Roasted Corn and Chicken Chowder

I have a subscription to the Food Network Magazine. I often open it up in the mornings and scan through recipes for new dinner ideas. I will be honest. Many times I look at the ingredients list, and know that I will never make it because it calls for many items that I don’t keep on hand. 

However, the Roasted Corn and Chicken Chowder in the July/August 2015 issue struck my fancy.

Looking through the fridge, I substituted a few ingredients. First, instead of the whole milk the recipe called for I used skim milk and a touch of half and half. I also added extra chicken and some left over rice that I had in the fridge so it would be more appealing to my husband.

One thing I would do differently if I could, is grill the corn. There is also roasted frozen corn at the supermarket which I may try as a substitute in the future.

This soup was thick and creamy, making it great for bread dipping. The chicken rice, and sweet potato were accented by the thyme. It was a great summer soup meal.

Ingredients

2 ears of corn, husked

2 tablespoons of butter

6 scallions, sliced

1 celery stalk, sliced

1 large sweet potato peeled and chopped

2 teaspoons of dried thyme

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

5 cups water

¼ cup cornmeal

3 cups shredded chicken breast

1 cup white rice cooked

½ cup skim milk

2 tablespoons half and half

Method

1. Preheat the broiler. Place ears of corn on a flat rimmed pan. Roast the corn underneath the broiler, turning every few minutes until the corn has nicely browned. Set aside and let cool. Once cooled, cut the corn from the cob.

2.  Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, celery sweet potatoes thyme cayenne salt, and pepper. Cook for three minutes. Sprinkle in cornmeal and cook until toasted, about 1 minute. Add water and stir in the corn. Turn heat up high until it soup simmers, then adjust accordingly to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are soft.

3. Reduce the heat to medium low, and stir in chicken, rice, milk, and half and half. Heat for three minutes, or until chicken is warmed through and soup has reached desired consistency. 

Raspberry Chicken Salad

Raspberry Dressing 
¼ cup raspberry preserves

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon raspberry vinegar
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
A handful of berries for texture (we used a few strawberries and raspberries)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Use an immersion blender, or food processor, to blend the above ingredients together. This made enough dressing for two salads in my household.


Salad
Mix together the following ingredients to create the salad base. Use as many of the ingredients as you’d like according to your tastes.

• Spring Mix
• Arugula
• Cooked Chicken
• Raspberries
• Chives
• Feta Cheese
• Grape tomato halves
• Bacon crumbles

The inspiration for this salad was found from: Raspberry-Chicken Salad

Balsamic Salad with Chicken

Since my trainer has placed me on a diet, I have been eating the same meal every day at 10:30 for the past two weeks. 

The same healthy meal.

Every day.

This really isn’t my style, but since my body has hit a weight loss plateau, I am motivated to do this. I was told that I needed to eat 4 – 5 ounces of chicken with some type of greens, lettuce or spinach, with a light dressing. The dressings couldn’t be thick and white. 

I hate lettuce. And spinach. If I eat salad, I usually drown it in something horrible for my body, like Bacon Ranch, which is why I never eat salad. 

So, I made a challenge to find something that I would like that fulfills my requirements and that I actually like. My balsamic chicken salad was the answer.

It is easiest to start with plain chicken. I had tried rosemary chicken and slow cooking it in balsamic vinegar, but it was really just a waste of ingredients. I take cooked chicken and chop it together with red leaf lettuce and a handful of basil leaves. The basil gives an aromatic smell in addition to providing flavor to the boring lettuce. 

I created a balsamic vinaigrette to soak some flavor into the chicken that plays nice with the basil. I used the recipe that was located at Joy Bauer. However, I felt that the balsamic taste was really the star of the dressing and it did not need the other ingredients. I started using just straight balsamic vinegar.

In good news, since I have been working on this diet plan, I have dropped three and half pounds. Bye bye plateau!


Balsamic Chicken Salad Recipe
Yields: 1

Ingredients

1 chicken breast, 4- 5 oz
4 leaves of red leaf lettuce, chopped I shred mine thin)
5 basil leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Freshly ground pepper (optional)

Method*

1. Toss the chicken, lettuce, and basil leaves together.

2. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the salad and grind the pepper. 


*Basically, make a salad out of the ingredients. 

Cranberry Chicken and Cous Cous

The cranberry make this a sweetly tart dish.

The barbeque sauce makes this a smoky dish.

The pepper makes this a spicy dish.

Sweet, smoky, and spicy. This sounds like the beginning of a romance novel. The fact that it is served over cous cous kind of kills it though.

Cranberry Chicken and Cous Cous Recipe

Yields 4 servings

Chicken Ingredients

14 oz. can whole berry cranberry sauce

1 cup barbeque sauce (I used KC Masterpiece Smoky Bourbon)

4 boneless and skinless chicken breasts

½ cup celery, diced

½ cup onion, diced

2 Tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Salt and pepper to taste

Chicken Directions

1. Combine the cranberry sauce and barbeque sauce in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Add the chicken to the slow cooker. Top with celery, onion, red pepper, and salt and pepper.

3. Add the cranberry and barbeque mixture and disperse evenly.

4. Cook on low for 3-4 hours, or until done.

5. This next step is optional. You could serve the breast whole, but I prefer in chunks. Remove the chicken breasts from the slow cooker and let cool for five minutes. Cut into pieces and return the pieces to the slow cooker. Stir to verify that the chicken is coated.

Cous Cous Ingredients

1 box Near East Plain Cous Cous

Cooking spray

1 cup celery, diced

1 cup onion, diced

½ cup dried Cranberries

1 Tbsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Cous Cous Directions

1. Prepare the cous cous as indicated on the box.

2. While the cous cous is cooking, spray a skillet with the cooking spray and add the rest of the ingredients. Cook until celery and onion are slightly tender.

3. Mix the skillet mixture into the cous cous.

4. Plate the cous cous and serve the cranberry chicken on top.

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

I originally found this dish at Skinnytaste, but have made some adjustments to fit me. Each time I take a bite of this dish for the first time, I think how good it tastes for the little amount of effort that went into it. This makes me happy.

Salsa chicken can be eaten in so many versatile ways. My favorite is in a burrito bowl with a little rice, shredded cheese, sour cream, and pickled jalapenos. I would like to try it in a salad this summer when the farm stand veggies come back into season, too. My husband prefers it as a burrito. I have also just eaten plain with a touch of salsa. It is salsa chicken, after all. 

Some of the adjustments to the original recipe is the cooking time and the spices. The original called for the chicken to be cooked for four hours. I find that my crock pot dries meat out when it is in there for that long. I have adjusted my total cook time to three and a half hours for this reason.

We also do a lot of Latino cooking in my household, so I have a ton of spices to use. I added cayenne for heat, which can be easily adjusted up or down depending on preference. Then I added oregano and extra cumin to crank up the depth. In the future, I am thinking I will add some chipotle peppers and liquid smoke to make a smokier version... with cheddar cheese. Yes. 

Salsa Chicken Recipe

Ingredients

4 chicken breasts

1 cup and 2 Tbsp. salsa, divided

2 Tbsp. cayene (if you don’t like spicy, I suggest 1 tsp.)

1 Tbsp. garlic salt

1 Tbsp. oregano

1 tsp. cumin

Ground black pepper to taste

1 15 oz. can Black Beans, rinsed and drained

Directions

1. Place the chicken breasts in the slow cooker. Add 1 cup of salsa, cayenne, garlic salt, oregano, cumin, and black pepper. Cook the chicken on low for three hours (see note about cooking time above).

2. Take the chicken out and set aside. Measure 1 cup of the salsa broth from the pot and set aside. Drain the crock pot basin.

3. Add the black beans and the reserved salsa broth and extra salsa back to the crock pot. Set it on warm. 

4. Shred the chicken with a fork. Add it back to the crock pot and stir the ingredients. Leave it in the crock pot to warm for half an hour.

Serve either by itself, as a burrito, as a burrito bowl, or in a salad. Enjoy!

Apple Sausage with Roasted Maple Sweet Potatoes and Carrots

Autumn, my favorite season, is finally here. I love the crisp temperatures cooling down and the leaves turning vibrant shades of yellow, red, and orange. Most of all, the local farm stand has baskets filled with no-wax apples and giant sweet potatoes. I purchased a large amount of both items and decided to make a lunch dish for the work week.

When making for something to take to work, I would like it to last at least three to four days. Plus, it is beneficial for it to be easy because I am usually making it on a school night when I have to get up early to teach the next day. Easy meals with little or no fuss are the best. 

In addition to ease, I also need it to be healthy. I have been trying a whole “eat to live” approach this year, as opposed to “living to eat.” I still love to eat, please don’t misunderstand, I am just learning to love eating healthy. This is a relatively new idea for me, after thirty years of eating a diet that increased my waistline. Embracing fresh organic produce has filled me with energy, motivation, and happiness. 

This particular dish was both sweet and savory. I loved the blend of the sausage combined with the apple and sweet potatoes. I also added some dill and onion to break up the sweetness of the other ingredients. Then, the maple syrup tied all of the components together. It was hearty treat. 

When I began to type this recipe out, I realized that it seems a little long. The steps are short, and there is a lot of down time because the ingredients are roasting. The most cumbersome aspect of the dish is all of the chopping. Once that is completed, it’s a piece of cake!

Apple Sausage with Roasted Maple Sweet Potatoes and Carrots Recipe
Serves 4

Ingredients
2 medium sweet potatoes, sliced into ¼ inch rounds
4 carrots, halved and sliced
1 yellow or white onion, quartered 
2 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
1 Tbsp Olive Oil, plus more to drizzle
3 medium apples, sliced 
4 Chicken Apple Sausage Links (Aidell’s is my favorite)
2 Tbsp Pure Maple Syrup

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 

2. Mix the potatoes, carrots, onion, and dill together in a bowl. Add the olive oil and toss the ingredients to fully coat them.

3.  Layer the oil coated vegetables on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast the vegetables in the heated oven for 20 minutes. 

4. While the potatoes, carrots, and onions are baking, slice the apples and place them in the same bowl that contained the vegetable mixture. Swirl the apples around to lightly coat them in oil and dill. Add more if needed.

5. After the vegetables have baked for 20 minutes, add the apples to the pan. Continue baking in the oven for an additional 15-20 minutes, or until the potatoes and carrots are tender.

6. While the apples and vegetables are baking, place the sausages in a skillet. Fill the skillet with water until sausages are at least half way covered. Boil the sausages for ten minutes. 

7. When sausages have finished, drain the water from the pan and allow sausages to cool. Slice the sausages into half inch rounds. Place sausage rounds into serving bowl.

8. When vegetables and apples have finished baking, allow to cool for five minutes. Then, add mixture to the bowl with the sausage. 

9. Drizzle maple syrup over the mixture and stir. 

Thai Chicken Pasta with Soba Noodles and Peanut Sauce

My husband took a recipe that he had found in the Food Network Magazine as a base and created a masterpiece. We both felt that this dish was better than Thai Chicken Pasta at The Cheesecake Factory. It is rich and creamy, with a mellow peanut butter taste that is supported by the hints of Asian seasonings.

I came home from the gym and he was working on making this. He asked me to try the sauce. It ended up being so good that after he was done making it, I got a spatula to lick the basin of the food processor. I felt like a kid licking the bowl of the brownie batter. Simply put, this peanut sauce is better than brownie batter.

Peanut Thai Chicken Pasta

Serves 6

Noodle Ingredients

¾ strong brewed green tea

1 cup creamy peanut butter

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup rice vinegar

5 Tbsp brown sugar

¼ peanut oil or macnut oil

2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds with additional for garnish

1 tsp Sriracha

1 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 tsp ground ginger

2 ½ cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp red chili pepper flakes

1 cup carrots, shredded

16 oz. Asian Soba Noodles

Chicken Ingredients

2 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp oyster sauce

1 Tbsp granulated sugar

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, into cubes

1 lb sliced white cap mushrooms

Topping

½ cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

1. In a large food processor or blender, combine tea, peanut butter, soy, vinegar, brown sugar, peanut oil, sesame seeds, sriracha, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and chili flakes.  Process or blend ingredients until creamy.

2. Bring half a pot of water to a boil and cook the soba noodles for two minutes. Remove the noodles immediately, drain in a colander, and bathe in cold water until cool. Drain the cold water, then toss in peanut butter sauce mixture and add shredded carrots. Store noodles in fridge for up to an hour.

3. Mix sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. Stir the mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Set aside.

4. Cook chicken until the pieces are white on all sides. Add mushrooms and cook until mushrooms soften. Add the above sauce and cook until sauce is rendered and almost gone.

5. To serve, place the noodles in the bottom layer of a bowl, then add the chicken and mushrooms. Top with cilantro and peanuts to taste. 

Thai Peanut Chicken... Pasta?

I was home alone this afternoon and I made a vow to myself to do minimal work over the weekend because I was getting burned out. I also made a vow not to back a whole lot more until Thanksgiving because I am getting chubby. So, I decided to make something new to take for lunch this week.

Sometimes the best and/or most creative dishes occur when I have no idea what it is I am going to make. I assessed my kitchen stores and found that I had an almost finished jar of peanut butter, one lonely onion, a spaghetti squash, one lime, half a bag of broccoli florets, and a Thai Peanut Bake pouch from a Taste of Thai. At first I dismissed the idea of putting the peanut butter theme and the squash together. As I brainstormed for ideas though, I thought of pad thai... in which I did not have any noodles for. Then I thought of the spaghetti squash, and I just went for it. After all, it's spaghetti, isn't it? ha!

It is actually pretty good together! I even made my husband try it. He hates spaghetti squash, but he did not mind this. He did think it could use some curry on it, but I am a little afraid to add it. I might add the curry in one small portion sometime this week. I left it out of the recipe below, but you can always add some on your own!

Ingredients
1 large spaghetti squashed
4 chicken breasts
1 Taste of Thai spicy peanut bake package (2 pouches)
2 cups broccoli florets, cooked
1 medium onion
Pam (a few sprays)
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter (I used creamy, but chunky could work too)
1 tsp Taste of Asia hot sauce (or any sweet and hot asian sauce)
1/2 lime

Method

Step one (Squash): Prepare the spaghetti squash by baking halves, open side down for 40 minutes at 350 degrees F. There are other ways to do this, like the microwave, too. Shred the squash once it is cooled into long spaghetti-like strands and place it in a large bowl.

Step two (Chicken): Roll the chicken breasts in the the spicy peanut bake topping. Top any leftover topping on the chicken. Bake the chicken for 20-22 minutes in a 350 degrees F oven. Once the chicken is finished baking, let it cool. Then slice it into bite size chunks. Add the chicken to the spaghetti squash bowl.

Step three (Onions and Broccoli): Dice the onion and saute it with some Pam and 1 tsp of cayenne pepper until the onion is translucent. Add the onion and cooked broccoli to the squash and chicken mixture. 

Step four (Sauce): In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter and the Taste of Asia hot sauce together. Add this to the larger bowl mixture. Then squeeze the lime juice into the bowl.  I relied on the water from the squash and the lime to thin out the peanut butter. You may need to add a little moisture on your own if the peanut butter is too thick.

Other ideas for serving would be to add more peanuts, curry powder as mentioned above, and Sriracha!