Tag Archives: food

Apricot-Glazed Grilled Chicken

Here is a simple chicken dish that can be made pretty quickly even when the weather is cold. Apricot-Glazed Grilled Chicken probably tastes better in the summer when you can prepare this over an outdoor grill but it’s still a pretty good dish on an indoor grill. I used my beloved Griddler by Cuisinart but any grill pan will work. (And let’s be real – if you don’t have a grill pan, a skillet will work just fine!)

A mixture of apricot preserves, vinegar, olive oil, and garlic is brushed over chicken as it cooks making for a tasty, slightly sweet glaze. I used chicken tenderloins but you can use any chicken you like (the recipe uses chicken breasts, thighs, and drumsticks). Serve this with any vegetable, starch, or salad greens you like to make for a light and healthy meal.

The ingredients:

Combine apricot preserves, vinegar, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl and mix well.

Cook one side of the chicken on a grill pan and turn over. Coat the cooked side with apricot glaze. When opposite side has cooked, flip the chicken over and apply glaze to the other side. I flipped the chicken over one more time to make sure all sides with glaze were cooked.

Consider using this glaze with bite-sized chicken or on skewers for the little ones or as an appetizer.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

White wine vinegar for red wine vinegar

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Spicy Chickpea Samosas

January 11, 2012
Shannon
4 comments
appetizer, chickpeas, food, peas, vegetarian

When it comes to spicy food, lately I can’t get enough. If my tongue or the back of my throat doesn’t burn just a touch from whatever it is that I’m eating, I’m just not satisfied. Usually I can get my kick by adding a little bit of cayenne pepper here and there so when I come across a recipe with “spicy” in the title…I may as well melt!

These Spicy Chickpea Samosas not only have a slight kick but they are full of other delicious flavors like garlic, ginger, cilantro, and scallions. Samosas are a typical Indian street food which are fried but here they are baked which makes them a healthy appetizer, snack or light lunch. These are made with phyllo dough which usually uses tons of butter to make them flaky and decadent but the dough here is sprayed with non-stick spray which lightens it up while still keeping the layers crispy and flaky. I love the fact that these are vegetarian, as most traditional samosas are, but feel free to swap out the chickpeas with ground meat if you choose. This chickpea mixture is so good by itself, I could just sit and eat it with a spoon!

I served my samosas with a side of sweet, tangy mango chutney but this recipe has instructions to make a cucumber raita that can be made which will help tame that spicy heat. But I say bring that heat on!

The ingredients:

In a large skillet, cook carrots in canola oil for 3 minutes until carrots are slightly softened.

Add in scallion, ginger, and garlic and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add in tomato paste, cumin, mustard, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Cook for 1 minute.

Stir in peas, water, and chickpeas. Cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and add in cilantro and lemon juice. Allow mixture to cool.

Unroll the thawed phyllo dough and cover with a damp towel or paper towel to keep it from drying out. Take one layer of the phyllo, lay it on a flat surface and spray with non-stick spray. Carefully place another layer of phyllo on top of the first one and spray with non-stick spray as well.

Fold phyllo dough layers in half lengthwise and flatten with your hand. Place a spoonful of the chickpea mixture at one end of the dough. Carefully fold one corner of the phyllo over the mixture into a triangle.

Continue folding the dough in triangles until you reach the end. Place on a baking sheet and brush with melted butter or spray with non-stick spray and keep covered with a damp towel. Repeat with remaining layers of phyllo.

Bake the triangles in a 400°F oven for 10 minutes.

Additions: None

Omissions:

Butter (I used non-stick spray instead)

Substitutions:

Ground cumin for cumin seeds
Dry mustard for brown mustard seeds

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Garlicky Spinach-Sausage Gratin

I can’t seem to get enough spinach lately, I’m not sure why. I’m not complaining though, there are worse things that I could be wanting to put in my body. This Garlicky Spinach-Sausage Gratin has tons of spinach and tons of garlic and satisfies that crazy spinach craving. Sausage is sautéed with onion and garlic, mixed with a combination of milk and egg, and stirred with gobs of fresh spinach to make a thick and creamy spinachy-custard. The topping of parmesan cheese and bread crumbs, once baked, provides a slight saltiness and subtle crunch to this hearty and comforting dish. I didn’t follow this recipe exactly and used precooked spinach-garlic chicken sausage (ironically, it’s what I had in the fridge) in place of the pork sausage, 1% milk instead of 2%, and store-bought bread crumbs instead of a fresh baguette. Leaving the sausage out and reducing the milk slightly might make this a good vegetarian dish or even a side to a meal. I liked this straight out of the oven as a meal in itself so next time you are craving spinach and want something other than salad, keep this in mind. With so much garlic though, you might want to keep a stick of gum nearby.

The ingredients:

In a large pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add in sausage, salt, and red pepper, cooking thoroughly.

Add flour to the pan and cook for 30 seconds. In a bowl, combine milk and egg, stirring well. Add to the sausage mixture and bring to a boil, stirring constantly.