Three Ingredient Dinners

About a year ago, around the same time I was getting ready to move to Rochester full time, J Word started not feeling very well. This eventually led to the realization that he was gluten intolerant, and led me to begin looking at food and cooking in a totally different way.

Recently we've been on kind of an eating out binge, the product of lots of friends wanting to do lots of "summer is winding down" getting together and going out. Going out is not impossible for J Word, but menus can be tricky, and after a week out of our own kitchen, neither one of us was feeling great. J Word requested simple meals this week...true clean eating with as few ingredients as possible. Excluding olive oil and spices, here are two, delicious, three ingredient dinners we've had this week that are as clean as can be.

Dinner 1: Chicken breast with homemade potato rounds and fresh fruit

• To prepare the chicken: Sprinkle the chicken breast with your preferred blend of spices. (Note...if you want to go gluten free, you want to avoid Lawry's Season Salt, and check your pre-blended, store bought, spice mixes). Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a pan and sear chicken breast 2-4 minutes on a side, until cooked through. 
• To prepare the potatoes: (Side note - the mandolin is the greatest kitchen gadget we received as a wedding present!!) Slice your potatoes 3/8 inch thick. Toss slice in olive oil. Spread into a single layer on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake at 375 until potatoes start to get golden brown. 
• Fresh fruit - self explanatory here. We had clementine oranges. 

Dinner 2: White fish with curry cajun rice and zucchini

• To prepare the white fish: First, pick your white fish. Cod and Tilapia are popular, but if you've never tried fresh catfish, I'd recommend it. Depending on the fish you choose, your method of prep and cook time will vary. That said, I broiled ours at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes after rubbing both sides with olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme, rosemary, and paprika.  
• To prepare the rice: We eat brown rice...like hard core, cook it for 45 minutes, brown rice...but Minute rice (brown or white) will work fine. Prepare the rice as directed. Then mix in salt, pepper, and curry powder. I also added a shake or two of a gluten-free cajun spice blend we have. It include paprika, cumin, a few types of pepper, and some salt. Season to taste based on how much rice you cooked! 
• To prepare the zucchini: I baked my zucchini at the same time I broiled my fish, which was far from a perfect science! Followed the exact same procedure as Dinner 1's potatoes...olive oil, salt, pepper, cook, eat! 

Tomorrow I have some rice noodles, which admittedly do come from a bag. However, the ingredient list is just rice flour and water. So it may be a four ingredient meal...but keeping it simple has helped J Word feel better, and has been decent for my training as well. 

(We'll just ignore the cookie ice cream sundae I had last night!) ;) To J Word's credit (or...you know...his loss) he kept it really simple, and skipped it! 

Happy Trails,