Chicken Parm Burger April 22, 2011

These come from a recent issue of Cooking Light, although I can’t find it in the magazine at this moment so I can’t tell ya which one! These were very simple to make and had a LOT of flavor. The ciabatta rolls were the best part to me, soo much better than a plain old hamburger roll. These can easily be made whilst entertaining a 4 month old too, trust me, I did it last month! They go quick and finish off in the oven so no worries that you didn’t cook them through!

Chicken Parmesan Burger (light!)

2 (3-ounce) square ciabatta rolls
1 garlic clove, halved
1/2 pound ground chicken
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons lower-sodium marinara sauce, divided
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
8 basil leaves

Method:

Preheat oven to 375°.
Cut rolls in half. Place bread, cut side up, on a toaster oven (or regular) baking sheet.  Toast in toaster oven or regular oven  until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Rub each slice with cut side of garlic. Set aside.

Combine chicken, 1/3 cup marinara, rosemary, thyme, red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Divide into 2 portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook for 3 minutes. Turn patties, and place pan in oven. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Top each patty with 2 tablespoons cheese; bake 1 minute.
Layer bottom half of each roll with 2 basil leaves, 1 patty, 1 tablespoon marinara, 2 basil leaves, and roll top.

Eat and enjoy!

Chicken with Champagne Risotto and Asparagus September 24, 2010

This one was really very delicious! The champagne in the risotto was a nice kick, though to be honest, I didn’t taste too much of a difference from using wine when it comes down to it. So, if you have champagne at home, by all means, use it. But if you don’t, I don’t really think you need to go run out and buy some to make this recipe either! White wine is great too.

Oh, one more thing. This came from the Rachel Ray magazine website I think, and the original called for a lemon cream sauce to put over the chicken. Well, I don’t know if it is because I tried to be health conscious and used fat free half and half instead or what, but the sauce was watery and NASTY. We didn’t use it, and the recipe was still great! So, I left it out in my directions below. If you are intrigued by the sauce, look it up on the website!

Chicken with Champagne Risotto and Asparagus

3 cups chicken broth
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup arborio rice
Salt and pepper
1 split champagne or sparkling wine
poultry seasoning (about a tablespoon or so)
2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/8 pound sliced pancetta, chopped
1 small bunch asparagus, cut on an angle into 1-inch pieces
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
3 to 4 sprigs thyme, leaves stripped and chopped

lemon juice (optional)

Method:

In a medium saucepan, heat the chicken broth over low heat. In a medium skillet, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic to the skillet and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the rice and toss to coat; season with salt and pepper. Stir in the champagne and boil to evaporate slightly, about 2 minutes.

Stir a couple of ladlefuls of warm chicken broth into the rice and cook, stirring occasionally, until the liquid evaporates. Add more broth, a few ladlefuls at a time, reserving 1/2 cup. Cook until creamy, stirring occasionally, about 18 minutes.

Meanwhile, season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO, 2 turns of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for about 6 minutes on each side. Transfer to a cutting board (reserving the skillet); add the reserved 1/2 cup chicken broth to the pan juices in the skillet and stir. Stir this liquid into the risotto as it cooks.

In the nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook for about 3 minutes. Add the asparagus and shallot and cook, stirring, for 3 more minutes.

To serve, stir the cheese and thyme into the risotto and spoon generous portions onto plates. Slice the chicken breasts on an angle and fan out over the risotto. Pour the lemon juice over the asparagus and toss; spoon around the risotto.

Chicken with Cashews September 17, 2010

Terrible iphone photo, really yummy dish! This one came out of my Martha Stewart Everyday Food magazine, which I LOVE and MUST purchase whenever I see it at the supermarket checkout line. Its a nice simple version of chinese food with minimal prep, and the crunch and saltiness of the cashews next to the chewy and really flavorful chicken is stupendous!

Cashew Chicken

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
2 tablespoons dry sherry
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
3 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch
Coarse salt
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2/3 cup unsalted cashews, toasted (I couldn’t find unsalted, so I bought low-salt and  I really LIKED the bit of salt, so its up to you!)
2 scallions, white and green parts separated and thinly sliced
Cooked white rice, for serving

Method:

In a medium bowl, toss chicken with sherry, ginger, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch; season with salt. Refrigerate 30 minutes. In another bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, and 2 teaspoons cornstarch; set sauce aside.

In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add half the chicken and cook until golden and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Transfer chicken to a plate. Add 1 teaspoon oil to skillet and cook remaining chicken (reduce heat if chicken is over-browning). Transfer to plate.

To same skillet, add 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, cashews, and scallion whites. Cook, stirring constantly, until garlic begins to soften, 30 seconds. Whisk sauce and add to skillet along with chicken. Cook until sauce thickens, about 30 seconds. Top with scallion greens and serve with rice.

BBQ Chicken Burgers with Honey Slaw August 1, 2010

A fabulous entry from Rachel Ray. I must confess I can’t for the life of me remember which cookbook I have this in, but you can easily find the recipe on the foodnetwork website. I basically followed the recipe but I did change a few things, so here is the recipe as I made it.

BBQ Chicken Burgers with Slaw, adapted from Rachel Ray:

1 tablespoon butter, cut into pieces
1 small red onion, 1/2 finely chopped, 1/2 thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
1 1/4 pounds ground chicken
1 tablespoons grill seasoning
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 tablespoons honey, eyeball it
1 lemon, juiced
3 rounded tablespoons sweet pickle relish
2 cups shredded cabbage mix
Salt and pepper
4 rolls of your choice, split

Method:

n a small skillet over medium heat, melt butter. Add chopped onions, garlic and tomato paste and sweat them for 5 minutes to soften and sweeten. Sprinkle in sugar and remove from heat. Cool in a bowl, 5 minutes. Add tomato paste mixture and Worcestershire to bowl and combine. Add chicken to the bowl then grill seasoning and combine the burgers well to evenly distribute the flavors and form 4 patties. Wash up.

Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, a turn of the pan, in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties 6 minutes on each side.

Combine the honey, lemon juice, and remaining extra-virgin olive oil in a bowl. Add relish, cabbage mix and sliced onions and season with salt and pepper. Toss the slaw to coat and reserve.

Toast your buns in the toaster so they are a little bit, you know…toasty.

Serve burgers on bun bottoms topped with slaw and bun tops.

These burgers are really good and come together really fast. I Think the slaw is what makes them extra delicious, so don’t go without it!

Chicken Tortellini Salad July 17, 2010

Well I’ve finally run out of photos from pre “losing the battery charger for the good camera” and am now up to the terrible point and shoot that makes all food look yellow or green! So you must forgive me for the terrible photo and let me assure you this dish is SOOOO good! Especially for a really friggin’ hot summer, such as the one we are currently in the midst of!

I found this recipe after doing a google search for “summer pasta salads”. Mike and I love a good pasta salad, and since this is the hottest summer in all time, I am making quite a lot of them! I particularly like this one as it has a lot of meat to it…as in substance not like, 8 kinds of animal product, so it is very satisfying even in a small portion.

It is from a really fabulous food blog called “The Frantic Home Cook” , who got it from another site called “Rookie Cookie” and you should totally go look at all the yummy stuff they make!

Anyway, here is the recipe!

Chicken Tortellini Salad with Pesto Vinagrette

1 rotisserie chicken, shredded and picked free of bones and skin (about 4 cups of chicken)
1 9 oz package Buitoni fresh cheese tortellini
½ red onion, thinly sliced
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 8 oz package white mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
A few handfuls fresh baby spinach
Kosher salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup  prepared pesto
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
¼ – ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook tortellini according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Let cool.

In a large bowl combine, chicken, red onion, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and spinach. Season with salt and pepper.

In a separate bowl, combine pesto and white wine vinegar. Whisk in olive oil, until a thin consistency is achieved.

Add the tortellini to the chicken mixture. Stir well to combine. Add pesto vinaigrette. Serve at room temperature or cold.

Then please cross your fingers that somewhere in this house is the charger for my fancy nikon camera so I can stop using my ashton kutcher camera and making food unappetizing!!

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts with Zippy Chunky Salad July 2, 2010

Wow! Long time no post!! I’ve been a lazy lazy sack of lazy, but am going to make it my summertime mission to update more frequently. I certainly have a ton of recipes to share, so I’ll do my best to keep up! I still can’t find the charger to my good camera though, so eventually you will be seeing ugly photos of food until I finally discover where the charger has been hiding!

Anyway, this recipe is SO good and SO easy! I made it with the dill fries I recently posted and it was super yummy and light. The salad dressing is really good too, so go ahead and make it, it will take you like 5 minutes!

Marinated Grilled Chicken Breasts with Zippy Chunky Salad

(from Rachel Ray’s 365: No Repeats)

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 tbs olive oil

zest and juice of 1 lemon

1/2 tbs dried oregano

4 garlic cloves, chopped

salt and pepper

1 seedless cucumber, cut into half moon shapes

1 red pepper, cored, seeded and chopped

1/2 small onion, finely chopped

10 radishes, thinly sliced (I couldn’t find ’em so I didn’t use ’em!)

2 romaine lettuce hearts, chopped

1/2 c. plain yogurt

1 tbs red wine vinegar

1/2 c. fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Method:

In a shallow dish, combine the chicken with the olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, 3/4 of the garlic, salt and pepper. Toss to coat evenly and marinate about 5 minutes.

In a salad bowl, combine the cucumbers, pepper, onions, radishes, and romaine lettuce. To make the zippy dressing in a bowl combine the yogurt, lemon zest, red wine vinegar, parsley, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss together.

Preheat a grill or grill pan while you are making the salad. When it’s ready, transfer the marinated chicken to the grill and cook for 6 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Remove from heat and let rest for 3 minutes.

If you are serving with the garlic fries, make them now! If not, you are ready to eat your delicious chicken and salad! Yum! Just typing this out has made me decide to cook it again next week! Thanks a lot, food blog!

Jambalaya Bake May 16, 2010

This recipe is very easy to make, courtesy of Sandra Lee (and you know I don’t really like her, but its okay!) Nice and easy for a busy weeknight:

Jambalaya Bake

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into one inch pieces

1 can (14ish ounces) diced tomatoes with onion, celery and bell pepper (Hunt’s makes this she claims, though I’ve only found whole tomatoes with the other stuff, so I buy that and just use kitchen shears to chop up the tomatoes, I’m a genius!)

1 can (14 ounce) reduced sodium chicken broth

8 ounces hot Louisiana sausage, cut into one inch pieces (We use whatever we’ve got: Andouille, hot italian or whatever)

1 box (8 oz) jambalaya mix ( I use Zatarain’s)

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a 2 quart casserole, stir together all ingredients. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Bake in preheated oven for 70 to 85 minutes.

THAT’S IT! How easy can it possibly be? The results are rather spicy, so you might opt for a less sassy sausage if its too much for you…it was totally too spicy for me! I ate it anyway though as I had severe head congestion and it sure did make that go away!

Asparagus pesto pasta May 8, 2010

This one is a light and simple springtime meal. It only uses FOUR ingredients! How awesome is that!?

Here’s how you do it:

Asparagus Pesto Pasta

pound of chicken breasts, cut into inch long strips

pound of any short cut pasta (or 1/2 a pound, depending how many leftovers you want)

about 1/2 a bundle of asparagus, cut into inch long strips

salt and pepper to taste

jar of delicious pesto sauce

Method:

Cook the pasta according to the directions. My favorites to use are penne and rotini, but any short pasta will do. Once pasta is in the water, you can start the rest of the meal.

Salt and pepper the chicken and add to an oiled and preheated pan. Let the chicken cook, making sure it browns on both sides. Add the asparagus and cook, covered, for about another 5 minutes or so. Check that the chicken is fully cooked through.

When pasta is done, drain but don’t rinse. Put the pasta back in the empty pot. Pour in the chicken/asparagus mixture and add the pesto. I eyeball it, meaning I add more until it looks good to me. You might want more or less pesto, its up to you! Toss the ingredients together until everything is coated. Heat another minute or two to be sure that the pesto is warmed up if you like.

Serve in a bowl with a sprinkle of parmigiana. Yum!

Tex Mex Turkey Casserole May 3, 2010

Sorry I’ve been so few and far between with my posts lately, but don’t worry! I have a bunch to update and hopefully will have time soon to post them all! Anyway, this recipe is super easy to make, its almost embarassing! It’s a Sandra Lee recipe, and while she will always bug me with her crazy color coordinating and her “cocktail time!!”, I still find some of her recipes to be really good for weekdays. No muss, no fuss!

Tex Mex Turkey Casserole

1 1/4 pounds uncooked ground turkey

1 packet tex mex chili seasoning mix

1 can low sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

1 can mexicorn

1 can condensed cream of tomato soup

1 can diced green chilies, drained

1 c. crushed tortilla chips

1 c. mexican cheese blend

1/3 c. sliced black olives, drained

sour cream and salsa, optional

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large skillet, over medium high heat, cook and stir turkey with chili seasoning mix until the turkey is browned. Drain off the fat. Stir in the beans, mexicorn, soup and green chiles. Pour into a 2 quart casserole dish.

Cover with crushed tortillas and cheese. Sprinkle olives over the top.

Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serve with salsa and sour cream if you wish.

Enjoy!! You now still have time to do some laundry or watch another episode of 90210!

Crock Pot Week! Pesto chicken with sweet potatoes March 30, 2010

Okay so the way I’ve been updating, its more like Crock Pot Two weeks! It’s okay, we really ate them all in one week, I promise! This last recipe was interesting…also from the 365 blog, it featured cooking two things at once, which sounded like it would never work, but totally did! Basically, you put the chicken in the bottom, top it with cheese and homemade pesto, then cover with foil and pop the two sweet potatoes in on top to steam to perfection! The chicken came out a tad dry but I think I left it in there waaay too long, so that was probably my own fault. Either way, Mike declared it a dish I must make Often!

I didn’t actually change anything in this recipe, and I’m lazy today, so here’s the link to the recipe directly from it’s source!

Pesto Chicken with sweet potatoes!

The sweet potatoes came out SO great this way, I’d totally just make them all alone using the crock method…insides were so soft and flavorful, yum!!