Dinner with Ninja…

I was lucky enough to have my friend Eric (aka Ninja) come over and cook us dinner last night!!

I have been pestering him to come do a guest post for awhile, as he is one of the best, most imaginative cooks around!     Any group gathering, Eric shows up with a box full of goodies – and deliciousness is created!!

Today was no different… he showed up ready to make us a 3 course meal! 

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On the Menu;

Arugula and Spinach Salad

Dairy Free Butter Chicken with Rice

Strawberry Sorbet

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First off the salad;

Mixture of spinach and arugula with lemon, oil, salt and pepper dressing

Topped with cranberries, avocado, pear, pumpkin seeds, green onion and his homemade smoked salmon

Perfection!!  It had the perfect mix of flavors.

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Next up Dairy Free Butter Chicken

The ingredients

Eric is just like me as far as recipes goes!  He just plays with it until it tastes good, but we tried to figure out the amounts but you may have to tweak it a bit!!

Toast up all the whole spices – approximately 1 tsp after being ground of each spice.

• Cardamom
• Cumin
• Turmeric
• Schewan Pepper
• Chilli pepper
• White pepper
• Coriander Seed

Grind all spices up in coffee grinder or mortal and pestle.

**Marinate chicken thighs in sirachi hot sauce, lime juice garlic and salt and pepper for at least an hour..

Sauté up onions until brown

Transfer into a separate bowl and brown cherry tomatoes with olive oil

Add onions and spices…

Add in 1 can of tomatoes paste + 6 cans water

Add in 1 can full fat coconut milk and chunks of kombucha squash – cook sauce until squash is soft

Cook marinated chicken in a separate pan until cooked throughout.

Add chicken to sauce and let simmer for a few mins.

Serve with basmati rice!  Topped with toasted almonds or cashews, green onion and fresh cilantro.

This was so delicious – SO DELICIOUS.  I highly recommend taking the time to make this dish!!

We talked over dinner about some Vegan/Vegetarian options for all my non meat eating readers…

Some of Eric’s suggestions

• Chickpeas
• Lentils
• Squash

I can’t wait for my left overs today!!  YUMMY

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On to the final course!!

Strawberry Sorbet

Freeze strawberries

Pop frozen strawberries into food processor with a touch of orange juice – blend in Grand Marnier until smooth.  Place into container and put into the freezer… 

Perfect end to a perfect meal!

Thanks Eric for doing this for me!!  I’m sure my blog readers will love you for it!! :)

Eric spends his time travelling the world and has the most amazing stories of random cooking adventures while exploring world!!   You never know, you might run into him one day!

Hopefully I can catch him again next time he is home for another delicious meal!

Thanks guys hope you enjoyed this post!!

Jess

ps.  Thanks Eric for some of the prep photos!! :)