Pip's Plate

When I’m craving comfort food, I instantly think of roasting a chicken. There are lots of different ways to roast a chicken, including this one with proscuitto and sage. Last night, we had guests coming for dinner, so I decided to try a new recipe.

This roasted chicken recipe is moist and has depth of flavor due to brining the chicken for the majority of the day. The mustard-thyme sauce for this roasted chicken is out of this world!

The original recipe calls for a lot of sitting around for the chicken – which translates into starting this recipe early in the morning or the day before. I trimmed it down a bit since I started around noon that day (the recipe below includes my modifications).

You could easily take the approach of a slow cooker for this recipe. Boil the brine first thing in the morning, then dump your chicken in it to sit for the day. When you get home after work, follow the rest of the instructions. Or, if you don’t have time to let the chicken sit for an hour and then cook for another hour, you can use a blow dryer to dry it out after removing from the brine.

Serve this chicken with Green Salad with Olives and Roasted Mediterranean Potatoes for a complete meal. For an accompanying wine, a good syrah works well. You could also go with white wine and try an albarino or dry Riesling.

Roasted Chicken with Mustard-Thyme Sauce
serves: 6

Ingredients
Brine
10 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup coarse kosher salt
peel from 1 lemon, using a vegetable peeler
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons honey
3 large sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
4-1/2 pound hormone-free chicken

Cooking the Chicken you will also need
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Mustard-Thyme Sauce
1 tablespoon butter at room temperature
1-2 tablespoons flour
3 tablespoons whole grain mustard (dijon is fine if that’s all you can find)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions
1. To make the brine: in a 3-quart pot, bring 10 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup kosher salt, peel from 1 lemon, 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, 3 tablespoons honey, 3 large fresh thyme sprigs and 1 bay leaf to a boil. Stir once or twice once getting hot to make sure the ingredients are dissolving.

2. Once boiling, remove the brine from heat. Pour into a 6-quart pot and cool slightly – about 5 minutes. Add the chicken to the brine and put in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours. Remove chicken from brine then rinse and pat dry. Return to the fridge, uncovered on a plate, for an additional hour. This will dry the chicken. If you’re pressed for time, use a blow dryer to dry the chicken.

3. Heat oven to 375 degrees F.

4. Place dry chicken in a roasting pan. Bake for 20 minutes then add 1 cup of broth. Bake for another 20 minutes then add another 1 cup of broth. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove from oven and pour out the broth to get 2 cups of cooking liquid. Let the chicken sit for 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

5. To make the sauce, heat 1 tablespoon butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter starts bubbling, about 1 minute, add 1 tablespoon flour and whisk together. Add the reserved cooking liquid, 3 tablespoons mustard and 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves. Whisk together and bring to a simmer. Simmer the sauce until it starts to thicken, about 5 minutes. I suggest adding another 1 tablespoon of flour after the sauce simmers for a few minutes to continue thickening. Season with salt and pepper to taste only if needed.

6. Cut the chicken and serve with the sauce. Enjoy!

recipe from epicurious

Dinner is always fun when you randomly throw some ingredients together and hope they turn out. In last night’s case, dinner was a major success … and a surprise!

If I’m not making tacos, I’m thinking about tacos. And if I’m thinking tacos aren’t quite the right dinner option, I’ll figure something else out along the same lines: enchiladas, burritos, quesadillas. Last night, quesadillas won!

These quesadillas have a great balance of smoky, spicy, sweet and savory. Plus, there’s extra peach salsa left over to dip chips in. This recipe is a pretty healthy quesadilla if you make sure you purchase part skim mozzarella cheese.

Peach Salsa

Chipotle Chicken and Peach Salsa Quesadilla
Makes 2 quesadillas

Ingredients
Chipotle Chicken
1/2 pound hormone-free, skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/2 Tablespoon canola oil
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced
1 Tablespoon adobo sauce
2 teaspoon ground cumin

Peach Salsa
1 ripe peach, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
1/2 small yellow onion, diced
1/2 jalapeno, minced (remove seeds for less spice)
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Quesadillas
2 8-inch tortilla shells (flour or spelt)
1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
olive oil cooking spray

Directions
1. Cut 1/2 pound of hormone-free, skinless, boneless chicken breasts into 1/2-inch dice.

2. Heat 1/2 tablespoon canola oil in a medium sized skillet over medium-high heat. When canola oil is shimmering, add diced chicken breast. Cook chicken breasts until cooked through, stirring frequently, about 8 minutes.

3. When chicken is about done, add 1 diced chipotle pepper, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, and 1 teaspoon cumin to the skillet. Stir to combine and cook an additional minute. Salt and pepper the chicken mixture to taste.

4. While the chicken is cooking, make the salsa. Combine 1 diced peach, 1 diced tomato, 1/2 minced jalapeno, 1 Tablespoon chopped cilantro, juice of half a lemon, and salt and pepper to taste. Combine and let sit to allow flavors to meld. (This is a good opportunity to snack with chips too.)

5. Once the chicken is done cooking with the spices, remove from heat. Heat a medium-sized nonstick skillet over medium heat. Assemble the quesadillas like this:

• Lay tortilla on a flat surface
• Add 1 handful of cheese to half of the tortilla
• Add half of the chicken on top of the cheese
• Add 2-3 tablespoons of salsa on the chicken
• Add 1 handful of cheese over the salsa
• Fold the other half of the tortilla over
• Spray with cooking spray

6. When the nonstick skillet is hot, add one quesadilla to the pan, cooking spray side down. Lightly spray the top of the quesadilla (this is the half without the cooking spray). Cook the quesadilla for about 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from heat and repeat with the second one.

7. Allow the warm quesadilla to sit for a couple of minutes to let the cheese hold everything together. Enjoy!

note: peach salsa recipe inspired by this recipe

Here is another recipe included on the menu for my friend’s baby shower last week. Something else she loves other than grilled turkey and bacon sandwiches? Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps. We wanted to make something with a peanut dressing, so we ended up at this one.

We served this with the Watermelon Feta and Mint Salad in a little ramekin side bowl.

This is a great summer salad recipe, too. You don’t have to put it in the lettuce wraps – instead, you can just mix it up, leave it in the fridge and have it around for a satisfying and pretty healthy snack.

Thai Chicken Lettuce Wraps

makes: 36 lettuce wraps (plus some leftover salad for later)

Peanut Dressing

8 large garlic cloves

1/2 cup soy sauce

2/3 cup fresh lime juice

4 Tablespoons sugar

2 Tablespoons peanut butter (smooth or chunky – it doesn’t matter)

4 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger root

1 Tablespoon chili garlic sauce

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Salad

9 oz rice stick noodles (vermicelli size – very thin)

2 pounds boneless, skinless hormone-free chicken breasts

3 medium carrots, peeled and julienned (cut into about 3-inch long pieces)

3 medium cucumbers, peeled seeded and julienned (cut into about 3-inch long pieces)

1 cup shelled edamame (soy beans)

1/3 cup coarsely chopped roasted salted peanuts

2 heads Boston or Bibb lettuce, washed

Directions

1. To make the dressing, combine garlic through pepper in a food processor. Process until smooth, then add oil to combine all ingredients. Put half aside for the salad dressing, and use the remaining half to marinate the chicken breasts.

2. Cook rice noodles according to package. When drained, cut the noodles into 3-4 inch pieces using a scissors then add to a large mixing bowl.

3. Cook the chicken. You may grill or roast the chicken. We grilled the chicken since it was such a beautiful day and we didn’t want to heat the house too much before the guests came over.

• To Grill: Heat grill to medium-high heat. Cook chicken for about 10-12 minutes, turning once.
• To Roast: Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place chicken in a roasting pan and roast for about 12-15 minutes.

When chicken is cooked through, move to a cutting board and slice. Add chicken to the noodle bowl.

4. Add carrots, cucumbers and edamame to the noodle and chicken bowl. Toss with the reserved peanut dressing.

5. To assemble, put about 1/2 cup of the noodle salad into one leave of lettuce. Serve with crushed peanuts as a garnish.

recipe adapted from epicurious

I think tacos are my favorite food of all time. Wow do I love them. I think if I were on a deserted island and could only have 1 food for the rest of my life, it would be tacos. With margaritas, of course.

Last night I made a new recipe for chicken tacos that were just beyond delicious. These tacos were pretty healthy too – full of vegetables and fruit. Use light sour cream for the chipotle cream and you’ve got a light taco recipe full of flavor.

Spice Rubbed Chicken Tacos with Chipotle Cream and Pineapple Slaw

Serves: 6

Time: under 60 minutes (less if you purchase pre-sliced pineapple)

Get the recipe Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been on a healthy food kick lately – which is a good thing. My boyfriend has lymphoedema, so he has to have an extremely low fat diet. He has challenged me recently to cook very low fat recipes that still have a lot of flavor – as if I couldn’t! Ha! Turns out, we’re eating better than we ever have AND we’re sticking to the low fat diet.

I’ve never cooked pressed chicken before, and I have no idea why because this is a really great way to cook chicken. Often when I cook chicken breasts in a skillet on the stove, it splatters all over the place. This cooking style avoids all of the splatter and it cooks the chicken evenly while adding a nice crust without having skin.

Here’s another healthy and low fat recipe that is full of flavor.

Pressed Chicken Breasts with Squash and Tomatoes

Makes: 6 servings

Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

6 boneless, skinless hormone-free chicken breasts (about 4-6 ounces each)

2 T olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 package cherry tomatoes, halved

3 medium yellow squash

zest from half a lemon

3 T chopped fresh marjoram or thyme

Directions

1. Cut out a circle of parchment paper that will cover a large skillet.

2. Heat 1 T oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle one side of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts to the pan seasoned side down. Sprinkle the tops of the chicken with salt and pepper. Cover with parchment paper, then top with another heavy skillet (like a cast iron pan), and top with about 2 pounds of weight (broth cans work well).

3. Cook chicken breasts for about 8 minutes on first side, then turn. Place parchment paper, skillet and weights on chicken again. Cook for another 8 minutes or until done.

4. When chicken is fully cooked, remove from the pan and keep warm. You can either put them in a 200 degree F oven, or put them on a plate and cover with foil.

5. Heat the remaining 1 T olive oil in the same pan that you just removed the chicken from. When hot, add garlic, tomatoes, squash, lemon zest, and 2 T marjoram. Saute for about 4 to 5 minutes or until soft. Toss with remaining 1 T marjoram and pour over chicken breasts.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Nothing is more soothing on a cold gray day than a plate full of fresh-from-the-oven lasagna.

This version attempts to make lasagna a bit healthier than the traditional beef and cheese version. I’ve substituted ground chicken, added a ton of veggies, and cut down on the amount of cheese.

With all these veggies layered in between pasta and cheese, this becomes hearty and good-tasting to the bone.

Serve with garlic bread and Caesar salad for a complete meal.

4 Layer Hearty Chicken & Vegetable Lasagna
Makes 8 servings
Time: about 1 hour and 45 min

Ingredients
12 uncooked lasagna sheets
2 T olive oil, divided
1 # ground chicken
1 zucchini, diced
1/2 white onion diced
1 serrano pepper minced with seeds (optional)
5 cloves garlic minced
1 cup quartered baby bella mushrooms
26 oz jar tomato-basil pasta sauce
1 T chopped fresh oregano
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground pepper
2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese, divided
15 oz container part skim ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.

2. Boil 6 quarts water in large pot. Add 1 T salt when boiling. Add lasagna to pot, stir, and cook for about 6-7 minutes, or according to package. When cooked, drain and set aside.

3. Meanwhile, heat 1 T olive oil over medium-high heat in a large skillet. Add ground chicken and cook, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks through. When fully cooked, remove from pan and place on a plate.

4. Heat remaining 1 T olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Add zucchini, onion, garlic, serrano, and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes or until onion is translucent.

5. Add chicken back to skillet with pasta sauce, oregano, salt and pepper. Bring to simmer and let simmer while mixing remaining ingredients.

6. Combine 1 cup mozzarella, ricotta and eggs.

7. In a lightly greased 9 x 13″ pan, add 1 cup sauce mixture to bottom. Place 3 lasagna sheets on top of sauce. Add 1/3 of the cheese mixture, then 1/3 of the remaining sauce. Repeat layering pasta, cheese, and sauce. Top with Parmesan then remaining 1 cup mozzarella.

8. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 45 – 50 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand 15 minutes. This is important because it gels together, making it much easier to dish out. Cut into 8 pieces and serve hot.

I’m on a budget. There, I said it. I have been for some time now, but now I’m actually paying attention to it. And it starts with food and cooking. I have so much stuff in my cupboards and refrigerator that I really should cook up things I already have instead of rushing out to the store to buy a whole bag of groceries for one dish that I’m dieing to make.

So last night I was rifling through some CSA veggies and trying to figure out what to do with a lot of stuff I have on hand. The list was fairly random: potatoes, winter squash, parsnips, dried cherries, beets, carrots, garlic, and on and on.

What I found out was I don’t have to sacrifice flavor or quality when making a dinner from what I have on hand. I did end up making a trip to the grocery store but only to pick up 3 items: chicken, onions (which were on sale yay!), and canned tomatoes.

This recipe is fairly easy and dinner can be on the table in under 60 minutes – and it’s all in one pot so clean up is super easy. You can vary the spices if you want, and I might even try adding a little vanilla bean next time since I have some in my pantry, but we’ll see since I rarely make the same dish twice.

I also thought this would only make 2 servings, but it made quite a bit more than I expected and easily serves 4. Round it out with a green salad for a complete meal, but to be honest there’s enough veggies in here that you’ll get plenty of vitamins.

The best thing about this is that you can vary this depending upon what kind of veggies you have around – root veggies would work the best since they can stew for awhile. And the chicken stays nice and tender. Oh, and it’s very healthy! It’s only 3 Weight Watchers points per serving.

One Pot Moroccan Chicken

Serves 4

Time: under 60 minutes

1 T olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 small onion, cut in half then sliced

1/2 pound organic skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into strips

1 t chopped fresh thyme

1 t ground cumin

1/4 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 large potato, peeled and diced (about 1 cup)- I used purple Peruvian potatoes and the color was just amazing

1 small (bordering on teeny) winter squash, peeled, seeded and diced (about 1 cup) – I used Delicata and left the skin on

1/4 cup dried cherries

14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes

1 cup chicken broth

2 cardamom pods

2 whole cloves

salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. Heat 1 T oil over medium heat in large deep skillet. TIP: if you use stainless cookware, remember “hot pan, cold oil” to keep food from sticking to the pan – heat your pan and when you’re ready to start cooking, add the oil then immediately add the food. It works really well.

2. Combine 1 t fresh thyme, 1 t cumin, 1/2 t salt and 1/2 t pepper. Coat the chicken with this mixture.

3. Add 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 small sliced onion to the oil in the pan. Saute for 1 – 2 minutes or until starting to soften. Move the onion and garlic mixture to the side of the pan and add the chicken to brown it, turning once and cooking about 2 minutes on each side.

4. Add the squash, cherries, potatoes, tomatoes, broth, cardamom and cloves to the pot, combine. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes or until veggies are tender and chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice. A new thing I tried for cooking rice and really like was instead of using water, I made African Rooibus tea and cooked my basmati rice in that. It added a lot of flavor and was quite delicious. Just heat 2 cups of water, add 2 teabags and let steep for 3-5 minutes. Then add 1 cup basmati rice and cook like normal.

Last night I just couldn’t decide what to make. I didn’t have much in the fridge, so I knew I’d have to go to the store regardless. Then I found this little ditty in the Jimtown Store Cookbook (my FAVORITE cookbook). And I knew right away it was a “make-again” recipe. It’s perfect for a chilly night – comforting, easy to make, a tad spicy. And this is a one-pot dish, making clean up a breeze.

It calls for 6 cups of Jimtown All-Purpose Shredded Roast Chicken (another recipe in the book) but instead I bought a ready to eat rotisserie chicken. Saved lots of time and it was still delicious. I also cut the recipe in half since I was just feeding myself. But leftovers are great!

The cookbook suggests serving this with rustic, crusty bread and a green salad tossed with vinaigrette and Basque smoked sheep’s milk cheese called Idiazabal. I bought a sheep’s milk cheese that is similar to manchego and it was quite good. Also, suggested to have this with chilled hard cider (it’s gooood). Instead of crusty bread, I served this with rice.

Basque Chicken Ragout with Sausages & Sweet Peppers

serves 8

total time: about 35-40 minutes

1/4 cup fruity, good-quality Spanish olive oil

1 pound cooked spicy sausage, such as Spanish chorizo or andouille (cut on the diagonal into 1/4 inch slices or if ground, simply left ground)

1 medium-large yellow onion, thinly sliced

6 garlic cloves, chopped

2 1/2 pounds (6 to 8 ) large sweet peppers, mix of red and yellow, stemmed, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch wide strips

1 cup dry white wine (or substitute chicken broth)

1 (28-oz) can plum tomatoes with their juices

Kosher salt

2 t hot Spanish pimenton or Hungarian paprika

1 t freshly ground black pepper

1/2 t sugar

6 cups Jimtown All-Purpose Shredded Roast Chicken (or 1 ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken)

2 T finely chopped flat-leaf parsley.

Directions

1. In a large deep skillet, over medium-high heat, warm the olive oil. Add the sausage and cook, stirring once or twice, until lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove and reserve. Do not discard the oil or clean the skillet. While the sausage browns, cut up the onions, garlic and peppers.

2. Set the skillet over low heat. Add the oinon and garlic and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened and are beginning to brown, about 10 minutes – make sure to watch them so they don’t burn (if your heat is too high, they will start to burn).

3. Add the peppers, raise the heat to high, and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the peppers begin to brown, about 15 minutes. Start shredding the chicken as the onions, garlic and peppers cook. Just pull off the bone and pull it apart with your fingers.

4. Stir in the wine and bring to a simmer, scraping the browned deposits from the bottom of the skillet. Add the tomatoes and their juice, thoroughly breaking the tomatoes up with the side of a metal spoon. Stir in 2 t salt, the pimenton, black pepper, and sugar, then the chicken and chorizo, and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Adjust the seasoning.

*The ragout can be prepared up to one day ahead. Cool, cover, and refridgerate, rewarming it over low heat until steaming.

This is almost too easy to be so delicious or to even post here, but I will anyway. It’s also a very healthy recipe. This is another recipe from the weekend menu for our Creative Retreat.

Grilled BBQ Chicken Breasts

serves 8

8 skinless, boneless hormone-free chicken breasts

1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce

Heat your grill to medium high heat.

Cook chicken breasts until almost completely done – about 5-6 min a side. Toss in BBQ sauce, then place back on grill to caramelize the sauce and cooked through, a couple more minutes.

I’m not sure what’s gotten into me, but I’ve really been into chicken and rice the past couple weeks. Maybe because I’m trying out some healthier options? Dunno. But this was really easy and delicious. You could grill the chicken and pineapple, or cook inside.

Jerk Chicken with Grilled Pineapple and Basil Lime Rice

serves 4

CHICKEN

4 organic chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)

about 2T Jamaican Jerk seasoning – I love the Pampered Chef Jamaican Jerk Rub, but you can use any kind

2T olive oil

chicken broth

1 lime, sliced

PINEAPPLE

1 medium pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1″ strips

1T olive oil

1T honey

2T chopped fresh mint

BASIL LIME RICE

1 cup long grain white rice (like jasmine)

2 cups water

2T chopped fresh basil

1t lime zest

PREPARATION

1. Preheat broiler to high with oven rack 2/3 to the top.

2. Place 1 cup rice and 2 cups water in rice cooker; cook for 20 minutes.

3. Warm 1T honey in microwave for 10-15 seconds. Whisk in 1T olive oil. Toss pineapple in honey-olive oil mixture. Place on baking sheet and place under broiler. This will cook for about 12-15 minutes. You can turn the pineapple half way through cooking to get even browning. Don’t let this burn, but check on it to make sure the pineapple is getting nice an browned (this is where the pineapple juices bubble out to combine with the olive oil and honey, creating a sweet caramelized flavor – and OH it’s good).

4. Heat 2T olive oil in saucepan over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with jerk rub and, using your hand, rub onto the chicken on both sides. The amount you use is up to you, but a good rule of thumb is to cover the chicken breast with the seasoning, then when you rub it, the extra falls off. Place chicken breasts in saucepan and cook until done, turning over halfway through. Cooking the chicken this way gives it a nice brown crust. If the chicken is somewhat thick and is taking too long to cook, you can add 2T chicken broth at a time and cover the pan so the chicken doesn’t dry out.

5. Add basil and lime zest to the rice and mix it up. Place rice on a plate, top with chicken and pineapple, then sprinkle with mint. Serve with a slice of lime.