I’m excited about cooking again, and this is largely thanks to Julie Daniluk’s, Slimming Meals That Heal. I will be writing a proper review of this book sometime around mid-June, after trying a few recipes. But so far, I can tell you I have dog-eared enough of the 120+ recipes to call this book a worthy investment.
Last night I was inspired to create my own meal around an adapted version of Julie’s Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette. Yes, seriously, I got curious about her vinaigrette and then built an entire meal around it. This is what I ended up with:
Here’s what you need for the stuffed chicken:
4 organic, free-range boneless, skinless chicken breasts
100 g plain, soft, unripened goat cheese
1 tbsp dried basil, crushed in your palm
1/2 tomato, chopped
optional: chopped cilantro or chopped green onion, for garnish
Here’s what you do:
1. Pound the breasts between sheets of plastic wrap with a mallet or heavy saucepan. I kind of did this and kind of didn’t, meaning I attempted to do this but not sure if I got them thin enough.
2. Cut a slit lengthwise in each breast.
3. In a small bowl, use a fork to crumble the goat cheese. Add basil and mix together.
4. With your hands, divide up the cheese mixture and stuff into each breast.
5. Top with chopped tomato.
Bake at 425F until cooked. I put them in for half an hour. That’s too long! They were borderline tough. You probably know how to cook chicken breast better than me 🙂
6. Garnish with cilantro and/or green onion, if you wish.
Here’s what you need for the stuffed peppers:
3 large red peppers, sliced lengthwise in half, ribs and seeds removed
1 cup quinoa, thoroughly rinsed
1 1/2 cup organic, low-sodium chicken broth
2 stalks celery, minced
1/4 large red onion, minced
1/2 cup grated carrot
enough water or chicken broth to cover the bottom of the baking dish
optional: shredded cheese (I used goat mozarella)
Here’s what you do:
1. In a medium size sauce pan, bring 1 1/2 cup chicken broth to a boil.
2. Add rinsed quinoa, red onion, and celery. Turn heat down to medium-low. Cover and cook for approximately 12 minutes or until water has been absorbed.
3. Remove from heat. Add carrots and stir.
4. Mix in vinagrette (see below) till evenly coated. Makes it nice and moist!
5. Spread the halved peppers in a baking dish that has enough chicken broth or water to cover the bottom.
6. Spoon the quinoa mixture into the peppers. Really stuff it in there!
7. Bake covered at 350F for 60 minutes.
Optional: After baking for 60 minutes covered, sprinkle on the shredded cheese and cook again UNcovered for another 10-15 minutes.
Here’s what you need for the vinaigrette: (this is not Julie’s original recipe but pretty close)
3 tbsp organic virgin coconut oil
2 tbsp honey
1 clove raw garlic, crushed
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp dried basil, crushed in your palm
pinch of salt
Here’s what you do:
1. In a small saucepan, heat oil on low until melted. Add honey and stir till combined.
2. Remove from heat and add remainder of ingredients. Stir together.
3. Add to quinoa mixture as indicated above.
And there you go! Serve the whole thing with some greens. Because you should serve everything with greens.
Let me know if you try this! I’ve got Julie’s onion ring recipe in the oven right now. I’ll let you know how they turn out. I think I kind of messed up on a couple things…like I may be scraping the onion rings off the tray because I just used a light spray instead of actually brushing oil on to it. Hopefully the bits I scrape off taste yummy!
P.S. The link to Julie Daniluk’s, Slimming Meals that Heal book is my affiliate link. Thank you for supporting my work.
