Food, glorious food.

It's no secret that I am obsessed with food.
Seriously.

I love cooking and I especially love eating.

A few things I absolutely cannot seem to live without these days:

• Crispy M&M's... The jumbo share bags. And let's be honest here, I never actually intend on sharing them.
• Ready salted chips and gherkin relish dip.

• Poached eggs on english muffins (or full blown Eggs Benedict if I have the fixings)

• A nice glass of white wine - Tipple of the moment is Giesen Riesling. Mmmm.

Some might argue that wine isn't a food.
Well, technically, it's not - But it's made from grapes, which is a food... And therefore I rest my case.
(And if you still want to argue the toss, be prepared for a throw down)

With the weather being as hot and stuffy as it has been (coupled with my hot flashes), I have found myself with less of an appetite (and more of a drinking habit).

The other night, I rediscoved my love for the Almighty Salad.

When I make something like a salad for dinner, it's never just a few leafy greens and a bit of dressing - Oh no. I could feed small tribes with my dinner salads.

The other night, I made this delightful wee dish:

Now, asides from setting my mouth and sphincter on fire - due to fancying myself a bit of a Rachel Ray and eyeballing my cayenne pepper dosage-  she was a mighty fine meal.

In the last 4 months, I've been dabbling in the whole 'Clean Eating' buzz. It's not that it's hard, but it's so much easier to continue doing what I've always done. But I've made it a goal to eat clean at least four times a week.
Slow and steady win the race, right?
It's not all in relation to me wanting to lose weight, but more to do with making better choices.

Anyhow, this is my:

Thai Inspired Orange and Coconut Chicken Salad

2 large chicken breasts (or 500gm chicken tenderloins)

2-3 oranges

100gm raw cashews

1 bunch spring onion

1 red capsicum

250-300gm bag of baby spinach 

1 head of broccoli

Fish sauce

Coconut milk

Cayenne pepper

Brown Sugar

 

1: If using chicken breasts, cut to 1-2cm thick slices. Place slices (or tenderloins if that's what you're using) into a large bowl or dish suitable for marinating. In a jar or a jug, combine 1/4 cup coconut milk with 2TBspn fish sauce, 1-2tspn cayenne (depending on how hot you like it). Pour combined mixture over the chicken pieces, cover in cling wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes (the longer your marinate, the better). 

2: Lightly toast cashews in a non stick pan on medium heat - Keep a close eye on them and shake pan frequently to reduce risk of burning them too much. You just want them to be slightly blackened. Pop to one side.   

3: Pull the chicken from the fridge, and place slices/tenderloins on a grill tray/rack and grill until cooked through, turning each piece midway through. (You could also pan-fry them using a tiny amount of EVOO).

4: While chicken is cooking, lightly steam your broccoli, slice up your capsicum, spring onion and one of the oranges. Toss that all into a bowl, along with the bag of spinach and the toasted cashews. Once chicken is cooked, place that on top of everything else.

To make a dressing, in a jug combine:

Juice from one orange

4 TBspn Coconut milk

1 TBspn Fish sauce

2TBspn Brown sugar

1-2 tspn Cayenne (depending on tastes)

Stir briskly and pour over salad.

SO. DAMN. TASTY

I do hope you enoy this as much as I do, it's really bloody easy, looks great on the plate and is REALLY good for you whilst being extremely filling.

Righto, well... I have a glass of wine to pour, sorrows to drown, eggs to poach and muffins to toast.

Clearly tonight is *not* a clean eating night, and frankly I'm too tired and too busy to give a toss.

I have the Weenie as of tomorrow afternoon, so normal meals shall commence then.

Who knows, we might even do some baking together... God knows how much I love sharing in this:

It's also been a while since I last ate raw cookie dough

Love and Sunshine,

Serenity

xx