Chipotle chicken and rice

This is a pretty good one pot dinner and easy to make. It didn't knock our socks off though but it is a solid meal and makes enough for a family. Its more ho hum then WOW! If I made it again I might use chicken breasts rather than thighs and shred them into the rice in the end and also add some veggies to the mix to make it more balanced.

You can use leftovers for quesadillas the following day. Two meals in one...sweet!

Recipe from Everyday Food Magazine (July/Aug 2009 issue)
Serves 4
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 1 hr 20 min

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 skinless chicken thighs (about 2 pounds)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced (if you want less spice use 1- 1.5)
2 large tomatoes, diced large
1 cup long-grain white rice
Lime wedges, for serving
Chopped cilantro leaves, for serving (optional)


In a large Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Working in batches, brown chicken on both sides, about 6 minutes total; transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Add onion and saute until soft, about 5 minutes, scraping up any browned bits from bottom of pot.

Add garlic, cumin, and chiles; cook until garlic is soft and fragrant, 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and 1 teaspoon salt and cook until tomatoes begin to break down and release their juices, 3 minutes. Stir in 1 cup water and return chicken and any accumulated juices to pot. Cover, reduce to a simmer, and cook 25 minutes.

Remove several pieces of chicken and stir in rice, making sure it is completely submerged in liquid. Replace chicken, cover, and cook until rice is tender and liquid has been absorbed, 25 to 30 minutes more. Serve with lime wedges and cilantro if desired.

** Note - I thought it was pretty spicy with 2 chipotles (and I like spice). If you don't want it quite as zesty use a bit less.

Roasted chipotle-honey mustard chicken

As mentioned in my previous post im going to be cooking a bunch of recipes from the Robin Miller cookbook I just purchased. This roasted chipotle-honey mustard chicken is one of them. It was really good although, I went a bit heavy on the chipotle, lesson learned...wowza! It was spicy. (note to self: measuring out ingredients is a good thing)

The best part about this recipe is that by making a few extra chicken breasts (I did 8) you can save them for other recipes later in the week. Tonight im using them for fancy chicken and sausage sandwiches then I will use them again on Friday for nutty asian chicken over noodles.

Recipe from Robin Rescues Dinner by Robin Miller

Notice that beautiful salad...the spinach is straight from our garden! (cant help but brag...it was really good)

Prep time : 10 min
Cook time: 30-45 min
Serves: 2-3

Cooking spray
2-3 chicken breast ( I did 8 so we would have leftovers)
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup honey
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs minced chipotle chili in adobo, plus 1 tsp sauce from can
2 tsp dijon mustard

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray (don't forget this part as the honey will burn onto sheet pan while cooking). Arrange chicken on prepared pan and season with salt and pepper.

Whisk together honey, oil, chipotle chile with sauce and dijon in small bowl. Brush mixture over chicken.

Roast in oven 30-45 min or until chicken is cooked through.

Slice chicken and serve with brown rice.

Sarah's chicken picatta with artichoke hearts and angel hair pasta

Sorry for the lack of posts last week. Hamish was out of town so I didn't have anyone to cook for...boooooo. Now im back and have some good stuff planned.

First up is chicken picatta with artichoke hearts and angel hair pasta



4 thin sliced chicken breast
1 cup flour
3 tbs butter
1 shallot, finely diced
1/2 lemon
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen artichoke hearts (I like the Trader Joes brand)
2 tbs capers, drained and rinsed
S & P

Serves 2-3

- Season chicken breasts with salt and pepper then dredge in flour. Shake off excess. ** Note: I like to use the foster farms thin sliced breasts because they cook faster.
- Add 1 tbs olive oil to saute pan and cook chicken until golden brown on both sides over med-high heat. Set aside chicken and cover with foil.
**No need to worry about cooking chicken completely through at this point. They will be added back to pan later.
- Add 1 tbs butter to same pan and saute shallots until soft. Add in white wine and let boil for 1 min. Add in capers, frozen artichoke hearts, broth and juice from 1/2 lemon. Bring back to a boil.
- Add chicken back to pan along with 2 tbs butter and the squeezed out lemon rind. Cover and turn down heat to medium-low and let simmer for 10 min (if using thicker chicken breasts you may need to add more time)
- While chicken is cooking, make pasta and set aside.
- Taste sauce - it may need more lemon or salt. Season if needed. At the very end I like to remove chicken and boil sauce for a few minutes until it becomes thicker. This step is optional.
- Serve chicken, artichoke hearts and sauce over angel hair pasta.


{Review}
I've been making this for years and its one of my easy weeknight standbys
Husband approved


{Serve with}
Garlic bread


{Time}
25 min


Tomorrow i'll have my homemade mini meatballs with pasta. Its a great recipe because you can make some now then freeze the rest for a rainy day. Stay tuned!

Chicken w/ artichokes and anglehair pasta

This recipe is from "Everyday Food Magazine" Pasta innovations issue


{Image}


Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
8 thin chicken cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
14 oz artichoke hearts (I use the frozen ones from Trader Joes)
2 tablespoons rinsed and drained capers
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounces angel-hair pasta
1/2 cup parsley leaves (optional)


Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Place flour in a shallow dish, and season with salt and pepper. Dredge cutlets, shaking off excess. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook chicken in batches, adding remaining oil as needed, until light golden, 1 to 3 minutes per side; transfer to a dish.

Add broth to skillet, and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Add frozen artichokes , capers, and the chicken with any juices. Gently swirl to combine, and bring just to a boil. Remove skillet from heat. Swirl in butter, and cover to keep warm.

Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente; drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta, topped with parsley.


{Review}
Very good and easy
Husband approved


{Serve with}
Garlic bread


{Time}
25min or less