Mango Curried Chicken, Prunes & Millet Warm Salad
November is Osteoporosis Month – so let’s talk bone health, shall we?There’s so much information out there on Calcium and Vitamin D being the hallmarks of bone health, yet most of us don’t actually get enough of either for optimizing our bone health. Not to mention other aspects like resistance exercise, and micronutrients like Potassium, Phosphorous and Magnesium that don’t get nearly enough attention as they should.If this is news to you, you will like to know that there’s a lot of other foods that can support our bone health other than dairy – one of those special foods is prunes. California prunes (AKA dried plums) are high in potassium, and dietary fibre – some recent research shows that eating just 5-6 California prunes (one serving, or 40g) a day helps slow bone loss.Another benefit that I was exposed to early as my mother often ate prunes to help with her digestive health – it really works! 😉 I really love the texture of California prunes – they’re soft, squishy, yet have a chewy texture that’s moderately & naturally sweet, with no added sugar. I wanted to use it in a recipe that I’ve been making different variations of, but never took note of it. Today, my friends, you get the full scoop 😉This recipe is inspired by Moroccan flavours, and it can be served warm, or cold – as a salad, or grain bowl. You can also switch up some ingredients, and those variations are provided at the end.
Ingredients
- 2 chicken breasts cubed (or substitute for chickpeas for a vegetarian meal)
- 1 cup millet dried
- 2 ½ cups spinach fresh
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 1 sprig rosemary fresh
- ½ cup California prunes cut in half
- ¼ cup apricots chopped
- ¼ cup pecans
- ¼ cup feta cubed
- 1 tbsp curry I used Epicure's Mango Curry)
- ½ tsp cumin seeds
- ½ tsp fennel seeds
- salt to taste
- lemon juice to taste
- olive oil to taste
- pomegranate optional
Instructions
- Boil 2 cups of water or broth for cooking the millet
- Heat up a medium size pan on medium heat
- Cut up chicken breast into bite size pieces - set aside
- Toast pecans for 3 minutes and stir gently until they're toasted but not burnt. Remove to a plate and set aside
- In a medium size pot, cook millet (2 cups of boiled water or stock; 1 cup of millet)
- Add oil to pan; add cumin seeds & fennel seeds - allow them to toast to bring out the earthy aroma
- Add chopped onion, cubed chicken breast & curry spice mix; salt & pepper to preference - cook for 10-12 minutes until fully cooked
- Add sprig of rosemary, and allow the aroma to release and get integrated with the chicken
- Remove rosemary and set chicken mix aside
- Prep dressing: lemon juice (or balsamic), olive oil, salt & pepper.
- Layer salad: Millet, fresh spinach, cooked chicken mix, prunes, apricots, pomegranate (if using), toasted pecans & feta.
Notes
Enjoy warm or cold!
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