Chicken and Vegetable Skillet

I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday weekend!

This dish is so simple, but so full of flavor. You know why?

BACON. A simple 2 slices!

It makes everything better. I’ve said that before and I will say it again.

Here’s what you need (from How Sweet It Is)…

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 slices of bacon sliced into small pieces

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 orange bell pepper, sliced into strips

2 medium zucchini, sliced into pieces

10 baby red potatoes, chopped into pieces

2 ears of corn cut off the cob*

5 garlic cloves, minced

Salt

Pepper

*You can use 1 cup of frozen corn, but boiling the fresh corn and cutting it off the cob tastes a million times better.

*Also, use whatever vegetables you want! I loved all these, so that is what I put in.

I used an oven safe skillet so everything went right from the skillet to the oven, but you can use a regular skillet then transfer everything into an oven safe dish.

My oven safe skillet courtesy of Williams Sonoma

Here’s what you do…

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Chop up all your vegetables and put them in a bowl and season them with salt and pepper. Keep the garlic and corn separate. 

3. Put your bacon into the oven safe skillet and sauté until cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and place on a plate. Set aside.

4. Add your vegetables to the pan and sauté for about 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Then, add garlic and sauté for another minute. Remove from heat and pour into another bowl. Set aside.

5. Season your chicken with salt and pepper on both sides. Add to skillet and cook for 5 minutes on each side.

6. Once the chicken has cooked, add vegetables, bacon, and corn on top. 

7. Place in the oven and allow to cook for 20 minutes. Remove and enjoy!

This is a great dish for the summer and the leftovers are the best. Have a great short week!!

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Grilled Chicken Club Sandwich with Garlic Basil Mayo

Also known as the MOST AMAZING SANDWICH EVER. No lie.

This sandwich is so good it tastes like it came from a restaurant. The main difference is this is slightly healthier and A LOT cheaper. We loved this sandwich so much I made it twice in the same week.

Plus, we have all this delicious basil Justin grew from seeds out on the balcony. It is the best tasting basil ever (apparently everything in this post is the best tasting thing ever).

I know it’s more work than you would usually put into a sandwich, but I promise you it is so worth it.

Here’s what you need (adapted from My Life as a Mrs)…

For the mayo:

6 fresh basil leaves, chopped

½ cup of mayonnaise (I used reduced fat made with olive oil mayo from Kraft)

3 cloves of garlic, minced

Dash of salt

Dash of pepper

Mix all these ingredients together and refrigerate, preferably a few hours before you make the sandwich.

 For the sandwich:

Whole wheat bread (you want it to be thicker)

2 pieces of bacon per sandwich

1 large piece of boneless skinless chicken per 2 sandwiches

1 piece of swiss cheese per sandwich

Lettuce

Onion

Whatever else you want to put on your sandwich!

Here’s what you do…

1. I bake my bacon because it makes it crispier and I don't make a huge mess. So, I preheat my oven to 350 and then throw in my bacon on a baking sheet for 20 minutes. If you cook bacon a different way, do that and set it aside.

2. Tenderize your chicken by pounding it with a large pan. Season it with whatever you want, but I found salt, pepper and garlic powder on both sides was PERFECT.

3. Grill your chicken (or you can use a pan) for about 6 1/2 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. Allow to rest for a few minutes, then cut into pieces.

4. Turn on your broiler. Toast your bread, and on 1 piece spread on mayo (you want a decent amount), put on as much chicken as you would like, and top with a slice of cheese. Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes, or until the cheese is melted.

5. Remove from the broiler and top with bacon.

6. On the other slice of toasted bread, spread on mayo, and add toppings (we just used onion and lettuce).

7. Put them together, slice in half and ENJOY!

This is definitely my new favorite sandwich. And I have been using the leftover garlic-basil mayo on all my other sandwiches - it is delicious.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week so far, but if you are not, this sandwich will make it MUCH better :)

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Pho with Chicken

I know, I know, it's summer. WHY am I posting a soup recipe?

It’s because I’m fairly convinced this soup has healing powers. After tasting it, all I could think was "I wish I had this the last time I had a cold."

Make this and freeze it for a sick day. You won’t regret it.

Here’s what you need (from Eat, Live, Run)…

1 lb of boneless skinless chicken cut into cubes

5 cloves of garlic, diced

1 tbsp of fresh ginger, grated (I used my cheese grater)

1 tbsp sesame oil

2 baby bok choy, chopped*

A sprinkle of salt

6 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 jalapeno, diced*

3 green onions, sliced

2 tbsp of low sodium soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

½ an 8 oz. package of chinese noodles (they should be pre-divided in the package)

*You can chop all of the bok choy - stems and all

*Leave out the jalapeño if you don't like spicy

Here's what you do...

1. Cook your chinese noodles in salted water until cooked through (this only took 3-4 minutes). Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside. You add them at the very end.

2. In a large stockpot, sauté your garlic and ginger in the 1 tbsp of sesame oil for about 1 minute.

3. Add chicken, bok choy and a sprinkle of salt and stir for about 5 minutes, until your chicken is white, but not completely cooked through.

4. Add chicken broth, jalapeño (if using), and green onion. Allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through.

5. Add soy sauce and rice vinegar. Allow to simmer for another 2-3 minutes to blend everything together.

6. Add cooked noodles, stir to mix with everything else and serve immediately or freeze.

7. Enjoy!

This soup was very filling, and I froze some for the next time I have a cold. I'll thank myself later :)

Happy Monday!

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Easy Cajun Chicken Pasta

Things I have learned this week: I would be really good at being a housewife, but I would get extremelyyy bored after…about 3 days.

Justin started working this week, but I have been home alone with the animals. Piper voluntarily put herself in her crate yesterday morning and I’m pretty sure it was because she was tired to me talking to her. Yeahhh…

THIS, my friends, is Cajun chicken pasta. It is SUPER easy, really quick, and not that spicy (for all my spice-hating friends out there). I’ve been cooking pretty much EVERY day this week, and this by far one of the easiest (but still delicious) things I’ve made in awhile. It all boils down to this one secret ingredient which has become my favorite spice of the week:

Here’s what you need (adapted from Eat, Live, Run)…

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 2 medium breasts) cut into bite sized pieces

1 shallot, diced

5-6 cloves of garlic, diced

2 tsp of cajun seasoning, divided (I used Tony Chachere's Creole seasoning)

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes (I used San Marzano)

1/3 cup of fat free half and half

1 17 oz. package of whole wheat linguine (I used about ¾ of the package)

Here’s what you do…

1. Boil your pasta in salted water per directions. Drain and set aside.

2. In the meantime, add about 1 tbsp of olive oil to a large pan and add your chicken and 1 tsp of cajun seasoning. Cook until chicken is cooked through - about 8-10 minutes. Put on a plate a set aside.

3. Add a little more oil to the pan if needed, then add garlic and shallots and cook for 4-5 minutes stirring often so the garlic doesn't burn.

4. Add tomatoes, half and half, and another 1 tsp of cajun seasoning. Stir for a few minutes until well-blended, then add the chicken.

5. Allow to simmer for 10-15 minutes. Then, take it off the heat and add your pasta.

6. Enjoy!

I served it with a side of green beans and a sprinkle of fresh parmesan on top. 

I think my project for today will be sewing up all of Piper's toys that she chewed giant holes in. She's already in her crate hoping I will leave her alone.

I need to start working ASAP...

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Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

Roasting a chicken is one of those things that SEEMS really hard, but is actually super easy.

I love this meal because 1. It’s loaded with lots of veggies and 2. Everything cooks in one big pan together.

I’m not an expert at roasting chickens. Check out how burned he got:

This is what you get for not roasting him on the lowest rack of your oven.

BUT, it tasted awesome. That's what matters, right? Right.

Here’s what you need (inspired by this recipe)…

1 3-4 lb whole chicken

Honey

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

1 bag of green beans

9 carrots, sliced

1 large yellow onion, sliced

1 ½ pounds of baby potatoes, chopped into small pieces

3 whole heads of garlic (I’m teaching you to roast these babies, too)*

*Use whatever veggies you want! These are just my favorites. Asparagus would be fantastic in this, but unfortunately, my lovely fiancé rejects asparagus. 

*To prepare your garlic for roasting, chop the tops off so you can see the bulbs of garlic. Drizzle with about ½ tbsp. of olive oil and put some salt on top. Wrap each head of garlic individually (and tightly) in aluminum foil.

Here’s what you do…

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Your chicken needs to roast on the lowest rack. I did not do this and it was a huge mistake.

2. Clean your chicken. Not to be sexist, but ladies, get your man to do this. I did it myself because I thought I was all big and bad…no. Terrible idea. I stood in a corner for 10 minutes trying to pull myself together afterwards.

3. Pat your chicken dry, and set aside.

4. Chop all your veggies and put into a large baking pan or roasting pan. Coat veggies evenly with salt, pepper, and ½ tbsp. of olive oil and ½ tbsp. of honey. Mix together with your hands.

5. Nestle your chicken, breast side up, in the center of your veggies.

6. Coat your chicken with ½-1 tbsp of both olive oil and honey. Season it evenly with salt and pepper.

7. Place your aluminum wrapped garlic heads on top of your veggies.

This is not breast side up - my bad.

8. Allow to roast for 90 minutes.

9. Take out and let the chicken sit for 15 minutes.

10. Unwrap your garlic heads, allow to cool, then individually pull out each bulb and place in a large bowl. Mash it up with a fork and add ½ tbsp of honey.

Mmmm roasted garlic

11. Meanwhile, transfer your vegetables to the large bowl with the garlic/honey mixture in it using a slotted spoon so not all the liquid comes along. Mix veggies and roasted garlic paste together. This won’t be the most beautiful looking bowl of veggies, but it tastes freaking amazing.

12. Cut slices of chicken off and put with your veggies.

13. Enjoy!

Like I said, it’s not the most beautiful plate of food, but it is so fantastic, so simple, and really inexpensive.   Here's hoping your Monday is not nearly as gloomy as mine!

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