Green Chile Chicken Soft Tacos

I've extolled the virtues of tacos approximately ten million times.

I'm about to do it again.

Not only are these tacos crazy delicious and packed with flavor, they're super quick to make. Listen you guys. I am seriously the slowest human being on the planet in the kitchen. My knives are about as sharp as Kim Kardashian, and my slightly OCD nature means I spend way too much time doing things like scrubbing vegetables, and cleaning and cutting the nasty bits from chicken. I saw this earlier today, and #15 totally spoke to me.

Despite all that, I still managed to make this recipe in 20 minutes flat. A normal person will probably make it in 15 minutes.

One final item unrelated to tacos: I'm typing this post in public, and someone near me just sprayed himself with half a bottle of Axe body spray. Since it's kind of illegal to physical harm strangers for being stupid, I'm complaining to you guys. If I never blog here again it's because I'm in jail for spraying him in the eyes while informing him that Axe is for prepubescent boys and Jersey Shore cast members.

Rant over. Go forth and make tacos.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

So, there's this annoying thing that happens when you have a food blog...

You assemble a collection of recipes on your blog that you love...but you can't make them again if you want to have time to develop new blog material.

During October, I said to heck with new blog material, and remade some of my favorite things from A Bitchin' Kitchen, specifically, this, this, and this. I only made one new recipe all month - a hot mess of an apple pie that was soooo not blog-worthy. If anyone has an apple pie recipe that doesn't turn out like apple soup, please send it to me and you'll be my best friend fo' lyfe. I also made this new to the blog (but not new to me) buffalo chicken dip. I know there are roughly 348272934 renditions of this dip floating around in internet-land, but I am sharing my version anyway.

A lot of people make this dip with canned chicken and blue cheese. However, canned chicken scares the heck out of me, and James is skeptical of blue cheese, so my version contains neither. Please don't leave me mean comments for making unauthentic buffalo chicken dip. I seriously saw that happen on a big blogger's site once when she made hers with ranch and cheddar.

And since it's almost Friday, have a fantabulous weekend everyone! I have big plans that involve breakfast burritos, day drinking Bloody Mary's on a heated patio, and Season 2 of Scandal on Netflix. I couldn't BE more psyched. Onward with the recipe!

Chicken Quesadilla Pie

 

I *just* made this chicken quesadilla pie yesterday afternoon, and it was so delicious that my planned cookie post for today is being postponed until later this week. The cookies are amazing too, but Mexican food beats cookies any day, at least in my world. I wanted to share this as quickly as possible, so that every single one of you can add it to your dinner plans this week. Seriously. Do it.

Not only is this pie delicious, it's quick and incredibly easy. All you do is fashion a makeshift crust out of a tortilla, dump in a bunch of shredded rotisserie chicken, cheese, jalapenos, and cilantro, whisk together a quick batter that gets poured on top, and bake it for about 20 minutes. It's kind of like a quesadilla crossed with a quiche.

Blammo. You just made yourself an awesome dinner. 

This isn't very spicy with the specified amount of jalapenos, so feel free to toss in more if you like your food with a kick. I think that pepper-jack cheese would be a great sub for cheddar if you feel like mixing things up!

Also, a quick Public Service Announcement: I adapted this recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Best Simple Recipes. I've been using this thing like crazy over the past couple months, and every single thing I've tried from it has turned out perfectly. If you're in the market for quick dinner ideas I could not recommend it more.

Okay. Time to go get my weekly dose of secondhand embarrassment and watch Girls. Have a happy Monday, friends!

Crispy Chicken Salad Wraps

Saturday night, I channeled my inner 80-year old and stayed home for the evening. I drank juice box wine, talked to my sister on the phone for an hour, watched old episodes of What Not to Wear, and read the Smitten Kitchen Cookbook from cover to cover. It was glorious. I also got sucked into a really bizarre Wikipedia vortex that resulted in me reading about obscenity laws in America...don't even ask. Clearly, my New Year's resolution to use my free time more productively is not going very well.

Apparently, these seemingly mundane activities got the creative juices flowing in my brain, and I woke up at 3 a.m. on Sunday morning with a really funny idea for a blog post. Usually, when I wake up in the middle of the night with an idea, I send myself an email from my phone and deal with it in the morning. However, I must have fallen asleep again too quickly to email myself, and now I forget what I wanted to write about. I remember that I had an awesome idea, but I have no clue what it was. I am so stinkin' pissed right now. Just know, it was really, really good, but probably super weird since it came to me in a dream. I've been rendered completely incapable of remembering things on my own, without the aid of technology. Awesome.

Let's move forward and discuss these wraps. This chicken salad is outstanding. Who knew that putting loads of green onions and cilantro in chicken salad would take it from good to great? This is usually where I'd try to convince cilantro haters to just taste it one more time, but I recently learned that cilantro hatred is actually genetic. Apparently, those of you who hate cilantro have a gene that makes it taste like soap! That makes me very sad for you, because I think cilantro tastes like unicorns, pug puppies, and angels are having a wildly delicious fiesta in my mouth. To each their own.

The chicken salad gets wrapped up with a generous amount of extra-sharp cheddar, and then the wrap is toasted in a skillet. The wrap gets crispy, the cheese gets melty, and lunchtime nirvana is yours.

Thai Chicken Pizza

I have been in a food coma for 7 days.

It started when my family arrived in town last Friday for Christmas Part One. I ate ribs, brisket, and macaroni and cheese like I had never seen food before in my life. My food coma worsened when when I traveled up to New Jersey for Christmas Part Two, where I proceeded to make beef tenderloin and creamed spinach my bitch.

Yesterday, I made the bright decision to eat a burrito for lunch and General Tso's chicken for dinner. I can only get my favorite burritos when I'm in New Jersey - food coma or not, it had to happen. I cannot justify the General Tso's.

Right now, food seems as appealing as walking down 14th Street butt-ass naked at rush hour, but I'm going to attempt to talk to you about this pizza that I made a couple weeks ago anyway. 

A friend of mine started a book club last month, and served a super tasty Thai chicken pizza at our inaugural meeting. I craved peanut sauce on a daily basis for about 3 weeks after, and finally gave in to my craving and made this for dinner. You can definitely use a ball of pre-made pizza dough if you're in a time crunch, however, I think that making the homemade kind is fun (and bonus, incredibly cheap!) I used to be afraid of cooking with yeast because it seems so temperamental. This is a good recipe to start with if you are yeast-phobic. It's basically impossible to mess up if you follow the directions and don't make your water too hot!

Chipotle Marinated Chicken

I never really need an excuse to eat spicy food, but if I did, the horrible cold I've had for a few days that has reduced me to a mouth-breathing crybaby is a really good one. I rarely get sick, so when I do, I'm completely miserable. When cold medicine fails to relieve my congestion, I turn to my favorite sinus clearing ingredients like sriracha, jalapenos, and canned chipotles in adobo.

Fortunately, my cold coincided with my discovery of Chrissy Teigen's hilarious blog So Delushious. Am I living under a rock? Have you guys been reading her blog all this time? For those of you who are equally clueless, she's the gorgeous Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, who also happens to be engaged to John Legend. Oh yeah, and she's in culinary school. I basically read her blog from start to finish in a day, and noticed that she mentioned this chipotle marinade half a dozen times.  Needless to say, I dragged my sneezing, congested self to the grocery store and immediately bought all the ingredients for this delicious meal.

I'd consider this marinade on the milder side of spicy, so if you're not a spice fiend, don't be afraid! Also, I beg you to make this with the chicken thighs as specified, and not boneless skinless chicken breasts. I know that's the go-to piece of chicken for most people, but thighs are infinitely more flavorful and juicy and soak up this marinade like it's their job. By the way, since this marinade contains vodka, you can easily freeze it without it turning into a block of ice! I'm really wishing I'd doubled the recipe below and stored half in the freezer myself!

Chicken Tender Melt

Other than babysitting, my first job ever was working at Perkins as a hostess when I was 15. In case you live in an area of the country or world that does not have Perkins, they're most known for their pancakes, the sassy old ladies working as waitresses, and in the case of the location that I worked at, their mouse infestation behind the hostess stand.

Mice issues notwithstanding, my 15-year old metabolism and I really enjoyed the free food I got during my shift. My lunch of choice was usually a menu item known as the "chicken tender melt," which I probably ate roughly three times a week for an entire summer. I randomly remembered this sandwich recently, and decided to recreate it at home. Needless to say, it was even more delicious than the restaurant version (probably because I fried it in butter.) It's been many years since my Perkins days, but I seem to remember the restaurant serving this sandwich with honey mustard dressing. I served it with ranch instead, but either one would be scrumptious.

This is a somewhat time consuming sandwich to make, since I strongly recommend that you make your own homemade chicken tenders for it. I promise when you take a bite you'll agree it was worth it!

Here's what you'll need:

Salted butter
2 slices sourdough bread
3 slices Pepper-jack cheese
3 slices bacon
3 slices tomato
2 homemade chicken tenders
Ranch dressing or Honey Mustard, for dipping

Butter 1 side of each bread slice. Assemble your sandwich by layering 1 1/2 slice of cheese, tomatoes, bacon, chicken tenders, and the remaining 1 1/2 slice of cheese on the non-buttered side. In a small frying man over medium heat, cook the sandwich on both sides until the bread is brown, and the cheese is melted.

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Source: Inspired by the Perkins menu 

Peanut Butter Chicken

Sometimes my brain feels blocked. I have been sitting at my laptop, staring at a blank screen for longer than I care to admit, wracking racking my brain trying to think of an interesting anecdote, or words of wisdom to share. I've got nothing. I did read up on the difference between wracking and racking. So there's that.

I was up in New Jersey all weekend visiting my sister and mom, and had a relaxing few days filled with lots of wine, pumpkin ice cream, good bagels, and great burritos. I intentionally confused a young man at the wine store when I asked him what wine he recommended to accompany hot dogs. I should cut the sarcasm and be nicer to easily flustered wine store clerks. I also bought a deep dish pie plate, and am extremely psyched to make a pie and share it here. Such an exciting life I lead, right?

Let's just move on and talk about this chicken before I bore you to tears. I'm a big fan of peanut butter in savory dishes. I know the ingredients below might seem a little odd (I totally get that combining peanut butter and salsa sounds slightly cray-cray) but they totally work. Best of all, I bet you have at least half of the ingredients on hand already. I am the worst at maintaining a pantry full of staples, and even I only needed to pick up chicken, peanuts, and orange juice to make this amazing dinner happen.

P.S. If this recipe strikes your fancy, you might also like these Thai Peanut Butter Noodles! 

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup medium salsa
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
2 large chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise into 4 or 5 strips each
2 tablespoons olive oil
Peanuts and green onions, for garnish
Cooked rice, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the peanut butter, salsa, soy sauce, honey, orange juice, ginger, and curry powder. Set aside.

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over high heat. Add the chicken to the oil, and brown on both sides, but don't cook through. Turn the heat to low, and pour in the sauce. Cover the pan, and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and reduced, and the chicken is cooked through. 

Serve over rice, sprinkled with peanuts and green onions.

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Source: Adapted from Kristina Kuzmic

Crispy Baked Chicken Fingers

Posted by: Maggie

Surely some of you are thinking, "Chicken fingers? Has Maggie regressed to childhood?" I assure you that I have not, and I'm here to tell you how to turn a traditional kid's meal into a fancy grown-lady meal in 4 easy steps:

1) Make it from scratch. Who needs dinosaur-shaped mystery chicken? Not you! I made these last night after only eating a granola bar all day, and was really tempted to just buy frozen chicken fingers. I'm so glad I didn't. These take about 20 minutes worth of effort, and the results are a million times tastier than the frozen kind.

2) Serve with a snazzy dipping sauce - not ketchup. I like ketchup as much as the next gal, but my favorite honey mustard or some homemade BBQ sauce will elevate chicken fingers from kid food, to fancy grown-lady cuisine.

3) Enjoy your chicken fingers while watching something wildly inappropriate, and meant for grown-ladies on TV. 20 years ago, I would've eaten chicken fingers while watching Full House or Clarissa Explains it all. Last night, I enjoyed them while finally watching the first two episodes of Girls. You think Clarissa Darling had problems? Girlfriend had nothing on Hannah Horvath.

4) Last but not least, wash your chicken fingers down with a beer. Duh.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 large egg whites
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
Cooking spray
3 boneless chicken breasts, cut into 3/4 inch wide strips (I trimmed the excess fat off mine, sliced off about an inch from the flat, narrow end of the breast, and cut into 4 even strips.)

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. In a large skillet, combine the panko and canola oil. Turn the heat on to medium-high, and toast breadcrumbs for 8-10 minutes, until golden-brown. Stir frequently to ensure that they don't burn! Transfer the crumbs to a shallow dish and set aside.

In a separate shallow dish, mix together flour, garlic powder, salt, and cayenne, and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together egg whites, water, Dijon mustard, and thyme.

Place a wire cooling rack over a baking sheet, and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Dredge one chicken strip in flour, then egg mixture, and lastly in the breadcrumbs, shaking off excess in between steps. Place coated chicken on prepared rack, and repeat with remaining strips.

If you're like me and find breading food to be a colossal pain in the tookus, here are some tips:

- Leave the water slowly running while you bread the chicken. Yes, it's wasteful, but it really helps if you rinse the egg and panko clumps from your fingers in between breading each piece. The reason I suggest leaving the sink on is to avoid cross contamination between the chicken and the faucet.

- Use 2 dishes for the breadcrumbs. Keep the majority of the breadcrumbs in a larger dish, and before breading each strip, transfer a small handful to a saucer, and bread the strip there. That way, you can avoid getting big clumps of egg mixed in with all the breadcrumbs.

After all the chicken is breaded, spray the tops lightly with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven to 12-16 minutes, and serve immediately.

(Update on 5/1: These are excellent leftover! Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes on a foil-lined baking sheet. Flip over halfway through.)

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Source: Adapted from America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook, via Annie's Eats

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Posted by: Maggie

Neither of us has posted in over a week. Sorry guys, just chalk it up to a bout of kitchen laziness. My life is generally uneventful and boring, but here's what I've been doing since last Thursday. 

1. Jeff and I got in a car crash. We're both totally fine, as were the passengers of the other car, but his car is not. It turns out that Ford Focuses crumple like tin cans when struck by another vehicle. This occurred on Saturday, while we were on our way to St. Patrick's Day festivities in DC.

We stood on a busy road in Arlington for an hour decked out in green garb while dealing with police and firemen. Yes, firemen. Smoke was billowing out from under Jeff's hood, and radiator fluid was oozing all over Washington Boulevard, which apparently made our situation a fire department matter.

Needless to say, our festivities were canceled, and St. Patrick's Day 2012 marked the first time in 9 years that I did not indulge in many green beers. (Mom and Dad, don't do the math...) We went bowling that night after he got all the insurance stuff squared away, where I bowled a 68. Just call me The Dude.

2. I watched the movie Young Adult. You know how sometimes movie trailers are totally misrepresentative of what the movie is actually like? (The Family Stone, I'm looking at you...) Holy crap, was this ever the case with Young Adult. I thought I was in for an entertaining movie about Charlize Theron acting like a FUNNY hot mess when returning to her hometown. Instead I got a depressing movie about Charlize Theron acting like an un-funny hot mess with narcissistic personality disorder. The movie was good, and definitely worth watching. But seriously, I wanted to drink myself into a stupor and slit my wrists when the thing was over.

3. While that movie was not about a high school reunion, it did involve the main character returning to her hometown after many years. My 10th high school reunion has officially been scheduled for this September. I haven't kept in touch with anyone I graduated with, so if I went I'd kind of be the Heather Mooney of the reunion, minus the all-black wardrobe and smoking habit. Has anyone gone to a reunion after not talking to high school people for years and years? Was it weird? I don't really understand the point of reunions now that Facebook exists.

4. I took Jeff to a birthday dinner at Ford's Fish Shack. I ate this lobster roll, and almost cried when it was gone.

5. I'm having brunch with Monique tomorrow! We've never met in person, so it's like a blind blogger date. We're heading to Founding Farmers, which I am extremely excited to try. (P.S. She's having a giveaway on her site today!) 

6. I made this chicken recipe. I hope I'm not boring you with the last few healthy recipes that I've posted. I have to be in a bridesmaid dress in 4 weeks for my lovely friend Julie's wedding down in North Carolina, and would like to ensure that it zips! 

While this recipe is healthy, it's also super-duper tasty. Even if the avocado salsa isn't your thing, you should try the chicken marinade. I only let my chicken soak for about 20 minutes, and it was still really flavorful. Although, if avocado salsa isn't your thing, I'm not sure that we can be friends. Just kidding, but seriously, learn to love avocados. 

Have a great weekend everyone! 

Here's what you'll need:

For the chicken:

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced

2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

4 small boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

Cooking spray

For the salsa:

1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2)

2 tablespoons finely chopped yellow onion

3-4 teaspoons fresh lime juice

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt 

Pinch of pepper

Avocado, peeled and chopped

For the chicken, add the first 3 ingredients to a bowl, and whisk to combine. Add the chicken, turn to coat, and place in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

While the chicken is marinating, prepare the salsa. Combine the tomato, yellow onion, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine.  Gently stir in the avocado. 

Coat a frying pan with cooking spray, and heat to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add your chicken and cook for one minute on each side. Lower the heat to medium low, cover, and cook for 6-9 minutes, turning frequently, or until chicken is cooked through and 160 degrees in the middle. 

Top chicken with salsa, and serve with yellow rice (I just used the Goya stuff.) 

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Source: Adapted from Cooking Light

Chicken Diablo

Posted by: Maggie

You guys...

I did something really, really, really dumb.

I gave up dessert for Lent.

As I've gotten older, my sweet tooth has significantly lessened, but apparently not to the point where 40 dessert-free days and nights will be easy. As I type this blog post on Monday night, I am majorly jonesing for some ice cream. I know it's supposed to be a sacrifice, but dude...unfulfilled ice cream cravings suck.

Fortunately, I can still cook delicious things like this Chicken Diablo over the upcoming weeks. I know it doesn't look like anything special, but it is probably one of my favorite dinner recipes that I've posted on here. I hate bland food and under-seasoned food, and this is anything but! I'm planning on making it again sometime soon with Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, to make it a bit healthier.

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 cup Frank's hot pepper sauce
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 large boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, pounded to even thickness
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
Sliced scallions, to taste
Cooked white rice, for serving

Combine pepper sauce, sour cream, ketchup, honey, paprika, and cumin in a medium bowl, and whisk well to combine.

Place chicken in a shallow dish, and pour half the sauce over the top, turning to coat. Cover, and place in the fridge for 2 hours to marinate. Cover the remaining sauce and store in the fridge.

Heat canola oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds. Remove chicken from marinade, and place in the skillet (discard extra marinade.) Cook until browned and cooked through, turning frequently, for about 15-20 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, heat the remaining sauce in a small saucepan on low, until warmed.

To serve, scoop rice onto a plate, top with chicken, sauce, and scallions. Eat. Drool. Repeat.

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Source: Adapted from Bev Cooks

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Posted by: Annie

This is my least favorite part of the year. I feel guilty saying that there are actually months of time that I dislike, but in all honesty, I feel that February and March just drag on and on. On top of my dislike of the long winter months, I have also been struggling with repetitive dinner choices. Since moving in with Scott, I have been struggling with how "Scott-centric" our dinners have become. Clearly, I love chicken wings as much as the next gal, but I have eaten probably close to 100 chicken wings since January and I have been craving some variety in my dinner (sorry Scott!) 

In my effort to make some "Annie-centric" dinners, I have been looking for some meals that I can make ahead of time and simply reheat when I get home. This Chicken Tortilla soup was the perfect antidote to the food rut I felt I was in. Now if only I could fast-forward to April...

What you will need:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 cup white onion, diced
1/4 cup Anaheim pepper, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons corn starch
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked, and chopped into bite sized pieces
3 (6-inch) corn tortillas, diced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes
8 ounces shredded mild cheddar cheese
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
Tortilla strips for garnish

In a large pan, heat vegetable oil over medium heat, and add in onion, pepper, and garlic. Cook gradually, for approximately 15 minutes, or until the onions appear translucent. In a separate large bowl, whisk corn starch and chicken broth together. Add the broth mixture, chicken, corn tortillas, lime juice, tomatoes, cheese, and spices into the pan. Increase heat to medium-high and stir constantly until the cheese has melted. When the cheese is melted and the soup begins to bubble, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Top with tortilla strips, and enjoy!

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Source: Adapted from Brown Eyed Baker

Chicken Gyros

Posted by: Maggie

Happy New Year everyone! 

I'm pretty sure if I posted a cookie or cupcake recipe today, on the day after 83%* of people vow to eat healthier, you'd all find out my address, break into my apartment, pin me down, and force feed me leafy greens and oatmeal. That's not to say that I don't like greens and oatmeal...I just don't want a bunch of angry health nuts assaulting me.

In the interest of not being a diet saboteur, I bring you this chicken gyro recipe. It's one of my favorite low-calorie dinners that doesn't taste low-calorie. If you want, you can make it healthier with whole wheat pita...I just couldn't do that. I've expressed how I feel about most whole wheat bread products before. I love whole wheat sandwich bread, but I just can't do whole wheat pita bread.

You will have a lot of leftover tzatziki sauce if you follow the recipe as written, but I like to have it on hand as a dip for baby carrots and pita triangles, so I make the full amount!

*I made up this statistic.

What you'll need:

For serving:

4 pitas or flatbreads, warmed for 20 seconds in the microwave between damp paper towels
Diced tomatoes
Diced red onion
Dried parsley

For the chicken:

2 teaspoons garlic, minced (about 4 cloves)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping tablespoons non-fat greek yogurt (I recommend Fage)
1 tablespoon dried oregano
A few shakes of salt and pepper
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves

Combine all of the above ingredients except for the chicken in a dish, and whisk together to make a marinade. Add in chicken, and turn to coat. Cover, and place in the fridge for 1 hour to marinate.

Meanwhile, make the tzatziki sauce:

16 ounces non-fat Greek yogurt
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and very finely diced
1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons minced garlic (3-4 cloves)
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Salt, pepper, and fresh lemon juice to taste

Using a thick stack of paper towels, squeeze the diced cucumbers to remove as much water as possible. Repeat if necessary. In a medium bowl, combine cucumbers with all of the above ingredients. Cover, and place in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

After the chicken is done marinating, place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes, or until it is cooked thoroughly and juices run clear. 99% of the time that I make chicken I use these. They are relatively small, cook evenly, and are done in 20 minutes flat. The ginormous breasts (heheh) that I often see at the store might need even longer. Make sure they're cooked to 165 degrees to be safe. (Can you tell I'm kind of neurotic about cooking chicken?)

After your chicken is thoroughly cooked, allow it to rest for a few minutes, and then slice it into strips.

Assemble gyros with chicken, tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, and dried parsley, wrap in foil for ease of eating, and enjoy!

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Source: Adapted from Elly Says Opa

Chicken-Shiitake and Wild Rice Soup

Posted by: Annie

Confession: I love casseroles. For some reason, I feel like this is an embarrassing confession. Casseroles seem like one of those foods that are eaten but not spoken about - like EZ Cheese, ramen noodles, and those awesome snowball cupcakes that are seasonally dyed. We all know we eat them, but we would never advertise it. :)

Growing up, my mom made an amazing chicken and rice casserole. I believe I was the only child in the family who liked it. I also loved my mom's chicken divan casserole, and basically any dish that had a can of cream of chicken soup in it, was smothered with cheese, and then baked.

This soup reminds me exactly of my mom's chicken and rice casserole. While it was simmering on the stove, it smelled exactly like it, and I had to stop myself from dumping the soup contents into a casserole dish and baking it. However, once I tasted it I realized it was just as good (if not better than, sorry Ma!) the childhood casserole I was craving. I almost topped it with a little cheese, but decided to try it without and it was delicious. This soup will definitely become a fall staple!

What you will need:

1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup water
64 ounces low sodium, low fat chicken broth
1 cup pre-cut matchstick carrots (or if you can't find them, 2 chopped carrots)
2 stalks celery, diced
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
4.5 ounce long grain rice and wild rice combo (I used Rice-a-Roni)
1/2 cup white long grain rice
4 ounces sliced shiitake mushrooms
2 tablespoons light sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and saute 3-4 minutes until tender. Stir in flour, and saute an additional minute. Pour in water, chicken broth, carrots, celery, garlic, and chicken. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, add both types of rice and mushrooms. Cook for an additional 25 minutes. Remove chicken from the broth and cut into bite-sized pieces. Return chicken to the soup. Stir in sour cream, salt and pepper. If too thick, stir in water as needed.

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Adapted from Skinny Taste

Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad

Posted by: Annie

I am probably the last person on Earth to discover Greek yogurt, but boy did I discover it!

I cannot stop eating it, and am so pleased that my latest food obsession is significantly more nutritious than my last food obsession (Nutella on toast every morning of the summer, anyone?)

I am particularly obsessed with Fage Greek yogurt, and have chased this brand all over NJ. I am a tad bit food store loyal to Wegmans, and when I say a tad bit loyal, I mean I worked at the store for almost six years and used to drive thirty plus minutes to shop there when I lived in Philly. Now that I am back in NJ, I live a mere five minutes from the nearest Wegmans, but have been grossly disappointed with their Fage stock. They are out every single time I'm there. This has forced me to go to their "nameless competitor" - that is how desperate I am to get my hands on Fage.

So, last Wednesday I went off to the "nameless competitor." I rushed inside and grabbed eight, yes eight, containers of my prized yogurt, checked out, ran out to my car, and it wouldn't start. Battery = dead. Sad story, but I moved on because let's get real - nothing could ruin my day, I had Greek yogurt goodness.

Monday of this week, I went to Wegmans to give them another chance at fulfilling my Greek yogurt needs. Well, before I even went in my car battery died, AGAIN. Long story short, I didn't get yogurt, but I did get a new car battery. Today I had a successful trip to the store for Fage, sans dead car battery, and made a delicious chicken salad with a yogurt-based dressing. Enjoy fellow Greek yogurt lovers!

What you will need:

For the salad:

2 cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts (mine weighed a total of 1 pound,) chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup sliced almonds
1/3 cup diced onions and diced celery (mixed)

For the dressing:

8 ounces plain, fat-free Greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 squeeze lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

In a large bowl, mix chicken, cranberries, almonds, celery, and onion. In a separate small dish, prepare dressing by mixing yogurt, curry powder, soy sauce, lemon juice, and salt and pepper together. Combine dressing with the salad ingredients and mix well. Serve on your favorite bread, or on top of fresh greens!

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Adapted from: Iowa Girl Eats

Spicy Roasted Chicken Wings

Posted by: Annie

Hello.  My name is Annie, and I have been absent from this blog since July 4th.  I have been a terrible co-blogger to Maggie, and vow to get back in the blogging game!  My absence from the blog world has been due to my recent move from Philadelphia back to New Jersey, and also due to the hardships of my summer job that requires me to take the two best kids to the pool or beach every day. I know - tough life.  I also have moved back in with my mom, and have had to adapt to her kitchen, and cooking and baking on her turf! Ok, excuse time is over.

This past weekend Scott and I spent a lovely day at Ocean Grove beach, and spent the evening making Pioneer Woman's amazing wings, roasted red potatoes, corn on the cob, and devouring a loaf of french bread. I will say this, the wings were outstanding, the meat literally fell off the bone, and the skin was crispy and so flavorful.  Make these now!!!!

 Here's what you'll need:

24 chicken wings
2 sticks salted butter
1 tablespoon Morton's hot salt
1/2 cup lemon juice

First, clean and pat dry your chicken wings. Set aside. Next, in a medium sauce pan, melt butter and then stir in seasoning and lemon juice. Using tongs, dip each wing into the sauce and place on a baking sheet. I placed a cooling rack on top of my baking sheet, which I think    really upped the crisp factor. After all the wings have been dipped in the butter mixture, take the remaining butter and use a pastry brush to give them one last coating. Sprinkle the wings with a little more seasoning. Roast the wings in the oven at 400 degrees, for approximately thirty minutes. Half-way through cooking, flip the wings and give them an extra coating of butter and seasonings if desired. Place the finished wings under the broiler for a few minutes, until they are nice and golden brown.

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Source: The Pioneer Woman

Roasted Chipotle Chicken Drumsticks

Posted by: Maggie


This recipe was a momentous cooking occasion for me. You see, I used to be afraid to cook chicken. I was so doubtful of my own cooking abilities that I was absolutely certain I would undercook my food and poison myself and others.

I partially got over this fear, but only when I could use boneless, skinless breasts. They seemed safer to me. They cook evenly, they don't have a bone, and it's fairly easy to tell when they're done.

Then one day I came across this recipe for Chipotle Chicken Drumsticks, and I decided that I wanted to get over my weirdo fear of cooking other chicken parts. I love, love, love canned chipotles in adobo. Their smoky, spicy flavor is just amazing. I couldn't let this recipe pass me by.

Guess what...I did it! Betcha' caught on to that from the picture just above. I cooked them, and as I type this 24 hours later, I am TOTALLY ALIVE and not suffering from salmonella, or E.coli, or chicken pox! (heheh)

I should probably stop talking about food borne illness (and skin viruses) if I want you keep reading.

Does anyone else get excited when they conquer a cooking fear? I'm also scared to make yeast bread.

Here's what you'll need:

1 cup mayonnaise
2 teaspoons lime zest
4-8  canned chipotle chiles (depending on how spicy you like it...I didn't think these were very spicy, and I used a lot of chiles, however, this is coming from a person with a very high tolerance for spice)
1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon cayenne
Salt and black pepper to taste
4 chicken drumsticks, with skin
Lime wedges for serving


Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil, and preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

In a food processor, puree the first 6 ingredients until no chunks of chipotle peppers remain. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reserve half the mixture. I pulled big pieces of the chicken off the bone when I was eating and dipped them in the extra sauce, and also dipped my sweet potato fries in it.

Spread the remaining half of the mixture evenly over the drumsticks. Place in the pan, and cook uncovered for 50 minutes, or until the juices run clear and the chicken has an internal temperature of 165 degrees.

I highly recommend serving these with sweet potato fries. I just used store-bought, and they went extremely well with the chicken.

Chicken with Portabella Mushroom Cream Sauce

Posted by: Annie

I am finally back on my feet after an awful, gross, yucky sickness. As a first-year teacher I have been introduced to lots of new ideas, teaching techniques and worst of all GERMS! Despite constant purell-ing and hand washing and lysoling of desks in my classroom, I got the flu- BAD. Of course it could not be a normal flu- no, it was a flu that landed me in the hospital like one of those mystery illnesses on the show "House"- complete with multiple doctors and scans and ultrasounds trying to figure out what was making me sick. After an eleven-hour visit in the emergency room they were no closer to finding what was making me sick and I was sent home. For the next four days I lived off of chicken soup, sprite zero and instant Netflix. (thank God for Roku) and slowly regained my strength. (Can you tell I am a baby when I'm sick? I also had my parents pick me up from Philly so I could spend my weekend infecting their homes with my lovely germs).


Anyway, since I have recovered I have been FAMISHED. I cannot stop eating. On Friday, I went to Chipotle with my little sister, finished my veggie burrito in approximately seven minutes and then proceeded to eat the quarter of a chicken burrito left on my sister's plate. On Saturday, I REQUESTED that my boyfriend take me to Outback, and on Sunday I ate too much junk to even write about. That being said, I needed to start this week off with something a little more wholesome. This recipe is from Campbell's Kitchen and is a definite keeper. It would probably be delicious served over egg noodles or rice, however I had left over hash brown casserole (like I said- LOTS of eating), and I did not want even more carbs on my plate.
 
What You Will Need:


4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
black pepper
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 ounces sliced and washed baby portabella mushrooms
4 green onions (1/2 cup)
1 cup Chicken Stock
1/2 cup chopped roasted red pepper
1/2 cup sour cream
parsley for garnish (optional)


Sprinkle the chicken breasts with pepper evenly on both sides. Next, coat the chicken with flour.
In a large skillet heat the olive oil over high heat. Add in the chicken and brown well on both sides. Mix in the mushrooms and onions and cook until soft (approximately 7-9 minutes)
Stir in the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the skillet and cook for an additionally 5 minutes. Mix in the peppers and sour cream and heat thoroughly. Garnish with parsley.

Chicken and Broccoli Pasta with White Wine Sauce

Posted by: Annie

Can you tell I love chicken, especially when it is served over pasta? The other day I realized that since I moved to Philadelphia and started to always make my own meals, I have yet to buy/eat red meat! I have strictly been eating chicken and the occasional seafood dish! I really must start branching out my meat selections! Anyway, this dish was easy and quick but tasted like it took hours! (Original Recipe found here)

What You Will Need:

1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast cut into bite-sized cubes, seasoned with salt and pepper

1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, plus extra for topping

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cups cooked broccoli florets

1 package whole wheat angel hair pasta

White Wine Sauce:

4 cloves minced garlic

1 cup white wine

2 cups chicken stock

1 tsp crushed red pepper

4 tbsp butter (divided)

1.5 tsp Kosher salt

In a large zip-lock bag combine chicken, breadcrumbs and cheese and shake to coat chicken. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add chicken. Brown on all sides until thoroughly cooked and remove from heat. 

Cook angel hair according to package directions. Set aside.

Mix broccoli, chicken and pasta. Cover and set aside.

In a small saucepan mix garlic, wine and broth and bring to a boil. Heat until reduced by half and whisk in butter 1 tablespoon at a time. Add salt and red pepper. Toss with pasta and top with Parmesan cheese.

Chicken with Sundried Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

Posted by: Annie

The first time I had goat cheese was with my friend Aimee. In Jersey there is this awesome salad place that Aimee and I often frequented, and she always would ask for goat cheese on her salad. On one of our many trips I finally mustered up the courage to try a piece and to my surprise it was delicious! I am not sure why I was so hesitant about eating goat cheese (I really love and eat all cheese), but ever since then I really wanted to make a recipe that incorporated its creamy goodness. I made this recipe for myself and my roommate and served it over whole wheat farfalle. The original recipe can be found here.

What you will need: 

 

2 chicken breasts pounded thin, cut into medium sized strips

1 T olive oil

1/4 cup white wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

2 T sun-dried tomatoes, julienne (don't forget to drain if they come in oil!)

2 oz goat cheese

salt and pepper

3 cups whole wheat farfalle

Cook farfalle according to package directions and drain.  Set aside. 

Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat oil over medium high heat and add the chicken breasts. Cook approximately six- eight minutes per side depending on thickness. (I pounded my chicken very thin so mine were ready in about six minutes per side). Remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm. 

Using the same skillet add wine and cook over medium high heat until the wine is reduced by about half. Stir in chicken broth and heat until the liquid is reduced by about half. Mix in sun-dried tomatoes and heat thoroughly. Remove from heat and stir in goat cheese until it is melted and creamy. Stir in the chicken breasts and serve over pasta.