Chicken and Avocado Rye Slice

Simple and uncomplicated, this recipe is fab as a started or to double the quantities for a light lunch. 

In my eyes, chicken and avocado are a match made in heaven! When I was younger, I hated 'avo' until my friends mum cooked us up a platter of chicken and avocado and I sat there looking at the green gooey slices with distaste. I forced myself the first mouthful of the dish and have loved the stuff since!

The Rye bread I used in this recipe is Biona Organic, Rye Omega 3- this bread is a little bit different to the bog standard bread you may be used to and see on the super market shelves; but I do know that most super markets in the UK will stock it either in the bread section or in the whole foods or speciality section. If not you can undoubtedly find it in a Holland and Barratt or any health food shop near by!  Give it a shot, it really is delicious, but an absolute MUST to toast it before. It changes both the flavour and the texture of the bread into something a hell of a lot better than just eating it straight out the packet!

It should be mentioned that Biona Organic also do other versions of the Rye bread; these are shown below. My other favourite is the quinoa and amaranth version (unfortunately this one isn't shown in the picture below)!

Ingredients: (serves 2 as a starter or one as a light lunch)

3 chicken tenderloins

1tbsp oilve oil

1/2 ripe avocado

1 slice of biona Rye bread

sun dried tomatoes, sliced in half

balsamic glaze

salt and pepper to season

Rocket to garnish

Directions:

In a pan, add olive oil and begin to pan fry your chicken tenders. Once almost cooked through, grab a sharp knife and fork and butterfly (slice down the length of your tender) your chicken. Put it back in the pan to finish off cooking. Once finished, set aside. Equally, if you have some left over chicken in the fridge, this is a great recipe to use this up!

Meanwhile, chop your bread in half and whack it in the toaster. In my experience rye bread takes longer to toast. This may be because it is more dense than usual bread?....But we could leave that assumption to the scientists...

With your Avocado, get your fork and slightly mash it in its case. Alternatively you can do this in a bowl if you feel you need a bit more strength to mash (mine was super ripe so it was quite easy to do just in my hand!)

Place a slice of your toasted rye bread (should be very crispy and slightly browned) onto a plate; spread on your mashed avocado, and layer your pan-fried chicken on top. Sprinkle with some salt and peper if you feel it needs some. Assemble your Rocket and Sun-dried tomatoes on the top, and slowly drizzle with some balsamic glaze.

Serve and enjoy! 

Bulgar Wheat with Pomegranate, Feta, Spinach and Leeks

This is a querky recipe I decided to make for lunch the other day! It was created with the idea of throwing everything you like together and hoping it comes out tasting good- and my oh my was it good! Just try it for yourself! And here's why it's good for ya....

Pomegranate is one of my favourite slightly exotic fruits, giving your meal scrummy little bursts of sweet flavour with an added subtle crunch! It is a famously been classified as a 'superfood', with it being full of B Vitamins, potassium and folic acid. These little pellets have anti-inflammatory properties which has been said to help protect you from harmful Free Radicals (those nasty molecules that are damaging to the body!) If you want to learn more about why you should try and include more super foods, fruit and veg into your diet, this is a pretty good read: www.healthchecksystems.com/antioxid

Bulgar Wheat is a fab little grain which again has so many benefits to its consumption. Much like other grains, it is high in dietary fibre, and contains amino acids that provide the body with protein; Bulgar Wheat contains about 6g of protein per 100g so is not considered a 'protein rich' food like other grains such as Quinoa or Lentils. Bulgar Wheat contains many B vitamins, in particular, Thiamin and Niacin (both of which are extremely important in the functioning of the nervous and digestive system), as well as plenty of minerals, but it is a notably great source for Manganese. So GOBBLE UP guys!

Ingredients: (serves 2)

1 cup bulgar wheat

1 stock cube (I used chicken flavour)

1/2 pomegranate

50g Feta Cheese

4 large handfuls of baby spinach

2 leeks, washed and roughly chopped

2 tbsp linseeds

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds (for garnish)

Rocket (for garnish)

Wedge of lemon (optional)

Directions:

In a bowl, add the bulgar wheat, crumble your stock cube over, and pour just boiled water over until its about 1/2 a cm on top of the bulgar wheat. Cover with a lid and set aside to steam for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a frying pan, on a medium heat, begin to sauté your leeks. As soon as these are turning soft, add in your linseeds and your 'couple of handfuls of spinach'. You decide how much green you want- but remember it does shrink down lots!

Once wilted, remove from the heat and set aside. 'De-seed'/'De-fruit' your pomegranate. 

Check your bulgar wheat is cooked. Depending on the variety it will absorb the liquid at different speeds. It should have absorbed all of the liquid and the little grains should be tender all the way through.  A little tip is if it hasn't yet absorbed all the liquid and it's still not completely cooked through, whack it in the microwave to re-heat the water and help it to absorb the last few drops!

In a large bowl, tip in your greens and linseeds, followed by your bulgar wheat, then your pomegranate. Crumble in half of your feta cheese. Mix all the ingredients together. Now is the time to do 'chef's tasters' and season it with anything you think it lacks! Everybody's taste buds differ!

Serve up between two plates, crumbling half the feta over the top, followed by some of the pumpkin seeds and then the rocket. If you're a fan of Oliv Oil, a little drizzle over the top will bring everything together- Bon Apetite!