The recipe is simple.  Sauteed veggies mixed with chicken in a simple chicken broth sauce spiced with cinnamon and cumin and served over whole wheat couscous.  I made things even easier by shredding a rotisserie chicken instead of cooking the pound of chicken breasts the recipe calls for.  I also left out the tomato paste, did not drain the canned tomatoes, used 2 cups of broth instead of 1, and garnished with fresh cilantro and mint.  The combination of fresh herbs with the spices was wonderful.

You can easily make this a vegetarian dish by leaving out the chicken, using vegetable broth, adding more tomatoes, zucchini, chickpeas, or trying some different veggies.  I guess you could use some type of mock meat…if you’re into that kind of stuff.  I have tried and actually liked some of those choices, like a Philly “Steak” made with seitan at a food truck called Counter Culture in Austin.  Thanks for taking me, Sarah!  It really wasn’t bad, but I don’t see myself ever cooking it.  If I am going to cook something vegetarian at home, I stick with veggies and protein packed beans.  Plus I don’t think Ben would ever go for it.  He had a hard time eating chicken sausage, so I don’t think he’d go for tofu or seitan in place of good ol’ reliable meat.

Chicken and Chickpea Stew

Adapted slightly from epicurious.com

Ingredients

• 1 small rotisserie chicken, shredded (use 2-3 cups of chicken)
• 1 box whole wheat couscous (prepare what you need according to the instructions)
• salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 1 zucchini, chopped into 3/4 inch chunks
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups low sodium chicken broth
• chopped fresh cilantro and mint for garnish (0ptional)

This recipe is from a cookbook my mother-in-law gave me a few years ago called “Twenty Minute Chicken Dishes”.  If I had made this meal in one sitting, I think I would have been able to do it in twenty minutes.  But with a little guy around, I had to find a way to do some prep beforehand.  I made the sauce in a mini food processor (something I love having around), and kept in the fridge all day.  So all I had to do once we were ready to eat was pound the chicken out, cook it for 5 minutes per side, then warm up the sauce.  Easy.

Pouring this yummy sauce over chicken is but one of the many ways to use it.  It has great roasted pepper flavor, a nice creamy texture (without using any cream) and I think it would be great on beef, fish, vegetables and pasta as well.

This recipe serves 2 with some sauce leftover, probably enough for 2 more chicken breasts.  The sauce could easily be doubled, but I’m not sure if you could freeze it since it contains sour cream.  If you want to freeze the sauce, puree it without the sour cream, then add it in after thawing.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 1-2 tablespoons butter and 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 12-ounce jar roasted red (or red and yellow) peppers, drained and patted dry
• 1/4 cup light sour cream
• 2 tablespoons salsa (I used Arriba Garlic and Cilantro)
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped basil, cilantro or parsley (optional)

Directions

1. Make sauce: Combine peppers, salsa, sour cream, flour, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in food processor or blender.  Blend until smooth. Set aside (or refrigerate for up to 2 days).
2. Pound chicken to 1/2 inch thickness. Pat dry, then sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Heat butter and oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.  Cook chicken, 4-5 minutes per side, until done.  You may need to do this in batches if your chicken breasts are too large for your pan.  Remove chicken to a plate and cover with foil.
4. Add garlic to pan, cook for 1-2 minutes, do not let it burn.  Add red pepper sauce, reduce heat to medium-low, and stir until sauce thickens slightly, 3-5 minutes.
5. Pour sauce over chicken, sprinkle with herbs and serve.

The only thing I would do differently with this recipe is to use bone-in chicken instead of boneless chicken breasts.  I knew that might be an issue, but I wanted to use what I had, and what I had was boneless chicken breasts.  Our chicken was a tad dry after cooking all day, in my opinion anyway.  Ben thought it was good, but Ben thinks most of what I make is good…I think he was just being nice : )

As far as flavor goes, this was a good slow cooker meal.  The apricots and raisins get nice and plump after soaking up the cooking liquid and add a nice sweetness to the dish.  The carrots stay surprisingly sturdy, not at all mushy, as long as you’re generous with your cut.  I sliced them on a bias somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 inch thick.  A slight change I made was the addition of 2 extra carrots because I like more vegetables.  The original recipe calls for 2 onions, but since mine was rather large I only used one, and am glad that I did.

The slow cooker bible says DO NOT take the cover off the slow cooker while cooking!  I disobeyed this rule.  After about 4 hours of cooking  I stirred everything up so that the chicken would be covered in more liquid.  I don’t know how much of a difference that made.

Served atop the couscous, and sprinkled with the fresh cilantro and pine nuts, this meal is quite tasty.  The freshly made components make this seem less like your typical slow cooker meal.  Enjoy!

Slow Cooker Moroccan Chicken

Serves 4-6

From Better Homes and Gardens

Ingredients

• 4-6 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 lb. meaty chicken pieces (breast halves, thighs, and drumsticks), skinned
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/2 cup dried apricots, coarsely chopped
• 1 14-oz. can chicken broth
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour
• 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground cumin
• 1-1/2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Salt and Pepper
• Hot cooked couscous
• Pine nuts, toasted
• Fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

Adding chopped artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, Italian dressing and crunchy almonds make for a lovely and light meal.  If you need meat in your meal, as many people do, add a cup or so of chopped cooked chicken (grilled or rotisserie chicken from your grocery store).

This recipe comes from picky-palate.com.  She serves this salad tossed with arugula.  I served it over a bed of baby spinach.  If this is something you are not going to eat all of the first time around, don’t toss the almonds in with the salad.  They’ll lose their crunch, so just sprinkle some on top of each serving.  You could substitute quinoa for the couscous for an extra punch of protein.  Enjoy!

Artichoke & Sun-dried Tomato Couscous Salad

Courtesy of picky-palate.com

Ingredients

• 10 ounce box Couscous
• 15 ounce can artichoke hearts, chopped
• ½-1 cup sun dried tomatoes
• ½-1 cup fresh shredded or grated Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 cup Italian dressing of choice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1-1 ½  cups chopped cooked chicken (half of a rotisserie chicken)
• ½-1 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 8 ounce bag baby spinach

1. Cook couscous according to package directions. Toss to fluff and chill until cooled.
2. Add artichokes, tomatoes, dressing, salt and pepper, and parmesan, stirring to combine. Serve or chill until ready to serve.
3. Serve over a bed of baby spinach, top with toasted almonds.

I did everything but bake it in the morning and kept it in the fridge until dinnertime.  That meant I could sit with my husband, a glass of wine and some good cheese and crackers while it baked instead of cleaning up dishes.

Kate sent me the link to this recipe from The Kitchn (Apartment Therapy’s food blog).  I don’t currently subscribe to the blog, but she’s shown me so many great recipes from it that I might just have to break down and add it to my reader.  Here is link to the blog and the recipe.  I’m being lazy with the blogging tonight and not retyping or reposting the recipe here.  I am tired, and I need to go to bed.

The only thing I changed was to use emmental swiss instead of gruyere.  The smallest block of gruyere at my grocery store was $15.  I just couldn’t justify spending that much on cheese.  The swiss was lovely.  I got quite excited when it started bubbling away under the broiler.  There is something magical about cheese in that state.  Yes, magical.

Serve this with lots of good crusty bread.  You do not want to waste any of the yummy juices.  Enjoy.

I got the idea for this meal from the Tasty Kitchen blog.  Here is the link.

Since I am only cooking for the two of us, I used 3 small chicken breasts, and could have easily gotten away with 2.  We have enough leftover chicken for a few more pitas and plenty of sauce also.

For the tzatziki sauce I made just a few changes.  I could only find a ridiculously huge container of plain yogurt, and I just didn’t want to buy it.  So, I bought light sour cream instead.  When I mixed up the sauce I added a little milk to thin it out.  I also added some chopped parsley, which made this sauce incredible.  A little chopped mint with the parsley would have been extra special.  There’s something just plain wonderful about fresh herbs.

I filled the pita with the chicken and sauce, but adding some chopped tomatoes and feta cheese makes these even better.

For a side dish I made a tomato and cucumber salad with red onions and feta.  Simply toss chopped, seeded tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, thinly sliced red onion, a bit of olive oil, red wine vinegar, oregano, salt and pepper.  Oh my.  The perfect meal.  Enjoy.

Greek Chicken Pitas

Ingredients

Chicken

• Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (1 chicken breast per person)
• Cavender’s All Purpose Greek Seasoning
• Olive Oil
• Pita breads
• Crumbled feta

Tzatziki Sauce

• 8 ounces light sour cream
• 1-2 tablespoons milk
• 1 whole Cucumber, Chopped
• ½ whole Yellow Onion, Chopped
• Lemon Juice, from 1/2 a large lemon
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• Salt
• Pepper

Directions

1. Rub chicken breasts with Cavender’s seasoning, then place in a plastic bag with some olive oil.  Let marinate in the fridge for a few hours.
2. For the sauce: Mix sour cream and milk to desired consistency.  Add in vegetables, then seasonings.  Taste as you go and adjust to your liking.  Cover and let sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour.
3. Heat grill (or skillet) and cook chicken, about 6-7 minutes per side, until cooked through.  Let sit for a few minutes, then slice.
4. Open pita halves and fill with chicken and tzatziki sauce, and sprinkle with feta cheese.

I made 2 of these sandwiches for 3 couples, and we had some leftovers.  If you’re serving 6 ladies, one sandwich would be enough.  If you’re serving 6 gentlemen, I’d go ahead and make two of them.  I doubled the dressing, which is lovely, light and tangy, and I had just enough.  I baked 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, and fried up about a dozen pieces of bacon.  I used spring mix instead of the arugula, and a jar of julienned sun dried tomatoes of which I used about half.

To make putting this together a breeze, cook and slice the chicken a day ahead.  You can also make the dressing a day ahead and keep it in the fridge.  I would fry the bacon right before you assemble the sandwich so that it stays nice and crispy.  We didn’t take this on a picnic, but I think it would be a nice, fancy picnic sandwich.  Enjoy!

Chicken Caesar Club Sandwich

Courtesy of Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 slices bacon, cooked
• 1 large garlic clove, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup good mayonnaise
• 1 large ciabatta bread
• 4-6 ounces spring mix
• 12 sun-dried tomatoes, in oil
• 2 to 3 ounces Parmesan, shaved

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan skin side up. Rub the chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until cooked through. Cool slightly, and slice the meat thickly. Set aside.
3. Place the garlic and parsley in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and process until minced. Add the mustard, lemon juice, and mayonnaise and process again to make a smooth dressing. (Refrigerate the Caesar dressing if not using it immediately.)
4. Slice the ciabatta in half horizontally and separate the top from the bottom. Toast the bread in the oven, cut side up, for 5 to 7 minutes; cool slightly. Spread the cut sides of each piece with the Caesar dressing. Place half the spring mix on the bottom piece of bread and then layer in order: the sun-dried tomatoes, shaved Parmesan, crispy pancetta, and sliced chicken. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and finish with another layer of spring mix. Place the top slice of ciabatta on top and cut in thirds crosswise. Serve at room temperature.

With the little guy keeping me pretty busy I knew that I had to be really on top of things in order to get the house cleaned and dinner made in time.  I chopped all my veggies and prepped all that I could the night before while Ben was home.  This made the cooking process simple and clean up a breeze.

I found this recipe on allrecipes.com.  Here is the link.  I didn’t change much.  I used a rotisserie chicken to further simplify this soup, and I used more green chiles than the original recipe calls for.  The extra green chiles made it a bit hotter, so use a 4 ounce can if you don’t want that added heat.  I also added a chopped red bell pepper in with the onions for more flavor and color.  We ate left over chili for a few days, and it was even better.  I like to crush Fritos or blue corn chips and mix them in the chili, then top it with sour cream and cheese.  Enjoy!

Chicken Chili

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers
• 1 (7 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
• 3 (15 ounce) cans white beans
• shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• sour cream
• tortilla or corn chips

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. Slowly cook and stir the onion and red pepper until tender.
2. Mix in the garlic, jalapeno, green chile peppers, cumin, oregano and cayenne. Continue to cook and stir the mixture until tender, about 3 minutes.
3. Mix in the chicken broth, chicken and white beans. Simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Serve garnished with cheese, sour cream and corn chips.

I didn’t want to make typical freezer meals.  Lasagna, chili and casseroles that use cans of cream of whatever soup were just not the kind of meals I was looking for.  Yes, I like to make things difficult for myself.  Yes, I am a bit of a food snob.  Ask me a year from now, and I think my love of convenience foods will have grown.  But since I have the time now, why not make something extra good?

Here is what I ended up with in my freezer.  Click on the meal for a link to the recipe.  The pastitsio and shepherd’s pie include freezing instructions.  I added my own for the chicken pasta.

Pastitsio - a layered Greek noodle dish with ground beef, tomatoes and bechamel sauce.  The beef layer is spiced with olives, oregano, cinnamon and oregano.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Bake – a bowtie pasta casserole with chicken, artichokes, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and cheese.

Shepherd’s Pie – Turkey, tomato, peas, corn and mushrooms topped with mashed carrots and potatoes.

These are not the quickest meals to get prepped for the freezer.  But the time you spend now will be time you save in a few weeks or a couple months when you go to enjoy the results of your hard work.  I made the pastitsio the other afternooon, I think it took me about an hour and a half to cook and clean up.  I made the chicken pasta and shepherd’s pie Saturday morning, and I think my total chopping, cooking, boiling, packaging and cleaning time was 3 hours.  Here’s my kitchen during its worst moment on Saturday.

I know some of you have now decided that I am crazy to have spent that much of my Saturday morning on this project, but it’s something I’d planned to do…and so I had to do it.  I also kind of like spending that time in the kitchen and having something to show for it.  It makes me feel productive, and it’s a lot more fun that organizing the stacks of paper on the desk in the office.  And look at my fully stocked freezer!  Two 9×13 pans and two 8×8 pans of food waiting patiently to be eaten.  Why does this kind of thing make me happy?

Here are a few quick notes and changes on these recipes.  Some changes were made because of personal preferences, others because I forgot to or chose not to buy an ingredient.  I am becoming more and more comfortable with improvising in the kitchen.  It makes life so much easier, and it saves money too.  A jar of sun-dried tomatoes was going to set me back $5.99…so I used some sun-dried tomato pesto that I already had.  It makes me feel so resourceful when I can do things like that.

Pastitsio:

• Left out the red wine
• Used green olives instead of Kalamata
• Used only 4 tablespoons of butter, 1 cup of milk and 1 egg in the pasta mixture
• Use a LARGE and DEEP pan, I did not have room in a regular 9×13 to fit all the sauce.  It broke my heart to pour that creamy bechamel down the drain.

Chicken Florentine Artichoke Pasta

• Cooked 2 chicken breasts in a skillet and chopped it up to make 2 cups
• Used a 12 ounce package of pasta instead of 8 ounce
• Used 2 tablespoons of sun dried tomato pesto instead of the chopped sun dried tomatoes
• Freezer Instructions: Bake without bread crumbs for 15 minutes, then with bread crumbs for 5 minutes.  Let cool completely, then cover with plastic wrap and a couple layers of foil.  When ready to bake, let it thaw in the fridge overnight, then bake @ 350 F covered with foil for 20 minutes and without foil for 15-20 minutes or until nicely brown on top.

Shepherd’s Pie

• Used 6 carrots and 4 large baking potatoes which was enough to top 2 8-inch pans
• Made one of my pans with cheese, and one without
• Used 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, 1 1/2 cups peas and 1 cup corn in addition to the meat and tomatoes

When Ben and I get around to eating these over the next couple months I will give some feedback about how the thawing and re-heating goes.  If you try them in the meantime and bake them right away, please let me know how they turn out!

We had an hors d’oeurves dinner and had a wide variety of tasty foods that I need recipes for now.  A super delcious queso, spicy jalapeño, black bean and corn dip, and some crazy good chocolate chip cookies.

I made chicken taquitos that turned out to be pretty good.  These were easy to prepare ahead of time, easy to assemble, they re-heated well and were a popular item on our buffet table.

I used a rotisserie chicken, a “Fiesta” blend of cheese and added a little more lime juice and cilantro than the original recipe.  Low fat cream cheese is fine in this recipe.  You can change up the filling any way you’d like.  There are so many options with taquitos!  I made a black bean and corn version that people liked even more than the chicken ones, so I’ll get around to typing that one up in the next couple days.  Enjoy!

Baked Chicken Taquitos

Courtesy of Our Best Bites

Ingredients

• 3 oz cream cheese
• 1/4 cup green salsa
• 2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 2 tablespoons sliced green onions
• 2 cups shredded cooked chicken
• 1 cup grated Monterey jack cheese
• 12-15 small corn tortillas
• kosher salt
• cooking spray

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly coat with cooking spray.
2. Heat cream cheese in the microwave for about 20-30 seconds so it’s soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, and chili powder.  Stir to combine and then add cilantro and green onions. Add chicken and cheese and combine well.
3. You can prepare up to this step ahead of time. Just keep the mixture in the fridge.
4. Work with a few tortillas at a time and heat in the microwave until they are soft enough to roll without cracking. It helps to place them between damp paper towels. Usually 20-30 seconds will do it. If you find yours are cracking when you roll them or come unrolled right away, just try heating them longer and try the paper towel thing.
5. Place 2-3 T of chicken mixture on the lower third of a tortilla, keeping it about 1/2 inch from the edges.
6. Then roll it up as tight as you can.
7. Place seam side down on the baking sheet. Lay all of the taquitos on the baking sheet and make sure they are not touching each other. Spray the tops lightly with cooking spray or an oil mister and sprinkle some kosher salt on top.
8. Place pan in oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends start to get golden brown.
9. Serve with sour cream, salsa and guacamole.