calories for me!). Oh and 3 calories a serving for the spring onion with the rice, if you're counting... ;)

Teriyaki Chicken

Simple, quick and tasty - with an authentic Teriyaki marinade made from only three ingredients

There's really very little to this - the beauty of it lies in the simplicity of the ingredients. You can use breast meat for the lighter option, or chicken thighs for flavour and succulence - or if you want to make a vegetarian version you could use quorn chicken-style fillets or firm tofu and press it for half an hour before marinating then cooking (or go here for Teriyaki Salmon cooking instructions).

This is delicious served with my sesame-miso asparagus or green beans (59 calories per serving) and some quick and easy cucumber-radish pickles (14 calories per serving) accompanied by some rice (or cauliflower rice if you're avoiding carbs) and you can knock all of these dishes up in under half an hour if you're canny about it (I'll post a method for cooking the whole meal as a separate blog).

This serves two people, at 231 calories per person for chicken breast (or 292 calories made with thigh meat).

Thai Green Chicken Curry (Gaeng Khieo Wan Gai) - with FIVE delicious variations!

There really is just nothing quite like a good Thai Green Curry...

And I absolutely love Thai green chicken curry - so much so, that I have included no less than five variations of it, a couple of which have a special place in my heart! (You may not be surprised to learn that I have more Thai green curry recipes which don't involve chicken...they will also be posted!)

Green curry is the most classic of all Thai curries. It generally thinner, hotter and more pungent than red curries. My recipe for making your own green curry paste is here (and is what is used for the purposes of calorie counting below). You could however buy a ready made curry paste – if you do, I would suggest buying a decent quality one such as “Thai Taste” brand, (which is available from oriental supermarkets and Ocado, Sainsbury’s etc. in the UK) and following the instructions on the packaging (generally 1 tbsp per serving).

Unlike some curries, this is actually incredibly easy to make – you just fry the curry paste, add the coconut milk and sauce ingredients, then drop in the chicken (and vegetables) for a few minutes until cooked. That’s pretty much it, so do have a go – you can’t go far wrong!

From 348 calories per serving between two (see variation 1, which is pictured), or from 178 calories per serving between four as part of a meal.