Orange Chicken Salad - Revealing Secrets

An Irish proverb says "A good laugh and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book" but I would correct it to "A good laugh, a healthy diet, a long walk and a long sleep are the best cures in the doctor's book." We need not keep on worrying about our health all the time because that is more dangerous than eating unhealthy food. One must enjoy the good health they have rather than worrying about it.



























Eating right and eating at the right time is the trick. 
You need not eat salad everyday to be healthy, you need not starve to reduce your weight, you need not eat bad tasting food to be on diet! All you need to do is, eat right and eat at the right time.


Know what you eat.
To eat right, you must know what you are eating. So wear your apron and get started in the kitchen. You can start with small things at a time. Even if you eat out, make sure you know the ingredients and opt for healthy choices like wheat bread instead of white, grilled chicken instead of fried chicken etc.


Refresh your mind and body.
Exercise refreshes your mind and body. Just 30-60mins of exercise/day is enough for a healthy mind and body. It doesn't matter if you walk to the grocery store or you run on a treadmill in the gym. The important thing is to exercise and be happy. 


Don't Be a Couch Potato.
Go out, make some friends, eat out, drink some beer, go for a comedy show but remember to exercise and stay worry-free. 

Ingredients (1 serving): 
Raw Items:
Spring Mix - 1/8 LB
Red and Orange Bell Pepper - 1/2 cup
Garbanzo Beans, canned/cooked - 1/2 cup
Mandarines - 1/2 cup
Toasted Sesame - 1/2 tspn
Chicken Tenders - 1/2LB

Dressing:
Soy Sauce - 3Tbspn
Lime Juice - 2Tbspn
Extra Virgin Olive Oil - 2Tbspn
Brown Sugar - 2tbspn
Black Pepper Powder - 1/4 tspn
Salt - a pinch full
Garlic, minced - 1tspn
Oil/Butter for frying garlic
Orange Juice - 1/8 cup

Procedure:

1. Mix all the ingredients for dressing other than garlic and oil for frying.
2. Now, heat a small pan and add oil to it. Fry garlic till they are golden and add to the above mentioned dressing mixture.
3. Now grill/broil/cook the chicken tender with some salt and pepper 
4. Add 1/2 of the prepared dressing to the chicken and let it sit aside.
5. Add orange juice to the remaining 1/2 of the dressing and mix it well.
6. Now mix all the raw ingredients and put the orange dressing on top of it. Add the chicken on top and garnish with some toasted sesame.

Variations: 
It can be made veg by taking off the chicken and adding Tofu/Soy chunks.

Conclusion:
Today I got up early so that I can pack this for lunch and blog about it in the spare time. I am going for Dodger's baseball game tonight (just to hog on the garlic fries and chug some beer as I do not understand the game :) ). So I am compensating for all the junk food I will be eating tonight with the salad.

Stuffed Chicken Marsala

I think of Olive Garden whenever I think of Chicken Marsala. I wanted to try making something new and different - I was bored with Indian cooking and eating- and Olive Garden is pretty far from my place. Guess what?!? I decided to make Chicken Marsala at home and got Marsala Wine and chicken breasts from Farmer's Market (which is my favorite place - If you have a Farmer's market nearby, I would recommend you to buy fresh produce from there to help the local farmers and to eat better quality food).
After I came home from Farmer's Market, I asked my husband, "What is the stuffing made up of in Stuffed Chicken Marsala at Olive Garden (because he orders that every time)?" He said, "Cheese, Breadcrumbs and some seasoning." I decided to make Stuffed Chicken Marsala instead of just Chicken Marsala! It takes a long time for the marsala wine to cook, but its worth all the effort at a very low cost and then writing (boasting) about it on your blog!! :D

Cooked Stuffed Chicken

Stuffed Chicken Marsala Ready to be Devoured

Ingredients: 
Stuffing - 
Parmesan Cheese - 1/2 cup
Shredded Pepper Jack - 1/2 cup
Any other Cheese (I used 4 cheese blend) - 1/3 cup
Bread crumbs - 1/2 cup
Sour Cream/Yogurt - 3 Tbspn
Cream Cheese - 2Tbspn
Sal - as per taste
Pepper - 1/2tspn
Garlic - 1Tbspn
Oregano/Italian Herb - 1/2 tspn
Cajun Seasoning (Optional) - 1tspn
Crushed Red Pepper - 1tspn


Chicken:
Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - 3 pieces, halved and pounded
All Purpose Flour - 1/2 cup
Sal & Pepper - to season the flour
Butter - 2tbspn

Sauce:
Marsala Wine - 2.5 cups
Heavy Cream - 1/2 pint or 8ounces
Mushrooms (I used  Portabella), sliced - 4cups
 Onion - 1/2 cup, finley chopped
Garlic - 1/2 tspn, finely chopped

Procedure: 

1. Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing and keep it aside.
2. Mix all purpose flour with salt and pepper and keep it aside.
3.  Take a heated pot and add some butter and onions and garlic to it.
4. After onions turn translucent, add sliced mushrooms to it. Now add the marsala wine and let it boil for 15-20mins on medium heat. 
5. In the meantime, take pounded chicken pieces and evenly distribute the stuffing on one piece and put another halved chicken piece on top of it.

Stuffed Raw Chicken

1. Put some butter on a heated pan and add some garlic to it.
2. Now coat the stuffed chicken pieces on both sides with the flour mixture and place it on the heated pan. Cook it on both sides till it turns light brown, adding butter whenever needed.
3. Now place the chicken pieces in a pre-heated oven for 10-15mins at 250degrees F.
4. By now the marsala wine must have been reduced to half of what it was. Now add the heavy cream and let it all boil on low heat till all the sauce is reduced to half/desired consistency.
5. When the desired consistency is achieved and chicken is done in the oven, pour the sauce and mushrooms over the chicken pieces and it serve it with some baguette and wine. You can also serve mashed potatoes with it.

Variations: 
If you want to use a non-alcoholic substitute for marsala, I would suggest using grape juice, although I am not too sure if it will taste the same. You can also substitute the heavy cream with half n half in case you don't have it handy.


Conclusion:
Happy tummy and happy wallet and not to mention happy husband :)