Chicken with orange ginger sauce

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This is yet another recipe from my favourite Swedish cook book writers Ulrika Davidsson and Ola Lauritzson. This time from their book GI dag för dag: 30 dagar till en nyttigare livsstil. Both me and J loved it - very fresh and fruity with a touch of spicy.

I served it with a spinach cashew salad but I'm sure it would go really well with some rice or quinoa as well. The sauce was a bit on the runnier side, I think next time I will try to make it with crème fraîche or sour cream instead of half-and-half. But aside from that it was perfect and the flavours were great.

Serves 4

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
salt and pepper

1 Tbs fresh ginger, grated
2 garlic cloves
zest of 1 orange
olive oil
3/4 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup half-and-half (or crème fraîche or yogurt)
juice from half an orange
salt and pepper

fresh spinach
cashews
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
juice from half an orange

Instructions:
Pre heat the oven to 350 F (175 'C). Cut the chicken breasts in smaller pieces. Place chicken in a pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes or until chicken is done.

Grate ginger and garlic and mix with orange zest. Pour some olive oil in a sauce pan and add the ginger-garlic-zest mix. Let it fry for a few minutes. Add chicken stock, half-and-half and orange juice and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving add the chicken to the sauce.

Mix spinach and cashews. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and orange juice. Enjoy!

Dijon meatballs with oven roasted veggies and a dijon mustard cream.

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The endless gluttony that is December and early January (the whole Christmas season, New Years and multiple birthdays) is finally over and it's time to get back on the healthier track. No more cookies and cakes - well at least not until mid February (Valentine's and more birthdays).

I pulled out one of my favourite cookbooks for inspiration and found a recipe I had not yet tried. Well, I can say now that this one was a hit. Yummy and flavourful and at the same time quick and easy.

Ingredients:
1 lb (450 g) ground beef
2 Tbs chopped fresh herbs (I used dill and parsley)
1 tsp salt
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 egg
2 Tbs Dijon mustard (typing out this I realized the original recipe called for 2 tsp but since I mistakenly used 2 Tbs and liked the result I will keep it that way)
½ cup (100 ml) cream
pepper
butter or oil

3/4 - 1 cup (200 ml) creme fraiche or sour cream
1 Tbs Dijon mustard
salt and pepper

mixed vegetables of your choice (I used zucchini, red bell-pepper, carrot, red onion, broccoli and garlic)
olive oil

Instructions:
Pre heat oven to 430 F (225 'C). Cut veggies in smaller pieces and spread in a single layer in pan and sprinkle with olive oil. Roast vegetables for approx. 15 minutes.

Mix all ingredients for the meatballs. Shape into meatballs/patties and fry in a pan.

Mix creme fraiche/sourcream and mustard. Salt and pepper to taste.

Enjoy!


Adapted from Våra bästa GI recept by Ulrika Davidsson and Ola Lauritzson

Mum's Lemon Pickled Herring

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Ingredients:
1 can herring (pre-pickled)
1 lemon
1 leek
1 handfull of dill

juice from the lemon
2½ Tbs strong vinegar
200 ml water
150 ml sugar
½ tsp all-spice, whole
½ tsp white pepper, whole
2 bay leaves

Wash the lemon carefully. Cut off the zest using a zester or a microplane. Press the juice from the lemon and mix it with the water, vinegar, sugar and spices. Bring to a quick boil and make sure all sugar is dissolved. Let it cool off completely.
Rinse the herring and cut into smaller (~½ inch 1-1½ cm) pieces. Thinly slice the leek.
In a glass jar assemble by putting a layer of herring, then a layer of leek, a layer of lemon zest and a layer of dill. Repeat. Finally pour the sauce over and cover. Refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours. Enjoy!

(can be kept in the fridge for approx. 1 week)