Chicken

Chicken and Green Bean Salad

I’m a sucker for creamy, rich, mayonaisse-laden chicken salad.  I love my own homemade chicken salad the best (which I will share with you one day) but I’ve been known to order fattening chicken salad in a restaurant from time to time.  No matter how much I might want to eat it, I really try to watch my mayonaisse intake.  Having grown up in Central Illinois where everything is made with mayonaisse, this used to be more of a task than it is now.  (My dad used to make his own salad dressing with mayonaisse and sugar – ugh!).

After falling in love with and devouring Cooking Light‘s Avocado Chicken Salad, I couldn’t resist trying the mayo-free Chicken and Green Bean Salad.  Steamed green beans are mixed with chicken and grape tomatoes and then tossed in a light mixture of olive oil, lemon juice, whole-grain Dijon mustard, and fresh thyme.  If you don’t have whole-grain Dijon, regular Dijon will work (it just won’t look as pretty).  The recipe calls for cherry tomatoes but I used grape tomatoes (they are smaller and fit onto the baguette slices better).  I also quickly grilled up chicken tenders which I shredded with a fork but using rotisserie or precooked chicken will speed up the preparation.  Seasoned with salt and pepper, this chicken salad is a great option to take to a picnic or outdoor event.  Serve with toasted baguette slices, whole-grain crackers or over a bed of baby spinach and you’ve got yourself a dish good enough for lunch, dinner or as an easy appetizer.  And I bet you won’t even miss the mayonaisse!

The ingredients:

Arrange baguette slices in a single layer on a baking sheet and broil in the over for 1 minute or until toasted.

Steam green beans 3 minutes or until crisp-tender.  Drain, rinse with cold water and drain again.  Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon, thyme, salt and pepper with a whisk.

Add chicken, beans, and tomatoes to dressing mixture and toss to combine. 

Serve with toast.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Grape tomatoes

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Spicy Moroccan Chicken Skewers

Last week, when I made Tortellini Caprese Bites, I mentioned that I could probably revolve this entire blog around different caprese recipes. This week I have come to realize that I could also write just as much about different kinds of skewers. I mean, who doesn’t like food on a stick? We were all kids once, right? One thing about skewers that I love is that they can be so healthy if made with lean meat and tons of veggies.

These Spicy Moroccan Chicken Skewers not only have tender chicken, plump juicy cherry tomatoes and sunny yellow peppers, but the chicken is coated in a spicy marinade of chile paste, cumin and coriander which provides tons of bold flavors. Serve this with a side of plain Greek yogurt to tame the flavors and cool your palette if you like. I cooked my skewers on an indoor grill but I can only imagine how much better these are over an open flame. If the tomatoes are slightly big or different sizes, pay close attention to the chicken as it’s cooking to ensure it is fully cooked. Or consider using grape tomatoes instead. Eaten plain or with a side of quinoa, couscous or rice, these skewers are sure to please. I can’t think of anything better than a spring or summer evening with chicken skewers in one hand and sparklers in another. Ah, to be a kid again.

The ingredients:

Combine garlic, chile paste, olive oil, salt, cumin and coriander in a small bowl.

Using a rubber spatula or spoon, place mixture into a zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken and seal, massaging chicken so that all pieces are coated by the marinade. Marinate in refrigerator for 2 hours, turning after 1 hour.

Soak wooden skewers in water for 30 minutes to prevent burning on the grill. Drain and pat dry. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Remove chicken from marinade and discard any remaining marinade. Thread 3 chicken pieces, 1 pepper piece, and 1 tomato alternately onto each skewer, beginning and ending with chicken. Sprinkle with remaining salt. Arrange skewers on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until done.

Serve with yogurt.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Spicy Basil Chicken

I’m starting to notice a pattern in my life…I spend the weekend eating badly and then turn around and try to remedy it by making something low-carb. I’m not sure if this is working for me or not but I guess deep down it must make me feel better about myself. After starting the day off Saturday with coffee for breakfast and a nice salad at lunch time, the day quickly spiraled out of control and I woke up Sunday to remember that I had also consumed cheesy chicken nachos, two (yes, TWO) separate plates of french fries, and a fast food chicken sandwich around midnight. Whaaaaaaaat? I can count on one hand the number of times I eat fast food in a year so I wasn’t really sure why my friend and I decided it was a good idea to head through the drive-thru on our way home from a night (or day-into-night) on the town. I came home and ate this super-salty chicken sandwich while watching Saturday Night Live and didn’t really enjoy one bite of it. If I learned nothing else, I remembered exactly why I don’t eat fast food.

So, true to form, on Sunday I decided to make a nice low-carb chicken dish – Spicy Basil Chicken. Tender chicken is cooked with shallots and sliced garlic before being bathed in a spicy and salty mixture of soy sauce, chili paste, sugar, water, and cornstarch. Sliced basil tops off the whole dish, giving it a fresh, bright finishing touch. This tasted like an authentic chicken dish that I might get at my favorite Chinese food place, slightly reminiscent of Kung Pao. No matter how good the chicken was though, it was made even better by the soft garlic slices that soaked up the sauce. I probably could have eaten that garlic by the spoonful. In fact, I just might have. This dish is soooooo much better than fast food!

The ingredients:

Add canola oil to a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shallots and garlic to pan and cook for 30 seconds.

Add chicken to the pan and cook until chicken is done.

Combine fish sauce (which I omitted), sugar, soy sauce, water, sambal oelek, and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add sauce mixture to the pan and cook for 1 minute or until mixture thickens making sure to coat the chicken. Remove from heat.

Stir in basil.

Serve with rice, couscous, or just your fork.

Additions: None

Omissions:

  • Fish Sauce

Substitutions:

  • Chicken tenders

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

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