Lemon Honey Dijon Chicken

It's my self-proclaimed 'healthy week' - here's the first of the dishes I made this week. Dave and I both loved this recipe and will definitely make it again - easy and healthy! 

I served it with beans and kale but it wasn't necessary!

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest 
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 6 skinless bone-in chicken thighs 
• 3 sprigs rosemary
• 1 large fennel halved and sliced 
• 1/2 onion sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions:

• 1. In a large resealable bag, combine the honey, lemon zest, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, garlic powder and 1 teaspoon salt. Add the chicken thighs to the marinade. Seal the bag and massage the chicken with the marinade to coat well. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes or up to 4 hours in the refrigerator.
• 2. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 30 minutes before cooking.
• 3. Add the rosemary, fennel and onion in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Drizzle with the oil and season with the remaining salt. Toss well to coat. Spread the vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pan. Place the chicken pieces on top of the vegetables allowing the marinade to drip off before adding to the pan. Bake for 50 minutes, basting with any remaining marinade every 10 minutes for the first 20 minutes. The chicken should be golden brown and cooked to 165 degrees F. Remove from the oven and allow to rest for 10 minutes before serving topped with the softened vegetables.

my notes: I used skinless boneless chicken thighs. Omitted the onion. Baked for about 40 minutes. To serve I scooped the veggies with a piece of chicken on top, then drizzled with a little of the pan juices. Click here to see yesterday's post on how to work with fennel.

4 servings

318 calories per serving, 20g carb, 34g protein

click here for original source 

.20 - crocheted messy bun hat

.19 - 🔥week 2

.18 - lentil gravy

.17 - bath bombs

.16 - cover a side table

Chicken with Sun-Dried Tomato Cream Sauce

This chicken with sun-dried tomato cream sauce recipe is from eatingwell.com, and even tho that should mean it's 'healthy' it does have cream in it so it's a little higher in fat (18.9g) but low in calories (324 per serving). And it's delish. And quick and easy. That's a lot to ask for in a recipe hahaha. We loved this and I will def be making it again!

• 1 pound chicken cutlets
• 1/4 t. salt, divided
• 1/4 t. pepper, divided
• 1/2 cup slivered oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, plus 1 T. oil from the jar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 2 T. chopped parsley

1. Sprinkle chicken with 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Heat sun-dried tomato oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 165 degrees F, about 6 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
2. Add sun-dried tomatoes and shallots to the pan. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Increase heat to high and add wine. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and stir in cream, any accumulated juices from the chicken and the remaining 1/8 teaspoon each salt and pepper; simmer for 2 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce and parsley.

click here for original source 

Herb-Crusted Buttermilk Baked Chicken

I don't have an actual "recipe" for this, I just winged it (hmmm - it's chicken and I winged it...) and it turned out so good and easy I thought I'd share. Perfect for a quick weeknight meal, if you plan ahead more than I did you could soak the chicken in the buttermilk anywhere from 30 minutes to a few hours and that would make the chicken even moister - but even without marinading it turned out moist, crunchy, and flavorful. Almost like having fried chicken without all the extra calories. 

                     

Simple: all I did was dip boneless chicken breasts in buttermilk seasoned with coarse pepper and a little tabasco sauce, then dredged in panko breadcrumbs mixed with grated parmesan and thyme. 

Line a baking sheet with foil to catch any drippings, then put a browning pan (or any pan that has holes in it, I used the one that came with my toaster oven) on the baking sheet and spray with non-stick cooking spray; lay the chicken breasts on the top pan. My thought is the second tray with the holes helped the crumbs not get quite as mushy as laying them straight down on the foil. It'll work just fine tho if you don't do the second pan thing! 

Bake at 400' until the chicken is cooked thru and the crumbs are browned and crispy. The bake time will change depending on how thick your chicken is, if you have a meat thermometer you want the chicken cooked thru to 165'. 

note: this would (obviously) cook faster and more evenly if I'da pounded the breasts to flatten them out...but I didn't. And it was all good!


3.23.18: perler bead Easter eggs
3.23.17: a laugh
3.23.16: Easter side dishes - pineapple stuffing, creamed new potatoes, roasted carrots


Happy moment ~ finished a time consuming task, feels so good!

Unstuffed Chicken Cordon Bleu

Made this unstuffed chicken cordon bleu for Sunday supper and it was a huge hit. I'm never stuffing it again, why go thru that extra work when you can just layer the ham and cheese on top of thinly pounded chicken breasts - so much easier, looks great, tastes fantastic. You are definitely going to want to try this for yourself - I made a couple little changes but even if you follow her recipe exactly it'll be great and you'll look like a rock star when people gobble this up!

We had a couple pieces left over and it made for a delish lunch the next day...actually it made for delish breakfast for me, lunch for others haha.

 INGREDIENTS:

•  2 tablespoons olive oil 
•  1 1/2 pounds broccoli, cut into spears/thin wedges (see pictures in the post for a visual) 
•  Salt and pepper 
•  4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 1/2 to 2 pounds), pounded to 1/4-inch thick or cut in half to form two thinner cutlets (see note) 
•  2 tablespoons Dijon mustard 
•  4 to 8 slices deli ham (exact amount depends on brand/size of slices) 
•  1 cup (4 ounces) shredded Gruyere or Swiss cheese 
•  15 Ritz crackers, coarsely crushed (about 3/4 cup) 
• 
  
• DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Make sure an oven rack is in the lower-middle position. Brush a large, rimmed baking sheet (about 11X18-inches) with 1 tablespoon of the oil.
2. Toss the broccoli with the remaining tablespoon of oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt), and a pinch of black pepper.
3. Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season lightly on both sides with salt and pepper. Place the chicken breasts side-by-side on one side of the prepared baking sheet (to help them fit, you can alternate thicker end to thinner end as you lay them down). Placing them close together (without overlapping) will help the cheese stay put as they bake.
4. Spread the mustard lightly over the top of each chicken piece. Top with 1 to 2 slices ham to cover and then add 1/4 cup or so of the shredded cheese evenly across the top.
5. Sprinkle the cracker crumbs evenly over the cheese, and press lightly so the crumbs aren't loose.
6. Arrange the broccoli in a single layer on the opposite side of the baking sheet.
7. Bake for 20 minutes until the chicken registers 160 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer and the broccoli is roasted and tender. The exact time will depend on the thickness of the chicken. If the chicken still needs more time but the broccoli looks like it is finished, scoop the broccoli off the sheet pan onto a plate and lightly tent with foil while the chicken finishes cooking.
8. I recommend removing the chicken as soon as the sheet pan comes out of the oven so it doesn't sit in the liquid that will naturally pool on the bottom of the sheet pan.

My changes: I did green beans instead of broccoli, and roasted them on their own baking sheet - I made too much chicken for it all to be on the same pan. Used thinly sliced swiss cheese instead of shredded; and substituted coarse panko crumbs mixed with melted butter for the Ritz crackers. Oh man this is good ;)

The recipe came from Mel's Kitchen Cafe, click here for the original post. 

Chicken Parmesan Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

The grocery store had these giant portobello mushrooms on sale, standing in the aisle I googled what I could stuff them with and came across a chicken parmesan recipe that looked great so that's what we had for dinner! This was very easy to make - and if I would have used cooked chicken like the recipe calls for it would be a super quick meal...I had Dave grill some thin chicken breasts to use in the recipe so that added a little time (but the hot freshly grilled chicken was excellent!).

I tweaked the original recipe a bit, will give you how I did it; if you want the original source and pictures click here.

• 1 pound thin chicken breasts (brush with olive oil, season with lemon pepper, grilled and chopped into bite sized pieces). Note you can use whatever cooked chicken you want!
• 4 large portobello mushrooms, wipe clean with a damp paper towel
• large handful of chopped fresh spinach
• 1 cup pizza sauce (you can substitute marinara)
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400'.
2. Scrape black gills out of mushrooms with a spoon and remove stem.
3. Place mushrooms on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, gill sides up.
4. Top each mushroom with some of the spinach, bake a few minutes until the spinach is wilted and the mushrooms start to release their juice. Carefully drain off what liquid you can without the mushrooms falling off the baking sheet.
5. In a small bowl combine the chopped chicken with sauce and parmesan, stir until well combined. Note if it seems dry add a little more sauce. 
6. Pile the chicken mixture evenly on top of prepared mushrooms. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. 
7. Bake for a few minutes more until tender and the cheese is melted, about 10-15 minutes.

Cornmeal-Crusted Chicken

This chicken is such an easy, healthy, quick, delish dish - I haven't made it in a while but am now remembering how much we like it! I'm bringing this recipe back to the front for sure.

• 6 boneless chicken breast halves (2 lbs total)
• 1 1/4 lbs roma tomatoes, chopped
• 1 cup finely slivered arugula
• 3 T. capers
• 2 T. lemon juice
• 1 T. olive oil
• 1 egg
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/4 cup parmesan
• 1/2 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. cayenne
• salt to taste

-Pound chicken till flat and uniform thickness. Beat egg with 1 T. water in a shallow dish. In another shallow dish combine cornmeal, parmesan, and spices. Dip the chicken in the egg, then cornmeal mixture coating completely. Grill (or bake) until done.

-Meanwhile, combine tomatoes, arugula, capers, lemon and olive oil in a bowl.

-Serve the chicken with the tomato mixture on top.

Makes 6 servings. Each serving: 298 calories, 6.5g fat, 40g protein

don't have a meat mallet? I just put the chicken in a large
ziplock bag and pound it with a small frying pan!

dip first in egg...

then in cornmeal mixture. 

Notes: I should have halved the chicken but left them giant, took quite a while to get them cooked thru - also I couldn't pound them down very well. It's much easier and quicker with thinner chicken!

I used red pepper flakes instead of cayenne, and used a whole bag of arugula for the two of us instead of 1 cup for 6 servings like the recipe states. It's just arugula, go for it :). Oh, and I added some fresh mushrooms I had on hand just cuz.

The capers are really salty (in fact I usually rinse them before using), if you omit them make sure to season the arugula/tomato mixture.

This recipe originated in a Sunset magazine - when I tried to look it up online to get a date I only find mention of it in 1996! See, told ya I've been making it for a while now!

Boneless Coq Au Vin

Made this for Sunday Supper and everyone (except Patty, she doesn't like chicken thighs - but I couldn't even tell it was dark meat!) loved it. This is a winner recipe - I don't think I've ever made a dish using all thigh meat, I would normally just make it with white meat but FOR ONCE I decided to make a recipe exactly as instructed. No changes. And it's really really good! Maybe I should follow the instructions more often...hmmm.

We had it with mashed potatoes, crusty bread,  and Patty brought a lettuce salad with dried blueberries and cherries, avocado, blue cheese and a slightly sweet vinaigrette that was excellent. Janis made her famous bread pudding for dessert - we were stuffed and super happy :).

browning the chicken thighs

served in shallow bowls with mashed potatoes

 click here for the recipe.