Saffron-Spiced Chicken Makhani with Lemon Yogurt

 

Few dishes rival the elegance of a slow-simmered meal that envelops your home in fragrant, exotic notes. This Saffron-Spiced Chicken Makhani with Lemon Yogurt reimagines a timeless Indian-inspired classic with a refined twist—tender chicken steeped in garam masala, turmeric, and a whisper of saffron, enriched with creamy yogurt and brightened by a touch of lemon. The slow cooker melds these flavors with Rotel tomatoes and a late addition of peas, creating a dish that’s as effortless as it is opulent. Serve it over fragrant rice with a scattering of cilantro, and you’ve crafted a masterpiece fit for both intimate dinners and grand occasions. This isn’t just dinner—it’s an experience.Saffron-Spiced Chicken Makhani with Lemon Yogurt

 2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" cubes

1 t. kosher salt

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

2½ t. garam masala

Pinch of saffron threads (about 10-15 threads), crushed

1-2½" piece of Melissa's organic ginger, minced

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 Melissa’s shallots, diced

2 T. unsalted butter

1 T. tomato paste

1½ t. turmeric

1 14-oz. can Rotel tomatoes

1 10-oz. pkg. frozen peas

1½ c. plain yogurt

1 T. fresh lemon juice

¼ c. chopped Melissa’s organic cilantro

 Lightly mist the inside of a 4-quart slow cooker with cooking spray (like PAM) for easy cleanup.

 In a medium bowl, toss the chicken cubes with kosher salt, black pepper, garam masala, and crushed saffron threads until evenly coated. Transfer to the crockpot.

 In a separate bowl, combine the minced ginger, garlic, diced onion, unsalted butter, tomato paste, turmeric, and Rotel tomatoes. Stir until blended, then pour this vibrant mixture over the chicken.

 Set the crockpot to low and cook for 6 hours, allowing the saffron and spices to infuse the chicken with rich, tender flavor.

 After 6 hours, stir in the frozen peas and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Turn off the heat, then gently fold in the plain yogurt and fresh lemon juice, lending a creamy texture and a zesty lift.

Serve this luxurious dish over your favorite rice—basmati or jasmine enhances its sophistication—and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves for a final flourish.

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Coconut Almond Granola with Four Fruits

 

I know I'm dating myself here, but to the younger generation, let me tell you that Kate Hudson has a mom named Goldie Hawn. Back in the day she made some very funny movies, among them a breakout film called “Private Benjamin.” I'll never forget when she joined the army how surprised she was that it was not at ALL as depicted in the commercials -- no condos, no great meals, no beach vacations. Nope, just marching around in the rain, during which time she recited a rather funny monologue about what she wanted to do, and how she was a “nice person” and shouldn't have to endure such torture. To illustrate her remark she said she never “…went to anyone's house empty-handed.”

Well, I'm pretty much the same. I’m going to dinner tonight and, like Private Benjamin, I never go any place empty-handed, so thought I'd make up some Coconut Almond Granola and take a large jar to the hostess, and two smaller bags to the other couples who will be in attendance. It is so delicious that you can pretty much skip the bananas, milk, yogurt, and spoon, and just dig in!

This is my own personal recipe, a mishmash of a variety of others I've run across over the years. I've found you can pretty much toss in what you like according to what happens to be in your pantry at the time.

Coconut Almond Granola with Four Fruits

4 c. old-fashioned oats

¾ c. sliced almonds

½ c. sweetened flaked coconut
½ c. sunflower, pumpkin, or flax seeds

2/3 c. (packed) brown sugar

1½ t. ground allspice

½ t. kosher salt

1 t. ground cinnamon

1 stick unsalted butter

4 T. honey

½ c. pitted, chopped dates

½ c. dried apricots, quartered

½ c. golden raisins

½ c. raisins, dried cranberries, blueberries, or cherries

Preheat oven to 300°F. Mix first 8 ingredients in large bowl. Melt butter with honey in heavy small saucepan over low heat. Pour over granola mixture and toss well. Spread out mixture on baking sheet. Bake 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add dried fruits; mix to separate any clumps. Continue to bake until granola is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes longer. Cool. Do ahead. Can be made 2 weeks ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

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Spinach, Beet, and Pear Salad with Raspberry Mustard Vinaigrette

 

Did I mention that I bought a lot of lettuce? Yeah. I bought a three-pack of hearts of Romaine, a head of iceberg lettuce, and a bag of baby spinach. I outfoxed myself by storing it all neatly in the vegetable crisper rather than scattering it recklessly around the fridge. As a consequence, I thought I needed lettuce, so I went to the grocery store and I bought a three-pack of hearts of Romaine, a head of iceberg lettuce, and, you guessed it, a bag of baby spinach. That’s a lot of greenery.

To keep things from getting routine in the salads that I’ve been having every day (and honestly, if it would help get rid of the lettuce, I would have one at breakfast), I’ve been experimenting with different ingredients. As is the case with most salads, the dressing is the star of the show, but this combination of ingredients is not only delicious, but it is highly nutritious with the spinach, beets, walnuts, and pears. It’s also beautiful, and makes a lovely presentation.Spinach, Beet, and Pear Salad with Raspberry Mustard Vinaigrette

Salad:
Fresh baby spinach
1 Melissa’s Bartlett pear, peeled and thinly sliced.
1 8-oz. pkg. Melissa’s steamed baby beets, thinly sliced.
Handful of broken walnuts
Blue cheese, as much as you like

Raspberry Mustard Vinaigrette:
¼ c. canola oil
¼ c. raspberry balsamic vinegar
2 T. grated shallot
1 T. raspberry jam

1 t. Dijon mustard
1 t. sugar
Pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Place all ingredients into a mini food processor, and process until emulsified. If you don’t have a mini food processor, you need to get one. You can use them for so many things, and they make salad dressing like nobody’s business. When you use one of these to make salad dressing, it quickly emulsifies, and stays emulsified; there is no separation in the fridge.

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Puréed Broccoli Soup

 

I don’t know what you did over the weekend, but for me, it was a weekend of wild discovery. One of the things I discovered was that I own a blender. Seriously, I did not know. I happened to be rummaging around in a kitchen cabinet that I tend to avoid due to its chaotic nature, and found a blender container. I wondered why I had this container with a strange lid until I realized that it goes with my mini ninja chopper (that I have had for about 15 years). What a surprise!

This discovery was quite fortuitous because I also became acquainted with the absolutely delightful Kevin Lee Jacobs and his YouTube channel by the same name. From there, I discovered that Gordon Ramsay wasn’t quite the jerk that I thought he was, and, finally, from there I discovered the pure deliciousness of broccoli purée soup (which is where the blender came in).

I was looking for a new way to prepare broccoli, and that’s how I found Kevin. Kevin made a broccoli purée that he made look wonderful, attributing his find to Gordon Ramsay. I knew that I had to give this a go because it seemed like the perfect starter for a St. Patrick’s Day meal. Once I found that I did indeed own a blender, the rest is history.

There really isn’t much of a recipe for the soup, although I’ll try to write one up below. I tend to always use a bit of nutmeg when I’m working with any type of cruciferous vegetable (or spinach), so I added some here, making this recipe my own. Essentially, you just cook broccoli, blend it up with a little of the cooking water, season it, and serve. What could be simpler than that?Puréed Broccoli Soup

1 large head broccoli
6-7 c. cold water
1 T. sea salt
4 gratings fresh nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper

In a medium stock pot, add salt to water, and bring to a rolling boil. While water is heating, cut florets off of the head of broccoli, rinse well, and drain. Once water has reached a boil, put all of the broccoli in at once, and set a timer for four minutes. When the four minutes are up, drain the broccoli, but reserve 2 cups of the broccoli water. Place drained broccoli into a blender, add the nutmeg and a half cup of the broccoli water, and purée. Add more water, as needed, to reach the desired texture. That’s it!

You can top it with a swirl of heavy cream or a little dollop of sour cream (as I did) and a few gratings of cracked pepper. Gordon Ramsay serves his with a slice of goat cheese at the bottom, so I suppose you could do that as well. Personally, I thought it was perfect as is.

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Broccoli Pesto

We are on the cusp of October, and what that means is that  it’s time to harvest all of the tender herbs in your garden. For me, that means basil, and basil means pesto. Pesto is one of those things that I could eat with a spoon. I love the bite of the garlic, the freshness and fragrance of the basil, and the pungency of the Parmesan cheese. Recently I have discovered a lot of new recipes for pesto, and I plan to try them all. This one, for broccoli pesto was something that I couldn’t even imagine. The combination of broccoli and basil doesn’t immediately spring to mind, but it really works. Broccoli is such a wonderful antioxidant, and this is a deliciously easy way to get it into your diet. Whether you like broccoli or not, you’ll never know it’s here.

Sources: Pasta Bowl, Black Floral Flatware

Broccoli Pesto

From loveandlemons.com

 1 heaping cup very small broccoli floret pieces

½ c. fresh basil

⅓ c. extra-virgin olive oil

¼ c. grated Parmesan cheese

2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 t. lemon zest

2 garlic cloves

½ t. sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

 Bring a medium pot of water to boil and place a bowl of ice water nearby. Blanch the broccoli in the boiling water for 30 seconds, and then use a slotted spoon to scoop it into the ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and pat dry.

Place the broccoli into a food processor with the basil, olive oil, cheese, lemon juice and zest, garlic, salt, and several grinds of fresh pepper. Pulse until combined.

If desired, toss the pesto with the cooked pasta. Serve with pine nuts, red pepper flakes, and additional cheese. Season to taste and serve.

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Cannellini Bean Spread

If you don’t follow Daniel Mancini on Facebook or Instagram, I strongly encourage you to do so. He is very generous with his recipes, and posts often. In this intense heat, I am looking for things that are cool and refreshing; his cannellini beans spread fit the bill. This was so good that I really didn’t need dippers as a spoon would suffice. I altered his recipe a bit, adding freshly squeezed lemon juice, because I had some left over from a pasta dish that I’d made and I didn’t want to waste it.  I don’t consider myself a particular lover of beans, but having tried this, I’m ready to buy cannellini beans by the case. Feel free to change up the fresh herbs to suit those that you have on hand and/or like. I have now made this a couple of times, varying each slightly, sometimes using basil and chives. You can’t mess this up. What a wonderful, healthy snack!

Cannellini Bean Spread

Slightly adapted from Daniel Mancini

 1 15.5-oz. can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

¼ c. extra virgin olive oil

1 t. fresh lemon juice

2 fresh sage leaves, optional

½ t. fresh thyme, optional

½ t. kosher salt

 ¼ t. freshly ground black pepper

1 T. freshly grated Parmesan

 1 garlic clove, chopped

Place everything into a food processor or blender process till smooth. Taste for salt and adjust.

Daniel says that he makes this very often, and uses it as a dip for fresh cut vegetables, or spreads it onto slices of toasted Italian bread. It’s so delicious and, as I was saying, it’s healthy alternative to many commercial dips.

 

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High Energy Spinach Salad

 

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I cannot resist a sale. When I learned that my son was going to be shopping at a grocery store where they had a wonderful sale on organic baby spinach I asked him to pick up a container for me. When he got to the store he alerted me to the fact that both baby spinach and mixed greens were on sale, and asked me which I wanted. Both, was my response. Are you sure? He asked me. Of course, I assured him.

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 Do all of you know how much 16 ounces of baby spinach is? How about 16 ounces of mixed greens? I have enough greens to fill a pleasure boat. So, I have a lot of salads ahead of me beginning with this one. This was inspired by a salad that I found online somewhere, don’t ask me where. Essentially I replicated the salad ingredients, but tweaked the dressing to be more to my liking. 

High Energy Spinach Salad

Salad:
5 oz. fresh spinach
¾ c. chopped celery
1 3-oz. pkg. Melissa’s dried cranberries
1 15-oz. can mandarin oranges, drained
1 large apple
2 t. freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ c. pecans
½ c. cooked orecchiette pasta

Dressing:
¼ c. olive oil
2 T. apple cider vinegar
2 T. white wine vinegar
2 t. white sugar
1 T. honey mustard
1/8 t. paprika
1/8 t. onion powder
1 T. poppy seeds

Place all salad ingredients into a large bowl. Place all dressing ingredients into a medium bowl and whisk until emulsified. I like to use a mini high-speed blender for this because once it is emulsified, it stays emulsified. Serve immediately. Makes 6 1-cup servings.

 

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Green Soup

Leafy greens are very important to a healthy diet, eye health (as my optometrist always tells me) in particular. I happen to love leafy greens, but not everyone does. In cases like this, perhaps the answer is to drink them. This recipe for Green Soup comes from Abrams' new book by Erin Gleason, The Forest Feast Road Trip. The soup is light and delicate with a pleasant taste, and is a quite engaging shade of green.

Green Soup
From The Forest Feast Road Trip

3 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, sliced
3 T. butter
Salt and pepper
4 c. vegetable broth
2 russet potatoes, cubed (no need to peel)
3 handfuls fresh greens*

In a large pot over medium heat melt butter; sauté onions and garlic with salt and pepper to taste. Add vegetable broth and potatoes. Bring to a boil and then simmer 10 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender. Add greens. Turn off the heat and stir to wilt, and then blend in the pot using an immersion blender. Add more broth if needed to reach desired consistency.

Garnish with chopped scallions, yogurt or sour cream, a few greens pan-fried in butter or olive oil, salt and pepper.

*Feel free to use up whatever greens you have on hand. The author likes a mix of spinach, arugula, and lettuce. I used kale, baby spinach, and chard.

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 Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of The Forest Feast Road Trip from Abrams Books as a member of their Abrams Dinner Party 2021-2022.

 

Bang Bang Cauliflower

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It is a real challenge, isn’t it, to walk that fine line between treating yourself and eating healthy. Sometimes it seems impossible to do both. Not so with this recipe that your entire family will enjoy. Set up a dipping station, and the process goes fairly quickly. While the cauliflower is roasting, make your Bang Bang Sauce. If there’s any sauce left over, use it for dipping vegetables, tater tots, french fries, or on a burger for Bang Bang Burgers.

Bang Bang Cauliflower

2 large eggs, beaten with 1 T. water

½ c. flour

1 c. panko breadcrumbs

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside.

Separate head of cauliflower into bite-size, but large-ish florettes.

In a medium shallow bowl, combine panko with paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Coat cauliflower first in flour, then egg, and then the panko mixture. Place on prepared baking sheet.

Bake 15 minutes, carefully turn them over, and bake 10-12 minutes more, until tender. Remove from oven and let cool slightly.

While cauliflower is baking, make Bang Bang Sauce (recipe below).

Serve cauliflower with drizzled with Bang Bang Sauce (or as a dipping sauce on the side).

Bang Bang Sauce

½ c. mayonnaise

¼ c. sweet chili sauce

1 t. sriracha

Whisk above ingredients together in a small bowl. Will keep in the refrigerator 3-5 days.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

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Yesterday I told you about not just pearl onions, but Cipollini and red boiler onions as well. Today I am going to advise you to buy a few extra containers of these specialty onions, because they add so much more flavor and color to homemade vegetable stock than white or yellow onions tend to do. If you haven’t made vegetable stock in the past, let me tell you it is incredibly easy, extremely inexpensive, and not only adds depth to vegetarian dishes calling for stock, but soups and stews as well. It is also a great sipping broth, and who couldn't use a nice, warm, cup of broth on bitingly cold winter days? What a delicious way to add flavor to any dish while fend off colds and flu.

Homemade Vegetable Stock

 
1 7-oz. pkg. Melissa's Cipollini onions, washed but not peeled
1 7-oz. pkg. Melissa's Red boiler onions, washed but not peeled

1 leek, cleaned and cut into chunks

3 large carrots, cleaned and cut into chunks
4 celery stalks, cleaned and cut into chunks

½ c. more or less, cleaned mushroom stems
1 Bay leaf
1 small bunch of fresh parsley
1 teaspoon rainbow peppercorns
1 teaspoon kosher salt
8 cups water

Put all ingredients into a stock pot, bring to a boil, and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Allow to cool, stream through a fine mesh sieve, and then store in the refrigerator for up to one week, or freezer for up to four months.

Feel free to experiment with onions, choosing scallions, shallots, or leeks, as well as using various herbs and seasonings of your choice.

Avocado Vitamin Appetiser from Ibiza Land & Sea

Abrams’ October release, Ibiza Land and Sea, 100 Sun-Drenched Recipes by Françoise Lefébure of Les Terrasses Finca restaurant is a feast for the senses. Just paging through the book, looking at the beautiful photos of bright blue skies, clear water, and delicious food, as well as people enjoying it, will make you want to drop what you’re doing and head straight for this tranquil island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of Spain. Each recipe presented — preceded by a charming note from the author — is fairly simple yet with complex results, every mouthwatering photo tempting. There were so many recipes that I wanted to try — hello, chocolate macaroons! — but an aging bag of avocados beckoned, so my first recipe was the Avocado Vitamin Appetiser. Being more of a savory than a sweet person, I found this a wonderful way to start my day. It is a bowl of flavorful freshness with a bit of a kick (I substituted pickled jalapeño juice for the water — wow!), and will be enjoying this again and again. If you have no current plans to head to Ibiza, bring the food to you by way of this delightful and inviting book, and do yourself a favor and give this recipe a try. 

Avocado Vitamin Appetiser
Slightly adapted from Ibiza Land and Sea

1 ripe avocado
1 English cucumber
2 spring onions
1 celery rib
1 handful flat parsley
1 Granny Smith apple
4-5 rocket (arugula) leaves
1-2 tablespoons water or juice from Melissa’s Pickled Jalapeños 
Juice of one lemon
Olive oil*
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
Mixed organic seeds such as linseed, sunflower, sesame, etc. (optional)
Basil leaves for garnished, if desired

Peel and cube the vegetables, chop the parsley, apple, and rocket, and put everything into a blender or food processor; blend. Add a little cold water or jalapeño juice. Chill for one hour.

Just before serving, stir in the lemon juice, olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste.

 Pour the gazpacho into bowls (I used ramekins) and decorate with mixed seeds and a few basil leaves. Drink this vitamin-loaded brew at any time of day, or serve as a starter along with a salad.

*I did not use

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If you like your avocado soup a bit spicier, you might want to try this version.

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Disclaimer: I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book by Abram Publishers in exchange for an honest review. I am a member of the 2018-2019 Abrams Dinner Party.