Protein packed Chicken Noodles

A great body comes from lifestyle changes. A very important point to remember while changing your eating habits is to substitute all refined products with more natural whole grain alternatives. This way you can continue enjoying your pastas and noodles without feeling guilty. 

This particular recipe is a very simple one that involves the use of Whole Wheat noodles. Whole grains are better because you can find abundant complex carbs in whole grain with adequate amounts of fiber and protein. Whole wheat chicken noodles are my go to for a quick lunch or dinner when I’m cooking for my brother. 

Let’s see what you’ll need: 

– Whole Wheat or multi grain noodles (any brand) 

– 200-300 grams white mushrooms 

– Half a broccoli 

– 100 grams sweet corn

– 1 small shallot/onion 

– 5-6 cloves of garlic 

– minced or sliced boneless chicken 

– Fat free dressing (I chose Chilli Oregano from Veeba) 

– Olive oil

– Salt and pepper 
How to cook: 

1. Fill a deep pan with 3/4th of water and add the noodles to it. Bring to boil. 

2. It’ll take around 15 minutes for the noodles to be soft and ready. 

3. In a frying pan, add 2-3 teaspoons of olive oil while on medium heat. Add chopped garlic to the pan. 

4. Sauté the galic in the oil for 3-4 minutes and add thinly sliced onions to the pan. 

5. Once the onions turn slightly golden, add the chicken to the pan and sauté. 

6. The chicken will take around 15-20 minutes to cook so I suggest you do this while the noodles are boiling. 

7. Once the noodles are done, drain the excess water through a sieve. 

8. Once the chicken is cooked add boiled vegetables to the pan and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste. I also added chilli flakes to add a hot twist to the recipe. 

9. Once the chicken and vegetables are cooked, you can either add the noodles into the same pan or you can serve this on top of boiled noodles. 

10. Add the sauce on top of the noodles or on the side. 

Your easy to make protein and vitamin packed dinner is ready ! Serve it hot with fresh pressed juice and enjoy 🙂 
Let me know how you like the recipe and what are your additions to it! 😀

Healthy Yogurt Parfait

There are times when you just don’t have time prepare breakfast but you all already know that Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and should never be skipped! What I usually do is assemble a quick Parfait because oh god I love parfaits! ❤️

It’s easy to make, LOADED with vitamins and proteins, keeps you full for a good while and of course is super delicious. 

You don’t need any special ingredient for this and it can be eaten any time of the day! 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

Fruits: ANY 

I chose – 

1 apple 

1 banana 

1 kiwi 

1 pear 

4-5 Digestive multigrain biscuits

1 bowl low fat yogurt 

1 teaspoon sugar 

How to make: 

1. Chop up the fruits into very small cubes and in the yogurt add a spoonful of sugar and whip it. 

2. Using a rolling pin break the biscuits into small crumbs. 

3. In a glass jar or a broad wine glass, put the sliced banana as the bottom layer. 

4. Top it up with 2 spoons of biscuit crumbs followed by a couple spoons of yogurt. 

5. Repeat the same procedure with other fruits forming layers of fruits followed by biscuit crumbs and yogurt. 

6. Once the glass is full add a layer of biscuit crumbs and a couple pieces of fruit to decorate it. 

It’s ready! 

PS: you can prepare this a night before and refrigerate it. However if you choose to use granola or any cereal instead of biscuit crumbs it’s better if you consume it right after preparation. 

Crispy fish with mashed potatoes

I’m not a fan of eating fish but it is a great source of protein, omega 3 fatty acids and a bunch of vitamins. Fish is a low calorie nutrient packed food that should be a part of our diets for a good healthy body. 

I keep pushing myself to buy fish and experiment with different cooking styles so I can finally make it a part of my regular diet. This time I tried a marinated fish fry recipe with garlic mashed potatoes. It’s a bit fatty since I chose to fry it instead of grilling, but trust me it will taste as good if you use grill. 
You will need: 

Fish fillet (any white fish of your choice) 

Low fat butter 

Garlic (8-10 cloves) 

Rice (2-3 tablespoons) 

lemon (1)

potatoes (4-5)

Cheese (1 small cube)

Olive oil 

Salt 

Pepper
How to cook: 

1. In a small grinder, squeeze one lemon and add 3-4 cloves of garlic. Add 2 teaspoons of butter in the same. Blend until a smooth paste is ready. 

2. Take the fish fillet and make deep cuts on it. I chose to cut up the fillet into smaller pieces. 

3. Take the butter garlic paste you just prepared and marinate the fish with it. Don’t worry if you have to get your hands dirty. 

4. Sprinkle salt and pepper onto the marinated fish and refrigerate it for 2-4 hours. 

5. While the fish is in the refrigerator, boil the potatoes. 

6. Once boiled and cooled, put them in a large bowl and mash with a fork. 

7. Add grated cheese, garlic and a spoonful of melted butter in the mash and mix well. 

8. Add salt and pepper to taste. 

9. In a small grinder, put rice and blend until a fine powder is formed. This I use as an alternative to bread crumbs because rice crumbs give a super crunchy texture upon frying. 

10. Since the fish is already coated in a butter paste, it can directly be coated with the ground rice. 

11. Heat some olive oil in a pan for 10 minutes and add the rice coated fish pieces to it. 

12. Cover the pan with a lid and let it fry for 15 minutes on one side. Flip the pieces and put the lid back on and keep for another 10-15 minutes. 

13.  Serve with the mashed potatoes once done. 

Enjoy! 🙂 

Peach Salsa

It’s too hot this summer and all I want to do is eat fruits and sip mojitos. So most of my recipes this summer are gonna be fruity, fresh and easy to make! 

This peach salsa is so delicious and different that you can have it as an appetiser, as a dessert or even have it with chips! It’s loaded with vitamins from all the fruits, peppers and will definitely keep you cool in this hot weather. 
You will need: 

4-5 peaches 

1 apple 

2 plums 

2-3 Jalapeño peppers 

1 onion 

1 lemon 

Olive oil

Salt and pepper 

How to make: 

1. Chop all the fruits, onion and jalapeños into very small pieces 

2. Put all the chopped fruit, onions and pepper in one big bowl. 

3. Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil and juice from one lemon. 

4. If you have the bottled jalapeños that come immersed in liquid, don’t throw away the liquid. It can be used in curries and sauces. Here add 4-5 tablespoons of that liquid with the olive oil. 

5. Add salt and pepper to taste. An mix the ingredients well for at least 5 minutes for the fruits to get soaked in the liquid well. 

The salsa is ready! Serve before mains or after, upto you. It’s absolutely delicious. 
Enjoy! 🙂 

Roasted Stuffed Bell Peppers

The goodness of veggies and chicken in one simple dish you say? Here you go! This delicious appetiser is so easy to make and is super healthy. You get your protein from the chicken,the bell peppers  are loaded with vitamin C and in the stuffing you can use any chopped vegetable. I chose Olives for their high iron, copper and Vitamin E content. But you go ahead experiment with your choice of healthy vegetables and trust me it will all taste good. 
You will need: 

3-4 Bell Peppers (any color)  

Minced chicken 200-250 grams 

1 onion 

7-8 olives 

2-3 whole Jalapeño peppers 

2 cloves of Garlic

Parmesan cheese/cheese of your choice 

Olive oil

Salt 

Pepper 

How to cook:

1. Cut the bell peppers into half and clean from inside removing all seeds. 

2. Take the minced chicken and layer the insides of the pepper covering all the corners. I used unflavoured salami instead of minced chicken. 

3. Chop all the vegetables into small pieces and add to the bell pepper. 

4. Grate cheese over the peppers and place them in the baking tray. 

5. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil. In a preheated oven at 200 degrees, roast the stuffed peppers for 25 minutes. 

Serve with a spicy dip and you’re good to go! 
Enjoy! 🙂 

Veggie Scramble on a toast

In my earlier posts as well, I have mentioned quite a few times how important balanced diet is. Eating a balanced diet not only reduces the risk of multiple diseases like diabetes, obesity, heart attack, it also gives us a sound mind. When we consume a balanced diet, one with all nutritional requirements met, we feel better about ourselves and our productivity increases.

One way to achieve a balanced diet is to balance all our meals with the right amount of protein, fibre, carbohydrates, fat and vitamins.

A simple breakfast recipe that is well balanced and provides most of the nutrients required to our body is a Veggie scramble on a toast. One of my favourite breakfast dish, this is not only nutritious but also super delicious.

You will need:

6 eggs (6 whites + 2 yolks)

Whole wheat or multigrain bread

1 Bell pepper (red or yellow or green or a mix of all three)

2 Tomatoes

1 big onion

5-6 Olives

1-2 sliced Jalapeños

1 green chilli

Cheese spread

Olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Red paprika/chilli powder

How to cook:

1. Chop up all the vegetables into very small pieces.

2. In a skillet, pour 2-3 tables of olive oil and add chopped onions to it. Sauté for 5-6 minutes.

3. Once the onions have turn golden, add the chopped bell pepper and tomatoes and sauté for a minute. Don’t over cook the bell pepper as it will add a nice crunch to the scrambled eggs.

4. Add the eggs into the skillet followed by salt, pepper and red chilli powder and sauté for 10 minutes.

5. While the eggs are cooking, toast your break on low heat in a toaster.

6. Once the eggs have cooked, add jalapeños and olives.

7. Cook this on low flame for another 5-10 minutes.

8. Lay the toasted slices of bread onto a plate and layer it with cheese spread. I used chilly cheese spread that added a special twist to the flavor.

9. Take the scrambled eggs and put a generous amount of it onto the toasts.

10. It’s ready. Serve with fresh juice. I had with banana smoothie and it made my day!

 

And if you were wondering, the eggs give you the protein, you get a mix of vitamin A,C, K from the vegetables and carbs and fiber from the whole grain bread and also a little fats from the cheese and the egg yolks.
Enjoy 🙂

Easy Guilt-free Pasta

Love pasta? I do! But what to do, it increases the calorie intake so much. Fret not, now you can find an assortment of healthy pasta alternatives at your local grocery store. From multi-grain, whole wheat to vegetable pasta, the pasta companies understand and are giving us better options. 

I chose whole wheat pasta and cooked it with easy all natural red sauce. 

You wil need: 

8-9 fresh tomatoes 

10-15 garlic cloves 

2-3 onions 

500 grams whole wheat/multigrain pasta 

Jalapeños 

Olives 

1 tablespoon sugar 

Basil

Cilantro

Red paprika powder 

Salt 

Black pepper 

1 tablespoon Lemon juice 

Olive oil

Cheese (optional) 

  
How to cook: 

1. Take a deep pan and boil some water in it with a teaspoon of salt. Add pasta to the boiling water. Once ready, set the pasta aside. 

2. Dice the tomatoes into small cubes. 

  
3. Cut the onions and garlic into small thin slices. 

  
4. In a skillet, add 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil and let it heat. 

5. Once hot, add garlic and onion slices to the skillet and cook till the onion is slightly golden. 

  
6. Take one tomato and grind it in a mixer with some fresh basil and cilantro. 

7. Once the onions are golden brown, add the tomato paste and diced tomatoes to the skillet. 

  
8. Cook for 15-20 minutes. 

9. Add the pasta to the skillet. Mix well so all the pasta is coated with tomato sauce. 

10. Add sliced olives and jalapeños to the pasta. 

  

11. Put 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon paprika powder and lemon juice from half a lemon to the pasta and let it cook for another 10 minutes. 

12. Season with black pepper or oregano seasoning. You can also grate some parmesan or gouda over the pasta before serving it. 

  
It’s ready! 

Enjoy 🙂 

Healthy white sauce

If I had to choose between red and white, red sauce would definitely be my first choice. One of the reasons being the lower fat content in red sauce. But why not make a low fat white sauce that goes perfectly with your pasta or rice? 

I tried this new type of easy to make white sauce and coupled it with fresh steamed rice. It is not only low in fat, it is also super light and can be stored. You wouldn’t believe what I used for the sauce, bottle gourd, yes. Gourd is high in Vitamin A and C. It is great for reducing high blood pressure and is very popular for weight loss. 

You will need: 

1 bottle gourd 

1 cup low fat milk 

1 small cube butter 

6-7 cloves of garlic 

Salt 

Pepper 

  
How to make it: 

1. Peel and chop the gourd into small pieces. 

2. In a deep pan pour a cup of water and toss in the chopped gourd. Bring to boil. 

  
3. Peel the garlic cloves. Take the softened gourd along with the garlic cloves and grind it into a paste. 

  
4. Heat a skillet and put the cube of butter in. Pour the milk and the gourd paste into the skillet. 

  
5. Add salt and pepper in the skillet and mix well. 
The sauce is ready and can be directly used over pasta, rice or anything of your choice. It can also be stored in the refrigerator and used later. 

  
I mixed fresh steamed rice with the sauce and garnished with pepper. 
Enjoy! 🙂 

Fruit popsicles

So I know I have posted a lot of healthy snack and lunch recipes but I thought you guys would love a simple yet super healthy dessert recipe! Right? 

Dessert doesn’t always mean it’s loaded with sugars and fat, we can make lots of low cal desserts which are as delicious as conventional restaurant desserts. 

One simple 10 minute recipe that I use at home makes yummy fruit and yogurt popsicles! You get your vitamins from the fruits and calcium and Protein from yogurt. What more? It’s great to beat the heat this summer! 

You will need:

Yogurt (greek or regular) 

5-6 strawberries 

1 mango (small) 

Honey 

Milk (optional) 

  
How to go about it: 

1. In a large bowl pour the yogurt and add 2-3 tablespoons of honey. Mix well.  

2. 1/2 a cup milk can be used if you think the consistency is too thick or if you want to increase the quantity. 

3. Cut the mango and strawberries into small thin slices. 

4. Toss the fruits into the bowl and mix.  

  
5. You will need popsicle molds. 

  
6. Pour the mixture in the popsicle molds and freeze for 6 hours or overnight. 

  
  

7. Dip the popsicles molds in hot water for 8-10 seconds. It makes it easier to remove the frozen pops without breaking. 

This can also be a great breakfast alternative for those of you who like yogurt and fruit bowl in the morning. Do the preparation a night before and you’re good to go in the morning!

PS: You can use any fruit of your choice. 

Enjoy! 🙂 

Roasted Tomatoes

Roasting brings out a unique flavor in tomatoes, it enhances the hidden flavors and makes tomatoes taste simply delectable! On days when we don’t feel like having the same old routine dinner, roasted tomatoes can be a great alternative!

And as you may know, tomatoes are an abundant source of Vitamin A,C and K along with folate and thiamine.

I added my own twists to the basic roasted tomatoes recipe and it turned out to be a super delicious recipe.
You will need:

4 tomatoes

1 onion/shallot

4-5 garlic cloves

Cilantro leaves

Olive oil

White vinegar

Half a lemon

Black salt

Ground black pepper

Parmesan/ gouda cheese (optional)

How to cook:

1. Preheat the oven at 200 degrees centigrade.

2. Cut the tomatoes into slices about half an inch wide.

3. Chop the onions, garlic cloves and cilantro leaves into small fine pieces.

4. Take a baking dish and grease it with olive oil.

5. In a small bowl, add 2 teaspoo of olive oil, juice from half a lemon and 3-4 teaspoons of white vinegar. Mix well.

6. Take the tomato slices and arrange them on the baking dish. Don’t worry if they overlap.

7. Evenly spread the chopped onions, garlic and cilantro on the tomatoes.

8. Sprinkle the vinegar dressing all over the tomatoes followed by salt and pepper.

9. If you are not vegan or not trying to cut on dairy, then take a small cube of parmesan and grate it over the dish.

10. Heat in the oven for 25 minutes.

It’s ready! Dig in!

Surprisingly this turns out be a rather filling dinner option. So go ahead and try it. Let me know if you like it 🙂