Easy Quinoa with Roasted Mini-Bell Peppers

23 Aug 2013 2 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Lunch, Main Dish, Salad, Side Dish

Sometimes it’s surprising how tasty something that is so easy and that has just a few ingredients is, isn’t it?   The title of this recipe doesn’t lie. It’s easy. But it’s also fab!!

For a recipe swap for ‘Summer Salads’ with some fellow food bloggers I was given this recipe from Jenni’s blog www.doughseedough.net and I’m so glad! As the recipe title suggests it is truly easy so it’s a snap to just put together in a flash.  I adjusted her recipe a bit (I roasted the peppers in the oven instead of in a pan on the stove to cut down on the oil) and I halved her original recipe as it’s just me eating it.

quinoa

Easy Quinoa with Roasted Mini-Bell Peppers

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
  • 1 cup quinoa, rinced well if needed
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped small
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1  bag of mini-bell peppers (mine had 6), sliced into 1/2 inch strips, seeds removed
  • 4 ozs feta cheese, crumbled
  • kosher salt and white pepper, to taste
  • 1 tbsp parsley, chopped small

Instructions:

  1. In a medium sauce pan over medium/high heat add the broth and quinoa and simmer until cooked to desired consistancy (for me that’s about 14 minutes-I like it al dente), drain remaining broth if necessary. Set aside and keep warm.
  2. While the quinoa is cooking pre-heat oven to 375.
  3. On a baking pan lined with foil arrange the peppers in one layer, sprinkle with garlic and drizzle with the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste and roast for about 15 minutes.
  4. In a large bowl combine the quinoa and peppers/garlic and stir. Top with feta and parsley and serve.

Check out the other great salads in the swap here!!

Caprese Chicken

21 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Main Dish, Slow Cooker Tags: , ,

Recently I came across a recipe that I had printed for Balsamic Chicken which was cooked in the slow cooker.  It sounded delicious and very easy-but why stop there? If the chicken would cook for hours in delicious balsamic vinegar why not make it into a caprese chicken dish? In my head I imagined a piece of chicken topped with a slice of melted fresh mozzarella cheese, some toasted breadcrumbs, some tomatoes, fresh basil and drizzled with olive oil and balsamic glaze.  And that’s exactly what happened-although the picture in my head was this neat little package all perfectly balanced on the plate and the plate that I ended up with wasn’t quite so neat.

The flavor. WOW! Delicious!  Drizzling the balsamic glaze and olive oil over the dish at the end really made all of the other flavors pop.

The other fab part of this dish is that the chicken cooks in the slow cooker and you can make that in advance (mine was cooked on Sunday and I made the completed dish on a Tuesday night). The completed dish took no  more than 15 minutes start to finish-so it’s great for a weeknight as well.

I had cherry tomatoes on hand but you can certainly use other larger tomatoes and just cut a few slices-just make sure they’re nice and ripe.

caprese1

Caprese Chicken

Ingredients for slow cooker portion:

  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 2-2.5 lbs, seasoned with salt and pepper
  • 1 medium yellow onion, sliced to 1/2 inch rounds and then halved
  • 4 large garlic cloves, chopped into a few pieces
  • 1/2 cup high-quality balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp dried basil
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (do not drain)

Ingredients for oven portion:

  • 3 tsp butter
  • 6 tbsp fresh seasoned breadcrumbs
  • 3-6 slices fresh mozzarella (1-2 slices each-as per your taste)
  • 1/2  pint cherry tomatoes, sliced in half or larger tomatoes sliced.
  • fresh basil leaves, sliced thin
  • drizzles of balsamic glaze 
  • drizzles of olive oil 

Instructions for the slow cooker:

  1. Trim any fat from the chicken, season with salt and pepper and set aside.
  2. Coat the bottom of the slow cooker insert with the olive oil, snuggle the chicken breasts into the cooker in an even layer, top with the onion and, garlic and herbs.  Pour the vinegar and tomatoes into the cooker.
  3. Cook on low for 6 hours.
  4. If you plan on completing the dish another day allow the chicken and onion/tomato mixture to cool and then store in the refrigerator for a few days—otherwise continue below.

Instructions for oven:

  1. Preheat broiler to low setting.
  2. Place the butter in a small pan on the stove over medium heat. When hot and bubbling add the breadcrumbs.  Stir and cook until toasty brown then set aside.
  3. Reheat chicken and some of the onions/tomato mixture (however you’d like–I used the microwave).
  4. In a dish suitable for the broiler place the chicken and some of the onions/tomato mixture, top with slices of cheese then breadcrumbs and put in the oven until the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Remove from the oven, place chicken and some of the onions/tomatoes on a plate, arrange tomatoes around it, sprinkle with basil and drizzle with the olive oil and balsamic glaze. Serve immediately.

caprese2

 

Chicken with Mushrooms & Shallots

15 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Main Dish Tags: ,

I’m always on the look out for new, fast, delicious chicken recipes and this one filled that bill perfectly. Very little prep, cooks quickly and the end result is a wonderfully flavorful, moist piece of chicken with earthy mushrooms and savory shallots-and plenty of them as you can see in the photo below. Clearly I haven’t mastered the art of food photography but trust me on this-the chicken is way better than my crappy photo makes it look.

chicken

Chicken with Mushrooms & Shallots

Ingredients:

  • 4 6oz skinless boneless chicken breast  (halves) 1/3 inch thick
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 large shallots
  • 8ozs presliced mushrmoom blend (I used baby bella, shiitake and oyster)
  • 1/3 cup dry sherry
  • 1 tsp dried marjoram
  • Cooking spray

Instructions:

  1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper, coat with cooking spray. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to the pan and cook until browned on each side about 5-6 minutes.
  2. While chicken is cooking slice the shallots into thin rounds. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside. Spray the pan with cooking spray, add the mushrooms and shallots and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in sherry and marjoram.  Put the chicken back into the pan, cover and cook for 3 to 4 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly and the mushrooms are tender. Serve chicken with mushrooms and shallot mixture poured over the top.

Makes 4 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast cookbook.

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass Sandwich with Homemade Tartar Sauce

12 Aug 2013 Leave a comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Condiment/Topping, Lunch, Main Dish Tags: ,

Recently I’ve had it in my head that I need to eat more fish at home. Seeing as though I live on an island with an abundance of fantastic fresh fish available it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge.  I used Chilean Sea Bass for this sandwich but you could also use cod, grouper or any other white flaky fish.

Keeping with that thought I decided to make this sandwich and it was so fantastic!! Light, flaky fish and tangy, zesty tartar sauce. It wasn’t too big or too small-just right. These sandwiches came together in no time. While the fish is cooking you prepare the sauce. 

fish1

Grilled Chilean Sea Bass Sandwich with Homemade Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1 5-6oz fresh Chilean Sea Bass filet, skin and any bones removed
  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • salt & pepper for seasoning
  • 1 sandwich roll or hamburger bun (I used one Arnold whole wheat Sandwich Thin)
  • lettuce leaves

Instructions:

  1. Pre-heat a stove top grill pan to medium heat  (you can also use an outdoor grill).
  2. Drizzle fish with olive oil on all sides and then season with salt and pepper.
  3. Place fish on the grill and cook for about 3 minutes on each side (depending on the size of the fish) until fish flakes easily with a fork.
  4. Place fish, lettuce and tartar sauce (recipe below) on a bun and enjoy.

Makes 1 sandwich.

 

Homemade Tartar Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup light mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp chopped scallions
  • 1&1/2 tbsp finely chopped cornichons
  • 1&1/2 tsp capers, drained
  • 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Instructions:

  1. Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside to use right away or refrigerate until later.

Makes just over 1/4 cup of sauce.

 

Both recipies adapted from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast cookbook.

 

Sriracha and Bacon Egg Salad Sandwich

24 Jul 2013 1 Comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Lunch, Main Dish, Salad Tags: , ,

Some times I like egg salad. Those times include when it’s not drowning in mayonnaise and when it’s zingy! Who likes mushy bland egg salad is a mystery to me….. The egg salad below is anything but mushy and bland.  It’s really tasty and it’s light and airy. If you like bacon and sriracha and eggs you’ll like this a lot.

eggsal

Sriracha & Bacon Egg Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

  • 3 large eggs, hard-boiled, cooled and peeled
  • 4 strips bacon, cooked (2 broken into small pieces, 1 set aside for topping and 1 for the dog 🙂 )
  • 1 generous tbsp low fat mayonnaise
  • 3-4 tbsp finely chopped red onion
  • 1 generous tsp sriracha
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 1 piece of romaine lettuce
  • 2 slices of bread

Instructions:

  1. Gently chop eggs and yolks and put them in a bowl. Add everything else but the 1 strip of bacon, bread and lettuce and stir gently.
  2. Place lettuce on one slice of bread, top with salad, top salad with bacon, place 2nd slice of bread on top and enjoy.

Greatly adapted from Cooking Light magazine, August, 2013

Makes 1 sandwich

Flash Chicken Fried Rice

15 Jul 2013 1 Comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Side Dish Tags: , , ,

So last week my Wednesday night went a bit like this: home from work at 5:40, walk dog, make a dinner in 20 minutes and get to a meeting by 6:30 that ended up lasting until 11:00.  Yeah it was that kind of day.  And night.  I had to think of something that I couldn’t mess up, something that I could make in a flash (snicker snicker), and that had a bunch of good stuff in it and that was tasty too.  Thankfully Husband made up 3 cups of rice for me the day before so it was all ready in the fridge.  The rest of the recipe is a mish-mosh of stuff that I had in the fridge and freezer. And it was perfect! It was delicious, filling but not FILLING, and had a nice balance of tastes and textures.   It’s more of a stir fry than a fried rice really-but who cares-it’s good and FAR better for you than stopping for take out.

Next time you’re going to run short on time give this recipe a try.  It took me about 18 minutes from chopping the onion to when it was in the container ready to go.

rice

Flash Chicken Fried Rice

 Ingredients:

  • 3 cups cooked day-old rice (I used white-feel free to use any other kind you’d like)*
  • 1 large chicken breast, trimmed of fat, boneless and skinless cut into small bite sized pieces
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 small yellow onion, cut into very thin strips
  • 2 cups frozen edamame
  • 2 cups frozen corn
  • 4 tbsp sesame oil
  • splash of fish sauce
  • a few tbsp low sodium soy sauce (to taste)
  • splash of hoisin sauce

Instructions:

  1. In one skillet over medium high heat warm 1 tbsp sesame oil. When hot add the chicken and cook until nicely browned and cooked  thoroughly. When cooked set aside. 
  2. While the chicken is cooking and in another pan over medium-high heat put 1 tbsp sesame oil. When hot add the onions and stir for a minute or two and then add the edamame and corn and cook until no longer frozen.  Add the fish sauce and stir for a minute or two. 
  3. In a 3rd and large pan (that can hold everything and be stirred) over high heat put the remaining sesame oil and, when hot, add the rice and stir to heat through.  Add the edamame mixture and cook until the rice and veggies are all mixed and the rice has a nice browned outside. 
  4. In the same pan used to cook the edimame mixture, over medium heat, crack the eggs, add a spoonful of the rice mixture and mix quickly to cook completely.  Add the egg mixture to the rice then add the chicken to the rice, stir to combine and remove from heat. Add the soy and hoisin sauces and stir to combine. Serve.

I admit I used a bunch of pans while throwing this together. I’m sure if I had more time I could’ve figured out how to use less–but my purpose was to make a great dish fast, not avoid dirtying dishes. 

This recipe makes quite a bit. I took one container with me to the meeting, had some for lunch the next day and still had a bit left over. I’d say about 4.5-5 cups total.

I think that this would also be great with some bell pepper strips, some snow peas etc…add at will-veggies are good for you!

*if you don’t have pre-made rice it will take that much longer to make this dish.

Crispy Sriracha Chicken Bites

12 Jul 2013 7 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Snack Tags: , ,

I really do like Sriracha and have used it for quite a few years. I came across this recipe over a year ago and it has sat, untouched, buried deep in my folder of ‘to make’ recipes——which is pretty thick.

As luck would have it Husband bought 2 large family packs of chicken breasts recently (on sale woot!! woot!!) so I’ve been looking for a few recipes to use them up and I came across this one.  I wish I would have made these sooner-they’re delicious! The chicken is juicy and perfectly cooked, the coating is hot and crunchy and really tasty and there’s really nothing to them-just great flavor.

sri4

Crispy Sriracha Chicken Bites

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup Sriracha
  • 1 tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp fresh grated ginger (or ground ginger powder)
  • 1/2 tsp fish sauce
  • 1/2 tsp soy sauce
  • 2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless, cut into equal strips (mine were about 1 inch wide) or about 1/2-3/4 lb
  • 1&1/2 cups Panko bread crumbs
  • 1 tsp white pepper
  • 1 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

  1. In a large ziplock bag put the ingredients starting with Sriracha through and including the chicken.  Squish the chicken around to evenly coat and allow to sit at room temp for 30 minutes.
  2. Pre-heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with foil and then place a cooling rack on top of the foil. Set aside.
  3. When the 30 minutes is up use tongs or gloves (I love my surgical gloves for things like this) to roll each marinated piece of chicken in the Panko and set it on the baking sheet. Repeat with all chicken strips. Be sure the pieces aren’t touching each other on the rack.
  4. Bake for about 20 minutes  (if you cut your strips larger or smaller it may take more or less time) or until they’re cooked thoroughly.
  5. Serve with assorted dipping sauces if desired.

sri1 sri2

 Adapted from http://sotastysoyummy.blogspot.com/2012/04/sriracha-chicken-strips.html

Red Dragon Chicken Salad

10 Jul 2013 1 Comment

by sparksfromthekitchen in Appetizer, Lunch, Main Dish, Salad Tags: ,

This is one gigantic delicious salad filled with great flavors and textures. The zingy chili sauce, the slightly sweet dressing, the crunchy noodles, the bright mandarins and the crispy veggies-everything just comes together.

I named it ‘Red Dragon’ chicken salad because of the zing, heat and red sauce on the chicken. Besides it sounds much better than plain old ‘chicken salad’,  no? Yes.

Unfortunately I can’t take full credit for this salad. I based in on a salad that I enjoyed a few weeks ago at Buffalo Wild Wings with Husband.  It was our first visit.  I’m not a fan of  chain restaurants but I liked it there more than I thought I would. The wings were delicious and they have a great variety of foods.

salad3

Red Dragon Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups salad (combination of shredded carrots, cabbage, lettuce and broccoli)
  • 1/3 cup crispy chow mein noodles (I used La Choy)
  • 3 tbsp Newmans Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger salad dressing
  • 1-2 tbsp Asian Zing sauce (from Buffalo Wild Wings)* 
  • 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast grilled and sliced
  • 6 mandarin orange segments

Instructions:

  1. Put salad and dressing together, toss to combine. Sprinkle noodles over the salad. Set aside.
  2. Mix the Asian Zing sauce with the chicken and spread over salad.
  3. Arrange mandarin slices around the outside.

This makes one large salad or 2 smaller salads.

*their Asian Zing sauce tastes to me like Sweet Thai Chili sauce and sriracha so if you don’t have the sauce or want to buy it you can mix those 2 ingredients together to the desired heat level and use that on the chicken instead.

salad2

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

27 Jun 2013 2 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Lunch, Main Dish Tags: , ,

Here’s an easy and really tasty weeknight meal that you can have on the table in about 30 minutes.  The chicken coating is crunchy and delicious, the cheese is deliciously stringy and melted and the sauce is whatever you want it to be-home made or jarred-it’s up to you. I prefer home-made but since I was out I used some jarred sauce. I like having them in the pantry to use in a pinch. 

I opted to forego the pasta that’s usually served with this and just have some steamed veggies and a salad with it. I didn’t miss the pasta.

There’s no neat pretty picture of this with the cheese ‘just so’ and the sauce dribbling ever so seductively down the plate. I slapped this piece on my plate, took 2 pics, and then dug in.  If you were as hungry as I was and smelled this delicious stuff you would’ve done the same 🙂

chixparm

Skillet Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

  • 1-1.5 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut and/or pounded to equal thin pieces about 1/2 inch thick.
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup AP flour
  • 2-3 cups Panko
  • a few tbsp olive oil
  • Italian seasoning
  • kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2-3/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mozzarella
  • 3-5 cups marinara sauce (your preference on amount and type of sauce)

Instructions:

  1. Place flour in one shallow bowl, the eggs in a 2nd and the panko in a 3rd and place the bowls next to each other. Season the flour and panko with salt, pepper and italian seasoning.
  2. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a non-stick skillet (large enough to hold the chicken in 1 layer or almost all in one layer-a little overlapping is ok) over medium/high heat.
  3. Take 1 piece of chicken, roll it around in the seasoned flour to coat it, shake off the excess, dredge through egg then roll in the panko to coat. Place in the pan and cook until first side is browned and crispy, then flip it over and do the same for the other side until it’s cooked through thoroughly. Set aside and keep warm.
  4. Repeat with each piece of chicken.  You may place more than one piece in the pan but do not crowd it.
  5. Pour the sauce into the same pan and set over medium/low heat until thoroughly heated then place the pieces of chicken back in, ladle some of the sauce over the top of the chicken and then top the chicken with mozzarella and either cover with a lid and leave it on the stove until the cheese is melted or place in the oven (if you have an oven-safe pan) until cheese is melted.
  6. Serve immediately.

 You may also serve over pasta or then put the chicken into a hero roll for a great sandwich.

Thai Red Curry Coconut Shrimp (over coconut jasmine rice)

19 Jun 2013 4 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Lunch, Main Dish Tags: , , ,

Let me start by saying that, if given the chance, I’d eat panang chicken over coconut rice from my local Thai take out place every day for forever.  It’s just something that I really love-creamy, spicy, over slightly sweet super fragrant rice. It’s fantastic.

That being said anything that has the red curry and coconut combo like the panang chicken gets a fast pass to the front of my ‘to make’ list.  It’s just so tasty!   This is a great weeknight dish. It’s very tasty, only dirties one pan and is fast to make-maybe 15 minutes start to finish. Up or lower the amount of the red curry you put in to your own taste. I also added a few squirts of sriracha too.  I used 21/25 shrimp and they were just the right size. I found the original recipe on skinnytaste.com while trolling the net for some new recipes with shrimp. Here’s my adaptation. The rice is my recipe.

shrimp1

Thai Red Curry Coconut Shrimp (over coconut jasmine rice)

Ingredients for curry:

  • 1 tsp vegetable or canola oil
  • 4 scallions, chopped-whites and greens separated
  • 3 tbsp Thai Red Curry paste
  • 2 large garlic cloves, put through a press or finely diced
  • 1lb shrimp (21/25) peeled and deveined
  • coconut milk, light, 1 6oz can
  • 2 tsp fish sauce
  • sriracha if desired
  • 1 tsp fresh cilantro, ripped into small pieces
  • kosher salt to taste

Ingredients for rice:

  • 1 cup uncooked jasmine rice
  • 1.5 cups water
  • 2 tbsp light coconut milk (take out of the can for the curry)
  • unsweetened flaked coconut, cut into small pieces

Instructions for curry:

  1. In a large non-stick skillet heat the oil on medium/high heat. When hot add the white scallions and red curry paste and sautee for one minute or until the curry becomes very fragrant.
  2. Add the garlic and shrimp and cook about 3 minutes. Add salt if desired.
  3. Pour in the coconut milk amd fish sauce and stir to evenly combine and then simmer for about 3 minutes.
  4. Taste sauce and add more curry or sriracha if desired.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the cilantro and remaining scallions.
  6. Serve immediately over rice or plain.

Instructions for rice:

  1. Prepare the rice with water as per the package instructions on the stove.
  2. When cooking time is up add the coconut flakes and milk and stir.
  3. Serve.

I used the last of the cilantro that I’ve been growing for this recipe. Do you know that when cilantro has hit it’s end it flowers? Well I didn’t. The flowers are very pretty and very delicate. I looked all of this up online and found out that this is normal and when the flowers go away the seeds left are the coriander seeds. I knew that cilantro and coriander were from the same plant but it’s amazing to see it all going on right in my own flower pot.

cilantro

Previous Older Entries Next Newer Entries