Meal Suggestions.

csallmighty

I'm new to this forum, so apologies if I'm in the wrong place.

So my friend that I go to the gym with, who is big into nutrition, said he would help me with my diet. So he done my shopping this morning for me and came back with a lot of meat and veg. The thing is I am very unimaginative when it comes to cooking. So I am hoping somebody here could give me some tips or recipes.

What I got:

Chicken breasts, minced beef, celery, leeks, tomatoes, onions, carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, garlic, shallots, asparagus, ginger and brown rice.

Help would be greatly appreciated

thegreatiam

get some spices and go to town.
you have the basic ingredients of almost any dinner there.
from bolognaise to Chinese chicken.

Asian stir fry:

chop chicken into small dices, fry on high heat until they start to go brown, take them from the pan and set aside.

in the same pan add chopped onion, garlic, bell peppers, broccoli shallots and ginger, cook for 2 minutes or until they start to go soft.

Add some white wine vinegar (or white wine if you dont have it) (or if neither then add lemon or lime juice instead)

add soy sauce, salt, pepper, any other spices you may have, 5 spice powder, 7 spice powder, chilli etc.

add the chicken and cook for a few more minutes, serve (I serve this on its own but you can add to the rice)


Asparagus with easy hollandaise.

grill asparagus for a few minutes on a dry griddle, until the edges start to char.

In the microwave melt 50g of butter, you want to stop it before it bubbles, you are just melting the solid.

Separate 2 egg yolks, add mustard, salt, pepper squeeze of lemon juice.

to this mixture add the hot melted butter and blitz with a hand blitzer, or whisk really quick.
youll end up with a thick yellow sauce, taste and adjust seasoning.

mix in some sliced shallots, some chopped tarragon leaves and pour over the cooked asparagus.


Chicken and leek pie:

Cook chicken peices in a pan until just going brown,(you can also use bacon aswell, or ham peices)

cook leeks and onions and garlic until soft, add 1 glass of white wine to the chef, add another to the leeks.
simmer for a few minutes, add the meat.

cook for a few minutes, add some taragon, and salt+pepper

mix in sour cream.

Meanwhile roll out some shop bought pastry onto a pie dish, spoon on the chicken leek mixture, use the rest of the pastry to make a lid, use butter or egg wash on the top of the lid, bake for 20 minutes at around 180 degrees until the top is golden and crispy.

seriously, you have the ingredients for millions of dishes there, 10 minutes on google will get you plenty of recipes. Invest in some decent spices and youll have a different meal each day.

whitewave

Sorry to butt in on someone elses thread! That recipe for chicken and leek pie looks great, but I'm just wondering would the pastry be a no-no, or is it ok in moderation? I'm trying to avoid all bad/empty carbs like bread etc, and load up on veg, but I adore pastry dishes!

thegreatiam

whitewave wrote: »

Sorry to butt in on someone elses thread! That recipe for chicken and leek pie looks great, but I'm just wondering would the pastry be a no-no, or is it ok in moderation? I'm trying to avoid all bad/empty carbs like bread etc, and load up on veg, but I adore pastry dishes!

Yes, kind of. Everything is ok in moderation.
This is the sort of thing I eat once every few months. You can lessen the amount of pastry used by spooning the filling into a ramekin or larger individual dish, making the pastry top and serving them as pot pies, just as easy to make and less pastry involved.

As far as it being a no-no it depends on your diet. what your end goals are, where you want to ends up, any medical restrictions you may have.

People put far too much emphasis on eliminating certain foods rather than just eating a moderated balanced diet.

If you want pastry, have pastry, just be aware of what it does to your diet, if you are cutting weight then factor the carbs and total calories into your diet. if you are bulking then add the pastry total and make sure your ratios of protein and fat remain correct. if you are maintaining then enjoy the pie, just don't turn into desperate dan.

Transform

Just do the pie topping with sweet potato simples.

You also have homemade burgers, meatballs, a bolognese base for eg Shepards pie or just have it on its own

Eggs would have been a great addition also to make this - http://oliveoilandlemon.ie/2012/12/20/beef-eggs/

Or chilli con carne - http://oliveoilandlemon.ie/2012/05/03/chilli-con-carne-heston-blumenthal-style/

I loved this also as usually find chicken a bit boring - http://oliveoilandlemon.ie/2013/05/07/chicken-salad-with-fiery-mango-dressing-broccoli-and-cashews/