Tag Archives: healthy recipe

Midweek Salad

Hey guys! What do you cook during the week? If it’s going to be a hectic working week – do you make anything time-consuming? Personally, if I’m tired I don’t cook complicated dishes and eat simple dishes, including lots of different salads. Hopefully, you eat well and do not buy unhealthy quick and junk meals as I do. Moreover, it seems to me that to make a salad or simple pasta at home for your tomorrow lunch is much cheaper and healthier than to eat any junk-food. Thus, eating healthy foods whiteout spending a lot is possible, and I suggest you to start prepare salads like this one. I love beets and add it everywhere, caramelized beets is even more tasty! Eat the salad, man! 😀

Midweek Salad

Servings: 2
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

1 medium beet, cooked

2-3 tsp brown sugar

1/2 Tbsp balsamic or wine vinegar

1 Tbsp olive oil

100-120g green beans

10-15g butter

8-10 cherry tomatoes, yellow or red, cut into halves

60-80g feta cheese, crumbled

bull’s blood leaves, a handful

2 tsp black sesame seeds

1-2 Tbsp pumpkin seeds, toasted

S&P to taste

extra virgin olive oil

basil micro sprouts, optional

Cut the beet into small cubes or wedges. In a frying pan or saucepan, combine vinegar, oil and sugar on medium heat; mix to combine. Add beet cubes and swirl to coat. Cook on a medium heat for 7-10 minutes.
In a small saucepan, put beans and cover with water, add a butter, some salt and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4-5 minutes. Drain the water.
On a serving plate, arrange washed leaves, put on beat cubes, beans, tomatoes and feta. Sprinckle with sesame and pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with olive oil, if desired, garnish with basil and season to taste. Enjoy!

Tvorognaya zapekanka

Tvorognaya zapekanka literally means a cottage cheese bake. This is a very special treat for me. It reminds my childhood and good time when I was going to the kinder-garden. Some of my friends do not share the same nice memories about the food in a kinder-garden, and even few of them hate any cottage cheese bakes (and not only bakes) and don’t want to believe that it can be so tasty! Thank God, I was luckier and remember not only huge onion chunks in a beef stew 😀 but also good meals, like this sweet cottage cheese bake and delicious plum jam.

Speaking about tvorog (that’s how we called cottage cheese or farmer cheese in Russia, and it can be both smooth and chunky), I do like it and consume regularly: either as is or adding it to the apple pies and cabbage bakes. So, I’ve tried hundred times to make a bake somewhat childish, and every time it was too liquid or too sweet.. Finally, here it is! The bake is perfect! The only notice, maybe next time I will use a smaller baking dish to make the cottage cheese bake higher.

Russian sweet cottage cheese bake

Servings: 3-4
Time: <1hr
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If you’ve got a chunky and dry cottage cheese – push it through a sieve or stir with electric blender into a smooth mixture.

Ingredients

450-500g cottage cheese

40g butter, melted

2 medium eggs

3 tbsp white caster sugar

2 tbsp semolina (I used coarse, but fine is ok, too)

2-3 tbsp milk, warm

3 tbsp sour cream

a pinch of salt

1 tsp vanilla extract or any other vanilla

50g raisins/currants

Glaze (optional)

1 egg yolk

1tsp icing sugar

Garnish

sour cream or sweet condensed milk

icing sugar, if desired

Method

In a small cup, soak semolina in warm milk for 5 minutes. Add sour cream and mix well.
In a other small cup, soak raisins in hot black tea or water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In a bowl, beat eggs with sugar and salt until pale and creamy, allow sugar to dissolve.
In a large bowl, smooth cottage cheese with a folk or electric blender, add butter and mix. Add beaten eggs and vanilla, mix to combine. Add semolina and raisins, and combine.
Grease the baking dish with some butter or oil, pour the mixture in and bake in preheated 200C oven for 25 minutes. At this step check the color of your bake: if its top is still pale, brush the bake with glaze and put the dish back into the oven for 15 minutes or until golden-brown; if top is already golden-brown, omit the glaze and bake for 10-15 minutes more.
Cut the cottage cheese bake into slices. Serve warm or cold with a dollop of sour cream, if desired. It’s also tasty to pour over some sweet condensed milk (instead of sour cream).

Enjoy!

Fish souffle

What do you imagine when hear a word ‘souffle’? An airy and sweet apple souffle or may be a fluffy and cheesy one?

The word soufflé comes form French verb souffler, that means ‘puff up’ or ‘to blow up’. The base of any souffle is beaten egg whites, which provide the lift: a souffle puffs up in the oven.

What about a fish souffle? 🙂

This tender and light dish is a perfect meal for weight watchers and health enthusiasts! Protein food is an important part of any well-balanced diet, it’s also good for growth and development in children and pregnant women; thus why don’t you make fish souffle to vary your diet. Some children refuse to eat fish and fish souffle is a great meal to feed a peevish child. It’s may be not a gourmet dish but it’s certainly light and tasty. Moreover, it’s one the most easy ways to prepare fish, if you don’t want to hang around the kitchen for hours.

Fish soufflé. Russian recipe.

Servings: 2
Time: 30mins
Difficulty: easy
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You can add 1-2 tsp chopped fresh dill or some grated cheese to the fish mixture before baking.

You could also make this recipe with some leftover cooked fish.

Serve with boiled/roasted potatoes or/and green salad.

Ingredients

300g white fish fillet

1 slice white bread

1 tbsp milk, warm (full fat milk or cream)

1 tsp butter, soft

2 egg yolks

2 egg whites

salt, pepper to taste

butter, bread crumbs, for greasing

1-2 tbsp grated cheese, optional

sour cream, chopped dill, for garnish

Method

In a small bowl, add bread and warm milk, soak for 2-3 minutes.
Check that no bones remain in fish. Cut fish fillet into small cubes, mince in a blender until very fine pieces. Add bread, butter and egg yolks, season to taste, bit the mixture to combine.
In a big bowl, beat egg whites with a pinch of salt until firm peaks.
Carefully fold 1/2 egg whites into the fish mixture. Add the rest egg whites and fold in.
Grease two baking tins with butter, sprinkle with bread crumbs. Divide the fish mixture between tins. Sprinkle with cheese, if desired. Bake in preheated 180C oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and puffed.
Sprinkle with dill, serve immediately with sour cream and your choice of side dish.

Enjoy!

Stuffed chicken with beans

Hello, folks! December just started and I’ve already seen a glorious amount of mouth-watering cookies and holiday cakes! And may be now you are sipping a huge cup of hot chocolate and browsing through the internet, searching for inspiration, new ideas for the Christmas eve, or probably watching snowflakes settle on trees and ground. I can see how it falls only on some websites and photos, so far. 😀

Besides making and baking numerous amount of cookies, we need to cook a normal food as well, or at least order a pizza. You will always have something quick and tasty to eat for dinner with a chicken breast on hand! It is versatile, quick-cooking, protein-rich and low in fat, does it sound tempting? Delicious skinless and boneless chicken breasts stuffed with parsley and cream cheese, covered with breadcrumbs and baked on a bed of beans. This flavorful chicken dish is perfect for any day of the week or dinner occasion.

I’m bringing this tasty dish to all beautiful and lovely people, who has been parting at Fiesta Friday (Oh my #45 already), enjoy the dish and the weekend!

Stuffed chicken with beans

Servings: 3
Difficulty: easy
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Adapted from “one pot meals/hamlyn”

Ingredients

For the filling

90g Philadelphia cream cheese, room temperature

1 Tbsp finely grated pecorino or parmesan cheese, optional

25g butter, room temperature

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme leaves, or 1/2 tsp dried

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1/3 tsp freshly ground white pepper

For the stuffed chicken breasts

3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 can X 530g (drained weight) flageolet beans

70-80ml chicken or vegetable stock, homemade preferable

70-80ml dry white wine

3 Tbsp coarse breadcrumbs, homemade preferable

1 sprig of fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried

2 Tbsp olive oil+ 1 Tbsp butter, for frying

sea salt, white or black pepper, to taste

Preparation Method

For the filling. In a small bowl, beat cheeses, butter, garlic, herbs and seasoning. Using a small knife, make a horizontal cut in each chicken breast. Divide the filling and pack it into breasts, secure with toothpicks. Season the chicken breasts outside with salt and pepper.
Heat the oil with butter in the casserole and fry chicken breasts on both sides until lightly browned. Set aside.
Put drained beans into casserole, add stock, wine and thyme, season to taste. Arrange the chicken breasts on top. Cover and place in preheated 190C/375C oven for 15-16 minutes.
Put breadcrumbs in a small frying pan with some olive oil and heat until breadcrumbs begin to brown. Set aside.
Remove the casserole lid, spread breadcrumbs over the chicken breasts. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes.
Transfer the chicken to serving plates, put beans alongside.

Enjoy with a glass of white wine or as is!

Vegetable bake with mozzarella and bacon

This simple, good-looking and so-delicious bake is a time-saving dish for busy week days, or when you’re tired but still want to prepare homey food. I love one-pot recipes, whether its made on a hob or in the oven, they are always comforting, full of flavor and tasty!
For this bake I used young potatoes, that can be substitute with regular, but make sure to slice it very thinly. Want better and quicker? Use boiled or roast potatoes! For the vegetarian option – omit the bacon.
Also the bake can be great and tasty work lunch, you can see it’s not difficult or time-intensive task. Homemade lunches are definitely healthier than any fast food, you know every single ingredient in it, also you can make it balanced, nutritious and satisfying. Beyond that, such home-packed meals is one of the simplest ways to trim your budget.

Vegetable bake with mozzarella and bacon

Servings: 2
Difficulty: easy
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Ingredients

6-7 small potatoes

1 leek, chopped

1-2 capsicum

3-4 bacon slices, smoked

70-100g mozzarella, or as much as you wish, cut into cubes

40-50g pecorino or parmesan cheese, grated

1 spring of fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried

1/3 tsp paprika

1/3 tsp turmeric

5-7 mix peppercorns (black, white, pink), crushed

fresh basil, few leaves, for garnish, optional

sea salt, to taste

2 Tbsp olive oil

Method

Preheat oven to 200C. Grease a baking dish with olive oil.
Slice and fry bacon (without any oil). Transfer to paper towel to absorb exsess fat. Set aside.
While the frying pan is still hot, add leek to it and saute on a medium heat for few minutes. Do not let it brown.
Throughly wash and rub potatoes, thinly slice. Roughly chop capsicums. Put vegetables in a bowl, add 1 Tbsp olive oil, spices, season with salt and stir well.
Spread leek on the baking dish. Add vegetables.
Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. Add bacon, mozzarella and pecorino/parmesan, and bake for 5-10 minutes more. If you have grill, put the baking dish under the grill for 5 minutes.
Sprinkle with basil and extra pecorino/parmesan, if desired.
Serve with green salad.

Enjoy!