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Are you in a rush ? The typical scenario is your coming home late from work or the kids are having an event at school and you’re rushed to make a hot meal.
Normally you would head to the closest fast-food drive-through to order your dinner. You know it’s not nutritious and causes an unbalanced unhealthy meal, but what are you suppose to do ?

Don’t worry ! Super Chef Bari is here to make your dinner ready in only 15 – 40 minutes. It will be healthy, balanced and nutritious.
Let’s begin by the leading proteins most of us have already in our home. If it’s not in your home, let’s plan a week to get you started. Look at the dinners below and make a grocery list to reflect the dinner you want. It will also be cost effective saving you money each month.
SO – Let’s get started :

Quick Chicken Dinners

• Curry Chicken – Cube chicken breast. Place in hot large frying pan with 3 tablespoons of Grapeseed oil ( or canola ). Sauté until done. Now add sliced onions , garlic , red and green peppers. Sauté. Add a store bought curry sauce and bring to a simmer . Serve with rice. Voila! Bon Appetite! 20 minutes
• Lemon Chicken Scallopini (cutlet) – Slice chicken breast length wise in half (butterfly – see Photo below or CLICK on full quick how-to video by Chef Bari) Cut each butterfly piece in half so you have four pieces. Then dredge ( cover both sides) in seasoned ( salt, pepper and garlic) in flour or cornstarch. Pan fry both sides with a little oil until nice golden brown, on medium heat. Turn off burner and place in a couple of dobs of butter. Swirl the pan and squeeze in fresh lemons on top of the chicken. If you’re adventurous add capers. Season to taste. Serve with penne noodles or use whatever pasta you have at home. Add a veggie of your choice. I like to have fresh sauté mushrooms or quick boil asparagus. You can use frozen peas and microwave. Voila! Bon Appetite! 20 minutes.
  
• Baked Chicken Fingers : Preheat oven to 410 degree F. Using Chicken breast slice into chicken strips. Not too big, not too thin either. Make breading out Panko crumbs and season with salt, pepper and powder garlic. No Panko ? No problem – put a bunch of soda crackers into a baggie. Pound the hell-out-of-them, so they’re fine crumbs,( Good way to get your frustrations out – lol) With another baggie put one raw chicken strip into bag and pound out slightly. Repeat until you have the number of chicken strips you want,( one 5 oz chicken breast will make 4 nice long pieces) Now add ( one-at-time raw chicken strips to baggie of Panko or soda fine cracker Crumbs. Give it a good shake or press the bag. Take out of bag and place each one on a baking sheet with either silicon sheet or parchment paper. Give the pan a quick spray with Pam ( vegetable spray) . Place all in a neat uniform rows. Spray the top of each breaded chicken strip with Pam. Place in your preheated oven ( 410 degrees F) and let cook until done. Flip over after 15 minutes. Cooking time = 25 minutes. Presto ! Done ! Serve with oven fried Potatoes. The kids will go crazy over your homemade Chicken strips !
• Chicken Shepherds Pie
  WW ( Weight Watcher ) : 1 Point per Chicken Finger
  

Quick Beef Dinners

• Mongolian Beef – find the cheapest boneless beef on sale in your supermarket. Also buy some teriyaki sauce too. Slice beef against the grain into nice small pieces. Just like you see at Tokyo Express. In a bowl, place in 1/4 cup of soya sauce, ground ginger or powder, minced garlic or garlic powder, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, ( the baking soda will break down the meat fibres in little time). Mix together and add sliced beef portions. Mix well throughout and place to the side. Cut 10 pieces of green onions on the biases ( medium slanted cut pieces ). You’re suppose to use red chilli peppers but if the heat is too much for you use red and green bell peppers. Cut peppers into thin slices. Get one whole medium onion, cut in half and then half again, slice into thin slices.
  Get out your frying pan and place on medium heat. Spray with Pam or add 3 tablespoons of Grapeseed Oil or Canola. Throw in your slices peppers, onions and green onions. Sauté. Remove from pan. Spray your frying pan with Pam spray ( vegetable spray and place back on medium-high heat. Now add only a quarter of the beef strips at a time. Cook until done. Do this four times or until all beef strips are done. Now add back the peppers and onions. Place on teriyaki sauce. Stir and plate on top of some nice rice of your choice. 20 minutes it’s ready ! Voila! Bon Appetite!

Quick One Pot Dishes

Hamburger Stroganoff – Get our a medium to large pot or I like to use a Dutch Oven Pot. Sauté 1 lb of lean ground Hamburger until cooked throughout. Add chopped onions and green onions. Sauté. Add slice mushrooms and minced garlic ( or use garlic powder ) . Again sauté. Do you have some red wine hanging around the kitchen? Good ! Add some into the pan and deglaze it ( loosen it up with the ground beef mixture) Now add 6 cups of beef broth and 1/4 cup,of tomato paste. Stir good. Bring to a simmer. Now add 4 cups of egg noodles. Stir and bring to a quick boil. Turn down heat and let simmer. Stir until the pasta is done. Plate and serve to your guests. Add a dob of sour cream on top. Presto! You’re done ! 20 minutes. ( Note : should not be too runny so just cook until the pasta absorbs the liquid to your liking).

Quick Pork Dinners

Mediterranean Sausages and Peppers – Pick up some Mild Italian Fresh Sausages from a Costco or your favourite Italian Shop. Also pick up up some nice Tomato sauce. I love Paul Newman’s tomato sauce ! Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Take out baking sheet and place on a silicon sheet or just use parchment paper. Spray with Pam ( vegetable spray). Place on your Mild Italian Fresh Sausages and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes. While you’re waiting, cut onions, red and green peppers into julienne strips ( thin strips). Get out a deep frying pan, dutch-oven pot or even a roasted will do. With a touch of olive oil, sauté onions and peppers. Place to the side. Take out your sausages from the oven and cut into mouth size pieces. I like them a little larger myself. Throw them into your skillet pan with the already sauté onions and peppers 🌶. Turn the heat back on to medium- high and quick sauté. Place in 1 1/2 jars of Tomato sauce. Bring to a boil and serve on top of pasta or even boiled potatoes. However, being an Italian dish, we would rather see you use pasta. Voila! 25 minutes! Done !

Pork Cordon Bleu Schnitzel

Chicken Shepherds Pie

Weekly night Home Sweet Home Cooking, featuring comfort food is just as important as Fine Dining. On my INSTAGRAM Page I showcase real everyday food as well as gourmet selections.

Seriously— the average person doesn’t have time to cook, and if they do, the prep must be under 20 minutes. On the average, most families want to be sitting down to a warm comfort food option after a hard winter night week.

Last night, by request, I made a Chicken Shepherds Pie instead of using ground beef.

It’s a healthier version of Shepherds Pie by using Chicken Breasts , fresh or frozen vegetables, such as carrots, peas, celery and corn.

Did you know Premium Frozen Vegetables can be better then fresh ? Reason is : The Food Distributors use fresh high quality vegetables before they flash-freeze them. However, look for Premium…

Chicken Breast Shepherds Pie Recipe —

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of Canola oil or Grapeseed Oil

3 cups of fresh or frozen mixed veggies ( carrots, peas, corn )

4 half chicken breast — cooked and diced

1/2 onion diced

2 stalks of chopped celery

2 cooked whole potatoes diced

2 cans of mushroom soup

1/4 cup of chicken stock

Preheat Oven 400 degrees F

Mashed Potatoes:

6 medium potatoes medium cut in medium pot, fill with water and cook.

2 tablespoons of butter

1/2 cup of milk or half & half

Salt and Pepper for seasoning

Method for Mashed Potatoes:

Cook until tender. Drain. Add warm milk and melted butter, including your salt and pepper. Mash with potato masher until nice and smooth throughout.

Preparation:

1. Sauté onions and chopped celery in 2 tablespoons of oil for a few minutes.

2. Add diced cooked chicken breasts and sauté

3. Add 3 cups of warm veggies ( heat in microwave before adding) sauté

4. Add diced cooked potatoes and sauté

5. Add 2 cans of mushroom soup and add 1/4 cup of chicken stock. Mix throughout until a nice even simmer. Approximately 6 – 8 minutes.

6. Generously spray casserole dish with vegetable spray.

7. Add chicken filling mixture.

8. If you want to get fancy, pipe out the mashed potatoes on top, like I did / or place mashed potatoes on top with a spoon – your choice.

9. Place in preheated oven ( 400 degrees F ) on a baking sheet ( to catch overflow) for 35 minutes or until you see it’s browning on top and lightly bubbling.

Voila! Bring out and serve !

This may be a simple quick dish that everyone can do, however, that’s the point of this comfort food on a cold wintery evening. It truly hits the spot !

Join me on Instagram for more easy, quick fun real food recipes —

Cheer !

Chef Bari

Please come back often… new quick and easy dishes will be added. Share with your friends and family – Cheers ! Chef Bari