Tandoori Chicken with Lemon Rice

My husband and I both really enjoy Indian food. Our old apartment was within walking distance of curry row, and we loved walking over to try all of the different regional specialties. Those dining experiences inspired us to try many of the dishes at home including Tandoori Chicken. It requires just a bit of hands-on time and planning ahead, and the results are full of flavor and spice. It does require quite a few spices. I recommend looking for them at an ethnic market where spices tend to be more affordable than at the grocery store and you can often purchase smaller quantities.


We served the chicken with some lemon rice. The the tartness of the lemon in the rice is balanced by the cashews, and it's always a big hit. Marinating the chicken in the yogurt and lemon spice mixture keeps it nice and moist and tender. We served this to company so we adjusted the quantities to make sure there would be enough for our guest and some leftovers. Both recipes can easily be adjusted up or down to accommodate your numbers.

Tandoori Chicken
serves 6

2 lbs cut up chicken (we just used chicken legs)
2 T garlic, roughly chopped
2 T ginger, peeled and chopped
2 T cumin seeds, or ground cumin
2 t ground coriander
1 t cayenne
1/2 t ground cardamom
1/2 t ground cloves
1/2 t pepper
2 t salt
1 C yogurt
4 T lemon juice (juice of one lemon)
2 T coconut oil
1-2 onions, cut into thick slices
cilantro, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Remove the skin from the chicken, rinse and place in a bowl. Combine the garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander, cayenne, cardamom, cloves and pepper in a food processor or blender. Pulse the spice mixture until the garlic and ginger are integrated. Add the yogurt and lemon, and pulse to combine. Pour the yogurt spice mixture over the chicken. Cover and place in the refrigerator to marinate for at least an hour, but up to 24 hours. Coat the bottom of a casserole pan with the oil, and place the sliced onions and chicken in a single layer. Bake the chicken for 30 minutes. Garnish with cilantro.

Lemon Rice
inspired by The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking by Yamuna Devi

1 1/2 C rice
3 C water
1 t salt
3 T butter
1/2 C raw cashews
1 T mustard seeds
1/3 t turmeric
1/3 C lemon (juice of 2 lemons)
3 T cilantro

Add the rice, water, salt and 1 T butter to a sauce pot and bring to a boil. Follow the cooking directions for your rice. While the rice is cooking, melt the remaining butter in a small skillet and add the cashews. Cook until they are starting to turn golden. Add the mustard seeds and cook 2 more minutes. Once the rice is finished cooking, add the mustard seed, cashew and butter combination plus the lemon juice, turmeric and cilantro and fold together. Garnish with some extra cilantro.

This post is part of Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays, Delectable Tuesday Blog Hop, Hearth and Soul Blog Hop, Tuesdays at the Table, Tuesday Night Supper Club, Tasty Tuesdays, Works-for-me Wednesday, Gluten Free Wednesdays, Let's Do Brunch, Welcomne Wednesday, and Real Food Wednesdays.

Bánh mì Inspired Sandwiches

It is time to end the posting drought. We have been in our new apartment for about 2 weeks, and the boxes are slowly getting unpacked and making their way down to the recycling bin. I can finally sit down to write a post without too much guilt about all the other things needing to get done.

There was a Vietnamese sandwich shop around the corner from our old apartment. The Bánh mì sandwiches were delicious. They were on this great crusty French bread, and included a meat of your choosing topped with cilantro, hot sauce, and strips of pickled carrots and cucumbers. The one down side to the sandwiches was that the meat was of dubious quality. I usually ordered the number one which had spicy ground meat and "pâté". What kind of meat? I'm not sure. I just closed my eyes, and enjoyed the great flavor. I figured it was ok for the occasional treat.


We no longer have a Vietnamese sandwich shop around the corner, so we decided to create Bánh mì inspired sandwiches at home with superior quality ingredients. We started with pasture raised ground lamb and seasoned it with chopped garlic, cilantro and celery. After letting it rest, I cooked some as oblong patties and the rest as meatballs. We were really pleased with the results. Here is our recipe:

Vietnamese Inspired Sandwiches
1 lb ground lamb
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 small bunch of cilantro, stems removed
1 rib of celery, chopped
oil
1 carrot, cut into matchsticks
1 cucumber, cut into matchsticks
hot sauce
mayonnaise
French Bread

Combine the lamb, garlic, 1/2 the cilantro and celery. Let stand for at least an hour in the fridge to let flavors combine. Shape the meat into patties or meatballs. Heat a skillet and coat the pan with a small amount of oil. Cook patties or meatballs until browned on all sides. Serve on French bread with the rest of the cilantro, carrots, hot sauce and mayo.


We served ours with some oven roasted acorn squash and brussels sprouts.

Vegetarian Sushi Salad

I don't like to be late. I feel like it's inconsiderate and disrespectful to the person I'm keeping waiting. But sometimes life seems to get in the way, and I can't help it. This morning I decided I wanted to try a recipe that required I run to the store to pick-up a couple of things before preparing the meal. I had 2.5 hours. That should be plenty of time to get everything done at a nice leisurely pace, right? Wrong. Somehow I got down to 30 minutes before I had to leave and all I had ready was some chopped up broccoli and marinating tofu. Where did the time go? I had to buy myself some time and push lunch back 30 minutes, but the results were worth the wait.


I had some salad greens and radish that I wanted to use up from the share and decided to try Green Sushi Salad from Green Kitchen Stories. I like this blog because it has great recipes, beautiful photos and it's in English and Swedish. Tack så mycket. I tend to use recipes as a starting point, so here's my version:

Vegetarian Sushi Salad, based on Green Kitchen Stories
Requires 1-2 hours for the tofu to marinate

5 T sesame oil
5 T soy sauce
2 T rice vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 red chili or 1/4 t red pepper flakes
2-inch fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1 16 oz. package of firm tofu
2 C cooked short grain brown rice
1 C field greens
1 large radish, sliced
1 crown of broccoli, cut into 1-inch florets (about 2 C)
1 avocado, cut into cubes
1 handful sugarsnap peas
1 handful bean sprouts
1/2 cucumber, cut into slices
4 sheets nori seaweed, ripped into bite size pieces
1 small handful roasted sesame seeds
1 handful cilantro

Combine the sesame oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, garlic, red pepper and ginger in a mixing bowl. Drain and dry the tofu and cut into small cubes. Add the tofu to the marinade and gently spoon the marinade over the tofu. Cover the bowl and place in the refridgerator.

Cook the brown rice and allow to cool.

Layer the rice, vegetables and tofu and drizzle the marinade over the top as a dressing.

All we have left from our first week is some braising greens. Any suggestions on how to prepare them?