Cooking for your family can be tricky, especially in winter. I struggle to create healthy meals that are healthy AND winter-friendly. Usually winter means carbohydrate loaded pastas and there are only so many soups that I know how to make. Soup also usually comes with loads of bread and butter, which takes it's toll on my wardrobe. I miss crunchy summer salads, but that's mostly the last thing that I want to eat in this weather.
Dinner at our house needs to be quick, healthy, practical (ingredients that I already have in the fridge and purchase during our weekly bulk shops) and it needs to be easy. I've started making more hot salads, combining cooked and warm ingredients with the raw, crispy bits. This salad is super quick and healthy. Nothing too fancy, and the boys are it alll up last night. No actually they didn't: Noah didn't eat the chicken because he just doesn't like meat, and Benjamin turned his nose up at the rocket and herbs.
Hot Barbeque Chicken & Caramelized Sweet Pepper Salad - Noah & Benjamin Approved.
Use any fresh salady things that you have at home. I used julienne beetroot, carrot, raw broccoli, cauliflower, sunflower seeds, avo and mixed herbs & leaves (one of those pick n pay etc mix packs). Load this with loads of lemon juice.
Slice chicken breasts in half so make thinner breasts as these cook faster. Place the chicken breasts in an over dish with some olive oil, barbeque spice (I used NoMU Barbeque Rub but anything similar will do) I poked holes in the chicken breasts with a fork so that more lemon juice would be adsorbed for erm... more tender breasts. Put that in the oven on 180 at bake for ten minutes. While that's in there, slice up some green, red and yellow peppers and fry them on a hot plate with half a teaspoon of honey or brown sugar. Fry them on high until they're soft and almost burnt.
Take the chicken out, slice in to cubes and toss in the gravy for more flavour. Spoon this over your salad, then add the peppers. You can add anything else you like - nuts, peanut butter relish, cooked butternut, sweet potato or some plain yoghurt which is a very healthy alternative to mayonnaise. If you want, you can also serve some wholewheat pita bread and hummus on the side, but this meal is really filling and super duper healthy & delicious. Go for it!
