Chicken Fricassee

Remember when I told you about my awesome new little recipe book from my friend? (See post here). I tried another recipe last night and it was a big hit…again!

Chicken Fricassee

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2-1 onion (depending on the size)
• 1/2 of a green pepper
• few shakes of garlic salt
• chicken tenders (I used about 6, you want about 2 chicken breasts)
• 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
• 2 bottles of beer (any kind is fine)
• potatoes (peeled and cut into large chunks)- I think I used about 8 medium size yellow potatoes, I will probably use a few less next time
• green olives, as many as you want

I started by chopping up the onion and green pepper. (Actually, I peeled the potatoes first, cause it takes me FOREVER to peel potatoes if they are small). I then cooked the pepper and onion for a few minutes until the onion is translucent.

Then, I cut up the chicken tenders into thirds (because my were really large and I wanted them to cook evenly). I then added the chicken to the pot and cooked for about five minutes, or until the chicken was cooked through.

Next, I added the tomato sauce, the beer and the olives and cooked for another five minutes. I used the large green olives stuffed with pimento. Note: next time I will definitely slice up the olives first. Some bites had a little too much olive and some bites needed a small slice of olive.

After five minutes, I added the potatoes and brought the whole thing to a boil. I then covered the pot, reduced the heat to a good simmer and let the pot cook for 30 minutes.

While the potato and chicken mix was simmering, I cooked some quinoa to serve under the fricassee and boiled some corn to serve on the side. Yay for the first corn of the season!!!! I then served the fricassee over the quinoa with the corn on a separate side plate. It was delicious. Bf added a little pepper and I added a little salt and it was delicious!

Garbanzos (with sausage and red sauce)

One of my friends is going to be traveling abroad almost all summer (raise your hand if you are jealous…both of mine are up).

As a sweet see-you-later gift, she gave me a little book with her go-to recipes. Seeing as how I am constantly struggling to come up with new recipes, this present could not be more perfect. This recipe immediately jumped out at me as something I had to try for dinner. Not only is it quick and easy, it’s healthy and beyond delicious.

Garbanzos

• 1/2 of an onion (I used an entire small one because I didn’t want to waste any)
• 1/2 of a green bell pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil
• A few shakes of garlic powder (next time I might use garlic salt to add a tiny bit more flavor)
• sausage, I used 5 small sweet Italian links
• 2 cans of garbanzo beans
• 1 can of tomato sauce (depending on how much sausage you use, anywhere from 8-14 ounces)
• brown rice, or quinoa

Because my sausage wasn’t precooked like a lot of other great options, I started by removing the casings and cooking up the meat. I cook for a few minutes on one side, then flip over and cook for a few minutes on the other side. While the second side is cooking, I use my wooden spoon to start breaking up the sausages into bite size pieces. Then I repeat the whole thing until the meat is cooked through.

Once the sausage was cooked, I added the chopped onion, green pepper, the garlic powder and some olive oil. I then cooked the whole thing over medium heat until the onions were tender and translucent.

Next, I added the garbanzo beans (which I had rinsed in a strainer earlier) and the tomato sauce. I let the whole pan simmer for about 15 minutes.

While the garbanzo mix was simmering, I prepared the quinoa and the brussel sprouts. I used quinoa because I didn’t have rice and frankly it’s a little healthier than rice anyway. To make the sprouts, I boiled them for about 7 minutes, then drained them, sliced them in half or quarters and returned them to the pot. I added about 1 tablespoon of margarine and some minced garlic and cooked for another few minutes.

My final product! It was so delicious and healthy, I will be making it again very soon! Thanks so much to my friend Amanda for the recipe!

Apple Chicken Quesadillas

I find Mexican food to be extremely tricky. With the exception of guacamole, I can never get it right. Somehow it always lacks the flavor and punch of the dishes I order in a restaurant. But with this dinner, I have broken my streak of unbearably average Mexican food! These quesadillas are amazing! Seriously, they couldn’t be easier and both me and bf were shocked by how incredible they were. He even made the leftovers for lunch the next day. That’s right. He turned on the oven and made them. That’s a pretty impressive statement about the quality of these suckers. So everyone, try them and then thank Kristin for writing about them on her blog.

Apple Chicken Quesadillas

Adapted from Delightful Country Cookin’ 

2 medium tart apples, sliced and cut into pieces
1 cup or more diced cooked chicken breast
1 cup fresh or frozen corn, thawed
1 cup shredded cheddar (or more)
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan
1 fresh tomato, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 t. salt
8 8-inch wheat tortillas

I started by mixing together all of the fruit, veggies and cheese.

Then bf helped by cutting up the chicken and cooking the pieces in a skillet until they are cooked through. I then added the chicken to the big bowl and mixed everything together.

Next, I laid out the tortillas and spooned some of the mix into each tortilla and then sprinkled a little more cheese onto the mix.

Then I folded over the tortilla and secured each one with a toothpick. We made five and baked them for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees, then flipped them over and baked for another 8-10 minutes depending on how crispy you want the tortillas. We saved the rest of the mix in the bowl and bf made them the next day.

When the tortillas were all crunch and the cheese was nice and melty, we scarfed these puppies down. A word of warning: these quesadillas don’t really lend themselves to eating with your hands. I definitely needed a fork and knife, but other than that, they were perfect!

Potato, Chicken and Fresh Pea Salad

This dish is an amazing summer dinner. It’s super easy, light, healthy and doesn’t require an oven (which is a major bonus on those hot summer nights). It also tastes great.

Potato, Chicken and Fresh Pea Salad

from Cooking Light 

• 1 pound fingerling or baby potatoes, cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
• 2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
• 2 cups chopped skinless, boneless chicken breast or tenders
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh tarragon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Parmesan for sprinkling on top

First, I cut up the potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces. I then covered the potatoes with water and brought the pot to a bowl.

I then chopped up the red peppers, onions and the chicken.

When the potatoes are almost done, I added the sugar snap peas, which I had already trimmed and cooked them for about 2-3 minutes.

When the veggies were cooking, I mixed together the dressing. Basically, the ingredients from the olive oil down.

Then, I added the potatoes and the peas.

Next, I added the dressing and mixed everything together.

When I dished the salad into bowls, it seemed like something was missing to me, so I added Parmesan cheese. It was brilliant! Best addition ever.

Parmesan Polenta and Sausage Sauce

First, I must start by saying, I know my formatting is all weird. I’ve tried all of the technology tricks my little brain can think of. They have failed. Bf is incredibly good at fixing these things, but he is in the midst of finals and can’t help me. However, this dish is freaking amazing. Absolutely delicious. I simply cannot wait until next weekend when he’s done to share it with you. Bf even said it was one of the best things I’ve ever made. That’s some serious praise right there! I only made a few changes to the original recipe (primarily upping the amount of sausage and leaving out the crushed red pepper, which of course bf put back in) and I wouldn’t change anything when I make it again.

Parmesan Polenta and Sausage Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 sweet Italian sausages
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 2 (14.5-ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
• 2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup quick-cooking polenta
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

First, I removed the casings from the sausage. Then, I cooked up the sausage meat in a tablespoon of olive oil. How, you ask? Great question (not really, but I figured I should explain how I cook sausage meat). I heat up the olive oil before adding the meat. Then I cook one side of the sausages for a few minutes. While the first side is cooking, I use a wood spoon to try and cut up the sausage into several pieces. You can’t quite cut up the pieces, but you can get the meat to begin to separate. Then you flip the sausage and cook the other side for a few minutes and continue to break up the meat. Finally, cook a few more minutes on whichever side isn’t cooked through.

Once the sausage meat is cooked, I added the chopped up onion and cooked for a few minutes until the onion was tender. The timing of the original recipe was a bit off. I had to cook the sausage for a while longer than suggested because it wasn’t pre-cooked. Also, the onion took a bit longer because I just cut up the majority of an onion and I’m pretty sure it was larger than a cup.

I then added the garlic, cooked for about 30 seconds, then added the tomatoes and oregano and simmered for about fifteen minutes. Make sure you stir it every so often so it cooks evenly!

While the tomato sauce was simmering, I brought the chicken broth and water to a boil. Next, I added the polenta and whisked the mix until it was nice and thick. Then, I added the Parmesan cheese, turned off the heat, and whisked until it was well blended.

This is what the polenta looks like when it’s all done.

By this time, the sauce had been simmering for about 15 minutes, so I added the basil and let it simmer for about another 5 until it had thickened a bit.

I then served the sauce on top of the polenta. Yum! We even went back for seconds because it was so tasty!

Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes

This dinner was one of my recent attempts to avoid pasta. Based on the ingredients, I thought it would be absolutely delicious. It was good, but not quite as amazing as I expected. It also required a lot of cutting and prep. Finally, it was almost like….stew. Not that that’s a bad thing, it just wasn’t what I expected. This description doesn’t really give the recipe a fair shake. It was tasty, but if push comes to shove and I had to recommend a recipe, this probably wouldn’t be it. But if you are undeterred, here is the recipe and description.

Mediterranean Chicken with Potatoes

Adapted from Cooking Light

• 4  teaspoons  minced garlic, divided
• 1  tablespoon  olive oil
• 1  teaspoon  salt, divided
• 1/4  teaspoon  dried thyme
• 1/2  teaspoon  black pepper, divided
• 12  small red potatoes, halved (about 1 1/2 pounds)
• Cooking spray
• 2  pounds  skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1  cup  vertically sliced red onion
• 3/4  cup  dry white wine
• 3/4  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth (in retrospect I’d probably use only a dash)
• 1/2  cup  chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4  cup  pitted kalamata olives, halved
• 2  cups  chopped plum tomato
• 2  tablespoons  chopped fresh basil or some dried
• 1  (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and quartered
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• Thyme sprigs (optional)

First, I started by cutting up the potatoes into quarters, then tossing with two teaspoons of minced garlic, the salt, pepper dried thyme and olive oil. Then, I baked the potato mix at 400 on a rimmed baking sheet for 30 minutes. Because my potatoes were a little bigger than expected, I’d probably cut them smaller next time or bake them a little longer.

 

 

Bf was then nice enough to cut up the chicken for me into bite size pieces, which I cooked with a little cooking spray until they were browned and cooked through.

 

 

 

 

While the chicken was cooking, I chopped the red pepper and the red onion, and sliced the olives. I also cut up the tomatoes, the rest of the garlic and drained the artichoke hearts, which I put in a separate bowl (because they went into the pot at a later point).

 

 

 

When the chicken was done, I removed it to another bowl and added the sliced red onions to the pot. I cooked the red onion for a few minutes, or until it had started to brown and soften.

 

 

 

 

Next, I added the white wine and scraped up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. I then let the wine simmered for a few minutes until it reduced by about 1/3.

 

 

 

 

This picture shows what the potatoes looked liked when they were done.

 

 

 

 

When the potatoes came out of the oven, I added them, the chicken, the red peppers, olives and the chicken broth to the pot. Then I let the mix cook for a few minutes.

 

 

 

 

After a few minutes, I added the artichoke hearts, tomatoes and last bits of garlic. I also included a little more salt and some dried basil. I let the whole pot cook for a few minutes to let the potatoes soften a bit.

 

 

 

 

I then served two bowls with a little pile of Parmesan cheese. As I’m looking at it, it actually looks pretty good. Maybe I’ll reconsider my prior recommendation…

Herbed Chicken with Sweet-Sour Fennel and Goat Cheese Polenta

This recipe was another great find from my recent Cooking Light Magazine. It is definitely a new favorite, for many reasons. First, it’s super healthy. You’ll see below. No butter, no cream, polenta are the only carbs, etc. Second, it’s unbelievably tasty. I am always skeptical of fennel. I love licorice. But the smell of licorice makes me nervous. I can’t really imagine what it would go well with in a savory meal. No worries here though, the fennel is delicious and sweet. And third and most important in my book on a busy weekday night, it took twenty minutes from the time I started until the time we sat down to eat……that’s right 20 minutes. Can’t beat that with….a stick or whatever they beat it with.

Chicken and Fennel

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

• 1  fennel bulb
• 2  teaspoons  extra-virgin olive oil
• 4  (4-ounce) chicken cutlets
• kosher salt
• dried rosemary, crushed
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4  cup  dry white wine
• 3/4  cup  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4  cup  raisins
• 2  teaspoons  red wine vinegar
• 1  tablespoon  pine nuts, toasted

Goat Cheese Polenta

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

• 2  cups  low-fat or non-fat milk (if you use non-fat add a tiny dab of butter)
• 1  cup  water
• 3/4  cup  instant dry polenta
• 1/4  cup  goat cheese
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt

I didn’t have chicken cutlets so bf was nice enough to slice up two big breasts for me. Then I sprinkled salt, pepper and rosemary on both sides. At this point, I also started simmering the milk, water, salt and butter. This picture isn’t loading right for some reason, so I apologize!

While I was sprinkling the stuff on the chicken, I heated up some olive oil and then cooked the strips for about 3 minutes per side. When the chicken was cooked through, I removed the strips onto a plate and left the juices in the skillet.

 

 

 

Next, I added the fennel I had previously sliced and sautéed for a minute or two. Then I added the wine, vinegar, broth and raisins and cooked the whole thing for about 5 minutes until the fennel was soft. (I forgot to take a picture of the end product).

 

 

 

Meanwhile, I added the polenta to the simmering milk and whisked everything together. I stirred every few minutes until the polenta was thick. I then turned off the heat and bf helped by stirring in the goat cheese until it was melted and blended. We put the top on the pot to keep it warm until the chicken was done.

 

 

Once the fennel was soft, I added the chicken, the toasted pine nuts and the sprigs of green from the top of then fennel. I let everything warm through and then it was all done.

 

 

 

 

This picture is how the meal looked when it was plated. So yummy!

Caramel Pork with Rice and Peas

This recipe is one I’m very iffy about. Actually I’m just iffy about posting it. It’s not very pretty. The pork actually tasted really good. The rice needed to be cooked more, but the sauce needed to cook longer as well. If I made these changes, I’d actually really like the recipe. But I’m committed to documenting my cooking successes, failures and everything in between so here goes.

Caramel Pork Recipe

Adapted from Cooking Light

• 1  cup  water
• 3/4  cup brown rice
• 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt, divided
• 1/2  cup  frozen green peas, thawed
• 1  tablespoon  rice vinegar
• Cooking spray
• 1  pound  pork tenderloin, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1/2  cup  chopped Vidalia or other sweet onion
• 3  garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2  cup  fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
• 3  tablespoons  brown sugar
• 1  tablespoon  lower-sodium soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon chopped fresh ginger
• 1/2  teaspoon  crushed red pepper
• a few capers
• 8  lime wedges

First, I cut up the pork. Yes that’s right, I cut up the pork. I even removed the fat! I sprayed the skillet with cooking spray and sautéed it for about five minutes.

 

 

 

 

Next, I added the onions and garlic and cooked for another two minutes.

 

 

 

 

Then I added the chicken broth, brown sugar, salt, ginger, and soy sauce and cooked for about five minutes until the sauce was thickened.  I actually should have taken the pork out of the skillet and cooked the sauce for a few more minutes. Meanwhile, while the pork was cooking, I also cooked the rice. After the rice simmered for 15 minutes and sat for another ten, I stirred in the vinegar and the peas. I should have cooked the rice longer because it was a little hard.

 

I then spooned some rice into the bowl, then poured a little sauce on top with some pork.

Turkey burgers with special sauce

In my quest to find more recipes with no or limited carbs, I stumbled upon this recipe at cookinglight.com. Ground turkey is such a nice alternative to meat and is so healing and gentle on the wallet,  couldn’t help but give it a try. It was delicious, fast and super easy! BF was a huge fan and it’s definitely something I’m going to make again. The recipe is below and then the steps I took.

Turkey Burgers with Special Sauce

Adapted from Cooking Light

Burgers:

• 1/4  cup  chopped green onions
• 2  tablespoons  fresh orange juice
• 1  tablespoon  low-sodium soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon  finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
• 1  garlic clove, minced
• 1  pound  ground turkey breast
• Cooking spray
• 1/2  cup  Special Sauce
• 4  (1 1/2-ounce) whole wheat hamburger buns
• sliced tomato
• 4  curly leaf lettuce leaves

Sauce:

• 3/4  cup  reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  finely chopped green onions
• 2  tablespoons  Dijon mustard
• 1  tablespoon  honey
• 1  teaspoon  fresh orange juice
• 1  teaspoon  low-sodium soy sauce
• a few sprinkles of ground ginger

First, I started by chopping the garlic, green onions and ginger. I then mixed my chopped items with the turkey, orange juice and soy sauce.

Using my hands, I then formed the meat into four fat patties. I don’t like when burgers are wide and flat, because they tend to dry out. Yay for fat burgers!

As you may remember, I don’t have a bbq, so I spray my big, beautiful skillet with cooking spray and then turned the heat on super high. I put the patties onto the hot skillet, and then after a few seconds, turned down the heat to low. I let each side cook for a few minutes uncovered, then cooked both sides for a few more minutes covered.

While the burgers were cooking, I mixed together the sauce ingredients. Although the sauce is delicious, there was way too much of it for just the burgers. If you are planning on doubling the meat or you have something else you can serve the sauce with, then the recipe was fine. If not, I’d probably halve the recipe in the future.

I then served the burgers on a tiny, thin wheat roll with fresh tomato, lettuce and a dollop of sauce. It was amazing!

Happy New Year and Turkey Dinner!

In the hit movie Julie and Julia, Julie tackles her biggest cooking obstacle when she debones and prepares a full duck. I don’t know that I’ll ever cook a whole duck, but a turkey seems to be a close second. I know they are common and in theory pretty simple once they are in the oven. But how disappointed would people be if the main dish of your dinner, the turkey, totally sucked? It’s not really something I want to risk.

As we didn’t host Thanksgiving this year, there weren’t many leftovers. My dad didn’t get to have his turkey and cranberry sandwich and I didn’t get to eat an absurd amount of stuffing. So we decided to have Thanksgiving part two for New Years Eve. We had turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes, broccoli, cranberries, gravy and two types of cookies. In addition to making both types of cookies, I decided it was time for me to learn how to cook a turkey with my mom’s supervision.

We tried a new way to prepare it and it was delicious!

 

First we pulled out all of the gizzards and such. We boiled them with an onion for several hours to make stock for the gravy. (Yes it’s disgusting).

 

 

You also have to remove the neck, wash it off and pat the whole turkey dry.

 

 

Then I melted a half stick of butter and mixed in some rosemary and thyme. Next I flipped over the bird, so the breast was facing upward. I had to separate the skin from the breast so I used my hands and gently slid underneath the skin all the way to the other side. This required some finger wriggling and a little bit of maneuvering. Then my mom held the bird at a 45 degree angle with the opening in the skin facing up. I poured the melted butter into the little pouches that had formed on top of the breast. Then I put my hand into the pouches and made sugar the butter mix was all spread around. We then inserted a meat thermometer into a thigh and put the turkey in the oven. We cooked it for 25 minutes at 450 I think, then reduced the heat to 225 and cooked for about 20 minutes per pound (I think we added a little time or heat because of the high altitude).

 

While the turkey was cooking, we also made the stuffing. We melted some butter and cooked the onion and celery.

 

 

Then we added the parsley and apples and cooked for a few minutes.

 

 

 

Finally we added an egg, dried cranberries, the bread and the poultry seasoning mix that comes in the bag from our specialty grocery store, but you could do any mix of spices really.

We cooked the stuffing for a few minutes and then put it in an oven-safe dish. When the turkey was about 45 minutes from done, we added the stuffing to the oven (but not the inside of the turkey and I get nervous about that) and baked.

Unfortunately, by the time these were both done, I was starving and it smelled amazing and I simply forgot to take a final picture. But I must say, I was quite pleased with how it turned out!

Are there any meals you are afraid to tackle?