My mother nearly lost it when she returned home after doing her monthly shopping and realised she bought a box of chicken breasts instead of her usual variety pack.
“What am I going to do with all these dry pieces?” she asked in an almost desperate voice when she told me about her mistake.
Thankfully momma is a creative cook and I’m sure she’s been feeding us chicken breasts every day and we didn't even realise it.
This got me thinking, at the moment chicken is the cheapest meat to buy and perhaps being stuck with a box of chicken breasts is not such a bad idea.
There are many ways to skin a cat - or in this case, a chicken breast.
It helps to use different ingredients and create dishes without breaking your budget.
While a breast wouldn’t be my first choice when I’m ordering out, it is my favourite type of meat to buy because it’s versatile and I get a lot more out of it.
Most people don’t like it because it’s a dry piece, but there’s nothing that a little spice, sauce or a marinade can’t fix.
Here are a few recipes that are very different and make for delicious dishes.
The best thing about these dishes is that it’s suitable for any time of the week, easy to prepare and you can mix up the ingredients to suit your taste buds and your pocket.
I should probably pass these on to my mom...
Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Stuffed chicken breasts
(Recipe by Robertsons)
Ingredients
180 ml Feta Cheese
120 ml Cream Cheese
100 ml Peppadews Finely chopped ( I find green pepper works just as well)
10 ml Robertsons Mixed Herbs
8 Chicken Breast Deboned
3 Eggs Slightly beaten
250 ml Breadcrumbs
15 ml Robertsons Chicken Spice
Sunflower Oil For frying
Instructions
Preheat oven to 180°C.
In a bowl, mix together the feta, cream cheese, peppadews and Robertsons Mixed Herbs.
In a separate bowl mix together the breadcrumbs and Robertsons Chicken Spice.
Carefully cut a cavity into the chicken breast and place some of the filling inside, seal with toothpicks if necessary.
Dip the breasts in egg and then in the breadcrumbs.
Heat oil in a pan and fry the chicken breasts until golden brown on all sides.
Place breasts on a baking tray and bake at 180°C for 10 minutes to cook through.
Salwaa's Spicy Chicken Chow Mein
(Recipe by Salwaa Francis)
The ingredients I used were nothing fancy only what I had in the cupboards.
Ingredients:
250g egg noodles
2 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 small red onions, peeled and chopped
2 tsp of Salwaa's Cape Malay Cooking BBQ spice
1 – 2 Tbsp chilli sauce
1 ½ cups frozen mixed vegetables
1 Tbsp Soy sauce
Salt as required
Method:
Boil the noodles according to the packet instructions. Drain; and set aside, keep warm. #capemalaycooking
Heat the oil in a wok or deep saucepan. Braise the onion for about 5 minutes. Add the cubed chicken breasts and stir fry until golden brown. Add the BBQ spice, chilli sauce and frozen mix veg, stir to combine. Cook about 10 minutes until the chicken has cooked through. Try not to add water, if you have to add little bit at a time. Add the noodles, the soy sauce and salt if necessary, stir to combine. Serve immediately.
