Tandoori Chicken

When we sat down to dinner on New Year's Day, Abby, Uriah and I set about to make a list of all of the things we'd like to do this year.  It was fun to bounce ideas off of each other and, while it's not an overly long list, it will take us all year to complete it, I'm sure.  One of the things that we decided we'd like to attempt is to try one new meal a week.  As much as I love planning our weekly menus, and I do - a lot, occasionally I start to feel like the lunch lady at school, old and boring and a little under pressure; I look at previous months menus and recreate them for the current week.  It's easy, but it's also a little bit boring when our weekly menus seem to repeat themselves with our stand-by nightly favorites.   Last month, however, we tried several new recipes - more than once a week, actually:

• Grilled Veggie Sandwiches
• Caribbean Rice and Beans
• Steak Salad
• Chicken Fricassee
• Asian Marinated Halibut
• Stuffed Cabbages
• Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa
• Country Dijon Beef Stew
• Baked Turkey Ziti
• Buffalo Chicken Burgers
• Tandoori Chicken with Quinoa and Tomato Salad

We've done our best to step outside of our comfort zone, to eat a little bit healthier and practice some major portion control.  I'm more conscious of the amount of vegetables my kids eat at each meal and whether or not they're eating fruit daily.  We go through so much milk each week that I'm thinking of getting a pet cow to keep in our back yard (her name would be Gloria.).  We limit all forms of pop (besides Uriah's Coke) except for special occasions and, to be perfectly honest, my baking is down to maybe once a week.  Maybe.

I don't think that we were eating unhealthy before, but we were in a food rut and dinner was getting very boring.  This Tandoori Chicken is full of flavor.  You need to be able to let your chicken marinade for at least a half an hour - the longer the better.  If you have time, and you feel like being overly prepared, you could put together the marinade the night before and then, in the morning, put it on your chicken and let it soak up those flavors all day long.  Of course, if you're going to do that, you need to make sure you're chicken is in a seal-able container, or else your refrigerator might smell like curry for a few days (lesson learned the hard way, my friends!).  Quinoa is kind of like rice, only healthier.  I found mine in the grocery store near the pasta and it's not that expensive.  It can be a little bland, so add salt and pepper to your tastes.

So, something new for you to try this week!

Tandoori Chicken Thighs

• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger root
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 4 large bone-in chicken thighs (about 1-1/2 poiunds), skin removed*

 Heat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, stir together ginger, lemon juice, curry, garlic, salt, cinnamon and cayenne.  Place chicken in  a baking dish, flesh-side up; rub ginger-curry mixture over the top of each piece.  Allow to marinade for 30 minutes or more.  Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until an internal temperature registers 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer.

Quinoa and Tomato Salad

• 1 cup uncooked Quinoa
• 2 cups grape tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar**
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh chives, minced

Put quinoa in a fine-mesh sieve.  Place under cold running water until water runs clear; drain well.  Place rinsed quinoa in a medium saucepan and cover with 2 cups of cold water; bring to a boil over high heat.  Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until the grains are translucent and the germ has come out of each grain, about 15 minutes.  Cover and remove from heat; let sit for 5 minutes.

Spoon quinoa into a large bowl and set aside to cool.  Meanwhile, chop tomatoes, reserving 2 tablespoons of the tomato juice; set tomatoes aside.  Combine tomato juice, oil, vinegar, salt, pepper and chives; stir well.  When quinoa is room temperature, stir in chopped tomatoes; add vinaigrette and toss again.  

*I had leg-thigh quarters, so I just used 4 of those and I still had plenty of the ginger-curry marinade to spread on my chicken.

**I didn't have any white wine vinegar, so I used balsamic, which worked fine but was a little overwhelming; next time I think I'll use white wine vinegar or  tarragon vinegar - something a little lighter than balsamic.

Tandoori Chicken recipe adapted from Family Circle, April 2011

Quinoa and Tomato Salad from Weight Watchers