Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice

We were able to cook dinner again tonight and we tried a recipe that I took out of Cooking Light last year.

Honey Cashew Chicken with Rice was really easy for us to make together and the results were amazing for a weeknight stir fry. We used brown rice instead of white and asparagus instead of broccoli but otherwise followed the recipe.

What makes this dish is the sauce which is a combination of rice vinegar, honey, soy sauce and Sriracha. It’s got a bit of heat to it but mixed with the sweetness it’s subtle and delicious.

Mike suggested we make this regularly because it was just that fabulous.

Spicy Peanut Chicken Over Rice

This recipe has been sitting around for us to try since the August 2008 issue of Cooking Light.  I’m glad I never threw it away as I periodically thin out all the recipes I save.

Spicy Peanut Chicken Over Rice was warm, tasty and easy to make which was perfect for tonight.  I just wish I had read the reviews beforehand so I could have made a few modifications.

While this was delicious, I believe it would be even better with more peanut butter, at least another tablespoon or two.  I’d also add a bit less broth so it was thicker.

This is a really big recipe too so halving it would be an option.  In my house, the leftovers will get eaten for additional lunches and dinners so it was fine.This recipe will definitely appear in the rotation again because I’m excited to see how it turns out with more peanut butter.

Chicken Breasts with Raspberry-Balsamic Sauce

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve last blogged. Admittedly, it’s been a few weeks since we actually cooked a dinner that required a recipe. April has been full of travel, running and other fun evening plans.

Tonight we had plenty of time to cook dinner although this recipe really doesn’t take much time at all. I got it from my mom and she found it in Good Housekeeping. Chicken Breasts with Raspberry-Balsamic Sauce is healthy, quick and full of flavor.

We followed the recipe exactly except for substituting half an onion for the shallots. We served it with couscous and roasted asparagus.

Sriraccha-Glazed Chicken and Onions Over Rice

Earlier this week I saw that Beth made Sriracha-Glazed Chicken and Onions Over Rice. She said it was delicious and easy but she had me at sriracha. The recipe is from Cooking Light.

As we were making it, we wondered about some of the ingredients. Well, only one ingredient – ketchup.  But we stuck with the recipe for the most part only substituting fresh garlic for bottled.  We also doubled the sauce since Mike likes a lot of sauce and we were having broccoli on the side I suspected it might all get mixed together.

Just like Beth said, this recipe is amazing. It is so flavorful and easy but it could use a bit more heat so I might add more sriracha next time. And like I said above, I mixed this bowl together when I ate it and the sauce was great on the broccoli. You could probably stir fry more vegetables in with the chicken and onions too.

I get the leftovers from this dinner and I’m really looking forward to them.

Apricot Chicken with Stir Fried Green Beans

This is a dinner I make without a real recipe. Right after I graduated from college, I started watching 30 Minute Meals.  It was 2001 and no one really knew who this Rachael Ray woman was but I loyally watched after work.  This was when my cooking skills were still pretty novice and unless Jenn (who was my roommate at the time) and I were eating together, I was mostly making simple things for just me.

I remember seeing Rachael make Apricot Chicken and I started trying to make it myself.  I never followed a recipe, I just did what I remembered her doing.  I haven’t made this in at least two years so tonight’s version is probably very far from the original (like cooking whisper down the lane) but it still tastes delicious.

Ingredients:

• half an onion chopped
• one pound of chicken cut into one inch(ish) pieces
• some chicken broth (maybe 3/4 of a cup?)
• half a small jar of apricot preserves
• teaspoon of cornstarch

I heated some olive oil in a pan over medium high heat and added the onion. When it was soft, I added the chicken and cooked it until I couldn’t see any more pink.  I deglazed the pan with the chicken broth.  After it came to a boil,  I lowered the heat to medium low and stirred in the apricot preserves and let it simmer for about five minutes.  I added some cornstarch to thicken up the sauce and let it simmer on low until the sides were ready.

The stir fried green beans were a little more done than I like but also simple.  I just heat some olive oil in a pan, add the beans, cook to my liking (or more tonight), then I toss them with some teriyaki sauce and cook a minute or so longer.  At the end I stir in some crushed red pepper and sesame seeds.

The sweet apricot chicken and the salty slightly hot green beans go great together. For a weeknight meal, it’s relatively simple and quick. I don’t know why I haven’t made this in years.

Not Authentic But Very Tasty Chicken Enchiladas

I’ve been wanting to use the crockpot again so today I decided to make chicken enchiladas.  I’ve been improvising on chicken enchiladas for a while, but this seems to be such an easy and tasty way to make them.

Today I put boneless chicken breasts, Trader Joe’s Enchilada Sauce and two cans of Rotel into the crockpot on high for about four and a half hours. When they were finished, I shredded the chicken and rolled them in high fiber flour tortillas with some sliced green pepper. I ended up with eleven enchiladas.  I put some of the sauce on the bottom of the baking dishes and the top of the rolled tortillas and baked them for about half an hour at 350 degrees.

Then I topped them with cheese, about one and half cups total of reduced fat Mexican blend.

After a few more minutes, they were ready to eat and they were really good.

I put the ingredients into My Fitness Pal and they come out to about 250 calories each which is pretty good for such a filling and fun dinner.  I made corn cake as a side which compliments this really well. It might not be anything fancy but it’s easy and the sweet goes well with the slightly spicy enchiladas.

This made enough for two dinners for us and one lunch for Mike.

Stir-Fried Chicken Paprikash

I discovered this recipe for Stir-Fried Chicken Paprikash in an Everyday with Rachael Ray last year.  We’ve made it a couple times and it’s really easy and has great flavor.  We had it last night with roasted asparagus on the side.

Lazy Matzo Ball Soup

Tonight’s dinner was planned around a jar of homemade chicken stock that Mike’s friend gave him.  So while the base of the soup was homemade, all the work that went into that stock (and boy did he work for it – he raised that chicken) was done by someone else.

We decided to turn it into matzo ball soup and we really cut corners. First, I bought pre-cut onion and celery at the grocery store. Also, I didn’t see actual carrots in the produce section. (I must have been temporarily blind?  How could they not have whole carrots at Giant, a normal grocery store where I buy carrots all the time?) So I bought those carrots in the bag that are cut with ribs and they worked out great once Mike chopped some of the larger pieces.

See that browned chicken piece?  That’s because we used a rotisserie chicken.

We even used matzo ball mix but we don’t keep matzo meal in the house so it’s almost the same thing. Matzo balls are really easy to make, mix or not.  Mike seasoned the soup with some poultry seasoning and garlic powder.

Don’t let the lazy fool you. This soup was good.  It only took about an hour total of prepping and cooking time, but this was so warm and cozy and it tasted like Sunday night.  And there is a ton so we’ll have it for leftovers this week.

I’ve got a few more inches to go on my cardigan and I’m trying to make up for not knitting at all last week.  And I have many other projects in my queue that I want to tackle as well.  I hope it’s a productive week!

 

Granary Gourmet Candlelight Dinner

 

The Lemont Village Association hosted their eighth annual Gourmet Candlelight Dinner in the John I. Thompson Grain Elevator and Coal Sheds (the Granary).

The dinner raises funds for the renovation and restoration of the Granary.  It’s a really beautiful old building and the Lemont Village Association has invested a lot of money so that the community can continue to use and enjoy this unique feature in our town.

The eight course meal with a North African theme was catered by Tom Everly, Culinary Arts Chef, and his wife, Judy Everly of Keystone Yankee Catering in Lemont and Pastry Chef, Julie Meiser Rioux.

Here was our table.

Mike and I both had the meat option and I tried to get pictures of each course. I was challenged by the light but you should get a good idea of the dinner.

Appetizer: Lamb Meatballs with Apricots

Soup course: Lamb Yohgurt

Fish Course: Casablanca Salad

Releve: Pork Loin with Moroccan Spices

Entree: Marrakech Style Chicken with Rice with Pistachios and Orange Water

Salad Course: Tossed Salad with Lemon Juice and Olive Oil

Cheese and Fruit Course: Local Cheeses and Dates

Dessert: Pear Tart with Ice Cream

My favorite things were the lamb meatballs, the soup, the rice (orange is one of my number one flavors and it was just so good), the cheese plate and the ice cream with the tart. But everything was really delicious and the company was great. We got to sit with some of our neighbors who we’ve never met before and enjoy a nice evening out in a really unique space.

Chicken Tamale Casserole

Because there were thunderstorms predicted throughout the day, when we planned the menu for the week, we decided that tonight was not the night to grill.  Of course, we had a big storm this afternoon with hail and house shaking thunder that was pretty exciting but it was calm and beautiful outside as we made dinner.

Either way, dinner was delicious.  Not very photogenic, but delicious.

We made Chicken Tamale Casserole from Cooking Light. I’ve made this before and it’s always very good and easy.  The part that takes the longest for me is shredding the chicken, but I usually buy a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store and I sort of enjoy pulling it apart.  I know that’s kind of gross but I also like cleaning off the turkey carcass on Thanksgiving.

Ours is not as light as the original recipe. I used an egg, instead of egg substitute, probably used a half a cup more cheese on top, used most of the chicken from a rotisserie chicken (which was likely more than two cups though I didn’t measure) and I got a bigger can of enchilada sauce (although I didn’t use it all, it was more than the recipe called for).  At the recommendation of a friend who made it before I ever did, I mix the enchilada sauce into the chicken instead of over the corn bread.

Ours didn’t set up as nicely as the picture in the recipe but I am a huge fan of food all mixed together and the flavors in this are great.  I think that corn bread in the first part of the recipe could be made to go with chili or soup.