Frozen margaritas - mango & pineapple; coconut, lime & jalapeño - $10 each

Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

Ingredients for Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

I also love the bright colours of the ingredients - I'm all about bringing summery brightness into my life through my cooking. Don't you feel cheered up just looking at all those vibrant colours?

The soup is based on a medley of vegetables - carrots, onion, celery, capsicum, tomatoes - spiced up with the warming flavours of garlic, cumin, oregano, smoked paprika and chipotle chilli. Vegetable stock is your liquid, and red lentils add body and protein. It's also easy and quite quick to cook, as the red lentils only take about twenty minutes. In fact, the trickiest part is chopping all the vegetables at the start, but after that you're really just chucking everything into a pot and stirring occasionally.

Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

Mexican Lentil Soup with Chipotle Tortilla Chips

Let's talk about the toppings! Fresh lime, fresh coriander, and avocado are a must. I also love a generous dollop of sour cream. (This of course de-veganises the soup; dairy avoiders and vegans replace the sour cream with your favourite non-dairy alternative, or simply leave it out). The last time I made this soup, I also made some chipotle tortilla chips in the air-fryer, and let me tell you, they were out of this world! Total game changer. I had some corn tortillas lying around, so while the soup was simmering, I brushed them with olive oil and sprinkled them with chipotle seasoning. (Another chipotle-based product that's recently become available at my local supermarket! It's a mix of chipotle chilli powder, salt, sugar, and garlic powder. If you can't find it, I'd suggest using a mix of those component ingredients. Or even just salt! They'll still be good). I cut the tortillas into eight wedges each, and then cooked them in the air-fryer for five minutes at 180C. My experiment worked! They came out crispy and hot and so delicious. They were so fab on top of the soup as a crunchy kinda Mexi-crouton, but were also amazing dipped in guacamole as a snack. Give them a go!

Individual Serving

For my lunch, I'd scoop out the hot items (chicken fajitas, beans and corn) into my serving bowl, microwave that, and then add the cold ingredients on top. (If you don't have a container with dividers, then I'd suggest putting all your hot items in one container and the cold items in another container).

Enjoy!


Chicken Fajitas
Adapted from Nigella Lawson
Slice 2 skinless chicken breasts into 1 centimetre strips. Place into a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, a generous sprinkling of salt, 1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil and 2 tablespoons lime juice. Stir to mix and set aside.
Warm 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large frying pan. Peel and slice 1 red onion, add to the pan and cook slowly for 5 minutes. Core and seed 1 red capsicum, and cut into strips. Add the capsicum to the pan with the onion, and cook until softened. Remove the onion and capsicum to a bowl and set aside.
Heat 1 tablespoon garlic-infused olive oil in the pan and add the chicken pieces. Cook, stirring frequently, until cooked through. Add the capsicum and onion back to the pan and stir to combine. Remove from the heat and set aside.

Pico de Gallo
Chop 1/4 red onion into fine dice. Place in a bowl and squeeze over the juice of a 1/4 lime. Core and finely dice 1/4 jalapeño chilli and add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Chop 200 grams cherry tomatoes into dice and add to the bowl. Add a handful chopped coriander, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Guacamole
Chop 1/4 red onion into fine dice. Place in a bowl and squeeze over the juice of a 1/2 lime. Core and finely dice 1/4 jalapeño chilli and add to the bowl. Season with salt and pepper. Mash in 1/2 avocado and stir in a small handful of chopped coriander.'

To assemble your lunch boxes...
Divide the chicken fajitas, 1 x 400 gram can drained corn kernels and 1 x 400 gram can drained black beans between four lunch boxes. To four separate containers (or separate section in your lunch boxes), add your cold ingredients. This will be your pico de gallo and guacamole, 1/4 shredded iceberg lettuce, 1 tablespoon Greek yogurt or sour cream per box, 1 tablespoon grated cheese per box, and a lime wedge.

Have you made this recipe? Leave a comment below! Tag me on Instagram @sarahcooksblog and hashtag #sarahcooksblog

Chipotle Chicken Salad

Good morning and a hearty welcome to you! It's Monday and I have a new Meal Prep post for your delectation.

One evening I just could not be bothered cooking but still wanted something reasonably healthy, so I Uber Eats'd a chipotle chicken salad from a local Mexican chain. It was neither great nor terrible, and slightly expensive, but I didn't have to do any dishes and didn't fall into a carb-coma afterwards so overall I'd say it was a win.

However, I couldn't get the idea out of my head that I could make a better salad if I just applied a little effort once I was feeling more energetic. So I did! The next night for dinner, I threw together a salad with lots of fresh raw vegetables, plus corn, roast broccoli, lime juice and coriander. (There were, like, three tiny pieces of roast broccoli in the salad I ordered, and I wanted MORE). I topped the salad with feta and chipotle-marinated chicken. Plus avocado, of course. And it was so good! All the vegetables were so vibrant and tasty, and it was a really nourishing-yet-light meal. Perfect candidate for meal prep!

Home-Made Chipotle Chicken Salad

Feeling energized by my successful salad endeavour, the day after that, I went out and bought more ingredients, whipped out the camera and made four days' worth of those salads for my work lunches. And here we go: chipotle chicken rainbow salad! (I do realise this means I'll have been eating a chipotle chicken salad for six days in a row, but I'm ok with that).

So, the chicken. I found that one large chicken breast was enough for the four bowls - but obviously use more or less depending on your appetite. As a marinade, I used that same Frontera chipotle salsa that I told you about for my last Mexican Meal Prep. I bought it at a local McCoppins gourmet grocer and totally love it, but am sadly not sure where else it would be available in Australia. However, you could use whatever seasoning you want - all that matters is that you enjoy the flavour of it. How about some supermarket taco or burrito seasoning; a hot sauce; maybe whip up some chipotle peppers in adobo sauce; or go real simple with cumin, chilli powder, garlic powder and some olive oil.

Marinated chicken ready for the oven

I cooked the chicken and broccoli at the same time, on different shelves in the oven. For this, you just cut them into florets, drizzle with oil and salt and pepper, and roast.

Roast broccoli

Ok, for my meal prep salads, I decided to bulk them out a little with some black beans. (Black beans are a magical food that somehow are vegetable, carb and protein, all at the same time). Rather than cooking them frijoles negros style, I used a tip I saw on Jamie's Super Foods and popped them in a dry frying pan. They start off like this...

Black Beans

... and then start to go dry and pop and split. They smell great while you're doing this! (Heads up - the pan is murder to clean up afterwards. Your call if you want to try popping them or just use the drained beans as they are).

Black beans, popping

Ok, let's look at the salad component of the salad. We're going for a Mexican vibe with lime juice and spring onions, then finely shredded red cabbage, corn kernels (from a can, I'm not Superwoman), fresh cucumber. tomato and coriander leaves. I love the bright colours! (Iceberg lettuce might be nice if you were eating this straight away, and you'd get that fun Tex Mex / Old El Paso / Taco Bill vibe, but seeing as the point is to eat this salad over a few days, cabbage is a better choice, as it holds up better).

Fresh salad ingredients

Actually, speaking of the corn - if you are feeling energetic you could toast the corn kernels in a dry frying pan to give them a slight smoky BBQ flavour before adding them to the salad. (Less messy than the black beans, I assure you). Or, of course you could barbecue a whole ear of corn before cutting the kernels off. If you are, indeed, Superwoman.

Then it's just a matter of layering all the elements into your bowls or containers. Start with the salad as a base...

Salad base

Then your (popped or not) black beans and feta. (I like feta because it tastes awesome and kinda looks like what I imagine queso fresco looks like, but I reckon regular grated tasty cheese would be nice too - again channeling more of a TexMex vibe).

With feta and black beans

Then chicken and avocado! Yummeh. I prefer sliced, guacamole is the obvious substitute.

Avocado and chicken

I've had people ask me before how I keep avocado from going brown over a few days. Answer - fresh unbruised avocado, lots of lemon or lime juice, air-tight container. Also, I don't mind if the avocado starts going slightly brown by the fourth day. If this bothers you, I'd suggest prepping all the salads at once, but only slicing each portion of avocado the day you eat the salad. Keep the unsliced avocado halves in the fridge in a zip-lock bag to maintain as much freshness as you can. However - when I meal prep, I don't want to be going back to the meals and doing more work throughout the week, I just want them done and dusted! I want to clean the kitchen, get everything out of the way, and then not think about the meals again until I pull them out of the work fridge and then inhale them. (And I must admit, I do like the way it looks when all the four meals are complete and I can take a nice photo of them for the blog or the Insta).

Enjoy!

Chipotle Chicken Rainbow Salad
An original recipe by Sarah Cooks

Ingredients
1 large chicken breast, chopped into 2-cm pieces
2-3 tablespoons chipotle salsa (substitute any vaguely Mexican seasoning you like)
1 small head of broccoli, chopped into florets
Olive oil, salt and pepper for roasting the broccoli
1 x 400 gram tin of black beans
2 spring onions, finely chopped
One lime
1/8 red cabbage, shredded
1 x 125 gram tin corn kernels
1 small cucumber, cut into 1/2 cm cubes
1 tomato, cut into small cubes
1 small bunch coriander, finely chopped
80-100 grams feta
1/2 avocado

Method
Preheat the oven to 220C (200C fan forced).
Place the chicken breast pieces in a bowl. Add the chipotle salsa and stir to combine. Allow to marinate in the fridge for an hour if you have time, or just tip straight onto a lined baking tray.
Place the broccoli florets in a separate baking tray. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper and stir to combine.
Roast both the chicken breast and broccoli in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the broccoli has started to brown and it smells amazing. (Depending on your oven you might need to take one tray out first and/or swap them during the cooking time).
Drain the black beans and toast in a dry frying pan until heated through and some of them have started to pop. Take off the heat and set aside.
Place the chopped spring onions in a large mixing bowl. Squeeze half a lime over and season with salt and pepper.
Add the red cabbage, corn, cucumber, tomato and coriander. Stir to combine.
Divide the salad between four bowls/containers. Crumble the feta over the bowls.
Top with the black beans and chicken pieces.
Finely slice the avocado and divide between the bowls. Squeeze extra lime juice over the avocado to prevent it from browning.
Makes 4 salads

Touché Hombre

A little earlier this year (the fifth of May, to be precise), I was invited along to Touché Hombre to try out their new menu. Mexican food and tequila cocktails? Just try and stop me! (And who else would I bring but my Mexico-phile cousine, Catherine?)

Touché Hombre
233 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9663-0811
Website


I visited Touché Hombre a couple of years ago for my friend Adri's birthday and really enjoyed it, so I was looking forward to visiting again. You may remember that at the time I was deeply suspicious of both "modern Mexican" (I'm less fussed about that now) and no-bookings policies (still not a fan), but even so was impressed with Touché Hombre.

Since my last visit, I see that they've kept the fun and tasty modern take on Mexican food (yay), but gotten rid of the no-bookings policy (double yay).

Touché Hombre

Margarita del Tommy - Espolon blanco, Pierre Ferrand dry curacao, citrus, agave nectar - $16

We started with a Margarita del Tommy, a light and citrussy easy-drinking cocktail. Needless to say, it paired perfectly with the food.

Touché Fried Chicken with habanero cream and lime - $10

Spicy Lamb Ribs - merquen, coriander, honey - $13

I am so glad the lamb ribs remained, because they were one of my favourite dishes from last time. (I see they've been renamed from "fatty" lamb ribs to "spicy", but they were still delightfully fatty.) The meat was super tender and I loved the earthy mix of spices and the sweetness of the honey.

Tostaditos - chicken tinga, blue crab, pumpkin, tuna

Tostaditos aren't the type of thing I'd normally order myself, as I think that the heartier dishes tend to provide better value for money (and see above lamb ribs and fried chicken for two examples!), but still, I really enjoyed these crisp little tortillas piled with toppings. Each topping had a really distinct flavour and a nice texture - our favourites were the raw tuna with black sesame, soy, and candied peanuts, and the chicken tinga with spicy chipotle mayo.

Kafir Lime & Chilli Margarita - Tapatio Reposado infused w/ kafir lime, chilli, ginger, citrus - $16

Time for another drink! This kaffir lime and chilli margarita really packed a spicy kick! It was both refreshing and warming, at the same time.

Front: Chimichurri Chicken Taco - egmont cheese, toasted pepitas, coriander aioli - $6.00 Back: Mejilla Taco - slow-cooked pork cheek, habanero cream, BBQ corn salsa - $6.50

Tacos! Both the chimmichurri chicken taco and the mejilla (slow-cooked pork cheek) taco were tasty, but I really, really loved the mejilla taco, with its crispy pork, spicy habanero cream and smoky BBQ corn salsa. Give me a plate of those for dinner and I'd be a happy girl!

Fish tacos with green salsa and cabbage

Now, my cousin Catherine has a whole lotta dietary requirements (it's easier to ask her what she can eat than what she can't eat), but for the evening was happy to pick around what she could eat and have little bites of the things on her "no" list, just to taste. However so that she could have something proper to eat, the kitchen kindly put together a nice fish taco for her, with cabbage and salsa verde on the side). Speaking of dietary requirements, vegetarian, dairy free and gluten free options are clearly marked on the menu, and the venue manager, Rich, told us that they can deal with most dietary requirements with some advance notice.

Blood Orange Madagascar - Jose Cuervo tradicional, Pierre Ferrand dry curacao, blood orange juice - $16

Wait, another tequila cocktail? Well, if you insist!

Chocolate Ice-Cream Sanga with chilli and peanut butter parfait - $12

We finished by sharing a chocolate ice-cream sandwich, filled with peanut butter parfait. The chilli taste wasn't particularly prominent, and the chocolate biscuits were a little too hard to cut through, so Catherine and I split this in half lengthwise to share. Ingenuity! The parfait was smooth, with a nice peanut butter flavour, but I would have preferred crisper biscuits.

We had a fun night at Touché Hombre - it's a great spot for a casual meal with good food and nice cocktails - and I'm hoping to go back again soon. Fried chicken and margaritas, who's in?

Sarah and Catherine dined as guests of Touché Hombre.

Touché Hombre

I'm sure y'all know by now how I feel about two of Melbourne's dining trends: "Modern Mexican" and no-bookings restaurants. Negatively! (Read my post on Acland Street Cantina for my thoughts on the former). So I wouldn't have chosen to visit Touché Hombre myself, but when my good friend Adri chose it as the venue for her birthday dinner, I was definitely willing to give it a go!

Touché Hombre
233 Lonsdale Street
Melbourne, VIC 3000
Ph: (03) 9663-0811
Website


We arrived around six-thirty on a Saturday evening, and I was relieved that there wasn't a queue, although we did have to wait for our entire party to arrive before they would seat us. I found this a bit annoying, especially as the restaurant wasn't even full when we got there, but I guess it makes sense for times when there's a huge line of people waiting.

Touché Hombre

The decor and atmosphere was very hipster - neon lights, high tables and stools, lots of noise reflecting off exposed hard surfaces, and a DJ spinning retro hip hop music. I really liked it, especially the music. (Hip Hop Hooray!) What can I say? Despite my grandma-tendencies, I might just be a hipster at heart.

Michelada Bitchin' Mexican Beer Cocktail - Sol, Touché's Salsa, Hombre's Chipotle Purée, served in a beer mug finished w/ fresh lime, ice, a spicy salted rim - $10

Strawberry and Apple Juice - $5.50 Jarritos Toronja (Pink Grapefruit) - $5.50

I know $5.50 is really expensive for a small cup of juice, but I was driving that night, and wanted something a little more interesting than water. It tasted great too - win!