Egg-topped Soba Noodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto

I've been really making a conscious effort to cut back on going out to eat, as well as spending so much money on food. In turn, this has really helped me in my mission to eat healthier.

Last night, I made an absolutely delicious, savory, and easy dinner for two. It took under 30 minutes for sure, including the minimal prep time! I got the recipe here, but tweaked the amount of ingredients.

Egg-Topped Soba Noodles with Asparagus and Prosciutto

Ingredients:
-1/2 package soba noodles (Thin, buckwheat noodles - a great alternative to whole-wheat pasta, if you're not a fan.)
-1/2 lb of asparagus, ends trimmed, cut on sharp diagonal into 1/8 inch-thick slices (Adjust this to your preference - we liked it with lots of asparagus! Adds a great crunch to the dish.)
-2 large eggs
-1 package of Prosciutto, chopped (We bought pre-chopped Prosciutto - it came in little chunks & really cut down on prep time.)
-4 garlic cloves, minced
-4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
-1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus additional for serving

Directions:
1) Heat 2 tbsp of extra-virgin olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; stir for 30 seconds. Add prosciutto strips, and cook until slightly crisp. Remove from heat and set aside in a bowl.

2) Cook soba noodles in a pot of salted boiling water for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sliced asparagus to the pot; cook until noodles are cooked through and asparagus is just tender (still a little crunchy is best!), about 2 to 3 minutes. Drain noodles and asparagus, reserving 1 cup cooking liquid.

3) Add drained noodles and asparagus to prosciutto mixture in the pan. Cook over medium heat until heated through, tossing and adding reserved cooking liquid by 1/4 cupfuls to moisten. Add noodle mixture to a large bowl for serving, and set aside.

4) Heat 1 tsp olive oil in the same pan over medium heat. Crack egg into pan. Cook on one side until egg begins to set, about 1.5 minutes. Repeat for second egg.

5) Remove pan from heat. Add grated Parmesan cheese and 1 tbsp olive oil to noodle mixture, toss to coat. Divide among individual bowls. Top each serving with 1 egg and grated cheese. Serve immediately.

 I couldn't believe how effortless and tasty this recipe was. I hope you find so too. I'd love if you could share some great and healthy dinner recipes with me as well!

Happy cooking!

Homemade Butter Chicken & Raita

Hey everyone!

It has been quite a while since my last post. That's not to say I haven't been getting up to anything interesting - I've just neglected my blog and left you all hanging.

Last night, I was in a major cooking mood, and wanted to make a big, delicious, savoury, flavourful meal - and that's just what I did. I wanted to take a stab at making butter chicken from scratch, and it actually turned out amazingly, so I thought I'd share the recipe with you all and encourage you all to take a stab at it as well.

First of all, the INGREDIENTS you're going to need are as follows:
1 cup butter
1 onion, chopped
1 tbsp garlic, minced - I used four small cloves (I like a lot of garlic, and this recipe yields a lot of sauce, so it works out!)
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
3 cups heavy cream (I used 35% cooking cream)
2 tsp salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper (I used a bit more, & you can too, if you want it to be extra spicy!)
1 tsp garam masala (Easier to find at an ethnic foods store - the Metro by my house didn't have it)
1 1/2 lbs skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size chunks (I used 4 decently sized chicken breasts)
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp tandoori masala (Same deal as the garam masala)
1 cup Uncle Ben's 10 minute basmati rice (You can use any kind of basmati rice, I just wanted to cut down on cooking time, & this was a cinch to make!)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
OPTIONAL:
I added green beans so there would be a bit of of veg in it - I used about 2 cups, chopped into thirds.


DIRECTIONS:
1. After all your ingredients are chopped and ready to go, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Melt a few tbsp of butter in a pan over medium heat. Stir in onion and garlic, and cook slowly until the onion caramelizes to a dark brown - about 15 mins.

3. Meanwhile, melt the remaining butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat along with the tomato sauce, heavy cream, salt, cayenne pepper, and garam masala. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in caramelized onions.

4. While the sauce is simmering, toss cubed chicken breast in vegetable oil until coated, then season with tandoori masala and spread out onto a baking sheet/pan.

5. Bake chicken in pre-heated oven until no longer pink in the centre, about 15 mins. Once done, add the chicken and chopped green beans to the sauce and simmer for about 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.


6. Begin cooking rice 5 minutes after the chicken has been added to the sauce.

7. Garnish with fresh cilantro & serve! 

But wait! That's not all! I made a delicious raita to go alongside the butter chicken. Sometimes we all need to cut the heat with a tasty side to cleanse the palate! It is so easy to make and you can do it before you make your butter chicken, so that it has time to chill & let the flavours set.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup seeded English cucumber, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tsp green onion, chopped
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cumin

DIRECTIONS:
Mix ingredients in a medium bowl. Season to taste with salt. Chill raita (about 1-2 hours is best), covered, until ready to serve. 

I also bought naan at the grocery store and lightly brushed it with olive oil, & put it in the oven at 400 degrees for 4 minutes before everything was ready. It went really well with everything, especially the raita!

For a truly amateur home cook, this meal was totally easy to put together, and will impress anyone you're serving it to!

Happy cooking! :)