Easy, Amazing, Italian Chicken

This is another one from "I Dare You to Eat It." I've served it for a lot of get-togethers and people always rave about how good it is. I smile because it's one of the easiest things I've made, and fairly nutritious too. (I've had people say, "You've got to stop me--I shouldn't eat this much gravy--but it's so good, I just want more!" You'll smile too when you see the lowfat recipe.)

4 chicken breasts OR 2-3 cans cooked chicken chunks
1 can cream of chicken soup (10.5 oz)
1 can evaporated milk (12 oz)
1 pkg Italian dressing seasoning (look near salad dressing in the store; Kroger brand costs 50 cents)

Oil slow cooker and add thawed, boneless, skinless chicken breasts. Combine soup and dry salad dressing seasoning and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. When ready to serve, stir canned milk into the sauce.

You can make it much faster if you use cooked chicken--just 10 minutes on the stovetop. I've also done it with frozen chicken in my crockpot (although, is that really safe?)

Serve over instant mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, hot noodles, or plain rice. You can also add any combination of vegetables. Use leftovers for Hawaiian Haystacks with a twist and you've got another easy meal.

Mandarin chicken

This is a really good one even if you're not a mushroom lover. In fact, mushrooms are one of the few foods in the world Nate won't normally eat, but we both really love this one.

Ingredients:

• chicken tenders (store-bought or just cut chicken into strips)
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 3 tsp. flour
• 1/3 c. orange juice concentrate
• 2 c. chicken broth
• 1 - 2 cans mandarin oranges, drained

Brown chicken on both sides in olive oil. Remove chicken Add onions and mushrooms; cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid has evaporated. Sprinkle with flour and stir. Add chicken broth and OJ, stirring until it boils. Reduce heat, add chicken and simmer 10-15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in oranges. Serve over rice.

Chicken-Filled Crepes

How April took a whole semester of cooking and none of it ever made it to this blog is something we're still trying to figure out. The other thing I'm trying to figure out is how I can keep her here longer -- as a great sister and a great cook.

Basic Crepes (makes about 16 crepes)

• 1 c. flour
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c. milk
• 1/2 c. water
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 T. melted butter or margarine

note: measure the flour and liquid carefully, because the consistency is important. The batter should be about the consistency of thick heavy cream.

Place ingredients in your blender in the order given. Beat 30 seconds. Stop and stir down the sides. Blend 30 to 60 seconds more, until smooth. OR using a whisk or mixer, combine flour and eggs in a bowl. Add liquid gradually. Beat until smooth. Add other ingredients and mix.

Cook, using a crepe maker or oiled omelet pan. Stir batter between making each crepe.

Chicken Filling:

• 1 c. sour cream
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1/4 lb. mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 c. sliced black olives (small can)
• 2 whole thinly sliced green onion
• 1/4 c. finely chopped celery
• 2 c. diced, cooked chicken (1 lb. raw)

To prepare chicken: trim fat from chicken and cut into bite-sized pieces. Heat oil in frying pan on medium high heat. Saute chicken pieces in oil (1 T.) until no longer pink.

Combine ingr. and fill crepes. Put filled crepes in greased glass 9x13 glass pan. Cover with plastic wrap, vent corner and place in microwave and cook on high for 10 minutes. (or cover with foil and bake 45 minutes.) Remove plastic and bake in oven at 325 for 10-15 min. until heated through.

Topping:

• 1 c. grated cheese

Remove from oven and sprinkle on 1 c. grated cheese. Bake 5 more minutes, until cheese is melted.

Chicken and Black Bean Casserole

This dish seemed to have a lot of cheese; next time we do it I'll count it either as a chip dip or else add a lot more beans and chicken (or leave out lots of the cheese). But it's another really easy one, although it does take a bit more time since it has to bake for 40 min. total.

ingredients:

• 2 c. chicken
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. coriander
• 2 T. fresh chopped cilantro
• 1 15-oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 4-oz. can diced green chilies
• 1 10-oz. can red enchilada sauce
• 8 6-inch corn tortillas
• 2 c. shredded mexican blend cheese
• 1 8-oz. container sour cream

In large skillet, saute chicken, cumin and coriander with olive oil. Cook through. Transfer to bowl and add diced cilantro, black beans and green chilies.

Spread half the enchilada sauce over the bottom of a 9x13" greased pan. Place 4 corn tortillas over the sauce, overlapping if necessary. Spoon half the chicken mixture over the tortillas and sprinkle with half the cheese and half the sour cream.

Spoon the remaining enchilada sauce over the cheese and make another layer of tortillas and chicken mixture. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven at 375 for 30 min.

Remove foil and cover with remaining cheese and sour cream. Cook about 10 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Crock pot chicken

this is probably the easiest crock pot recipe i've ever done. if all cooking were like this maybe i could actually get good at it.

ingredients:

• 3 large carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 yellow onion, diced
• 2 cans cream of chicken soup
• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen
• S&P to taste

Place carrots and potatoes on the bottom of crock pot. Stir in 1 can of soup. Sprinkle onion on top of mixture. Add salt and pepper. Stir once more. Place chicken on top and pour last can of soup over top.

Cook for 6-8 hours. Shred chicken just before serving. Serve over rice.

Sesame Chicken and Asparagus Pasta

another post, you say? i know, that means i've cooked more than once in the last week AND it's turned out well. it's for sure worth documenting. and the best part? you can leave the chicken out (that's actually how we prefer it) and it's a great veggie dish.

sauce:

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T. red wine vinegar
• 1 T. brown sugar
• 6 T. chunky peanut butter
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 1/4 c. sesame oil
• 1/2-1 T. hot chili sauce (i leave this out because i never have it)

peanut sauce:

• 2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
• 5 T. sesame seeds, toasted
• 1 lb. asparagus, trimmed and blanched
• 3 scallions, white and green parts
• 1 small cucumber

8 oz. linguine noodles

directions:

Cook and shred chicken (boiling works). Mix 1st 6 sauce ingredients and blend (or magic bullet) for 1 minute. Add hot chili sauce and continue blending. Set aside.

Cook 8 oz. linguine noodles according to package directions. Rinse under cold water and drain.

Slice asparagus in 1/2" pieces and blanch in boiling water. Drain and add to noodles.

Cut cucumber into small chunks and dice scallions. Add chicken and sesame seeds to noodles. Toss, add in peanut butter sauce, and toss again. Top with cucumber and scallions.

oven chiminichangas

i know all the recipes i post are not useful for you vegetarians, but i think this is one you could just leave the chicken out (or substitute with something?) and it'd still be really good.

• 2/3 c. picante sauce
• 1 T. ground cumin
• 1/2 T. dried oregano
• 1 1/2 c. chopped cooked chicken
• 1 c. (4 oz.) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 green onions, chopped (~1/4 c.)
• 6 four tortillas
• 1/4 c. chopped cilantro
• 1 can corn

mix everything together and scoop onto tortillas. roll up and place on baking sheet. bake at 400 for about 25 minutes or until golden. garnish with additional shredded cheese and onions.

Thai Chicken

This is a recipe we first had at Joey and Joy's; now it's one of our faves.

Cook in crock pot on low for 3 hours (reserve 1/4 c. chicken broth):

• 1 1/2 lb. chicken, cut into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 1/4 c. chicken broth, divided
• 1/4 c. soy sauce
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 tsp. red pepper flakes (or chili powder)
• 1/4 tsp. salt

• 2 T. cornstarch
• 3 green onions, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/3 c. creamy or chunky peanut butter

Mix cornstarch in 1/4 c. chicken broth until smooth. Turn crock pot to high. Stir in green onions, PB and cornstarch mixture. Cook 30 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Serve over rice/couscous etc. Sprinkle with peanuts and cilantro.

Honey Citrus Enchiladas

these have chicken in it, so i realize that excludes like 80% of our family, but if you want to try them josh and eliza style, i can recommend just a plain tortilla with cheese. or peanut butter. we made some veggie ones for michelle that just had beans and cheese. i made these for benji's family so since we had little kids i used barely any chili powder and added extra honey and lime juice. i actually liked them more that way anyway.

• 6 T. honey
• 5 T. lime juice
• 1 T. chili powder
• 3/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded
• 1 can black beans
• flour tortillas (enchilada size or regular)
• shredded cheese (whatever kind you like)
• 2 10-oz cans green enchilada sauce

mix first 4 ingredients together and marinate shredded chicken at least one hour.

pour ~3/4 of a can of enchilada sauce into a 9x13 pan (i sprayed the pan a little so the tortillas wouldn't stick).

assemble the enchiladas by putting a heaping spoonful of chicken, beans and cheese into tortilla and roll up. place on top of sauce in pan and top with remaining enchilada sauce and shredded cheese

bake at 350 for 30-40 min. or until enchiladas are heated through and cheese has melted.

Chicken Stew/ Pot Pie

This Chicken Stew recipe is SUPER yummy, and I got it from my friend Erin (who got it from her sister's recipe blog). It is great by itself, but also tastes yummy in a pot pie, or as a burrito with some brown rice and cheese in a tortilla.

Chicken Stew

You will need:

2 chicken breasts

1 medium sized white or yellow onion. finely diced

2 red potatoes

2 carrots

2 stalks celery

1/2 cup frozen peas

3 cups chicken broth

2 cans cream of chicken soup

salt to taste (I used about 1/2 tsp)

pepper to taste

oregano, basil, and italian seasoning to taste

Dice up your chicken in fine tiny peices. Heat up your pot over medium high, put in a couple Tbsp of oil, then drop and brown the chicken. 

While the chicken is cooking, dice up your veggies in tiny little pieces.

Then dice up your onion. When the chicken is done, pull it out of the pot. Put the onion in. When the onion is clear, add the broth and veggies (not the peas yet!). Boil until carrots are soft, or for about 10-15 minutes. Then throw the chicken back in, and add the peas.

Add the cream of chicken soup and your seasonings.

This is a hearty stew that you can eat alone, or fill a bread bowl with it. Even better, use it as a filling for a chicken pot pie!

Dance Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Chicken

Lately we have been discovering the joys of cooking whole chickens, mostly of the roasted variety. However, with the heat wave we've been enjoying here the last few days (90s + no AC = fun), running the oven was out of the question. But, darn gum it, we had a bird to cook! So, in Heather's infinite wisdom, she decided we should make an attempt at grilling the chicken outside...whole.

Initially, I was a little intimidated at this prospect - tossing plump chicken breasts on the barbie is one thing, but I had no idea how tough it would be to grill an entire bird. Let's put it this way: if it hadn't been easy to do, you wouldn't be reading about it right now.

Unfortunately, we devoured the poor chap before we thought to put this on the blog, but he looked as good as he tasted! These instructions seem fairly intensive, but this really was not hard to pull off.

Here's the lowdown:

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 40-60 minutes
Eat time: 43 seconds

Get your bird. A whole/fryer (not friar) chicken.

Thaw your bird. (If necessary).

Butterfly your bird (go to the 1:30 mark). This step required getting slightly personal with the fowl, but trust me, it's worth it. For more detailed instructions click here.

Dress your bird

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken (of course). Any size is fine.
1/2 cup chopped fresh herbs (we used sage, rosemary and thyme)
8 cloves garlic, pressed or finely chopped
Heavy pinch salt and pepper
Olive Oil

Heather improvised this concoction together, but this is easily adjustable (more or less garlic, different herbs, add citrus etc). Combine herbs, garlic, salt and pepper. Add enough olive oil to form a paste. Separate the skin from the breasts, thighs and drumsticks and then rub the herb paste onto the meat underneath the skin. Finally, rub more oil onto the skin of the bird until it could be mistaken for a greased pig - lube it up, baby!

Cook your bird Preheat grill to high heat and grease if necessary. Place bird skin side down until golden brown (keep a close eye to avoid charring). Once the bird has achieved golden brown status, flip it over, reduce heat and finish grilling. You'll know it's done when the joints are loose and the juice runs clear. Total cook time will vary depending on the size of your bird (ours was 5 lbs, and took 30 minutes per side) and your grill, so use your big brain and you'll be just fine. Or, if you're the smart aleck type, use your meat thermometer and wait for a reading of an internal temperature of 165.

Eat your bird. The easiest part, by far.