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Recent Recipes

Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts

Girls' Night In 12/29

Comments (0) | Monday, December 29, 2014

Good friend of many moons asked me to teach her a few kitchen tricks this evening so we had a bit of a ladies night in cooking session! We made Julia Child's Eggplant Pizzas and Chicken Parm Meatballs. Both came out quite DELISH and hopefully my friend feels like she learned something in the process!


Chicken Parm Meatballs - ground chicken, some breadcrumbs, garlic and onion, Parmesan, Italian spices, etc. Baked at 350 for 18 mins, topped with marinara and mozzarella and broiled for a few mins more.

For the Eggplant Pizzas we followed the classic Julia Child's recipe so that would be easy to google. I'd never made eggplant myself before so this was pretty fun! Came out pretty well though if I were to repeat I might try to find a way to keep the eggplant a little less mooshy for better textural diversity.

Overall: great success!


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Lunch 12/22-12/24

Comments (0) | Sunday, December 21, 2014

Popped a few items together for lunch this Christmas week!


Pulled BBQ Chicken, Carrots, Brussel Sprouts

Tossed 2 organic chicken breasts (1.4 lb total), a few smashed garlic cloves and a big squirt of BBQ sauce into my mini crock pot while cleaning house today. 4 hours on high and I was in business!

For the carrots I just gave them a quick spray of EVOO then squirted on some lemon juice and drizzled on some honey. For the sprouts they got EVOO spray, lemon, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Baked the carrots and sprouts together at 350 for about 25 minutes.


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Lunch 11/10-11/14

Comments (0) | Thursday, November 13, 2014

Mediterranean roasted baby yellow potatoes and organic chicken legs, balsamic glazed carrots.




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Lunch 11/3-11/7

Comments (0) | Monday, November 3, 2014

Stuffed peppers, roasted cauliflower and pineapple!



The peppers are stuffed with shredded grilled chicken, tomatoes, garlic, onion and mozzarella. Baked, topped with some shredded cheddar and broiled for 2 more minutes until cheese gets all nice and bubbly!

The cauliflower was quartered and tossed with garlic and the juice and zest from 1 lime. Then I spread it on a baking sheet and sprinkled a mix of cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Baked 20 mins, then sprinkled fresh cilantro on top.


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Dinner of the Week 10/6-10/10

Comments (0) | Monday, October 6, 2014

Baked chicken meatballs with a light creamy tarragon sauce over rice, garlic and feta roasted asparagus.




http://www.gonnawantseconds.com/2014/04/roasted-garlic-asparagus-with-feta/

http://www.hungrycouplenyc.com/2014/08/chicken-meatballs-in-creamy-tarragon.html?m=1


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Chicken Fettuccine and Pesto Basil Sauce

Comments (0) | Saturday, July 30, 2011

Once I was gifted my Fabulous Bag of Basil and had gotten it into my head that I was going to make Delicious Pesto this weekend, I began a hunt for a yummy pesto-based recipe.

Chicken Fettuccine and Pesto Cream Sauce was the grand winner!

This was a pretty good pasta dish. I will definitely be adding it to my base repertoire. Not my most favorite pesto dish I have ever made (see: Spinach Mushroom and Pesto Lasagna) but an absolute keeper and a great meal. Only Little Sister and I were home to try it, but she seemed to enjoy it (plus her typical tablespoon of salt) so it couldn't have been that bad! Hah.

Who dun it? http://www.handletheheat.com/2011/01/chicken-fettuccini-with-pesto-cream.html

Ease of preparation: 3
Taste: 3
Feeds: 2


How pretty does that look? I love the way herbs look on pasta (or really, food in general). The chicken was super tender and juicy and it was all very flavorful. I did end up adding juuuust a sprinkling of salt, but I think that was because I undersalted the pesto to start with. My favorite part of making this dish was pounding down the chicken! We don't have a meat tenderizer/pounder/thing so I started by trying to use a rolling pin but that was pretty unsuccessful. I ended up literally PUNCHING the chicken flat! It was actually pretty fun.


Suggestions / Changes


I pretty much followed the recipe on this. The only thing that I did differently was that I just mixed it all together in the pot as opposed to putting half the sauce on the pasta, putting some chicken on top and drizzling extra sauce over it all on the plate. Not like I'm running a restaurant or anything! Hah.


Mmmmmm Pesto Cream sauce cooking on the stove! Yummy.


Recipe property of: Tessa of Handle the Heat
(http://www.handletheheat.com)


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Creamy Crock Pot Chicken and Broccoli Over Rice

Comments (0) | Tuesday, June 28, 2011

This evening was the final incarnation of Blair Cooks for the Family of this week. I have to say, it was definitely a success! As the title of this post would indicate, I made cheesy broccoli chicken yummyness and served it over brown rice. Verra verra good, and pretty dang healthy too. Lots of yummy chicken and broccoli and brown rice nutrients! Food is the absolute best (in my most humble opinion) when it hits all three points on the awesome food triangle - it tastes good; it looks good; it's good for your body!

Another delectable Picky Palate recipe: http://picky-palate.com/2007/12/17/creamy-crockpot-chicken-and-broccoli/

Ease of preparation: 2
Taste: 3
Feeds: at least 8

As I said, this was quite tasty. I ended up having to transfer it to a pot on the stove instead of the crock pot when I mixed in the broccoli at the end (our crock pot was just too small!) but really the effect was the same. The recipe given makes LOTS, definitely at least 8 servings.

Suggestions / Changes

I found this to be a little bit salty. Unless you use reduced sodium chicken broth, I would suggest leaving out the extra added salt. Also it is important to know your crock pot. I opted for the three hours on high directions and after four hours my chicken was cooked through but not to the point that it shredded easily per the instructions. Next time I will also add a bit more cajun seasoning and garlic powder.

cook cook cook cook
 My broccolieeeees post steaming.
After mixing everything in together in a big pot!

Recipe property of: Jenny of Picky Palate
(http://picky-palate.com/)


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Quesadillas

Comments (0) | Sunday, June 26, 2011

I made fish for the family this evening (post on that coming soon) but I don't really like fish much myself. At least, not cooked fish. So anyway, as an alternative I thought I would try a quesadilla recipe that I found recently. 


Summary: good taste poor execution.


I think it probably had a lot to do with the type of tortillas that I used and the small quantity of cheese that I used, but this became SUPER messy and fell apart as I was eating it. Very tasty, but I ended up eating most of it with a fork, and that's kinda the opposite of the point of a quesadilla, right?


So anyway here is my inspiration: http://zestycook.com/super-simple-stunning-quesadillas/

Ease of preparation: 2
Taste: 0
Feeds: 2

So yeah this was very tasty and actually quite healthy the way that I made it (right around 600cals and I am STUFFED).Tons of great nutrients in the veggies and chicken. I think it would be more tasty and more structurally successful if done exactly to guidelines in the directions.

Suggestions / Changes

I used low carb tortillas. Mistake. I also only used 1/3 cup of cheese, which I think was definitely not enough to hold the two tortillas together. Definitely looked like a lot less than in the pictures with the directions. SO, my suggestions are basically to just use regular tortillas and more cheese! 

Picturessssssss yay!

Garlic, red onion, and mushrooms 


After adding in the chicken

All assembled and ready for the oven!


Post-baking and about to get NOMMED

Recipe property of: Cory
(http://zestycook.com) 


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Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry (Original Recipe)

Comments (0) | Friday, June 24, 2011

Now that I am all graduated and (temporarily) moved back home with the parental units, I am hoping that I have time to cook more. Possibly to do my own recipe inventing more. At least until I get a job that takes up all of my time and energy!
But anyway, I had some free time this afternoon, so I made some dinner for the fam. We had some good fresh vegetables in the fridge from my dad’s new garden and some chicken in the freezer so I decided to whip up a variation on a stir fry. It turned out pretty well! Plus, even though the veggies weren’t raw it’s still quite good for you! Yum.
Lookit!
Ease of preparation: 3
Taste: 0.5
Feeds: About 4
For a spur of the moment, only using things we already had in the house meal I think it turned out pretty well. My dad seemed to really like it. You could basically add any veggies you want to this, I just used what was on hand. I made a quick little Teriyaki sauce for the veggies as well, because that’s how I roll. Also, you could leave out the chicken for a vegetarian dinner! Next time I will use brown rice to make it even more nutritious. 
Chicken and Veggie Stir Fry
Ingredients:
4 servings of cooked rice
1 big boneless skinless chicken breast (about .65 lbs) all chopped up
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup diced onion
1/2 large cucumber, sliced and halved
3 medium carrots, sliced
3/4 cup peas in pod
3 cloves of garlic
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tbsb flour
1 tbsp water
1 tsp coarse ground pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
Recipe:
1. Cook rice according to directions, set aside.
2. Put olive oil in bottom of a large nonstick skillet. Top with all of your veggies and garlic and heat stove to medium heat, cover. Stir occasionally for about 5 mins.
3. Mix flour and water in large measuring cup or bowl. Whisk in vinegar and soy sauce, then mix in sugar, pepper, garlic powder and ginger.
4.  Pour sauce over veggies.
5. Add chicken to veggies and sauce.
6. Stirring occasionally, cook over medium heat about 5-7 more minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Cook longer for softer vegetables.
7. Eat chicken and veggies over rice! Yay!
My veggies right as they went into the pan! Pretty colorssssss!
Veggies and chicken after it cooked!


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Crock Pot Mexican Chicken (Original Recipe)

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This recipe was one of my first that I devised myself. I wanted to do Mexican food for a Family Dinner night (Little Sister’s only request was “cheesy”), but I wanted to do something a little different than just ground beef tacos, etc. This came out even better than I hoped it would, and I have made it again since (for another Mexican night, Mmm!).
Picture courtesy of google, spoiler - not my crock pot, not my chicken, haha.
Ease of preparation: 1.5
Taste: 2.5
Feeds: lots. 6-8 people, maybe?
The Boyfriend really liked this one a lot, in fact he ate the leftovers straight, without a tortilla or chips or anything else. Everyone liked it, and it was very simple and relatively inexpensive for how many it feeds. Great with tortilla chips or in tacos or burritos. I served it with refried beans and saffron yellow rice.
Crock Pot Mexican Chicken
Ingredients:
2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into 4ths or 8ths
1 packet taco seasoning (I use the less sodium kind)
1 large jar of salsa (however mild or hot you want)
1 bottle of taco sauce
Any other peppers or onions or anything you want to throw in there
Cheese, lettuce, sour cream, tomatoes, etc. to top chicken with in the end.

Directions:
1. Toss everything into the crock pot.
2. Stir it all together so it’s all mixed up and hunky dory
3. Set crock pot to high for 4-5 hours or low to 7-8 hours (or basically all day)
4. Using two big forks, stick them in the crock pot and use them to pull the chicken apart. It should be quite easy to do. The end result is essentially shredded chicken.
5. Stir it all up to make sure all the chicken is well covered in the sauce.
6. Serve in burritos or tacos or nachos or whatever! Yum!


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Chicken Teriyaki and Garlic Noodles

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This is another recipe that has become one of my signature dishes. It is literally so good that I can eat it for days in a row and not get sick of it. I made this for my very first big dinner party (14 people, woo!) and everyone liked it. It’s technically two separate recipes but they are both great and I always make them together.


Ease of preparation: 4
Taste: 4
Feeds: Pasta feeds at least 6, chicken feeds about 4 in the recipe quantity.
Some of my first real food attempts were asian inspired (I make a mean orange chicken with garlic green beans and white rice) so this was a natural progression for me. Also, something else I like about this recipe is that the teriyaki sauce you cook the chicken in can just be used as a regular sauce for other dishes. I used it as a dipping sauce for some potstickers I made once and it worked great.
Suggestions / Changes
I pretty much follow this recipe verbatim. I think the only think I do differently is that I throw some oil in the water when I cook the pasta to keep it from sticking together so bad, and I also saute the garlic and green onions of the pasta sauce for probably twice as long as the recipe indicates.
Recipe and photo property of: Megan Katauskas (megkat.com/)


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Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (Original Recipe)

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Lo! A recipe that I created myself! Yes, they do exist, but I am still a relative beginner in the kitchen so at this point I am still far more likely to trust other’s judgement than my own. Sometimes I get adventurous and try something of my own design, but it is true that I am usually just recreating the inventions of others.
Here it is! My very own Chicken Noodle Soup.
Ease of preparation: 1
Taste: 3.5
Feeds: 5-6 easily
So, the Boyfriend was sick. Sick enough to not be able to attend my weekly Family Dinner that I cook for a lucky few individuals (eyebrow waggle), so you know that was a BFD. Anyway, I felt bad so I figured I would whip up something and take it over to his place so he would feel better (and have something to eat other than cereal in his quarantine). This is the result!
Chicken Noodle Soup
Ingredients:
32 oz regular chicken broth/stock
32 oz reduced sodium chicken broth/stock
8 oz (1 cup) water
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup  chopped carrots (I used frozen, they worked just fine)
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 cups egg noodles
1/2 Publix rotisserie chicken (basically just wait for it to cool down and pick the meat off. You can use more or less than 1/2 to suit your tastes.)
Magic (this is what helps the sick people) 
Directions:
1. Cook noodles according to package directions, drain and set aside.
2. In a large pot combine broth, water and chicken skin, bring to a boil. Boil for 5 mins.
3. Remove chicken skin. Throw away.
4. Add in vegetables, reduce heat, cover and simmer 15 mins.
5. Slowly add in cornstarch, stirring while adding.
6. Add in chicken and noodles, cook an additional 3 minutes on med-low heat.
7. Close your eyes really hard and concentrate on magicking the soup to make people healthy
8. OM NOM NOM NOM NOM! 


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