Lemon Chicken and Sprouts Salad - Healthy Lunches

Sharing one of my regular lunch combinations. These days I am trying to keep the lunch balanced and clean. In this particular combination, there is no fat added anywhere expect for the part where I sprayed the chicken with oil spray before baking. I keep turning the chicken a couple of times mid way while baking to get the desired color on both the sides. This chicken recipe is from friend's and is a very flavorful dish with just a few simple ingredients. I guess something magical happens when the chicken is marinated with the lemon juice :).....Most of my salad recipes are a little bit on the spicier side. I either add seasonings like chaat masala or jalapeno pickles or any other spicy dressing...that is the only way I can eat a salad!  This particular recipe uses only chaat masala and lemon juice and this combination is very good. You can also add some boiled chickpeas or any other beans and even some rice puffs in the end to make it a complete meal all by itself. This salad and protein combination when combined with a fruit makes a healthy low-carb and low-calorie meal, ideal for weight loss.


For the Lemon Chicken:

Ingredients:
1. White meat chicken fillets or breast pieces, 4.
2. Juice of a big lemon or around 3 tablespoons of lemon juice.
3. Salt and pepper for taste.
Adding garlic salt and any other seasoning mix of choice also enhances the taste.
 I have also added a pinch of dried parsley and thyme.  They also give a good flavor to the dish.

Preparation:
Marinate the chicken with the above ingredients and let them sit in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours. Arrange them on baking sheet and spray on a nonstick cooking spray on each of the patties. Bake them at 375 degrees  for  25-30 minutes. In between keeping flipping them over to get a good color on both the sides.

For the Sprouts Salad:
1. Any preferred mix of salad vegetables and sprouts 1 cup.
2. Lemon juice, 1 teaspoon.
3. Chaat masala, 1/2 teaspoon or more.
4. Salt as per taste.
5. Chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Mix everything well and serve.

Crustless Broccoli Mini Quiche

Call them crust-less quiches or "egg muffins," these mini quiches are absolutely scrumptious and makes a healthy snack and is  kid-friendly as well. I make this often for breakfast or as evening snack for the kids.  I also make them with egg whites and they turn out well each time. This is also a good idea to sneak in broccoli in your kids' diet. With the cheeses and the attractive color, they wont even know that you have added broccoli. You can also add shredded chicken and any other vegetable like carrot, corn, or chopped spinach. A very healthy, low-calorie and low-carb snack when made with egg whites.

Ingredients:
1. Eggs, 5 or 4 cups of egg whites.
2. Milk, 2 tablespoons.
3. Broccoli, 1 stalk.
4. Shredded Parmesan cheese, 2 tablespoons.
5. Shredded cheddar cheese, 2 tablespoons.
6. Dry garlic and parsley flakes, a pinch of each.
7. Salt, a little bit.
8. Ground pepper, as needed.

Preparation:
Break the broccoli florets from the stalk. Cut them very finely or you can also pulse them once in a blender until they are very small. Whisk the rest of the ingredients along with the broccoli until the mixture is frothy.  Pour them into a well greased muffin pan and bake at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes until the quiches rise up. Serve them as a snack or along with a main course.

Little Millet (Saamai) Tomato Rice

With my recent health scare and changing apartment, I couldn't even think about blogging. I am settling down with the new routine and I am still not where I want to be health-wise.  Though I have not been actively blogging, I have been getting some good news on the blogger front. I recently got a mail from Health Line stating that they have chosen Gita's Kitchen as one of the top sites for searching diabetic recipes in the web. I have also been chosen as one of the top 50 food bloggers by Salis Online Magazine.  Feeling thankful for the little joys and also for the constant support from some of my blogger  and Facebook friends.

Coming on to the recipe, a perfect low-carb healthy one-pot meal, ideal for lunch box packing. The only thing to note is that the exact amount of water should be added (1:2). Too much water will make the millets a little mushy.

Ingredients:
1. Little Millet or any other kind of millet, 1 cup.
2. Medium size onion, 1, finely diced.
3. Tomatoes, small, 4, chopped finely.
4. Green chilies, 2, slit into 2.
5. Ginger-garlic paste, 1 teaspoon.
6. Mustard seeds, 1/4 teaspoon.
7. Chana dhal, 1 teaspoon.
8. Urad dhal, 1 teaspoon.
9. Fennel seeds, 1/2 teaspoon.
11. Turmeric powder, 1/4 teaspoon.
12. Chili powder or sambar powder, 1/2 teaspoon. (broken dry red chilies can also be used instead of chili powder, in this case add it during the seasoning along with dhals and mustard seeds).
13. Salt, as per taste.
14. Curry leaves and chopped cilantro for garnishing.

Preparation:
Heat a pan with a tablespoon of oil. Once the oil is hot, add the mustard seeds and let it splutter. Then add the channa dhal, fennel seeds, and urad dhal and fry for a few seconds until they turn brown. Now add the diced onions and saute for a few minutes until the onions are tender.  Now add the chopped tomatoes, green chilies, curry leaves, ginger-garlic paste, turmeric powder, salt and sambar powder and keep sauteing under low flame until everything is well blended.  At this stage transfer the contents into a rice cooker along with the millets, 2 cups of water and cook it in the rice mode. Fluff it with a fork once cooked, garnish with cilantro and serve with side dishes or pickle or chips. Alternatively the millets can also cooked on stove top with 2 cups water under low-to-medium flame until done.