(u'Dominique Rizzo',)
I f you're feeling uninspired with your everyday cooking, celebrity chef and ambassador for Gourmet Garden and Dominique Rizzo can offer you a few handy cooking tips from her very own repertoire.
Dominique Rizzo's top 10 cooking tips are:
■ Keep learning — practice new recipes to gain confidence working in the kitchen and read cook books, newspaper articles, food blogs and websites.
■ Pantry essentials — Pick a few staples from your favourite cuisines that you can add to meats and vegetables to create a flavoursome dish.
■ Invest in good utensils — make sure you do your research and look into a couple of well-known household brands.
■ Herbs and spices — adding a touch of herbs and spices to your household favourites will make a real difference.
■ Push the boundaries — introduce new meals and cuisines to your household using ingredients, herbs and spices that you may not have tried before.
■ Plan ahead — set a food plan at the beginning of the week and carefully develop your shopping list around this.
■ Support Aussie farmers and products — think about locally grown vegetables, fruit and other ingredients the next time you do your weekly shopping.
■ Fresh is best — stay away from preservatives, read labels and always choose the freshest and healthiest alternatives.
■ Share your passion — get together with family and friends and share your favourite dishes.
■ Keep it simple — plan to cook meals that don't require a whole lot of steps and intricate techniques.
■ Details: www.gourmetgarden.com.au
■ Chicken fajita salad with garlic, coriander and chilli recipe
Ingredients
1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of lime juice
1 tablespoon of Gourmet Garden garlic
1 tablespoon of Gourmet Garden coriander
1 teaspoon of Gourmet Garden chilli
1 teaspoon of Gourmet Garden parsley
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 red pepper, roughly chopped
1 red onion, roughly chopped
3 large tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 head iceberg lettuce, shredded
½ cup low fat shredded cheddar cheese
On the pre-heated grill cook chicken breasts for eight minutes or until chicken is cooked through and golden brown. Remove from heat and slice in strips and set aside.
In a small bowl place all ingredient for the dressing. Stir until fully combined.
Combine chopped pepper, onion and tomatoes with the dressing.
Divide shredded lettuce among the plates, top with the vegetables, cooked chicken and a sprinkling of cheddar cheese. Serve immediately.
■ Cilantro lime dressing
1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden cilantro
1 teaspoon of Gourmet Garden chilli
½ cup low fat or fat-free sour cream
1 ½ tablespoon lime juice
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
■ Method
Pre-heat the BBQ grill to medium heat.
In a bowl combine oil, lime juice, Gourmet Garden garlic, coriander, chilli and parsley. Toss with chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes.