August's Feel Good Food Round Up: Ginger

I chose Ginger for this month's Feel Good Food not just because of its amazing nutritional properties, but because it comes in so many different forms that I knew we would get a really varied range of dishes entered, and my goodness you all didn't disappoint! We have cakes, crumbles and sweet treats, curries and tagines, chicken, pork and seafood dishes as well as some great veggie options, and even a chutney! Thanks to all who took the time to link in, I promise your tastebuds will be tingling when you've finished reading this!

Vegetable and Chickpea Tagine

The first entry is from a challenge newcomer The Flaming Potato. I'm so pleased that they chose Feel Good Food as the first challenge to enter, and this Vegetable and Chickpea Tagine looks mouthwateringly delicious, packed with all kinds of healthy ingredients not to mention a good helping of fresh root ginger. 

Crystallised Ginger Biscuits

Our second entry came from Ros at The More Than Occasional Baker, this time with crystallised ginger in these Crystallised Ginger Biscuits. I love the added square of chocolate on top of the biscuits, which Ros says is her favourite part!

Sticky Ginger and Chilli Chicken

This is one of my posts, a Sticky Ginger and Chilli Chicken made using Mackays Spiced Ginger Preserve to make a sticky glaze for the meat - really quick and really tasty this one!

Mango Curry Chickpea Salad

Janet from The Taste Space entered this tantalising Mango Curry Chickpea Salad. This is also such a quick and easy recipe, with deep spices and sweet mango, all wrapped up in crisp lettuce leaves, perfect for a hot summer day.

Red Kidney Bean Burger

Elizabeth of Elizabeth's Kitchen Diary never fails to tempt me with her fabulous photography, and this Red Kidney Bean Burger is no exception! Packed with beans, cheese, potato and all sorts of amazing spices, you definitely wouldn't miss the meat in these!

Sticky Ginger Cake

Caroline over at Caroline Makes sounds like the perfect journey companion, especially as she took the time to prepare these Sticky Ginger Cake squares to take on a long journey! Adapted from a Nigella recipes, these cakes look lovely and moist and packed full of flavour.

Gingersnaps

Elizabeth from The Law Students Cookbook took her disappointment in a packet of store-bought Gingersnaps, and turned it into these beauties! These gingersnaps are gingery but not to hot, and crisp but not break-your-teeth hard. They sound perfect to me!

Four awesome recipes now from Eat Properly that really showcase the versatility of ginger across a range of dishes, both sweet and savoury. Check out Spicy Quadruple Ginger Cupcakes, Prawn and Sweet Potato Curry, South Indian Style Chicken Soup, and Slow Cooked Crispy Chinese Belly Pork - there's plenty here to plan a three course dinner around ginger! Thank you so much for taking the time to link back these great posts from the archives, that Chicken Soup is right at the top of my bookmarks!

Spiced Banana Nut Muffins

A sweet treat now in the form of Spiced Banana Nut Muffins from Jenny at What Jenny Baked. Originally made for a healthy addition to a BBQ, I imagine that these would also make a great breakfast on the run, or be just perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.

Sweet Chilli Chutney

The lovely Ness over at Jibber Jabber posted this fab Sweet Chilli Chutney on behalf of her Mum, dubbed the Chutney Queen! This is a really fruity recipe, utilising a punnet of nectarines that needed using, and a great accompaniment to all these summer BBQ's as demonstrated above.

Ginger Peach Crisp

A second great entry next from Caroline Makes, this scrumptious Ginger Peach Crisp with fresh peaches and an almond crumble topping this is perfect pick me up food.

Oaty Ginger and Plum Crumble

Another yummy crumble now from Shaheen over at Allotment to Kitchen this time with fresh plums in this Oaty Ginger and Plum Crumble. There's s good dose of stem ginger in this recipe, and I love the rolled oat crumble topping for some extra texture and goodness.

Chocolate and Ginger Pecan Pie

Laura from I'd Much Rather Bake Than... linked up this awesome Chocolate and Ginger Pecan Pie, just wow! I'm so glad I've found her blog, and will absolutely be trying this recipe over the autumn months!

Sticky Ginger Lemon Drizzle Cake

Last but by no means least, Kat from The Baking Explorer linked up with this beautiful Sticky Ginger Lemon Drizzle Cake. The zingy combination of lemon and ginger sounds perfect, and I can just imagine tucking into a slice of this cake with a steaming mug of tea and savouring every mouthful.

Thanks again to everyone who linked up this month and provided this amazing list of tasty dishes. Check back on the 1st September to find out what ingredient I eventually settle on (all suggestions are welcome below if there are any special ingredients you'd like to see in the future?) 

August's Feel Good Food Challenge

This month's key ingredient for Feel Good Food was one of the original contenders for the first challenge back in June. I chose it because it comes in so many different forms, has so many different uses in cooking and baking, and of course, most importantly, has so many health benefits.

I am of course, talking about GINGER. Be it freshly grated ginger root, ground ginger, crystallised or pickled ginger, this month, I want your ginger recipes please! 

To encourage you, some of the linked health benefits to ginger include;

• Ginger contains a number of compounds that aid gastrointestinal functions including digestion
• A recent study indicates that daily consumption of ginger can ease muscle pain associated with exercise
• Some studies have shown ginger to be very effective in reducing nausea linked to seasickness, pregnancy and even nausea brought on by chemotherapy

The rules are as follows;

• Recipes should be submitted by midnight on the 28th. 
• Recipes do not need to be calorie controlled, but wherever possible, try to use wholemeal carbohydrates (flour, pasta, rice etc) to make them as nutritious as possible.
• You can enter as many recipes into the challenge as you like, the more the merrier. Existing posts are welcome, as long as they contain the chosen ingredient and have been updated to include a link back to this challenge.
• Recipes can be your own or someone else's, but if you do use an existing recipe please credit the source.
• Posts must contain the Feel Good Food logo above, be tagged with Feel Good Food, and contain a link back to this site. 
• Once your post is live, you can add the URL to the linky tool at the bottom of the page. Alternatively, email me a copy of the URL link to kickatthepantrydoor@gmail.com so that I know it is there, and I can include it in the round up at the end of the month. 
• If you are on Twitter, tweet me the link at @ThePantryDoor1, using the hashtag #FeelGoodFood and I will retweet as well. 

Sticky Ginger and Chilli Chicken

This dish is one of the nicest I have eaten in a while, and came out of nowhere very quickly in both inspiration and execution. I was recently sent a parcel of different curds and preserves from Mackays of Dundee, to coincide with their #bakingwithmackays drive. I have had the jars for about 4 or 5 days now, sitting on the counter, waiting as I um and ah over different cake, tart and pudding recipes in my head, and trying to filter through the generic recipes that have been clouding my mind and come up with something exciting and original. 

Sticky Ginger and Chilli Chicken

Tonight, having put all thoughts of baking aside for a moment, I began to scour the kitchen for inspiration for dinner, when my eyes fell upon the collection of jams sat on the side, and in particular, one shiny new jar of Mackays Spiced Ginger Preserve. Now as some of you may already know, I have embarked on a mission to find new ways of creating tasty dishes that have some health or nutrition benefits (see my new Feel Good Food challenge) and ginger is one of the ingredients I have earmarked for a future theme, as amongst other things it is very good for improving digestion. 

Mackays Spiced Ginger Preserve

So I had a lightbulb moment, grabbed a couple of things out of the cupboard, and came up with this recipe, which worked perfectly first time - don't you just love it when that happens - and made these gorgeous sticky ginger and chilli chicken skewers, which I served with a quick vegetable egg fried rice on the side.

The following made 6 chicken skewers, but could equally be used to glaze whole chicken breasts, which would taste great hot, or cold sliced over a salad or in a pitta bread for lunch...

Ingredients

3 large chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces

3 tablespoons Mackays Spice Ginger Preserve

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes

• Place the chicken pieces onto skewers, around 4 pieces per skewer. Place onto a tray.
• Put the ginger preserve, soy sauce and chilli flakes in a saucepan, and stir over a low heat for about 60 seconds, until combined and the jam has melted a little.

• Pour the mixture over the chicken skewers, and rotate them so that the chicken is covered on both sides. 
• Place under a hot grill for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally, until the meat is cooked through. 
• Transfer the skewers onto the serving plate, and pour any excess ginger mixture over to serve. 

This chicken was sticky and tender, sweet from the ginger preserve, but balanced by the soy sauce, and with the little bit of heat from the chilli flakes. Just perfect, and great for a quick mid week meal, as the glaze only takes 60 seconds to make! The ginger preserve has a really great taste, and great big chunks of ginger in which added a great texture and dimension to the dish. 

Disclaimer: I was sent products from Mackays to use as I chose to come up with new recipe ideas. This is not a sponsored post.