Kale and Southwest Veggies Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Israeli Cous Cous

Simple saute of kale with southwest blend veggies like onions, peppers, corn, black beans, and maybe some mushrooms, is versatile as a base for many other dishes.

A good helping of this sauteed veggie blend wrapped in home-made rotis makes a fantastic lunch. And the leftovers come in handy for this chicken dish.

Ingredients
chicken breast, boneless skinless, thinly sliced
some red wine vinegar and Bragg Liquid Aminos for marinating

Veggies blend: Kale, corn, black beans, onions, red peppers, ancho chilies, mushroom, sun-dried tomatoes

Spices: either store-bought cajun seasoning or home-blend of favorite spices

A few tablespoon oil for pan-cooking

Ptitim, aka Israeli Cous Cous

Some toothpicks

Preparation

1. Thinly slice a medium chicken breast into three slices, pound to uniform thickness as needed 
2. Marinate in some red wine vinegar and Bragg liquid aminos for a few hours to overnight 
3. Saute the veggies with spices and keep handy
4. Heat the oil in a cast iron skillet over medium low heat
5. Assembly: Place a scoop of the sauteed veggies on a marinated thin slice of chicken breast; roll it up, pulling in the sides, and secure with toothpicks so it doesn't unravel while cooking
6. Gently arrange the stuffed chicken breasts on the hot skillet, cover and allow to cook over medium heat till the bottom is seared and the inside is cooked
7. Flip gently and cook the other side as well until the thickest part registers 165 ° F
8. Cover and allow to rest before serving with cooked cous cous

Millet Meal Polenta Patties

Pearl millet ground up to a coarse meal is something I keep handy. It works great as a substitute for rice meal in some of the Indian dishes. This time, equal parts millet meal and corn meal came together with a dollop of ground lentils to make this polenta.

In case this is sounding complicated, the recipe is very close to Arisi Upma Kozhakattai, only, instead of 2 cups of rice idlee rava as called for in that recipe, I substituted 1 cup millet meal, plus 1 cup corn meal.

Once the thick porridge-like Upma/Polenta is made, roll into a log and pack it in foil, refrigerate it till it sets. I left it in the fridge the previous night, then cooked it for dinner the following evening.

Simply slice up this log when ready, pan cook both sides till brown and the insides are warm. Dust the slices with some chickpea flour before pan-frying to get the extra crispness and brownness, if preferred.

Saute some onions, peppers, tomatoes, and any other favorite veggies. Serve these Millet Meal Polenta Patties topped with the veggies, some feta, plus chopped kale, chopped celery leaves, and chopped spring onions.

Since some yellow pear tomatoes, red cherry tomatoes, kale, and spring onions are still alive in my home garden, now in mid-Autumn, I went with these, but, any combination of veggies would work just as well.

Spicy Pan-roasted Summer Squash, Corn kernels, and Roasted Tomatoes Salad

The title says it all, nothing much to this dish, except the crisp freshness of late summer vegetables.

Roast or grill the corn on the cob, brush with Cajun seasoning, shave the kernels and toss with some lemon juice, keep handy.

Home-garden summer squash and tomatoes came in handy for this quick and easy salad.

Sweet Cherry tomatoes and golden pear tomatoes are two of my favorites to munch on as snack.

Dice the summer squash and onions and pan roast them in a cast iron skillet, adding a pinch of Cajun seasoning and olive oil; and while the skillet is still very hot, add the cherry tomatoes and allow to plump and almost burst with juiciness.

Combine the corn, squash, onions, and tomatoes, garnish with herbs from the garden. I went with some fresh Oregano.

Serve at room temperature for a sweet and bright summer evening salad.

Chicken Tamales

There was enough fall-apart juicy tender spicy crock-pot chicken leftover after making some Enchiladas Rojas. It seemed like a fun idea to keep up the Mexican theme this week and make Chicken Tamales.

Some store-bought nixtamalized masa de harina, plus a bundle of dried corn husks were handy in the pantry.

Not too long ago, cassava tamales came about which, while not a unanimous favorite, was not a total reject either.

Quite the standard recipe that was printed on the bag of masa, with minor variations - mainly, no lard.

Ingredients:
2 cups masa instantánea de maíz
2 cups stock or water
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ to ⅔ cup vegetable oil (add in installments while beating)
1 cup shredded chicken cooked in spicy chili sauce, (sauce drained)
6 to 8 corn husks, soaked in water for about 30 minutes

Preparation

1. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl; add in the stock/water, plus ½ cup oil first and beat until the batter is smooth; if too crumbly and thick, add a bit more oil and water as needed to form a smooth and mildly sticky batter
2. Open out a pliable corn husk that has been soaking, spread the batter in a thin layer, add the chicken filling, top with more batter to enclose the chicken
3. Wrap the filled corn husks and steam for about an hour
4. Serve warm with hot sauce and cooling plain Greek yogurt (or sour cream, if preferred)

Chicken in Piquant Sauce with Savory Corn Cakes

It seems like I've been defaulting to salads and simple sandwiches lately. The stormy freezing weather last weekend spurred me to make something warm and substantial for the nicer half and the kids.

The sauce piquant for the chicken is not really hot as I cut back on the chilies and peppers so kids can try some without complaining.

The corn cakes almost tasted like corn fritters even though they are not deep fried. The rice flour gives it the crisp crunch.

Steamed green beans and carrots rounded out this simple meal.

Ingredients
Boneless skinless chicken breasts, marinated in red wine vinegar

For Savory Corn Cakes:
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup fine cornmeal
2/3 to ¾ cup water, as needed
1 tsp Cajun seasoning (or any other favorite spice mix, check label for salt)
1/3 cup steamed sweet corn kernels
a few tablespoon vegetable oil for pan frying


For the Piquant Sauce:
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
red and green bell pepper, sliced thin, as much as preferred
1/3 cup sweet corn kernels (optional)
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 cup stewed crushed tomatoes
1 tsp dry crushed oregano
1 tsp dry crushed thyme
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper powder (more if preferred)
salt to taste
1 Tbsp Canola or vegetable oil
1 cup water

Preparation

1. Corn Fritters: Combine the ingredients to form a slightly thick batter. Heat some oil in a pan or skillet, add spoonfuls of batter and flatten it out; allow to cook till brown around the edges, flip and cook the other side till desired brownness
2. Piquant Sauce:heat the oil in a pan, sauté the onion and bell peppers, add the tomato paste and allow to cook a bit till rich and darkish red; add the rest of the sauce ingredients, simmer till sauce thickens
3. Chicken:Heat some oil in a grill pan and brown the chicken pieces and cook part way; then drop them into the simmering sauce to finish cooking

spicy corn griddle cakes

Weekends are great as D, Baby and I sit together and have breakfast in a leisurely way, usually warm and fresh breakfast (as opposed to dry fruits and toasted oats cereal in cold milk).

These corn griddle cakes can be spiced up, or served mellow. They feel wholesome, savory and more filling than pancakes somehow.

And, spicy corn griddle cakes recipe is my post for June's Weekend Breakfast Blogging (WBB#12), started by lovely and famous Nadita of SaffronTrail, and hosted graciously this month by Trupti at one of my usual blog-stops: The Spice Who Loved Me. The theme is Spice It Up! and that's exactly what the spice-mix-1 does to this recipe.



Ingredients:
for the batter:
1 small can creamed corn
1 cup cake* flour (or all-purpose flour)
½ cup corn masa flour
¼ cup fine cornmeal
½ cup finely diced onions
½ tsp baking soda
1½ cup buttermilk
1-2 generous Tbsp of spice-mix-1
salt to taste
*cake flour is soft wheat flour that gives a fluffy texture; can substitute 1 cup of cake flour with 3/4cup all-purpose flour + 2 Tbsp cornstarch

for salsa fresca:
1 tomato, finely diced
½ onion finely diced
a few sprigs offresh cilantro leaves
1 Tbsp spice-mix-1
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste

for spice-mix-1: (make ahead and save for later use)
1 Tbsp dry red chili powder
1 Tbsp celery seeds
1 tsp mustard powder
1 tsp poppy seeds
1 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp dry minced onions

Preparation

combine the salsa fresca ingredients and stir well, keep aside to develop flavors

combine the dry batter ingredients, add a little buttermilk at a time, stirring gently to break down lumps; the batter consistency is just like pancake batter; make the batter right before ready to cook

in a griddle or pan spoon just enough batter to make about 3-inch-diameter "cakes" that are about ½-inch thick or maybe thinner; flip and cook both sides just like pancakes or dosai

Garnish with fresh cilantro leaves and serve hot off the griddle with the salsa fresca, or your favorite chutney.