Healthy One-Dish Meal

After analyzing chicken rice as shown in the previous post, I found out that chicken rice is high in sodium and fat. This is probably due to the rice, which contains flavourings that are high in fat. Furthermore, it is a very imbalanced meal that does not even have any vegetables.

Thus, I decided to modify this dish, replacing it with a healthier alternative - Chicken flavoured rice with grilled chicken drumlets and stir-fried mixed vegetables.

Serves 2:

Ingredients
Chicken flavoured rice:
- 1 cup brown rice (wash and drain well)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 pip garlic (sliced)
- 4-5 slices ginger
- 1 pandan leaf
- 1/4 teaspoon salt + 1 1/2 cups water (mix together)
- 1 teaspoon chicken stock
Grilled chicken drumlets:
- 4 pieces chicken drumlets
- 1 tsp black pepper sauce
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp plum sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
Stir-fried mixed vegetables:
- 2 pieces cabbage leaves
- 2 pcs button mushroom
- 2 french beans
- 1/4 carrot (skin removed and sliced)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp oyster sauce
- pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation
Rice:
1. Heat oil. Fry garlic and ginger till garlic is lightly browned.
2. Add rice, cook for a few minute then transfer all to cooker pot.
3. Pour in chicken stock and add pandan leaf. Mix well.
4. Cook rice in cooker till light goes off.
Chicken:
1. Mix all sauces well in a bowl.
2. Marinate the chicken with the sauces in the bowl for 15 minutes.
3. Grill chicken for 5 minutes.
4. Turn over the chicken pieces and grill the other side for another 15 minutes.
Vegetables:
1. Heat the oil in a frying pan.
2. Add the garlic and fry till fragrant.
3. Put in all the other vegetables and mix well.
4. Add a little water and chicken stock.
5. Fry for about 5 minutes.

Why is your suggested one-dish meal healthy? (reflection question)

According to my Food Intake Assessment, I should cut down on my sodium intake. This dish would thus be ideal as it contains much lower levels of sodium and fat as compared to the original chicken rice dish, thus is very healthy. By consuming this dish instead of the original chicken rice, I would be able to improve my diet. This is because the rice is cooked with chicken stock and pandan leaf, instead of with a lot of oil, reducing the amount of saturated fat. The meal is also very balanced, with a proportionate amount of all the food groups. It uses healthy methods of cooking such as grilling, stir-frying and steaming. Lastly, brown rice is used instead of white rice, thus increasing the amount of vitamins and nutrients in the meal. Therefore this one-dish meal is healthy.