Lime chicken with tomato salsa

Lime Chicken with Tomato Salsa

Happy New Year everyone! I have been on a short hiatus (and I’ll be honest, a bit of a food splurge) over the holiday period. It was nice to take a couple of weeks off to enjoy with both family and friends and to take a bit of a break away from work and the daily stresses of life.

So today marks the first day back to clean eating and getting back into shape. I have definitely packed on a few pounds over the holiday period so it’s time to start afresh and get my diet back in order. But of course it feels like a bit of an effort preparing meals when you have been lying on a beach for a week and snacking on chips whenever you feel hungry. But no matter how easy fast food is, it’s never the same as a fresh home cooked meal and definitely never as satisfying.

So without further ado, here’s a clean eating recipe for lime chicken that is really, really, really easy to make and takes very little time to make.

Ingredients:

For Lime Chicken-

• 4 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1kg chicken breast (approx 2.2 pounds)
• 4 tablespoon of finely chopped coriander
• 1 pinch salt

For Salsa-

• 1 large tomato, diced
• 1 small white onion, diced
• 1 large cucumber, chopped
• 1 pinch salt
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• pepper, to taste

Method:

1. To marinate the chicken, combine the lime juice, olive oil and coriander in a bowl. Add the chicken and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Drain the liquid and season with salt.
2. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add the chicken and cook until browned through. Drain any remaining liquid.
3. In a separate bowl combine the tomato, cucumber, onion, lime juice, salt and pepper.
4. Plate the chicken and top with salsa (I added some brown rice to my meal as well).

There you have it, quick and easy and nice and clean! Serve 4 and can easily be packed away for a desk lunch.

Happy New Year!

– Sweet Cinnamon Sin

 

 

Protein Piklets (baby pancakes)

Who doesn’t love a good protein pancake? And even then, a mini version looks (and tastes) marvellous too. This recipe is also lactose free for those that are allergic to dairy products (I promise it doesn’t compromise on the taste even a little). You should be able to find each of these ingredients at home too!

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium banana
2. 1/2 cup oats (around 30g)
3. 1 scoop protein powder (I used vanilla)
4. 1-2 tablespoons water
5. 1-2 tablespoons milk (I used almond milk but you can use any type)
6. 2 egg whites
7. Pinch of baking soda (optional)
8. Agave/Honey/Maple Syrup to serve

Method:

1. Place egg whites, oats, protein powder, milk, water, baking soda, and 1/2 of the banana in a blender. Blend until smooth.
2. Heat a greased pan on medium heat until it is hot enough to cook with. Take 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture from the blender and create small pancakes – or ‘piklets’.
3. After bubbles begin to appear, flip each piklet and cook for an extra minute or until browned. Continue with the rest of the mixture.
4. Plate and serve with the remainder of the banana and drizzle with sweetener of choice.

It’s as simple as that!

– Sweet Cinnamon Sin

Clean Cinnamon Pancakes

I don’t know about you but I love pancakes! For those eating clean though they seem like a luxury. But here’s an easy recipe that involves nothing more than a few ingredients and a blender to make. Give this a go if you are after a tasty little breakfast that will fill you up and satisfy that sweet craving.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/3 cup yogurt (I used homemade but you can also use greek)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 3 egg whites
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 banana (or your fruit of choice for serving)

Method:

1. In a blender combine the oats, yogurt, cinnamon and egg whites. Blend until smooth.
2. Pre-heat a pan on medium heat, coat surface with butter (coconut oil also works well).
3. After the pan has warmed up, spoon mixture into round pancakes.
4. Cook until one side is brown then flip and repeat for the remaining side, remove from pan.
5. Continue making pancakes until batter is finished.
6. Serve with sliced banana and drizzle with honey.

Happy clean eating!

– Sweet Cinnamon Sin

Sinful Devil’s Food Cake

Are you smacking your lips together already looking at this beauty? If not, you will be (I have to admit, I did eat a few spoonfuls of the batter). I made this sinful little cake for my father’s birthday and it was gobbled up! Serves 10.

Ingredients:

• 240g (8.5 ounces) butter, softened
• 1 3/4 cups caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups self raising flour
• 1/2 cup plain flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2/3 cup of cocoa powder
• 3 teaspoons instant coffee granules
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon red food colouring
• 300 ml (1/2 pint) whipped cream
• 60g (2 ounces) dark cooking chocolate, chopped
• Block of white chocolate for shavings to top (optional)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C (350F) and grease two 20cm (8 inch) round cake tins. Line the bases with baking paper.
2. Beat 180g (5.5 ounces) of the butter and the sugar in a large bowl with an an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat the eggs in one at a time.
3. Fold in sifted flours, baking soda and cocoa into the bowl in two batches.
4. In a small bowl, combine the coffee, water, milk and colouring. Stir through and add to the large bowl, mixing in.
5. Pour the mixture equally into the pans and bake for 45 mins. Stand cakes for 5 minutes before removing from the tins and allowing to cool.
6. Meanwhile, combine chocolate and 60g (2 ounces) of the butter in the bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds at a time, stirring until just melted. Remove and allow to cool to room temperature.
7. Once the cakes are cooled, place the whipped cream on the top of one cake and sandwich the other cake on top. Top cake with chocolate frosting.
8. Using a vegetable peeler or knife, use the back of the block of white chocolate to create shavings. Place shavings on top of the cake.

This recipe is adapted from the Australian Women’s Weekly big cakes book.

Happy Eating!

– Sweet Cinnamon Sin

Clean & Easy Banana Oat Cookies

This is literally the easiest cookie ever made and involves no extra sugar (unless of course you choose to add some!).

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quick oats
• 2 small bananas
• 1 tablespoon organic peanut butter

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180C
2. Mash bananas together in a bowl with a fork
3. Add oats and peanut butter and stir through
4. Take spoons of the mixture to create cookies, flattening them with a fork on a baking tray lined with baking paper
5. Bake for 15 minutes

So quick and easy, happy snacking!

– Sweet Cinnamon Sin

Sesame salmon with basil zucchini spaghetti

Sesame salmon with basil zucchini spaghetti

I love spaghetti but if you are trying to watch your weight, say goodbye to that carb-loaded dish! Zucchini spaghetti is a great (and really fast) alternative that’s both light and delicious. Add to that some salmon and you are looking at one of the quickest but most delicious meals that you will ever make. Great for a light lunch on a weekend.

The below recipe makes one portion but you can easily increase the recipe to make more.

Ingredients:

• 1 salmon fillet
• Wasabi paste
• 3 teaspoons salad seeds (or a mixture of sunflower and sesame seeds)
• Vegetable oil for cooking
• 2 small zucchinis
• 1 tablespoon chopped basil
• 1 clove garlic, chopped finely
• Salt and pepper to serve

Equipment:

• Veggie twister or mandolin peeler (You can use a normal vegetable peeler too if you do not have either)

Method:

1. Wash and dry the zucchini. Pass one zucchini at a time through the mandolin peeler to make the spaghetti.
2. Meanwhile, heat a teaspoon of the vegetable oil in a pan and add garlic. Stir through for a minute before adding the spaghetti.
3. Using tongs, separate the spaghetti in the pan and cook for 2-3 minutes so that the spaghetti is just cooked through. Remove from heat.
4. Place the spaghetti in a bowl and stir in the basil leaves. Set aside.
5. Heat vegetable oil in a non-stick pan on medium heat.
6. Meanwhile, take the salmon fillet and lightly spread wasabi on the skin-less side.
7. Roll the side spread with wasabi in the salad seeds and place in pan on side with skin.
8. Cook for 4-5 minutes before flipping sides and cook wasabi side for 2-3 minutes until done.
9. Add to spaghetti dish, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Happy eating!

– Sweet Cinnamon

Learning to make Macarons

Macarons

If you’ve ever tried making macarons you probably know how frustrating it feels to spend a lot of time in the kitchen labouring over these tiny things and feeling underwhelmed at the result. Today a friend and I went to the Paris International Cooking School here in Sydney to go and learn a little more about the art of macarons and try some of their creations.

Our chef for the morning was Laurent Villoing, a Parisian trained chef, with over 20 years experience teaching cooking. Laurent walked us through the essentials and started the demonstration off with some beautiful American orange Coconut Macaroons with Swiss Meringue. Thankfully, he told us that these are no easy feat and I could rest assured I wasn’t just a terrible cook.

Piping macaroons

We ran through several other macaron recipes including Amaretti Italian Macarons, Macarons of Amiens, Chocolate Macaron de paris with French Meringue (my personal favourite since these were made with Nutella!) and Macarons de Paris with Italian Meringue. After each demonstration he let us do a quick taste test and all of the recipes were absolutely beautiful!

Amaretti Italian Macaron

I can’t wait to try these recipes next weekend and I highly recommend the classes at the Paris International Cooking School: http://picssyd.com.au/

– Sweet Cinnamon

 

Quick Dinner: Steamed Dumplings

I bought a steamer a few months ago and it sat idol for a long time until I figured out how many things I could do with it. If you’re anything like me and can’t handle lots of deep fried Chinese food, steamed dumplings are a great alternative. This recipe is very simple and excellent for a weeknight meal when you rather spend more time on the couch than in the kitchen, I found it on the Woolworths website and managed to find the gow gee wrappers from their store.

Ingredients:

• 4 dried shiitake mushrooms (or regular mushrooms if you can’t find these)
• 250g pork mince
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs peanut oil
• 200g green prawn meat, finely chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
• 1 tbs cornflour
• 24 gow gee wrappers (round)
• 1 bowl water
• Soy sauce, to serve

Method:

1. Soak the mushrooms in boiling water for 15-20 minutes (until soft). Drain water, remove stems and chop finely.
2. Combine pork, prawns, spring onions, sugar, pepper, oyster sauce, cornflour, mushrooms and oil in a bowl and mix with hands.
3. Begin placing wrappers on a board, filling the centre of each wrapper with two teaspoons of the mixture.
4. Lightly dip your fingertips in the bowl of water and very lightly wet the sides of each wrapper before folding the wrapper upwards to secure the mixture (as shown).
5. Place the dumplings in a steamer and cook for 8 minutes until the mixture is cooked through.
6. Serve with soy sauce and enjoy!

– Sweet Cinnamon

Why hello there

Hello all and welcome to my new blog, Sweet Cinnamon Sin!

This blog is dedicated to food, both sinless (healthy) and sinful (indulgent). I’ll be taking recipes and ideas from around the world and recreating and experimenting with them in my own kitchen in my spare time. 

Please subscribe and follow me on my culinary adventures to be part of the journey!

– Sweet Cinnamon