Quick and Easy Chicken Parmesan

Found this recipe on about.com.  It's a great quick alternative to the traditional method of breading and frying chicken before baking it with the sauce.  My croutons and top layer of cheese came out a little overcooked, but I was using the thin croutons, so maybe that's why.  Next time I'll sprinkle the top with water before baking.  I made this with a blend Weight Watchers mozzarella and a regular italian blend of cheeses, and served it with Barilla Plus angel hair for a high protein, higher fiber, lower calorie version.  It was delicious and SO easy!

 Easy Chicken Parmesan Bake

*Chicken Parmesan Photo © John Mitzewich

2 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
hot red pepper flakes, to taste
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts, pound or fillet thin, or use 12 chicken tenders
2 1/2 cups marinara sauce
1/4 cup chopped basil
8 oz mozzarella, shredded
4 oz Parmesan, grated
1 (5-oz) package garlic croutons

Angel hair pasta (cooked)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spread olive oil, garlic, and crushed red pepper in bottom of 13x9 pan.  Add chicken and top with sauce and basil.  Sprinkle half the cheese on top, arrange croutons on top of cheese, and top with remaining cheese.  Bake 30-35 minutes or until chicken juices run clear.

Serve over a bed of angel hair pasta.

Low-cal Chicken Fajitas

I'm determined to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight before swimsuit season, so I've been counting calories and upping protein recently.  This has made meal planning even more of a nightmare than before- which unfortunately has coincided with a monumental lag in posts from all the rest of you (come on ladies!  don't leave me hangin'!)  So I've come up with a couple protein rich recipes for the calorie challenged on my own lately.  Here's one of them:

Chicken Fajitas

Makes about 6 8" fajitas, 273 calories, 30 carbs, and 23 grams protein per fajita

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (cut into thin strips)
• 1 medium red bell pepper, and 1 medium yellow bell pepper (seeded and cut into strips)
• non-stick cooking spray
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 cup fat free sour cream, thinned with 1-2 Tbs low fat milk
• 1-2 tsp ranch dressing mix
• six 8' tortillas
• 1/2 cup diced tomato
• 1 cup shredded lettuce
• 1/3 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese
• 1 lime cut into wedges

Directions:

Spray skillet with non stick cooking spray.  Sprinkle chicken w/ spices.  Cook chicken and pepper strips over medium-high heat for about 6 minutes until strips are tender and chicken is cooked through (or use leftover grilled or baked chicken from a previous meal- cook peppers in spices for 5 minutes, throw chicken in during last minute or two of cooking to reheat).  Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Wrap tortillas in foil and heat at 350 for 10 minutes before serving.  While tortillas are heating, mix sour cream, milk and ranch seasoning together.  Top each warm tortilla with 1/6 chicken/pepper mixture, 1-2 T ranch sauce, lettuce, tomato, a squeeze of lime and a sprinkle of cheese.  Enjoy!  For more protein, try adding some black beans too.

Chicken Pot Pie

I was tinkering around in the kitchen last night with some extra veggies I had which I needed to use up, and I came up with what may be the most perfect chicken pot pie recipe I've ever eaten.

Ingredients:
2-3 cups shredded chicken
2 large leeks finely chopped
3 carrots, shredded
3-4 pieces of celery finely chopped
1/2 stick butter
3 Tbsp. corn starch
2-3 cups chicken broth
2 tsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
Double crust for a deep-dish pie (I just bought Pillsbury in the refrigerator section at the grocery store)
Red Wine Vinegar

Instructions:
Mix the leeks, celery, carrots, and butter in a large pan and sautee' with the butter. If you want to throwin in some peas or potatoes that would work as well, although I didn't have any on hand last night so I didn't include them.
When everything is cooked, whisk the corn starch with a small ammount of chicken broth to get rid of any lumps, and then add the mixture plus all of the additional chicken broth to the sauteed veggies. Simmer on low to medium heat until the whole thing thickens, stirring occasionally to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of your pan.
Meanwhile, prepare a deep dish pie pan by spreading the bottom pie crust evenly in the pan.
In a large bowl, mix the thickened veggie/gravy mixture with the shredded chicken. Drizzle with Red Wine Vinegar to taste. I like the balance of the sour vinegar with the sweet veggies and chicken, and I think this is really what made the recipe stand out for me. I only added a quarter cup or less, but trust me, it works. Pour the finished filling into the pie crust, and cover with the top crust. Crimp the edges, trim the crust, cut a few vents to let out the steam, then brush with a mixture of 1 egg beaten with 3 tbsp. water (it makes your crust shiny and goldeny brown).
Bake at 350 for about 45 minutes, or until the crust looks flaky and golden.
Cool, serve, and enjoy
This was so good that we barely had any leftovers, and since the veggies were sliced up so small even my veggie-phobic 7 year old gulped his down. I had the rest for lunck today and I drizzled a little more vinegar over it. It was divine.

Deconstructed Chicken and Rice

My Love-Hate Relationship with Chicken & Rice

I love Chicken & Rice; creamy rice with perfectly seasoned chicken all cooked together in a savory casserole. Done right, it is yummy comfort food that can satisfy the most ferocious hunger. The key phrase here is “done right”. I’ve made some version of chicken and rice more times than I care to count, and maybe, just maybe, it’s turned out perfectly one or two times. Part of the rice gets over cooked and mushy; some of the rice is still crunchy and hard. If by some miracle, I managed to get the rice cooked just right, the chicken is still raw! AARRRGH!!!

So, instead of putting uncooked rice, mushroom soup and chicken all together to bake. I’ve deconstructed the dish and it always turns out (finally)!

Baked Chicken with Rice Pilaf and Chicken Cream Sauce

Serves 6-8

4 large chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on

Kosher Salt

Freshly cracked black pepper

onion powder

Italian Seasoning

Cayenne pepper (optional)

2 tablespoons of vegetable or olive oil

2 cups of uncooked long-grain white rice

1 medium onion, diced

2-3 stalks of celery, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped into half circles

4 cups of water

4 teaspoons of chicken bouillon

Drippings from baked chicken

Flour

Milk

Chicken bouillon

Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375. Prepare a baking pan with aluminum foil if desired. Rinse the chicken and pat dry; place in baking pan and season with salt, pepper,onion powder, Italian seasoning, and a dash of cayenne pepper (if desired).

Bake at 375 for about 30-45 minutes or until done.

While the chicken is baking away in the oven, place the oil, onion, celery and carrots in a pot and saute vegetables until the onions begin to become transparent. Add the rice and stir well. Dissolve the chicken bouillon in the water and add to the rice and vegetables, bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to low. Cook for about 20-30 minutes or until there is no more water in the pot and the rice is tender.

Once the chicken is done, place it on a cutting board or plate and cover with foil. Drain all the juices and fat out of the baking dish into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce and add enough flour to make a thin paste. Slowly, add cold milk to the flour mixture all little at a time and stir constantly. The sauce will thicken, as it does, slowly add more milk until the sauce reaches desired consistency. Add chicken bouillon and pepper to taste.

Uncover the chicken, and carve off the bone.

To serve, place rice on a place, top with chicken and smother in sauce.

Chicken enchiladas

I haven't been a faithful poster on this blog (or on any blog for that matter), but I'm stepping out today for my first blog post on this site.

I get so many of my recipes at allrecipes.com, and as long as I stick to the 4-5 star rated recipes (that have more than 3 people rating them) I've been pleased with the results. If you are not familiar with this site, you should be. You can even (all free) create your own recipe box on the site with your favorites so you don't have to search each time for that great cookie recipe you make last summer.

Anyway, one of the very best recipes I've found is Angela's Awesome Enchiladas found here: Angela's Awesome Enchiladas

I used green enchilada sauce instead of red enchilada sauce that the recipe calls for and I can't imagine anything yummier! It's the spices in the chicken that make it so delicious, too! Enjoy!!!

Weekly Meal Plan

I think my meal plan for this week is going to rock, so I want to share it.  I got almost everything in a desperate last minute web search before placing a FreshDirect order, so there are a few recipes on here I haven't tried yet, but they're all so simple I can't see anything not ending up great!

Pecan Crusted Chicken (Rachael Ray recipe)

     w/ Steamed Asparagus in lemon butter
Creamy Tomato Parmigiano Soup

     w/ French Baguette (using heavy cream in soup instead of sour cream)

Romanesco Broccoli and Rigatoni (Rachael Ray recipe)
Mediterranean Lemon Chicken and Thyme Roasted Potatoes

     w/ leftover asparagus

Crockpot Stuffing Chicken

     w/ steamed green beans

Weekly Meal Plan

Here's my meal plan for this week.  PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE start posting more of your ideas.  Just tell me what you're making!  I don't even need recipes...but it took every ounce of energy and creativity I had to come up with these this week!

Monterey Chicken

Thai Fried Rice

Dad's Ham and Potato Casserole 

Crockpot Lasagna  (Kraft recipe contributed by my cousin Heather)

Breakfast for Dinner (pancakes, eggs, and bacon- yum!) 
Chicken Pesto Foccacia Sandwiches (foccacia bread, sliced chicken, pesto sauce, cheese, and tomato)

Other Recipes: 

The Bateman Family Ham and Potato Casserole

(One of the best dishes my dad makes-- a Christmas Eve staple!)

Ingredients:

4 to 7 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped into chunks about the size of a silver dollar and about 1/4" thick

3 to 5 slices cooked ham thick sliced and cut into small squares

2 cans evaporated milk

Dehydrated onion

Salt and Pepper

1 cube butter, cut into pats

About 8 oz mild cheddar cheese 

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Chicken Stuffed Biscuits

One of my favorite Sunday dinners growing up was my dad's Season-All Chicken. It's the simplest thing in the whole world...generously sprinkle chicken breasts with Lowry's Season-All and bake at 350 until cooked through. He serves it with his famous homemade cheese and garlic mashed potatoes and steamed broccoli. It's the simplest meal in the world but super delicious. So I usually plan it into our menu at least every couple of weeks. The great thing about this chicken is that it's super versatile- so I make extra and use the leftovers to make lunch wraps, or dice it up and put it on pizzas, casseroles, or any other recipe that calls for cubed or shredded chicken. If you make extra ahead of time it's just as easy as canned chicken and has a WAY better flavor and texture (i personally can't get over the "tuna" flavor of canned chicken).

Anyway, one of the recipes I love to use this for the most is Chicken Stuffed Biscuits. It's one of those recipes where you kind of just add whatever amount of stuff you want, but I'll try to estimate here. Just realize you can add more or less of anything as you see fit:

Chicken Stuffed Biscuits

1 to 1 and 1/2 cups Season-All Chicken (small cubes or shredded)

4 to 6 oz shredded cheese (i usually use cheddar)

1 can cream of chicken soup

3-6 T cream cheese (optional)

Sour cream (I like to add a lot ---like 3/4c-1 cup---  to tone down the soup but you can get away with less)

A few dashes each of any or all of the following:

   garlic powder

   black pepper

   curry powder

   lemon juice

1 can of large Pillsbury biscuits (any kind you like- i usually get the flaky ones)

1 to 2 packets of gravy, prepared (I go back and forth between chicken and country- they each add a distinctive flavor so it depends on your mood- but I can't find country gravy in the city so it's been chicken for a while now ;)

Preheat oven according to biscuit directions.
Mix all ingredients together, adding spices to taste.
Divide each biscuit in half and stretch each half slightly.  Place bottom half on baking sheet, fill center with chicken mixture, add the top half of biscuit dough making sure to stretch far enough so you can seal the edges.
Poke 3-4 small holes in top of biscuit using fork or toothpick.  
Bake according to biscuit directions, until golden brown.  Top each biscuit with gravy and serve.

Makes 8 large stuffed biscuits plus some extra filling- so you can make more, add some broccoli and more cheese for a small chicken divan over rice, or add black beans, corn, lime juice, etc to the filling for a small pan of white enchiladas).

**The biscuits save really well for a few days- wrap biscuits in foil and then you can just unwrap them straight onto a baking sheet and reheat for 5-7 minutes in a hot oven.

Weekly Meal Plan

My meal plan last week ended up being awesome, so I wanted to share.  I made:

Stuffed Green Bell Peppers (Mel's recipe w/ a few tweaks)
Amy's Crock Pot Roast and Corn Bread
Mackenzie's Enchiladas (sort of)
Chicken Cordon Bleu (Mackenzie's recipe)
Corn Chowder
Steak Tacos and Nacho Libre Corn
Greek Chicken Souvlaki Pitas

Click on "read more" for the recipes!

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Roasted

I had a baby two weeks ago, so time is short and energy is shorter. So, accept my exhausted-mommy offering. We had this for dinner last night.

Roasted Chicken and Parmesan Potatoes 

         Chicken

Send Husband to Fairway (or another market that has a good roasted chicken). The Fairway roasted chicken is AMAZING! So moist, so flavorful, with garlic and rosemary roasted in the cavity. And, get this, the Fairway chicken is affordable--not even in the "I've been in NYC for too long and my idea of affordable has been skewed" kind of way. They range from 5 to 9 dollars (depending on size). A $5 chicken will last us two meals.

While husband is gone start the potatoes.

Parmesan Potatoes
4 medium red potatoes
1 medium onion (optional)
3 Tablespoons Butter (melted)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

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Chicken Fajitas

My sister-in-law sent me this recipe from www.cooks.com. It has become one of our family favorites. When I am in a bind or can't think of what to prepare, this is a go-to recipe. Enjoy!

---------------
CHICKEN FAJITAS
---------------

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 stick butter
1 cap full Mrs. Dash (regular or chipotle)
1 large onion
1 green pepper
1/4 brown sugar
lettuce, tomato, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, tortillas

Slice chicken into long strips, place in pan with half of the butter and Mrs. Dash.  Cook until done and lightly browned. Stir in a small amount of water or chicken broth and the brown sugar. Cook until caramelized.

Chop the pepper and onions into strips and rings, sauté in a separate skillet with the remaining butter. Cook until onions are caramelized and peppers have crispy edges.

These fajitas are really easy to make and a little different because they're sweet and spicy.

Salsa Verde Soup

Salsa Verde Soup

SOUP
1 15 oz jar La victoria "Thick & Chunky" salsa verde, medium (I couldn't find this exact brand, but just used another brand of salsa verde and it worked just fine.)
3 cups shredded chicken (can buy and shred a rotisserie chicken {saves time and adds more flavor}, or boil and shred frozen chicken breasts)
1 15 oz can cannellini beans, drained (white kidney beans)
3 cups chicken broth

GARNISH
2 green onions, chopped
sour cream
grated monterey jack cheese
tortilla chips

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Progressive Meal Plans

I've been playing around a lot lately with the idea of progressive meals. I'm not talking about the church dinner socials where you travel from one home to the next for each course. I'm talking about the idea of starting off with one entreé and over the course of a few days making different meals out of it. Here is my favorite so far, a.k.a. "how to feed a family of 4 for 3 days in a row with a single chicken."
You can pick up a rotisserie chicken at most grocery stores for around $7. They are delicious and pre-cooked and are great for working moms who don't have a lot of time to prepare an elaborate spread after work. (As a middle-school teacher I REALLY appreciate meals like these!).
They are relatively nutritious and most people with special dietary regimens can eat them. Plus, I can usually stretch one chicken out into about 3-4 different meals for my family of 4.

The first night I usually just serve the roast chicken with some mashed potatoes (I cook the potatoes in the microwave on high for about 10 minutes, turning once, then slice them into bits and mash them- ta da! Homemade mashed potatoes in under 20 minutes!) and some greens. We use up most of the breast meat and the drumsticks doing this.

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Morgan's menu this week, plus recipes

I don't know if this is helpful to anyone, but I thought I would post the dinners I am planning for this week. I know I always like to see what other people are doing. I do usually make a plan for specific nights, but sometimes it ends up getting changed depending on what we are in the mood for, or what we have time for. So here are 5 meals in no particular order:

Less Fat Fettucine Alfredo (recipe from Heather Mason. Hope you don't mind me sharing Heather!)
1 Tbs butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs all-purpose flour
1 1/3 cups 1% milk
1 1/4 cups (5 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (reserve 1/4 cup for topping) **I use the store-bought Kraft stuff and it works just fine
2 Tbs 1/3 less fat cream cheese
1/2 tsp salt
4 cups hot cooked fettucine or other pasta (8 ounces uncooked pasta)

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Presto Pesto Chicken Pizza

Yields 8 slices

1 ready to bake 12” pizza crust or mini crusts as pictured above (like Boboli or Mamma Mary’s)

1-2 Tbs olive oil

1 packet creamy pesto sauce or regular pesto sauce (prepared- about 1 cup)

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Approx. ½ pound cooked chicken breast (shredded or cubed)

1 small jar marinated artichoke hearts

1 small jar roasted red peppers

Preheat oven to 450⁰F.  Place pizza crust on baking sheet and brush with olive oil, making sure to brush to the edges. Spread prepared pesto sauce over crust and top with chicken and ¾ of the cheese. Arrange artichoke hearts and roasted peppers on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Reduce oven temperature to 425⁰F.  Bake for 7-10 minutes or until crust reaches desired amount of browning. Cool for 5 minutes before slicing. Serve and enjoy!

TIP #1: I usually make this when I have baked chicken left over from a previous meal.

TIP #2: If I have any leftover ingredients after making this, I use them to make Mediterranean wraps or grilled sandwiches.