Light Recipes to start the New Year with

The beginning of every year restarts our clock, and our opportunity to establish new goals in our lifestyle.  And a lot of people need to get out of debt accrued from the numerous, albeit delicious, Christmas dinners.  And to be honest, we are invited to eat morn that what we usually would during any other regular day.  For this article, we are going to publish a few recipes that hopefully will be easy to prepare and that are also light.  I hope you have also enjoyed the recipes published during all of 2014, and I hope you find these recipes for 2015 to be interesting and delicious.  It will definitely continue to be an interesting adventure among the kitchen shelves.

Chicken with Brussel sprouts, tomatoes and sautéed onions

Ingredients

• 4 chicken breast fillets (or two boneless chicken breasts)
• 400 grams Brussel sprouts, cut in half
• 200 grams cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 200 grams chambray onions, just the heads
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• ¾ c. chicken broth
• ¼ c. sherry
• 2 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp. parsley
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Add one tablespoon of olive oil to a frying pan and sauté the garlic.  Afterwards, add the chicken and cook on both sides until well cooked.  Try to make sure all of the meat turns white and that no pink is left in the center.  Once finished, set the chicken aside.
2. Using the frying pan in which the chicken was cooked, add the chicken broth and sherry, and reduce heat to medium for 5 minutes.  To finish, mix in the mustard and parsley and set aside.
3. In a new frying pan, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the Brussel sprouts, tomatoes and onion in it until the edges are lightly golden.
4. Serve the chicken and serve a bit of the sautéed vegetables on each portion.  As a final touch, bathe the preparation in the sauce. 
5. You could also add other vegetables, or make more sauce so as to be able to generously bathe the dish in it.

Corn and Goat Cheese Stuffed Poblano Peppers

Ingredients

• 4 poblano peppers
• 1 c. yellow corn kernels
• 1 c. crumbled goat cheese
• 2 tomatoes, finely diced
• ½ c. sliced mushrooms
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 handful of cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• Salt to taste

Directions

1. Roast the peppers and immediately afterwards, wrap them in a plastic bag and let set for 5 minutes.  Then remove the skin, cut them in half, and remove the seeds and veins.
2. In a frying pan, add the olive oil and sauté the garlic.  Once it is golden, add the corn kernels, tomatoes, and mushrooms.  Lightly sauté and set aside.
3. Fill the pepper halves with the sautéed vegetables and place a bit of cheese on top.  Finish the filling with a bit of cilantro sprinkled on top.  Placed the stuffed peppers on a previously greased baking tray.
4. Bake for 10 minutes or until the cheese melts, at 180° C.  Serve.
5. If you can’t find the poblano peppers, you could change them out for sweet bell peppers, or add other vegetables, like onion, to the filling.  If you’d like a little protein, a bit of tuna would go well with this.

Thai fruit salad

Ingredients

• 1 c. mango, diced
• 1 c. strawberries, diced
• 1 c. pineapple, diced
• 1 c. cucumber, diced
• 2 chives, thinly diced
• ¼ c. coconut milk
• 2 tsp. honey
• 1 tsp. Siracha sauce or some other spicy Thai sauce
• Juice from 1 lemon
• 1 Tbsp. sesame oil
• Sea salt, whichever grain size you prefer
• 2 Tbsp. unsalted peanuts or some other nut

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the coconut milk, the honey, spicy sauce, lemon juice, and the chives.  Mix until well blended, and until it makes a good dressing for the diced fruit.
2. Add a bit of salt and sesame oil to this very mixture, until it tastes good. 
3. Mix the mango, strawberries, pineapple and cucumber in a bowl and portion them out in individual bowls.  Preferably, serve the fruit cold so it is refreshing, and afterwards add however much dressing you like.  Finish the preparation by sprinkling on a few peanuts on top.
4. Add other fruit of your choice, or mix the nuts with a few dried fruit, in whichever fashion seems interesting to you, like blueberries.

(1 votes, average: 4.00 out of 5)

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