Fruity goats cheese in action.

For the record this recipe is really easy; my husband made it under instruction and it worked out wonderfully (and he does not consider himself a cook at all!).

I was gifted some goats cheese at Christmas and was immediately thinking of how I would use it. One had cranberry and cinnamon in it and the other blueberry and cinnamon. In it, well, around it. The cheese was in a log and covered in the fruity 'goo'. Anyway, the method I decided on was to use it to stuff something, and chicken was available. I explained the idea to my husband and when I got home from work it was almost ready to eat, we just had to throw together some greenery to accompany it and we were set. 

You will need chicken breasts, skin on, ours were on the bone.1 each. 1 Spaghetti squash. We shared only half and there was left over from that. 1 bunch asparagus. 1 bag/bunch spinach. Fruit covered logs of goats cheese.  Olive oil, butter, salt and pepper.

This is the idea explained:

Slice a pocket into the thickest part of the chicken breast. Place your hand flat against the top of the breast to hold it in place as you cut. Once the knife is in, sort of sweep it along in an arc, carving out a small pouch for the cheese. Don't cut the whole side open, try to leave it intact at either end. He found using the boning knife the best.

Into the pocket, squish a ball of goats cheese (half the blueberry one half cranberry in this instance). A golf ball size is probably more than enough, too much and it will leak back out when it cooks. If you were using plain goats cheese you could put some herbs and lemon zest in too, but with the fruit and cinnamon already in the cheese it is fine as it is. Rub some olive oil, salt and pepper over the chicken and place them in a dish and into a preheated oven (400) for about 30minutes. Then let them rest. Check on their done-ness with a thermometer if you aren't sure. 

Cut the spaghetti squash in half and scoop the seeds out. Place it cut side down in a pot with a couple of inches of water and cover. Bring it to the boil and let it steam for about 10minutes. You will know it is done when the colour is consistent throughout the cross section (a rich yellow) and when you can stick a fork right through the flesh to the skin. You will start this half way through the chicken cooking so that it is all ready together. 

You can throw the pre-snapped asparagus into the water after the squash is done and been removed. It will be ready in a minute or 2. Toss it lightly to ensure even cooking. Lastly, pour boiling water over spinach in a colander (in the sink) and toss it around so that it starts to wilt. Keep pouring it on until you are happy with how much it has wilted. 

To serve: 

Flake the squash in its skin with a fork, it falls apart and looks like spaghetti surprise surprise! Add a spot of butter. Place a portion on a plate next to a perfectly cooked chicken breast and add some greenery. The chicken had a subtle flavour of berries and cinnamon right throughout it, and the goat cheese cut right through it perfectly and was so good with the squash. For someone who thinks that they cannot cook, trust me, this is a recipe that you can certainly make and impress anyone with. I was impressed! 

Quinoa salad with all sorts in it.

I was thinking of something to make to either be my lunches for the week, or to be in the fridge for a light dinner when I get home. With nothing in mind I decided to browse the aisles at a newly opened Loblaws near us and look for inspiration. I knew I wanted it quinoa based and that I had a sweet potato at home, the rest was to be decided. The first thing I spotted were some radishes. I normally don't eat radishes, in fact I can't ever remember specifically wanting to eat them. Today, they jumped out at me, all ruby red and full of promise. I then got some broccoli, green onions and goats cheese. The salad would be dry at this point so I went looking for limes, sun dried tomato pesto and a dip with heat. The salad had it's components. ( I had some pecans at home which I ended up using but at this point I didn't have them in mind).

While the half cup of quinoa cooked, I fried up cubes of sweet potato and added some chopped pecans to toast with them at the end. Maybe about 1/3 cup of pecans, there is no right or wrong amount. I had some in the freezer and when I started to smell the bits of potato catching it immediately made me think of the smell of toasting nuts and how much I love them! So I added them to the dish.

I added these to these to 6 finely sliced radishes (halved first then sliced), 4 green onions cut on the diagonal and 2 crowns of broccoli and stems finely cut. When the quinoa was ready I spooned about 4 or 5 tbsps of sundried tomato pesto into it and stirred it around, the warmth of the quinoa helped it soften and spread throughout it nicely. I used a 1/4 of a lime, it could have taken more but I couldn't be bothered to get it back out of the fridge again! Salt and pepper. About 1/4 cup of goats cheese that I crumbled first. I say crumbled, but it is smooth and therefore doesn't crumble, but I broke it up into pieces as best I could!

Instead of using mayonnaise to give it a creamy binding agent, I found this dip which added a whole bunch of extra depth in the flavours, with salty cheese and spice. I didn't use a lot, I don't like my salads swimming in creaminess, maybe about 1/3 of a cup.

There is such an element of the unknown in this salad, you don't know which flavour you will bite into next. The earthiness of quinoa runs through it, and the subtle spice of the dip. Then you come across bright bits of radish, sweet cubes of potato, crunchy broccoli, smooth and creamy cheese and the beautiful taste of toasted pecans. They all serve to compliment one another really well making it a full flavoured and jovially coloured dish. I bet it will taste even better tomorrow once the flavours have had time to rest together.

Mix and match Middle Eastern.

I've visited this Middle Eastern place a couple of times now and both times they were more than accomodating of my needs. I was very impressed, and the food was amazing! The menu is full of shawarmas and salads and not being a huge fan of bread the shawarmas are not ideal. However, I love the fillings! I also love their lentil soup and their lentil rice.

They were good enough to give me a serving that was half the lentil rice and half the lentil soup. The soup is made with red lentils I believe, thick and delicious! The rice has brown lentils and garlic and cooked onions in with lots of olive oil and herbs and spices, I taste fennel seeds bursting when I chew from time to time. The mix alone is enough! But I wanted more. So I got another serivng half of Greek salad and half of tabbouleh. What I love about their tabbouleh is that it doesn't appear to have any bulger in it, or maybe the tiniest bit that I can barely even see, so it is basically lots of parsley and lemon juice and tomatoes. This makes such a great accompaniment to the hearty rice and soup, cutting in with their freshness and tartness. The final addition is some of the slow cooked chicken meat, with garlic and hot sauce on it! Having it served in a container like I did meant that I could scoop the meat out of the oil that collected from it too, which made it healthier to eat.

I threw the salty, caramelised and tender chicken together with the soup/rice and had a mound of salad mix on the side, perfect weekend lunch! I rounded it off with half a pint of raspberries and am about to set to making a hearty tomato based soup packed with veggies like carrots and brussels sprouts and some bits of lamb meat to add flavour. Yum! Looking forward to dinner already!