Tag Archives: casserole

Oriental Honey & Lemon Chicken

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We have been missing Chinese and Thai foods so I decided to create our own Honey & Lemon Chicken. I thought it would be nice served with coconut rice and some Chinese style vegetables. My husband has reserved the left-overs for him and wants it again asap! This quantity serves 4 people.

Ingredients:

  • 8 chicken legs or thighs
  • 2-3 Tbs honey
  • The rind and juice of 1 lemon (medium to large sized lemons)
  • 3-4 Tbs Olive oil
  • Salt & Pepper to taste (I use Himalayan Salt)
  • 1 cup Basmati Rice
  • 1 tin of coconut milk (400ml)
  • Extra water if needed to cook the rice
  • 2 Florets of Buk Choy

Method:

  1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (fan forced)
  2. Spray oil the baking dish (I used rice bran oil)
  3. Place the chicken pieces in the dish
  4. Mix up the marinade in a bowl and stir together (honey, olive oil, lemon & rind, and salt & pepper)
  5. Pour the well mixed marinade over the chicken
  6. bake for 45minutes-1 hour (I turned them about 3 times throughout the cooking)
  7. About 20 minutes before the chicken will be ready get the rice and vegetables organised
  8. I cooked the rice using the absorption method using the rice milk and some extra water. I then rinsed the rice using boiling water before draining and serving (this gave the rice a hint of coconut milk but it wasn’t overpowering
  9. I chopped the Buk Choy and steamed it lightly
  10. To serve plate the meat, rice and vegetables; then drizzle the remaining sauce from the baking dish over the meal before serving (the flavours of the sauce work well with the meat, rice and vegetables!)

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities. I can be contacted through this blog or via email freefromfamily@gmail.com

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Roast Chicken – French Country Style

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I love two things about this meal. Firstly, it is very rustic and reminds me of a wonderful French summer I shared with some dear French friends in Brittany. Secondly, it is so quick and simple! I can’t remember where I read about putting a lemon inside the cavity of the chicken when roasting, but since I have tried it, I have never roasted a chicken any other way. The lemon makes the chicken deliciously succulent and flavoursome. We have this meal weekly, and I can then make a weekly batch of our chicken bone broth.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole chicken
  • 1 lemon (holes pricked with a sharp knife all around the lemon – this allows the flavour to be released)
  • Margarine
  • Spray oil (I used rice-bran oil)
  • Salt & pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
  • Fresh herbs (I used rosemary, sage & tarragon)
  • Mixed root vegetables (I used carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and butternut pumpkin)
  • 1 brown onion
  • 4 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • Your choice of a side of green vegetables to serve (peas, green beans, broccoli, buk choy, etc)

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Spray the roasting tin or casserole with oil
  3. Insert the pre-picked lemon into the chest cavity of the chicken and fold the skin over the opening to secure the lemon
  4. Place chicken in the middle of the casserole dish
  5. Place chunks of margarine over the chicken (see first picture – I used 5 chunks)
  6. Salt and pepper the chicken
  7. Chop the root vegetables and arrange around the chicken
  8. Chop onion into crescents and arrange with the root vegetables
  9. Add garlic to the casserole
  10. Spray vegetables with spray oil
  11. Sprinkle herbs, salt & pepper over the vegetables
  12. Roast in oven for 1 1/2hrs – 2hrs
  13. Serve with a side of steamed green vegetables. I cover the chicken with any juices from the casserole
  14. After the meal I strip the chicken carcass and use any leftover chicken and/or roasted vegetables to make sushi, or add to salads, etc. I then use the carcass and any leftover onion and garlic pieces to add to my bone broth (see previous recipe)

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities.

Sausage Casserole

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This is one of my favourite meals . It is so quick and hearty and makes great left-overs in a salad or as a spare ready meal. I used to add a splash of balsamic vinegar to it but now leave that out for my very sensitive children- you could easily add some when you splash the olive oil over the casserole before it goes in the oven.

Ingredients:

  • 6-10 Sausages (whatever sausages suit your diet)
  • 1 can of chick peas (rinsed and drained) [I buy organic with no preservatives]
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes [I buy organic with no preservatives]
  • 1 red onion chopped into moon crescents
  • 3 cloves of garlic – crushed
  • 2 sweet potatoes [chopped into rough 2cm cubes and pre-steamed]
  • Salt  & pepper to taste [I use Himalayan salt]
  • A sprinkle of dried herbs of your choice [I used Oregano]
  • A splash of olive oil over the dish once assembled
  • Baby leaf spinach
  • Basmati rice

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Spray the casserole dish with a spray oil [I used rice-bran oil]
  3. Separate sausages and place in the casserole
  4. Add to the casserole: chopped tomato, chick peas, sweet potato, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, dried herbs and olive oil.
  5. Mix together and place in the oven for 45 min-1 hour
  6. Cook rice
  7. Serve the casserole on a bed of rice and baby spinach leaves

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities.

BBQ Glazed Drumsticks & Quinoa Salad

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So, it’s still midweek and I wanted to mix things up a bit and try something new… but I wanted it to be quick and easy. I decided to use my BBQ sauce (from a previous blog post) as a glaze and then made up a quinoa salad that I thought would work alongside it – et voila! My husband was a bit surprised to come home to such a delicious looking meal that was totally new. We were pleasantly surprised with how yummy it was and this will definitely become one of our regular go-to meals.

This Quantity serves 4 people

Ingredients:

  • Chicken legs (8-10)
  • BBQ sauce (‘Dark Sauce’ from my blog)
  • Sweet potato (I used 4)
  • 1 cup of quinoa
  • 1/2 red capsicum
  • Several handfuls of baby spinach
  • 1-2 green apples (I used 1)
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • Salt and pepper (I use Himalayan Salt)
  • Spray oil

Method:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees Celsius
  2. Spray a casserole dish with oil (I used rice-bran oil)
  3. Place the chicken legs in the dish and then coat them in the BBQ sauce
  4. Peel and roughly chop the sweet potato into 2cm cubes
  5. Arrange the sweet potato around the chicken legs. Spray them with the spray oil and give them a dusting of salt and pepper
  6. Bake in the oven for 45min-1 hour
  7. Meanwhile, assemble the salad and dressing so when the meat and sweet potatoes are cooked it can be dished up.
  8. For the dressing: add the olive oil, apple cider vinegar and salt and pepper to a jar and shake well. This will make more dressing than you will need. You could halve the amount if you wanted to; I like to make up a jar of it so I can keep it in the fridge for my next salads during the week.
  9. For the salad: cover the base of a salad bowl in baby spinach leaves. Add the red capsicum (I sliced them length ways, then halved them). I cooked the quinoa next (I used the absorption method on the stove top and just followed the instructions on the packet). I chopped the apple just before serving and then added the quinoa and roasted sweet potatoes. Give it all a toss together and either drizzle over the salad dressing or allow people to add their own dressing.
  10. Serve the chicken legs and salad together for a light but filling meal.

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out. I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable for your family’s sensitivities.

Mid-Week Italian Inspired

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So it was the middle of the week last night, but I fancied trying a new dish! I have found that since we have been on an allergy diet we haven’t eaten as many Italian foods – usually there is so much wheat and dairy involved! But I am doing more research into  Italian dishes that could be adapted. I was interested to learn that the Cannellini bean in Italian foods originated in Tuscany; so this dish is inspired by that region of Italy. I adapted several recipes to make this safe and still yummy – the husband gave it 9/10. I served this meal with basmati rice, but it would work with quinoa or pasta as well. It was nice with some green vegetables on the side, we had Buk Choy (just lightly steamed), but green beans, steamed asparagus or broccolli would work nicely too. I have saved some leftovers to add to salads. I’m looking forward to adapting more Italian recipes in the future.

Ingredients:

  • Approximately 8 chicken thighs
  • 1 can of cannellini beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 can of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 punnet of cherry tomatoes
  • 1 cup of stock (I used frozen chicken stock that was very hearty)
  • 1 red capsicum (sliced)
  • 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary (of substitute with suitable dried herbs)
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme (of substitute with suitable dried herbs)
  • 2 cloves of garlic (finely minced)
  • Grated zest of 1 lemon
  • Olive oil
  • Salt and Pepper (I use Himalayan salt)
  • 1 Tb arrowroot/tapioca flour and enough water to make it into a paste (to use if the sauce needs thickening)

Method:

  1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius
  2. Add the cannellini beans, chopped tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, capsicum and stock to the roasting pan
  3. Place chicken thighs in the roasting pan
  4. Drizzle the chicken thighs with olive oil, then sprinkle the herbs, salt and pepper, and lemon rind on them
  5. Add extra herbs and garlic to the bean mixture if desired
  6. Cook for 45 minutes
  7. I thickened my sauce with the arrowroot flour and water mixture
  8. I served this meal with steamed basmati rice and lightly steamed Buk Choy

If you give this recipe a try please let me know how it turns out, I’m happy to troubleshoot or discuss how you could substitute these ingredients if some of the ones I’ve used aren’t suitable to your family’s sensitivities.