Garden Chicken Delight

Original Recipe HERE

I tried the recipe word-for-word, and it was a bust.  The chicken was still mostly raw after the allotted cooking time, so I had to improvise to ensure I was feeding my family a salmonella-free meal.  It turned out fine in the end, though I can't say much for its presentation, and it's an easy and pretty healthy meal no matter which way it's made.

The thing that caught my eye and made me want to make it was its use of Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt.  This was a mainstay on the table during my childhood - especially with corn-on-the-cob.  Husband doesn't understand its sentimental value to me, but *N* likes it on her hardboiled egg, so I've got a disciple.

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts [to serve 4 people]

1 summer squash

1 zucchini

1/2 onion [optional]

Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt [or regular salt & pepper]

olive oil

1 cup marinara [or favorite pasta sauce]

1 cup low-fat mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350.

2) Season both sides of each breast with Jane's.  Sautee in olive oil for a few minutes on each side until lightly browned and juices stay sealed in.  Place them in lightly greased baking dish.

3) Peel squash and zucchini.  Cut in half length-wise, then slice each piece into 1/4-inch half-circles.  Thinly slice onion, if using.  Arrange vegetables over and around chicken.

4) Pour marinara over contents of baking dish.  Sprinkle with both cheeses.

5) Cover and bake 30-40 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.

Notes: Next time I'll make it my way from the get-go and see how it goes.

Kid Participation
* Toss vegetables into baking dish
* Pour marinara
* Sprinkle cheeses

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

Original Recipe HERE

This recipe isn't going to win any points for being healthy, though a few ingredients can be modified (like using low-fat or reduced sodium condensed soup...just be sure to read the labels carefully to make sure that what you're saving in calories isn't being negated by scary additives and chemicals).  The original used an insane amount of butter, so I followed several comments and substituted milk for some of it.  But...it was easy, fast, filling, and a good way to use up the abundant zucchini.  Because my other option was making chocolate zucchini bread.  I think that this was the lesser of the two evils.

Ingredients

1 6-oz box whole wheat stuffing mix

1/4 cup butter, melted

1/2 cup milk

3 cups diced & peeled zucchini

2 cups cubed or shredded cooked chicken [about 2 large breasts]

1 10.75-oz can condensed cream of chicken soup

8 baby carrots, finely chopped

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

additional seasoning, such as garlic powder, salt, pepper, etc. [optional]

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350 F.

2) In large bowl, combine stuffing mix, butter, and milk.

3) Add zucchini, chicken, soup, carrot, onion, sour cream, and optional seasoning to the remaining stuffing mixture.

4) Transfer to a greased 2.5-quart baking dish.  Bake, uncovered, for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Notes: Next time I'll take substitue all but 2 tablespoons of butter with milk.   Adding shredded cheese, pressed garlic, or finely chopped onion could work, though they're not necessary flavor additions.  Different condensed soups could be used to tweak it.

Kid Participation:

* Stir ingredients

* Transfer mixture to baking dish (and then clean up the subsequent specimens that escape)

Honey Garlic Meatballs

Original Recipe HERE

I can't stay away from cocktail meatballs at any party, so I'm always happy to try a new recipe in the comfort of my own home.  Where I can eat as many as I want (in the name of quality control, of course) and no one will judge me.  These are versatile in that they can be made smaller and served in a crock pot as an appetizer, or they can be served as a main dish over rice or pasta.  I also liked that the meat mixture could be made ahead of time and just kept in the fridge - because working with raw meat around curious little ones with grabby hands makes me nervous.

Ingredients for Meatballs

1 ½ pounds lean ground beef [or turkey]

¼ cup shredded parmesan

½ cup dry breadcrumbs

3 Tablespoons dried parsley

¼ cup tomato sauce

1 teaspoon dry mustard

¾ teaspoon dried Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon black pepper, or to taste

2 cloves garlic, finely minced or pressed

thinly sliced green onions [optional]

sesame seeds, toasted [optional]

rice or pasta [optional]

Ingredients for Sauce

2 Tablespoons butter

3 cloves garlic, minced

¾ cup ketchup

½ cup honey

¼ cup soy sauce

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400°.

2) Combine the meatball ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

3) Prepare a broiler pan by coating with cooking spray [or line a baking sheet with foil and grease it]. Shape mixture into 30 (1 1/2-inch) meatballs.

4) Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until done. Drain the grease and set them aside.

5) While meatballs cook, melt butter in saucepan and saute garlic until it is fragrant, about 30 seconds.

6) Add ketchup, honey and soy sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer five minutes.

7) Add meatballs to the sauce. Return to a boil and simmer uncovered until sauce glazes meatballs.

8) If serving over rice or pasta, garnish with green onion and sesame seeds.

Notes: None!

Kid Participation

* Measure dry ingredients for meatballs

* Practice eating with toothpicks

Biscuits with Strawberries and Ricotta Cream

Original Recipe for Biscuits HERE

Original Recipe for Ricotta Cream HERE

During a recent visit, my mom thought that the strawberries from the grocery store weren't good enough.  So she drove to a new farm stand nearby and bought a ton of just-picked ones.  She insisted that we eat them fresh - no freezing allowed (that would be reserved for the sub-par ones I bought).  There's only so many times I could put them in yogurt or make a smoothie or just eat them plain.  So I made them into a dessert that was universally complimented: a biscuit sliced in half, a generous scoop of strawberries on both, and each finished with a big dollop of the ricotta mixture.  I had some Redi-Whip getting geriatric in the fridge, so I may or may not have squirted some of that on top...

I made the biscuits, but that's not necessary.  Storebought ones can be used, or pound cake could be substituted.  Or the strawberries and ricotta could just be layered together in a glass (maybe add some slivered almonds? granola?). 

STRAWBERRIES & RICOTTA CREAM

Ingredients

1 cup part-skim ricotta cheese

2 tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 (16 oz) container strawberries, hulled and sliced

Sugar (approximately 1 tablespoon)

Directions

1) Put ricotta, honey and vanilla extract into small bowl of a food processor and process until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to small bowl and refrigerate at least 2 hours.

2) Put strawberries into non-plastic bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Allow to mascerate in refrigerator, gently stirring several times.

BUTTERMILK BISCUITS

* Be sure to read the tips in the original recipe for how to maximize your results.

Ingredients

1 cup (5 oz) all-purpose flour

1 cup (4 oz) cake flour [can substitute with 1 cup all-purpose flour and increase buttermilk by 2 tablespoons]

2 teaspoons baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into ¼-inch cubes

¾ cup cold buttermilk

Directions

1) Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2) Place flours, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in large bowl [hand]or workbowl of a food processor [processor] fitted with the metal blade. Whisk together or process with 6 1-second pulses.

3) Hand: use two knives, a pastry blender, or fingertips to quickly cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few slightly larger butter lumps. Processor: remove cover and distribute butter evenly over dry ingredients. Cover and process with 12 1-second pulses.

4) Hand: stir in buttermilk with a rubber spatula or fork until the mixture forms a soft, slightly sticky ball.  Processor: remove the cover and pour the buttermilk evenly over the dough. Process until the dough gathers into moist clumps, about eight 1-second pulses.

5) Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and quickly form into rough ball (careful not to overmix). Pat the dough into ¾-inch-thick circle.

6) Cut out dough rounds with a biscuit cutter [I used a small drinking glass with the rim dredged in flour]. Push together the remaining pieces and repeat until no dough is left.  Place the biscuits on an ungreased cookie sheet (sheet can be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to 2 hours).

7) Bake until biscuit tops are light brown, 10 to 12 minutes.

Notes: None, other than maybe making the full "strawberries and balsamic" recipe in the original one linked to above.

Kid Participation:

* Add ingredients for cream mixture

* Push buttons on food processor

* Add dry ingredients for biscuits

* Pat dough

* Cut out biscuit rounds

Carmelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Gruyere Quiche

Original Recipe HERE

This one looked and tasted fancy.  Too bad *N* wasn't a big fan, but I didn't expect her to be.  It also took some planning ahead, as a few ingredients weren't ones I always have on hand.  And carmelizing the onions, cooking and cooling the crust, and the actual baking weren't things that could be rushed (obviously...).  Better to do those ahead of time of possible, then do the 30-second assembly when it's time to put it in the oven.  But Husband and I thought it was really tasty, and I'll keep it filed away as something to make when company comes or there's a reason I need to impress someone.

Ingredients for the Crust

Cooking spray [or preferred method of greasing a pan]

3/4 cup oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons cold, lowfat buttermilk

Ingredients for the Filling

4 teaspoons olive oil

1 large onion, sliced thinly into half moons

8 ounces sliced mushrooms [cremini, oyster, shiitake, baby bella, or white]

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1 teaspoon dry thyme leaves [or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh]

3 large eggs

3 egg whites

1 cup evaporated fat-free milk (not condensed milk)

2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese (about 1 oz)

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray.

* To Prepare Crust

2) Put oats, flour and salt in bowl of  food processor and pulse 3 times to combine.

3) Add butter and pulse about 12 times for a pebbly course texture.

4) Add buttermilk and pulse 3 to 5 times to combine.

5) Form mixture into ball and place it between 2 large pieces of waxed paper. Roll into a circle about 10 inches in diameter.

6) Remove top sheet of waxed paper. Transfer crust (still on other piece of waxed paper) to pie dish, then remove waxed paper from the top. Press the crust gently into the dish.

7) Bake 9 minutes; let cool.

* To Prepare Filling

8) Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large nonstick pan over medium-low heat.

9) Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Transfer onions to a bowl.

10) Add remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to pan and heat over medium-high heat.

11) Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they release their water and begin to brown, about 6 minutes.

12) Add onions back to the pan.  Stir in salt, pepper, mustard and thyme.

13) In medium bowl whisk together eggs, egg whites and evaporated milk.

* To Assemble

14) Sprinkle cheese into the pie crust. Top with mushroom-onion mixture.  Pour the egg mixture on top.

15) Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Bake 35 minutes or until knife inserted in middle comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 wedges and serving.

Notes: I'll potentially trying another type of mushroom or cheese to vary the flavor (or just to use what I have on hand).  I think frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained) could be easily added, and you can never go wrong with some cooked, chopped bacon or finely diced ham.

Kid Participation:

* Push buttons on food processor

* Crack 3 eggs

* Whisk eggs and milk

* Sprinkle cheese in crust

Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas with Creamy Salsa Verde

Original Recipe HERE

I love enchiladas because they're hard to screw up, can be frozen, make good leftovers, and can be adjusted to suit the tastes of those you're feeding.  They can also be healthy or a heart-attack-in-a-pan.  I tried to make these relatively healthy by using low fat chicken broth, light sour cream, low fat cheese, and whole wheat tortillas (because if you look at how bad just one regular tortilla is, it's astounding).  These were a little more labor-intensive than I'd expected, but they made enough for dinner for two, lunch for two, and lunch for one.  So I guess they actually saved me time in the long run.

Ingredients for Chicken and White Bean Filling

1 tsp olive oil

1/4 cup minced white onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 can (4.5 oz) chopped green chiles

1 can (15.5 oz) Navy beans (or Cannellini beans)

2 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded [canned chicken can be substituted]

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tsp cumin

Ingredients for Green Chile Enchilada Sauce

1 tsp butter

1/2 cup chopped white onion

2 tbsp flour

1 cup chicken broth

2 cans (4.5 oz each) chopped green chiles

1 to 2 jalapeños, seeded & finely chopped

salt

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese

8 to 10 10" tortillas

chopped fresh cilantro and/or scallions [optional]

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 375.

* For the Filling

2) In a medium pan, heat olive oil on low. Add onions, garlic and saute until soft, about 2-3 minutes.

3) Add green chiles, beans, water, bullion, and cumin. Mix well and cover. Simmer on low 15 minutes.

4) Remove cover, add chicken and cook an additional 5 minutes, or until it thickens and liquid boils down. Remove from heat.

* For the Green Chile Enchilada Sauce:

5) In a large nonstick pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until it softens and starts to turn translucent, about 3-4 minutes.

6) Add flour and stir well. Cook 1 minute, stirring constantly.

30 Slowly whisk in chicken broth until sauce becomes smooth. Cook over medium heat until the sauce boils and thickens, about 4-5 minutes.

7) Add green chiles, jalepeños, and salt to taste. Cook 1 minute and remove from the heat. Stir in the sour cream.

* To Assemble

8) Spread 1/4 cup of the enchilada sauce on the bottom of a 9x13" baking dish.

9) Fill each tortilla with about 1/2 cup of the filling. Roll tortillas and place seam side down in the prepared baking dish. Continue filling remainder of tortillas.

10) Pour enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. Top with cheese.

11) Cover with aluminum and bake 20-30 minutes until enchiladas are hot and cheese is melted. Remove from oven and top with fresh cilantro or scallions.

Notes: Next time I'll try to make the filling and sauce ahead of time and refrigerate them so that I can just throw the enchiladas together and put them in the oven.  I'll also throw in some brown rice or quinoa (or a can of black beans) to make even more so I can try freezing a few.  And I'll also mix some salsa into either the filling or sauce just to see how it adjusts the taste.

Kid Participation:

* Pour beans and chiles into bowl

* Stir filling

* Spread sauce on bottom of pan

* Pour sauce over enchiladas

* Sprinkle cheese over enchiladas

BBQ Chicken Soup

Original Recipe HERE

This was so good - I knew it would be just from smelling it while it simmered.  Husband even commented on how tasty it was going to be.  We weren't disappointed.  I made a few changes to the original recipe, and I changed the name because I'm not sure what was pizza-y about it to warrant labeling it such.  I also served it with orzo to make the portions "stretch."  I was so excited to have it for lunch the next day - rare is it when I'm impatiently awaiting lunchtime so I can dig into leftovers.  Turns out Husband took it with him to work.

Ingredients

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh minced or chopped garlic

11 oz can corn, drained

2 12 oz cans chicken, drained [or chopped / shredded cooked chicken breast]

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1/2 cup BBQ sauce

14 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes, with juice [as much as you want to use]

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic salt or powder

small pasta (orzo, ditalini, etc.) or rice, cooked [optional]

Directions

1) Heat oil into a medium pot over medium heat. When hot, saute onions for 5 minutes or until softened.

2) Stir in garlic, corn and chicken ; mix to combine.

3) Pour in chicken broth, BBQ sauce, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes or until ready to serve.

4) Stir in cooked pasta or rice.

Notes: Next time I'll add a can of black beans (drained); I didn't have any in the pantry this time.  Some mexican-blend cheese sprinkled on top could be tasty.

Kid Participation: None, unless your child knows how to use a can opener (and mine does not).