Caramelized Baked Chicken Wings

A couple of friends were coming over for lunch and I wanted something easy to make that would also taste phenomenal. I saw this recipe on allrecipes.com and it looked pretty simple. I had all the ingredients, so I decided to make this. This was great for me because it took minimal prep time, and all I had to do was cook the sauce then pop it in the oven. Great for someone like me who wants to sleep late and still want lunch! ;)

As usual I went through some of the comments to see how some people have adapted the recipe. Most of the time, people don't rate honestly on all recipes. They've adapted the recipe significantly then still in turn give the recipe 5 stars. It's kind of unreliable, and I have to take the comments with a grain of salt. Especially when I know my own tastes.

One of the comments mentioned to cook the sauce to thicken it first before adding to the chicken. I decided to do that first, but in the end, my sauce wasn't too thick. Now, looking back at the comments, she also mentioned to add cornstarch. I've adjusted the recipe below to include the cornstarch. Even without the full caramelization of the wings, the flavor turned out great!

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Caramelized Baked Chicken Wings
made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from allrecipes.com




ingredients:

• 3 lb (about 20 pieces) chicken wings
• 2 TBSP olive oil
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 2 TBSP ketchup
• 1 cup honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 TBSP cornstarch
• salt and pepper to taste
• minced scallion for garnish (optional)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375° F (190° C).
2. Mix together the oil, soy sauce, ketchup, honey, garlic, and cornstarch in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for 15 minutes.  
3. Place chicken in a single layer in a 9x13 inch glass baking dish. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the chicken to complete cover.
4. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until sauce is caramelized.
5. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle any remaining sauce over the chicken.

Yield: 4 servings

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Filipino Grilled Chicken

When I first started documenting my kitchen journey, I never thought I would meet such a great community of food bloggers. I often visit forums and chat with a few online. We follow each other on twitter. We've become friends over the years and we've gotten to know each other, even when most of them are many miles away.

While I've met some in person, I've yet to meet Krystal. She's one of the ladies I've met chatting online. Her and her husband, Eric are having a baby soon, and I delighted when I was asked to make something for her virtual baby shower, hosted by our wonderful Joelen.

Since Krystal is Filipino and her husband is Cuban, we were asked to make something inspired by their heritage. I decided to make this Filipino grilled chicken. I originally wanted to bake this since it wasn't quite bbq weather, which would defeat the purpose of this being grilled chicken. Then I remembered that I had bought a stove top griddle way back when I was still living with my parents! I decided it was time to take it out and take it for a test drive.

This came out very well. Since I used the boneless chicken thighs, they cooked up fast. I only had 3/4 cup vinegar left, so I only used that much. There was still plenty of liquid to marinade the chicken. The sweetness of the sugar and soda cut the vinegar very nicely, and the flavors worked well together. I can't wait til grilling season to try this again!

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Filipino Grilled Chicken (Inihaw na manok)

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from The Ivory Hut




ingredients:

• 1 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 12 oz lemon-lime soda (such as 7-up, Sprite, or Sierra Mist)
• 3 bay leaves, torn or crushed
• 3 garlic cloves, grated
• 1 TBSP ground black pepper
• 2 lbs chicken (I used boneless skinless thighs)

directions:

1. In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except chicken. Whisk until the sugar has dissolved.. Reserve half for basting in a separate container with a lid.
2. Place the chicken in a plastic zip top bag. Pour the the marinade into the bag. Seal tightly and mix the liquid around to coat the chicken. Place in fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours or overnight.
3. When ready to grill, take the chicken out of the fridge and let come to room temperature. Remove the chicken from the marinade and place on a plate. Discard marinade.
4. In a sauce pan, bring the reserved marinade to a boil over medium-high heat until it has reduced to a sticky syrup.
5. Bring the grill to 350° F or heat on medium heat. Grill the chicken for 10 minutes each side, basting each side with the sticky syrup. [Depending on the size of your chicken, cook time may be longer. My chicken pieces were flat, so they cooked fairly quick on the grill.]
6. Cook until juices run clear. Take the chicken off the grill and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Yield: 6-8 servings

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Braised Moroccan Chicken

Sometimes we get bored of the same old thing. Especially with chicken recipes. It's one of our main proteins, so there's so much you can do with chicken before you get bored with it. It's not like we've been in a rut lately. I have been trying new things in the kitchen, but we have our basics we always gravitate towards.

I'm glad I tried this recipe, even though I forgot about bookmarking it a while back from Weelicious. Even though her blog caters to kids, there are a lot of great recipes for everybody!

I had everything on hand to make this and it was so simple to make. The chicken was moist and flavorful because of the dark meat. If you haven't tried dark meat before because white is technically slightly better for you, try it! I didn't really think the short cooking time and the simple ingredients would yield such fantastic results, but I'm now a believer. Simpler is sometimes better, and this recipe proves it. This will definitely go in my rotation more often.

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Braised Moroccan Chicken

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Weelicious




ingredients:

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 small onion, cut in half then sliced thin
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 15-oz can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and rinsed
• 1 lb (about 4-5 pieces) boneless, skinless chicken thighs

directions:

1. In a hot pan on medium heat, heat the oil. Add onions and saute for 5 minutes or until translucent.
2. Add the spices and tomatoes, then bring to a boil.
3. Add the beans and chicken, and stir to coat thoroughly.
4. Reduce heat to medium low to simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.
5. Serve over your choice of grains.

Yield: 4 servings when served with rice or other grain

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Chicken Katsu (Japanese Fried Chicken)

We recently got new smartphones and we were playing around with it. I downloaded the allrecipes dinner spinner app and showed it to Gary. He immediately started playing around with it and was amazed! He bookmarked a few recipes to try, and this was the first that he wanted to make since it seemed simple enough.

It was indeed simple, and tasty…but I’m a sucker for anything fried! The only thing we would change about this would be the tonkatsu sauce that we made. We found one on All Recipes as well (mentioned in the comments of this recipe, but it ended being totally inedible. Since we were fine with it plain, we omitted the sauce. We halved this recipe to feed the two of us.

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Chicken Katsu
adapted from: allrecipes.com

ingredients:

2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1 cup oil for frying, or as needed

directions:

Season the chicken breasts on both sides with salt and pepper.

Place the flour, egg and panko crumbs each into separate shallow dishes. Coat the chicken breasts in flour, shaking off any excess. Dip them into the egg, and then press into the panko crumbs until well coated on both sides.

Heat 1/4 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place chicken in the hot oil, and cook for 3 or 4 minutes per side, or until golden brown. Mine were a bit thicker, so I cooked a little longer, about 5 minutes per side.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate to soak up the oil. Slice and serve over jasmine rice and top with tonkatsu sauce (optional).

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Weeknight Pizza

Let’s say one day, you’re craving pizza. It’s late, so do you suck it up and order pizza, or do you have time to make your own? If you happened to have the cheese on hand, the sauce on hand, the toppings ready, but no crust! No worries! If you have refrigerated crescent rolls left over in the fridge, you can make this pizza! Hypothetical situation of course!

As I mentioned in my previous post, we were trying out the Daiya cheese. I also bought the mozzarella style to make pizza. Once we brought the package home, Gary was eager to open it up and taste it. He did just that, and everyday afterward, he took a little pinch to eat. I told him I was going to use it to make pizza, and I wasn’t sure if it was enough, and since he opened it already, I had to use it up within a certain time frame.

Since I didn’t have time to make pizza dough, and I didn’t have any premade ones, I used up what I had in the pantry and fridge. This came out great, not as good as real pizza dough of course, but a great alternative if you don’t have any. I used the garlic butter flavor, and believe it or not, it’s dairy free (and possible vegan, I don’t remember)! Since there are seams on the rolls, it made it easy to tear the pizza into pieces so you don’t have to pick up the whole thing at once.

The Daiya website said that the cheese melts and stretches. I saw that it melted beautifully, but I didn’t notice too much stretch. It tasted like a real cheese pizza, and I will definitely buy this  again and use it on pizza dough. Of course, with any pizza, add as much or little of whatever topping you like! I used some shredded rotisserie chicken and sliced baby bella mushrooms. Gary said it reminded him of the Elio’s pizza he used to eat as a kid.

Weeknight Pizza
a Cathy original!

 printable recipe

ingredients:
1 tube garlic butter or regular crescent rolls
1/3 cup tomato sauce, divided (jarred or homemade)
1 (8 oz) package of Daiya mozzarella shreds

toppings optional:
baby bella mushrooms, thinly sliced
shredded cooked chicken

directions:
Preheat oven to 375° F. Open crescent package and unroll onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Separate down the middle of the middle of the crescents to make 2 rectangles. Press the other seams to close them up.

Spread sauce evenly onto both pieces of crust. Top with cheese, then toppings.

Bake in preheated oven for 12-13 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Makes 2 pizzas.

Cornflake Crusted Baked Chicken

I’ve heard of cornflake chicken before, but never made it before. I was left with a whole box and a half of cornflakes after making the chocolate covered cornflakes, and was at a loss as to what to do with it. I had every intention of following the instructions on the back of the box, and make it that way, but one of the ingredients was milk. I then decided to veer away from that recipe and made up my own, still keeping the cornflakes as a crust. Gary was a little hesitant, because he thought it would taste weird, but it didn’t at all!

I started off with a batter and coat recipe and took it from there. I originally added the amount of water posted below, but added more because the batter looked thin. I adjusted it back and think it will work better this way. I also adjusted how I originally seasoned the chicken. I originally seasoned the batter instead of the chicken, so the flavor was all gone once baked. I’ve revised it to show the seasoned chicken and crust instead.

Even though Gary was a little wary, he thought it was pretty good. The crunch was there, and you can’t really tell that it’s cereal. I will definitely try this again with my changes noted below.

Cornflake Crusted Bake Chicken
a Cathy original!

 printable recipe

ingredients:
3 cups cornflakes, crushed
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
4-6 drumsticks
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 cup water
1/4 cup flour

directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a food processor, crush the cornflakes until it equals ab0ut 1 1/2 cups of crumbs. Place in a wide bowl, mix in red pepper flakes, onion and garlic powder and set aside.

Pat the chicken dry and season with salt and pepper.

In a large tupperware container (or a tightly lidded bowl or zip top bag), mix the egg, water and flour. Add chicken and cover. Shake to coat completely.

Using tongs, remove chicken from bowl, shake off excess liquid and coat with cornflake crumbs. Transfer to a single layer on baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken is coated with crumbs.

Bake for 45-50 minutes in preheated oven, or until juices run clear.

Serves 4.

Korean Style Fried Chicken Wings

I love fried chicken. That and french fries (or any fried food for that matter) are my weaknesses. I’ve never really fried foods at home because I thought it was  bit tedious to use so much oil to only fry a few things. I saw this recipe and decided to make this for Gary’s family during his parents’ birthday. This was a good opportunity to use the fryer I received as a gift, but never used (although used by others before).

I saw this recipe pop up in Joelen’s blog and knew it was something I had to try. Instead of mixing the sauce with the wings, I had it on the side as a dipping sauce. I wasn’t sure how spicy the sauce would be and little kids were eating it. Surprisingly, it wasn’t spicy at all, and had a pleasant sweet flavor.

I forgot to add scallions in the sauce, but I’m sure it would have added a nice touch. I also added a little bit more garlic and onion powder, since I didn’t think a tsp was quite enough. I did eyeball it so it’s approximate.

Fried Chicken Wings with Korean Dipping Sauce
adapted from: Joelen’s Culinary Adventures originally from Cook’s Illustrated

  printable recipe

ingredients:
2-3 quarts vegetable oil for frying
1 1/2 cups cornstarch, divided
3 1/2 pounds bone in chicken wings
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
salt & pepper to taste
1 cup water
2 scallions sliced thin on a bias

sauce:
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon sriracha sauce

directions:
Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with wire racks; set aside.

Measure 2 inches of oil into a large Dutch oven or deep fryer and heat over medium high heat to 350 degrees.

Pat the chicken wings dry with paper towels and place the chicken in a large bowl. Season with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Sift 1/2 cup of the cornstarch into bowl. Toss the chicken with tongs to coat thoroughly. Transfer the chicken to the one baking sheet.

Whisk the remaining cup of cornstarch, water, and 1 teaspoon salt together in a large bowl to form a smooth batter. When the oil is hot, finish coating the chicken by adding half of the chicken to the batter and turning to coat. Using tongs, remove the chicken from the batter, 1 piece at a time, allowing any excess batter to drip back back into the bowl. Add to the hot oil.

Fry the chicken, stirring to prevent the pieces from sticking together and adjusting the heat as necessary to maintain an oil temperature of 350 degrees, until the chicken begins to crisp, turns slightly golden. Continue cooking until the chicken turns a darker shade of golden brown to fully cook. Repeat with the remaining half of chicken by battering and frying.

Once fully cooked, transfer all the chicken to a large bowl, drizzle with the sauce and gently toss until evenly coated or serve with the sauce on the side. Transfer the chicken to a serving platter, sprinkle with scallions and serve.

to make the sauce:
Combine all the above ingredients together in a small sauce pan over medium heat until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Let cool to room temperature before service. Alternately you can prepare this in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for about 5 minutes. Remove from the microwave and set aside to thicken.

Curry Chicken Tenders

So, my posts have been kind of sparse lately. There’s a few reasons for that.

1. Work has picked up and I’ve been getting home later, 8pm is no time to start cooking dinner.
2. Gary’s home now, so I’ve been leaving the cooking up to him. I rather enjoy coming home with dinner ready for me.
3. I’ve been in a cooking and baking rut, and have no new ideas of what to cook; although I keep flagging recipes to make.
4. My baking itch is pretty much dormant right now.

So, with Gary cooking almost every night, we’ve been eating meals we’ve made before with a few new ones mixed in. Gary saw this recipe for satay chicken tenders and decided to try it. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but one of the few spicy things I can tolerate is curry. I love curry chicken, so this was a good choice any day of the week.



The original recipe called for chicken tenders, but any part of the chicken will do. We used a chicken breast for this and pounded it with a meat mallet to tenderize. He also used half the amount of curry powder stated, but I recommend using the full amount (as written below) because it could have used that extra kick. Martin Yan heats the remaining marinade to pour over the chicken, but I didn’t have any excess left.

Grilled Curry Chicken Tenders
adapted from: Martin Yan Quick and Easy
printable recipe

ingredients:
2 TBSP soy sauce
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
2 TBSP curry powder
1 TBSP packed brown sugar
1 TBSP vegetable oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1 lb chicken breast

directions:
In a bowl, combine all the ingredients except chicken. Set aside.

Lay a piece of plastic wrap on a cutting board. Place chicken on top and cover with another piece of plastic wrap. Pound with a meat mallet with the flat side. Remove plastic wrap. Cut into 1 inch wide strips against the grain at an angle. Add chicken into the marinade, mixing well to coat evenly. Let stand for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat up the grill (foreman, grill pan, etc). Place chicken on the George Foreman grill, cook for 2-3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in the center.

If you do have reserved marinade left over, you can heat it up in a saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a simmer. Pour the sauce over the chicken before serving.

Serves 4

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Recently, Gary has had some free time on his hands (read: he’s no longer employed), so he decided to use some of his time productively. He decided he wanted to experiment in the kitchen. He started out with Martin Yan’s quick and easy cookbook (recipe post to come soon), and he started looking through The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook written by Jaden Hair from Steamy Kitchen. He’s made a few recipes from the cookbook already, and they’ve been great so far. I think it’s very well written, and the instructions are clear for someone who is beginning in the kitchen. Her recipes also remind me of things I ate growing up at home. I think I need to start asking my mom how she made all those thing I used to love eating as well…

One of the first recipes Gary tried out was this sweet and sour chicken recipe. Sweet and sour chicken is one of our favorite things to order at the local fast food places, but the deep fried greasiness isn’t so great all the time. As Jaden said, this recipe is a great lightened up version of the fast food favorite.

I was pretty bummed when Gary told me he was making this because I ended up working late that night. So instead of eating it right after it was made, I ended up eating it for lunch the next day. I asked him to take a picture for me, so this is what he got.

Other than the fact that Gary used half a 20 oz can of crushed pineapple instead of cutting up the can of rings that were in the pantry, he pretty much stayed true to the original recipe.

Sweet and Sour Chicken
adapted from: Steamy Kitchen via Simply Recipes

printable recipe

ingredients:
1 pound of boneless and skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into 1" chunks
1 egg white
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 10-ounce can pineapple chunks (reserve juice)
1/4 cup juice from the canned pineapple
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt (1/4 teaspoon table salt)
2-3 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon cooking oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger

directions:
In a bowl, combine the chicken with the egg white, salt and cornstarch. Stir to coat the chicken evenly. Let sit for 15 minutes at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

In the meantime, whisk together the pineapple juice, vinegar, ketchup, salt, and brown sugar.

Heat a large frying pan or wok over high heat until a bead of water instantly sizzles and evaporates. Pour in the 1 tablespoon of cooking oil and swirl to coat. It's important that the pan is very hot. Add the chicken and spread the chicken out in one layer. Let the chicken fry, untouched for 1 minute, until the bottoms are browned. Flip and fry the other side the same for 1 minute. The chicken should still be pinkish in the middle. Dish out the chicken onto a clean plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Turn the heat to medium and add the remaining 1 teaspoon of cooking oil. Let the oil heat up and then add the bell pepper chunks and ginger. Fry for 1 minute. Add the pineapple chunks and the sweet and sour sauce. Turn the heat to high and when the sauce is simmering, add the chicken pieces back in. Let simmer for 1-2 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through. Timing depends on how thick you've cut your chicken. The best way to tell if the chicken is done is to take a piece out and cut into it. If it's pink, add another minute to the cooking.

Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar if you’d like.

Serves 4.

Crockpot Curry Chicken and Chickpea Stew

While I was browsing through a whole bunch of holiday magazines one day, I decided to start ripping out recipe pages I thought I would try.  This recipe stood out because it was a curry chicken recipe, and it was made in the crockpot!

I originally thought I wouldn’t like the chickpeas because I’ve tried them in salads, and I ended up picking them all out. I was wrong! I just don’t like them raw! I also love them mashed up in falafels. I guess I too can be picky with some vegetables.

The original recipe called for 1.5 lbs each of boneless chicken thighs and boneless chicken breast, cubed, but I used chicken wings instead, since I had some on hand. They were also frozen solid when I put it in the crockpot, so I cooked it for the 6 hours it needed. I followed the instructions to use 1 TBSP of curry powder, but I thought it was a bit mild, so I’ll probably add a little more next time. Gary also thought there were too many chickpeas, so I may also reduce that to 1 can next time.

Curry Chicken and Chickpea Stew
adapted from: All You December 2009
printable recipe

ingredients:
3 lbs chicken (wings, thighs, breasts, or any combo)  
1  tablespoon  olive oil 
1-2  tablespoon  curry powder (according to your taste)
1/2  teaspoon  salt 
1 large onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
4  cloves garlic, finely chopped 
1 28oz can of crushed tomatoes
2  15-oz. cans beans (chickpeas, red kidney, black beans, or combo), rinsed and drained

directions:
Combine chicken, olive oil, curry powder and salt in slow cooker and toss to coat.

Sprinkle onions and garlic on top of chicken. Add tomatoes on top. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

During last hour of cooking, stir in chickpeas. Serve hot.

Serves 4-6

Chicken Marsala

Whenever I have chicken (which is always) and baby bella mushrooms, I immediately think to make chicken marsala. It’s one of my favorite dishes to order from a restaurant, and it seems so fancy, yet so easy to make at home!

This tasted really good, and it will be in a regular rotation on our dinner menu. It’s a nice changed from the regular chicken dishes we usually make. Gary enjoyed this as well. We ate this over bowtie pasta, but any pasta or grain will do.

To keep this recipe dairy free, I used Earth Balance buttery spread. I also used chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts because it’s what we prefer to eat. However, I think it’s normally made with white meat. I didn’t have sherry, so I subbed with dry white wine.

Chicken Marsala
adapted from: elly says opa!
printable recipe

ingredients:
4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
1/4 cup flour
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp oregano
1.5 TBSP Earth Balance butter, divided
1 tbsp olive oil
8 oz fresh sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp dry white wine
1/2 cup marsala
salt and pepper to taste

directions:
Heat pan and melt .5 tbsp butter with olive oil over medium or medium-low heat.

Meanwhile, mix together flour, oregano and basil in a freezer bag. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Shake chicken in flour mixture to coat evenly, remove, shaking off excess flour. Cook in the oil/butter mix until fully cooked, flipping once. Remove and keep warm.

Add the remaining butter to the skillet. Add mushrooms and garlic and sauté about 2 minutes.

Add wine and marsala. Turn heat up to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced by about half.

Season to taste. Add chicken back in to warm through if necessary.

Serves 3-4

Crockpot Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew

I love fall colors and flavors. There’s something about the warm colors of the trees and food around this time that is so comforting. One of my favorite foods in the fall is squash. I love all squash, whether it be pumpkin or anything other type. I’m so glad that Gary likes it as well, so it’s not hard to convince him to eat recipes using squash or pumpkin.

When I first showed him this recipe, he thought it would be a winner. While he was eating this, he asked me if I was going to add this to our favorite recipes box.

The original recipe called for using beef stew meat, but neither of us are big red meat eaters, so I used chicken instead. I also omitted the mushrooms because I didn’t have any on hand even though I thought I did.

Crockpot Chicken and Butternut Squash Stew
adapted from: about.com
printable recipe

ingredients:
1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2 inch pieces
1 small butternut squash
1 large onion, sliced
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced (I omitted, since I didn’t have it on hand) 
4 ounces baby carrots left whole (about a handful)
1 14.5-ounce can crushed tomatoes (I used diced tomatoes)
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano

directions:
Peel and halve the butternut squash. Deseed, then cut into 1-2 inch pieces. Add squash, vegetables and chicken into a 4 or 5qt crockpot.

Add tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, thyme and oregano.

Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours, or until vegetables are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Serve over rice or eat as is.

Jambalaya

I’ve never had jambalaya before…at least I don’t think I have. I’m not normally a sausage person, since I don’t eat pork. Even some turkey sausages gross me out, but since we were having a “sausage fest” party, I had to come up with ingredients I would eat as well. One of the recipes on the menu was a jambalaya. I was originally going to make a crockpot version, however the recipe I wanted to double did not fit in my 4qt crock. I had to find another recipe, and I think this was a winner.

My challenge was finding good food without MSG or nitrates in them. Luckily, we went to Trader Joe’s and there was a full array of different types of sausages for me to try, all without any MSG or nitrates! I saw they had a chicken andouille sausage that was perfect for this recipe.

I pretty much followed the recipe except I used a 28 oz can of tomatoes, used chicken andouille, and accidently forgot to add the shrimp, parsley and green onions at the end. Otherwise, this was great!

Chicken, Shrimp and Andouille Jambalaya
adapted from: recipezaar.com
printable recipe

ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs cut into pieces
1 lb andouille sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices (I used a 12 oz package of smoked chicken andouille)
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery ribs, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
1 1/2 cups long grain rice  (I used jasmine)
1 (14 ounce) can tomatoes, chopped,with juice (I used a 28 oz can of diced tomatoes)
2 cups chicken broth or stock (I used bouillon cubes and water)
8 ounces medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
3 green onions, finely chopped

directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large pan or Dutch oven, brown chicken in hot oil on both sides; remove and drain.

Add andouille, onion, celery, bell pepper, thyme, oregano, paprika, salt, and cayenne pepper to the pan, cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes until onions are tender.

Add rice, tomatoes with juice, and broth; bring to a boil.

Place rice mixture in a baking dish or oven-proof casserole; top with chicken; cover (can use foil) and bake at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until rice and chicken are done and tender.

Stir in shrimp, parsley, and green onions; cover and cook 5-8 minutes longer or until shrimp curl and turn bright pink and serve.

Crockpot Vietnamese Chicken

Sometimes, when I don’t make something for a while, Gary requests it. Like a crockpot meal for one. He actually said, and I quote, “We haven’t had a crockpot meal for a while. Why don’t you make something”. Well, if it were only that easy. He remember an orange peanut chicken recipe that I made probably 2 or 3 years ago. It was super simple crockpot dish that I found on Yahoo one day, tried it, and it was delish. It was super simple because it required about 5 minutes time, and only 5 ingredients…but I couldn’t remember that last ingredient. Of course, I couldn’t find that recipe again anywhere, but while typing this post, I decided to search Yahoo again, and of course I found it! I don’t know why I didn’t think of searching Yahoo first…duh!

Well, since I didn’t find it in time to make that recipe, I decided to look for something else that would involve chicken. This recipe for Vietnamese chicken was so easy and flavorful. I’ve been meaning to make it for a while now, but I forgot about it because I never had fish sauce on hand. I also hadn’t defrosted any chicken, so this was the perfect recipe to use up the chicken in my freezer.

The original recipe called for adding foil balls on the bottom of the crock to make it similar to roasting the chicken in an oven. I didn’t add the foil, so I let the chicken cook in the marinade.

Crockpot Vietnamese Chicken
adapted from: A Year of CrockPotting
printable recipe

ingredients:
4-6 chicken thighs (I used 2 frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts)
1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce
1 1/2 TBSP fish sauce
1 1/2 tsp white sugar
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
4 cloves chopped garlic
1 TBSP canola oil

directions:
Place chicken on the bottom of the crockpot. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and mix to combine. Pour sauce over the chicken.

Cook on low for 6 hours or 3-4 hours on high. I checked mine at 5 1/2 hours on low, and it was fully cooked already.

Serve over rice.

Edited 12/7/09: I made this again with 2 leg quarters and it was a lot better. The meat was juicy and just fell off the bone.

Chicken Pesto Pasta

A few weeks ago, I had this pesto at Souen, and I loved it. I was craving pesto even more so afterwards. The restaurant doesn’t use any dairy, but I didn’t give it a second though at that time. It wasn’t until afterwards that I would need to find a pesto recipe that didn’t have cheese in it. I did see a few sites that used different types of nuts as well as a 1:1 ratio of nutritional yeast instead of cheese, but most recipes used pine nuts…something I usually didn’t have on hand, and something I didn’t want to buy just for pesto.

I saw Branny’s recipe for vegan pesto, and knew it was the one I had to try. It tasted a lot like the one I had at the restaurant, except a little saltier. I think it was because I didn’t use quite as much basil as the recipe called for…more like 2.5 cups, but the consistency, taste, and texture was all there!

Then I first showed Gary the picture from the restaurant, he thought pesto looked kind of gross, but once he tried it, he thought it was great too!

Chicken Pesto Pasta
printable recipe

ingredients:
2 in bone leg quarters (or any cooked chicken part will work)
salt
olive oil
8 oz pasta (I used linguini)

for the pesto: recipe adapted from Branny Boils Over, originally form Vegan with a Vengeance
1/4 cup toasted nuts (pecans, walnuts, or pine nuts) I used walnuts
3 cups packed basil leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp coarse salt
1/4-1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 cup nutritional yeast (or substitute grated parmesan or Romano cheese)
2 tsp lemon juice (about half a lemon)

directions:

Trim fat and remove skin from chicken. Separate leg and thigh parts. You should have 4 pieces now. Pat dry with paper towels. Rub salt liberally onto chicken pieces. Steam for 20-30 minutes or until fully cooked through. (You can also bake or grill or whatever.)

Meanwhile, combine all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor and pulse until desired consistency.

During last 10 minutes of cooking the chicken, boil the pasta.

Let chicken cool for a few minutes. Cut into pieces, save the bones for stock or soup.

Drain pasta, drizzle a little olive oil to coat the pasta. Add in chicken and pesto, toss to coat evenly.

Serve and enjoy!

Spinach and Tofu Stuffed Chicken

Spinach stuffed chicken is one of the recipes Gary requests frequently. I’ve made it before, and it was very simple and tasty. I’ve since then modified the recipe slightly to reflect his new diet.

I’ve used tofu before with success, and this was another successful recipe using it. It mimicked the consistency and taste of cheese quite well. Like before, I made this on my George Foreman grill.

Spinach and Tofu Stuffed Chicken Breast

Ingredients:
1 lb skinless chicken breast
cooking spray
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
1 10 oz frozen leaf spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
salt
red pepper flakes
6 oz firm tofu (half a pack of Mori Nu tofu)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Spray a nonstick pan with cooking spray. Set to medium heat and add garlic. Sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach and water. Loosen the spinach, cover and cook for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, uncover, stir to loosen the spinach. Add big pinches of salt and red pepper flakes. Cover and cook for another 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, butterfly the chicken. Cover with saran wrap and pound thin with a meat mallet. Sprinkle salt on both sides.

In a small food processor, mix tofu until smooth, about 10 seconds. Add dashes of salt and pepper. Mix in with the spinach at the last 2 minutes of cooking.

Fill the inside of half the chicken with the spinach mixture. Fold over other side of chicken over the spinach. Transfer to the George Foreman grill and cook for 7-9 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken.

Remove from grill, let sit for 5 minutes, slice and serve.

 

This recipe is being submitted to:

Chicken Mushroom Romaine Lettuce Stack

Or you can call this a romaine lettuce “lasagna”. Whatever you call it, it will still tasty the same…delicious!

Earlier in the week, I purchased a family size bag of romaine lettuce because it was on sale. Of course, there’s a certain amount of salads I can eat before I get sick and tired of it. I wanted to come up with something else to use up with the chicken I had in the fridge, so I thought about the cabbage wraps my sister makes. She uses ground pork and fishcakes…but of course Gary and I don’t eat pork.

I called her and I asked her what she added in her recipe, and as we were talking, I came up with this idea. Since romaine is fairly hard to roll unless I wilt it first, why not layer it like a lasagna?

So this is what spawned from that idea.

Chicken Shitake Mushroom Romaine “Lasagna” Layers

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless chicken thighs, ground (or use ground chicken)
8 dried shitake mushrooms (or use fresh)
2 scallions sliced
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp mirin
1 tsp salt
dash of white pepper
1 bunch romaine hearts
cooking spray

Directions:
Soak dried mushrooms in cold water for about 20 minutes, or until softened.

Meanwhile, trim excess fat from chicken thighs and cut into 1” cubes, add to food processor. Squeeze water from mushrooms, break off mushrooms stems, discard stems, and add the mushroom caps to the food processor. Pulse both items in food processor a few times until ground.

Mix in scallions, soy sauce, mirin, salt and pepper until thoroughly combined.

Spray cooking oil in a 9” glass pan, line the bottom with a layer of the large leaves of the romaine lettuce. At this point, you can also add another layer of the little pieces that are from the middle of the heart.

Spread half the chicken mixture on the romaine. Repeat with another layer of romaine, then the rest of the chicken mixture, then top with the last layer of romaine.

Steam for 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Cut into pieces, and enjoy!

This tasted great! This also reminded me of dumpling filling, so I might even use it for that!

 

This recipe is being submitted to:

Grilled Chicken Romaine Salad

This was the salad I had with the leftover chicken I made. It was pretty hearty because of the walnuts.

I was able to make 2 salads with this:

1 bunch romaine heart, chopped
1 cup grape tomatoes
1 medium carrot, shredded
1 cup chopped walnuts
leftover grilled chicken, cut into pieces
raspberry walnut dressing (or your favorite dressing)

Combine all ingredients. Toss together to coat dressing evenly.

Garlic Herb Grilled Chicken and Pasta

During the weeknights (or lazy weekends), I try to make something simple, so I don’t spend hours in the kitchen. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being in the kitchen, but not when it’s yucky and hot outside.

One of my favorite spices to use is Mrs. Dash. I love it because all the herbs and spices have been mixed into a convenient bottle for me. Of course, I can mix a bunch of herbs together to make this, but this is a great shortcut to take once in a while. I used the garlic and herb spice mix. I also used my George Foreman grill for this.

I had some leftover chicken while making this, so I used the leftover chicken for a salad for lunch.

Garlic and Herb Grilled Chicken and Pasta

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken breast (mine was a little under a lb.)
Mrs. Dash garlic and herb spice
8 oz. thin spaghetti
salt
1 head broccoli florets
olive oil

Directions:
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add salt to water, and boil pasta until al dente. Add broccoli during last 4 minutes of boiling.

Meanwhile, butterfly the chicken breast, cover with saran wrap, and pound thin. Coat both sides of the chicken with the spice mix.

Grill on the George Foreman grill for 7 minutes. Cut into slices.

Drain the pasta. Drizzle with 2 TBSP olive oil and toss to coat. Transfer pasta to bowl, add chicken, and serve.

Sesame Chicken Wings

I hope everybody had a great holiday weekend! It’s been a food filled weekend for us!

We went to Gary’s family’s annual BBQ. We were in charge of burgers, hot dogs, and chicken wings.

I made 2 types of wings. One was the hoisin 5 spice marinade I’ve used before. I doubled the recipe for 3lbs of wings and marinated overnight, and it was incredible with wings! We had some left over afterwards, so I baked those for 30 min at 425° on a greased foil lined pan.

I found the second recipe at about.com. They have lots of great recipes! I loved the fact that I had everything on hand. This was such a simple recipe, and it tasted so good!

Sesame Chicken Wings
source: about.com

Ingredients:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 green onions, with tops, sliced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons sesame seeds (I used roasted sesame seeds)
dash ground black pepper
dash ground cayenne pepper, optional (I added)
3 pounds chicken wings

Directions:
In a large food storage bag, combine soy sauce, water, sugar, sesame oil, green onions, garlic, sesame seeds, and peppers. Add chicken wings; turn bag to coat well. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or overnight, turning occasionally.

Remove chicken to a shallow rack in baking dish or roasting pan. Discard the marinade. Bake wings, uncovered, at 350° for 30 minutes. Turn wings and bake 25 minutes longer, or until tender. (I grilled these).