Swicky Ribs

"Swicky" is a term that one of my younger brothers coined many years ago. It stands for sweet and sticky, which is an adolescents way of saying delicious.

I had a question the other day if ribs could be considered "clean eating", and my answer was why not! When we get ribs we make sure to get back ribs instead of side ribs, since they tend to have a lower fat content. The other trick is to boil them before broiling them, this helps to break down any connective tissue, gets most of the fat out of them and most importantly makes them fall off the bone tender. The other part of keeping them "clean" is not dousing them with boat loads of fats, salts and sugars. We make a (delicious in my mind!!) Homemade BBQ Sauce to put on them, don't add any extra oils or salt, and serve it with vegetables (my faves the pair with ribs are steamed green beans, asparagus, broccoli and sweet potato, but you can do whatever you want. I mostly steam my veggies to keep as many nutrients in them as possible, and don't add butter or oil to them. I add a dash of nutmeg and cayenne pepper to my sweet potatoes instead of butter and brown sugar like I see in so many recipes).

Ribs
1 rack back ribs
1 tsp yellow curry powder
1 tsp dill seed
1/2 tsp red chili flakes
1/2 tsp chili powder
pepper (to taste)

BBQ Sauce

1) Take the back ribs and trip of any large fat visible on the outside of the rack.
2) In a large, deep pot add the ribs, spices and enough water to cover the ribs completely. Cover with a lid.
3) Bring pot to a boil and turn down the heat to low (but maintaining a boil). Let the ribs boil for ~2-3 hours.
4) Preheat oven to 425 (when the ribs are almost done boiling)
5) Once the ribs are cooked, carefully take them out of the pot and lay them in casserole dish. Cover with BBQ sauce, starting with the bottom (less meaty side) first, flip and cover top with remaining sauce. Cover dish and bake for 15 minutes
6) Reduce heat to 350, uncover and broil for 5-10 minutes or until tops start to brown and crisp.
7) Serve with your favourite healthy veggies!

Homemade BBQ Sauce

This recipe tastes a lot like commercial barbecue sauce (better in my opinion) but without a long list of ingredients you can't pronounce. I know this recipe isn't perfect, and certainly there are better cleaner versions, but I'm pretty content to splurge a little bit on my sauce for the two times a month that I have it! 

2 tbsp liquid honey 

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp prepared yellow mustard

2 tbsp tomato paste or tomato ketchup

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tbsp onion, chopped very fine

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp dill seed

1/4 tsp dill weed

1/2 tsp paprika

pepper (to taste)

1 dash cayenne pepper (if you like it spicy)

1/4 tsp red chili flakes (less if you don't like it spicy)

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the cayenne pepper and chili flakes last unless you know you like spice. This recipe covers a full rack of ribs, but if you want to make more and store it in the fridge, it stores very well. Omit the garlic and onion until serving if you want to store it for longer than a couple of days, or try garlic powder and onion powder. It won't taste quite as good, but it will store for much longer. 

Chicken Caesar Salad

Firstly, to all those that follow my blog, I apologize for the hiatus! This semester at school has been incredibly busy and hectic and I sometimes find that I have barely enough time to cook and feed myself let alone experiment with recipes and come up with new healthy ideas. We've been eating a lot of the same old recipes in my house lately!

If you love delicious Cesar salad, and crispy chicken tenders, then this is the recipe for you! I love Cesar salad, but hate what it does to my waistline, and also happen to think chicken fingers are delightful, but the pre-packaged ones are full of chemicals and preservatives that I don't want to put in my body. This recipe is delicious, tastes like the real thing, and yet has very little of the real guilt associated with Cesar salads. The chicken/turkey is baked, and the salad dressing does contain some bad things (like Parmesan cheese), but in pretty minimal doses, and you can't take everything delicious out without completely losing the flavour! My husband is currently obsessed with this meal, and we have made it several times in the last couple of weeks. We often make it with spinach, since there is more protein there than in plain lettuce, but this recipe works well with any salad greens. Feel free to add in whatever salad veggies you love, we often mix it up just to keep it interesting!

Chicken*
*This recipe has enough for 2-4 servings.

300g boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c flour
1 tsp chili powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1-2 dried basil leaves, crushed
3/4 c bread crumbs (if making your own, let them dry out for a day or so first so you get extra crispy chicken. You can also use crackers, cornflakes, rice cakes or whatever else you have on hand, we often make out own with stale bread or crusts, just let the bread dry out, and pop it in the food processor)
2 eggs whites + 1 egg yolk (reserve remaining egg yolks for dressing)
pepper to taste

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2) Trim chicken of fat and slice into strips.
3) In one container mix flour and all spices, in another contain put breadcrumbs and pepper. In a third container whisk egg & egg whites, adding a tiny bit of milk if necessary to thin out.
4) One piece at a time, dredge chicken strips in egg --> flour --> egg --> breadcrumbs.
5) Place chicken on a non-stick cookie sheet & bake for 12-14 mins or until tops are golden brow,, flipping halfway through.


Cesar Dressing

1-2 egg yolks
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp red wine vingear
1 tbsp white wine

1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dijon mustard

1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp fish sauce (optional)

3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp ground pepper (freshly ground is best!)
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese


1) Whisk eggs yolks with oil, vinegar & wine until creamy**.
2) Add lemon juice, Worcestershire & mustard and whisk vigorously for 1-2 minutes**
3) Add remaining ingredients and mix.
4) Store in fridge and eat within about 7 days.

Conversely, you can skip the egg yolks, oil and half the vinegar and use mayonnaise instead. I recommend the Olive Oil Mayonnaise that Hellman's makes.

** I make my dressing in a glass jar with a lid that seals well. After gently whisking all ingredients I put on the lid and shake it like crazy for a couple of minutes. I find this is just as effective as whisking, and it seems a lot easier to me!


Salad

Like I said we usually use spinach, but have done it with lettuce and mixed greens as well. Although normal Cesar salad is just veggies and dressing, we usually get bored with that so always include several other veggies. Our favourites for this salad are mushrooms, red pepper and avocado, although grated carrot and diced celery are nice as well.

Sometimes we put bacon on our salads as well, to cook bacon we put two strips between paper towel and microwave it for 1-2 minutes on high or until its very crispy. We then roll the bacon between more paper towel to get as much of the grease off as possible. This way you get the deliciously salty-smokey flavour of bacon without your salad dropping with grease!