Category: Recipes

Last-Minute Chicken

This recipe is shamelessly copied from https://iwashyoudry.com/last-minute-chicken-recipe, which itself copied the recipe from “The Weekday Lunches & Breakfasts Cookbook.”

Ingredients

 

  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 1 ½ teaspoons onion powder
  • 2 teaspoons paprika OR smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 1 ½ teaspoons black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 3 pounds boneless skinless chicken thighs
  • Enough olive oil to coat chicken
  • 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions

  1. Combine the garlic, onion, paprika, oregano, pepper, salt, and olive oil into a freezer bag
  2. Toss in the chicken
    • Most pre-packaged chicken thighs get folded into themselves, so be sure to spread them out as you put them into the bag so they get evenly coated
  3. Seal up the bag and mix everything thoroughly
  4. Heat up a grill pan over medium-high heat, or a grill, while the chicken steeps in it’s spices
    • If using a grill pan, add some olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan – but be sure to use a splatter guard
  5. Cook the chicken until not pink throughout, about 5 minutes on the first side and three or four minutes on the other side

Garlic Roasted Potatoes

This is a great side for pretty much any meat dish, especially on a cool fall day.  The smaller, skin-on potatoes are tasty and not nearly as bad for you as a full-size, peeled and boiled starch-bomb white potato.

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds of small red, white, and/or purple potatoes
    • Lots of supermarkets carry 2- and 3-pound bags of mixed, pre-washed small potatoes, which is really handy if you want more colors
  • Olive oil
  • 6 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed
  • A couple of shakes of black pepper
  • a pinch of salt
  • 2 tablespoons of minced fresh parsley (optional)

Steps

  1. Preheat your oven to 400° F
  2. Halve and/or quarter your potatoes; chunks should be roughly between 1 and 3 cubic inches
  3. Toss the chunks into a freezer bag with the remaining ingredients, adding enough olive oil to coat the potatoes, then mix in the bag
  4. Spread the potatoes into a single layer on a pan or baking stone
  5. Bake for an hour, flipping everything over at least once to keep things from scorching

Tuscan Chicken

I took a risk and made this for the first time to serve to my mother-in-law. (hi Joan!)  It came out awesome with a half-hour’s worth of work, including prep.

tuscan chicken as served
I messed up and failed to notice that the peacock design was upside-down. Otherwise, this is one of the best presentations I’ve made for a completed recipe.

By itself it’s very keto-friendly, but it screams to be served with a pasta side.

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
  • Olive oil
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder
  • 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 2 cups spinach, chopped
  • 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped

We made this in a 14″ cast-iron skillet, which was the perfect size.

Steps

  1. In a large skillet add olive oil and cook the chicken on medium high heat until no longer pink, maybe 3-5 minutes per side.
  2. Set the chicken aside on a plate, wipe down excess oil from the skillet.
  3. Add the heavy cream, chicken broth, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and Parmesan cheese.
  4. Whisk or stir over medium high heat until it starts to thicken.  Keep the sauce in motion so it doesn’t caramelize and burn into the pan.
  5. Add the spinach and sun-dried tomatoes; let it simmer until the spinach starts to wilt.
  6. Add the chicken back to the pan and simmer for a couple of minutes.

Pairs very well with rotini or egg noodles.

Source: https://therecipecritic.com/creamy-tuscan-garlic-chicken/

Egg Roll in a Bowl

 

eggroll in a bowl

Egg Roll in a Bowl

The classic egg roll stuffing, without the deep-frying
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Servings: 5
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: Asian
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 tbsp Sesame oil
  • 1 pound Ground pork Ground chicken or turkey work well, too
  • 1 Onion, white, small Chopped or diced
  • 3 cloves Minced garlic
  • 1 tbsp Ginger Fresh minced or mashed
  • 14 oz Coleslaw mix, dry that's one bag of pre-made coleslaw cabbage
  • 3 tbsp Soy sauce Reduced sodium is fine
  • 1 tbsp Rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp Sesame seeds optional

Equipment

  • High-sided skillet

Method
 

  1. Heat a tablespoon of sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add in the meat and onions.
  2. When the meat is nearly done and onion is soft and translucent, stir in garlic and ginger.  Cook for a few more minutes, stirring on occasion.
  3. Dump in soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and slaw.  Stir frequently until everything is well-mixed, the soy sauce and rice wine vinegar reduce,and the slaw softens up.
  4. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Notes

Egg roll in a bowl is a family favorite.  It tastes great while being reasonably healthy.
It’s a pretty low maintenance dish, so you can easily cook it alongside other things. Bagged slaw saves a ton of time.
This makes a pretty good meal by itself, or goes great as a side dish.
This recipe is adapted from http://theskinnyfork.com/blog/chicken-egg-roll-bowl

 

Super-Quick Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients

Sauce

  • 1/3 c. soy sauce
  • 1/4 c. rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp. sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tbsp. honey
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tsp. finely minced fresh ginger
  • 2 tsp. cornstarch

Everything Else

  • Extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Sliced green onions, for garnish

Steps

  1. Mix the sauce
    1. In a medium bowl, combine:
      • soy sauce
      • vinegar
      • sesame oil
      • honey
      • garlic
      • ginger
      • cornstarch
    2. Whisk until smooth.
  2. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat
  3. Add chicken to skillet and season with salt and pepper. Cook until golden and almost cooked through, about 10 minutes.
  4. Pour sauce over chicken and simmer until sauce has thickened slightly and chicken is cooked through.

Goes really well with rice and a veggie.

Originally from https://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a54003/easy-teriyaki-chicken-recipe/

American Chop Suey

American Chop Suey is Meghan’s comfort food.  It’s quick to cook so I can generally make it on short notice, when I know she’s had a really bad day.

The instructions below are meant for multi-tasking and making everything come together at the right time — an expression of an unplanned dinner made on short notice.  🙂

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of small-shape pasta (elbows, mini-shells, or rotini are all good)
  • 1 pound ground beef
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 large green bell pepper, diced
  • 2-5 cloves of garlic
  • 1 jar spaghetti sauce, 15 oz or so, depends on how saucy you like it
  • 1 or 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • olive oil

You’ll also need a large skillet and a 9×13 glass pan to go in the oven.

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. Put on a pot of water to boil, and put on a large skillet on the stove with medium-low heat
  3. Dice onion and pepper
  4. When the water is very close to boiling, turn up the skillet to medium heat, add some oil, and throw in the onions and peppers
  5. When the water boils, add the hamburger to the skillet and brown it with the onions and peppers
  6. Put the pasta in the water and cook to al dente; strain.  If the meat isn’t done yet, toss with a little oil to keep it from sticking.
  7. When the meat is brown, drain off the fat and mix in the jar of sauce.  Put back on medium heat until the sauce starts to bubble.
  8. Pour the cooked pasta into the 9×13 pan, and stir in the meat sauce.
  9. Sprinkle (or if you’re like me, shovel) the cheese on top, cover with foil, and cook at 350° for 20 minutes

Breakfast Casserole

breakfast casserole - finished product
Breakfast Casserole

Ingredients

  • 1 pound of frozen hashbrowns (about 1/2 package)
  • 1/2 pound sausage (we like spicy chicken, but pork or another kind is good too)
  • 1 small/medium onion, diced
  • 1/4 bell pepper (any color) (optional)
  • handful of sliced mushrooms (optional)
  • 5 eggs
  • 1/2 cup of milk
  • 1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
  • 1-2 cups mexican cheese
  • black pepper to taste

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350°
  2. grease a 1-2 quart baking dish
  3. Brown the sausage, onions, and peppers/mushrooms/what-have-you in a skillet over medium heat
  4. Whisk the eggs, milk, garlic powder, and pepper
  5. Spread the hashbrowns into the baking dish
  6. Pour the egg mixture over the hashbrowns
  7. Layer down half the cheese – enough to cover the hashbrowns
  8. Spread out the sausage mixture
  9. Layer down the rest of the cheese – enough to cover everything
  10. Cover with aluminum foil and back for an hour
  11. Uncover and bake for another 10 minutes to brown the cheese a little

Makes 5-6 servings.  Serve with a dollop of sour cream on top!

Tortillas

Tortillas are surprisingly easy to make, but it does go a lot faster with two: one to flatten dough while the other cooks the previously-flattened dough.  Each tortilla takes about as long to cook as to roll.

These tortillas are good enough to eat plain.  They store well in a ziploc baggie.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/3 cup oil
  • (up to) 1 cup warm water

Steps:

  1. Preheat a large skillet on medium heat (our stove runs hot so it’s more like medium-low, YMMV)
  2. Mix flour and salt in a medium mixing bowl
  3. Cut in oil with a pastry blender or a fork
  4. Slowly incorporate water, mixing until a soft dough forms
  5. Make 2-inch dough balls – probably ten or twelve
  6. Roll flat with a rolling pin.  The dough should be as close to paper-thin as you can make it (you’ll probably wind up with cardstock).
    • You  won’t need to flour the surface – if the dough is good it won’t stick (except maybe to the rolling pin)
  7. Cook the tortillas one at a time until they start to bubble, then flip and heat until brown spots form.

Credit to https://kbmillers.wordpress.com/2013/09/05/169/

Black Bean Burgers

I love black bean burgers, which means in my house I’m the odd man out.  Used to be that I would only buy them when we went out because they seemed hard to make.  That is, until now.

Black Bean Burgers

Print Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings: 4 patties
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 15 oz Black beans, canned drained and rinsed; I prefer the low-sodium beans
  • 1/2 - 1 whole Bell pepper
  • 1 small Onion
  • 3 cloves Garlic minced
  • 1 Egg
  • 1 tbsp Chili powder
  • 1 tbsp Cumin
  • 1/2 cup Bread crumbs up to 1 cup may be required
  • 1-4 tbsp Vegetable oil

Equipment

  • Potato Masher
  • Skillet
  • Flat bottom bowl or sauce pan

Method
 

  1. Finely dice the bell pepper and onion
  2. Mash the beans in the bowl; you may optionally reserve some from being mashed if you like whole beans in your patties
  3. Mix in peppers, onions, garlic, chili powder, cumin, and egg
  4. Mix in a half-cup of bread crumbs, until you have a dry, grainy paste. If mixture is still wet, mix in small amounts of bread crumbs until it's dry.
  5. Divide into quarters (or fifths/sixths if you prefer smaller/tiny patties)
  6. Fry in a little oil over medium heat until each side is slightly browned

Notes

  • The patties tend to be "thirsty" and require a bit of oil, generally 1 tablespoon per patty.
  • Patties freeze exceptionally well; you can throw frozen patties right on the pan.
  • I tend to make these while I'm making hamburgers as well, and the beef fat substitutes the vegetable oil very well (though it makes the burgers non-vegetarian).

 

D-Angelo’s #9

I discovered the D’Angelo’s sandwich chain in my late teens and fell in love with their ‘Number 9’ grilled sandwich.  It’s very easy to make for yourself and it’s delicious!

This recipe makes enough to feed two or three people (or more, if they’re kids).

D-Angelo’s #9

meat, veggies, cheese, oh my!
Print Recipe
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Servings: 2 people
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 lb chicken breasts, diced
  • 1/2 cup bell pepper, diced
  • 1/2 cup onion, diced yellow or white
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced optional
  • 1 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 4 slices american cheese
  • 1 loaf french bread, sliced the long way (grinder style) softer breads or rolls are better, or substitute tortillas
  • salt and pepper to taste

Equipment

  • 1 Skillet
  • 1 spatula

Method
 

  1. Add vegetable oil to a hot pan on medium heat, add onions, peppers, and mushrooms. Cook to soften.
  2. sprinkle salt and pepper to taste
  3. Add chicken. Cook, flipping occasionally to prevent burning.
  4. When chicken is cooked, pile meats and veggies and top with cheese. Heat until cheese starts to collapse into meat and veggies.
  5. divide and scoop everything into sliced bread or tortillas