Healthy, Flavorful, Simple: What’s Not to Like?

This meal is simple, but it delivers a lot of fresh, interesting flavors. A bit of advance planning is optimal, but not essential.

This meal is simple, but it delivers a lot of fresh, interesting flavors. A bit of advance planning is optimal, but not essential.

And if you don’t have 45 minutes to cook the brown rice, feel free to use white rice or couscous — or skip the carbs altogether. As for the cake, that takes a little bit of time and some ingredients that may not appear routinely in everyone’s larder, but it is a straightforward recipe.

This is best if marinated for several hours or overnight, but you can get away with 20 minutes in a pinch.

2 lbs. boneless chicken breasts, very thinly cut along the diagonal

½ cup soy sauce

1 Tbsp. sesame oil

1 tsp. Sriracha (or more, to taste)

1 inch piece ginger, grated

3 cloves garlic, crushed

2 Tbsps. vegetable oil

1 scallion, sliced, for serving

½ cup fresh cilantro, diced, for serving

In a large Ziploc bag or Tupperware container, place all ingredients except canola oil, scallions and cilantro. Mix well to thoroughly coat the chicken. Marinate for 20 minutes to overnight; the longer the marinade, the better.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high until it is hot enough to sizzle a bit of ginger from the marinade.

Cook the chicken in batches. Using tongs, place pieces of chicken in a single layer and cook for about a minute. Flip and cook through — it should be glossy and slightly brown. Place the cooked pieces on a serving dish near the stove; keep warm.

When all the chicken is cooked, place in a mound on a serving dish and sprinkle with scallions and cilantro. Serve.

1 ½ cups brown rice

3 Tbsps. Miso

4 ½ cups water

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In an oven-proof dish with a cover, place all ingredients and stir. (If you don’t have a covered oven-proof dish, cover tightly with foil.)

Bake rice, covered, in oven for 45 minutes. Check for doneness; if all water is absorbed and the rice is still hard add ½ cup more water, cover and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Fluff with a fork and serve.

This is best made several hours ahead of time, or even the day before, and refrigerated.

2 bunches baby kale, chopped

Dressing:

1 clove garlic, crushed

juice of one lemon

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

Place all dressing ingredients in Tupperware container and mix well.

Add kale, cover and shake vigorously.

Serve, or better yet, place in the refrigerator and, every so often, turn the container upside down and give it a good shake. This tenderizes the kale and distributes the dressing, which also helps break down the leaves.

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

½ cup coconut oil, heated slightly to liquefy if it is solid

½ cup coconut milk

½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut

½ teaspoon coconut extract (optional)

1 cup flour

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

Glaze:

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

1-2 Tbsps. coconut milk (or more if needed to achieve proper consistency)

¼ tsp. coconut extract (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees; spray a 10-inch spring-form pan with vegetable oil. Line with parchment and spray parchment.

Beat eggs and sugar on medium for two minutes until thick, yellow and a bit fluffy. Add coconut oil, milk, shredded coconut and extract, if using. Beat again.

Add flour, baking powder and salt; beat until blended.

Pour into the prepared pan and bake 40 minutes until the top is browning.

While the cake bakes, make glaze: Mix coconut milk with confectioners’ sugar and extract, if using, with whisk or fork until completely smooth. Glaze should be able to pour without being completely runny.

When the cake is completely cool, release the pan, remove the parchment, pour the glaze over it and serve.