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Tag: chicken

Healthy chicken fajita bowls
Click here to skip my blah blah blah and go straight to the recipe video (I won’t be offended, I promise).

I have been wanting to get into recipe video production for a while, and now that I have a new DSLR camera (with auto-focus!), there’s no longer any excuses not to do it. Like most folks, I’ve been watching the likes of Tasty go absolutely viral and for good reason – I love watching the short videos that give me daily inspiration when I’m trying to decide “What’s for dinner?”. In my video, that question is answered with a resounding chicken fajita bowls!! Scroll down below to check out my first crack at a recipe video 🙂

Being a visual learner, I definitely prefer following a recipe with a video tutorial, so in the spirit of bringing my readers more top quality content (ie, selfishly, the type of content that I enjoy), I’ve decided to give it a go on little old seefoodplay.com!

The idea of filming a recipe from start to finish was surprisingly intimidating, so I wanted to go for a recipe that would look good on camera (lots of color!), that I make often so comfortable with the recipe, and that I actually wanted to share with readers. Now, the thing that I am absolutely most comfortable with is pasta (all pasta, any kind of pasta – I can make it perfectly al dente practically in my sleep). But in the interest of trying to branch out, I decided to go for another one of my favorites: a chicken & veggie ‘fajita’ bowl. I’m a huge fan of meal prepping, especially the lunches that I take to work, and this recipe is perfect for just that.

In the spirit of the ubiquitous Tasty recipe video, my take on this was to keep it simple and healthy, packed full of fresh ingredients, and easy to make ahead… all in about a minute-long video. I hope you enjoy the video and recipe – it’s filling, super easy, and a great idea to add to your meal prep catalog!

If you do make this recipe, don’t forget to let me know either in the comments below or by tagging a photo of your version on Instagram under #sfprecipes.
Easy chicken fajita bowls
2-3 sliced bell peppers (I used green, red and yellow)

1 small onion (sliced)

4 cups cooked rice

Spice mix: 1 tbsp each of garlic powder (salt, smoked paprika, oregano,)

1 can of black beans

avocado slices

sour crème/crème fraiche

chives or spring onions for garnish
Brown the chicken in a bit of olive oil, but be careful not to overcook

Remove chicken, cut into slices, set aside

Combine the spice mix and veggies

Sauté all the veggies until they’re cooked through but still crisp

Add the chicken back into the pan to soak up the flavors and to warm up

Prepare the bowls: add rice, peppers, chicken, black beans, and avocado

Garnish with fresh lime juice, sour cream, and cilantro or spring onions
August 14, 2018
Bacon-wrapped bbq chicken
Weekends are pretty busy in our household: we try to go out and explore our new city, travel around Europe, or do little projects around the house. So we don’t always have time to make big elaborate meals, and will either eat leftovers or random food from the fridge when I take a break from whatever project I’m working on (or blogging about…). This weekend was no exception: Jonathan graciously accepted to help me fold all my clothes that had gotten unruly since the last laundry day, and I was busy working on one of my blog posts. After Jonathan wandered into the kitchen about 10 times looking sad and hungry, and even my stomach started to rumble, I figured it was time for a little snack break.

We usually grocery shop on Monday, and use the weekend to eat any leftovers from the past week. Translation: our fridge was pretty empty. On our last shopping order, I went a little crazy ordering turkey bacon when I discovered our grocery store actually carries it and I bought 4 packs of the stuff. A part of me secretly worried they’d realize how amazingly delicious the stuff is and stop making it, just to torture me. So, stock up, I did. I went crazy for it in part because me and Jonathan don’t eat pork but I’m not gonna lie: I love the salty smoky flavor of bacon. Turkey bacon is the healthier cousin of pork bacon, with all the same salty taste. I couldn’t really justify just cooking up a bunch of (turkey) bacon and serving it as a “snack” so I kept looking and realized we also had some chicken thighs that needed to be eaten, too. I originally thought of making a more elaborate cheddar & bacon-stuffed chicken casserole, but then came back to my senses because nobody had time to spend Saturday afternoon working on a new recipe.

So, these bacon-wrapped BBQ chicken snacks were born out of necessity, lack of time and a pinch of laziness. But you guys, these are so, so good. Like, dangerously easy and good. I almost never make any kind of meat without marinating or at least seasoning it, but that is totally not necessary for this recipe! If you love (turkey) bacon and BBQ sauce then you pretty much should drop what you’re doing right now and make this recipe.

Ingredients:
- Two chicken thighs (boneless & skinless)
- 12 strips of bacon
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 200 degrees (Celsius)
2. Cut each piece of chicken into 6 pieces
3. Wrap each piece of chicken with one strip of bacon; use a toothpick to secure it in place if needed
4. Set aside ½ cup of the BBQ sauce to dip your cooked chicken bites in
5. Use the other ½ cup to brush a spoonful of barbecue sauce onto each piece of bacon-wrapped chicken
6. Place each piece of chicken onto a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked through.
7. Serve immediately, with the remaining BBQ sauce on the side
Servings: 12 bacon wrapped bbq chicken bites
August 11, 2015
Marinated Grilled Chicken skewers
What a week this has been! I’ve gone out after work pretty much every day this week, mostly for work-related functions, so needless to say my home cooked meals were…well… let’s just say that Jonathan made dinner a lot this week. Though I did make an amazing black bean & pulled beef brisket soup with creamy cheddar quesadillas a few nights ago, so I didn’t leave the poor guy to fend entirely for himself. I’ll be making the aforementioned recipe again very soon… just wait until I post that – it was screen-licking good.

But I digress…because today’s post is about a different recipe: quick and easy marinated grilled chicken skewers. I should mention that I had no intention of even blogging about these little amazingly simple yet perfect snacks – when I tasted them, though, I knew that these needed to be shared with the world. They’re that good. Since I haven’t been 100% on kitchen duty this week, we found ourselves with a few random ingredients that needed a home in some kind of recipe (ie, before they went bad…). I’m obsessed with boneless & skinless chicken thighs – we are definitely a dark meat family – but I had like, a kilo of the stuff left to use up. Jonathan whipped up a delicious smoked paprika & lime juice marinade, then I threw them on a few skewers, heated our grill pan and let the magic happen.

I’m all about simple, no-nonsense recipes during the week, and this one perfectly fits those requirements. Serve it with a bowl of rice (cilantro rice, maybe?) and you’ve got yourself an easy meal that’s sure to please all the chicken lovers in your life.

This recipe couldn’t be easier, is full of flavor and is sure to make everyone around your dinner table happy. Baked, grilled or even in a pan on the stovetop…these chicken skewers are the real deal. Go make them now!

Ingredients:
- 4 medium-sized boneless & skinless chicken thighs
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice from 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ¼ cup of peanut sauce* (optional)
- Sesame seeds (optional garnish)
- Green onions (optional garnish)
Instructions:
1. Cut the chicken into 2-inch pieces
2. Marinate the chicken in the olive oil, lime juice and smoked paprika for at least 30 minutes (overnight if you have the patience)
3. Place 5-6 pieces of chicken on each skewer
4. Grill for about 5 minutes on high heat or until cooked through (or for about 10 minutes if you’re using a stovetop grill pan.)
5. Place them on a piece of paper towel to remove any excess oils
6. Serve garnished with green onions, sesame seeds and a bit of lime juice drizzled on.
*I played around with this sauce so much before I got it just right that I didn’t note down the exact proportions of soy sauce, curry paste, etc. I’ll make it again and be a bit more studious next time, but in the meantime, check out this recipe for homemade peanut sauce: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/thai-peanut-sauce/
June 26, 2015
Creamy chicken & broccoli pasta
Happy Friday, y’all!

It’s been a long week and if you’re like us, then you’re probably looking forward to finally relaxing, and not to making a big elaborate meal. Unless big elaborate meals every day of the week are your thing, in which case, more power to you. That’s not me, though, and by the time Friday rolls around, I’m usually trying to think of which leftovers to reheat…!

When I don’t want to go the leftover route, though, this is one of my go-to Friday night recipes. This dish is great if you’re in a hurry to get dinner on the table: it requires very little prep and comes together in about 30 minutes using simple ingredients. So you can feel like you’ve got it all together and handle Friday night dinner like a boss 🙂

I should preface this recipe by confessing that I’m not realllly a big fan of cream-based sauces like alfredo or four-cheese anything — but I have come to terms with the fact that I can’t serve tomato-based sauces alllll the time. Someone once told me a story about a husband leaving his wife because she served him spaghetti bolognaise every night for dinner…

In hindsight, I wonder if they just made that story up because I served them spaghetti bolognese every time they came over for dinner, and they were trying to send me a message…? Anyway, the point is that whether you love creamy sauces, or if you’re like me and they’re not your favorite, you’ll probably still love this recipe. The creamy-ness isn’t overpowering, with just the right amount of cream and the right amount of tang.

Ingredients:
- 250 grams of rotini
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 clove of garlic (minced)
- 2 tablespoons flour
- ½ cup greek yogurt*
- ½ cup heavy cream*
- 1 medium-sized chicken breast (cooked and cut into 2-inch cubes)
- 1 ½ cups of chicken stock
- 2 cups broccoli (cooked)**
- 1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
- Salt and pepper (to taste)
Instructions:
1. In a non-stick saucepan big enough to hold all of the ingredients, melt down the butter, then add in the minced garlic, salt & pepper, and flour whisking until smooth.
2. Cook the flour & butter mixture for around 5 minutes, just to get rid of that raw flour taste, then slowly whisk in the chicken stock.
3. Meanwhile, cook your pasta for 2 minutes less than the time indicated on the package (unless you like it softer than al dente, in which case cook per your pasta’s instructions).
4. Whisk in the greek yogurt and heavy cream, and continue to cook until it has reduced to a smooth uniform mixture.
5. Next, mix in the cooked & drained pasta, and the chicken and broccoli, stirring until evenly combined.
6. If the sauce is too thick, then just add in a bit of water to thin it up a bit.
7. Season with a sprinkle of salt & some fresh ground black pepper
8. Serve hot with some crumbles of parmesan cheese on top!
Servings: 2 if served as a main dish, 4 if served as a side dish.

*If you want to make this recipe lighter, then you can use 1 cup of greek yogurt instead of the greek yogurt/heavy cream combination in the recipe. I prefer with cream though, because too much yogurt overpowers the dish a bit it and it comes out a bit too tangy for me. Though if you’re all about tangy chicken pasta, then go for it!

**I roasted my broccoli in the oven for about 10 minutes. Though sometimes I blanch it for this recipe: boiled for 30 seconds, then drained.

***This dish can be vegetarian-friendly by swapping out the chicken stock for veggie stock, and simply not adding the chicken.
June 5, 2015