Leftover BBQ Chicken?

So maybe you've been grilling lately due to the hot temps or perhaps attending some BBQ competitions. Here's a great idea for leftover bbq chicken.


BBQ Chicken Pizza

1 boboli crust (or whaterver, to be honest I am too busy to even attempt to make my own)
some BBQ chicken
a mix of cheeses, mozzerella, parmesan, gouda
bbq sauce
red onion, diced
butter
cilantro

I dont like crunchy on my pizza. So I sauteed the red onions for about 20 minutes in 1 Tbsp of butter.
Preheat the oven to 450F.
Spread the BBQ sauce on the pizza crust
top w/chicken, then onions, then cheese & finally cilantro.

Bake at 450 for about 10-15 minutes. I like my pizza crispy so I did 15.

Done!

Chicken Rollatini

Mass posting today. See I am alive!

Who knows when I actually made this meal, but it was good and I kept the recipe on my fridge for future use. It was very easy & you can substitute various ingredients.

I found this recipe a new foodie blogger I am following-I love her website because she has healthy recipes and doesnt tempt me with bad for me goodies!

Rollatini

This recipe I used pepperoni & mozzarella-so it was more of a chicken pizza rollatini but really you can use whatever meat, veggie or cheese. I see a chicken cordon blue rollatini in my future...

Sunday Dinner

My work schedule is about to get very hectic with travel so I wanted to follow some advice & roast a chicken on Sunday, then use the leftovers for something else.

Roasting a chicken is so easy and hands off. I just took the chicken, doused it with Italian dressing, put in a dutch oven and let it bake. I want to say at 325 maybe? I have a digital thermometer so I wait until it tells me its done. In addition to the chicken I made roasted red potatoes. These happen to be a favorite of mine from college days. My roommate's mom used to make these for us when we were home for the weekend.



They are so easy. Just quarter some red potatoes & toss them with spices. I use garlic or roasted minced garlic, salt & pepper. Roast at 425 for about 45 minutes until they are crisp. I usually stir them up about half way through.

My leftover recipe. White Chicken Chili! It has gotten cold here and this sounded delicious.

White Chicken Chili (adapted from Paula Deen)
Ingredients
2 cans cannelinni beans
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 tablespoon minced garlic
3/4 cup diced onion
1 1/2 cups chopped green chiles (fresh or canned)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
Pinch red pepper flakes
1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
Directions
In a saucepan, heat the butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, and chiles and saute for 5 minutes. Add chile mixture to pot with beans. Add the chicken, cannelini beans, cumin, oregano, pepper, white pepper, red pepper flakes, and cilantro. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, for approximately 1 1/2 hours. Serve with cornbread, if desired



The only thing I would have done differently is saute the onions more. They were a little crunchy as were the peppers.

***on a side note, its dark when I get home now so my pictures are going to suck

Chicken Tetrazzini

Here is a quick & easy meal! Since I started a new job, I wanted to try out some recipes that wouldnt take too long, store well, or could be made by the husband. This was one of them.

Chicken Tetrazzini
1/2 lb. spaghetti, uncooked
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
1 red pepper, chopped
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, cubed
1/4 cup flour
1 can (14 oz.) fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 Tbsp. KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/2 cup KRAFT 2% Milk Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

**I omitted the peppers, my family doesnt like them**

HEAT oven to 350°F.

COOK spaghetti in large saucepan as directed on package. Meanwhile, cook chicken and vegetables in large nonstick skillet 5 min. or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from skillet; cover to keep warm.

BRING Neufchatel, flour and broth to boil in same skillet, stirring constantly with whisk; simmer on medium-low heat 5 min., stirring frequently.

DRAIN spaghetti; return to saucepan. Add Neufchatel sauce, chicken mixture and 2 Tbsp. Parmesan; mix well. Spoon into 2-qt. casserole; cover.

BAKE 25 min. Top with mozzarella and remaining Parmesan; bake, uncovered, 2 min. or until mozzarella is melted.

** I also topped this with panko to make it extra crsipy on top!

Chicken and Rice

This was an easy dinner to throw together. I recipes like this because they don't scream casserole, but they are just as simple.



Chicken and Rice Bake
1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 cup water

3/4 cup uncooked regular long-grain white rice

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound)

1.Stir the soup, water, rice, paprika and black pepper in a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with the chicken. Season with additional paprika and black pepper. Cover the baking dish.
2.Bake at 375°F. for 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the rice is tender.


I served it with some steamed broccoli. And this would have been pretty good except for 2 things.

1) I used the wrong side of the pepper shaker. Like the pour side, not the shake side. It had a little kick to it to say the least.

2) My rice was crunchy. If you havent been following my blog for the past few years, you won't understand that crunchy rice is pretty common with me. There only seems to be one recipe in which I can make normal rice. I dont know what the deal is. I am rice challenge.

Too Many Recipes!

I have so many recipes either starred in google reader, tagged in my cookbooks or linked in a word document/email. I needed some way to organize them & work them into my weekly menu. Those of you who don't know me personally will not understand this, but I am an extremely organized & planned person. If I didn't have a plan for each day, I am not sure I would get through them.

So my new menu plans will consist of something like this
Sunday- Slow Cooker/Soups/Salads/Sandwiches
Monday-Mexican
Tuesday: 3 piece dish (ie: grilled chicken, veggie, rice/potato)/casserole
Wednesday: Ethnic foods, so Chinese, Italian, Indian, Greek, etc...
Thursday: Another 3 piece dish/casserole
Friday:Fish Friday!
Saturday: Slow cooker/soups/salads/sandwiches


My first week at this menu I made a roast chicken on Thursday. The recipe came from a Cooking Light cookbook so I'll have to get it at home, but it basically consisted of Thyme & sliced lemons on a chicken & roasted for about 60 to 90 minutes. (PS whole chickens are cheap and so easy to make!!)

So I had all this chicken leftover. Well a few weeks ago I attended a baby shower for one of my closest friends. Our awesome host had made these mini paninis from french baguettes. HOLY DELICIOUS! So I had her email me the recipes & made some mini paninis of my own out of this chicken.

Frontega Chicken:

Smoked & pulled white meat chicken, mozzarella, tomatoes, red onions, chopped basil & chipotle mayonnaise, grilled hot on our Focaccia.
Basically got a rotissierie chicken and pulled that apart with some mozzarella, tomatoes, red onions, basil and then mixed adobe chili powder and cayenne powder into may to make the mayonnaise.

- Turkey Artichoke:
Smoked turkey, spinach artichoke spread, Asiago-Parmesan cheese, tomatoes & caramelized onions, grilled hot on our Focaccia.
Got sliced deli turkey, store bought spin dip, sprinkled asiago/parm cheese on it with some tomatoes and caramelized onions.

- Tomato & Mozzarella:
Fresh mozzarella, roasted & fresh tomatoes, fresh basil and all-natural sun-dried tomato pesto on Ciabatta.

- Hickory Smoked Turkey:
Hickory smoked turkey with cilantro lime cream cheese, smoked chipotle aioli, red onion and provolone cheese on a hoagie roll

- Mini Grilled cheese:
caramelized onions, swiss and honey mustard


Thanks so much Kari! We loved the frontega chicken & can't wait to try the other ones.

I also made some white chicken chili from the remainder of the chicken. Jayson loved it! He has a thing for spicy foods.

Chicken Tortilla Casserole

Have you been to Annie's Eats? If not, make your way over there.
http://annies-eats.com/ Maybe start off with her best of 2009 posts-you will want to make everything on it.
I am apparently a blog stalker b/c as I was putting together my menu for the week I noticed I had 3 recipes from Annie's Eats. And I have at least 10 more tagged "to make".

First up, Chicken Tortilla Casserole.
I had been wanting to make this one b/c I had about 1/2 bag of tortilla chips and my son eats casserole type dishes better than anything.



We loved this. Putting it in the repeat pile-which is rare for me. What surprised me the most was that my 9 month old apparently like spices dishes. He was kicking the highchair every time he wanted more.

On tap, for this week Baked Ziti & Chicken Gyros!

I will try to be better

I could come up with a million excuses on why I haven't updated my blog. Ones I am sure we have all heard before. But now that we are back from a nice trip to Hawaii, I will have some more time on my hands (at least I hope to!)

I cannot believe I have never posted this recipe before. When I first met my husband, this was my go-to impress everyone dinner. I think my favorite vegetable is artichoke, so I pretty much love any recipe that includes artichoke hearts in it. Each time I make this recipe I change it up a bit, but the basics behind it make for a great meal. I also changed quite a bit of it so its not so complicated.

Chicken Saute w/Artichoke Hearts
Williams-Sonoma
Fresh artichokes taste best in this dish. If they are unavailable, use about 1 1/2 cups thawed, frozen hearts or drained, marinated hearts and add them with the tomatoes.

Ingredients:
1 lemon, halved
1 lb. small artichokes
3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
4 skinless chicken breast halves
2 Tbs. pure olive oil
Salt and freshly ground white or black pepper, to
taste
4 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
1 shallot, cut into slivers
1 Tbs. minced fresh basil
1 Tbs. minced fresh tarragon
1 Tbs. minced fresh chervil
1 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 cup Sauvignon Blanc or other dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 or 3 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

Directions:
Have ready a bowl three-fourths full of water to which you have added the juice from 1/2 lemon. Working with 1 artichoke at a time, cut off the stem even with the base. Cut off the top one-third of the artichoke. Starting at the base, break off 3 or 4 rows of the tough outer leaves, snapping them downward, until you reach the tender, pale green inner leaves. Trim away any dark green areas around the base. As you work, rub the cut surfaces with the remaining lemon half to prevent darkening. When the artichoke is fully trimmed, cut in half lengthwise and, using a sharp spoon or knife, scoop out and discard the prickly choke. Then cut each half in half again to create quarters and add to the lemon water. Set aside.

Spread the flour on a plate, then lightly coat both sides of each chicken piece with the flour, shaking off the excess. In a fry pan over high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the chicken pieces and sauté, turning once, until lightly browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a platter, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

Pour off all but 2 Tbs. of the fat from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, add the garlic and shallot, and sauté until softened, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the basil, tarragon, chervil and mustard. Increase the heat to high, pour in the wine and broth, and deglaze the pan, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits from the pan bottom. Return the chicken to the pan and add the tomatoes. Reduce the heat to medium-high and cook turning the pieces occasionally, until the chicken is opaque throughout and the juices run clear, about 20 minutes for the breasts and 30 minutes for the thighs and drumsticks.

About 10 minutes before the chicken is done, drain the artichokes and add to the pan. Transfer the chicken pieces to a plate as they are done, then just before the remaining chicken is done, return the cooked pieces to the pan to warm briefly.

Transfer the contents of the pan to a warmed serving platter and garnish with the parsley. Serve immediately. Serves 4 to 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Series, Casual Entertaining, by Joyce Goldstein (Time-Life Books, 1998).


*** My Changes--> I used only chicken breasts, the original recipe calls for drumsticks & thighs. Since chicken breasts have less fat, you will need to add some more olive oil to the pan to saute the garlic & shallots.
If I don't have fresh herbs, I just used dried.
If I don't have wine, I just use more chicken broth. Sometimes I use marsala in place of the white wine.
Sometimes I add tomatoes, other times I don't. Other good additions are mushrooms, black olives & toasted pine nuts.
I usually serve this over whole-wheat pasta and top it off with some grated parmesan cheese.

--> Pictures are not working right now so I will add them later

Cashew Chicken

We love love love Chinese food at our house. My husband actually really loves this china buffet out by us. I sometimes have issues with it b/c the chicken isn't always trimmed and it isn't all white meat. Plus its usually fried with tons of salt & sugar added in. Long story short, I like to attempt my own Chinese food at home.

I stumbled across Amber's post for cashew chicken & when I saw it was originally a Williams-Sonoma recipe I knew it was going to be a good one. Some of my all time favorite recipes have come from Williams-Sonoma. And this one did not disappoint. Like Amber said this came together pretty quickly which was nice b/c we didn't have a lot of time last night. While the recipe says to use chicken thighs, I just used cut up chicken breast.

Cashew Chicken

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma

~makes 4 servings ~

Ingredients
3 tablespoons. soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon Asian sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons corn or peanut oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup salted roasted cashews
Steamed rice for serving

Directions
Marinate the chicken - In a large bowl, stir together 2 Tbs. of the soy sauce, the wine and ginger. Stir in the chicken to coat evenly and set aside for 15 minutes.
Make the sauce - In a small bowl, combine 2 Tbs. water, the remaining 1 Tbs. soy sauce, the Worcestershire sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch, and stir to dissolve the sugar and cornstarch.
Stir-fry the chicken - Heat a wok or large fry pan over high heat until very hot and add 2 Tbs. of the corn oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade, draining it well, and discard the marinade. Add the chicken to the wok and stir-fry until opaque, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the chicken to a bowl.
Return the wok to medium heat and add the remaining 1 Tbs. corn oil. Add the green onions and stir-fry until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Return the chicken to the wok and add the cashews. Give the sauce a quick stir, add to the pan and stir until the sauce thickens slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately with the steamed rice

In addition to this, I also made my "fried" rice.

Moroccan Chicken

You know how we all find diet food bland? Well, I really want to stick to this diet, but still experiment with different foods. My South Beach Diet book had a recipe for Moroccan Chicken w/Summer Squash. The Moroccan part didn't stick out to me as much as the summer squash part, b/c I need to use up our squash!

This was a little different-so you picky eaters-be weary about trying it. Cinnamon + Chicken seems a little weird to me, but it was good. Not GREAT by any means, but good. The only difference in this recipe is that I used black olives instead of green. And I made some whole wheat cous cous to round out the meal.



Moroccan Lemon Chicken w/Summer Squash and Green Olives
South Beach Diet

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ginger
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp allspice
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 lemon
4 tsp olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
¾ lb summer squash
1/3 cup pitted green olives
2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp chopped parsley

Pound chicken breasts between wax paper until ¼ “ thick
In a small bowl, mix cumin, ginger, cinnamon, pepper, allspice, salt & cayenne. Squeeze 1 Tbsp juice from the lemon and add to the spice mixture. Add 3 tsp oil to spice mixture. Spread over chicken, on both sides.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, in batches if necessary and cook, turning, until blackened on the outside & cooked through. 3-4 mins per side. Transfer to a plate & keep warm.
Add remaining 1 tsp oil to the skillet & return to med high heat. Add onions slices & cook, stirring w/a wooden spoon & scraping up any brown bits, about 3 minutes. Add squash, olives & water. Season lightly w/ S&P. Cover and cook until the squash is tender, 4 to 5 mins. Remove pan from heat, squeeze a little more lemon juice over chicken & veggies, sprinkle with parsley & serve.


No parsley for us- we have a bunny that is attacking our garden!

Sun Dried Tomato & Feta Stuffed Chicken

I grabbed a copy of South Beach Diet at the library a few weeks ago. A lot of the allowable food items on that diet are approved for P90X so I've snagged a few recipes from it & will be making them this week.

Last night was Sun Dried Tomato & Feta Stuffed Chicken. I found sun dried tomatoes in a bag in the produce section-kind like craisins- and I was so excited. See usually sun dried tomatoes are in a jar with lots of oil. This is a much healthier option.



Sun Dried Tomato & Feta Stuffed Chicken
SB Diet
Serves 2

2 chicken breasts, pounded thin
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup fresh chopped basil
1 Tbsp EVOO
S&P

Mix the tomatoes, cheese, basil & EVOO in a bowl.
Lay mixture in chicken & roll the chicken up. I use a toothpick to secure the chicken in place.
In an oven proof skillet, spray with Misto & heat over medium-high heat.
Heat oven to 425F.
Place chicken in pan & brown on one side. Season with S&P.
Place pan in oven & cook until chicken is no longer pink.

Homestyle Chicken & Biscuits

I was looking for a nice casserole recipe for the hubs & I one night. I had all the meals planned for the week & wanted something easy. This was very easy. I have no clue where I got the recipe from, it was sitting in my recipe binder from 2004.

Homestyle chicken & biscuits

1 can cream of mushroom soup (i used healthy request)
1 can cream of broccoli soup
1 cup of milk
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp thyme
1 cups cooked cubed chicken
3 cups frozen cooked veggies (i used California mix)
1 cup cooked diced red potatoes
1 pkg biscuits (I used Grands 10 oz, quartered)

Mix soups, milk, thyme & pepper in a baking dish. Stir in veggies, chicken & potatoes.
Bake at 400F for about 15 minutes.
Stir the casserole, then top with biscuits. Bake for an additional 15 minutes or until the biscuits are brown.

Spiced Chicken with Oranges

I found this recipe in a recipe binder I created years ago. In fact, I just checked the date on the print out and it says "07/23/2003". I have had some Chinese Five Spice powder in the cupboard, unopened, for probably 6 months. I couldn't tell you why I bought it, for whatever reason I never made whatever I intended to make.

I really like the PF Changs Orange Peel chicken, and this is what I had envisioned this recipe to be, so when I started cooking and smelled the licorice, I was a bit concerned. Chinese Five Spice has cinnamon, star anise, ground cloves, licorice & fennel. I did not know this until the hubs said "Smells like licorice". My expectations went way down. I am not really a fan of licorice unless it comes in the form of a Twizzler. But I kept on.



Spice Chicken With Oranges
Bone Appetit (Feb 2003)
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (I used tenderloins)
2 tsp chinese five spice
2 tsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium red onion (I used yellow)
1/2 cup orange juice
3 Tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp hot pepper oil (I used canola oil & cayenne pepper)
2 seedless oranges, peeled & sliced crosswise into 1/2 inch thick sections
**I also used some flour

Mix salt, pepper, five spice, sesame seeds & flour in a bowl. Toss chicken in the mixture.

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken until golden brown & cooked through. Using tongs, transfer to a plate.

Add onion to drippings in the skillet (if you dont have enough add some more butter). Saute until tender. Add OJ, soy, and pepper oil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 2 minutes. Add oranges and stir until just heated through. Return chicken to skillet to reheat.


I served this with some asian rice & steam broccoli. It was better than I had anticipated, but not as good as I was hoping.

Chicken Cacciatore

I was waiting to post this b/c I had left the recipe at home. However, when I got home I realized I threw the recipe away & its no longer available online. So I will have to write this one from memory.

I got this recipe from Williams-Sonoma years ago. When I found the cinnamon buttermilk recipe, I also stumbled upon this recipe too.

Chicken Cacciatore

4 slices of bacon, cut into 1/2 inch strips
2lbs chicken (either pieces or boneless skinless), cut into 1 inch pieces
1 onion, diced
12 white button mushrooms, halved
thyme
oregano
2 garlic cloves
2 cups diced tomatoes (I used 2 cans diced tomatoes drained)
1/2 cup red wine
1 cup chicken broth

1. Cook bacon, remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside
2. Season chicken with salt & pepper. Add chicken to the same pan with the bacon grease (if you have a lot of grease, drain some of it). Cook until browned. (not completely cooked). Remove from pan & set aside.
3. Add onions to the pan & cook until translucent. Add garlic & saute a little longer.
4. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover & simmer, about 30 minutes. This will bring more flavor to the sauce.

I served this over some Parmesan mashed potatoes. You could use pasta, we just had too many pasta dishes on the menu for the week. This made a lot. I had enough for 4 servings, plus I was able to freeze 2 additional servings of the sauce.

Creamy Ranch Chicken Pasta

I'll make this a quick post. When I received my daily email from BHG and saw "Ranch" in the title I knew I had to make it for my husband. There are two things my husband loves, anything with ranch dressing (it has to be Hidden Valley though) and anything wrapped in bacon.

So when I actually read the recipe and saw it had ranch & bacon, oh I knew he would just love it. I changed out the whole milk in the recipe, that is too much fat. I just used 2% and it was fine. And we have pretty much banned white pasta in our house. We only eat whole wheat.

Creamy Ranch Chicken
bhg.com
Ingredients
6 slices bacon
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-size pieces
2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
2 Tbsp. ranch dry salad dressing mix
1-1/4 cups whole milk
3 cups dried medium noodles
1 Tbsp. finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Directions
1. Cut bacon into narrow strips. In a large skillet cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Drain bacon on paper towels; discard all but 2 tablespoons drippings.

2. In the same skillet cook chicken in reserved drippings until tender and no longer pink, turning to brown evenly. Sprinkle flour and salad dressing mix over the chicken in the skillet; stir well. Stir in milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 minute more. Stir in bacon. Meanwhile, cook noodles according to package directions. Serve chicken mixture with noodles; sprinkle with Parmesan. Makes: 4 servings

I decided to do a salad with this too. I am not always in the mood for a fresh garden salad, so I like to change it up a bit. Greens, an apple, candied walnuts & a homemade dijon balsamic vinaigrette.

Thai Fish Sauce & Lime Chicken

I am finally getting around to making some of the recipes I had tagged back in January. The two that I am posting about today have been on the menu rotation since probably mid January. After I finally made them, the hubs said "why have you been holding out!" I think I just had to be in the mood to make this stuff.

I think the biggest struggle I have when making my weekly menu is that I like to have a variety of dishes. I won't have a pasta dish two nights in a row. Or Mexican two nights in a row. So I try to be creative. This is good & bad; good b/c I am forced to make a variety of dishes, bad b/c it takes me forever to come up with my menu.

I like to throw some Thai or Chinese in throughout the week. I knew I had fish sauce & limes in the fridge so I searched myrecipes and came across this one.

Thai Fish Sauce and Lime Chicken
Cooking Light

Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3 tablespoons sweetened chili sauce
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon creamy peanut butter
2 tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
Lime wedges (optional)
Preparation
Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

Add broth, chili sauce, and fish sauce; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until broth mixture is reduced to 2/3 cup (about 4 minutes). Remove from heat; add lime juice and peanut butter, stirring until smooth. Serve sauce over chicken; sprinkle with peanuts. Garnish with lime wedges, if desired.


I only made half of this recipe because I wasn't sure how well it would reheat. I served this with some store bought pot stickers & edamame. So an all around healthy meal. Don't be scared off by the ingredients-you can buy fish sauce in any grocery store & I used Thai sweet red chile sauce for the sweetened chile sauce.

Figs

One of the things I love about cooking club is that it makes me cook with ingredients I wouldn't normally buy. A few highlights from the last cooking club was the walnut oil (thanks to Miss Nemmie at Cast Sugar) & figs.

Figs are kind of like raisins, at least they were in this dish I made. I wasn't sure what to expect out of the figs, I mean, I like Fig Newtons so I figured I would like figs. I did not tell the Hubs that the topping for the chicken was made with figs until he tried it.


Chicken with Balsamic Fig Sauce
Cooking Light
Ingredients
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 1/2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup finely chopped dried figs (such as Mission)
Preparation
Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with 1 1/2 teaspoons thyme, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan; keep warm.

Reduce heat to medium; add butter to pan. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth, vinegar, soy sauce, and figs. Simmer until sauce is reduced to 1 cup (about 3 minutes). Add 1 tablespoon thyme and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cut chicken breast halves lengthwise on the diagonal into slices. Serve sauce over chicken.

This was good, healthy & a nice alternative to your standard grilled chicken with pan sauce. I still have some figs left & I think I am going to bake something with them instead of cook. Any recommendations?

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo

I hope I have some New Orleans readers out there b/c I have a question. What is the difference between a Gumbo & a Jambalaya? We love both, but I was trying to find recipes for smoked sausage (it was on sale, I stocked up) & this gumbo came up and it made me wonder, what is the difference really?

Chicken & Sausage Gumbo
Yield
6 to 8 servings

Ingredients
1 (16-ounce) package Cajun-style smoked sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium-size green bell pepper, chopped
4 cups chopped cooked chicken
1 (32-ounce) container chicken broth
1 1/4 cups uncooked long-grain rice
1 tablespoon Cajun seasoning
Garnish: chopped fresh parsley
Preparation
Cook smoked sausage in a Dutch oven over medium heat, stirring constantly, 3 minutes or until browned. Add celery, onion, and bell pepper, and sauté 6 to 8 minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Stir in chicken and next 3 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes or until rice is done and liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat, and let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving. Garnish, if desired.

If you omit the rice from this or use a brown rice, this is a very healthy meal. I used turkey smoked sausage in mine. But I made it unhealthy by using a box of Zatarain's Garlic & Herb rice. But wow, it was so good! I had more gumbo than rice, so I froze half of the recipe for post-baby time.

Creamy Spinach, Mushroom & Chicken Enchiladas

We love Mexican food. Problem with Mexican food is that its sooooo bad for you, especially if you eat out. I am sure I am only taking out about a quarter of the fat when I make it at home, but for some reason I just feel like its a ton better for us.


Creamy Spinach, Mushroom & Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients
Sauce:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 (10-ounce) can condensed reduced-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 (8-ounce carton) fat-free sour cream (I used low fat)
1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, undrained

Enchiladas:
Cooking spray
1 cup chopped onion
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (10-ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Monterey Jack cheese, divided
10 (6-inch) corn tortillas
**diced cooked chicken**

Garnish:
1/2 cup chopped seeded plum tomato
1/4 cup chopped green onion tops

Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°.

To prepare sauce, combine first 4 ingredients; stir well.

To prepare enchiladas, heat a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and jalapeño; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add mushrooms; sauté 3 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic powder, cumin, salt, and spinach; cook 5 minutes or until heated. Combine spinach mixture and 1/4 cup cheese in a large bowl; stir to combine.

Spoon 1/2 cup sauce into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/3 cup spinach mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up. Place filled tortillas seam sides down in the baking dish. Spread remaining sauce evenly over tortillas; top with 3/4 cup cheese.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes. Top with tomato and green onion.

While we liked the taste of this recipe, we didn't like the spinach part. Frozen/thawed spinach tends to stick together in clumps. So when you would get a "bite" of spinach, it was more like a big clump. I would recommend using fresh spinach leaves & just letting them cook with the mushrooms. And b/c my husband doesn't believe a meal is a meal without some form of meat in it, I sauted some chicken & added it to the enchiladas as well.

The best part of this meal, I pulled out some of our homemade salsa from the freezer for chips & salsa. It almost made it feel like summer.

Chicken,, Pancetta & Bechamel Sauce

Post cooking club, I had no desire to cook, nor was I even thinking about defrosting something to make for dinner the next evening. But I was refusing to eat out. So I was determined to make something at home.

We didn't use all the chicken in the chicken, fig & pancetta bites. So those small chunks had been marinating in the balsamic vinegar sauce over night. I figured I would saute those up & toss them in a pasta. But I didn't know what kind of sauce.

I was going to do an alfredo, but I didn't have parmesan cheese. I was trying to find some kind of white wine cream lemon sauce, but I couldn't find any in my cookbooks & I didn't want to turn on the computer. So I pulled out Giada & reviewed her bechamel sauce. Easy peasy.

Giada's Bechamel Sauce
1 stick unsalted butter (4 ounces)
1/2 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 quart whole milk, at room temperature
Pinch fresh nutmeg
Sea salt and white pepper

In a 2 quart saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk until smooth, about 2 minutes. Always stirring, gradually add the milk and continue to whisk until the sauce is smooth and creamy. Simmer until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This will take approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in nutmeg, salt & pepper.

So I changed some things here. I had some heavy cream leftover. For whatever reason whenever I need 1 cup of heavy cream, I buy the giant container. If I need two cups I buy the little container & then have to go back to the store. This consistently happens. Anyway, I used about 1 1/2 cups of heavy cream & then 1/2 cup of 2% milk. I omitted the nutmeg & added some oregano.

I boiled whatever noodles I had in the house, I think they were extra wide egg noodles. Then I tossed the chicken, sauce & pasta together. It was delicious.