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Orange Honey Sesame Chicken

14 Feb

Sesame Chicken has been a favorite in our house for quite a while now.  It’s a go to dish when we have vegetables to use up that are good in a stir fry, or just as a chicken dish to throw in the weekly meal plan.  I have gotten a ton of oranges lately from Bountiful Baskets and Sunizona FarmBoxes, so I decided to try to incorporate fresh squeezed orange juice somehow.  Also, the Sesame Chicken uses white sugar, but this time I decided to use honey in its place.  I have a lot of honey from a Bountiful Baskets 12 pound bucket to use, plus it’s more natural than the sugar I have.  It turned out really great!  It’s not overly orange tasting, which is what I was going for.  I also added in some fresh grated ginger, which I think I may do with the Sesame Chicken in the future as well.  (Quick tip for ginger, keep it in the freezer to keep longer, then just take it out, grate what you need, and put it back!)

Orange Honey Sesame Chicken

 

 

Orange Honey Sesame Chicken

What you need:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1″-2″ pieces
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
1/2 tsp dark sesame oil
2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted
1/4 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
Veggies of your choice (tonight I used broccoli and green onions)
Cooked rice

How to make it:

Place flour and chicken in a gallon size zipper bag.  Shake to coat chicken in flour.  Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the chicken to the skillet in batches and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 4 minutes, or until white and no longer pink.

Meanwhile, in a medium-sized skillet, combine the soy sauce and honey in the skillet. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the honey is mixed well with the soy sauce. Stir in the orange juice, grated ginger, sesame oil and sesame seeds.  Pour over the chicken in the larger skillet and stir to coat.

Add in any chopped veggies you want.  For this batch, I used just broccoli.  Other times I have used different combinations of broccoli, onion, green, yellow, and red peppers, shredded carrots, bean sprouts, snow peas, water chestnuts, and mushrooms.  Cover your skillet and cook until veggies have softened.  I tend to leave the veggies a little crispy still because my husband likes them still crispy.  After other veggies have softened, add the green onions.

Serve over cooked rice.

Note: You can buy toasted sesame seeds, usually with in the section with other Asian grocery items.  If you can’t find them, to toast sesame seeds, place in a dry skillet and toast, shaking the pan, over medium high heat for a minute or so, or until fragrant and lightly browned. Do this first and cook the chicken in the same skillet to pick up more sesame flavor.  Also, if you are using a lot of veggies, you may want to double the ingredients for the sauce so there is some for the veggies.

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Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

15 Jan

Spinach and Mozzarella Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

 

This turned out amazing!  I had gotten spinach from Bountiful Baskets in the juicing pack I contributed for, and wanted to make it with chicken somehow.  So, I started looking through some recipes, and came up with a marinade for the chicken, then topped with spinach and mozzarella cheese.  I wanted them to be somewhat flatter, but didn’t pound them flat very well.  Just meant that it took a little longer for them to cook.  Since I had gotten red potatoes and lemons as well in my regular basket, I thought roasting the potatoes with lemon would be a nice addition.

 

Spinach & Mozzarella Chicken

What you need:

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/3 cup olive oil
Juice of 2 lemons (or about 1/3 cup)
1 tablespoon rosemary
2 cloves minced garlic
Salt and pepper
2 cups fresh spinach
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

How to make it:

In a small bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper.  Put chicken on a flat surface in between 2 pieces of wax paper and pound flat.  Place chicken in a gallon size zipper bag and pour contents of the bowl over chicken in the bag.  Seal bag and place in refrigerator overnight, or for at least 1 hour before cooking.

Remove chicken from bag and discard remaining marinade.  Preheat oven to 400 F.  Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Cook chicken in skillet for about 5 minutes each side to slightly brown it.  Remove from skillet and place in a baking dish.

In the same skillet, put in the spinach and cook for a few minutes until spinach wilts.  Place spinach on each of the chicken breasts in baking dish.  Next, put shredded mozzarella on top of the spinach on each chicken breast.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, or until chicken is cooked fully through and cheese is melted.

 

 

Lemon Roasted Potatoes

What you need:

3 pounds red potatoes, well scrubbed
Juice of 1 lemon
Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Dice the potatoes, leaving skins on.  Place in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix together remaining ingredients.  Pour over the potatoes in the large bowl.  Toss to fully coat potatoes.

Spray a foil lined baking sheet with non-stick spray.   Spread potatoes in an even layer on the baking sheet.

Cook in the preheated oven for 20 minutes.  Stir potatoes around on baking sheet.  Continue to bake for 15-20 minutes, or until potatoes are browned and softened.

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Cheddar Turkey Casserole

4 Dec

Cheddar Turkey Casserole

 

Yes, I still have Thanksgiving turkey!  This time, I wanted to make a casserole, but I don’t have anymore canned “cream of” soups, so I needed a recipe that doesn’t use them.  I searched on the Taste of Homes website, and came across this recipe.  Really wasn’t too time consuming, and was very tasty!

 

Cheddar Turkey Casserole
Original recipe here

What you need:

4 cups uncooked pasta, like rotini or farfalle
1 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon yellow mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 cups milk
1-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
2 cups cubed cooked turkey
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup bread crumbs

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot.

While pasta is cooking, saute garlic in butter in a large skillet until tender. Stir in the flour, salt, mustard, thyme, pepper, and frozen veggies. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from the heat; stir in cheese until melted.

Drain the cooked pasta and return to the large pot. Mix in turkey and cheese sauce.

Spray a 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with non-stick spray. Evenly spread the turkey-pasta mixture into the dish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs.  At this point, casserole can be baked or frozen:

Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until heated through.  Serve immediately.

Or

Freeze casserole, covered, for up to 3 months.  To use frozen casserole, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Remove from the refrigerator 30 minutes before baking. Bake according to directions above. 

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Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

21 Oct

 

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up a 40 pound case of Zaycon Foods boneless, skinless chicken breasts like the case I got in March.  A friend of mine came over with her case, and we worked on processing the cases together.  She cut the butterfly breasts into 2 pieces, while I cooked dinner (bacon wrapped chicken stuffed with cream cheese and chives, with sweet potato chips as a side), grilled about half of each case, and got the FoodSaver bags ready.  5 hours later and we had 80 pounds of chicken processed!  As she was cutting the breasts and removing extra fat, there were small chicken pieces that we set aside, my guess it was about 4 pounds worth.  We decided it would be best for some kind of stew, so I decided on chicken and rice.  I had onion, carrots, and corn in the freezer, so after a long night of prepping chicken, it was easy to throw this all in the slow cooker and let it cook overnight.  It turned out perfect!

 

Slow Cooker Chicken and Rice

What you need:

4 pounds fresh chicken, diced
2 cups carrots, sliced
2 cups onion, diced
2 cups kernels of corn
8 cups water
6 chicken bouillon cubes (gluten-free)
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups cooked rice

How to make it:

Add all ingredients, except rice, to the slow cooker.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours, or high for 3-4 hours.  After it is done cooking, stir in the cooked rice.  Serve hot.

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Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Goat Cheese and Chives

25 Jun

I had thawed chicken for tonight’s dinner, but had no idea what I wanted to make.  I remembered I had bacon on hand, and bacon always makes everything better, right?  So, I started looking at bacon wrapped chicken recipes, and found a few that had a filling of cream cheese and chives.  I didn’t have cream cheese on hand, but I did have soft goat cheese from our Farmer’s Market visit, so I decided it would work.  I also had fresh chives from the fresh herb pack. Normally, this would be baked in the oven, but since it is so hot here, I didn’t want the extra heat.  I thought about grilling, but we had a threat of rain all afternoon.  So, I cooked this in a little olive oil on the stove top, and it turned out really well.  I served with baked potatoes and salad.

 

Bacon Wrapped Chicken with Goat Cheese and Chives

What you need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
8 oz soft goat cheese or cream cheese
1 tablespoon fresh chives, minced
4 strips bacon
Olive oil

How to make it:

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.

Pound each chicken breast to 1/2′ thickness.  Spread goat cheese or cream cheese over each chicken breast.  Sprinkle each with minced chives.

Roll each chicken breast.  Wrap each breast with a piece of bacon, stretching bacon around each breast to make it thinner.  Place the wrapped chicken breasts in the skillet with the preheated oil. (You can see I was in a hurry and didn’t get the bacon wrapped around the chicken real well)

Turn wrapped chicken often to get even cooking on all sides.  Cook until internal temperature is 180 F.

Alternate baking instructions: Place wrapped chicken, seam side down in a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan. Bake, uncovered, at 400° for 35-40 minutes or until a thermometer reads 180°. Broil 6 in. from the heat for 5 minutes or until bacon is crisp.

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Creamy Mustard and Tarragon Chicken

6 Jun

I normally not a big fan of mustard, but I got past it and this was really, really good.  So good, in fact, that my 3-year-old ate almost a whole piece of chicken on her own!  I used fresh tarragon from the herb pack I got from Bountiful Baskets, and chicken breast from my freezer stash of Zaycon Foods chicken.  The chicken was very moist and tasty.  I did change the original recipe a bit.  First, doubled the sauce, and then, since I didn’t have sour cream, I just milk.  It worked out well.  I served it with a wild rice blend and salad.

 

Creamy Mustard and Tarragon Chicken
Original recipe here

What you need:

1/4 cup all-purpose flour
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoon olive oil
4 (5 ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

How to make it:

Place the flour in a shallow dish and mix in salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge chicken breasts in the flour.  Add chicken to the pan. Cook the chicken in the hot oil and butter until golden, about 3 minutes. Flip chicken and brown on the other side, an additional 3 minutes. Remove chicken from skillet and tent with foil.

Reduce heat to medium. Stir the onion into the remaining oil in the skillet. Cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Pour the chicken broth into the pan, and simmer while scraping the browned bits of food off of the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Pour in the wine and bring back to a simmer. Cook the sauce until reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Return chicken to the pan along with any juices that have accumulated. Simmer chicken in the sauce until it is cooked through and no longer pink in the center, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer chicken to a warmed platter.

Whisk the mustard and milk into the liquid in the pan; stir in the tarragon. Spoon sauce over chicken to serve.

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Ultimate Chicken Fingers and Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes

28 Mar

I had a bag of Zaycon Foods chicken I had kept in the refrigerator instead of the freezer, and I was having trouble deciding how to cook it.  On Sunday, my girls wanted pancakes, so while I was making them using Bisquick, a recipe on the box for Ultimate Chicken Fingers caught my attention, and I decided that would be how I would cook the chicken.  Then, this week I received green beans and cherry tomatoes from Bountiful Baskets, and I thought they would make a nice side for the chicken fingers.  So, here are the recipes for both!

 

Ultimate Chicken Fingers
Based on recipe here

What you need:

2/3 cup Bisquick mix
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt or garlic salt (I used garlic salt)
1/2 teaspoon paprika (I didn’t use paprika)
3 boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch strips
1 egg, slightly beaten
Olive oil
How to make it:
Preheat oven to 450 F.  Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray with cooking spray.
Mix Bisquick mix, Parmesan cheese, salt and paprika in 1-gallon plastic zipper bag. Dip half the chicken strips into the beaten egg; place in bag of Bisquick mixture. Seal bag; shake to coat. Place chicken on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining chicken. Spray or brush with olive oil.  
Bake 12 to 14 minutes, turning halfway through cooking, until no longer pink in center.
Green Beans with Cherry Tomatoes
Based on recipe here
What you need:
1 1/2 pounds green beans, trimmed and cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh basil
2 cups cherry tomato halves
How to make it:
Place green beans in a large saucepan, and add enough water to just cover the green beans.  Cover pan, and bring to a boil.  Turn heat to low, and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain off water, and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Stir in garlic salt, pepper and basil. Add tomatoes, and cook stirring gently just until soft. Add green beans, and toss gently to blend.  Cook just another minute or so, then remove from heat.

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Turkey Cranberry Wreath

4 Mar

 

I guess I should really call this just a Turkey Wreath since I don’t normally add in cranberry.  I saw this demonstrated at a Pampered Chef party, and I believe it is from one of their cookbooks.  This is perfect to make with leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, but I didn’t get to make it this year because I used my leftovers in other ways. This would also be good with chicken in place of the turkey.  The pictures I have are from when I first made it 3 years ago so that I would remember how to make it the next time.  Unfortunately, I thought to take the pictures a little too late, but it at least helps some visually.

 

Turkey Cranberry Wreath

What you need:

2 packages of refrigerated crescent rolls
2 cups cooked turkey, chopped
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1/2 cup dried cranberries (I usually leave these out)
1 cup Swiss cheese, shredded (I sometimes use shredded mozzarella)
1/4 C. walnuts, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons honey Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
3 tablespoons fresh parsley, snipped
1 egg, separated

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

In a medium bowl, mix together turkey, celery, cranberries, cheese, walnuts, mayonnaise, mustard, black pepper and parsley.  Scoop filling over seams of dough, forming a circle.

Separate crescent roll dough into 16 triangles.  Arrange 8 triangles in a circle with wide ends of triangles toward the center on a large round baking stone. The corners of wide ends should overlap and points will extend 1 inch beyond baking stone.  Arrange the remaining 8 triangles in center, matching the wide ends together. Seal the wide end seams using a roller.  The points of these 8 triangles will overlap in the center, do not seal them together.

Lift the inner dough triangles across the filling and tuck under other side of filling.  They should go over on a diagonal, however, in my picture below, they look folded straight over.

 

Continue with the outer triangles, lifting them over the filling and at the opposite diagonal direction from the inner triangles.


Beat egg white of the separated egg lightly; brush over dough. Discard the yoke.

Bake 25-30 minutes or until golden brown. Cut and serve.

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Chicken Marsala

24 Feb

This wasn’t in the original meal plan for this week, but since I wasn’t feeling well earlier this week, I fell behind in cooking and had some things I needed to get cooked before they went bad.  So, I decided to make Chicken Marsala, something we haven’t had in a while.  For the sides, I steamed my last bunch of asparagus and made mashed potatoes with a partial bag of potatoes I had left.  Since I have herbs from the Italian themed veggie pack, I added crushed fresh garlic and minced fresh rosemary to the mashed potatoes.  It was a nice addition.  I also got to use the fresh herbs in the Chicken Marsala.

Chicken Marsala
Based on recipes here and here 

What you need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon minced fresh oregano
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons butter
8 oz package mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup marsala wine
2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary

Pound chicken to 1/4 inch thickness.  Mix together flour and oregano, and fully coat chicken with this mixture.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet.  Add chicken and cook until no longer pink.

To the skillet, add and melt butter.  Add mushrooms, wine, parsley, and rosemary.   Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer.  Cover, and cook for 5 minutes.  Flip chicken over, cover again, and cook for another 5 minutes.  Remove cover and simmer until sauce has reduced by half.

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Avgolemono Soup

18 Feb

 

It has been a LONG time since I have had this soup.  I hadn’t actually made this soup until now.  When I was making the chicken broth, my uncle commented on Facebook that when my grandmother was cooking chicken broth on the stove in the morning, he knew they were having Avgolemono Soup for dinner that night!  That was my motivation to finally make it.  The ingredient list is short, but it does require a little time and attention while making it.  The results are worth it, I promise!  If you want, you can add come cooked, shredded chicken to this to make it more of a meal.  I made it without.

 

Avgolemono Soup
Recipe from my Uncle Chris

What you need:

1 quart broth
1/4 cup long grain rice or orzo
1 egg
Juice of 1 lemon

How to make it:

Bring broth to boil. Add rice or orzo. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, squeeze lemon and mix with egg in a bowl.

When rice is done cooking, remove from stove. Using a ladle, add a small amount of hot broth very slowly to the egg-lemon mix while constantly stirring the egg-lemon mix with a wisk or mixer. Continue doing this with about half the broth and then reverse the process; use your ladle to slowly add this mix back into the remaining broth. When this process is complete your soup should look frothy.

Return it to the stove to heat back up to serving temp–But don’t let it boil! What you are making is called a suspension. The soup looks creamy, but it is actually comprised of tiny globs of egg suspended in the broth. The cooling process used to create the suspension is called tempering. If you just dumped the egg into the hot broth it would cook too fast to suspend (you end up with egg-drop soup). You don’t ever want to boil the soup because that will cook the egg too much and cause it to separate from the broth. This happens also when you reheat the soup. It never looks as good as it does on the first serving.

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