Southwestern Chicken Casserole – Pure Comfort Food With a Little Heat!

Tags

casserole, Chicken, Cooking, Food, pasta, recipe

I made this recipe on the fly the other night and it was a complete hit with my husband and I! It had a ton of flavor with just the right amount of heat. The creamy sauce prevented it from being overly spicy. And this was a great way to use the leftover chicken I had from roasting a whole chicken earlier in the week. A store bought rotisserie chicken could also be used.

Southwestern Chicken Casserole

4 servings

8 oz. penne pasta

1 tbsp oil

1/2 lb. shredded cooked chicken

1/2 onion, diced

1/2 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 large jalapeño, finely diced

1/2 cup frozen corn

1 can cream of chicken soup

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/3 cup sour cream

1 4 oz can diced green chilies

1 14 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup pepper jack cheese, shredded and divided

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp hot Hungarian paprika

1/2 tsp garlic salt

Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil pasta in salted water for 8 minutes. It will continue to cook when you bake the casserole. Drain maintaining pasta water for possible use.

In an oven safe frying pan or braiser, add oil and over medium heat sauté the onions, bell pepper, jalapeño and corn until softened. Stir in cream of chicken soup, broth and sour cream. Stir until thoroughly mixed. Stir in chicken, green chiles, black beans, 1/2 cup of pepper jack cheese and seasonings. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in drained pasta. If sauce is too thick, add some of your reserved pasta water. Mix until pasta is incorporated. Top with remaining 1/2 cup pepper jack cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato & Balsamic Sauce – DELICIOUS and low fat!!!

Tags

balsamic, Chicken, Cooking, entree, Food, healthy, low-fat, main dish, oregano, Poultry, recipe, tomato

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato & Balsamic Sauce

I think chicken is my favorite protein to cook with! It’s so versatile, healthy and just delicious! This dish was even more delicious than what I expected going in. I want to make it again, so I told myself I definitely needed to blog this recipe. Because yes, I do cook from my own blog! LOL! They are recipes that I loved enough to take the time to document and photograph, so in my book that means they’re worth revisiting!

Oregano Chicken with Fresh Tomato and Balsamic Sauce

Serves 4 people

Cooking time: 45 minutes

4 chicken thighs (I used bone-in with skin removed, as they add more flavor, but you could do boneless and reduce cooking time)

2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

2 tsp avocado or olive oil

2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 shallots, thinly sliced

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved (I buy the multicolored heirloom cherry tomatoes. Delicious!!!)

1/4 cup chicken broth

1/4 cup white wine (Only use wine you would drink. If it’s not good enough for drinking, it’s not good enough for cooking!)

2 tsp capers, drained

2 tbsp lemon juice

Add oil to non-stick frying pan and heat over medium-high heat. Season one side of chicken with 1/2 of salt and rosemary and add to pan, seasoned side down. Season other side of chicken. Brown chicken on each side for about 2-3 minutes per side. When browned but not cooked all the way through, remove to plate and stick in a 350 oven while you continue cooking sauce.

Turn the heat on your frying pan down to medium-low and add garlic and shallots (You don’t want to burn your garlic! It turns bitter, ruins your dish and that pan is done!) stir until shallots are softened. Add vinegar and cook until mostly evaporated, scrapping the bottom of the pan while it cooks to get the yummy stuff off the bottom and into your sauce.

Stir in tomato halves, capers, chicken broth, wine, lemon juice and a little more salt and pepper to taste. Stir and simmer until well mixed. Add your chicken back in to the plan and turn to coat with sauce. Cover the pan and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes, turning chicken once, until chicken registers at least 165 degrees with a meat thermometer.

This is great served over rice! The sauce is fabulous, so you want something to soak up that goodness!!! I paired it with some artichokes cooked with lemon and garlic. So good!!!

I hope you enjoy!!!

Spicy Chicken Sweet Potato Chili – Hearty and Healthy!!!

Tags

Chicken, chili, healthy, recipe, slow cooker, spicy, sweet potato, vegan, vegetarian

I’m always looking for ways to sneak additional vegetables into our meals. I happened to have a sweet potato on hand and thought it would be a good add to spicy chili. The sweetness of the potato really balances out this dish! It was an incredibly flavorful! Very hearty and healthy too! You could substitute ground turkey for the chicken or leave the meat altogether for a delicious vegetarian or vegan dish (If you left out the sour cream).

Spicy Chicken Sweet Potato Chili

Makes 6-8 servings

1-2 tbsp avocado or olive oil

1/2 diced sweet yellow onion

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 cans Rotel tomatoes (I used one can hot and one can chipotle Rotel)

1 – 8 oz can tomato sauce

1/2 cup water (rinsed Rotel can and dumped in)

1 pound chopped rotisserie chicken (or 1 pound ground turkey, browned)

1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 sweet potato, peeled and diced

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, diced

3/4 tsp cumin

3/4 tsp Hungarian Paprika

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/2 cup sour cream

Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Add oil to Dutch oven or other large pot over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until soften, add garlic and sauté another couple of minute until fragrant. Add remaining ingredients and set to low and simmer for 1-2 hours. You could also sauté the onion and garlic and then throw everything in the slow cooker for 4-6 hours on low. Serve with tortilla chips, sliced green onions, chopped avocado or any other toppings you like on your chili.

Enjoy!!!

Stovetop Paella – Impressive Enough for Your New Year’s Guests!!!

Tags

Chicken, Cooking, Food, healthy, mussels, Paella, Rice, sausage, shrimp, spanish, stovetop

I have always wanted to try making paella and I recently made that happen! I was in a FB conversation about spices and my friend, John, mentioned that he grows saffron. The most expensive spice in the world! After my head stopped spinning, I told him we were going to have to talk about this. He asked, “Over wine?”. I answered, “Yes, and paella!” Guess who called me that afternoon asking when we were getting together for wine and paella? LOL! John and his lovely wife have an amazing wine collection and are generous with it, so I’m always happy to have them over for dinner! They bring amazing wine and I do my best to cook amazing food!

So special note about this recipe, how do you clean mussels? You want to buy the freshest mussels you can get. You start by going through your mussels and if any are opened, tap on the shell with your fingernail. If it closes, you’re good to go. If it does not, throw it away! Or if you have any with broken shells that have been exposed to air, throw them away. You will almost always have to throw away a few. I got lucky and only had to throw away 2 out of my 1 1/2 pound batch. Those mussels that are opened and won’t or can’t close will be fishy and can ruin the flavor of your dish. You then want to pull off the beard from each mussel, if they have one. This is the stringy thing coming out of the shell. Then scrub each mussel under running water with a stiff brush. I did this a few hours ahead of time and then put the mussels in a bowl of salt water and stored them in the fridge. This allows them to release any sand or grit in them.

So the paella turned out great and it really wasn’t hard to make! I hope you enjoy this recipe!

Stovetop Paella

Serves 6-8 people

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

1/2 – 3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite size pieces

1 pound andouille sausage links, cut into bite size pieces

2 cups basmati rice

6 cups chicken broth, divided

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 tsp saffron threads

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

1 1/2 pounds mussels, cleaned and de bearded

1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined (I love to buy the EZ peel shrimp! They are already deveined and they are truly easy peel!)

1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed

5 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup flat leaf parsley chopped

Lemon wedges

You will need an enamel coated dutch oven that is at least 5 quarts in size or another large pan.

Put olive oil in pan and sauté onion and bell pepper until softened. Then add garlic and cook until fragrant another 2 minutes. Next add chicken and sausage and cook for another 5 minutes until partially cooked. Next stir in the rice, 5 cups chicken broth, red pepper flakes, crumble in the saffron, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Cover the pot and simmer over medium-low heat for about 15 minutes. Stir the rice gently and continue cooking for another 10 minutes until the rice is fully cooked. Taste the rice and add more salt and pepper, if needed. Add the mussels, shrimp, peas and green onions and stir. Place lid on pot and allow seafood to steam, check after 5 -7 minutes. If the shrimp are not turning pink and mussels are not opening and you didn’t notice much steam, add some of the remaining chicken broth and continue cooking until the seafood is just cooked. You don’t want to over cook it, as the seafood will get tough.

You can make the rice portion a little ahead and then stick in the oven on low for a while, but you want to wait until right before serving to add and cook the seafood.

Before serving, garnish the paella with parsley. Serve with lemon wedges.

I served the paella with a wilted spinach salad and home baked bread. It was a delicious dinner! The leftovers were yummy too!

Enjoy!!!

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto – Another Pressure Cooker Success Story!

Tags

arborio rice, Chicken, Chicken and Mushroom Risotto, instant pot, Pressure Cooker

Up until a few years ago, I had never made risotto. I became a fan of Gordon Ramsey’s Hells Kitchen show and risotto was a regular on his menu. It always looked so good, I decided I needed to give it a try. Why did it take me so long to discover this dish??? It is so delicious and my family is now addicted! Last night, I decided to try making it in my pressure cooker as my new unit has a specific setting for risotto. The pressure cooker really makes cooking risotto a breeze! Usually, you really have to stand over your risotto and do a lot of stirring, but not with the pressure cooker. You basically get things started in the pot, close it up and let it cook! Comfort food at its finest!

I served my risotto with a side of roasted chili garlic asparagus. I’ll share this recipe in a separate post, so keep your eyes peeled! This was wonderful too!

Chicken and Mushroom Risotto

3 tbsp. butter, divided

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite size pieces (I used thighs. They are cheaper and have great flavor)

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced

8 oz. baby portobella mushrooms, roughly chopped

1 1/2 cups Arborio rice

3 cups low sodium, fat free chicken broth

1 cup white wine (Always cook with a wine you would drink! If it’s not good enough to drink, why would you want to put it in your food?!? I used Apothic White. This is currently one of our favorite affordable white wines.)

1 tsp garlic salt

1/3 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese, grated

Add olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter to pressure cooker and set to saute. Warm until butter is melted, then add your chicken and onions. Saute until onions are softened. Don’t worry about cooking your chicken through. Add the garlic and mushroom and saute another minute or two until fragrant. Add your rice and stir for another minute or two. Pour in your broth, wine, salt and pepper and stir. Close up your pressure cooker and set the vent for pressure cooking, not steam. Use the risotto setting on your cooker or set for 6 minutes of pressure cooking. Following the pressure cooking phase, let the cooker sit for about 15 minutes allowing the pressure to escape naturally. Open the pressure cooker, add last tablespoon of butter and parmesan cheese. Taste and add any additional salt and pepper to your taste.

Enjoy!

Hot Tub Chicken – Well That Just Sounds Fun!!!

Tags

bundt, Chicken, Fennel, Hot Tub Chicken, Jeff Mauro, marinade, Roasted Vegetables, Sweet potatoes

I never thought I would use my bundt pan this way!!! One of my favorite cooking shows is the Food Network’s “The Kitchen”. A panel of people from cooks to Iron Chef’s discuss various cooking techniques, recipes and tools. One of the regular hosts, Jeff Mauro, demonstrated the recipe for Hot Tub Chicken. Just the name peaked my interest! Who doesn’t love a hot tub!!! It’s not just fun, it also happens to be mighty delicious! This brined chicken with roasted veggies is moist and incredibly flavorful. So grab your bundt pan and let’s get going!!!

Don’t forget to save that chicken carcass to make your own chicken broth once your done carving that chicken.

Hot Tub Chicken With Roasted Fennel and Sweet Potatoes

Marinade:

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons kosher salt

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon chili powder

4 lemons, zested and juiced

2 cloves garlic, smashed

Chicken and Roasted Vegetables:

One 3- to 4-pound chicken, skin slightly separated from the muscle for marinade penetration

8 red, yellow or orange mini bell peppers, halved

1 medium sweet potato, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds

1 medium fennel bulb, cut into 1/4-inch slices

1 small yellow onion, cut into 1/4-inch slices

2 tablespoons olive oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup white wine

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1 sprig fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon butter

Directions

Special equipment: a bundt pan

For the marinade: In a bowl, whisk together the oil, salt, paprika, chili powder, lemon zest and juice and garlic.

For the chicken and roasted vegetables: Put the chicken in a large resealable plastic bag, add the marinade and marinate for at least 8 hours and up to overnight.

When ready to roast, position an oven rack in the bottom third of the oven (to leave clearance for the bundt pan and chicken) and preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the peppers, sweet potatoes and half of the fennel and onions in a bowl with the olive oil and some salt and pepper. Spread the vegetables out on a baking sheet, leaving the center clear for the bundt pan.

In the bottom of a bundt pan, add the wine, garlic, rosemary and remaining fennel and onions. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard the marinade) and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using a square of foil, cover the hole of the bundt. Stand the chicken upright on the bundt center over the foil. Roast until the chicken registers 165 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer, about 50 minutes. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, strain the residual juices in the bundt pan and pour into a medium skillet. Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by half. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and slowly whisk in the butter.

Carve the chicken and place over the roasted vegetables on a platter. Pour the pan sauce over the chicken and serve.

Enjoy!!!

Chicken with Artichokes and Olives in a Bread Bowl – One of My Favorite Recipes From my Mom

Tags

Artichoke Hearts, bread bowl, Chicken, marsala garlic, Olives, white wine, wine reduction

My mom wasn’t known for her cooking skills, but she had a few recipes that I just loved! Unfortunately, I lost her recipe that inspired this dish, but I faked it and it turned out wonderfully! This is basically chicken in a white wine reduction sauce that is place in a hollowed out bread bowl. The bread soaks up the sauce and is so delicious! You eat the chicken and tear apart the bread and have a piece with your dinner. Yummm!!!! This is a visually beautiful dish and fun to eat. It’s perfect for impressing your dinner guests!

This is a recipe you could play with. You may have your own saucy meat dish that would be good served in the bread bowl. Give it a try! In this picture, you might be able to see that I actually didn’t have a bread bowl, but I used sliced French bread. I had some bread on hand that had gotten a tiny bit stale and was starting to harden. It was perfect for this dish! The sauce soaking into the bread softened it right up and gave it a delicious flavor.

Chicken With Artichokes and Olives in a Bread Bowl

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts

2 tbsp olive oil

1 cup white wine (I only had Marsala wine on hand, so I used that, but you could use your favorite white wine for cooking)

2 cups chicken broth

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 box of frozen artichoke hearts

1 – 4 oz can black olive slices, drained

2 garlic cloves, minced or pressed

Salt and pepper

1 large or 2 small sourdough rounds, cut off the top and hollow out or several slices of French or sourdough bread

Pour olive oil in a skillet and heat over medium high heat. Once pan is hot, place chicken in pan. Season with salt and pepper. Brown the meat on each side about 4-5 minutes each. Reduce the heat under your pan to medium and remove chicken from pan and place on an oven-safe plate, it can still be pink in the middle. Place chicken in a 275 degree oven to keep warm while you deglaze your pan. Pour wine and chicken broth in pan and stir to remove chicken bits from the bottom of the pan. Whisk in Dijon mustard, add artichoke hearts, olives and garlic and stir. Simmer sauce and allow to reduce. This should take about 30 minutes. Add chicken back to pan and continue to simmer and spoon sauce over chicken, so it can take on some of that wonderful flavor. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook chicken another 10 minutes or so. Place your bread in an oven-safe baking pan. Transfer chicken into baking pan in the bread bowl or over bread slices and then pour sauce and all contents of your skillet over the bread, trying to cover equally so all parts of the bread will soak up sauce. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. Ensure your chicken is cooked through, but don’t burn your bread.

Enjoy!

Chicken, Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Skillet – Williams-Sonoma to the Rescue!!!

Tags

Chicken, mushroom, one pan dish, pearl couscous, roasted garlic, sauce, Williams-Sonoma, zucchini

I recently celebrated my 50th birthday (Yikes!) and my longtime friend of 46 years gifted me with a wonderful basket filled with goodies from Williams-Sonoma. This Mushroom and Roasted Garlic Skillet Sauce was one of the delectable items in that basket. I mixed the sauce with chicken, zucchini and pearl couscous to make a fantastic one skillet meal. This sauce had a bold, savory flavor that added the perfect amount of flavor without the need for additional seasoning. It made this impressive meal incredibly quick and easy to make.

This could even be altered to be a vegetarian meal by leaving out the chicken and adding additional vegetables or even beans or tofu!

Chicken, Mushroom & Roasted Garlic Skillet

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 zucchini, diced

1 Jar Williams-Sonoma Mushroom & Roasted Garlic Skillet Sauce

2 cups pearl couscous

2 1/2 cups water or fat free broth

Cook couscous according to container directions with water or broth. Meanwhile, in a skillet sprayed with non-stick spray cook chicken until lightly browned on all sides. Add zucchini and skillet sauce and stir. Once cous cous is cooked, add this to the skillet and stir. Once chicken is cooked all the way through, your dish is ready to serve. Makes about 6 servings.

Enjoy!

Crockpot Chicken with Thai Peanut Sauce

Tags

Chicken, crockpot, Dinner, peanut, Rice, sauce, slow cooker, Thai

 
This was originally posted by another blogger, but it sounded so good!!! Now that my peanut hating daughter no longer lives at home, I’m going to have to try making this!!!

(This recipe is dairy free.) Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 7 hours on low (or 3 to 4 hours on high) Ingredients: 2 chicken breasts 1 cup coconut milk 3/4 c chunky PB 3 tbsp honey 3 tbsp soy sauce Juice from 1 lime 2 tbsp rice vinegar 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes […]

https://combschristensonfoodandstuff.wordpress.com/2016/03/16/crockpot-chicken-with-thai-peanut-sauce/

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Pasta – Our Family’s All-time Favorite Pasta Dish

Tags

Cheese, Chicken, creamy, pasta, Pasta with Chicken and Pepper Cheese Sauce, pepper, recipe, spicy

My sister has been telling me I need to blog this recipe, so here we are! I found this recipe in a Better Homes and Gardens magazine probably over 20 years ago and have been making it ever since! The spicy, creamy sauce over pasta and chicken is so very delicious! It has just the right amount of spice! It’s a nice enough dish to serve to company and it’s an easy dish to multiply in order to serve a large group. This was a favorite when our large family group would go to Tahoe for snowy get-aways. The teenagers loved coming in from playing in the snow to this spicy, warm dish!

I chose to keep the dish as low-fat as possible by using fat free dairy ingredients. You can change it to low-fat or full-fat ingredients based on your taste.

Cheesy Chicken Pepper Pasta

3 tbsp all-purpose flour, divided

1/2 tsp tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground red pepper

1/8 tsp ground white pepper

1/8 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken (breasts or thighs), cut into 1 inch pieces

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 tbsp seeded, chopped jalapeno pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

3/4 cup fat free chicken broth

1/2 cup fat free milk

2 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 cup fat free Monterey Jack or motzarella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup fat free sour cream

8 oz linguine or spaghetti, cooked and drained

Combine 1 tbsp of the flour, salt, and ground peppers; toss with the chicken to coat. In a large skillet heat oil and cook chicken 4-5 minutes or till tender. Remove chicken; add onion, red pepper, jalapeno pepper and garlic. Cook until tender. Stir in remaining flour. Add broth, milk and Worcestershire sauce; cook and stir until bubbly. Shir in cheese until melted. Stir in sour cream. Add chicken and heat through (do not boil). Serve over pasta. Makes 5-6 servings.

Enjoy!