Indian-Inspired Chicken Burgers

Warning - all of the photos in this post are really bad. I'm talking blurry, off-centered, haphazard shots. No, I was not drinking while taking the photos, and no, I wasn't even really distracted by other things. I'm just really bad at taking photos, apparently. Don't let that stop you from making these awesome burgs!

Photography at it's finest

I was inspired to make these by a few turkey-burger posts I saw floating about on the internet. I did a quick mix of classic good stuff (onion, garlic, ginger, jalapeno) and threw in an Indian spice (garam masala) and determined that was enough to call this Indian-inspired. After a quick cook on the stove top, I served these in a pita (that wishes it was naan) with an herby citrusy yogurt sauce (that wishes it was raita). I chopped up some red onion and cucumber to throw in there as well, and had some spring mix in the fridge that also was allowed to participate. I then made my friends eat it and tell me it was good. Works like a charm!

If you don't want to go through with the whole recipe, I'd say the 3 ingredients you can't leave out are ginger, garam masala, and the yogurt sauce (counting that as 1 ingredient, muaha). If you aren't feeling the burger-in-a-pita approach you can totally eat these with normal buns, or sandwich bread, or over some veggies, or plain. Do what you want what you want with your burger! Let's move on!

You'll need:
For the burgs 
1 lb ground chicken (or turkey, whateva)
1 jalapeno, minced, with 1/2 of the seeds removed
1/4 cup (or a small handful) of fresh cilantro, chopped
1 inch knob fresh ginger, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 of a large yellow onion, chopped
3 tsp garam masala (also used here)
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs
Toasted pita (cut it half), cucumber slices, red onion, lettuce for topping


For the sauce 
1/2 c Greek yogurt
Juice from 1/2 lime
5-10 minced mint leaves
1 T minced parsley
Salt

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat (7 out of 10) on the stove top. Combine all of the burger ingredients (except the pita and toppings...) in a bowl and mix to combine. You should probably just use your hands for this! Form into 4 large or 6 small burgers - I do six, and I make them super flat so they cook quicker. Slap some oil in the pan (I used coconut), let it heat up, and cook the burgers until cooked through-about 4 minutes a side. Allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

While your burgers are a-sizzlin, combine the sauce ingredients and season with salt to taste. Feel free to mix up the herbs here - basil and cilantro would both be excellent substitutions for the parsley.

When it's time to mangia, cut open a toasted pita and fill with a burger, sliced cucumber/red onion/spring mix, and drizzle a lot of the sauce in there. Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime and enjoy! If you make these and take a better photo, please text it to me so I can replace these awful ones! :)

I wish I was pretty

 

Becoming Biryani

I love this recipe. I love it! It's so good!

I love you; you're so good

Biryani is an Indian rice dish that warriors used to eat before battle. Or at least, someone once told me that warriors used to eat it before battle. There is a large chance this isn't true, but let's continue. Naturally, I made biryani the night before Curtis had a swim test at work.  Swimming in a pool = hand to hand combat, right? Anyway, it only needs one pot which is what really gets me hyped up about it.

A couple of notes:
1. The original recipe calls for white basmati rice, but I sub it out with long-grain brown in the recipe below. This requires extra chicken stock and a full 50 minutes of cooking time. If you'd prefer to use white basmati rice (and I really think you should at least once!) you'll need 14 oz of chicken broth and only need to cook for about 15 minutes, or rice is tender. 
2. You could easily make this vegetarian - leave out the chicken, and sub vegetable broth for chicken broth. Booya!

Let's become biryani

You'll need:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast cut into 1 inch pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced. Removing the seeds removes most of the spice, so leave the seeds in if you're feeling adventurous!
1 inch piece of fresh minced ginger 
3 cloves chopped garlic
1 1/2 t garam masala (this is a ground mix of a bunch of other spices - definitely don't skip this!)
1 tsp cumin
salt to taste
2 plum tomatoes, chopped 
1/3 c raisins (golden or regular)
2 c chicken broth
1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
1 c uncooked brown rice (I used long grain - you can use any kind you want. Just follow the recommended liquid to grain ratio and cooking time!)
1/4 c sliced or chopped almonds
Lime wedges

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and saute 3 minutes before adding onion and jalapeno. After three more minutes add the ginger, garlic, and spices. Let cook through a few more minutes then add in tomatoes, rice, raisins and broth.

It gets better, I swear

Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer for about 50 minutes (if using brown rice) and stir occasionally to make sure the rice isn't sticking to the bottom of the pan. At the end sprinkle on the cilantro, layer on the almonds, and serve with lime wedges. Make this prior to battle! Or swim tests!

Successfully became biryani!

Easy Bacon Broccoli

"It's broccoli....but better!" (Trademark pending)

I noticed that my posts are primarily meat-based entrees, and that I should get some green stuff up here too. With bacon. However this is not aggressively trendy and bacony - it's just a nice addition that won't totally cancel out the fact that you're eating steamed broccoli. The real star of the show here is the apple cider vinegar - it lends the awesome tangy flavor that I think makes this worth eating. This has just a handful of ingredients and is pretty darn tasty. Give it a shot!

You'll need:
3 pieces of uncooked bacon, chopped
1/2 white onion, roughly chopped
2 heads of broccoli, stems removed and florets separated
1 or 2 T apple cider vinegar (start with one, and then decide if you'd like more!)
1/2 t garlic powder
Salt and pep (obvs)

Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat (I'd say a 7 out of 10). Add the chopped bacon and cook for about 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly.  Add the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes more, until onions soften and become a little translucent. Keep stirring! Add in the broccoli florets and a couple tablespoons of water to help get that steam going, and pop a lid on. When broc has reached your desired tenderness level (I like mine a little crisp - about 2-4 minutes of steaming) pop off the lid, add in the apple cider vinegar, sprinkling of garlic powder, salt and pep (to taste) and give it a mix. You're done! Now eat your vegetables!

Rosemary-Sriracha Chicken

I trespassed on private property in the early morning hours to make this rosemary-sriracha roasted chicken. 

Allow me to elaborate.  

It's 6:15 in the morning and I want to make this marinade before I go to work, so the chicken can sit in it and get delicious all day. I have all of the ingredients, but no rosemary. At my old apartment I could hop over to the traffic circle across the street and take as much as I wanted (rosemary grows EVERYWHERE in Seattle). But in my new neighborhood I haven't seen any "public" rosemary...instead, the closest bush is in my neighbor's yard, bordering their front door entry.
  

Do I wait and pick some up from the store? Do I swing by the old hood and snip a few branches from a perfectly respectable public source? No...I throw my coat and shoes on over my PJs, grab some scissors, and sneak into my neighbor's yard. I creep up to their front door and breathe a sigh of relief that they don't have motion-activated floodlights. I keep my head down, snip a solid five rosemary branches, and then book it down their pathway, across the street, and back into the safety of my apartment. Isn't cooking exciting??? 

Worth it

Sometimes cooking chicken gets boring. Especially if you are trying to be healthy. ENTER: rosemary-sriracha chicken (adapted from here). It comes together quickly, has a delicious, earthy, and unexpected flavor, and can sometimes cause unexpected petty crime. Let's get on with it, shall we?

You'll need:
Bone-in, skin on chicken drumsticks, thighs, or breasts.  I always do drumsticks for myself and white meat for Curtis.
1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
4 T olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
4 T finely chopped fresh rosemary
4 T sriracha
4 cloves garlic, minced
salt and peppa (about 1/2 t each)

Generously salt and pepper chicken and place in a large ziploc. Combine all ingredients (except chicken, silly!) in a medium bowl, and then pour into the bag. Do what you gotta do to make sure the chicken is evenly coated. Place in fridge and let marinade for at least an hour...as you can read from above, I prefer if the chicken is marinated for at least 8 hours/overnight.

Frantically thrown together before going to work

Forgot about the ziploc trick - more dishes for me

Preheat oven to 375 F and line a baking sheet with foil (if you're smart and don't want to scrub dishes). Arrange the chicken evenly in a single layer - I recommend putting the bigger pieces on the edges, and the smaller pieces inside. Bake 35-40 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. At the end, broil on high for about 5 minutes, or until the skin is crispy and golden. 

I like to boil the remaining marinade and spoon over the chicken when it is done. The sauce looks pretty weird after it is boiled, but I promise it still tastes good!

Looks aren't everything???

I served this with some easy bacon-broc, which I'll post soon!

******Update: At the time this was posted, I have found a more appropriate neighborhood rosemary source that does not require trespassing.******

Not-Boring Kale Caesar

Kale salads kind of suck. No, seriously - they kind of suck. They're always the same (walnuts, cranberries, goat cheese), they're always weirdly chewy, and I usually only order them out of guilt. "Yes I'll have a jug of wine, the mozzarella sticks, and the..uh..kale salad. Thanks."

Well, ladies and gents, have I got news for you. THIS kale salad is seriously delicious and seriously not boring. In fact, it might be too much to handle for people who can't really do spice. You've been warned!

This is my version of Shutterbean's Smokey Kale Caesar Salad. I changed the ingredients a bit and eliminated all of the cheese. It's definitely good with the cheese - it's just that I didn't really notice the difference when I left it out, which means I can eat more cheese in the form of mozzarella sticks at a different time.

My biggest regret is not making the croutons when I photographed this. If you make this, dear God MAKE THE CROUTONS, PLEASE for me.

You'll need:
2 bunches of curly kale, chopped (about 10 cups)
 1 lemon, juiced

 For the dressing:
1 T red wine vinegar
1 lemon, juiced
4 cloves garlic, sliced
3 anchovy filets, chopped (don't be a wimp - just do this)
1 1/2 t dried chipotle chili powder
1 1/2 t smoked paprika
1 egg yolk (like I said...don't be a wimp)
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil 
1/4 c Greek yogurt

Mix vinegar, juice from 1 lemon, garlic, anchovies, chipotle chili powder, and smoked paprika in a bowl. Add olive oil, egg yolk, and Greek yogurt, and mix with an immersion blender until well incorporated*. It will be really thick - don't worry. Add salt and pepper to taste.

*There's a good chance you have way too much dressing now. I haven't fixed that glitch yet.

Put the chopped kale in a giant bowl and squeeze the remaining lemon juice. "Massage" the kale with your hands. The acid + your massage really helps the kale loosen up and not be as chewy and uptight. Next, add the dressing a bit at a time and mix it with your hands - about half of the dressing should do. Toss in the croutons before serving, and love life!

I wish there were croutons on  you

For the croutons:
Half loaf of good bread
Olive oil
Salt
Dried herbs (think rosemary, basil, oregano, etc.)
Garlic powder 

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Tear bread into pieces (about an inch) and place on baking sheet. Add a good drizzle of olive oil, and toss with the bread until evenly coated. Season with a good amount of salt, dried herbs, and garlic powder. Place baking tray in the oven and bake for 10 minutes - stir crouts around, and bake for another 5 minutes. Enjoy!