Cooking an Entire Western Meal in an Airfryer

Since embarking on a restrictive diet about 11 months ago, I've been doing a lot more cooking at home and a lot less eating outside...and that's a given since doing one's own cooking would mean we control what we cook and what seasonings we put in.

To control sugar means we have to control our carbs...so, what's the best dish to make if we want to omit rice or noodles?  A western meal, of course...and a western meal of roast chicken is the easiest protein to cook and nail successfully...not to mention it's also the cheapest! ^_~

Before I started on my restrictive diet, my initial reason for getting an air fryer was solely for the purpose of making snacks and small portions of food.  Oh well, the days of eating fries (or fried processed food) are obviously over!  But I've since put my air fryer to good use...and it's now the most used gadget in my kitchen.

I make roast chicken regularly...in fact, I cook an entire western meal these days in my small air fryer since this kind of meal is very agreeable with my way of eating now (to reduce carbs and cut sugar).  My favourite thing to roast is chicken wings coz they take no time to cook...only about 10 - 12 minutes at 200°C (turning once at the halfway mark or twice for a more even browning).

If you're roasting whole chicken wings, you may need a longer roasting time.  I get my chicken wings cut at the joints and discard the wing tips (makes for easier eating).  It's not easy to get just the mid wings (my favourite section) unless you buy them from a supermarket (even then I can't find it at the Aeon near me).  I used to buy many different bottles of seasoning like garlic, onion, paprika, chilli flakes, cayenne pepper, etc. but find it rather wasteful when they expire without being fully utilised.  Nowadays, I rely on just one bottle of McCormick Montreal Chicken Seasoning (that PhongHong recommended) which has a bit of everything together with some additional salt, black pepper and soy sauce...and the result tastes really good).

From time to time, I would also do a roasted (deboned) chicken leg.  This will take longer, about 12 - 15 minutes.  I cook it skin side up for 5 minutes, then flip and cook the underside for another 5 minutes.  I turned it skin side up one final time and cooked it for a further 5 minutes.

The only difference I make when cooking a chicken leg is that I put it on a rack inside the air fryer.  This is to allow the oil to drip down onto the paper liner below.  Propping the chicken leg on a rack also allows better air circulation and browning (since it's a thicker cut of meat).

Of course I can't just have the chicken alone...there must be sides (at least 2 sides lah) to accompany the main protein.  The most common (and well received) side would be potatoes (yes, must have a little carbs).

I've had it with all kinds of potatoes...the most common being the regular white potatoes I often get from the market (like Yukon Gold or Russet...I prefer Yukon Gold).  I roast them in the air fryer for about 15 - 18 minutes at 200°C depending how charred you like your potatoes.

I've had it with Japanese sweet potatoes.  These are the ones where the skin is reddish/purplish and the inside flesh is yellow.  They're ridiculously good in the form of kushiyaki in Japanese restaurants. Occasionally, I steam or boil them (which is an even healthier choice).  I steam them (whole) for at least 30 minutes but if you like it extra soft until you can scoop the flesh with a spoon, you'll need to steam it for longer.

Besides Japanese sweet potatoes, there's also the more common orange (or purple-coloured) sweet potatoes.  You roast them the same way as any potatoes although I find the texture a little bit harder than the regular potatoes when roasted for the same time but they taste better definitely.

I've not had honey sweet potatoes before and got some to try when I saw them being sold on Shopee.  Their flesh is whiter and when you press them, you get this little bit of sticky liquid oozing out.  These honey potatoes cook a little faster (only needs 12 - 15 minutes) and they taste really good.

Although roasting potatoes in the air fryer directly is the simplest and least time consuming method, I found that the roasted potatoes can be a little dry and not as fluffy.  So now I take the time to do an extra step (coz it's worth it) by steaming it first (you can also boil them) for about 10 - 15 minutes until soft.  Make sure you drain out any water (collected at the bottom of the plate) before tossing them with olive oil, salt and black pepper.

The tossing will fluff up the sides of the potato wedges and this will make them extra crispy around the edges.  The result of the steaming (or boiling) to soften them will turn the potatoes really fluffy on the inside.  This is now my default way of making roast potatoes (similar to what I first learned from Jamie Oliver except I steam them instead of boilng).

With potatoes making up one side, the other obvious side would be vegetables...and you've a great variety to choose from...starting with broccoli (which happens to be my son's most favoured roasted vegetable).  It takes about 8 - 10 minutes depending how charred and soft you want your broccoli (and my son likes it well charred).

My favourite is not broccoli (I find them a little dry especially the frizzy tops) but capsicum instead as they turn out really soft and juicy after roasting and charring.  They also cook very fast, you need just about 5 - 8 minutes.  I've cooked all 3 colours of capsicum (red, green & yellow) and find that red is the tastiest as they become sweeter when roasted compared to the other two + they're incredibly juicy and even ooze out a little chilli oil if you will.

Recently, I tried roasting green beans too.  They cook super fast, only need about 5 minutes to wilt and char (you can add 1 - 2 more minutes if you need extra charring and softness).  I now even cook them this way when I want to stir-fry french beans with minced meat coz they char a lot faster this way than the conventional way over a wok or pan.

Due to the fast cooking and encouraging results of the earlier green beans, I've also started to cook my eggplant this way (only takes about 10 minutes) since it softens much quicker and uses a lot less oil than the conventional pan-frying method.  Even when I fry it in a non-stick pan, the eggplant dries out and I keep having to add a little bit more oil + it takes forever for them to soften.  And no, this eggplant is not for my western meal...lol.

I once supplemented the vegetable component with sweet white corn, a vegetable that requires no cooking! Even better...and was pleased to know my blood sugar reading was alright after eating it (I had 1/2 a corn). If vegetables aren't available (more like when I'm too lazy to cook them), I sometimes substitute with fruits that aren't too sweet like guava, rose apple (jambu air) and mandarins.

I now use my air fryer more frequently than I do my convection oven as it can cook food efficiently and much quicker too...even though the capacity is small and I've to cook it in a few rounds (I also enjoy the perk of no washing up to do).  So, what are the 3 things I cook most often in my air fryer, you ask?  Well, it's definitely chicken, potatoes and vegetables! ;)  I even cooked a batch of roast chicken wings (for potluck) using my air fryer.

Since a western meal of chicken, potatoes and vegetables is agreeable with my way of eating less carbs, I cook and eat this regularly.  Even though I may include some carbs in my western meal in the form of potatoes (and the occasional bread), I find that my blood sugar readings are fine if I keep to one potato or a small bun (I try lah....kekeke).  The reading tends to be a little lower with sweet potatoes compared to regular white potatoes...but you will still need to control your portions! >_<