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.

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.

Balsamic Chicken and Veggie Salad

Nowadays we are more into healthy salads for dinner. I was searching for some salad recipes and got this balsamic chicken salad which is a one pot salad that is very filling. As I had all the ingredients readily available in the kitchen, I tried it out. This dish is not only easy but a very delicious and appetizing.

With very fewer ingredients, we can make a healthy, protein-rich, nutritious dish by spending very less time in the kitchen. A perfectly balanced meal, with the choice of veggies.

In this, the chicken pieces and veggies are coated with balsamic dressing and baked till done. This dish is versatile and with full of flavors. Try this out and let me know.

Ingredients:

Adapted from here:

1. Boneless Chicken- 1 lb
2. Minced Garlic- 3 tbsp
3. Dried Thyme- 1 tbsp
4. Dried Oregano- 1 tbsp
5. Salt- as required
6. Pepper- 1 tbsp
7. Broccoli- 1 Cup
8. Carrots- 2 nos (peeled and cut into thin strips)
9. Mushrooms- 1 Cup (cut into half)

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F
2. Mix the balsamic vinegar along with minced garlic, dried thyme, oregano, salt and pepper in a bowl.
3. Pour this balsamic vinegar mixture in a ziplock bag along with chicken pieces and mix till everything gets blended well.
4. Keep this aside till the vegetables get ready.
5. Cut the carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms to the desired size and marinate them in a baking pan with the remaining balsamic vinegar mixture and toss well.
6. On top of the veggies place the marinated chicken pieces and bake for about 15- 20 minutes. Enjoy an amazingly delicious salad.

Healthy and Nutritious Mango- Avocado Salad

I got this salad recipe from one of my friends, who is a fitness expert from Bangalore, who posts healthy dishes on her Instagram and Facebook page. I liked this salad recipe as it required very fewer ingredients and a healthy salad will be ready within minutes.

This salad is so delicious that you will finish off in a go. The flavors and textures in this salad are perfectly balanced. I love the colors in this refreshing mango avocado salad. We like salads and most of the days for dinner I prepare a different variety of salads. Fortunately, my kids, even the younger one love these salads to the core. He likes broccoli in any form.

In this salad we have to choose ripe mangoes, or else they won’t taste perfect. Chop all the mangoes, avocado into bite sized pieces and mix all the ingredients and serve. We can also add different herbs and also if you want we can also add grilled prawns or salmon. This salad is so refreshing and very filling. Try this out and let me know.

Ingredients:

1. Ripe Mangoes- 2 nos
2. Avocado- 3 nos
3. Onions- 2 nos
4. Lemon Juice- 2 tbsp
5. Olive Oil- 1 tbsp
6. Salt- as required
7. Pepper powder- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Chop the mangoes and avocado into square bite size pieces. Chop the onions to small pieces.
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, adjust the salt accordingly and serve as required.

Healthy Rosemary Baked Chicken and Vegetables

Healthy, flavorful and tastier is what we call this simple and comforting dish which can be prepared within no time on a lazy Sunday. This dish is very filling and which is loaded with colorful veggies and packed with proteins.

In this dish, the chicken breasts and our favorite veggies are baked together along with a dash of spices and is fully flavored with the Mediterranean herb of rosemary. Last spring I bought a lovely plant of rosemary and it survived through this winter and as I love the flavor of rosemary in my salads or other dishes, I thought of using the fresh rosemary sprigs to this dish. I usually use the dried leaves of rosemary. The distinctive taste of rosemary has taken this dish to another level.

This is an incredibly easy and a satisfying meal, which can be prepared for lunch or dinner.

When you feel lazy to cook, try out some of these delicious and healthier one pot baked dishes rather than calling for a take-out. You can have this without chicken, just add all your favorite veggies and tada an amazingly delicious, the heavenly dish will be ready within minutes to enjoy.

Ingredients:

1. Boneless Chicken- 500 gms
2. Paprika- 1 tbsp
3. Turmeric powder- 1 tsp
4. Pepper powder- 1 tsp
5. Salt- as required
6. Garlic (crushed)- 5 cloves
7. Fresh Rosemary Sprigs- 1 no
8. Balsamic Vinegar- 1 tsp
9. Lemon juice- 1 tbsp
10. Mushrooms- 1 Cup
11. Capsicum- 1 cup
12. Broccoli- 1 Cup
13. Cucumber- 1 no
14. Spinach- 1 Cup
15. Salt - a pinch
16. Pepper Powder- 1 tsp
17. Balsamic Vinegar- 1 tbsp

Method:

1. Clean, wash and pat dry the chicken. Make slits and keep this aside.
2. Mix paprika, salt, pepper powder, turmeric powder, crushed garlic cloves, rosemary leaves, vinegar and lemon juice in a glass bowl. Spread this paste on the slitted chicken well on both the side. Keep this for about 15- 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile slice the capsicum, mushrooms and chop the cucumber, spinach, and broccoli into sizes. Smear little oil on top of the veggies along with salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar. Mix well.
4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking tray with a parchment paper and arrange the veggies as shown or mix everything together and place them on the parchment paper on the baking tray.
5. Line another baking tray with parchment paper and place the marinated boneless chicken pieces and bake both the veggies and the chicken for about 20- 25 minutes or until the veggies are cooked and the chicken gets tender.
6. When done, remove the vegetables and chicken from the oven. Slice the chicken to bite sized pieces and arrange the required amount of veggies and sliced chicken in serving plate, enjoy warm.

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.