Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce

Wow, it has been so long since I've posted anything that I can't even remember how to write.  And honestly, I almost didn't blog this recipe because so many other bloggers have posted about it and did a far better job than I did with it.  Since I really didn't have any of the fresh herbs this recipe called for, I should probably have called this "Chicken & Cooked Tomatoes" but I was in need of a quick weeknight recipe and had chicken and tomatoes, so I went with it.  I really enjoyed this, but my husband found it a little bland.  I probably liked it because I added a drizzle of delicious balsamic vinegar to mine, and my husband seems to think he doesn't like balsamic (silly boy).  I would definitely say to go the distance and add the fresh herbs the recipe calls for to keep the flavor going!

 Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce (from Annie's Eats, originally from Bon Appetit)

Ingredients:
For the chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and halved (4 halves total)
Salt and pepper
¾ cup flour

For the sauce:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 clove garlic, minced
1½ tsp. fresh oregano, minced
½ tsp. sweet paprika
Salt and pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes (about 12 oz.)
1/3 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1 tbsp. minced fresh parsley

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

Directions:
Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour, shaking off the excess. Set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the butter, garlic, oregano, and paprika. Season with salt and pepper to taste. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the oregano butter with the olive oil. Place the chicken breast halves in the skillet and cook until golden brown on each side and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and set aside.

Increase the heat to high and add the tomatoes to the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes begin to char and burst, about 5 minutes. Add the remaining butter mixture to the pan. Crush the tomatoes slightly to release their juices and continue stirring until the butter is melted. Add the wine or broth to the pan, scraping the bottom to loosen the browned bits. Cook for a minute more until well blended.

Transfer chicken to serving plates, and top with the pan sauce. Sprinkle with parsley, drizzle with balsamic vinegar (if desired) and serve

Fiesta Brown Rice Chicken Bake

I'm a big fan of casseroles, as I'm sure I've said before. I'm an even bigger fan of one dish casseroles like this one. I saw this dish on The Mess Pot right around Cinco de Mayo and thought I'd give it a shot. I'm so happy I did, these flavors are right up our alley and the process was relatively simple. It reminded me a little of a jambalaya or paella. I even got to use yummy boneless chicken thighs without my dark meat fearing husband even knowing! I did cut back slightly on the garlic, and I probably used a little more chili powder than the recipe called for. I have to say, that spritz of fresh lime juice at the end really makes a huge difference here. I sometimes leave stuff like that out, but the dish wouldn't be the same without it. We will definitely be having this again!





Tex-Mex Chicken & Brown Rice (from The Mess Pot)
8 Garlic Cloves (I used about 6)
2 tsp chili powder (I used about 2.5 tsp)
1/2 tsp hot sauce (I used Tabasco)
Salt & Pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken thighs, trimmed
1 tsp canola oil
1 onion, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 jalapenos, stemmed, seeded and minced
2 ears corn (I used 1 cup frozen, since I have an endless supply right now!)
1 cup long grain brown rice, rinsed
1 1/4 cups low sodium chicken broth (I always use stock)
4 scallions, sliced diagonally
1 Tbs fresh lime juice

Adjust oven rack to lower position and heat oven to 300 degrees. Combine half the garlic, 1 tsp chili powder, hot sauce and salt & pepper in a large bowl. Stir in the chicken and rub until covered. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat until simmering. Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapenos and corn. Cook until soft and light brown, 8-10 minutes. Stir in rice, remaining garlic, and remaining chili powder and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the broth, scraping up brown bits at bottom of the pan.

Lay the chicken on top of the rice mixture. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to oven. Cook until rice is tender and liquid is almost absorbed, 50-65 minutes. Transfer chicken to plate. Cover the pot and allow rice to steam up the rest of the liquid for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, chop/shred the chicken into small pieces.

Stir the shredded chicken into the rice. Top with scallions and lime juice. Season with salt & pepper to taste before serving.

Raising French Babies and Grating Soft Cheeses

I have wanted to make a white lasagna for a while now, but needed both inspiration and a break from the cycling season to make such a fattening dish. Inspiration arrived in the way of a Plow to Porch basket that included both early season zucchini and spring spinach. Both sounded like delicious additions to a white chicken lasagna. I was excited to use my new food processor to grate the mozzarella cheese, but forgot the helpful hint of freezing this cheese before grating. It is a little too soft to grate straight out of the fridge and when I turned on the processor, it managed to get sucked through the shute as though it was a science fiction "blob" character. Of course, the sound that this made alerted the husband. When he asked "what the heck was that?" I was able to respond with a quote from one of my favorite cycling season Radioshack commercials: "I'm raising French babies and grating soft cheeses, as is the custom here!"

**This commercial is based on Lance Armstrong's fictional assistant Alphonse, who sneaks onto Lance's bike while he is out of town and pretends he is an overweight Lance, riding to victory. My favorite Radioshack commercial. The actual line from the commercial is: "They're raising French babies and throwing soft cheeses as is the custom here" in a faked British accent.

This ended up being a tasty meal and a good chance to experience the new Philadelphia Cooking Creme product. I used their Italian Herb flavor as an addition to the bechamel sauce to add a little thickness and flavor, and I appreciated the more complex flavor it added. I think I will be using this product again, since we like cream cheese, but not too much, and this cuts some of the cream cheese heaviness for us (I am not affiliated with this product in any way, by the way).




White Chicken Lasagna (my own creation)
7 No Boil Lasagna sheets
2 cooked skinless chicken breasts, diced (I used rotisserie chicken)
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs flour
1 cup milk
1/2 cup Philadelphia Cooking Creme
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 pound zucchini, shredded (about 3 small or 2 medium)
8 oz low fat ricotta cheese
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg
1 Tbs fresh or 1 tsp dried basil
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350. Heat a large saute pan over medium high heat. Add onion & garlic and cook until golden. Add spinach and zucchini and cook until spinach is wilted. Mix in cooked chicken and remove from heat. Meanwhile, cook the bechamel sauce by melting the butter in a small saucepan. Add flour and cook about 1 minute. Add milk and stir constantly until no lumps are noticeable and sauce begins to bubble & thicken. Add cooking creme and stir to combine. Sauce will be thick.

In a medium bowl, mix ricotta, egg, parmesan, basil & pepper. In a 13" x 9" baking pan sprayed with cooking spray, add about a 1/2 cup of bechamel sauce. Layer about half of the lasagna noodles (I did 3 facing vertically), then spread with about half of the ricotta mixture. Add a layer of about half of the chicken/veggie mixture, then top with about half the remaining bechamel. Repeat these layers, then top the entire dish with an even layer of mozzarella cheese. Cover with foil and bake about 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 5-10 minutes more until cheese starts to turn golden.

Cajun Chicken Pasta

I have a coworker who is also into cooking and always comes to me for ideas when she's cooking dinner for friends. If I can't come up with something on my own blog, I almost always head over to Annie's Eats. Annie is an amazing blogger and just a fantastic all around inspiration. When my co-worker tried Annie's Cajun Chicken Pasta, she raved about it and brought in some leftovers for me to taste. Nothing but yum! This is a recipe that I wouldn't make on a regular basis, and not in the midst of a heavy race week due to the heavy fat content, but this made a really great special occasion dinner (celebrating the first part of the season being done, yay!). This is a restaurant quality meal. I made mine a little too spicy, so I will cut back on the Cajun /Creole Seasoning next time, and the Tony's Creole Seasoning that I used was really salty, so I cut way back on the salt called for in the recipe. I also had some Spinach that I was looking to use up from my Plow to Porch delivery, so I tossed that in and I don't think I would have liked this as much without it. This is probably going to be my favorite new recipe of the year!

Cajun Chicken Pasta (from Annie's Eats)
Ingredients:

For the chicken:
1 large boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
Salt and pepper
Cajun seasoning

For the pasta:
8 oz. bowtie pasta (I used whole wheat corkscrews)
Kosher salt

For the sauce:
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup yellow onion, chopped
3/4 tsp. kosher salt (I used 1/4 tsp)
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. Cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
1 bag baby spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. water
3 scallions, chopped
To cook the chicken, heat a small amount of butter or olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper, and a generous sprinkle of Cajun seasoning. Add to the skillet and cook until lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain the cooked pasta and set aside.
Meanwhile, return the skillet to medium heat and heat the butter and olive oil until the butter has melted. Add the bell peppers and onion to the pan. Mix in the salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning and cayenne pepper. Cook until the vegetables are tender, about 6-8 minutes. Add the half-and-half and heavy cream to the pan and bring to a simmer. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water, and add to the skillet once the cream mixture has started to bubble. Allow to cook until thickened, about 5 minutes. Add spinach and stir into sauce until wilted.
Add the cooked pasta and chicken pieces to the pan. Stir well to combine and cook at medium-low heat just until the chicken is warmed through. Adjust the amount of Cajun seasoning if necessary to suit your tastes. Stir in the scallions. Serve immediately and top with additional Cajun seasoning, if desired. Makes 4 servings

Chicken Lo Mein

Let's see if I can become a food blogger again! I have admittedly not been blogging for a very long time, but I do miss it! I really give a lot of credit to the blogging world for my love of food, and that love of food and experimentation has led to my loss of 20 pounds in the last year, even if I haven't been blogging about any of the fantastic food that I've been eating. This recipe for Chicken Lo Mein comes from Elly Says Opa by way of Annie's Eats and I've been using the sauce (with some adaptation) as my standard homemade stir fry sauce. I never used Oyster Sauce before, but now it is a staple in my pantry. It really brings the Asian flavor to stir fries and does not add any fishy flavor. The picture below is shown with whole wheat spaghetti noodles, which I do not recommend. The sauce doesn't get absorbed well enough over Italian noodles, so you either need Asian noodles or rice. I have substituted in all sorts of veggies with this recipe, it really goes great with everything.

Chicken Lo Mein
6 oz. lo mein noodles
1 tbsp. oyster sauce
2 tbsp. low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken broth (I sometimes omit and use 2 Tbs Oyster Sauce and 2 Tbs Soy)
I add 1 Tbs Brown Sugar
Pinch red pepper flakes (I sometimes omit and add 1-2 tsp chili garlic paste)
1/2 tbsp. canola oil
1 medium chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 small onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, seeded and sliced thin
1 cup snow peas
4 oz. sliced mushrooms (I used 2 julienned carrots instead)
3 cloves garlic, minced (I use less if I'm using chili garlic paste)
1 tsp. sesame oil (I usually only use if I'm serving with the noodles, not with rice)

Bring a pot of water to boil. Cook the lo mein noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside. In the meantime, make the sauce by combining the oyster sauce, soy sauce, chicken broth, brown sugar and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Whisk well and set aside.
Heat the canola oil in a large nonstick skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken to the pan and cook until browned and cooked through. Add in the vegetables, each a few minutes apart, starting with the onion and ending with the bell pepper (or whatever veggie takes the least amount of time to cook). Cook just until tender-crisp. Add in the garlic and saute just until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the sauce to the pan, and then the cooked lo mein noodles. Toss the mixture well to coat everything. Drizzle with the sesame oil and toss once more. Serve immediately.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

One of the only problems I have been having with my Plow to Porch CSA Delivery is that they almost always include a large bunch of fresh herbs that I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to use up! Basil is easy for me, as is cilantro (which I just give away to my co-workers, hee, hee!), but when I got a huge bunch of thyme, I was pretty stumped. I knew that lemon goes well with thyme and searched my usual recipe sites first: allrecipes and epicurious didn't have anything that appealed to me. I finally just did a Yahoo search, and low and behold, one of my favorite blogs was one of the first to pull up! I should have just searched my Google Reader to begin with! So this great recipe comes from Annie's Eats. I followed it pretty close to the letter and it came out great! I'm looking forward to making this again, perhaps with some different herb combinations (I've currently got parsley & chives waiting to be used up). The recipe had the perfect lemon to wine ratio and although I did cut back a little on the butter, I'm sure it would be even better with all the butter added in for richness. I'm not going to list out the ingredients for this, since I did follow Annie's instructions pretty closely, and honestly, I think anyone reading this should go look at her blog anyway. She is pretty amazing and her blog is awesome! By the way, I still had a ton of thyme leftover after making this! How am I supposed to use it all?!!

Honey Mustard Chicken with Rice Pilaf

I don't think I would be able to pull off my Plow to Porch subscription if I wasn't a part of the blog world. Thankfully, many of the blogs I subscribe to are also members of CSAs, so when I am stumped how to use something, I can search for that ingredient in my Google Reader and check out how my fellow bloggers have used it. That was definitely the case with this recipe and kale. Most of the recipes I had seen for kale were more fall or winter style recipes - pasta with sausage and soups. But I found this recipe for honey mustard chicken with rice pilaf that used a big bunch of kale, and I decided to use a leek instead of the onion because I wasn't sure how to use my leek, either. This was quite good. I think next time, I might use a little less kale, or at least chop it a little more so that it cooked down a little more (I didn't have the kale chopped by the time the pan was ready for it, so I chopped a little hastily!), but the flavor combination was great. Maybe I'll just use more rice. Since this was my husband's first kale experience, and he said he really liked it, I consider it a success story!

Honey Mustard Chicken and Rice Pilaf (from Clean Eating Magazine via Pink Parsley & The Mess Pot)

1 1/2 cups brown rice

cooking spray

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

1/2 cup white onion, diced (I used one leek, thinly sliced)

1 large bunch kale (at least 8 oz), stems removed and finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 Tablespoons honey

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely minced

Cook rice according to package directions. Heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-high, and mist with cooking spray. Saute chicken for about 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside.Mist the same pan again with cooking spray, and add the onion (leek), kale, and red bell pepper. Saute until just cooked through, about 3-5 minutes. Add rice to the vegetables and saute until warmed, about another 2 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.Meanwhile, whisk together the honey, mustard, vinegar, oil, garlic, and 2 Tablespoons of water. Season with salt and pepper.Add the chicken and honey mustard and saute for about 3 minutes, turning chicken often to coat with sauce.To serve, divide rice pilaf among 4 plates, then top with chicken. Drizzle with remaining honey mustard, and sprinkle with parsley before serving

Homemade Pesto with Roasted Tomatoes

I have mentioned in a past post that I have been trying to plan meals that involve "cleaner" eating. A major part of that has been signing up for Plow to Porch, a fantastic local organic fruit & vegetable delivery service here in Santa Barbara. I have a very good friend that taught me that eating locally is actually, in general, better/more helpful for the environment than eating organic. I live in Santa Barbara. It doesn't get much easier to eat locally than here. We have a ton of Farmer's Markets (including one that is about a block and a half from home, twice a week), and there are a lot of local farmers growing great things. I even went to high school with twins who were growing up on one of the bigger local farms. So why do I need a special service to eat locally? I hate making decisions! I needed someone else to tell me what looks good week to week and then I could plan my meals from there. I have been so happy with the service so far. It is similar to a CSA (community supported agriculture), but without the season long commitment, and with delivery to boot!


My first box arrived a few weeks ago, and I decided to immediately cook up this homemade pesto with Roasted Heirloom Cherry Tomatoes and Green Garlic. I roasted the tomatoes & garlic in a 400 degree oven until they were just starting to get color. Meanwhile, I placed a large bunch of basil, a 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts into my Magic Bullet and blended the heck out of it all. When the garlic and tomatoes were done, I added the whole head of green garlic cloves into the pesto as well (green garlic is much more mellow than regular, especially roasted) and blended that up. There was not very much pesto sauce, maybe a couple Tablespoons, and I was worried there wouldn't be enough when I added it to my pasta & chicken. That problem was solved when I poured the tomatoes and their sweet juices into the mix. The juices thinned out the sauce a little (and added so much sweetness!). This was a delicious meal, although the husband thought I used too many tomatoes. Funny, because I could have doubled them and still wouldn't have had enough for me, they were so delicious and sweet! I'm so excited for the fruits & vegetables we get to enjoy with Plow to Porch!



Pesto with Roasted Tomatoes & Green Garlic (my recipe)
1 large bunch basil
1/4 cup + 2 tsp olive oil
1/4 cup walnuts
1/4 cup parmigiano reggiano cheese
1 pint cherry tomatoes (mine were rainbow heirloom)
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 head green garlic
12 oz boneless chicken breast, cubed
1/2 lb short cut whole wheat pasta (like bowties or rotini)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook pasta according to directions. In 9" x 13" roasting pan, mix tomatoes, salt & pepper and 2 tsp olive oil. Cut the top off green garlic head and toss into roasting pan. Roast until juices are flowing and tomatoes and garlic are just starting to carmelize, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile, blend basil, walnuts, parmigiano cheese & olive oil in food processor, blender or Magic Bullet until very smooth. Add cooled garlic, separated into cloves and blend well. Cook cubed chicken breast in nonstick skillet until cooked through. Add chicken, pesto, tomatoes and tomato juices into drained pasta and combine well. Serve immediately or allow to cool and serve as a cold pasta salad.

Chicken Gyros

This recipe is another one that is very popular in the blogging world. I had hesitated because we don't have much experience with Greek food, but the homemade Tzatziki Sauce really intrigued me, so I had to try it. I also tried making homemade pita, but that kinda failed miserably:

Looks appetizing, doesn't it? I don't think I adjusted the dough enough for our very foggy, wet weather that we have in Santa Barbara at this time of year. It definitely didn't puff up the way it should, and it was really sticky, so I'm going to have to give it another go some other time. I just ran to the store and picked up some store bought pitas. The rest of this recipe was good. The tzatziki sauce was very tasty and fresh, and I could see why a lot of Greek cuisine revolves around this tasty concoction. The final pita product was good, too, but it didn't quite live up to the big hype it has been getting in my blog world. Perhaps I was just jaded by my pita baking failure. I will probably try this again and hopefully it will wow me more next time.

Chicken Gyros with Tzatziki (from Elly Says Opa)

1.25 lbs. chicken pieces

4 cloves garlic, smashed

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp. red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt

1 Tbsp. dried oregano

salt and pepper

1/2 batch of tzatziki

sliced tomatoes

sliced onions (I omitted)

4 (pocketless) pitas (I used pockets, because I was desperate and couldn't find anything else!)

Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.
Heat a grill pan. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and then broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips. Meanwhile, heat your pitas. Top the pita with the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, onions.

Chicken Fajitas

It always really surprises me when I hear people refer to restaurant fajitas as a good diet food. Sure, when you are at Chili's, there is often not many other choices, so getting fajitas and just eating the chicken & veggies is probably a better option than the boneless buffalo wings or the ribs. I just usually find that restaurant fajitas (I'm talking chain restaurants, here) are dripping in oil, and they usually use such poor quality meat that you HAVE to glob on the guacamole & sour cream in order to get some flavor. I have wanted to make fajitas at home for a while now, but our home grill options have been limited in the past (no outdoor area for grilling at this apartment, and most grill pans kinda suck). Ever since we got our new cast iron grill pan for Christmas, I knew I could finally make fajitas at home. Cast Iron is the only way a home grill pan will get hot enough to really work for fajitas. Now that I had the good pan, I tried to decide on a good flavoring. The packets at the regular grocery store all sounded pretty gross to me (so much salt and artificial flavoring!), but someone on the nest cooking board mentioned that Whole Foods carries a delicious, salt-free blend from The Spice Hunter for Fajita Seasoning. I picked up the bottle and - HOW REFRESHING! - I recognized every ingredient! I trust The Spice Hunter because I already use their Seafood Blend for most of our homecooked fish. They are also practically local, based in San Luis Obispo, which is nice. I liberally coated this on the chicken, grilled it up, then grilled the peppers and onion until they were nicely charred. I served this with homemade guacamole and just a little bit of sour cream. Even my husband liked these, and he is not a restaurant fajita fan at all (for the reasons above, plus his hatred of onions). It was a great, natural tasting meal.

Chicken Fajitas (my own recipe, but it isn't much of a recipe!)

3/4 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips

The Spice Hunter Fajita Seasoning

2 bell peppers, cut into strips

1 small onion, cut into strips

Guacamole

Sour Cream

6 flour tortillas

Heat grill pan over medium high heat. Season chicken strips liberally with fajita seasoning. Grill until cooked through, about 2 -3 minutes per side. Remove to serving bowl. Add pepper & onion strips to grill. Grill, turning frequently, until just soft and starting to show some grill marks/color (do this in batches if needed). Add to serving bowl. Toss all ingredients well, then scoop into tortillas and serve with guacamole and sour cream, if desired.

Chicken Riggies

This is a dish I had never heard of until I had entered the food blogging world. Apparently, Chicken Riggies is a pasta/chicken/peppers dish that originated in upstate New York, which is pretty much as far away from Santa Barbara as you can get in this country, so no wonder I haven't heard of it! After learning of its existence from Elizabeth's Cooking Experiments, I search around on Allrecipes a bit to see some of the other variations that exist. Apparently, it is a very personalized dish, and many households have their own take on the specifics. I decided I would stick pretty closely to the version on Elizabeth's blog, but that I would roast the peppers first to mellow out some of the heat (I'm afraid of raw peppers sometimes) and to deepen the flavor. Of course, because of the roasting, the flavors were a little too mild for my liking, so next time I make this, I will probably double the peppers and I probably won't roast the red pepper for a little texture contrast. I will probably also remove the heavy cream, because although it was delicious as always, I don't think it added enough to the picture to really make up for the calorie bomb that heavy cream always is.

Chicken Riggies

1 lb rigatoni (I used whole wheat penne)

1 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

3 shallots, diced

2 chicken breast halves, cubed

salt and pepper to taste

1 red bell pepper, roasted & chopped

1 jalapeno pepper, roasted & diced

1 Poblano pepper, roasted & chopped

1 (28 oz) can tomato sauce

1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes, drained slightly

3 TBSP dry sherry

3/4 - 1 cup heavy cream

Cook pasta to al dente. Drain & set aside.Melt butter & heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and shallots and saute until almost soft, then add peppers and chicken, season with salt and pepper. Saute for 8-10 minutes, or until chicken is almost cooked through.Reduce heat to low and add tomato sauce and sherry and simmer about 10 minutes. Stir in cream and simmer for 10 minutes more. Toss all with hot, cooked pasta and serve.

Chicken Kabobs

We live really close to our area's biggest shopping center, and there is a great Hawaiian/surfer themed restaurant there (Kahuna Grill) that serves Kabobs with teriyaki marinade. The beef kabobs are very yummy, but they are pretty expensive. I decided that this summer, I would try making kabobs at home, and this is the result. I have heard lots of places that although kabobs served at restaurants have a plethora of veggies and protein all together on one stick, home chefs are better served by splitting up the bounty into segregated skewers. This ensures that the items that need to cook longer (chicken especially) are able to get all the heat attention they deserve without burning the more delicate ingredients (tomatoes and, if I had used them, mushrooms). I used about a 1/2 bottle of italian dressing mixed with two extra cloves of garlic and about a Tablespoon of lemon juice. I marinaded about 3/4 lbs of boneless skinless chicken breast for about an hour in this mixture, then skewered it along with a little onion, bell pepper, and lots of grape tomatoes. The chicken turned out delicious. I wasn't as happy with the onion & pepper results, probably because I was using an indoor grill. Tomatoes, as usual when heated, were great. This will be a dish I try again, but I will probably try for a more Asian style marinade next time. It does make a beautiful colorful dish, though!

Chicken Pesto Pasta Bake

I really like the flavor of pesto, but I'm kind of picky about it. It needs to be exactly the right combination of herb/oil/garlic or I am just not happy. I saw this post by Joelen for chicken pesto stuffed shells and I was intrigued. I didn't have any jumbo shells at my disposal, but decided to make this as a casserole by mixing with some medium sized pasta shells. This had a great flavor, but I think making this as a casserole dried out the pasta a little bit. I really liked how the cream cheese dilutes the heavy pesto flavor, though. I would say it "lightens it up" but it is cream cheese, so it isn't really lighter, just not as strong of a pesto flavor. Can't wait to try this again, but in the future, I'll stick with stuffed shells or maybe I'll throw this into a Calzone, as Joelen recommends. On a separate note, Joelen has recently posted a TON of freezer friendly meals, so if you are interested, check out her blog! This is one of those freezer friendly meals.

Pesto Chicken Casserole (Adapted from Joelen's Culinary Adventures)
1/2 lb short pasta (I used whole wheat med. shells)
1/4 cup prepared pesto (homemade or store bought)
2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I used store rotisserie)
1/2 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese
2 Tbs light sour cream
4 oz light cream cheese
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
Cook pasta according to package directions, but stop cooking a few minutes early so that pasta is a little al dente. Drain. Meanwhile, add chicken, garlic, pesto, cream cheese and sour cream in a small saute pan and warm over medium heat until cheese is melted through and entire mixture is warm. Add parmigiano cheese and mix well to combine. Add drained pasta and mix well. Pour all into an 8" x 8" casserole sprayed with cooking spray. Top with mozzarella and bake in preheated. (Note: To reheat as leftovers, add 1-2 Tbs milk before microwaving)

Jalapeno Popper Chicken

I've posted a couple different recipes for stuffed chicken, and it continues to be one of my favorite ways to cook chicken. This chicken was fantastic. I came up with it after my husband's many southwestern inspired dishes in Hawaii led me to realize how well oregano works in Mexican/southwestern dishes. The most important part of this dish was using really high quality pepper-jack cheese (I used Sonoma-Jack) and using panko bread crumbs to give the chicken that crunch that you would expect from a popper. I could see adding some crumbled cooked bacon to the stuffing on this, but I kept it simple here.



Jalapeno Popper Chicken (my original creation)
2 6 oz boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 oz pepper-jack style cheese, sliced into sticks
1 jalapeno, seeds & ribs removed, julienned
1 tsp ancho chili powder (or plain chili powder)
1/4 tsp oregano (I used dried, but ground would work better)
1 egg, scrambled in shallow dish
1/2 cup panko style bread crumbs
cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut a pocket into each chicken breast by carefully inserting knife into the middle of the thin side of the breast and cutting gently until a good sized pocket is formed (do not cut through to the other side). Stuff about half of the jalapeno & cheese into each chicken breast. Pull chicken back into shape, sealing with toothpicks if required. Sprinkle each side of each breast with oregano and chili powder. Dip each side of each breast in the egg and then in the panko. Place in shallow baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Bake uncovered for 25 minutes. Spray tops of the chicken breasts lightly with cooking spray or oil and continue to bake for 5-10 minutes more or until bread crumbs start to turn golden brown.

Fried Rice - that I like!

If you asked my sister and me what our most hated meal was when we were little, the answer would have been "Tuna" (also known as tuna casserole, a meal you will never see on this blog). In second place for me was "Fried Rice." My family's interpretation of fried rice consisted of leftover rice, scrambled egg, a bunch of soy sauce and a ham steak from the refrigerated section of the grocery store (you know, those thin, pressed into shape things?) diced up. Pretty much, this was all just mixed together in a wok and topped with chopped green onion. It still makes me a little sick to think of it. The difference between this gross childhood meal and icky tuna is that I knew all along that fried rice has potential of being quite tasty with the right treatment, and I've even had some at a local teppanyaki place that I really liked. So I recently decided to try out chicken fried rice at home. I used Joelen's recipe as inspiration, but as Joelen says in her blog entry about it, the best part about fried rice is that it is so adaptable. You can use whatever leftovers and veggies you have on hand, and measuring isn't something that is all that important. This turned out great - the ginger that I used brought a delicious brightness to the dish (although ginger is generally more known for Japanese cuisine than Chinese, it worked here). I also loved the fresh veggies and will probably use more veggies the next time I make this. I also used tamari style soy, which is a little richer than regular soy, and I thought it was great, since the soy flavor is so key to this dish. This definitely blew the childhood ham steak version out of the water!

Chicken Fried Rice (inspired by Joelen)
2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced into 1 inch pieces
4 Tbs soy sauce
1 tsp ginger
2 cloves garlic
Marinate chicken in soy with garlic & ginger for about 20 minutes

1 1/2 cups leftover white rice (day old works best)
2 Tbs + 1 tsp vegetable or canola oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
1 cup mixed vegetables, chopped (I used 2 diced carrots)
1 egg
1 clove garlic
2-3 Tbs Soy Sauce (this is where I used the Tamari)
1 green onion, chopped into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces (green part only)
Heat 1 tsp oil in large wok or pan over medium high heat. Add chicken and stir fry until cooked through, about 5 minutes. Remove from pan, add 1 Tbs of oil and add onion & clove garlic and stir fry until just soft, about 1-2 minutes. Push to the sides of the wok and add scrambled egg, cooking until thoroughly cooked through. Add vegetables and cook for about one minute. Add remaining Tbs oil and crumble rice into the wok, stirring to keep the rice "unclumped." Add chicken back in, then drizzle soy into the mixture, stirring constantly until desired color/flavor is achieved. Serve immediately and top with green onion pieces.

Pressure Cooker Chicken Tacos

This recipe is a variation on a family favorite that we got to try this Christmas when we visited the midwest. I've been telling the husband for years that we should try his family's famous pork tacos with chicken, but I make the recipe so rarely that he was afraid of trying something new and ruining his once a year taco experience. I'm so happy that he enjoyed this version when we were visiting the rest of the family during the holidays, because these are so much healthier than the pork version that I'm much more likely to make them more than once a year for him. Thanks to the two K's (my sisters-in-law) for forcing my husband to try Chicken tacos! I surprised him by making these during the week this week and he was so excited he almost couldn't believe it. It's the little things in life, I guess!

Pressure Cooker Pork Tacos

Step 1 Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, diced into 1" pieces
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup water

Place above ingredients in pressure cooker. Once pressure regulator is gently rocking, cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow pressure to release of its own accord. Remove pressure cooker lid and shred chicken.

Step 2 Ingredients:
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 - 3/4 tsp of ground red pepper (cayenne)

Add Step 2 ingredients and mix well. Stir well and allow to simmer on medium low for about an hour or until nearly all the liquid is absorbed into the meat. Serve with soft flour tortillas and usual taco toppings (traditional for my inlaws include shredded lettuce and chopped tomatoes, but extended friends & family like cheese and sour cream, too). Makes about 6 servings of 2 tacos (but good luck stopping at 2!).

Delicious Chicken Parmesan

Chicken Parmesan is a pretty trusty dish. You can go into a suspicious "italian" restaurant and usually be okay ordering Chicken Parmesan. I often forget how easy and how much tastier this recipe can be when it is made at home. I don't make it very often, since it is not all that healthy and tends to spatter up my stove pretty bad, but wow, this is delicious! I know you can make this in the oven, but we eat a lot of breaded & baked chicken, so if we're going to do chicken parm, we usually do this the old fashioned pan fried way. I think this might be our Valentine's Day dinner in 2010, it was that good!

Chicken Parmesan (my recipe, inspired by a million Italian-American Restaurants)

Two boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each) pounded to about 1/2 inch thick

1/4 cup flour

1 egg

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano cheese

3 Tbs Canola Oil (I used Olive Oil this time, but Canola is better in this application)

1 cup spaghetti sauce (jarred or homemade, I used Ragu)

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp each dry basil, oregano and italian seasoning

1/2 cup grated mozzerella cheese

Mix bread crumbs and parmigiano cheese in a shallow dish. Place flour and scrambled egg in their own shallow dishes. Dredge both sides of chicken in flour, shaking very well to remove excess. Dip both sides in egg, then dredge in bread crumb mixture. Heat oil in frying pan until shimmery hot, then add chicken. Pan fry about 3-5 minutes per side until chicken is cooked through and crust is deep golden brown. Remove to paper towels and pat until most oil is removed. Pour oil out of pan and blot with a paper towel to remove most oil while leaving the browned bits in the pan. Add spaghetti sauce and scrape with a wooden spoon to pull up the browned bits into the sauce. Add pepper flakes and herbs and stir well to incorporate. Cook until just bubbly, then add the chicken back in, turning once to coat in sauce. Top each breast with about a 1/4 cup mozzerella cheese, reduce heat to low and cover, simmering until the cheese has just melted. Serve with hot pasta, if desired.

My 100th Post! Mac & Cheese with Chicken & Broccoli

This is my 100th post on this blog. I'm really excited to get to 100 in less than a year, especially since nearly all of my posts are cooking related (I've dropped the "tales" portion of the blog because I keep track of my books on goodreads.com now). This has been a great year for me, cooking wise, and I owe it all to the blogging world.

My 100th post is a blend of a couple recipes. I had seen Mac & Cheese with Chicken & Broccoli added in on a "kid friendly" episode of 30 minute meals with Rachael Ray. Her version seemed a little bland, from the recipe, so I added some seasonings that I had seen on The Pioneer Woman website (If you can't trust that site for rich & creamy mac & cheese, I don't know where else to go!). I picked up some tasty cheeses from our new Whole Foods Market (yay!) and it just made this meal fantastic. This was delicious, and we found it very filling.

Thanks for sticking by me and reading this blog. Its been really fun and I'm looking forward to another 100 posts. Sorry about the yellow picture. You'd think I'd have this food photography down in 100 posts, wouldn't you?

Macaroni & Cheese with Chicken & Broccoli

1/2 lb whole wheat dry macaroni

12 ounces boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into one inch pieces

1 tsp grill seasoning

2 Tbs butter

1.5 Tbs AP Flour

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup nonfat milk (or a total of 1 cup dairy of your preference)

About 6-8 oz grated cheeses, good melting (I used 1/2 aged white cheddar, 1/2 young gouda)

1 tsp dry ground mustard

1.5 to 2 cups of broccoli florets

1/2 cup dry bread crumbs (I used a mix of panko and italian seasoned)

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions, undercooking by a couple minutes (it will finish cooking in the oven). Meanwhile, season chicken breast with grill seasoning or seasoning salt (trust me, it tastes great with this seasoning!). Cook in 1 Tbs of butter until no longer pink. Remove from heat and add the other Tbs of butter. Add flour to melted butter and stir until a smooth roux is formed. Cook for about a minute before adding dairy all at once. Whisk very well and cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Then add mustard and slowly fold in cheese until very smooth & creamy. Return chicken to the sauce and add broccoli florets. Stir well until all is incorporated, then add cooked macaroni (or add sauce mixture to drained macaroni pot, if preferred). Pour all into an 8" x 8" baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Mix bread crumbs and parmesan in a small bowl, then sprinkle mixture over top of the macaroni & cheese until coated with the crispy mixture. Bake uncovered until crumbs start to brown, about 20-25 minutes.

Oops! Really Spicy Chicken with Rice & Beans

I enjoy spicy foods, especially those that use unique spices to create a rich flavor to the dish. This recipe had the potential to be fantastic, but my lack of knowledge of the degree of heat of the spices I had available really ruined this dish for me. For some reason, I have had a really tough time finding ancho chile pepper at most of my local grocery stores (and I live in California, for Pete's sake!). I thought that Chipotle Chile Powder would be an okay substitute and didn't look into the relative Scoville scale heat index for each. Little did I know, my chosen substitute was 5X hotter than the original ingredient! Thank goodness my husband was hungry after his ride and ate a bunch of this dish. I could only eat about a third of my plate, it was so hot! However, both of us kept saying, "When my mouth cools off enough to taste something, I enjoy the flavors of this dish!" I finally found Ancho Chile Pepper at a seldom visited grocery store, and I really look forward to making this again!

Red Chile Chicken & Rice with Black Beans (from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless via Elly Says Opa)

2 Tbsp. canola oil

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (1.25-1.5 lbs. total)

2.5 Tbsp. ancho chili powder, divided (or Chipotle Chili Powder, if you are crazy)

1 medium onion, large dice

1 cup rice

4 cloves garlic, minced

1.5 cups chicken broth

1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup chopped green onions, roots and wilted outer leaves removed before chopping

1/2 to 1 cup salsa for serving

Heat the oil in a medium-large heavy pot (with a lid) over medium-high heat. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken breast with salt and 1 Tbsp. of the ancho chili powder. Place the chicken in the hot oil and brown on each side, 2-3 minutes. Remove to a plate, leaving behind as much oil as possible.
Add the onion and rice to the pot. Stir for several minutes, until the rice turns from translucent to opaque. Add the garlic and the remaining 1.5 Tbsp. ancho chili powder. Cook one minute, and then add the broth and salt to taste. Stir well. When the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
Cut the chicken breast into 1″ pieces. Add them to the pot along with the beans. Re-cover and cook 12 minutes longer.
Sprinkle the green onions and test a kernel of rice. It should have no more than a hint of chalkiness at in the center, in which case you place the cover back on, remove it from the heat and let it stand 5-10 minutes. If it’s not cooked, cook for another 5 minutes or so.
Fluff the mixture with a fork and serve with salsa for each person to spoon on.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

This recipe has shown up on so many blogs lately, and the original recipe belongs to a great blogger, Elly, over at Elly says Opa. We love chicken parmesan, but I haven't made mine in a while because it isn't all that healthy. I liked that this recipe included all the flavors with none of the deep frying (lets face it, baked chicken parm. just isn't as good as the fried stuff!). Elly uses her broiler for this recipe, and I think I will in the future as well. I couldn't turn on our ancient oven and heat up the house any more than it already is here in CA with no A/C! By grilling these, the burgers were just a little more moist than they should have been. They smelled amazing as they cooked, though, and I was so excited to use some of my home grown parsley, which is the most successful herb from my patio herb garden so far! I won't rewrite the recipe, my changes were that I used the grill instead of broiling and I omitted the mushrooms cuz I don't like em! Thanks, Elly!