Chili Garlic Chicken and veggies

Well hello there spicy and flavorful dinner. Aren't you just a delight? I was house sitting recently and while I love the vacation home getaway feeling of being there thanks to the housekeeper, back patio and pool and tennis courts, not to mention the chef's kitchen and to-die-for lounging couches, I miss my little kitchen with all.the.things.!

For someone who loves cooking and has a pretty good handle on what she has hiding in her pantry and fridge, I was a little bit lost in the chef's kitchen. Alas, I had stashed some goodies in the fridge including some fresh brussel sprouts (my totally go-to veggie) and red cabbage that I die over along with some Chili Puree with Garlic magic in a jar. Grab a chicken breast and some EVOO and voila, dinner!!

Easiest dinner ever. I simply sautéed the halved brussel sprouts and chicken breast in EVOO and chili sauce, roasted the red cabbage in the oven for 25 minutes at 400 degrees and seasoned with salt and pepper to taste when done. That's it.

Shredded Chicken Burritos

Sometimes when I'm trying to think of something to cook I go to my old standbys and I seem to be stuck in a rut. Then, I remind myself how much I love cooking and that all I need to do is get a little creative and throw some things together and add a little spice - voila! A new and delicious dinner! I took a lot of inspiration for this dish from other dishes I love. A Chipotle burrito bowl, a summer veggie salad, a pico salsa. Once you make the main part of this dish you can add it to all kinds of study starches, which I will show you later when I added it to pasta! Put it on top of a salad, mix it with quinoa, and then, of course you can stuff some hard shell or soft shell taco shells. Add some cheese or hot sauce and watch your dish come alive!

Serves 4
Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, boiled and shredded (add a pinch of salt to the boiling water)
1 lime, freshly squeezed
1/2 tablespoon EVOO
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green or yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 can black beans, drained
1/2 tablespoon cumin
Salt to taste
Red pepper flakes to taste

Instructions:
1. Boil the chicken in the salted water and shred once it is cooked through
2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet on medium. Add the shredded chicken, cumin, salt, red pepper flakes, lime juice and black beans.
3. Cook the mixture for about 4 minutes until everything is heated through.
4. Toss the diced bell peppers into the skillet just to warm them up
5. Pour out chicken burrito mixture into a bowl and top with chopped cilantro


Enjoy!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

So as you have probably noticed after reading my blog for awhile, I really love pizza. But not just any pizza.  I don't care much for chain pizza, none of that stuffed crust and I cannot stand grease dripping off of my slice. Give me some fresh veggies, grilled meats and a thin crust and I'm all yours.

This year, I started a small herb garden and had some lush basil I needed to use. I didn't have quite enough to make a traditional pesto, so I improvised with a few other ingredients. Well, my improvisation was magical and the flavor of the pesto was just perfect for this light summer pizza.

Oh - and if you don't have a pizza stone, YOU NEED ONE!

Ingredients:
Pizza crust - I make mine from a dry mix I buy from my local grocery store, it's like .99, so totally worth it
Halved grape tomatoes
Chopped red onion
Grilled chicken
Fresh mozzarella
Red pepper flakes
Pesto sauce (see recipe below)

Pesto Sauce:
Handful of fresh basil
3 tablespoons EVOO
Salt and pepper
chopped red onion
3 halved grape tomatoes

Instructions:
1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
2. Bake crust for about 7 minutes
3. Pull the crust out and add your pesto sauce, pile on your cheese and other yummies
4. Bake for about 20 minutes or until your crust is nice and golden brown

Enjoy!!

Grilled Chicken with Mandarin glaze

My Summer Solstice dinner was a success!! So much so that I'm pretty stoked I made extra so I can have the rest tonight. I was planning on doing a little Panko breadcrumb dip and baking the chicken in the oven, but after I got home from my 3 mile run (Yes! Day 1 of marathon training done!) I was hungry and figured grilling on my livesaver George Foreman would be the fastest way to fill my growling stomach.

The picture of my summer celebration cocktail didn't turn out delicious looking, but trust me when I say it was a party in my mouth and pretty much everyone was invited. Looks like I need to bust out my passion fruit vodka a little more often. I'm thinking....vodka granita? Yes, please.

Ingredients:
1. Chicken tenders (I seasoned mine with Weber's Mango Lime seafood seasoning and it was perfect)
2. 1 small can of mandarin oranges
3. 1 tablespoon sweet and hot grainy mustard
4. Less than 1/4 sugar
5. Golden Yukon potatoes
6. Frozen green beans

Instructions:
1. Boil the potatoes over high heat in salted water for about 30 minutes or until you can easily poke them with a fork and they are tender
2. Season your chicken and place it on your in-house grill or if you can, grill it outside!
3. Add the mandarin glaze, see instructions below
4. Plate and enjoy!

Mandarin glaze:
1. In a small pan on medium heat, add half of the mandarin juice from the can, the sugar and mustard.
2. Add 1/4 cup of the oranges and let simmer.
3. Spoon over chicken and green beans for an extra kick!


Mandarin Orange Vodka Cocktail

Ingredients:
1. Shot of mandarin juice from can
2. Shot of passion fruit vodka
3. 3 mandarin slices
4. Hint of lime juice
5. Stir and enjoy!!

Enjoy this delicious summer meal!

Even more NM...Chicken Salad with Mandarin Orange Souffle

This menu was an honest-to-goodness travesty when it came to deciding between delicious items to order. I mean really, how can you choose between two, three...make that four things that all sound like the best thing you could possibly ever taste? It was a good thing there were two of us so we could same the other one's choice de jour. 

Steph decided on this luscious chicken salad that was paired with NM's famous mandarin orange souffle. The chicken salad was topped with sliced almonds and man-oh-man, the ingredients were perfectly matched with the celery, chicken, light and flavorful mayo creating the base that was topped with the perfect crunch. The mandarin orange souffle was a Heavenly treat that was light and fluffy and full of rich flavor. You could tell the orange was definitely fresh and not some sort of "from concentrate" flavor. Sooo good.

Creamy Ricotta Rigatoni & Grilled Chicken

On a cool spring evening, a light and flavorful pasta really seems to just hit the spot. I have been experimenting with ricotta cheese and have discovered how absolutely tantalizing it is. It can be used in savory dishes that warm your insides, or to make sweet and fluffy pancakes that make it worth waking up early on a Saturday morning. For this dish, I chose to use the ricotta cheese as a sauce that I tossed my pasta and vegetables in. The key that I have discovered is that to adequately and successfully coat the pasta with this creamy sauce, you need to use a pasta that has ridges in it so that the sauce can stick to it. Rigatoni is not only a lovely noodle with ridges, but is perfectly bite sized and easy to pick up! You will love the flavors in every aspect of this meal on their own and especially when combined.

This dish made at least 3 servings, and since many nights I find myself too tired from work and not looking forward to making dinner, but yet not ready to give up and go through the drive through, I love having leftovers on hand.

Ingredients:

16 oz. Rigatoni pasta
1 cup Ricotta cheese
Chicken tenders
1 1/2 cups halved or quartered mushrooms
1 bunch of asparagus cut in thirds
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pinch Red pepper flakes
Pinch Garlic powder
Pinch Cayenne pepper
Garlic Pepper chicken seasoning
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

1. Cook your pasta in salted boiling water
2. Steam the asparagus (I have a steam basket that fits on top of my pasta pan which works wonders)
3. Combine Ricotta cheese, red pepper, garlic powder, cayenne pepper, salt & pepper in oven-safe baking dish. Place in 200 degree oven to soften and heat through
4. Pan sear mushrooms and asparagus in pan seasoned with EVOO and spices
5. When pasta is al dente, drain, but hold aside 1/4 cup of pasta water to Ricotta mixture. Combine pasta and Ricotta, then add mushrooms and asparagus. Keep on Medium Low heat.
6. Season chicken with garlic pepper seasoning and place in the pan that was used to cook vegetables. Brown on each side until cooked thoroughly.
7. Serve with pasta and vegetables mixture on the bottom and place the chicken on top. Enjoy!