Baked Chicken- Veggie salad with Creamy, Tangy Avocado Dressing

These days we are so much into salad that I would be searching for different salad recipes or dressings. One such salad which we all like is this chicken- veggies salad with a creamy and tangy avocado dressing. Tough this baked marinated chicken- veggie I usually make, this time I wanted a dressing that goes well with this salad and here is an easy and simple dressing that will be liked by all.  The left over dressing got finished like a dip with the nachos by my kids. Trust me this will be a perfect dish among guests and they end up asking for a second serve.

In the chicken- veggie salad, you can add any vegetables of your choice and nuts or boiled eggs and enjoy just like that but I found the dressing gets well blended with the salad and kids will enjoy the most. For kids, cut the chicken into bit sized pieces and mix everything and place it in tacos and serve them. Trust me, they wont leave till everything gets finished.

This avocado dressing is delicious, creamy and perfect to drizzle on all your salads. I love avocados in most of my dishes or in smoothies. They taste darn delicious and are very healthy and nutritious. This dressing is similar to guacamole, but this is little more runny and pour able.

This dressing is so easy to make just add all the ingredients in a blender or processor and processes till it becomes a creamy consistency. Hope you all like this and try it out.
Ingredients:
For Chicken- Veggie Salad:

1. Boneless Chicken pieces- 1 Cup
2. Salt- as required
3. Pepper- 1 tsp
4. Chili Powder- 1 tsp
5. Turmeric Powder- 1 tsp
6. Carrots(Cut into strips)- 1 no
7. Mushrooms (cut into 4)- 2 Cups
8. Corn- 1/4 Cup

Method:

• Rub the chicken with the spices and keep this aside for 30 min.
• In a cast iron pan, add the marinated chicken, corn, mushrooms, carrots, salt and pepper. Bake for about 20- 25 min in a pre-heated oven of 350 degrees F.

For the Creamy, tangy Avocado dressing:

1. Avocado (cubed)- 1 no
2. Garlic Clove- 1 no
3. Juice of lemon- 1/2
4. Parsley Leaves- few
5. Olive Oil- 1 tbsp
6. Salt- to taste
7. Greek Yogurt- 2 tbsp

Method:

• Blend all the ingredients in a blender and take in a serving bowl or mix it with above made chicken- veggie salad and enjoy.

Oriental Stir Fry

Oriental stir fry is one of the easiest dishes to make for dinner or is a perfect one to be enjoyed by guests. The sauce is made in advance and can be stored in refrigerator for few weeks.This Oriental sauce is the best stir fry sauce you've ever tasted, which is very enticing with chicken, veggies or any other meat. A secret weapon for a fast midweek meals. Just make it in a mason jar and store it. A super delicious  sauce that is well combined with veggies, noodles, meat or rice. I have paired this dish with quinoa, which was perfect. I served the kids rice and this stir fry veggies.

Heat the wok with little oil, add proteins or veggies and some noodles and at last add this stir fry sauce, which will do it''s magic on the dish. I read about this stir fry from one of my friend's Instagram post and so here it is today in my blog. We all liked it a lot and the kids were asking for a second serving.

Here in my sauce I have used freshly squeezed orange juice, you can replace it with store bought and also use as required. We like the orange flavor and so I added almost 1/4 cup. This recipe is so healthy and nutritious as a whole lot of veggies are added to this dish. Please try this recipe and let me know how it turned.

Ingredients:
For sauce:

1. Orange Juice- 1/4 Cup
2. Soy Sauce- 3 tbsp
3. Garlic (chopped)- 1 tbsp
4. Ginger(grated)- 1 tbsp
5. Sesame Oil- 2 tsp
6. Honey- 2 tsp

Method:

• Combine all the ingredients together in a bowl using a whisk. Keep this aside, till the veggies are done.

For veggies:

1. Capsicum( cubed)- 1 no
2. Onions(cubed)- 1 no
3. Baby Corn- 5 nos
4. Bok Choy(chopped)- 1 no
5. Boneless Chicken(cubed)- 1 cup
6. Broccoli- 1/2 cup
7. Mushrooms(sliced)- 1/2 cup
8. Garlic( sliced)- 3 cloves
9. Oil- 1 tbsp
10. Salt- as required

Method:

1. Heat oil in a pan, add garlic, saute the chicken with little salt for a minute on medium heat. Stir and add all the veggies one by one and stir, adjust the salt.
2. Let this cook on low flame for about 3- 4 minutes, stirring in between. Once the raw smell of veggies disappear and when they turn crisp add the above made sauce and stir for 2 minutes on a medium flame.
3. When the veggies get coated well with the sauce, remove from heat and serve along with steaming hot brown rice/ quinoa/ noodles.

Spicy Chicken Soup

A warm, spicy, cozy soup on a cold, wintery evening is what most of us would dream of. My father- in- law likes different varieties of soups. In this cold weather, I made one of his favorite spicy chicken soup and here it is now on my blog.

This chicken soup is a hearty, comforting soup that's so easy and simple to make which only take few minutes. In this, I have added roasted corn which is optional. You can add boiled corn and any of your favorite veggies. When all the spices are added together, the flavors are very well blended with each other which gives a distinctive taste and enhances your taste buds. The spiciness can be adjusted to suit your taste. I have made different varieties of soups before, but this one is more Indian with the addition of spices. Hope you all might like this. Try this out and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Boneless Chicken pieces- 1 Cup
2. Roasted Corn- 1/2 Cup
3. Water- 3 Cups
4. Pepper powder- 1 tbsp
5. Salt- as required
6. Cumin Powder- 1 Tsp
7. Grated Ginger- 1 tbsp
8. Grated Garlic- 1 tbsp
9. Coriander Powder- 1 Tsp
10. Freshly Chopped Cilantro- 2 tbsp

Method:

1. In a large pot, add all the ingredients except chopped cilantro, stir and boil on a medium flame.
2. After about 4- 5 minutes of rolling boil, simmer the flame and let this cook for another 5 minutes till all the ingredients get well blended with each other.. Switch off the flame.
3. Add the chopped cilantro leaves and soy sauce. Adjust the salt and pepper powder according to your taste levels. Enjoy a warm, spicy soup on a cold evening.

Quinoa & Egg Salad

A healthy and nutritious salad a day keeps the guilt away, that is what I believe. Most of the days I like to have salad and I will be searching for a different variety of salads. Till now I have made salads using grilled chicken, fish but never made an egg salad.

This simple and healthy salad is made out of very fewer ingredients. This salad consists of all of my favorite ingredients which are boiled and mixed together.

These salads are filling, low- cal and a great way to satisfy your daily requirements. We can have this salad any time of the day. The nutty quinoa goes very well with soft eggs. I hope you all would like this.

Ingredients:

1. Eggs- 3-4 nos
2. Quinoa- ¼ Cup
3. Broccoli- 1 Cup
4. Spinach- ½ Cup
5. Capsicum- ½ no
6. Olives- 6- 7 nos (optional)
7. Salt- as required
8. Pepper- 1 Tsp
9. Avocados- 1 no
10. Boiled Corn- ½ Cup

Method:

1. Boil the eggs till done. Remove the shell and 2 eggs cut in half and the remaining eggs remove the yolks and cut into quarters.
2. Cook the quinoa till done. Boil the broccoli and capsicum by adding little water. Wash, drain and slice the spinach to pieces.
3. In a bowl mix everything together slowly, add the sliced avocados and enjoy a healthy salad.

Crispy Chicken Nuggets

When ever I go to KFC or McDonald, my favorite snack other than french fries are these chicken nuggets. I love these small, cute, crispy chicken snacks which we can pop easily one after the other and which will be finished within minutes.

This is my version of the lip-smacking chicken nuggets. One evening I was in a mood to eat some hot and spicy snack and I thought of this, and as my kid is a big fan of chicken, I knew that she will love this. With minimal ingredients, it turned out to be an amazing snack. You can make these in batches and freeze them. Whenever needed, just take it out and deep fry them. If you like to, then while marinating, you can add buttermilk and then squeeze and coat them in corn flakes or bread crumbs.

After making this at home once, now on I will prepare this at home rather than eat it outside.

Homemade chicken nuggets are much healthier and tastier than what we get from fast food joints. Here is the recipe on how to prepare chicken nuggets, hope you all will enjoy this…

Ingredients:

1. Boneless Chicken- 250 gms
2. Red Chilli Powder- 1 tsp
3. Salt- as per taste
4. Ginger and garlic Paste- 1 tbsp
5. Lemon Juice- 1 tbsp
6. Dried Oregano- ½ tbsp (optional)
7. Coriander Leaves- 2 tbsp

For Coating:

• Egg- 1 no
• Crushed Corn Flakes- 1 Cup
• Pepper Powder- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Cut the boneless chicken to small pieces.
2. In a bowl mix the chicken along with red chilli powder, salt, ginger and garlic paste, lemon juice, dried oregano and at last coriander leaves.
3. Mix well and keep this aside.
4. Meanwhile beat the egg in a shallow bowl. In another bowl crush the cornflakes and mix with salt and pepper.
5. Take the marinated chicken pieces and dip them in egg and then coat them in cornflakes and arrange them in a plate.
6. Heat oil for deep frying and fry these nuggets till it turns golden brown on both the sides.
7. Serve hot with tomato sauce.

Cornflake Cookies

Corn flakes is something that I love a lot from my childhood days. This is my all time favorite breakfast dish. As always I will be having cornflakes at home I thought of making something interesting and delicious with this for my kid. Nowadays, corn flakes has become a daily must-have for her too.

I googled and found this recipe which is very simple from Spicy chilly. I am really obsessed with baking, that as soon as I saw this recipe I had to make this.
One day my husband was telling me that I don’t need any occasion to bake. Just one min I will be sitting idle the next minute I will be baking some thing. Before marriage I was not at all interested in cooking. I used to help my mom in the kitchen, but I never tried my hand in any of the dishes. I don't know when this passion for cooking got into me..:) 

I think among the cookies, this is one of the simplest and can be tried quickly when some guests are about to visit you. You can even make the cookie dough ahead of time and bake it when needed.

Ingredients:

1. Cornflakes (crushed and crumbled)- 1 Cup
2. All purpose flour / Maida- 1 ½ Cups
3. Sugar- ¾ Cup
4. Butter- 1 Cup
5. Vanilla essence- 1tsp
6. Baking Powder- 1 tsp

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees C.
2. Cream the butter and sugar till it becomes soft and pale.
3. Add the flour, vanilla essence and baking powder and mix well. In this add the crushed cornflakes and mix.
4. Grease the baking tray with butter and take a small ball of cookie batter and press it in your palm and keep this on the tray.
5. Repeat the process till all the batter is finished.
6. Bake the cookies for about 15- 20 minutes or till it turns light brown in colour. Enjoy these super yummy cookies along with a glass of milk or with a cup of tea.

Sweet corn Pepper Chat .. colorful temptation ...

From childhood, I loved to eat corn in any form. Even now when ever I see a road side corn wallah, I will make sure I buy the roasted corn and eat it all on my own without sharing even with my daughter :-)

Now there are so many sweet corn stalls in every corner and there are so many varieties of corn dishes we get. Also, the use of sweet corn has been on the rise in the various cuisines. 
This chat is one such recipe, which we ate when we went to a restaurant called Jarokha. This was served as a starter and as soon as I saw the corn I just couldn't stop myself. Even my husband, who is not a big fan of corn, loved this and asked me to try this at home.

The ingredients of the chat was very clearly visible in the plate and I had no trouble identifying the recipe :-)
This corn chat is a feast to the eyes with the lovely color of corn, tomatoes etc. This easy to prepare, a flavorful dish with the lovely combination of corn and veggies is sure to leave your taste buds craving for more.

Ingredients:

1. Sweet corn kernels- 200gms
2. Bell peppers (red and green)- 1 each
3. Onions- 1no
4. Tomato- 1no
5. Lemon juice- 3tbsp
6. Salt- as needed
7. Pepper powder- ½ tsp
8. Oil / Butter- 2tbsp

Method:

1. Wash and chop the onions, bell peppers and tomato. Keep it aside.
2. Heat oil in a kadai and fry the corn kernels with little salt till it becomes soft.
3. In a bowl mix all the ingredients, except the lemon juice.
4. At last while serving add the lemon juice and enjoy a very healthy and nutritious chat.

Potato and Egg salad- Light and Creamy

There are wide varieties of salads, including vegetable salad,with pasta, eggs and so on.

We have seen lot many potato and egg salads along with mayonnaise which is very famous, but in this salad yogurt along with cream is added which is quite easy to make.

I got this recipe from a magazine. I made a few changes to the original recipe with the ingredients I have. The flavours of minced garlic and dried rosemary will awaken your senses. This salad is very light and creamy and goes well with anything grilled.

Ingredients:

1. Potato ( boiled and cubed)- 2nos
2. Egg (hardboiled)- 1no
3. Sweet Corn (boiled)- ½ cup
4. Yogurt- ½ cup
5. salt- as per taste
6. pepper powder- 1tsp
7. Cream- 100ml
8. Garlic cloves (minced)- 2nos
9. Dried Rosemary- 2tsp

Method:

1. Place the eggs, potatoes and corn in a bowl and toss lightly with salt and pepper powder.
2. In another bowl mix the yogurt, cream and garlic cloves stir until well mixed.
3. Add this dressing  over the potatoes and eggs and mix well. Sprinkle with dried rosemary and serve.