Recipe | Warm Chicken Pesto Salad

Hi lovelies! Sorry it's been awhile in between posts. I've been moving house and have been internetless. I made this salad for dinner a couple of nights back and it was a really tasty, fresh and satisfying feed. Thought I'd post it up because I tend to prefer salads in the warmer weather. 

Recipe | Chicken Meatballs

I'm not sure if either Erin or I have mentioned it but we are off to the Woodford Folk Festival next week and we are more than a little excited. This recipe is somewhat of a clearing out of my fridge in preparation for my week away. If you decide to make this meal yourself feel free to substitute any of the vegetables or meat with whatever you have to hand. 

Recipe | Cayenne Chicken and Salsa

I have been becoming rather obsessed with the concept of salsas as sides lately and have been experimenting with many different variations. This recipe includes a very traditional salsa but traditional does not imply it is any less amazing. The cayenne pepper I used in my version of this recipe was incredibly hot so the tomato and avocado act as a delicious cooling agent. 

Ingedients
2 chicken breasts, halved
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp sea salt
1 cup uncooked quinoa 
2 tomatoes, roughly diced 
1 avocado, roughly diced
1 red onion, roughly diced
1 lime, juiced
1/2 lemon, juiced
sea salt and cracked pepper
sour cream

In a bowl, coat each piece of chicken in 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper and 1 tsp of sea salt. Cook the chicken in a large fry pan with a small coating of vegetable/sunflower/rice bran oil until cooking the whole way through.

Pour the quinoa in a small saucepan and cover with 2 cups of water. Place over a low heat and cover until the water has been absorbed into the quinoa. Take off the heat once cooked. 

Meanwhile, in a bowl, coat the diced red onion in the lemon and line juice and let is soak for 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is almost cooked. Add the remaining tomato and avocado and mix through. Season with salt and pepper.

The chicken and quinoa should be cooked by now. To serve, place a spoonful of quinoa as a bed in the centre of the plate followed by one half chicken breast. Spoon over some of the salsa with a dollop of sour cream on the side. Again, season with salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve and enjoy! Tara and I found this to quite a hot dish so feel free to change the quantities of cayenne pepper you use. I loved the flavour and will probably the use the same amount again and continue to use a lot of sour cream. My preferred brand of sour cream is actually the one by Weight Watchers - it tastes the same has a lot less fat than other brands.  

Erin xx

Recipe | Super Easy Rice Paper Rolls

I was feeling particularly domestic last night and after cleaning my entire house decided I would prepare this delicious and easy to share meal. Much like other recipes I've posted it is entirely open to interpretation and I only work with the ingredients I have on hand. Your favourite ingredients may differ so feel free to use what you like. The most important thing to make this process easy is preparation. 

Makes 15 

Ingredients

a packet of 22cm round rice paper sheets

1 skinless chicken breast, cooked and sliced

1 carrot, cut julienne (into thin sticks)

1/2 cucumber, cut julienne

handful of fresh bean sprouts

handful of fresh coriander

100g vermicelli noodles  

fried shallots

Recommended dipping sauce

2tbsp sweet chilli sauce

1tbsp soy sauce

1/2tsp fish sauce

1 drop pure sesame oil

The most efficient way of creating these little rolls of joy is to prepare everything before starting assembly. I like to get my chicken in a grill or fry pan first and cut up the vegetables while it is cooking. Then cook your vermicelli noodles as per instructions on the packet (generally a few minutes in boiling water does the trick and then drain well).

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, slice it up in a similar style to the carrot and cucumber so it fits in the roll.  

Now the next step is entirely up to you. In a social gathering it is really fun to lay out the ingredients for everyone to create their own but because I was alone I set up my own production line. You'll need a large bowl of close-to-boiling water either way you do it to soften the rice papers. I like to take the, now floppy and translucent, rice paper and lay it as flat as I can on a round plate and start to get the ingredients in a quickly as possible. Start with a small amount of vermicelli and then layer on the ingredients in small amounts. I used about two pieces of the chicken, carrot and cucumber per roll. Follow with a small portion of the bean sprouts, a sprig or two of coriander and a sprinkle of fried shallots.

The step that scares some people is the rolling. If you've put the right amount of ingredients in the paper it should come very easily i.e. if you have great difficultly change the filling size. Start by covering the ingredients with the bottom of the paper, fold in the sides and continue to roll through the middle. The first few are a little tricky but you find what portion sizes work and get into a good rhythm (especially if you're making them all yourself).  

Making the sauce is exceptionally easy - put all the ingredients in a jar, shut the lid tight and shake until combined. Feel free to alter the quantities to taste and if you have a lime on hand, half or a quarter of that would be brilliant in it too (sadly, I had no lime for mine). 

These are probably one of my favourite summer foods because they taste good with all the ingredients slightly cooled. Beware of putting them in the fridge though because the rice ingredients do tend to harden up again as I just discovered eating my leftovers. They work great as entrees and as party food and are less messy than you think. 

As a side note, this is our 200th post! We've almost been blogging for a year now so look out for something special as we approach that milestone. Thanks for reading our rambles, we really appreciate people joining us on the journey that is life. 

Erin xx

Review | Jackpot Noodle's New Home

Jess and I spent some quality time together last week taking photos, shopping new and cheap beauty products, and investigating the new location of one of our favourite places for cheap eats; Jackpot Noodles. We are frequent visitors to its other locations and thought we should check out it's new home Elizabeth Street.