Chicken and rice cakes
Are you struggling to get your chicken and rice?
This meal of the week is a little different. Although I have aimed this at bodybuilders on a pre-contest diet, this recipe is one of the best options for anyone with weight loss plans looking for a tasty food idea.
As some of you may know, I like bodybuilding. I competed and got a spot in late 2012. I struggled with the constant “force-feeding” of chicken, rice, and broccoli. If any of you have gone on a pre-contest bodybuilding diet you know how difficult it can be … It got so bad for me at the beginning of the 20 week diet that I literally wanted to cry every 2 hours when it came to getting this smooth blend down.
Since I really like my food, I looked for better ways to cook chicken and rice for the pre-contest. Since this diet is extremely strict, you are very limited in the type of seasoning you can use. Anything with sugar is a massive “NO NO” and if you look at the ingredients in most seasonings you will see sugar and salt. All sauces are out of the question as they are high in calories, most again loaded with sugar and salt.
The calories he was getting had to come mainly from chicken and rice.
So these “chicken rice cakes” are something I managed to come up with when I was struggling one weekend when I had some time.
Chicken and rice measures will vary for each person if you are competing. If you are only using this as a healthy option, you can follow the measurements I used.
Will need-
4 chicken breasts
300g brown rice (uncooked)
Black pepper
1 chili
1 clove garlic
A bunch of fresh coriander
No sugar / salt seasonings. (I used Singapore seasoning made with “Penzeys spices”), but any other seasoning that meets your diet criteria will do.)
Olive oil or “spray without 1 lime stick”
Step 1
Cook the rice so that it is ready to eat, let it cool slightly but do not allow it to cool completely.
Step 2
Wash and cut the chicken breast into pieces. We’re not looking for anything pretty here, just cut it up and spray with the 1 cal barless spray a few times.
Step 3
Crush or finely chop the garlic (if you’ve seen good guys, you can use a razor blade) and slice the chili. Make sure to remove the seeds from the chili here if you don’t want it to be too hot.
Step 4
Separate or finely chop the cilantro and mix with the garlic, chili, and cilantro.
Step 5
Season the minced chicken with Singapore seasoning or whatever you choose to use. (Singapore seasoning will give your food a nice spicy Asian flavor.) Then mix in the chili, garlic, pepper, and coriander. It’s best to coat the entire chicken with this seasoning, so stick them in with your hands.
Step 6
Put the raw chicken covered in seasoning in a food processor and add the rice as well. Mix this in short bursts, you don’t want to make raw chicken and rice soup! It’s a personal preference on how well you want to go here, but I like to keep it pretty clear.
Step 7
Once it’s blended or “blended”, take it out of the blender and put it in a bowl. Roll the mixture into a ball. Half the ball and half this again, you should end up with 4 balls … Good! Squash these balls so they are about an inch thick.
Step 8
Use the 1 lime spray to lightly grease a baking sheet or some aluminum foil, then place all 4 cakes on the pan and again spray with 1 lime spray (this will give the cakes a crisp finish) or else not on a pre contest diet, you can top it with parmesan cheese. (I have not tried this but I imagine it would finish the cakes very well)
Step 9
Put in a preheated oven at 180 degrees Celsius or gas mark 4 for about 30 minutes or until they have started to brown. Make sure they are well cooked before eating.
Step 10
Serve with your favorite vegetables and eat hot if you can. I have eaten these cold as well as I will normally make a large batch. It’s best not to reheat them, as reheated chicken can cause problems if it’s not done right.
As I’m experimenting in the kitchen, I came up with this healthy recipe, but there are things you could do to make this more exciting, like adding onions (another not in my pre-contest diet) or cheese, changing the spices you put in. or maybe make a blue cheese dip to put on top … I’m hungry now so I’m going to wrap it up!
I hope this has been useful to you. It was certainly for me that I felt like switching from the usual mix of chicken, rice, and broccoli in my pre-contest diet.
Good luck if you are going to try this, let me know how it goes.
By James Atkinson
