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Category: Recipes

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Salad

Posted on by Don

This turned out so good that I had to get it to pixels. This is my best attempt at this salad yet and I’m very pleased with the results!

Veggies

  • 1 carrot
  • 1/2 cucumber, peeled and seeded
  • 1 rib of celery
  • 1 bunch green onions, split between whites and greens

Dice all veggies about 1/4″. save the green onion tops for later.

Dressing

  • 3 TBLS plain yogurt. I used greek, if that is too strong for you, use regular
  • 2 TBLS sour cream.
  • 1 TBLS mayo.
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar. I used my grand fathers, but you can’t get that. Apple cider works.
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp dried mustard
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 6-8 grinds from your pepper mill

Meat

  • 3 grilled chicken thighs or 1 grilled chicken breast, diced to match veggies in size, about 1/4″

Mix this all together, taste to adjust as needed. Stick it in the fridge for about 15 minutes to let the flavors come together. Add enough to the veggie mix to evenly coat and let stand as you cut your grilled chicken. Fold in grilled chicken and add green onion tops, fold to coat, adding dressing as needed.

Serve this as you like. As you can see, I did with some mixed greens wrapped in whole wheat tortillas. You can do this on bread, in iceburg lettuce cups or on top of mixed green. Heck, right out of the bowl was pretty good too, but you didn’t hear that from me. Some sliced or diced apple would be nice with this as well, sweet and crispy please. Toss back a ginger ale with this too. Good stuff!

Recipe: Fireball Cranberry Sauce

Posted on by Don

One of my Facebook friends shared a photo of a bottle of Fireball in front of her cranberry sauce. I thought about that and the more I thought the more I knew that would be an amazing combination. I’ve never made cranberry sauce before either, so call me Mr. Challenge Accepted.

I didn’t look up any recipe, just jumped in with both feet and I have to say the results were really amazing!

  • Cranberries, fresh – 1lb
  • Oranges – 2 medium to large, juiced and zest from 1
  • Fireball – 1 shot (1.5oz)
  • White Sugar – 1 cup
  • Salt – 2tsp
  • Water to cover

In a sauce pan, squeeze the oranges, add the zest and the cranberries. Just cover with water. Add the sugar and stir to combine. Let this come to a boil so the berries pop and slow the heat down to medium low. Keep stirring to break down the berries and to get everything thick. At this point, add your Fireball. Reduce heat to low, continuing to stir frequently and often, until the desired consistency is reached.

Start to finish this took about 45 minutes. I ended up with a very nice bowl of cranberries that were perfectly tart and sweet with just a hint of cinnamon and orange. I will make this again.

I Like Soup

Posted on by Don

For those of you that are new here, you might not realize that I am a huge fan of soup. I have posted a few recipes and counted 20+ posts that refer to soup. You get it; I like soup.

Here is a new recipe. Using the 1 pot formula, but ready in about 45 minutes, if not less. Let’s give this one a title eh?

1 Pot Weeknight soup

Above I linked up a recipe that takes hours to finish. Let’s get this one done in closer to 45 minutes!

Ingredients

  • Chicken thighs – 4 cut into 1/2″ pieces
  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced
  • 4-5 celery stalks, diced
  • 4 small carrots, diced
  • 1 14.5oz can diced tomatos (the small can)
  • 1 tbls red wine vinegar
  • As much garlic as you want, rough chopped. I used 8 cloves
  • 1 small sweet potato, diced (optional)
  • 1 cup of your favorite pasta (optional)
  • 2 32oz (2lb) containers chicken stock
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt and pepper

For the potato and pasta, dealer’s choice here. I used red lentil rontini for the pasta. If you can find it and don’t mind the cost, it was a perfect fit!

Let’s Do This

The object of this pot of soup is keeping it simple. To that end, do all of your veggie prep first (keep the onions and garlic separate). That way, you can use the same board and knife for the chicken prep and reduce the amount of time you have to spend cleaning.

Assuming your have everything prepped, do this

  1. Put your soup pot on the stove and add about 1/4″ olive oil to bottom on high heat. Dutch oven works very well!
  2. Once the oil is shimmering, add the chicken, reduce heat to medium. Keep this moving to avoid too much sticking.
  3. Getting color on the bottom of pot? Add 1/2 your onions and all of your garlic. Keep it all moving.
  4. Once the chicken is almost done and you have dark color on the bottom of the pot, add your tomatoes and reduce the heat. Scrape the bottom of pot to get that fond into your soup!
  5. Add the veggies to the pot, boost the heat to high and cook for about 2 minutes, again, keeping everything moving.
  6. Add your stock and bring the soup to a boil.
  7. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
  8. Add your pasta and cook for an additional 10 minutes.
  9. Season to taste.

No foolin’, I had this ready in 45 minutes, and that included the prep. Simple and so good. I do highly recommend using chicken thigh meat since it’s more forgiving for this method of cooking and a bit heartier.

Recipe: Chili Lime Chicken with Fried Brussel Sprouts

Posted on by Don

Came up with something, recipe-wise, that turned out good enough to write it up! Check the pic above. I'm calling this Chili Lime Chicken with Fried Brussel Sprouts.

Yes, that's right, I said brussel sprouts. And yes, you are going to eat them. And no, your house won't smell like an ass factory when you are done. Super simple, at least for this application. Here is what you neeed to do.

  1. Shred about 1lb of brussel sprouts. Use a knife if you have the skills, otherwise use your box grater or a finger removing machine. Put these into a bowl that can handle boiling water.
  2. Get your kettle going until the water is boiling or boil water on the stove. You are going to need enough to cover the b sprouts.
  3. Salt and pepper the sprouts, cover with the boiling water.

Let those dudes steep in that water for about 10 minutes. Don't stir them, don't shake them, just let 'em have that hot bath. Strain them, but leave them in the collander/strainer until needed to get rid of as much moisture as possible.

The rest of the recipe is simple. Quick note on the chicken. I'm a giant cheapskate, so I get whatever is on sale or cheapest at the store. For this application, I got chicken breasts with tenders and rib bones attaches. Do this and you can usually get 4 giant breast for about five bucks. Sure, it's extra work, but worth it.

  • 1 large chicken breast, diced. (about a pound of meat)
  • The brussels from above
  • 1/2 yellow onion, diced
  • 1 zuchinni, diced
  • 1 tbls lime juice
  • 1 tbls chili powder
  • 1 tbls soy sauce
  • Salt and pepper
  • Light sesame oil or vegetable oil, about 1/2 cup

Add the lime juice, chili powder, soy sauce, salt and pepper to your chicken, toss to coat. If you can give this an hour, awesome. If you can't, that's ok too. Smart folks do this in a zip top bag.

Get a pan hot and add a some oil. To that, add your onions and cook them hot and fast until they get some color to them but are not burned. Add your chicken and cook until done. Add more oil if needed. Remove that from the pan and add your zuchinni and cook until done, adding salt and pepper to taste, more oil if needed. Add that to the chicken, add enough oil to the same pan to cover the bottom and add your brussels. Cook those until they get color on them. This will take a while since the water will have to cook off first.

Serve in a bowl, brussels on the bottom, chicken mix on top. The oil left over is really good as a sauce, so don't ditch it! You can go crazy and add some red pepper flake to this too.

Start to finish this took me 1/2 hour and cost about three dollars.

Remember gang, the drive through is a lie.

Recipe: Sweet Potato Stuff Chiles

Posted on by Don

This one I stole from a local restaurant. Of course, I am pretty sure mine is better. The combination of the sweet potato and spicy, smoked chile was amazing.

  • 1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into large pieces
  • 2 pastilla peppers. Anaheims if you want them to be less spicy.
  • 1 tbls olive oil
  • 1 tbls butter
  • 2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp chili powder
  • 2 tsp cinnamon
  • 2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp pepper
  • 2 dashes tabasco
  • Grated cheese

Roast the peppers on the BBQ for 5 minutes per side, or until fully charred all around. Once roasted, let steam in a paper bag for 10 minutes. Peel, split and seed, removing the stems.

Microwave the potato until soft enough to mash, about 8 minutes. You can also boil or steam, whichever works best for you. Mash with olive oil until a smooth consistency is reached, add spices and butter, mix to combine.

Add about 1/2 cup of potato to each pepper, or however much it takes to fill. Top with about 1/4 grated cheese and wrap. Cook in a 350 degree over for 7 minutes or until cheese is melted.

I did not sauce this in anyway, but some crema would have been nice. In a pinch, some sour cream thinned with a little bit of lemon or lime juice would have worked nicely as well. If fresh avocado is an option, it’s a very nice addition to the plate.

Perfect alone. Serve with a salad or a side of beans to fill up the plate. Add a cold beverage (beer, white wine) and you have an amazing meal!