Italian Ranch Chicken and Vegetables Recipe

I have a ton of fresh veggies on hand right now so I've been trying to come up with recipes where I can use a large variety of them together.  This recipe combined 5 different vegetables in one dish!  The spices blended well together and the dish was very moist and tasty.

If you are concerned about the sodium content in the mixes, you can always substitute with homemade versions of both seasoning mixes.  I added no additional salt or seasonings to this dish and found it seasoned just to my liking!

Italian Ranch Chicken and Vegetables

prep time:  15 minutes ~ cook time:  4 hours/high -8 hours/low in crock pot

makes:  8 servings ~ Weight Watchers: 6 Points Plus

Ingredients:

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup roughly chopped carrots

1 cup roughly chopped asparagus (discard woody stems)

1 cup chopped broccoli

1 cup chopped cauliflower

1 small container of sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup fat free chicken broth

1 envelope ranch dip mix

1 envelope Italian dressing mix

1/2 cup dry instant brown rice

Directions:

1.  Wash and cut chicken into smaller pieces (at least 8 pieces) and place in bottom of slow cooker.

2.  Wash and cut all vegetables and place them in slow cooker on top of chicken.

3.  Sprinkle both envelopes of seasoning mixes on top of vegetables.

4.  Pour chicken broth over entire dish.

5.  Set slow cooker for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.  

6.  Thirty minutes to 1 hour prior to serving add the rice and 

gently stir to make sure it is covered by fluid.

Thai Chicken Red Curry Recipe

I am in love with Thai food.  Red curry flavor to be exact.  I have a favorite Thai restaurant that I like to visit here in St. Louis, but I'm sure it isn't a very healthy dish.  Since I'm doing Weight Watchers, I decided I needed to figure out how to make a lighter version of my all time favorite red curry dish.

I substituted light coconut milk in the recipe as well as brown rice instead of white rice.  In the restaurant, they serve this with a huge scoop of rice, but it is the red curry sauce I'm in love with anyway, so I cut the rice portion way back to save some points.

Thai Chicken Red Curry

prep time:  5 minutes ~ cook time:  20 minutes

makes:  4 servings ~ WW PP: 7 points

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp red curry paste
1 (15 oz) can light coconut milk
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup bamboo shoots, drained
3 Tbsp fish sauce
1/3 cup fat free chicken stock
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 white or yellow onion, diced
1 tsp hot chili oil (may substitute olive oil if desired)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced thinly
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup instant brown rice
1 cup water

Directions:

1.  Place red curry paste and coconut milk into a medium saucepan and mix well.

2.  Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.

3.  Add basil, bamboo shoots, fish sauce, brown sugar, and chicken stock.

4.  Simmer an additional 10 - 15 minutes.

5.  On medium high heat, saute chopped peppers and diced onion in a skillet or wok that has been lightly coated with chili oil.  Do not over cook as these should still be slightly crisp.

6.  Remove peppers and onions from pan and add chicken breast pieces sprinkled with black pepper.  

7.  Saute until chicken is cooked through.

8.  Add peppers and onions back to the skillet.

9.  Pour curried coconut mixture over the chicken, onions and pepper mixture.

10.  Cook instant brown rice in water per package directions.

11.  Serve 1/4 cup cooked brown rice along with 1/4 of the Thai chicken red curry mixture in a bowl.

Adjust the amount of red curry paste you add to this recipe based on how hot you like your food.  I would consider this dish to be a on the low end of the medium hotness scale made as outlined above.  You may add less if you prefer a mild flavor, or may wish to add more to make this hot.  I like mine extra hot, but I prefer to make it according to the recipe, and add some red pepper paste to my serving to warm it up a bit.  Sriracha sauce would taste nice with this as well.

This dish is also excellent with sliced beef or shrimp as a substitute for the chicken.

Healthy Honey Dijon Chicken Breast Recipe

I have had a super busy weekend. . .my friend Beth from +Honey Locust Hills  and I exhibited our jewelry and fiber arts at a show this weekend.

Its hard to eat healthy when you are on the run but the key is to be prepared.  I packed a little cooler that I brought with me each day with some fresh fruit and nuts, low fat cheese and lean sliced meats.

Our show was about an hour away, so once we packed up and got home, it was already dinner time and I was HUNGRY!  Thankfully I was prepared.  I whipped up this recipe in less than 30 minutes and it was so tasty!  Definitely a winner in my book and I will be making it again.  I cooked up several chicken breasts, and since they were so large, each will make 2 portions.  I have these in the fridge for a quick lunch to pack for work or as a healthy addition to a salad.

Tonight, I just served with a spinach and tomato salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar and a touch of olive oil.  Balsamic vinegar has so much flavor that you can get by with very little oil when using it.

Ingredients:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp Greek seasoning*
3 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbsp honey
1 cup water

Directions:

1.  Lightly sprinkle chicken with the pepper and Greek seasoning.

2.  Place chicken, breast side down in a non-stick 

skillet over medium-high heat.   

3.  Cook about 10 minutes flipping half way through to sear and 

lightly brown both sides.

4.  While chicken is browning, mix water, honey and 

Dijon mustard in a small bowl.

5.  Pour honey mustard sauce on top of chicken and reduce heat to medium.

6.  Continue to cook chicken approximately another 10 minutes 

(internal temperature should reach 185 degrees 

for chicken to be cooked thoroughly).

7.  The sauce should thicken up somewhat and slightly caramelize 

on the chicken.  There isn't a lot of extra sauce, but enough that 

you can spoon a small amount over the chicken when you serve it.  

If additional sauce is desired, you can always double that portion 

of the recipe or just add some more water if you are trying to 

keep the calories to a minimum.

4 WW PP

*you should be able to find Greek seasoning at most stores.  It is full of flavor, combining salt, pepper, garlic, oregano, onion as well as other spices.  It tends to be higher in sodium so no additional salt was used in this recipe.


Just in case you are interested, here's a little glimpse of what our table looked like at the show:

Cranberry Pecan Chicken Salad Recipe

I received my Market Crate of fresh veggies today (see previous post from November 14, 2012) and decided to use some of the beautiful ingredients from it to make a nice chicken salad. 

This weekend I found a sale at my local market on whole chickens (less than $1/per pound!) and had baked the chicken yesterday.  I had already removed the skin as well as taken the chicken off the bone before refrigerating it so it was recipe ready.  If you don't have time for that step, you can always buy a rotisserie chicken at the deli department of your local market to use. . . or you could use some of your leftover turkey from your Thanksgiving feast!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked, diced chicken
2 sticks celery, diced
2/3 cup fresh cranberries (measure after cooking)
1/2 cup water
2/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup diced onion
1/3 cup mayonaise
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1.  Place fresh cranberries in a small pot with water. 

2.  Cook over medium high for approximately 5 - 10 minutes just until

    cranberries split open. 

3.  Drain, rinse with cold water to cool and set cranberries aside. 

    You may also place the cranberries in refrigerator for a short

    time to cool.

4.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, mix chicken, celery, pecans, onion and

    cooled cranberries. 

5.  In a small bowl or cup, mix mayo, sugar, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

6.  Pour mayo mixture over chicken and mix thoroughly.

7.  Serve in a lettuce cup or wrap, on top of a salad, or on two slices of

    honey wheat bread.

You will have quite a few cranberries left over.  Don't cranberry muffins or cranberry pancakes sound good?  Hmmm. . .I think I will have to work on a recipe to use the remaining cranberries.  Look for another cranberry recipe to be posted in the near future!

This recipe is featured on Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party.



Mexicali Chicken Recipe

I just love my crock pot.  Any chance I get I try to use it.  And I'm the queen of just throwing in a variety of ingredients without a recipe and just praying all day it turns out good enough to eat when I get home from work.

I got a really good deal on skinless, bone-in chicken breasts this past weekend, and they needed to be cooked, so I started with those.  Then I looked in the pantry to see what else I could add to the pot to make a main dish.  This is what I came up with. . .I served it over rice and thought it had a lot of flavor.  I used the Hot Rotel with habaneros, but you might want to consider the regular or even the mild variety if you don't prefer very spicy foods.  I love spicy and even I thought it had quite a kick to it.



This is the finished dish once the chicken has been shredded.

Next time (yes, I thought it was good enough to try again) I might consider leaving out the green beans and using the meat as a filling for some soft corn tacos.  They would be very tasty with some black bean, corn and avocado salsa and a little sour cream on top. 

Ingredients:

2 pounds skinless bone-in chicken breasts
1 can Rotel (whichever degree of hotness you prefer)
1 can cut green beans, drained (I used the no salt added version)
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup (I used the 99% fat free version)
2 Tbsp taco seasoning - premade envelopes or make your own homemade
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp season salt





Directions:

1. Place chicken in crockpot breast side down.
2. Sprinkle both salts, pepper and taco seasoning over the top of the breasts.
3. Pour drained green beans around the chicken breasts.
4. Over the top, pour the can of Rotel (undrained) and the can of cream of chicken soup.
5. Turn crock pot on low for approx 8 hours.  It will hold up slightly longer if you need it to.  I usually leave it close to 9 1/2 - 10 hours while I'm at work.  If you cook it on high reduce the time to about 4 hours.
6. Use a fork to pull and shred the chicken off the bone and discard the bones.
7. Serve with rice.

Here is what it looks like when I place all
ingredients in the crock pot prior to cooking.

This recipe is featured on http://www.foodiefriendsfriday.com Linky Party