Bodybuilding foods don’t have to be boring!
If you have read any of my other articles on this website, you will know that I love to eat tasty food and always try to make my bodybuilding foods as tasty as possible.
Since childhood, I have always experimented in the kitchen; and my dad remains a big influence on my cooking style.
In recent years, however, I have adopted my own cooking style. Most of the dishes that I cook now are mainly bodybuilding foods. I have a good understanding of bodybuilding nutrition and I know what should be left out when it comes to preparing these bodybuilding foods.
Consequently, this often leads me to pulling my dad about adding extra salt or leaving out the extra fat on cuts of meat. Although I try to convert him, my dad is not a bodybuilder and not into fitness in any way!
If this is the first recipe of mine that you have come across, and you like what you read, CLICK HERE to see more of my bodybuilding recipes. I have taken some classic recipes and turned them into the perfect bodybuilding foods.
I hope that these recipes are useful to you. If you like to play around in the kitchen yourself, you may be able to tweak them and make your own versions of these bodybuilding foods.
Now, let’s get cracking with this tasty paella!
If you are serious about bodybuilding, you will know that chicken and rice is a well-known combination when it comes to preparing bodybuilding foods.
Now, although paella is a dish that can look really impressive when placed on a table; in the pan that it was cooked in, it is a surprisingly simple food to make. It tastes awesome, too!
This is actually one of my favorite bodybuilding foods and I would always recommend that you try it if you are a bodybuilding who is really serious about bulking up. Even if you are total “Jar Jar Binks” in the kitchen, you will be able to cook this dish well if you follow my instructions.
Things You’ll Need
- Chicken breast
- 2 cups of brown rice (works with any type of rice)
- A head of broccoli
- Sweet red pepper
- Spring onion
- Frozen green beans (or peas if you are not being strict)
- Cherry tomatoes (again, these are optional)
- Saffron (this is where the bright colour comes from)
- Rosemary
- 1 clove of garlic
- Ground black pepper
- A pinch of chilli powder (for a bit of a kick)
- 1 chicken stock cube
- A “Glug” of flax seed or extra virgin olive oil
(You can actually add as many green vegetables as you like — be creative. It is the method of cooking that makes this easy).
HOW To Make It
- Chop up the broccoli pepper, onions, garlic and any other veggies that you choose to add to your “bodybuilding paella” and put them aside.
- Chop the chicken into small chunks or strips. The smaller they are, the quicker they will cook.
- Put a large flat pan on high heat for a few minutes. If you have a paella pan, this is ideal! But a normal frying pan will work just as well.
- Once the pan is hot, take it off the heat and throw in the “Glug” of oil. If you are measuring, aim for around 2 tablespoons full.
- Make sure that your frying pan is now off the heat. Take the uncooked brown rice and add it to the pan. Mix around, ensuring that the oil mixes through the rice. Then set the pan aside.
- Grab a mixing jug, and, depending on how much rice you use, use a double amount of boiling water in it (if you used 2 cups of rice, use 4 cups of boiling water). Add the stock cube and mix until it has fully dissolved. You can also add the crushed or finely chopped garlic, chilli powder and saffron to this mix. If you decide to use any other seasoning, now is a good time to add it.
Bodybuilding foods can often be bland but I find that if you make up a healthy stock like this and mix it well, you will get maximum flavor throughout.
- Add the stock mixture to the pan containing the rice and give it a quick stir.
- Next, add the chopped chicken and the rest of the veggies. If you are concerned about presentation, it is a good idea to take a bit of time in spacing the ingredients out evenly.
- When all of the ingredients are in, grind in some black pepper, add a sprig or two of rosemary, and cover up. Since I use a paella pan, I always cover this with tin foil. If you do the same, it is pretty important to make sure that you make a good seal as you only want the minimum amount of moisture escaping. Also, the foil should be shiny side down. If you are using a pan with a lid, great!
- Once you are happy, put the pan containing your “ultimate” bodybuilding food back onto a medium to high heat. Because we used boiling water for the stock, it should not take too long before this starts to bubble. You are looking at only 20 – 25 minutes cooking time from this point, so don’t go too far! I would check to see how this is going after the first 10 minutes, and again every 5 minutes from then. It may take you a few attempts to get this meal perfect. Sometimes, I get a few crispy bits at the bottom of the pan, but I think that this only adds to the flavor.
This method of cooking your bodybuilding foods will open up a lot of different possibilities. The more creative that you can be, the better.
You could also use beef or fish to make your paella. If you are being strict and sticking to your macros, you can make this taste better by adding smoked paprika, garlic and a bit of chilli whilst leaving out the onions and peas etc.
The paella pan is your oyster!
I hope that this recipe is useful to you. If you give it a go, let me know how it turned out. Paella is a great way to get your macros in. It is quick and easy to make once you get the hang of it.
All the best,
Jim
You might also find the following recipes useful:
Jim’s Meatloaf: Great Tasting Protein and Carbohydrates
Home-Made Bodybuilding Protein Bars
Bodybuilding Food: Cheat Meal!
2-Day Split For Progressive Bodybuilding
Get Your Year Of Bodybuilding for a Solid Year of Progressive Training