Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chicken. Show all posts

Monday, January 16, 2012

Chicken Fakita Casserole


Ingredients

  • 8 flour tortillas, cut into thick strips
  • Cooking spray
  • 1 tablespoon (a palmful) onion powder
  • 1 tablespoon (a palmful) garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon (a palmful) ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon (a palmful) chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt and ground black pepper
  • 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sirloin steak or large shrimp, peeled and deveined
  • 4 tablespoons oil, divided
  • 1 bottle Mexican beer
  • 2 red bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
  • 2 red onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
  • 2 limes
  • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro or flat-leaf parsley
  • 1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese
  • Sour cream, to garnish
  • Salsa, to garnish

Yields: 4 servings

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Step

On a baking sheet, toss tortilla strips with some cooking spray and bake in the oven until golden brown, about 7-8 minutes. Toss halfway through the cooking time so they get brown on all sides. When you remove the tortilla strips, switch on broiler and place rack in middle of the oven.

In a small bowl, combine the onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, cinnamon, chili powder, oregano. Season meat with salt and pepper then toss with spice rub to coat evenly.

Step

Place a large skillet over high heat with 2 turns of the pan of oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the meat to the pan and sear until golden brown and cooked through, for a few minutes. Add the bottle of beer to the pan and cook to reduce, 2 minutes.

Step

While the meat is cooking, place a second large skillet over high heat with 2 turns of the pan of oil, about 2 tablespoons. Add the peppers, onions and garlic to the pan, and cook until brown around the edges and tender, 3-4 minutes. Add the zest and juice of 1 lime, chopped herbs, salt and pepper to the pan, toss to combine and reserve.

Step

When everything is ready, toss the meat, pepper and onions, and toasted tortilla strips together into a casserole dish. Top with the cheese and melt under the broiler. Garnish with juice of remaining lime, sour cream and salsa.

Friday, January 6, 2012

Spicy Kabobs

1/2 c. catsup
2 tsp. mustard
Dash hot sauce (Texas Pete)
1/2 c. honey
2 tbsp. vinegar

Mix the above and brush on beef (or chicken) and veggies after skewered. Brush remaining marinade on kabobs as they cook.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Cafe Rio Chicken

3 chicken breasts
1 can green chile sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 Tbsp cumin
1/2 onion, cut in rings
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 lime
chopped fresh cilantro to tast

Place chicken breasts in crock pot, pour green chile sauce and chicken broth over the top and add cumin, garlic, lime juice and cilantro. Place onion rings on top of chicken, they will be removed and discarded when chicken is cooked. Cook for 4 hours, shred meat and cook for another hour.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Chicken Stir Fry

  • DOUBLE FOR LEFTOVERS!
  • 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast halves
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 3 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
  • 1 red pepper, julienned
  • 1 1/2 cup sliced celery (1/4 inch pieces)
  • 2 small onions, cut into wedges
  • 1/2 cup water

1 head lettuce, prepared
1 can mandarin oranges in wedges
1 can water chestnuts
1/2 cup nuts (cashews, almonds, peanuts)

  1. Cut chicken into 1/2-in.cubes; place in a resealable plastic bag. Add cornstarch and toss to coat. Combine soy sauce, ginger and garlic powder; add to bag and shake well. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  2. In a large skillet or wok, heat 2 tablespoons of oil; stir-fry chicken until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Remove and keep warm. Add remaining oil; stir- frypepper, celery and onion for 4-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add water. Return chicken to pan. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly.
Serve over lettuce, topped with mandarin oranges, water chestnuts and nuts as desired.

Chinese Chicken Salad

2 chicken breasts (grilled and chopped)
1 head of lettuce
4 stalks of celery
2 stalk of green onion
4 8 oz. cans of mandarin oranges
2 8 oz. can of water chestnuts
8 oz. of slivered or sliced almonds
1 cup of sugar

Dressing:
1 cup of canola oil
2/3 cup rice vinegar
2 T soy sauce
1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar

Heat almonds and sugar at medium heat in a small pan. Stir continuously until the sugar has heated through and coated the almonds with a nice caramelized coating. (Don’t worry if the sugar gets all clumpy and seems to not be working. Just keep stirring…..it will melt.) Then spread over foil and let cool completely. Chop up all of the remaining salad ingredients and mix together in bowl. In a cruet, mix in all the ingredients for the dressing. Shake until completely blended. The dressing isn’t soluble so you’ll have to shake again right before pouring over your salad.

One last note: The dressing made is a bit too much for the amount of salad. So I always pour the dressing over individual portions of salad. But if you’d like to pre-mix your salad if you’re headed to a pot luck, make sure to watch how much you’re using in the salad. Sample it before serving.

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Chipotle Chicken with Green Peppers

2 medium green bell peppers, cut into strips
1 large onion, thinly sliced
4 chicken thighs and 4 chicken drumsticks (or any combination thereof..I just fit as much chicken as I can in one layer in my crockpot)
1 TBSP chili powder
2 tsp dried oregano
1 jar (16 oz) chipotle salsa
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
Rice or noodles to go along

Place the peppers in onion in your crockpot. Then add the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken with the chili powder and oregano. Then cover it with chipotle salsa. Cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 7-8 hours until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crockpot, leaving the sauce. Add the ketchup, cumin, and salt to the sauce and cook on high for 15 minutes, uncovered. Pour sauce over chicken. Serve over rice (my fav) or noodles.
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Black Bean & Mango Chicken Salad

1/2 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, grilled, cut into bite-size pieces
1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed
1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen corn, thawed
1 cup chopped mangos
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1/3 cup chopped red onions
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 cup lime juice
1 env. (0.7 oz.) GOOD SEASONS Italian Dressing Mix