Low Carb, High Fat Qualified? Quinoa with Vegetables & Pan-fried Chicken Thigh

~ Zero Oil Pan-fried Chicken Thigh with Carrots & Warm Quinoa Salad ~

It is interesting how the search on eating habits recently lead me to knowing about this unconventional diet known as Ketogenic or “High Fat, Adequate Protein, Low Carbo“ diet. As I understand from Wikipedia, Ketogenic diet is used medically by the paediatricians to ease certain epilepsy conditions in children. These days, it becomes a popular diet for many who believes that it is the dietary way of loosing drastic weight where high fat consumption may lead to the body (on the contrary of what I thought) to become powerful in fat burning. Aren’t the vast eating habits and believes of human being rather amazing?

I am unsure about the “high fat low carb” diet but I have always been cooking bearing in mind that all meals should be loaded with good fat, low carb (may be not as low as how the Ketos define them), moderate protein, high fibre and possibly some raw vegetables and fruits goes a long way. I may be annoying some Ketogenic believers with this recipe. This recipe may contain too much carbohydrate to someone adopting a Ketogenic diet. At the same time, it may be classified as too little carbohydrate to someone whom are physically active all day long. Being Asian, I just can’t help eating my rice!

For tonight’s meal, which has “all in one” served on a plate, has no additional cooking oil but natural fat from meat. Olive oil was used as a healthier fat option in Quinoa & vegetables cooking, while the carrots were cooked waterless in the pan used for pan-frying the chicken to absorb all the excess chicken fat remained on the pan. The waterless cooked vegetables under 100°C were all in its natural flavours with nutrients optimised (Vitamin A/ Beta Carotene to be specific). The succulent and naturally juicy piece of chicken is my little pre-schooler’s favourite. She asked for all the crispy skin. With some fresh & chilled cucumber strips and juicy cherry tomatoes, they coupled well with the warm Quinoa Salad cooked to the perfect tenderness under 120°C, made a hearty meal to end a Thursday evening while welcoming Friday with a zest of energy.

Does this qualify as a Ketogenic Diet? I am of no expert with a definite answer. Regardless of the diet habit we adopt, let us all be physically active to get rid of the excess calories, rest sufficiently and not forgetting, enjoy every bit of our food without guilt. Life is too short for lousy and unhealthy food. It can be such an adventurous, yet sustainable, lifelong journey of healthy cooking for better living!

A. ZERO OIL PAN-FRYING CHICKEN & WATERLESS CARROT

Zero Oil Pan-fried Chicken Thigh & Waterless Carrots Recipe (Serves 2 Adults & 1 Preschooler) :

2 1/2 Palm Size Boneless Chicken Thigh (about 200 grams each)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper
6 Kitchen Towels (to pad dry chicken before pan-frying)
200 grams Small Carrots (with skin on)

AMC Healthy Cooking Method :

Marinate chicken thigh with salt and pepper for 20 minutes in an AMC Softiera Insert unit.
Preheat AMC 24cm 3.0 litre Roasting Pan unit with Navigenio heat level “3” to 50°C or “Meat Window”. Use Audiotherm as an indicator by turning it on, place on lid knob/Visiotherm, indicating 50°C or “Meat Window”.
When Audiotherm beeps indicating readiness for pan-frying, remove and turn off Audiotherm. Add pad-dried chicken thigh (skin side down) into Pan unit. Cover Pan unit with lid.
Activate Audiotherm, place on lid knob/Visiotherm, at 50°C or “Meat Window” for “Turning Point” or 90°C indication. When Audiotherm beeps the second time at 90°C indicating “Turning Point”, remove lid and turn the chicken thigh to pan-fry the other side. Cover Pan unit with lid. Activate Audiotherm at 50°C or “Meat Window” again for “Turning Point” indication.
When Audiotherm beeps at 90°C, turn off both Navigenio & Audiotherm.
Dish out the pan-fried chicken thigh on a serving plate.
Add carrots to the AMC 24cm 3.0 litre Roasting Pan unit with Navigenio turned on automatic mode “A” to 80°C or “Carrot Window” and set to cook for 5 minutes. Use Audiotherm as an indicator by turning it on, place on lid knob/Visiotherm, indicating 80°C or “Carrot Window” plus 5 minutes.
When Audiotherm beeps indicating readiness, turn off both Audiotherm and Navigenio.

B. STEAMING QUINOA SALAD

Steamed Tri-colour Quinoa & Brown Rice with Vegetables Recipe (Serves 4 Adults & 2 Pre-schoolers) :

1/2 cup Brown Rice (160ml cup) cleaned and
1/2 cup Brown Quinoa (160ml cup)
1/2 cup Black Quinoa (160ml cup)
1/2 cup White/Plain Quinoa (160ml cup)
240ml Water (may vary with different brown rice brand)
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Medium size Yellow Bell Pepper (cubed)
4 leaves Purple Cabbage (cubed)
50 grams Raisins
50 grams Pinenuts (toasted)
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Black Pepper

AMC Healthy Cooking Method :

Add rice and all quinoa grains into an AMC 20cm 3.0 liter Pot unit. Add water and soak for 30 minutes before cooking.
Cover pot with the Secuquick Softline lid. Switch on Navigenio to automatic “A”.
Turn on Audiotherm, place on lid knob, indicating “Turbo”, set 7 minutes to cook brown rice and quinoa. When Audiotherm beeps, turn off both Navigenio & Audiotherm.
When pot depressurised, remove lid, fluff the cooked rice & quinoa and add in all the chopped up vegetables (chopped yellow bell & purple cabbages), fruits (raisins), nuts (pinenuts), salt, pepper and drizzles with olive oil. Mix well and cover pot with lid.
Switch on Navigenio to heat level “3”. Turn on Audiotherm, place on lid knob, indicating “Carrot Window” or 50°C to cook. Scoop into a bowl for better Carbo portion measurement before serving them on a plate.

C. CHILLED VEGETABLES

Cucumber Slices & Cherry Tomato Wedges Recipe (Serves 2 Adults & 1 Preschooler) :

1 Japanese Cucumber
10 Cherry Tomatoes
2 Wedges Lemon

AMC Healthy Cooking Method :

Shred Japanese Cucumber with the AMC Cheese Shredder.
Wedge the cherry tomatoes with an AMC Tomato Knife.
Wedge a quarter of lemon with an AMC Santoku Knife.
Store 1 & 2 in an AMC Salad Bowl and 3 in another bowl. Chill to retain freshness until all food are ready for plating.

Tips :

Leave marinated chicken thigh in a Softiera Insert unit, a Combi Sieve unit or a Steamer unit for 30 minutes to drip away excess liquid for crispier pan-fried chicken and pad-dry with kitchen towels prior to pan-frying.
Activate Audiotherm with “Soft” setting and P Programme (20 seconds) on Secuquick Lid to cook white rice instead of Quinoa with Brown Rice, if preferred.
You may cook an extra portion or two of the Warm Quinoa Salad to last for 3 days. I reserved half the portion in an AMC 16cm Combi Bowl for storage and reheating on another day. Hence, I cooked a bigger portion to last 2 meals.

B. STEAMING QUINOA SALAD

Quinoa & brown rice to be cooked together, any objection? It provides a different source of energy.

Turbo cooked with the Secuquick lid for 7 minutes within the range of 108°C to 118°C.

Cooking done.

Fluff up the Quinoa, Brown Rice mix and drizzle with some olive oil.

Add all the chopped vegetables, fruits & nuts into the pot and mix well. Cook them up to 50°C on the Navigenio with heat level 3.

Here’s the well mix Warm Tri-colour Quinoa Salad ready to be served. This is the extra portion I reserved in a 16cm Combi Bowl for another meal.

A. ZERO OIL PAN-FRYING & WATERLESS CARROT

Preheating the Pan unit with a Navigenio heat level 3.

Reminder : No need to add any cooking oil! Chicken thigh has lots of fat. Hence, it can be pan-fried in an AMC Roasting Pan without additional cooking oil added.