Grilled Chicken Breast with Red Pepper Rice and Veggies

On November 28th , we celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary. It had to be special and the only way to make it speacial for my husband is to have chicken on the plate :) That is his only grouse, that I don't cook enough of it! Well, in my defense, I have been a vegetarian for the most part of my life, the first 20 odd years but now I eat almost anything as long as it doesn't make me squirmish ;) Once I started eating, I started cooking too and over the years I think I can say I cook decent meat!

This was a special day so I took the effort to make a whole meal and I must say both my son (two and half years) and husband loved it!

Let's start with the Grilled Chicken Breast with a spicy red sauce. I buy frozen meat, I still can't handle fresh from the butcher!

Also I think mine was a tad overcooked. So I am slightly modifying the cooking time here.

For this you will need -

2 nos - Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

Marinade -

1 tspn - Dried Thyme
1 tspn - Dried Rosemary
1 tspn - Dried Basil
2 tspn - Red Chilli Flakes
2 tspn - Red Chilli Powder
1 tspn - Black Pepper Powder
Salt as per your taste

Method -

Make a few slits on the breast and rub the marinade all over it. Let it refridgerate for about an hour or two. Then grease the pan in which you will cook with olive oil. Add 1 tspn olive oil on each breast piece and cook at 200 deg C for 3 minutes. Then grill it for 2 minutes on each side.

In the meantime, you can make the sauce -

2 tbspn - Ketchup
1 tbspn - Chilli garlic sauce (You can use only chilli sauce and add chopped garlic)
2 tspn - Brown Sugar

Mix the above ingredients well and warm it so the sugar melts.

Pour this over the hot grilled chicken and serve!

 

For the Red Pepper Rice -

 

1 Cup - Cooked Basmati Rice ( Cooked with Cinnamon and Star Anise)

1 Small - Red Pepper

1 Tbspn - Butter

1 tspn - Salt

2 tspns - Pepper

1 Tbspn - Olive Oil

1/2 tspn - Sugar

Method -

Heat the oil and butter in a vessel and add the chopped red pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes. Add the sugar, this will help retain the red colour. Now add the infused rice (infused with the aromas of cinnamon and star anise) and give it a good stir. Finally add salt and pepper.

For the Stir Fried Veggies -

1/2 cup - Choppen Beans
1/2 Cup - Chopped Carrots
1/2 Cup - Chopped Cauliflower
1 tbspn - Olive Oil
1 tbspn - Butter
6 pods - Garlic crushed
Salt as per your taste
1 tspn - Black pepper powder
1 tspn - Sugar

Method -

Heat the oil and butter in a pan. Add the crushed garlic and saute. Then add the veggies cut into bite sized pieces. Stir well and add the sugar. Now add the salt and pepper. Cook for 7-8 minutes and turn off the stove.

 

Finally for the crispy potato

 

3 nos - Whole boiled potatoes

Salt to taste

2 tspn - Black pepper powder

2 Tbspn - Oil

 

Method -

 

Mash the boiled potatoes when hot and add the salt and pepper. Mix it really well so there are no lumps. Shape it into patties and shallow fry in hot oit for 2-3 minutes on each side.

 

Voila, you have a great meal!