Thursday, October 18, 2007

Lissie's Famous Salsa Chicken

My good friend Lissie has been raving about this easy two minute prep time chicken for years. I finally had a chance to make it yesterday when my husband was out of town (Because Mr. Pickypants does not eat beans or corn)

Lissie's Famous Salsa Chicken

Layer the following ingredients into a slow cooker:

2 cans corn (drained)
2 cans black beans (drained)
Mix them together
Layer on top of that 6-8 chicken thighs
Layer on top of the chicken 1-2 jars of salsa (I used Trader Joe's Peach for this)

Cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8-9 on low

1/2 hour before serving, dump in one brick of cream cheese.

It couldn't be easier. And it's super cheap to make as well.

Enjoy!

Gluten Free Pumpkin Pancakes

I've been horribly remiss about posting recipes here for the last few weeks. So here's a new one that I'm particularly pleased with. Proportions are approximate.

1/3 can pureed pumpkin
2 tbsp molasses
3-4 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp grated fresh nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2-3/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pancake Mix

Whisk together the wet ingredients and spices. then Whisk in the pancake mix. You want a thin batter for these, so play with the wet and dry ingredients a bit. The eggs will hold the pancakes together, so lots of pancake mix is not necessary.

I cook them in a hot crepe pan and make large, think pancakes and serve them with hot Grade B maple syrup and plenty of unsalted butter.

They

Monday, September 17, 2007

Worlds Easiest Lemon Chicken

You will need:
Kosher Salt
Pepper
Bone/skin IN chicken parts
Herbs de Provence (plain dried oregano works fine too)
One Lemon (zest and juice)

preheat convection oven to 400
Arrange chicken on a roasting tray.
Zest lemon over chicken
Sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper and herbs
Pour juice from lemon in to bottom of roasting pan

Convection roast for 30 to 35 minutes, or cook in regular oven for 45-50 minutes.

Serve hot. It's juicy, easy and so yummy. This is comfort food at it's easiest and it doesn't get much more allergy friendly than this!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Chicken Curry

Here's another dish that has three main ingredients.

I made a coconut curry.

I took 2 lbs of chicken tenders (we were having guests) and browned them lightly.

Then I mixed up:
1/3 can of coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp curry paste

And dumped it over and let it simmer for a couple of hours with a lid on askew.

10 minutes before I served it, I whisked a teaspoon of cornstarch with some coconut milk and chicken broth (about a 1/2 cup liquid in total) and dumped it in to thicken it up.

I served it over coconut rice and it was yummy!

Friday, August 10, 2007

Light Scalloped Potatoes

These are very cheesy and yummy. Since 'real' scalloped potatoes use cream, these are quite a bit lighter than what you'd eat in a restaurant, but you won't miss the cream.

The original recipe used flour, but I converted it.

1/2 onion chopped
1 tsp herbs de provence
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup milk
1 heaping teaspoon cornstarch
2 lbs yukon gold potatoes chopped small
2 tbsp butter
1/2 - 1 cup cheese of your choice. I use Trader Joe's 4 Cheese Italian.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Arrange potatoes in a roasting pan

In a small saucepan over medium heat melt butter and drop in the onion
Add herbs de provence and salt and pepper
Simmer for about 5 minutes

In a large measuring cup pour the milk and whisk in the cornstarch until it dissolves. Cornstarch dissolves into cold or room temperature liquids much more easily than into warm ones.

Pour the milk over the onions and stir frequently until it thickens.

Pour the milk/onion mixture over the potatoes and stir to combine.

cover the pan with foil and bake for 35 minutes

Remove from oven and take off foil and add cheese

Return to oven and bake for 10 more minutes

Let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

Sunday, August 5, 2007

A Fabulous Asian Inspired Meal

I had friends over tonight and everything turned out just right.

I made:
green bean and bok choy salad with toasted almonds and a sesame dressing
ginger soy marinated flank steak
SubLime Chicken (see entry below)
Coconut rice

It was yummy. Recipes follow.

Green Bean and bok Choy Salad With Toasted Almonds and Sesame Dressing

1/2 lb greenbeans washed with the ends sliced off
1 lb bok choy diced and washed
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Dressing
1 tbsp sesame oil
3 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (any kind)

Boil water in a large pan. Boil Bok choy for approximately 5 minutes and drain, set aside.
Boil green beans in boiling salted water for 2 minutes. Drain and set aside.
Drop slivered almonds into a dry frying pan and cook over medium heat until they start to brown. Remove them from heat and keep stirring them occasionally and they will continue toasting. This way you don't end up with such a dangerously hot pan when they're finished.

Whisk together dressing ingredients.
To assemble salad, mix beans and bok choy in a large bowl. Toss with dressing. Sprinkle green beans on top and serve hot or cold.

Coconut rice:
2 cups jasmine rice
1 14 ounce can light coconut milk
1 3/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Mix rice, coconut milk and chicken broth ingredients into a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil. Keep an eye on it because it will boil over if you're not paying attention! Drop the heat down to low and cook for approximately 20 minutes, or until liquid is absorbed.

While it is cooking toast the coconut in a dry pan until it starts to brown. Remove pan from heat and continue to stir coconut occasionally for the next 5-10 minutes. Set aside.

Right before serving, mix the toasted coconut into the rice.


Ginger Soy Marinated Flank Steak

1 2 lb flank steak

In a 1 gallon ziplock bag assemble the following ingredients

2 tbsp minced ginger
2 minced cloves of garlic
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp wheat free tamari soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp hot sauce

Put flank steak in bag and zip it up. Mush it around in the sauce and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Grill on a hot grill for about 8 minutes flipping often. Let it rest about 5 minutes before cutting. Serve immediately.

Friday, August 3, 2007

SubLime Chicken

This is super easy and extremely tasty and oh SO simple. It's a quick marinade, meaning it's ready to cook after about 10 minutes. The lime juice cooks the chicken a bit so you really don't want to leave it on there more than about a half hour or so.

The combination of lime and spice really works in this.

Dump the following ingredients into a bowl or ziplock .

Zest and juice of 2 limes
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper
1 tbsp Cholulla (or other hot sauce of your choice)

whisk them together until salt dissolves and dump in about a pound of chicken tenders. Grill after 10-30 minutes. It's spicy without burning your tongue.