Just Call Me Martha Stewart, Bitch

So I’ve been feeling the Martha Stewart vibe lately, and doing lots of cooking. Attempting to do the diet thing and make healthy food. But healthy food that tastes good. And there’s been  more than a few requests for some of my recipes – hence blogging them. The first one is a diet-friendly one. The second one? Definitely not diet friendly. But decadently delicious.

CHICKEN, BUTTERNUT & CHICKPEA CURRY:

this was a pretty made-up-on-the-spot kind of recipe….so it’s pretty easy to follow.

Ingredients:
1 x large onion, roughly chopped
1 x large tomato, skin removed and cubed
1-2 tablespoon oil
1/2 butternut, peeled and cut into medium-sized cubes
1/2 can of chickpeas, drained
4-5 baby marrows (or any other veggie you like)
2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into small squares
1 tablespoon curry powder
30ml apricot juice (that’s about 2 tablespoons) or you can use a tablespoon or two of chutney – it’s to cut the acidity of the tomato
1/3 of a tin of tomato and onion mix (I use the All Gold Mexican mix)
freshly chopped coriander
1 tablespoon of dried cumin

Method:

• Fry the onionS in the curry powder until they’re soft. Then add the baby marrows and chopped tomato
• Add the apricot juice/chutney and the butternut
• Add the chicken and a little bit of water so that the veggies have something to cook in
• Add the cumin and put your own salt/pepper/other spices
• Add the tomato mix and cook over a low/medium heat until the butternut is almost soft.
• Then add the chickpeas
• Once the butternut is completely cooked through, mix in the chopped coriander and stir.

It’s that simple.  I made Tastic brown rice with split peas to go with this. Boyfriend LOVED it. Despite his deathly aversion to chickpeas….

CHOCOLATE FRIDGE CAKE:

i have no idea why this recipe is called ‘cake’ – there’s no flour and theres *NO BAKING INVOLVED* and it doesnt really have a cake-like spongy texture – but it is delicious and it is definitely worth it!

Ingredients:
2 x 100g slab fruit and nut chocolate
2 x 100g slab dark chocolate (I dont like dark choc, so I used Top Deck and I’ve also used white chocolate with awesome results)
100g butter
150g digestive biscuits/ tennis biscuits (digestives are what i usually use)
1 handful nuts (I used mixed nuts – macadamia, almond, brazil etc)
Baking paper

Method:

1. Grease  the base and sides of a cake tin/glass dish  (regular size)
2. Line the tin/dish with baking paper
3. Break all the slabs of chocolate into pieces
4. Place in heatproof bowl with butter
5. Bring a pan of water to the boil and place bowl over boiling water until the mixture is melted (you know, the double-boiler method. I used a colander over the pot to put the bowl in)
6. Remove from heat and stir in nuts and biscuits
7. pour into cake tin
8. Press mixture flat and chill in the fridge (i usually chill it overnight)
9. When chilled, break up into pieces. or cut into squares before the mixture has set properly.

(one variation i tried is a layer of crushed digestive biscuits on the bottom of the cake tin, followed by pouring the chocolate mixture and pressing it on top – came out awesome…)

So there you go. Let me know what you think.