It's time (up here in Oregon at least) to break out the jackets, turn on the heaters, and stock up on cold medicine. My roommate is getting over a throat infection/cold, my boss was sick with a cold and everywhere I'm hearing sniffles, coughs, and complaints of a cold. Today I started to feel a little stuffy and got that "impending cold" feeling in my head and throat. I had to act fast. I greeted the morning with a glass of green tea and researched what foods can increase immunity.
After a little research, I settled on the following ingredients:
Chicken - Niacin and Selenium
Spinach - Folate
Bell Peppers - Vitamin C and Pyrodoxine
Garlic - Selenium
Tomatoes - Chromium
Lemon zest and juice - Vitamin C
Jasmine Rice - Selenium
chicken stock/broth
and Turmeric. Click here to learn 20 health benefits of Turmeric.
pepper
parsley
oregano
garlic powder
First I put 3 1/2 cups of chicken stock on to boil.
While that was boiling I chopped up the bell peppers into bite-sized pieces, cut the tomatoes into pieces, and mixed the spinach, bell peppers, and tomatoes together in a large bowl. I used about 3/4 a bunch of spinach, 3 bell peppers, and 3 large roma tomatoes. I seasoned the mixture with ample pepper, some parsley, oregano and plenty of garlic powder.
I then chopped the garlic and placed it in a large, almost wok-style, skillet in which I had drizzled olive oil. Next I cut two large chicken breasts into small pieces and dumped them into the olive oil and garlic. I set it on med-high heat and stirred every 30 seconds or so. I added 1 tsp of turmeric and 2 cups of jasmine rice to the boiling chicken stock. Once the rice started to boil, I lowered the heat to a simmer, covered the pot 3/4 of the way with a lid and let it simmer.
After the chicken was cooked sufficiently (no raw parts showing), I added the tomato, pepper and spinach mixture to the pot and stirred. I poured the excess juice into a smaller pan. Then I scraped lemon zest into the cooking mixture and then squeezed the juice of 2 quarters of a lemon into it. I let this cook and simmer for awhile on the same temperature setting while stirring.
At this time I turned off the heat on the rice and completely covered the dish to let it steam.
Then I added the rest of the lemon's juice and a little white wine to the excess juice in the smaller pan. I set this on high to boil and cook off much of the liquid to create a thick sauce for the rice.
The dish is done! Be sure to drink a big glass of water, as you need plenty of fluids when sick. And for storing, you can just dump the chicken/spinach/tomato/pepper mixture on top of the rice and throw on some press n seal and stick it in the fridge.
A good dessert might be a bowl of strawberries and a cup of tea (be sure to check for caffeine).
I'm drinking Yogi Tea's Cold Season.
I think I'm feeling better already....
2 comments:
this is a really good post! hope you stay healthy
Oh please more plating for one ideas! You have no idea how long I've been searching for ideas for simple meals!
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