Chicken and Potato Salad

This is the love child of a Waldorf salad and a chicken Caesar salad, plus tomatoes. Would have been even better with bacon, or chorizo, or sausage... okay I'm drooling again.

Serves 4

1 kg chicken thighs

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp ground cumin

1 Tbsp ground coriander

1 kg baby potatoes, cooked and halved

6 hard boiled eggs, quartered

1 cos lettuce, torn

3 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced

½ punnet cherry tomatoes, cut into halves

¼ cup parsley, finely chopped

50g pecans, roughly chopped

Dressing*

2 egg yolks

1 Tbsp red wine or rice vinegar

¼ cup garlic oil

3 anchovies, pasted

2 Tbsp shaved parmesan

1 lemon, juiced

Combine paprika, cumin and coriander in a bowl with a little oil. Toss chicken in marinade and let sit for 30 minutes. Heat a BBQ to a low - medium heat a cook, turning occasionally, for 30 minutes or until cooked and tender. Let rest before shredding into bite-sized pieces.

Next, prepare the dressing. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and red wine vinegar. While continuing to whisk, add garlic oil a tiny little bit at a time until the mixture emulsifies. Once oil has all been absorbed, whisk through anchovies, parmesan and lemon (to taste).

Finally, combine all your prepared ingredients and dressing in a large bowl. Sprinkle with chopped pecans and serve.

* For lazy people, and those who hate anchovies (weridos), combine a ¼ cup full fat mayo with a splash of white vinegar and ½ tsp white sugar. For even lazier people, use packet Caesar dressing.

Green Chicken

Light and summery, perfect for a BBQ with friends or just for dinner. Prepare the marinade in advance for a quick dinner after work!

Serves 4 hungry people

4 chicken breasts, cut into strips

3 green peppers, sliced in half, seeds and membranes removed

3 small green chillies

½ cup fresh coriander

2 spring onions

2 Tbsp white vinegar

3 Tbsp garlic oil

1 lime, zested and juiced

Preheat oven to 180C. Place peppers and chillies on a line baking tray. Bake in the oven for about 25 minutes, or until the chillies have started to darken and soften. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

In a blender, combined all ingredients, except chicken, and blend to smooth. Season to taste.

Combine chicken breasts and marinade together in a bowl and let sit for an hour or more. Cook on the BBQ at a medium-high heat.

Serve with rice salad.

Chicken and Bacon Dinner Frittata

Homely, hearty and delicious. Make extra and put it in the fridge for lunch tomorrow!!!

Serves 4-6

500g chicken thighs, trimmed and diced

1 tsp ground cumin

8 bacon strips, excess fat removed, diced

1 zucchini, grated, excess juices squeezed out

3 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced

Large handful of baby spinach

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 cup fresh parsley, roughly chopped

100g gluten-free pasta, cooked

6 eggs

¼ cup lactose-free milk

1 cup grated cheddar

¼ cup grated parmesan

Preheat oven to 180C.

Heat a large frypan over medium-high heat. Add bacon and cook, stirring, until fats have released. Add chicken and cumin and cook until chicken is almost cooked through. Add zucchini, spring onions and spinach and cook until spinach is wilted. Discard excess liquids from the pan. Stir through chilli, parsley and cooked pasta.

In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, cheddar and lactose-free milk. If you are using an oven-proof frypan, add the egg mixture to the chicken mixture and stir through. If your frypan is not oven-proof, transfer chicken mix into an ovenproof dish and pour egg over top. Sprinkle shaved parmesan on top and place dish in the oven for 30 minutes, or until the egg is cooked all the way through.

Serve in slices with salad.

Chicken Rice Noodle Salad

As my mum would say, "chop, chop, chop!" But lots of chopping = lots of flavour! Take your time, all the ingredients are worth it. Also, I would have added a cup of fresh chopped mint, but the 4 supermarkets I went to were sold out!! Also, if you can tolerate garlic, add a couple of crushed cloves to the dressing for extra noms.

Serves 4-6, depending on how hungry you are!

1 BBQ chicken, shredded*

200g rice noodles

1 red capsicum**, sliced julienne

½ large cucumber, sliced julienne

1 carrot, sliced julienne

4 spring onions**, green parts only, finely sliced

Large handful bean sprouts

1 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped**

1 cup basil leaves, roughly chopped

½ cup peanuts, roughly chopped

Dressing

1 lemon, zested and juiced

1 lime, zested and juiced

½ orange, zested and juiced

3 Tbsp garlic oil

3 Tbsp fish sauce

1 Tbsp sesame oil

100ml rice vinegar

1cm fresh ginger, ground

¼ tsp white pepper

1 lemongrass stalk, chopped as finely as possible

1 red or green chilli, seeds and membranes removed, finely diced

Prepare all your ingredients. For the dressing, combine everything in a jug, then stir, taste and adjust as desired.

Boil a full kettle of water. Place rice noodles in a large pot, then pour boiled water over the top, ensuring all the noodles are immersed. Cover and let sit for about 5 minutes or until noodles are cooked. Drain water, then refreshed with cold water. Let this drain fully.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Serve in bowls, optionally topped with extra peanuts.

* I like to cook my own chicken, but it is a lot more work. For this, I marinated a pack of chicken legs and thighs with about 1/3 cup soy sauce, juice and zest of 1 lemon, 1cm grated fresh ginger, 1 Tbsp ground coriander and 1 tsp ground white pepper. I then barbecued these over a low heat for about an hour, then added a little more marinade before covering and cooling. I then shredded just before serving.

** For my North American friends: capsicum = peppers; spring onions = green onions; coriander = cilantro.

Chicken Biryani

My first attempt at Indian food without any onion or garlic! Turned out pretty good, I think... next time I would serve with a wedge of lime.

Serves 4

500g chicken thighs, cut into 2cm cubes

2 cups basmati rice, washed

2 ½ cups chicken stock*

1 large head of broccoli, cut into small florets

1 green chilli, finely diced

4 spring onions, green parts only, finely sliced**

3 Tbsp garlic oil

1 cup fresh coriander, roughly chopped**

½ cup chopped walnuts, to serve

3 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground fennel

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground turmeric

1 tsp red chilli flakes

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp ground ginger

8 cardamom pods

6 whole cloves

Heat garlic oil in a frypan over medium-high heat. Add broccoli and cook until softened. Remove from heat and set aside. Add onions and chilli cook for 2-3 minutes or until onions has softened. Add spices and fry for a further 2-3 minutes. Add rice and spices and fry for 2-3 minutes. Add chicken and rice and cook, stirring for a few minutes or until rice becomes glassy.

Add half the chicken stock and cook, stirring regularly. Once most of the stock has been absorbed, add the remaining stock and continue cooking until rice is soft and fluffy. Add broccoli and coriander and stir until broccoli is heated through.

Serve in bowls sprinkled with walnuts.

* It’s best to use home-made stock. I used leftover stock from poaching chicken for the chicken pesto pasta that I kept in the fridge for a couple of days (or you can keep it in the freezer much longer).

** For my North American counterparts, I’m talking about green onions and cilantro. (That’s for you, Keiran)