KITCHEN  CULTURES
WHAT DO YOU FEEL LIKE EATING?
  • Home
  • About us
  • Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Hors d'oeuvres & Snacks
    • Soups & Salads
    • Meat
    • Poultry
    • Pastas & Casseroles
    • Vegetarian Mains
    • Seafood
    • Sides
    • Easy Desserts
    • Beverages
  • Contact Us/Comments

Simple Roasted Whole Chicken- Big on Taste, Easy on the Ingredients. 

9/2/2014

Comments

 
Roasted chicken has to be moist, tender, juicy and well marinated.  This recipe is extremely easy and is made using very few ingredients. I had the butcher put deep BBQ cuts in the whole chicken and take the skin off.  It is important to take it out of the oven and leave it covered with foil for at least 15 minutes before serving. This way the chicken is tender and moist when you serve it. I served it with steamed vegetables, but you can always have it with a salad or anything else that you like. If you are on a low carb diet then this is perfect for you. You can make the whole chicken, shred it and keep it in an air tight container in the refrigerator and eat with salad or by itself whenever you are hungry.

A.K.
Comments

Potato Potaaaahto! It's National Potato Day. No Seriously. It is

8/19/2014

Comments

 
baked potato
potatoes healthy recipes
You know, I have said this many times, but I really haven't met anyone who doesn't like potatoes.  We have tons of recipes that included lovely taters in all their forms on the site. Just hit the search button up for potatoes! But if you're in a hurry and just need a quick fix, why not nuke up a quick and easy cheat baked potato?  Here is what  you need:
  • A potato
  • Paper towel 
  • Olive oil
  • Salt & pepper
  • Fixings of your choice. You can keep it simple and have it with some yoghurt or you can be like the hubby who used butter, bacon bits (yayyy for chicken bacon!), green onions, cheese, and sour cream!
All you need to do is rub some olive oil on the potato and sprinkle some salt and pepper on it, wrap it in a paper towel and microwave for a couple of minutes until your fork goes through. Add whatever you want on it and enjoy!

People often forget that potatoes aren't unhealthy, we just often prepare them in "indecent" ways. So skip the fixins if you want to be careful and it still tastes delicious! If you needed some reminders, here's a great article from today for National Potato Day.

Here are some other popular recipes with potatoes we have done in the past! We hope they inspire you! Just click on the picture to go to the recipe. W.P
Comments

Coconut Chia Pudding with Mango and Mint! Perfect for these warm days

8/12/2014

Comments

 
chia seed pudding
Most of us adore having comfort food and enjoying it together with friends - it serves its purpose momentarily however the traditional definition of comfort food is often things that really aren't ..very good at all. Fried chicken, biscuits, chowders, pastries, pies, chili, lasagna, ice cream and well, you get the point. They end up making us feel worse in the long run and to be honest, not too long after we are done eating them.

I recently went to Shophouse, an asian spinoff of Chipotle where the dessert is mango and sticky rice. It was delicious! But I thought to myself, how can I make this even better? Then, I found this recipe. Its raw, its real and its good for you. No, REALLY. You can't go wrong with this, unless you overdo the sugar :P

It uses Chia seeds - which if you don't already know are a wonder child and versatile - expand when soaked. They are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, protein, calcium and they take some of the bad boys with them on their way out of your body. Like I said, this is a powerhouse treat! I skipped the sweetener and opted for some mango pulp instead, and you can skip the lime too or opt for grated lime instead. Either way, you just can't go wrong here :) Enjoy!
What you Need:
Serves
2

For the chia pudding:
2 cups coconut milk (buy a carton or make your own; see recipe below)
⅓ cup chia seeds
1.5 TBSP sweetener of choice (raw honey/maple syrup/stevia)
⅓ tsp ground cinnamon

Toppings:
1 ripe mango, peeled and cubed/sliced
handful of fresh mint (Moroccan mint goes really well)
pinch of chia seeds
pinch sesame seeds
1 TBSP coconut yogurt per serving (you can omit this if you don’t have any available, but it’s gorgeous with)
A bit of freshly squeezed lime juice (don’t worry if you have none, it’s awesome without as well)
optional: bee pollen

To make coconut milk:
2 cups water
½ cup coconut (dry, shredded, dessicated – whatever you have, just not flour)
pinch sea salt flakes
pinch vanilla seeds

How to Prepare: If you’re making coconut milk only for this recipe, the easiest way is to add everything to the blender, both the ingredients for the coconut milk and for the pudding, except the chia seeds. 

1) Add: water, coconut (dry, shredded or dessicated), pinch sea salt, vanilla seeds, cinnamon and sweetener. Blitz until you get frothy milk.

For the purpose of this recipe, there is no need to strain the milk as the pulp will give the pudding more creaminess.

2) Pour the spiced coconut milk to a bowl or mason jar, add the chia seeds and give it a good stir or shake. Cover it and place in the fridge for at least 1 hour (until the chia fully expands and absorbs all the milk) or overnight.

3) Add the toppings and be prepared to be dazzled.

Serve chilled.

Hat Tip: raw guru

Nida Kazmi
Twitter: @nida84
Comments

Gluten Free, Vegan & Raw Silk Chocolate Mini Cake

8/5/2014

Comments

 
Who doesn't love SOME form of cake? You're lying if you say "not me". I don't like most cake, true, but, a home made warm sponge cake straight out of the oven is delicious. I don't like icing, I don't like the cake to be too sweet- none of that. However, I cannot resist a freshly baked cake. It's a good thing I don't make them too often (read- not at all really) and we have Nida to bring us these fabulous recipes for healthier alternatives. I know a lot of you ask for more dessert recipes, so we're doing our best to bring some to you and keep you healthy while at it. Let us know what you think and feel free to ask Nida any questions you might have about any ingredients used in these raw and gluten free recipes she brings us. 

W.P
Picture
gluten free chocolate cake
One of my absolute favorite desserts to have is a good moist cake. Especially silk cakes, because they're mostly... well, chocolate and sugar! But man is it ever bad for your health. We have far too much sugar in our foods and the over consumption is taxing on our organs. Most of the raw desserts rely on nuts and dates, which although are high in good fats and low glycemic sugars, you're still not supposed to have it very often. And not to mention they take a long prep time and have an extensive ingredient list sometimes. Then, I found THIS. Cue my hercules clap + ghetto booty dance (all in the privacy of my home I assure you).

This silk cake recipe is packed with plant based protein from hemp, contains the antioxidants and nutrients from cacao, utilizes hardly any sugar (you can substitute agave here too) and brings in the silky smooth texture of coconut.

And the bonus? It takes 5 minutes to prepare, and only 1 hour in the fridge to set. Or... you can be like me and blend this in a chilled bowl so you can have it like pudding right afterwards... HA!

Makes one 4 inch Cake

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons coconut oil
3 tablespoons cacao powder
1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
 ¼ cup hemp seeds

How to Prepare: Blend all your ingredients together in a food processor until the texture is pudding like. Place your batter into your mini cake pan and garnish with more hemp seed pressed with a fork. Let your cake set in your refrigerator for 1 hour. So simple! So delicious! Enjoy!

H/T: Young and Raw

Nida Kazmi
Twitter: @Nida84
Comments

Raw Vegan Marinara Sauce with Yellow Squash Fettuccine

7/15/2014

Comments

 
I love squash.  A lot of people underestimate it but it is versatile and soaks in flavours really well. I use Spaghetti Squash quite a bit, but I have not tried "pasta" with summer squash and looking at this, I will definitely have to. This is a wonderfully easy recipe Nida brings to us today that we can adapt to suit our taste buds. W.P 
squash fettucine
Oh my gosh Summer is fully in season - even though we're getting all sorts of rain (??) lol but I'm seeing lots of my friends talk about their farmers market finds and goodies. One of my favorite parts of summer is the squash and zucchini and i absolutely adore squash and zucchini noodles! The marinara is something i've been wanting to try for a while because there is nothing like fresh basil and tomatoes.  If you can manage to get high quality olive oil, its well worth it in every scenario. The buttery, nutty taste of a pure olive oil really lends itself well to the sensational basil and tender tomatoes.

What you need:

2 yellow squash
1/2 teaspoon Himalayan/sea salt

Sauce
6 Roma tomatoes
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes in olive oil & Italian herbs
2 tablespoons crushed walnuts
1 tablespoon garlic flavoured extra virgin olive oil (regular is fine too)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 clove garlic)
1 teaspoon onion powder (or 1 tablespoon chopped red onion)
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
10-15 fresh basil leaves
1 pitted date
A few sprinkles ground pepper
A few sprinkles Himalayan/sea salt

How to prepare:

  1. To make the Pasta: Wash the yellow squash, then use a vegetable peeler to peel layers of the squash off. You may want to experiment peeling from different angles so the “pasta strips” come out smaller sized. Otherwise, you can simply peel it, then use a knife to slice down the centre so the pasta noodles are not too wide.
  2. Let the squash sit in a large bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon salt, covering all parts of the noodle. This way, it will drain out the water. Let it sit for about 30 minutes or longer while you prepare the other ingredients.
  3. To make the Marinara Sauce: Chop the Roma tomatoes in four or five pieces, and put them in a food processor. Add the rest of the ingredients. Don’t forget to crush the walnuts with your hands if they’re in big chunks, and wash the basil.
  4. Once everything is in the blender, give it a few pulses until everything is very well chopped. Do not put this on a high powered blender like Vitamix, because you will end up with orange sauce.
  5. Remove all the water released from the yellow squash pasta.
At this point, you can either eat it as it is, or do what I really love:
  1. Put the pasta sauce and squash separately in a dehydrator or oven (with the lowest setting) for a few hours. This way, you get the cooked flavour. Once you can smell a really fragrant aroma, it’s ready to be eaten.
  2. Once it’s ready for you, spoon the pasta onto a plate and top it with the sauce and garnish with basil.

H/T: Divine Healthy Food

Nida Kazmi
Twitter: @nida84
Comments
<<Previous

    RSS Feed

    hAPPY eATING & kEEP sMILING

    We update this page regularly with foodie tips, stories, recipes, videos, pictures, and more. Stay connected with us!
    Yours, Wadre.

    Blog Archives

    July 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    TAGS

    All
    100healthydays
    Catering
    Easy
    Especially For Men
    Events
    Fast/Quick Recipes
    Fun Stuff
    Fusion
    Gluten Free (GF)
    Guest Posts
    Health & Food
    Healthy
    In The Media
    In The Media
    Latest Post/ Recipe
    Menu Ideas
    News/recipes
    Quick Recipes
    Ramadan
    Raw Food/Vegan
    Seasonal
    Taming Series
    Tools & Tips
    Videos
    Wadre's Kitchen

"Cooking is like love; it should be entered into with abandon, or not at all"- Harriet Van Horne

Tweets by @kitchencultures

Connect With Us!

message kitchen cultures
leave a comment on kitchen cultures