Green Chile Chicken

I made this chicken tonight and my husband and I both loved it.  A little spicy from the cajun seasoning, a little creamy and tangy from the sour cream, and the chicken is nice and tender.  It's based on the recipe over at Wildflour's Kitchen, but I changed it significantly.  This is one I will be making a lot!

 

Note that the amount of cajun seasoning you use will entirely depend on the brand and your own tastes, since there's a range of heat levels.  

 

Green Chile Chicken

 

4 large chicken breasts, cleaned and each sliced into two cutlets

3 Tbsp butter

cajun seasoning to taste

2 C water

1 Tbsp chicken bouillon base (Better Than Bouillon)

7 oz can diced green chiles

3 Tbsp cornstarch, dissolved in 1/4 C cold water

1 C sour cream

 

Melt butter over medium in a large nonstick skillet.  Sprinkle cajun seasoning to taste on both sides of the chicken cutlets.  Cook chicken until golden on both sides.  Add water, chicken bouillon base, and green chiles, and bring to a simmer.  Stir around a bit gently with tongs to disperse the chicken bouillon base.  Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

Remove chicken to a plate, and increase heat to medium-high.  When liquid is simmering nicely, pour in the cornstarch-water slurry in a thin stream while stirring constantly.  Simmer until sauce has thickened.  Reduce heat to medium-low and stir in sour cream until smooth.  Taste the sauce and add salt or more cajun seasoning if needed.  Add chicken back to skillet, turn to coat, and warm through.

 

Yield: 4-6 servings

Lemony Hummus Chicken

This sounds weird as anything, and I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but my husband and I both loved it.  I don't think I've ever eaten a piece of chicken so quickly!  It's very moist and has a lot of lemon flavor.  Who would have thought hummus and chicken would go together so well?  Some of the hummus slides off the chicken and mixes with the lemon juice and makes a pan sauce.  You will probably like this if you love hummus and lemon like we do!

  

The original recipe is from AllRecipes.  I just changed it up a bit, most significantly by seasoning the chicken first and using more hummus and lemon juice.

  

I didn't measure the spices, just use your own judgment.  The hummus I used is Lilly brand, it's in the organic refrigerated section at the grocery store we shop at.  It's good for this because it's thicker than most packaged hummus so it stays on top of the chicken better, and it has less oil/tahini than most so the finished dish isn't heavy.  Each chicken breast has a quarter of the tub of hummus (about 3 servings), so it's good to use a hummus that isn't too rich.  You could also definitely use the same amount of homemade hummus!  I do make hummus often (and it freezes well), but made this rather impromptu for dinner one night and didn't want to take the time to make hummus from scratch first.

  

Lemony Hummus Chicken

  

4 large chicken breasts (2 to 2 1/2 lbs total)

salt, pepper, and onion powder to taste

12 oz tub of hummus (I used roasted garlic Lilly brand)

juice of 1 lemon

paprika to taste

  

Preheat oven to 450 and line a baking dish with foil.  Grease the foil.  Sprinkle both sides of the chicken generously with salt, pepper, and onion powder, and put in the baking dish.  Spread the hummus evenly over the top of the chicken breasts, then squirt the lemon juice on top.  Sprinkle with paprika to give it a little color.

   

Bake until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees, about 30 minutes.  Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving with the pan sauce spooned on top.

   

Yield: 4 servings

Baked Ziti

This is a really simple but delicious baked ziti recipe.  Believe me when I say I've tried a lot of ziti recipes over the years and they've all been varying degrees of tasty, but this is our favorite for sure.  I'm always looking for new recipes, but laid my baked ziti quest to rest after I first made this recipe four years ago!  It's a bit unique in that all of the cheese (except for some mozzarella sprinkled on top) gets mixed in with the pasta.  This both saves time with layering and makes sure each noodle is very cheesy!  The nutmeg also gives it a really nice, subtle, slightly unexpected flavor.  The sauce recipe itself is quite solid and is a good, basic sauce to serve over spaghetti.

 

Unfortunately, I cannot remember where the recipe came from originally, but I do know I've changed it substantially.

 

If you want to add a few minutes of prep time and make it more hearty, you can saute a pound of ground beef or turkey to start with, then add a finely diced onion and two cloves minced garlic to the browning meat in place of the onion and garlic powders, then continue making the sauce as written.  

 

Quick Note: You can use any large, tube shaped pasta.  For some reason it's really hard to find ziti around here!  I've also started using mostly whole wheat pasta and finding whole wheat ziti is impossible.  The recipe photo shows it made with whole grain penne.

 

Baked Ziti

 

sauce:

1 tsp onion powder

3/4 tsp garlic powder

28 oz can whole fire roasted tomatoes, blended

6 oz tomato paste

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

 

1 lb ziti pasta

 

cheese mixture:

1 lb ricotta cheese

3 C mozzarella, divided

1/2 C grated parmesan (optional)

1 egg

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp black pepper 

1/2 tsp salt
 

Put all sauce ingredients in a pan and bring to a simmer.  Reduce heat, cover with a splatter screen, and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
 
While sauce simmers, cook the ziti in salted water until just shy of al dente.  It will continue cooking in the oven and you don't want it to get too soft..  

 

While the pasta cooks, stir together ricotta, 1 1/2 C mozzarella, the egg, and seasonings.  Drain pasta and return to pot.  Stir in cheese mixture. 
 

Grease a 9 by 13 pan and spread half the pasta mixture in the pan.  Spread half the sauce on top.  Add remaining pasta, top with the rest of the sauce, then sprinkle the remaining cup of mozzarella on top. 
 

Bake ziti at 350 until bubbly and cheese is golden, about 45 minutes.

 

Yield:  8 servings

Chicken Scratch Seasoning & "Rotisserie" Baked Chicken Breasts

This is one of our favorite and most commonly made chicken dishes.  It really could not be any simpler to make and is shockingly delicious, considering how easy it is.  Surely there are even easier chicken recipes out there, but I don't bother making something easy if we don't also enjoy it.  I'm not sure why exactly the chicken is so good.  The seasoning blend doesn't look particularly awe inspiring and the cooking method is very basic, but it really is very good.  The paprika gives boring old boneless, skinless chicken breasts a nice color, and the seasoning blend tastes makes the chicken taste like somewhat spicy rotisserie chicken.

  

The cooking method is my own (if I can even call "bake with butter" my own method!), but the Chicken Scratch recipe comes from the blog South Your Mouth.  I changed it by using more black pepper, leaving out the white pepper (I hate white pepper), and leaving out the cayenne (didn't want it that spicy).  I would like to experiment sometime with smoked paprika in place of regular paprika, and adding a tablespoon of chili powder.  For now, I've always just made it as written below!

  

Chicken Scratch Seasoning:

1 1/2 Tbsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp paprika

1 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp pepper

1/2 Tbsp thyme

1/2 Tbsp onion powder

  

Put everything in a jar, shake to mix, and store in the pantry.

   

Chicken Scratch Chicken:

  

cleaned boneless, skinless chicken breasts or boneless, skinless thighs

butter (1 tablespoon per chicken breast/1 tablespoon per 2 chicken thighs)

chicken scratch seasoning to taste

  

Pick a metal baking dish big enough to hold all your chicken.  Put in the butter.  Place the pan in oven and preheat to 350.  As soon as the butter has melted, remove the pan from the oven and swirl around to coat the pan.  Coat chicken breasts on both sides with butter, and sprinkle both sides generously with chicken scratch. Rub the seasoning in a little bit.  Arrange chicken evenly in pan.  Bake until chicken is cooked through, between 20 and about 40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken pieces.  Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.

Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

This is definitely the healthiest mac and cheese on my blog.  Whole wheat pasta, a whole can of pumpkin, and less cheese than most of my other recipes.  It's also not as decadent as my other mac and cheese recipes, but is a great everyday meal!  Who doesn't like a quick to make, creamy, cheesy pasta dish?  It also whips up in less than 20 minutes, which can't be said for that many other healthy-ish recipes.

 

The original recipe is from Paula's Plate.  I doubled it, added a little butter, changed the type of macaroni to whole wheat, and significantly cut back on the amount of nutmeg because nutmeg overwhelms dishes so easily.  I also added hot sauce and mustard to punch up the flavor a bit, plus mustard accentuates the cheesy flavor in mac and cheese.  My method is also a tiny bit different.

 

Even though this is a really quick recipe, please do try it at least the first time with freshly grated cheese.  You can easily grate it (and stick some frozen veggies in the microwave to steam) while the macaroni cooks.  The powdery stuff on pre-grated cheese may negatively affect the texture of the finished mac and cheese.

 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Mac & Cheese

 

2 1/2 C chicken broth (or veggie broth to make it vegetarian)

2 C milk

3 Tbsp butter

1 lb whole wheat macaroni 

16 oz can pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling, only ingredient should be pumpkin)

1/8th tsp nutmeg

2 tsp hot sauce (Tabasco or Frank's Red Hot, not something too over the top spicy)

1 Tbsp yellow mustard

2 C freshly grated sharp cheddar

1/2 C freshly grated parmesan

salt and pepper to taste

 

Pour broth, milk, and butter into a large nonstick skillet.  Milk burns easily, so nonstick is very helpful!  Heat over medium-high until it starts getting a little bubbly, but watch it carefully because milk boils over very quickly.  Add macaroni noodles, stir, reduce heat to low, cover, and cook until macaroni is cooked through, stirring every 3 or 4 minutes.  This took about 12 minutes for my box of pasta but how long it takes will 100% depend on the brand and type of macaroni you're using.  If the liquid gets completely absorbed, add a little more milk and broth.

 

When macaroni is cooked through, stir in the can of pumpkin, nutmeg, hot sauce, and yellow mustard until nice and hot.  Remove skillet from heat and stir in cheese, then salt and pepper to taste.  It's important to remove the skillet from the burner before adding the cheese so the cheddar doesn't get too hot and become grainy!

 

Serve immediately.

 

Yield:  About 6 main dish servings

Colcannon

Colcannon has become one of our go-to meals.  It is Irish in origin and consists of mashed potatoes and either kale or cabbage.  I've made it both ways many times, but we prefer kale.  Colcannon is cheap, pretty healthy, easy to make, and very yummy!  I don't usually follow a recipe but have written down my process below.  My method is a little odd because you steam the kale in the pot that the potatoes are boiling in, but that's just to make the recipe as simple as possible.  In the past, I've sauteed the kale in a skillet with butter and minced garlic (feel free to make it that way if you feel so inclined!), but this method tastes just as good and uses less dishes.  My apologies to any Irish people who may be offended by my approach!

 

The potatoes don't need to be the most gigantic ones you've ever seen, but they shouldn't be small, either.  This recipe has a very high kale to potato ratio to start with, so keep that in mind when you're picking your potatoes!

 

Quick Note:  You can add sliced green onions at the end if you would like, and/or serve the individual bowls of colcannon topped with a little pat of butter.

 

Colcannon

 

5 medium-large russet potatoes

2 large bunches of kale

4 Tbsp butter

milk

1/4 tsp garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

 

Partly fill a large pot with water (make sure it's a big pot because you'll be cramming the kale in there later!) and salt the water.  Bring it to a boil on the stove.

 

While the water comes to a boil, wash and peel the potatoes, then cut into large chunks.  Place into pot, whether the water's boiling yet or not.  When it does reach a boil, reduce the heat to medium-high so it doesn't boil over.

 

While the potatoes boil, rinse the kale and tear the leafy parts from the stems.  Tear the leafy parts into half dollar sized pieces and discard the stems.

 

When the potatoes can be pierced with a fork but are not completely done yet, add the torn kale to the pot (pour out a little water if needed so you can fit it all in) and place the lid on the pot.  Steam the kale for 4 or 5 minutes.

 

Drain the potatoes and kale thoroughly.  Mash with a potato masher.  Add the butter, then mash in enough milk to get the texture you want.  Stir in the garlic powder, as well as salt and pepper to taste.

 

Serve immediately, but leftovers reheat well.

 

Yield: 6 main dish servings

Bowtie Spinach Alfredo

Here's another great and healthier version of fettuccine alfredo!  It's also really quick and easy to make, you could have this on the table in 20 minutes.  My husband and I both really like it and think the spinach is the perfect addition.  We like the bowties, but you could use a different shape of pasta.  Also, if you prefer using fresh spinach, just leave out the frozen (obviously) and saute 6 C fresh baby spinach with the garlic while making the sauce.  You could toss in some shredded chicken at the end or saute some chopped chicken breast or shrimp before adding the garlic and spinach if you wanted, too.  Heck, even add a can of drained, chopped artichoke hearts if you want a spinach artichoke dip inspired pasta dish.  There are tons of options!
  
The inspiration for this recipe came from Budget Bytes, but it's basically a tweaked version of my Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo.  The cornstarch is necessary to thicken the sauce up a bit since it doesn't have pumpkin to help out. Like the Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo, it reheats very well, just microwave it and add a little milk if necessary to keep it from being dried out.
  
Bowtie Spinach Alfredo
  
1 lb bowtie pasta

12 oz bag frozen spinach

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz cream cheese, cubed

2 1/2 C milk

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

3 Tbsp milk with 2 Tbsp cornstarch dissolved in it 

1 C freshly grated parmesan

 

Cook pasta in salted water until almost done, add spinach and cook another minute or two. Drain thoroughly and return to pot.  Stir in a small amount of butter if the sauce is not almost done so the pasta won't stick together.  Cover with lid and set aside

 

Make the sauce while the pasta cooks.  Melt butter in saucepan over medium-low heat.  Saute garlic until tender.  Add cream cheese and 1/2 C milk.  Whisk until as smooth as possible.  Add remaining milk, salt, and pepper.  Bring to a simmer.  Make a slurry with the milk and cornstarch, pour it into the simmering sauce, and stir for a minute or so until thickened. Stir in parmesan until melted

 

Pour sauce over pasta and spinach, toss to combine, and serve.

Yield: 6 servings

Grilled Ginger Ale Chicken

Ooh, this is good chicken!  I came up with the recipe on the fly based on ingredients I had on hand and was rather impressed with myself because it turned out so nicely.  The real key here is to a) not cook the chicken at too high a temperature so it cooks evenly and doesn't dry out, and b) use a really good, very gingery ginger ale.  I used Reed's Ginger Ale, it is very potent and delicious if you are fond of ginger.  Seagram's or Canada Dry will probably result in something tasty, but it also probably will not taste like ginger.  You are warned.
 
Grilled Ginger Ale Chicken
  
1 1/2 lbs chicken breasts (probably 3)

6 oz good quality ginger ale

4 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp vegetable oil

1/2 tsp salt

 

Clean chicken breasts and each cut in half horizontally to make thinner pieces.  You can cut bigger breasts into more than 2 pieces.  Consider how many people you are wanting to serve and adjust accordingly.

 

Place the chicken pieces a in doubled gallon Ziploc bag.  Add marinade ingredients, seal bag, and squish to coat.  Place bag in a bowl and refrigerate at least 4 hours.  

  

When you're ready to cook the chicken, preheat your grill to medium low (or whatever temperature you know from experience will cook the chicken slowly enough so it can be cooked through and have grill marks without entering the Earth's atmosphere), do whatever pre-grilling tasks are required for your specific grill, and oil the grate.  Grill the chicken for 10 minutes without disturbing it, flip it over, and grill 10 minutes on the other side, or until cooked through.

  

Serve immediately.

  

Yield: However many pieces of chicken you end up with, probably 6.

Cheesy Baked Lentils

This is only the second lentil recipe I've posted on my blog in almost 8 years!  Lentils are just kind of hard to love.  They're dull with a sort of mealy texture.  I don't hate them, but my response to a recipe featuring them is not usually, "Lentils?  Ooh, baby, I'm there!"  Don't get me wrong, I've tried many lentil recipes over the years (and have given up on ever finding a lentil soup more than just passable), and this is a gem among, uh... less appealing rocks.
 
I know it may not look super fantastic from the ingredient list, and I have no explanation for why exactly it is so good, but really, it is.  I also have no explanation for why the cumin goes so well in it, but I stirred it in after baking the first time I ever made it (pre-cheese) and it added exactly the flavor boost that was needed.  Since that first time (it was one of the first meals I made for my now husband, then boyfriend in his college apartment kitchen back in 2006), I've made this several times and it's so incredibly easy, delicious, and healthy.  We like it best served over quinoa.  It also freezes well, just leave the cheese off whichever portion you want to freeze. 
If you're super pressed for time, you could chop up some baby carrots, use maybe 1/2 tsp each garlic and onion powder instead of the real ones, and an undrained 16 oz can of diced tomatoes instead of fresh ones.  You can also add an additional 8 oz can tomato sauce if you'd like, as written this recipe doesn't have much sauce, but my husband likes it that way so I leave it alone.  It has plenty of flavor regardless!
 
Oh, and this recipe originally comes from the More with Less cookbook.  It has been pretty heavily edited by me, though.
 
Cheesy Baked Lentils
 
1 can V8 or tomato juice, or alternatively one 8 oz can plain tomato sauce and 1/2 C water

2 1/4 C water

1 lb lentils, rinsed and looked over for stones and other weirdies

3 medium carrots, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 C chopped fresh tomatoes

1/2 Tbsp dried parsley

1 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp thyme

1/4 tsp sage

2 1/2 C grated cheddar

 

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 by 13 baking dish.  Add all ingredients to baking dish except cheese, and mix together.  Cover tightly with foil.  Carefully place it in the oven so it doesn't slosh.  Bake 50 minutes, remove foil, stir, and bake another half hour, or until lentils are cooked through and completely tender.  Sprinkle with cheese and bake until cheese is melted.

 

Serve over quinoa or rice if desired, or just have by itself with salad, fruit, or veggies on the side.

  

Yield: 8-10 main dish servings

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

Oh, this recipe is so good!  I'm a lifelong fettuccine alfredo lover and this is among the best.  It's thick, rich, creamy, amazingly delicious, and is less bad for you than traditional fettuccine alfredo.  It's so good that I would serve it to guests with a nice side salad and garlic bread.  This is seems like it would be geared solely towards autumn or winter, but we make it year round.  It's always a good choice for my husband to make because it's so straight forward.  If you're skeptical about the pumpkin flavor, do know that it's pretty mild.  Mostly it adds bulk to the sauce and offers just a little bit of pumpkin deliciousness.  You could add more pumpkin if you felt so inclined, and a little grating of fresh nutmeg.
 
If you have leftovers, unlike regular fettuccine that turns into a horrifying greasy mess, this pumpkin version reheats very well.  Just reheat it in the microwave and stir in a little milk so it isn't dry.  

Pumpkin Fettuccine Alfredo

4 Tbsp butter

4 cloves minced garlic

15 oz can pumpkin

8 oz cream cheese

2 C milk

1 C freshly grated parmesan, plus more to sprinkle on top

salt to taste

1 lb dry fettuccine noodles

Cook the fettuccine in salted water while you make the sauce.

Saute garlic in butter over low-medium until it barely gets golden, this will take 3 minutes or so.  Garlic burns quickly, so watch it carefully and have the pumpkin ready to add in right when you need it.

Add pumpkin and cream cheese, whisk until smooth.  Whisk in milk and salt.  Heat over low until well combined.  

Add to drained fettuccine, and serve!

Yield: 6 servings