Sweet & Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Hello, readers! It certainly has been a while. The past 2 months have been absolutely crazy for me, which explains the lack of posts. The holidays always seem to be crazy, huh? The normal craziness of the holiday season was compounded by my 2nd teaching job (you know, grading finals and what not) and me starting my 3rd job (yes, 3rd job) as a contract writer. I swear, I don't know how to not be busy. What the eff is wrong with me?

Anyway, even with all the craziness 2013 came to an end with, I managed to find this AWESOME recipe for Sweet & Spicy Chicken Stir Fry. This recipe has now turned into a weekly staple on my dinner menu. It's pretty simple, has only a few ingredients (assuming you have most of the sauce ingredients on hand), and is sure to please. 

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs honey
• 4 Tbs Sriracha or other chili sauce
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 6 Tbs soy sauce, divided
• 6 Tbs rice vinegar, divided
• vegetable oil
• 2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into strips or bite size pieces
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 inches freshly chipped ginger
• 6 scallions, chopped
• 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets
• 2 cups cooked rice, optional

How to:

• Whisk together honey, Sriracha, broth, cornstarch, 4 Tbs soy sauce and 4 Tbs rice vinegar. 
• In a separate bowl, whisk together remaining soy sauce and rice vinegar. Add chicken to the bowl and toss to coat.
• In a large skillet, warm vegetable oil over high heat. Stir fry chicken until no longer pink, and then transfer to a clean bowl.
• Reduce heat slightly, and add some more oil to the skillet. Stir fry garlic, ginger, scallions, and broccoli until fragrant (only ~30 seconds or so).
• Return chicken to the skillet with the sauce you've prepared. Cook, stirring until sauce thickens, about 2-3 minutes. 
• Serve over rice.

You can adjust the heat of this recipe by backing off (or adding more!) on the Sriracha. If you're not in the mood for chicken, try adding in tofu or beef strips instead. Let me know how your variation turns out!

This recipe was modified from the one found here.

Enjoy!

Festive Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

Happy Fall, Y'all! We are in the middle of my favorite season. Leaves are changing, the air is getting colder, and I've been drinking hot cider for a good 3 weeks straight. A-mazing.

Fall brings another one of my favorite things - Halloween! Last weekend, Jake and I went to a Halloween party (check out my fab 80s costume). I wanted to bring something to the party, but was running short on time. I had an unopened bag of pretzel rods and some Wilton Milk Chocolate Candy Melts hanging around, so I decided chocolate dipped pretzels were the way to go. I decorated them with some festive sprinkles, and viola! Quick and delicious Halloween-themed deliciousness.

This weekend, Jake and I are headed to a pig roast. I picked up some large pretzels and decided to try dipping these instead of the rods. They look awesome, and taste even better than they look.

My sis-in-law and I on
Halloween this year!

Ingredients:

• Candy Melts (any flavor)
• pretzel (rods or large pretzels)
• assorted sprinkles, candies, chopped nuts, and/or coconut

How to:

• Melt chocolate as according to package.
• Dip pretzels.
• Lay pretzels on parchment-lined cookie sheet.
• Decorate with toppings.
• Let set and serve.

I just love these things. They're so easy to make, and you really can't go wrong with a sweet & salty combo. And depending on the occasion, you can totally decorate the pretzels to match your theme. I actually made chocolate-dipped pretzels as wedding favors back in May, and my wedding guests only had great things to say about them. 

Enjoy!

Chicken Tostadas

As the summer is coming to an end, I find myself getting busier and busier. In the past month, Jake and I have had three weddings (although we could only make it to two of them), I've traveled to visit friends all over the place, and have started training to run the Baltimore marathon relay. Things don't seem to be slowing down anytime soon - Jake and I are making a trip up to Massachusetts in the next few weeks to attend ANOTHER wedding, and I'll be starting a second job in September. As hectic as things are, I've had a pretty fantastic summer, and am excited for all the fun things I have planned over the next year! But I can delve into that at another time...

Anyway, because things have been so crazy (especially with trying to fit in a work out after a long ass day in the lab), I'm finding less and less time to craft fab gourmet meals for Jake and I. Which leads me to introduce this recipe for Chicken Tostadas. This recipe uses leftover chicken, and can be assembled in less than 30 min.

Ingredients:

• 8 6-in flour or corn tortillas
• 2 avocados, pitted, and cut into 1/2 cubes
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup fat-free refried beans
• 2 cups shredded, cooked, boneless chicken breast
• 1 1/2 cups (~4 oz.) shredded pepper Jack cheese
• 2 cups shredded romaine lettuce
• 1 cup tomato salsa

How To:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with heavy-duty foil.
• Mist both sides of tortillas with cooking spray, place on sheet, and bake until crisp (~ 8 minutes). Set aside.
• Toss avocado with lime juice, and season with salt.
• Spread some beans on each tortilla, top with chicken and avocado, and sprinkle with cheese. 
• Return to oven and bake until warmed through (7-10 minutes).
• Top with lettuce and salsa and serve immediately.

Jake and I had a ton of leftover chicken from the last time we made Jerk Chicken using my recipe for Jamaican Jerk Marinade. I diced up a bunch of that chicken and used it in this recipe. The spices and heat from the marinade worked well with the coolness of the avocado here, so I recommend trying that out! You can also just use a rotisserie chicken if you don't have any grilled chicken laying around.

Enjoy!

Dragon Noodles

Holy mother, it is HOT outside. As in 'too hot to cook' hot. As dinner approached today, I was in search of a quick and delicious meal that would allow me to quickly return to my spot on the couch, where I could eat in the air conditioning and watch bad TV. I found this recipe, and it was exactly the type of dish I was looking for! Although I will warn you - as the name implies, this dish is super spicy. Maybe not the best thing for a hot day like today, but we all know how I feel about spicy food.

This dish is ready in less than 10 minutes. I kid you not. And it's SO delicious. It's also SERIOUSLY spicy. I feel like I should stress that so you don't hate me for not warning you.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz. lo mein noodles
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Sriracha (rooster sauce)
• fresh cilantro
• 1 green onion, sliced

How to:

• Boil water in a medium size sauce pan, and cook noodles according to package.
• While noodles are cooking, prepare the sauce: combine brown sugar, soy sauce, and Sriracha in a small bowl.
• In a large skillet, heat butter over low-medium heat. Add red pepper flakes as butter is melting.
• Whisk the egg in a small bowl, and add to butter in skillet. Stir gently until egg is cooked through. Then, turn off heat.
• When the noodles are tender, drain and add cooked noodles to the skillet. Add sauce and turn noodles until they are evenly coated with the sauce.
• Heat the skillet over low heat to reduce some of the sauce. 
• Sprinkle with cilantro and onion, and serve.

If the spice is too much for you to handle, try adding less crushed red pepper, or omit it altogether. You can also try this dish with any type of noodle - linguine or udon noodles work well too. 

The original recipe can be found here.

Honey-Balsamic Sweet Potato Mash

Happy Thursday, readers! This week has been crazy. Well, let me rephrase - this week has been crazy in an awesome way. I was a social butterfly this week! Some girlfriends and I ventured out to experience Paint Nite at a local bar (which was fantastic, by the way!), and the following night I met up with some more friends to share delicious margaritas and Mexican food. So many awesome plans on weeknights? Sometimes (most of the time) my life rules. 

Needless to say, I haven't spent a whole lot of time in the kitchen this week. I did, however, find time to whip up this sweet little side dish. This recipe for Honey-Balsamic Sweet Potato Mash is VERY tasty. It's great, because you can pop your potatoes in the oven to cook while you throw the rest of your meal together, and by the time your main dish is complete, the potatoes are ready to be mashed.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs sweet potatoes
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 1/4 cup half & half
• 1 Tbsp honey
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• freshly ground pepper

How to:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Prick your potatoes with a fork, and bake on a foil-lined baking sheet until very tender (50-60 min).
• Set the potatoes aside to cool.
• When they are cool enough to handle, halve them lengthwise and spoon out the flesh into a large bowl. Discard the skins.
• Mash the potatoes to your desired consistency, and stir in the remaining ingredients. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Serve immediately.

The original recipe uses heavy cream, but I only had half & half in my fridge. The sweet potatoes still tasted very velvety and rich with this substitution. Additionally, the original recipe suggests using wildflower or lavender if you don't have any honey. I'm thinking it's time for me to purchase these ingredients, so I can see how they change up the dish!

Enjoy!

This recipe is from Williams-Sonoma Bride & Groom Cookbook.

Easy Fried Rice

I swear, these past few weeks have been so busy, I can't even keep up with my blog. I suppose it's because Jake and I's wedding is only a mere 9 weeks away, and the amount of things we have piling up is starting to get a little overwhelming. Oy, is it May yet?

One day last week, between trips to the gym and addressing wedding invitations, I threw this meal together. Super easy, super fast, super delicious. Like most of my meals, chances are you already have all these ingredients in your pantry and fridge. So, you should be able to whip this up in no time.

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs sesame oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup frozen vegetables, thawed*
• 2 slightly beaten eggs
• 3 cups cooked rice**
• 1/4 cup soy sauce

How to:

• Warm oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet.
• Add onion and garlic and cook until fragrant, stirring occasionally.
• Add in frozen (thawed) veggies and egg, stirring until egg is cooked through.
• Add in rice and soy sauce, mixing thoroughly, until veggies are cooked through and dish is heated throughout.

*You can really use any type of frozen veggies you want. I used a mix of peas, carrots, and corn, but anything will work.

**Day-old leftover rice works best. I also found that cooking the rice with 1/4 cup water less than what is recommended gives the rice a good texture as well.

This is one of those meals that you can pretty much add anything to, and it'll still taste good. If you have leftover chicken or beef, I say toss it in. As you can see in the picture, I've also diced up some raw chicken and cooked it in the sesame oil before adding in the onion & garlic. It turned out pretty good!

Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Tenders

Last week was definitely 'one of those' weeks, where I was so busy I felt like I couldn't even find time to sleep. I desperately needed to go grocery shopping, but I just couldn't bring myself to go back out after getting home from work. I decided it would be a week of leftovers for dinner - until Friday rolled around and I had absolutely nothing left to serve Jake and myself. 

I remembered a recipe for quick and easy chicken tenders I had experimented with in the past. This recipe for Baked Chicken Tenders is from a recipe book my mom's hair salon sold as a fundraiser a few years ago. The best part about this dish is that you likely already have the ingredients on hand, so it's a perfect dish to throw together if you're running low on meal ideas (or are too lazy to go to the grocery store sometimes, like me). Another great thing about this recipe is you can totally customize it to your liking.

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken boneless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch strips
• About 1 cup of mayonnaise
• garlic powder
• Italian seasoning to your taste
• dried basil to your taste
• 1-2 stacks finely crushed Ritz crackers

How to:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with Parchment paper.
• Combine mayonnaise, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and basil in a small bowl.
• Coat each chicken strip with mayonnaise mixture, then roll in cracker crumbs.
• Place tenders on lined baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through.
• Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.

 Substitutions & Suggestions:

1. Try different seasoning combinations to change the whole flavor of the tenders.
2. Substitute mayo for greek yogurt for a healthier alternative.
3. Replace the garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and basil with Dijon mustard, and the crushed Ritz crackers with pretzels or Flip Sides pretzel-crackers for a different flavor.
4. Garlic-butter flavored Ritz crackers add an extra boost of flavor to these tenders.

The first time I made these, I couldn't believe how much flavor these chicken tenders packed in, considering the small number of ingredients. Needless to say, I'm glad I rediscovered this recipe! It's perfect for those crazy nights where you need a fast meal that tastes great.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Chewy Pizza Bread

If there's one thing Jake loves, it's pizza. That man eats pizza more than anyone I know. WAY more than anyone I know. He's been going to the same pizza place his whole life, because Maria's Carryout makes (in his words) the best cheese pizza. I've tried to get him to order pizza with different toppings - pepperoni, sausage, pineapple - anything. But nope, Jake insists on his perfect pizza, with a precise cheese to sauce to crust ratio. In his defense, Maria's really does have phenomenal pizza. I just don't want to it pizza nearly as frequently as Jake does.

So what to do? I know Jake loves pizza, but I don't want to spend cash on it every week. I can't keep eating that many greasy calories (although the ingredients in a slice of pizza do span quite a few food groups...) when I have to fit into a wedding dress in a few months. Because let's face it - who can only eat 1 piece of pizza? Not me.

I came across this recipe a couple years ago. It's sort of a mix between regular pizza and a deep dish pizza (although I've never been to Chicago and have not tasted authentic deep dish). Jake likes this pizza version enough, that sometimes it's a suitable alternative to his beloved cheese pizza from Maria's. I take that as a huge compliment. 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup beer (regular or non-alcoholic)
• 1/2 cup tomato pasta sauce
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• toppings (if desired)
• chopped fresh basil (if desired)

How to:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• Spray an 8 inch square pan with cooking spray.
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. 
• Stir in beer (I use a fork to mix) until flour is just moistened. 
• Spread dough into pan.
• Spread sauce on dough.
• Sprinkle with cheese and toppings.
• Bake 15-20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.
• Top with basil.
• Cut and serve.

Substitutions:

• You can substitute the beer in this recipe with any fizzy beverage. I used orange soda once when I was in a pinch, and it still came out yummy! I wouldn't recommend a stout or other dark or heavy beer, unless you really want the flavor of the beer to come through in the flavor of the "crust."
• Although I haven't tried it, I imagine this recipe would be excellent with whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose flour.

Aside from this dish being a less greasy version of regular pizza, it's super fast and easy to make. It's usually one of those dishes I prepare after working a 10 hour day, when I come home practically dying of hunger (like today!). It's ready in no time and is always a satisfying dish! 

This recipe is found in Party Food: 100 Recipes for the Way You Really Cook (Betty Crocker)

Enjoy!