Sage Chicken Recipe

We are all so busy during the week with work, errands, cleaning, etc. and there is barely any time to make dinner.  I was having one of those busy nights this week, and I was pleasantly surprised that {with very little effort}  I could make this sage chicken that packed a lot of flavor! 

Honestly, how can you go wrong with a butter, sage, wine sauce!  We picked some beautiful sage from our CSA herb garden and came up with this simple, easy and only 6 ingredient recipe.  The chicken cooks nice and plump in the wine, while being coated with a silky, smooth sage infused butter.  Just heavenly.  We served it up with some CSA string beans and yellow squash.  This sage chicken was definitely the star on the plate!  Have I sold you yet? 

Sage Chicken Recipe

Serves 4

4 skinless chicken breasts

Salt

Pepper

2 tablespoons butter

4 large fresh sage leaves, chopped

1/2 cup white wine

First, pound your chicken breasts to create an even thickness through the entire piece of meat.  To do this place the chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap, and with a meat mallet, rolling in, or flat surface of a small frying pan, pound the chicken breasts out about 1/2 inch thickness.  Next, season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large frying pan, add butter and chopped sage.  Melt the butter over medium-high heat.  Add the seasoned chicken breasts to the melted sage butter and cook for 6-7 minutes.  Once the first side of the chicken has browned, add in the wine and flip each chicken breast to brown the other side.  Cook for another 6-7 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. 

Place chicken on a serving dish and pour the wine sauce over top. 

Baked Burritos with Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe

Don’t these burritos look delicious???  We love to go out for Mexican food, but I wanted to find an easy way to make tasty burritos at home.  This recipe couldn’t be easier because everything is already cooked and I just need to assemble the burritos together. 

To make this all work, I went to my freezer!  Last Sunday I roasted the largest chicken I could find at the grocery store and froze my leftovers in separate serving size baggies {about 1 pound each}.  In my freezer, I also have 1 cup containers of frozen tomatillo salsa verde that I made over the summer from my CSA vegetables. 

These are so easy to make on weekdays and have lots of flavor.  Who said you can’t make your favorite restaurant dishes?!?!

Baked Burritos with Tomatillo Salsa Verde Recipe

Serves 5

Preheat Oven 350^o

1 pound roasted, shredded chicken

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin powder

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder

5 flour tortilla shells

1 can of red kidney beans

1 cup salsa

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup tomatillo sauce

In a small bowl, mix together all of the spices; garlic powder, onion powder, cumin powder, and cayenne pepper.  In a large bowl with the shredded chicken mix in the spice blend and mix until the chicken is well coated.

On a working space, place one flour tortilla down.  Then down the center, sprinkle the cheese.  Then layer on top of the cheese with chicken, kidney beans, and salsa.  Add as much of each of these to your taste, but make sure to fill them up.  Next, roll up the sides and place the burrito onto a baking sheet.  Repeat until you have filled all of your tortillas.

Once all of your burritos are lined up on the baking sheet, pour the tomatillo sauce over all of the burritos. {My tomatillo sauce was frozen, so I placed it in a small sauce pan with a little water to defrost} Sprinkle more cheese on top.

Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.    

Tips:

1)      If you don’t have roasted, shredded chicken in your freezer you can purchase a roasted chicken from your local grocery.

2)   If you don't want to use shredded chicken, you can use cooked ground beef or pork. 

3)   Instead of meat, these can also be vegetarian with your favorite sautéed vegetables. 

4)      Feel free to add any of your favorites into the burritos to personalize them for you.

5)      If you don’t have tomatillo sauce, buy it at the grocery store or use salsa.

Mongolian Chicken Recipe

My dad goes crazy for spicy food.  Every time we go out to dinner he is always willing to try new foods with a kick of heat!  He loves to push the limit with the level of heat that he can endure.  I am always willing to give a small taste to whatever he orders, but most of the time I learn my tolerance is {very} much lower than his.

One spicy dish my father has ordered in the past is Mongolian Beef.  This dish has a delicious tangy, spicy sauce coating the meat that my entire family loves.  I came across a simple Mongolian sauce recipe while reading Cooking Light magazine.  The recipe called to use beef, which we have done in the past, but all I had in the house tonight was chicken breast.  So I tried it as a substitute and it worked out perfectly! Don’t you just love when that happens?!?!

Mongolian Chicken Recipe

Cooking Light Magazine

Serves 4

 2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon cornstarch

2 teaspoons dry sherry

2 teaspoons hoisin sauce

1 teaspoon rice vinegar

1 teaspoon chile paste with garlic  

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons peanut oil

1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic

4 chicken breasts, cut into large bite sized pieces 

8 medium green onions, cut into 2-inch pieces

First, combine the soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch, dry sherry, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, chili paste, and salt in a medium sized bowl until smooth.

Next, heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the minced ginger, minced garlic, and chicken into the skillet and cook the chicken through, about 9 minutes depending on the thickness.  Once the chicken is fully cooked through, add the green onion pieces and sauté for 30 seconds. Add the sauce mixture into the skillet and cook for 1 minute or until thickened, stirring constantly.

Serve with rice, cous cous or over rice noodles.  Enjoy!

Tips:

1)      If you don’t have peanut oil, use vegetable or canola oil instead

2)      Want to make this with steak instead?  Use 1 pound sirloin steak, thinly sliced across the grain.  Sauté for 2 minutes or until beef is browned in the oil, ginger, garlic mixture.  Then add in the green onions and sauce as directed above.



Chicken Saltimbocca with Balsamic Glaze Recipe

The combination of moist chicken, salty prosciutto, creamy mozzarella and sweet balsamic are dreamy to me!  This is an easy weeknight meal or great for having guests over for dinner.  I love to serve chicken saltimbocca with mashed potatoes to pick up all of the delicious balsamic glaze.

Chicken Saltimbocca with Balsamic Glaze Recipe

Recipe slightly adapted from Williams Sonoma

Serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, lightly pounded to an even thickness

Salt

Pepper

1/3 cup flour

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage

4 slices of prosciutto, not paper thin

4 slices of mozzarella, sliced thin

3/4 cup dry white wine, Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.  Spread the flour on a plate and dredge each breast, coating evenly and shaking off the excess. Set aside

In a large fry pan or sauté pan over medium-high heat, melt 1 Tbs. of the butter with the olive oil until very hot. Add the chicken breasts and cook until the undersides are golden brown, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn the chicken breasts over and continue to cook  until they feel firm when pressed in the centers, 4 to 6 minutes more.

Reduce the heat to very low. Sprinkle the breasts evenly with the chopped or dried sage. Top each breast with a piece of prosciutto, then divide the cheese slices evenly among the breasts. Cover the pan tightly and cook until the cheese is melted, about 1 1/2 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and tent with aluminum foil, being careful not to allow the foil to touch the cheese.

Increase the heat to high. When the pan is sizzling, add the wine  and balsamic to deglaze the pan, stirring to scrape up any browned bits stuck on the pan bottom. Boil until reduced to 1/3 cup, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and whisk in the remaining 1 Tbs. butter.

Spoon an equal amount of the sauce over each breast, then garnish with a sage leaf. Serve immediately.

Tips:

1)      Don’t have fresh sage? No worries, just use 1 teaspoon of dried sage 

Taco Soup

As promised, here is a recipe that we love to make with our leftover roast chicken, taco soup!  It is simple, fast, and packed full of flavor.  This is such a great way to make a healthy, hearty meal on a weeknight with very little effort.  This recipe has very little preperation and there is no waste with multiple pots and pans used.  I find it so satisfying to be able to throw everything into one pot and have the ingredients meld together on their own and create pure scrumptiousness.

This soup focuses more on the delicious ingredients and has just enough broth to cover everything.  With a kick of heat, it is accompanied by the smooth texture of the beans and crispy corn.  There is a lot going on with this soup and it stimulates your senses.   

Taco Soup Recipe
Serves 5

1 pound roasted chicken
1 packet taco seasoning mix
1 packet ranch dressing mix
15 oz. can pinto beans
15 oz. can kidney beans
15 oz. can corn
2 (10 oz.) cans Rotel tomatoes
1 red bell pepper, chopped

Add all ingredients listed above into a large soup pot.  Mix well so everything is coated with the taco seasoning and ranch dressing mix.  Simmer the soup over medium-low heat until bubbly. 

Serve soup with grated chedder cheese and tortilla chips. Enjoy!

Tips:
      1)  This soup freezes very well if you have leftovers. 
      2)  Rotel tomatoes have different options for heat levels, so you can customize this soup to your own personal heat specifications. 

What are your favorite dishes to make with leftover roast chicken?

Sunday Dinner: Roast Chicken

Sunday dinners are a wonderful way to end the weekend.  I love to make a large Sunday dinner, even if it is only for my husband and me.  It is a great way to get a bit of the prep out of the way for some of your midweek meals after work.  

My mother would always make a large Sunday meal for my family with all of the fixings.  It was such a fun time to sit at the dinner table and have some quality family time.  I love to do this with my husband and look forward to doing it with our family some day. 

Today for Sunday dinner I made a roast chicken with some delicious sides; stuffing, mashed potatoes, fresh green beans and gravy.  When I am at the grocery store, I always look for the largest roasting chicken I can find.  I figured, it doesn't matter if I am roasting a 3 lb. chicken or an 8 lb. chicken, I am still going through the effort of roasting it.  This way with the larger bird, I am guaranteed to have lots of leftovers to help me prepare for the busy work week ahead.    The options are endless when it comes to what you can do with roasted chicken.  Stay tuned to the blog later this week to see what I do with some of the leftovers. 

Roasting a chicken is so easy.  It seems a bit intimidating at first if you have never done it before, but trust me, it is simple!

Roast Chicken

Preheat oven 350^o

Roasting chicken
Salt
Pepper

Remove the chicken from the plastic bag and also remove the bag of giblets from the cavity of the chicken.  Rinse the chicken in cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.  Place the chicken breast side up in a roasting rack inside a baking pan with tall sides.  Salt and pepper the bird along the top and inside the cavity. 

Roast the chicken for 20 minutes per pound.  The juices should run clear when a knife is inserted between the body and thigh of the chicken.  The meat thermometer should also read 165 degrees. 

Once out of the oven, cover the chicken with foil and allow to rest for 10 minutes.  This will allow all of the juices to seal in before you begin carving.

Tips:
      1)  Once you have enjoyed your Sunday dinner and are cleaning up, remove all of the remaining meat from the chicken.  Depending on what your plans are for your leftovers, you can put some of the leftover chicken in a sealed plastic bag and freeze it until you are ready to use it!