Tag Archive for: Dinner

Weeknight Dinner: Grilled Chicken Fajitas

I am always looking for ways to make flavorful and healthy dinners during the week. It is always a challenge when you are busy and don’t feel like cooking at the end of the day, so things that can be prepped ahead of time or quickly are always the answer. I often opt for some semi-homemade options to supplement these meals. This is one that is great because it is easy to prepare and you can do pieces early in the day or right before cooking. Plus, you can throw some additional chicken and veggies in to save for lunches later in the week. I like to take the leftover rice and mix in chopped chicken and veggies for a great easy lunch! By skipping the cheese and sour cream included with lots of Mexican food, you can save lots of calories. This has so much flavor, I didn’t miss it. Enjoy!!

Kelly

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

1 Pound Chicken Breasts

2 Red Bell Peppers

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Zucchini

1 Red Onion, Sliced

1 Avocado

2 T Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Mission Fajita Tortillas

 

Marinade:

3 T Frank’s Red Hot Wing Sauce

Juice of ½ a Lime

2 T Red Wine Vinegar

1 Clove Garlic, finely chopped

2 Scallions, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper to Taste

 

Rice:

Near East Spanish Rice

1 Tomato, cubed

 

Beans:

365 Organic Refried Beans

Jalapeños

Juice of ½ Lime

Cumin

Salt and Pepper to Taste

 

Combine all marinade ingredients in a bowl and coat chicken with the mixture.


Cover the chicken and refrigerate until ready to grill (ideally 30 min – about 10 hours.) Prep the veggies by cleaning them and cutting them into manageable pieces to grill (quarter the peppers and slice the zucchini lengthwise.) Toss the veggies in 1-2 T olive oil and salt and pepper.


Slice the onion and set aside.


Prepare the rice according to the package directions and add chopped tomatoes after about 10 minutes of cooking.


Add 1 T olive oil to a skillet and cook the onions over med-high heat until golden.


Heat the black beans in a skillet over medium heat until warmed through, stirring in the jalapeños, lime juice, and spices. (Black beans do NOT photograph well, but they taste yummy!)


Grill the veggies and the chicken, let rest for a few minutes then slice into strips.



Heat the tortillas and serve immediately.


 

PS – When Ali got home late after work, she reinvented this by using lettuce in place of the tortillas which looked Fabulous! Gotta love new ideas! Do you have other ways to do fajitas??

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Steak Salad for Supper

A trip to the farmer’s market left us with piles of early lettuce, arugula, French radishes and tomatoes. Instead of spending $100 on each of us getting a nice Filet, we bought one ½ pound beef tenderloin filet for $12 at the “nice” store, since we are hardly going to cook it. The question was whether to grill the steak or pan fry. I wanted this to be almost raw, a quick sear on each side to make a crust, so I didn’t know if the (disappointing Jenn-Air) gas grill would get hot enough. So I pulled out my old trusty cast iron pan. I figured, searing hot, 2 minutes per side, to break down the fat and get a nice crust. And, frankly, it came out perfect.
Prep your salad by washing and drying your lettuce. Make salad dressing by combining 2 T. good olive oil plus 1 ½ t. sherry vinegar, a crushed clove of garlic and salt and pepper. Shake well and set aside until later. You can do all this ahead and chill while you take a nap after the Farmer’s market!
After your nap, cut up tomatoes, radishes, cabbage and measure your capers and shave the Parmesan. We like to lay all the ingredients out in our salad bowl.

Next, trim off the silver skin (that the expensive store left on). Crush some peppercorns, with the heavy cast iron pan. The heavy pan will keep the pepper from flying away! Preheat the pan until SUPERhot on high. Add 1 T. Canola Oil and spread around the pan. Cover the steak with the crushed pepper and some Celtic salt. Press onto the meat so it stays on. Put the steak in the pan fat side down (on its side) for 2 minutes. It will smoke, don’t worry, just turn on your fan. Flip and cook 2 minutes per side. Let steak rest for 5 minutes.

Toss salad. Slice steak against the grain and into super thin slices.

Add cooked steak to the top of the salad. YUM!

Mary

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Weeknight Dinner: Chicken Fried Rice

There are some meals that you just go back to over and over again; this is one of mine. I started making this in college because my best friend, Robin,  LOVED fried rice and we were looking for a way to make a healthy version at home. I started with this recipe from Tyler Florence but, as usual, I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I improvised. Since then, I have tweaked it and made it my own. Though I often throw in extra vegetables I have laying around or make substitutions, this is my favorite combination. The keys to this recipe are the fresh ginger and Hosin sauce, other than that, play around. We often cook extra chicken or beef on the grill to have on hand for lunch or so we have it available for recipes like this. You could also use shrimp or rotisserie chicken to make it easy. I like short grain brown rice for this, though it is traditionally made with white rice, there is enough flavor that people don’t notice the substitution. Plus, I think the brown rice gives it a nice bite. This is such a versatile recipe and super easy to make!

Kelly

Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients
2 cups short-grain brown rice
4 cups cold water
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and sliced in 1/2
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sesame or olive oil
1 teaspoon Mongolian Fire Oil (optional)
4 scallions, sliced thin (reserve some of the green part for garnish)
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup sugar snap peas, chopped
1 cup pineapple, cubed
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup orange juice
3-5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
In a pot with a tight fitting lid, add the rice and 4 cups cold water. Put in the ginger and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for about 10 minutes. (I usually use a rice cooker so I don’t have to watch it, but you can prepare on the stovetop).

While the rice is cooking, prep the vegetables and chicken. Try to make all the pieces roughly the same size so they cook evenly.

Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, pour in the sesame oil. Add the scallions, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant.

Stir in the vegetables and orange juice leaving out the pineapple and cook for about 2 minutes.

Stir in the chicken to reheat, about 1-2 minutes.

Remove the ginger from the rice and add the rice and pineapple to the wok; stir everything together and break up any clumps of rice.

Add the soy and hoisin and stir some more.

Pour in the egg and stir-fry until cooked, about 1-2 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce if needed.

Stir in the additional green onion and serve.

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Chicken Piccata

When it comes to Chicken Piccata, recipes vary a bit on the details, but the basics are simple. Think chicken breasts, lemon and capers. This is absolutely one of my favorites and this is a recipe that has evolved over the years. Some people prefer to bread the chicken while I prefer just a seasoned flour coating. Some people prefer to pan fry the chicken in just olive oil and add butter to the sauce later, I think using both butter and olive oil to fry adds some depth and a lovely golden color. Many recipes choose either chicken stock or white wine, I like to use both. Sometimes I adjust it based on what I have on hand, but this is my favorite combination. I tend to like the sauce a bit more on the tart side. One other note: I buy chicken cutlets that have already been prepared by a butcher to save time, but you can buy boneless breasts and butterfly them or pound them to the thickness you like. Enjoy playing with this recipe!

Chicken Piccata

1 Package Chicken Cutlets (5-6 cutlets)

4 T. Flour

Salt

Pepper

1/3 c. Chicken Stock

2/3 c. White Wine

2/3 c. Lemon Juice (Freshly squeezed, about 2-3 large lemons)

2 Cloves Garlic, Finely Chopped

2 T. Capers

6 T. Butter

4 T. Olive Oil

Fresh Parsley, Chopped

Add flour to a plate and season generously with salt and pepper. Dredge the cutlets in the seasoned flour and set aside, making sure to shake off any excess flour.

In a large skillet, melt 1 1/2 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil over med high heat.

Place two or three cutlets in the pan (making sure not to crowd them) and cook until golden brown, approximately 3 minutes per side.

Remove from the pan and cover with foil while cooking the next batch.

Wipe out the bottom of the pan before adding another 1 1/2 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil and repeating with the next batch of chicken. When the chicken is cooked, wipe out the pan again and add 2 T. of butter plus 1 T. olive oil. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and lightly brown. Add the wine, lemon juice, stock, a pinch of salt and pepper, bring to a simmer.

While the sauce is cooking, make beurre manie by mixing equal parts flour and softened butter (1 T. of each) which will make a paste to thicken the sauce.

Add half of the beurre manie to the simmering sauce and add more as needed. The sauce should coat the back of a spoon when ready, 3-5 minutes. Add the chicken back to the sauce to finish the cooking (about 5 minutes), turning several times to coat evenly.

Add capers. Adjust seasoning as needed. Add the chopped parsley just before serving.

Serve with some good bread to sop up the sauce!

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Weeknight Dinners: Tacos

Tacos are always a family favorite. You can pretty much make them from start to finish in 20 minutes. It is great for finicky eaters because you can keep everything on the side and let everyone choose their own combo. Tacos can also be a great way to empty the fridge and the pantry.

Our tacos usually start with 85% ground beef, some kind of beans, iceberg lettuce, tomatoes and cheese. Traditionally, we used Gebhardt Chili Powder, but lately we have been experimenting with some more heat (ancho and guajillo chili powders). These get added to taste to the ground beef while browning it along with salt and black pepper. When the beef is brown, remove some of the fat (we usually just use paper towels, but you can pour it off). Add onion and garlic to the browned meat and saute until the onions are soft and garlic is fragrant. Adjust the seasoning as needed. We sometimes add chili beans or tomatoes to the meat. Other times will serve beans on the side.

Some traditional Mexican toppings are radishes, cilantro (love it or hate it), onion, and salsa (pico de gallo). We also add avocado, scallions, and the ever present Tabasco. If you have a gas stove, you can just heat the tortillas directly over the flame until soft and lightly colored on both sides. Otherwise, warm them in the microwave or oven.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a great meal to get on the table quickly or for a fun and hands on party where your guests can help! Get creative and make it yours!

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