Eco food

Eco food to me is............economical, environmentally aware and eatable.  With a little bit of education we can still eat good food ie free range or organic without the price sending your grocery bill skyward.  Every week I buy a waitoa valley free range chicken which is very Sophie Gray of me but I get three meals out of it.  One with the breasts, one with the thighs and wings and I use the carcass for stock be it for risotto, soup or casserole.  Here's my three recipes of the week.

Crumbed chicken breasts with roast red pepper, baby beets and goats feta
Apricot and preserved lemon chicken tagine
Spiced kumara soup with crisp fried ginger

Crumbed chicken breasts with roast red pepper, baby beets and goats feta.  Serves 4

2 chicken breasts
fresh wholegrain bread
1 egg whisked lightly with a splash of milk
plain flour
sea salt and pepper
handful of roughly chopped italian parsley
few tablespoons thyme leaves
handful of grated parmigiano reggiano

2 handfuls of mixed leaves - I used mizuna, cos, red oak, washed
2 red peppers
4 baby beetroots, peeled and sliced thinly
150g goats feta
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
sea salt and pepper

Cut each chicken breast into 2 or 3 even sized pieces.  Sandwich between two layers of cling film then bash with a meat mallet or pestle until the chicken is an even thickness much like schnitzel.
Put wholegrain bread, herbs, sea salt, pepper and parmigiano reggiano into a food processor and whiz until you have coarse breadcrumbs.
Now make your crumbing station, put plain flour onto a plate, crumbs on another plate and whisked egg into a bowl.  Dust the chicken lightly with flour, shaking off the excess then place chicken into the egg.  Coat with egg, drip off excess then coat thoroughly with breadcrumb mixture.  Set aside until ready to cook.

Chargrill your peppers on an open flame until blackened and blistered then put into a bowl and cover with cling film.  This makes it easier to peel later when they are cool.
Put all the dressing ingredients into a jar or bowl and shake/whisk to combine, set aside

Heat up a pan add a spalsh of olive oil and fry your chicken til golden and crisp, about 2-3 minutes. Season with sea salt.  Mix together all the salad ingredients leaving the goat feta to sprinkle over at the end.  Serve.