Food for thought
I have just done something that I don’t believe in and that
is go on diet (yip a chef on a diet) I was kind of suckered into it, I am only
11 days into it and wishing that I never started, the thing is that I was
horribly over weight, by about 20kg’s, so I guess in the bigger light of things
it is for the better. Problem with all diets is that as soon as you stop you
put all those pounds straight back on, so I am trying something a little
different this time round, both for my kids, wife and my health. I will try to
adapt into a new eating life style, very difficult being a chef and doing this
as you smell all these wonderful aroma’s and scents and you just want to taste
if it is as good as it smells. Basically in a nut shell I want to try to cut
out fat, sugar and some carbs out of my day to day eating and only have them
once a week on my “cheat” day, so this is a lovely little quick healthy lunch
that I came up with today (not for myself, for my GM who is also on a eating
plan) and I think that this does make a wonderful meal for lunch, it does
contain some carbs in the form of butternut, but there is a whole heap of
vitamin A in it as well as others and it is only 45 calories per 100g for those
of you counting the calories.
Difficulty: Easy
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 10 Minutes
Cooking Time: 15 Minutes
Ingredients
2 Chicken Breast fillet about 200g each (no skin, no bones)
2 cups cocktail tomatoes
2 garlic cloves
3 cups peeled and cubed butternut
Small handful chopped oregano
Small handful chopped basil
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Pre-heat oven to 220˚c
Season your chicken breast with salt and pepper, squash the
garlic cloves, leave the peels on. Place the garlic onto a small roasting tray
and place and chicken breast onto each one then place the cocktail tomatoes in
the roasting tray as well, and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Whilst the chicken is roasting, place the cubed butternut
into boiling salted water and boil for 15 minutes.
When the chicken is ready take it out of the oven and place
on a cutting boards to rest for 5 minutes.
Take the garlic that should be nicely roasted and mash it
together with the butternut, season with salt and pepper and mix in the
oregano, put this neatly onto the plate.
Take the cocktail tomatoes with all the roasting juices from
the roasting tray and lightly pop the tomatoes, season and mix in the basil.
Slice the chicken and arrange on top of the butternut and
top it off with the cocktail tomatoes.
And there we have it, a nice simple easy Very Healthy Lunch
or Dinner dish.
My tip would be to those of you who would like the mash to
be a little “creamier” boil a ¼ cup of cashew nuts for about 10 minutes and
blitz them in a food processor with the water that they boiled in, until they
are smooth and creamy, then add this to the butternut for a really creamy
butternut mash.
