Lime and Coconut Chicken

Do you "Pin"? I'm addicted to Pinterest! I've got I think about 800 recipes that I'd like to try, but don't have all that time!!! I tried one today, with granddaughter "Rye" joining me for dinner. O.M.G.!!!! We both went nuts over it!!! I made a few changes, due to her little 6 year old taste buds, and because I didn't have coriander on hand. And at the end, I totally spaced out adding the cilantro to it, which I love, and I have on hand, but it was soooo good even without it!!!

This recipe is originally from http://chaosinthekitchen.com, and it will go into my normal rotation! I've indicated the changes I made, in parentheses.

Lime and Coconut Chicken

serves 4, prep 10 minutes, marinade up to 2 hours, cook 15 min, adapted from Fine Cooking, Winter 2006
•2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
•3 tbsp oil
•zest of 1 lime (used about 1 T. lime juice in the bottle)
•1 tsp ground cumin
•1 1/2 tsp ground coriander (omitted because I didn't have it)
•1 1/2 tsp kosher salt (used regular table salt)
•2 tbsp sugar
•2 tsp curry powder
•1/2 cup coconut milk (had 6 oz. remaining from a different recipe, so added the additional 2 ounces when I cooked the marinade)
•pinch cayenne
•1 small fresh hot chili, such as Thai or Serrano, minced (optional) (didn't use, due to tiny taste buds!!!)
•1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (spaced it out!)
•Fresh limes, cut into wedges (didn't use)

1.Trim fat from chicken breasts. Starting on thick side of the breasts slice the chicken breasts almost in half, then open each like a book.
2.Place each open breast between two pieces of plastic wrap, wax paper or inside a large, open, Ziploc bag.
3.Using a small heavy pan, bottle or smooth meat mallet lightly pound out each breast into even thickness.
4.Mix all remaining ingredients except fresh cilantro and limes.
5.Add chicken and marinade to a large bowl or ziploc bag and chill in the refrigerator for up to two hours.
6.Your chicken doesn’t take long to cook so you can use this time to get your dishes prepped and ready.
7.Once you are ready to cook the chicken, remove each breast from the marinade.
8.Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Boil continuously for at least 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn.
9.In a heavy skillet or grill pan, heat a splash of oil over high heat.
10.Cook the chicken in batches to prevent over crowding the pan.
11.Place the breasts in the hot pan and cook without turning for a couple minutes
12.Flip the breasts over and cook until the other side is golden, it shouldn’t take long depending on the thickness of your chicken.
13.Place cooked breasts on a plate in a warm oven or under foil while cooking the remaining chicken.
14.Sprinkle with fresh lime juice and cilantro. Serve with sauce on the side.

If you typically have these ingredients on hand this is a quick, cheap main dish to throw together. It would be delicious on the grill or as kabobs as well.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Tuesday I cooked about 2 lbs. of chicken breast in my crock pot, along with a jar of mild salsa and a packet of taco seasoning. I've eaten some over rice, some in corn tortillas, will be freezing some tonight.

Driving home from work, I was thinking I want something quick for dinner, but I don't necessarily want to eat those again. So I made some tortilla soup, and it was GOOD!!!

I poured 2 cans of low fat low sodium chicken broth into a pan, added some frozen green beans, peas, and carrots (I should have added corn to it, oh well, next time). I seasoned it with cumin, chili powder, and a little cayenne. The beans that I used need to cook for 8 minutes, so while that was cooking, I preheated the oven, cut up 4 small corn tortillas into strips, sprayed them with cooking spray, tossing them to make sure they were fully covered, and then salted and peppered them. I put them in the oven for 4 minutes, tossed them again, and put them back in for another 3 minutes.

When the veggies had cooked for 8 minutes, I added probably about 3/4 cup of the shredded taco chicken, and returned it to the stove long enough to heat up the chicken.

After putting half of it in my bowl, I put half of the tortilla chips in it. Then I enjoyed every bite!!!! MMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!

Huli Huli Chicken with a side of Pasta Salad

Two weeks ago, I took my 8 1/2 year old granddaughter, "Moo", to a "Kids in the Kitchen" cooking class at my local Whole Foods Market. She loved it! We decided that day that one day soon, we'd cook the same meal for her family. That day was today.

I gathered the staple ingredients from my house, and then picked her up and took her to the grocery store with me, so that she could have "full" cooking experience. She even helped me write up the list last night.

When we got back to her house, we embarked on our cooking journey. We put the water on the stove for the pasta, then we went about cutting the vegetables. Cucumbers and carrots. Then the ginger. Then the pineapple. It was about then that the pasta was fully cooked, so we drained it, placed it in the serving bowl, and immediately, while it was still hot, we added the veggies and the dressing to it. Then after we refrigerated it, we went back to the cutting board and cut the chicken into pieces and assembled the kabobs. Because she's only 8 1/2, I did the grilling, while she did any running back and forth for me while I cooked.

I'm very proud of Moo! She did a great job, and dinner was great!!! We changed the pasta salad quite a bit, but stayed pretty true to the recipe for the huli huli chicken, with the exception of switching from honey to the agave nectar.

For dessert, for the class we make lemon sugar cookies, and then made ice cream sandwiches with them. Well, today it was far too hot to be baking, and the bakery at the grocery store didn't have any unfrosted sugar cookies, so we bought chocolate chip cookies instead, and Breyers french vanilla ice cream. Dessert was delicious as well!!!


Huli Huli Chicken

adapted from Whole Foods Market

2# chicken breast, cut into 1" cubes
1 whole pineapple, cut into 1" cubes
Bamboo skewers

Sauce:
6 T. ketchup
6 T. light soy sauce
6 T. agava nectar
6 T. orange juice
3 t. garlic
3 t. ginger

Preheat grill. Alternate chicken and pineapple, 3 pieces each, onto skewers. Combine sauce ingredients, mixing well. Seperate into 2 bowls, setting one aside for later use. Grill skewers for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until internal temperature reaches 165 F, brushing from bowl not set aside about every other minute. Discard the rest of this bowl of sauce when done cooking. At the end, use a clean brush or spoon for to coat the skewers from the bowl that was previously set aside, just before serving (possibly make additional for dipping).



Pasta Salad
adapted from Whole Foods Market

1 (16 oz.) box of farafelle (bowtie) pasta
1/2 bag frozen peas
2 large carrots, chopped
5 tiny cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, and then sliced about 1/8" thick
3/4 cup T. Marzetti Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette dressing

Cook pasta per package instructions. While cooking, prepare vegetables. When pasta is done, drain. Place in large serving bowl, and while still hot, add all other ingredients, tossing well to mix (because ingredients are hot, they will absorb the flavor of the dressing better). Chill at least hour. Serve cold.

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

I saw a conversation on Facebook earlier today that caught my attention, one that included the phrases, "I hope dinner is as good as it smells!" and "OMGGGGGGGGG
This chicken is to die for!", along with a recommendation that I personally should try it!

That was more than enough of a recommendation - I knew then and there that I was going to cook it tonight. It would be too late for dinner tonight, but would be a great lunch tomorrow.

I've had only a couple of bites, but she wasn't kidding!!! In addition to how delicious it is, prep time is like a minute!!

Amy B. found the recipe on Pinterest (I love Pinterest!). It's originally from food.com.

I made a slight alteration from the original recipe. I used only 4 oz. of cream cheese, and it was the lower fat Neufchatel cheese.

Here is this gem of a recipe!

Crock Pot Chicken with Black Beans and Cream Cheese

4 -5 boneless chicken breasts
1 (15 1/2 ounce) can black beans
1 (15 ounce) can corn
1 (15 ounce) jar salsa, any kind
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1 Take 4-5 frozen, yes, frozen, boneless chicken breasts put into crock pot.

2 Add 1 can of black beans, drained, 1 jar of salsa, 1 can of corn drained.

3 Keep in crock pot on high for about 4-5 hours or until chicken is cooked.

4 Add 1 package of cream cheese (just throw it on top!) and let sit for about 1/2 hour.

5 All done and enjoy!

Rosemary Honey Chicken with Cashews

Eleven weeks into my healthy lifestyle, and as of Monday, I'm down 15.8 lbs. Normally by this time I'm ready to give up, but my goal of 56.5 lbs. by my 50th birthday is exactly the motivation I need. I really want this to happen, and if I don't do it now, then it's not going to happen. And no one but me can make it happen. So, I've buckled down and I've been working hard at it. Most of the time!!! I occasionally "slip", but I don't focus on those times. I put the quotation marks on the word "slip", because I do allow myself a "cheat" every now and then. Last week was my daughter's birthday, and the grandkiddos and I made her a brownie pizza. And I had a piece and a half. And it was fantastic! But that was 6 days ago, and I've been on course since.

When I allow myself those "cheats", I really do treat myself. My mindset is that since those foods are treats, to be indulged in only every now and then, I'm going to make them the tastiest treats that I possibly can. I love ice cream, and I used to have it in my freezer all the time. I've had ice cream on two occasions since I began my journey back in March. I indulged both times. I got my absolute favorite flavor of my favorite brand. Haagen Dazs Dulce de Leche. MMMMM! And I savored each bite. And I ate two servings at each sitting (finished the container each time). But both times, it's satisfied my sweet tooth for weeks on end. So, I consider those indulgences an investment of sorts.

Okay, so on to what I've been cooking lately!!! This recipe is from www.skinnymommy.com, and it was very good. I think next time I won't use the flour, though, because I could taste it with almost every bite.

The entire recipe as I prepared it was 32 original Weight Watchers points, so each of the 4 servings was 8 points total.

Rosemary Honey Chicken with Cashews
adapted from www.skinnymommy.com

1 lb chicken breasst meat, cut into cubes
Flour
1/2 cup honey
1 1/2 T Balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp minced garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4 tsp Rosemary, diced (I used dried, about 1/4 t., crushing it between my fingers as I let it fall into the bowl)
1/2 cup of cashews (I measured 1/2 cup of the halved and whole ones, then chopped them)
Dash of cayenne

Preheat the oven to 400. Sprinkle flour onto a plate and dip the chicken into it, shaking off the excess and sprinkle with Salt and Pepper. Place the chicken in a baking dish, making sure it is spaced out. Bake for 15 minutes.

While the chicken is baking, mix together the garlic, balsamic, honey and rosemary. Remove the chicken from the baking dish, stirring it into the honey/vinegar mixture, stirring to coat each piece. Return the chicken to the baking dish, return it to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more, stirring a few times to be sure every piece is glazed evenly. Add in the cashews and tossing, and bake 5 minutes more. If you really like the flavor of rosemary add a few more fresh sprigs and serve.

Curry Chicken Salad Sandwiches

My daughter and I are taking the grandkids to the zoo tomorrow! I'm so excited!! I myself love the zoo, but to see how much those 3 kids love it is even better!

We're packing our lunches, and it was when I went looking for this recipe that I realized I've never posted it before. It's not very healthy, unless you change the mayo to lite, or I'm wondering maybe it could be replaced w/ plain greek yogurt. I'm not sure if I'm daring enough to try that, though, since this recipe is so yummy as it is!!! I think I'll splurge a little on my calories tomorrow.

I got it from a woman I used to attend church with.


Curry Chicken Salad

1 medium onion, quartered, then sliced

about 3 T. olive oil (divided)

about 3 T. curry powder (divided)

1 1/2 pounds of chicken breast meat, chopped or cut into small bite sized pieces

about 3/4 cup mayo, more or less for personal preference

1/2 to 3/4 cups red grapes, cut in half

about 3/4 of an average sized tart apple, cut into small bite sized pieces

a small handful of chopped walnuts, if you wish

a loaf of GOOD bread

Saute onion slices in 1 T. olive oil, with 1 T. curry powder added to it. Remove from pan, let cool. In the same pan, add another 1 T. olive oil, half of the chicken and another 1 T. curry powder. Remove from pan, allow to cool. Add last 1 T. of olive oil, other half of chicken, and last 1 T. curry powder, and saute that as well. Remove from pan, allow to cool. (If your pan is big enough, you don't have to split the chicken in half, but the pan I used was smallish.)

When chicken and onion are cool, mix together along with mayonnaise. At this point, I taste a bite, to check to see if it needs more curry. Then add grapes, apples, and walnuts. Stir to combine. Add more mayo if needed.

Serve on bread.

Buffalo Chicken Fingers

Yowza!! These are hot! And oh so good.

This one is a recipe from a site I hadn't used before, one more amazing healthy cooking site that I've found in my hours of searching for all these yummy recipes!

adapted from www.skinnyweek.com:

Buffalo Chicken Fingers

Serves 4, 5 WW Points

1 spray Pam
1 1/4 lb. uncooked boneless skinless chicken breast cut into 16 strips
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. paprika
1 tsp minced garlic
2 Tablespoons butter
4 tsp. hot sauce or to taste
1/2 cup fat-free blue cheese dressing
4 stalks celery cut into 4 sticks each

Coat a large nonstick skillet with Pam and heat over medium-high heat.
Place chicken on a plate and sprinkle with salt and paprika. Add chicken to skillet and cook, turning occasionally until lightly browned and cooked through, about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic; reduce heat to low, stir and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Remove skillet from heat; stir in margarine and hot sauce until margarine melts, coating chicken with sauce. Serve chicken with celery and blue cheese dressing on the side. Yields about 4 pieces of chicken, 4 celery sticks and 2 tablespoons of dressing.

And if you like the heat like I do , add an extra splash of this:

Filipino Adobo Chicken

And yet another fantastic find from www.skinnytaste.com!!! My six year old granddaughter "Rye" and I had this for lunch yesterday. She devoured the chicken quite quickly (granted, she is definitely a carnivore!). She wasn't sure she wanted the sauce on the rice, so she had butter on hers instead. We started the meal off with a very colorful salad.

Here's this fantastic find: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/11/filipino-adobo-chicken.html


Filipino Adobo Chicken
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

8 chicken legs on the bone (skin removed)
1/3 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
1 small head of garlic, crushed
6 ground peppercorns
4 bay leaves
1 jalapeño, chopped (optional)


Marinate chicken in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, jalapeño and pepper, for at least an hour (overnight is ideal). Add chicken, 1/2 cup water, bay leaves and marinade into a deep nonstick skillet and cook on medium-low heat. Cover and cook until the meat is tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the cover and cook an additional 15 minutes, until the sauce reduces. Discard bay leaves and serve over rice.

Chicken Curry

Have I mentioned how much I LOVE Indian food????!!! MMMM! There's an Indian restaurant right around the corner from me that has a lunch buffet daily for $9.95, and I go there often! I even sometimes go there during dinner hours and order an entree. My favorite in Palak Paneer, which is a spinach curry dish with Indian cottage cheese. I haven't made that yet, but I do have a recipe.

I've tried a couple other recipes for Chicken Curry, one of which starts off the same way my curry chicken salad sandwiches (I see I haven't posted that recipe yet) do, and it is very good, but this new recipe is ooooh, sooooo much better!!!!

I have no clue where I got the recipe. I'd saved it under "Recipes from Miscellaneous Sources", so I haven't a clue. There were a few additional ingredients, but I left them out. (Edited 3/17/12: found my source - it's www.beckyhiggins.com - a blog I found while browsing some blogs. She's got some great looking recipes!!!)


Chicken Curry

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts (2 to 3 pieces)
2 T. curry powder
1/4 t. ground cinnamon
2 T. olive oil, divided
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 1/2 c. (14 oz. can) low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 c. heavy cream
1 1/2 t. salt (I didn't add nearly that much, it really didn't need all of it)
1/4 t. black pepper
cooked white rice

Rinse chicken and pat dry with paper towels. Cut into 1" pieces and place in bowl. Sprinkle with curry and cinnamon, toss, and set aside. Heat 1 T. oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer to plate.

Heat remaining oil in skillet. Add chicken and cook until browned on all sides, about 5 minutes. Add broth, cream, salt, and pepper. Return onion to skillet. Heat until chicken is cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes. (For more curry flavor, add more curry powder at this time.)

Serve over rice.

Makes 4 servings

Bourbon Chicken

I love love love Bourbon Chicken!!! But I must say, I've never had it anywhere other than the little Cajun place in the food court at the mall. So, when I came across this recipe, I knew I'd be making it soon. It's on the stove right now, and does it smell GOOD!!!!

Bourbon Chicken

from You're Gonna Bake it After All, originally from RecipeZaar

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
Olive oil cooking spray or 1 T. olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1/4 t. dried ground ginger
1/4 t. ground cayenne pepper
1/4 cup apple juice
1/3 cup light brown sugar
2 T. ketchup
1 T. cider vinegar
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1 T. cornstarch / 1 T. water (optional)

Spray skillet with cooking spray or use olive oil. Add chicken and cook over medium heat until lightly browned.

Remove chicken from skillet.

Add remaining ingredients, heating over medium heat until well mixed and dissolved.

Add chicken and bring to a hard boil.

Reduce heat and simmer 20 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

If you prefer a thicker sauce, combine 1 T. water and 1 T. cornstarch in a separate bowl and add a little at a time to reach
desired consistency.

Serve over hot rice, if desired.



Edited to add:

Ohhhh, yummmmmmm!!!! It was great!!! I think I over cooked it a little, so you may want to decrease cooking time if your chicken pieces are tiny like mine were. But the flavor was awesome!

I've challenged myself.....

.... to start cooking more at home, and to start trying new recipes once again. I've already posted the Hamburger Noodle Bake recipe, that I tried on 2-26-12.

Because I live by myself, sometimes I cook for my daughter and her family. This past Saturday, 3/3/12, I went to their house, enlisted the help of 8 year old Moo and 6 year old Rye. They chopped pistachios; they measured garlic; they measured sugar; they grated orange rind; they measured raisins. And then they were my go-fers as I cooked the dish.

I'd give this one 3 stars out of 4. The rice was very good, but the chicken was just so-so. Nothing spectacular there. I'll make it again, but I'll either leave the chicken out totally, or I'll cut it in small bite sized pieces. I'll only use about half the onions - their flavor was very overpowering. And I'll probably omit the raisins and the pistachios.

The recipe?

Shireen Palow, or Afghan Orange Rice with Chicken
from myrecipes.com, originally from Cooking Light

Shireen Palow (Afghan Orange Rice with Chicken)

Shireen palow soaks up sweet flavors from orange rind, caramelized onions, and sugar. Use a heavy chef's knife or cleaver to cut the chicken breasts in half.

Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 2 thighs or 1 breast piece, 3/4 cup rice mixture, and 1 tablespoon pistachios)

2 chicken breast halves, skinned and cut in half (about 1 pound)
4 chicken thighs, skinned (about 1 pound) – I actually used 2 # of chicken breast, since none of us is especially fond of dark meat
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, divided
2 cups vertically sliced onion
1/4 teaspoon saffron threads, crushed
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
2 1/4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cups uncooked basmati rice
2 tablespoons raisins
6 tablespoons chopped pistachios

Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add chicken, and cook 5 minutes, browning on all sides. Remove chicken from pan; cover and keep warm.
Melt 1 tablespoon butter in Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion; cook 10 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. Add saffron and garlic, and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in sugar and rind; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add 1/4 teaspoon salt, broth, rice, and raisins; bring to a boil. Add chicken, nestling into rice mixture. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 25 minutes or until rice is tender. Let stand 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pistachios.

Barbecued Indonesian Chicken

I made this one for the 4th of July, too, and again, a big hit! Also found in cafemom's recipe group. I baked it in the oven, because the weather was yucky.


serves about 5 - 6

1/2 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
3 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
juice of 1 lime

10 - 12 pieces of bone-in, skinless chicken

In a bowl, combine the first 6 ingredients. Place chicken in a resealable bag(s) and add the marinade. Refrigerate for 4 - 6 hours or even overnight.

Heat a grill to medium high. Remove chicken from marinade and grill for about 20 - 30 minutes or until the juices run clear and the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the grill and serve.

Note: If using mostly breast pieces, double the marinade.

Easy Chicken & Biscuits

www.campbellskitchen.com

1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Celery Soup
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Potato Soup
1 cup milk
1/4 t. dried thyme leaves, crushed
1/4 t. ground black pepper
4 cups cooked cut-up vegetables *
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 pkg. (about 7 oz.) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits (10)

1. MIX soups, milk, thyme, black pepper, vegetables and chicken in 3-quart shallow baking dish.
2. BAKE at 400°F. for 15 minutes. Stir. CUT each biscuit into quarters. ARRANGE cut biscuits over chicken mixture. Bake 15 minutes or until biscuits are golden.
3. Serves 5.
4. TIP: *Use a combination of broccoli flowerets, cauliflower flowerets and carrots.

Chicken and Stuffing Skillet

www.campbellskitchen.com

1 T butter or margarine
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 box (6 oz.) Pepperidge Farm ONe Step Suffing Chicken Mix
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) Campbells Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

Heat butter in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook 12 to 15 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove chicken.
Prepare stuffing in skillet according to package dierctions, except let stand 2 minutes.
Return chicken to skillet. Mix soup and milk. Pour over chicken. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover and heat through.