Japanese Inspired Quinoa with Chicken and Green Beans

I came across this recipe looking around on, Chocolate and Zucchini, a site I’ve used before. It sounded good at the time, but when I went to prepare it, it seemed a bit too spartan. I had already planned on adding chicken, but need some veggies. We had some green beans in the fridge, so I threw those in. We also didn’t have shallots, sesame oil, or sake, so I ended up doing a lot of improv on this one. The idea was a nice start though and the meal ended up being really good. This recipe takes only about the 20 minutes or so that it takes to cook the quinoa. It could also be made with tofu for a veggie option.

Japanese Inspired Quinoa with Chicken and Green Beans

Inspired by Chocolate and Zucchine

  • 1 cup Quinoa, cookedJapanese quinoa with chicken and green beans
  • about 1 Tbs fresh ginger, peeled and minced
  • 1 lb Chicken breast
  • 1 lb Green beans, ends removed
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 3 Tbs soy sauce
  • 2-3 Tbs rice vinegar
  • 1 tsb brown sugar
  • Sriracha pepper sauce

Cook the quinoa according to the package. Slice the chicken breasts into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in pan over medium high heat, and saute the chicken until cooked through and starting to brown (~5 min). Add the ginger and cook a couple more minutes. Add the green beans, soy sauce, 2 Tbs rice vinegar and brown sugar. Cook until the green beans are the desired tenderness, adding a little more vinegar if needed to keep things from drying out.

Mix in the cooked quinoa and serve with sriracha pepper sauce.Japanese quinoa with chicken and green beans

 

 

Chicken and mushroom pasta

Rondele cheese was on sale last week, so I was looking for a recipe that included that. This Chicken and mushroom fettucini recipe at Just the Recipe looked like a good start. We added some spinach and used whole grain spaghetti instead of fettucini. This is also a fairly fast meal, taking only about 30 minutes or so to prepare.

Chicken and mushroom pastaChicken and mushroom pasta

  • 1 box of pasta, cooked according to box directions
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 lb sliced mushrooms
  • 5-8 ounces Borsin or Rondele cheese or other creamy herbed cheese
  • 1 package frozen spinach

While preparing the pasta, cube the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Heat the oil in a skillet an saute the chicken pieces over medium-high heat until cooked through and starting to brown (5-6 minutes). Remove the chicken and add the mushrooms. Turn the heat down a bit and saute the mushrooms until they have released their water and started to brown (about another 5 minutes). While that is cooking, microwave the spinach to defrost. Drain the spinach in a strainer, using a spoon to press out the water.

Add the cheese, chicken, and spinach to the mushrooms and stir to combine. Continue cooking until heated through. Serve over the pasta.

 

 

Spicy Sunflower Seed Noodles with Veggies and Chicken

Pink Parsley had this yummy sounding recipe with peanuts, to which our son is allergic. So we substituted SunButter in the recipe. I also had imagined this more like a stir fry than a salad, so we stir fried the veggies a bit and added the dressing and put it on top of soba noodles. It turned out great!
Spicy Sunflower Seed Noodles with Veggies and Chicken
adapted from Pink Parsley, adapted from Pinch of Yum, originally from Food Nouveau

For the dressing:

  • 3 Tbs soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs water
  • 2 Tbs Crunchy SunButter
  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 Tbs rice wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbs minced fresh ginger
  • 1/2 Tbs honey
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp sugar

For the stir fry (or don’t cook it and make it a salad…)

  • 1 cup julienne yellow pepper
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1 medium shredded zucchini
  • 1/2 cup chopped green onions
  • 1 cup chopped or shredded cooked chicken breast
  • 8 oz. cooked soba noodles or linguine
  • 2-3 Tbs minced fresh basil
  • 2-3 Tbs minced fresh cilantro
  • crushed red pepper flakes, to taste

Mix all the dressing ingredients. Stir fry the veggies. Add the dressing and serve on top of the soba noodles.

Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Sometimes, I don’t read too carefully when I pick recipes for the week. We may miss an ingredient while shopping, or, more often, I don’t pay attention to the cooking times and we end up with a bunch of meals that need  long time to cook. That happened with this recipe for Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms. I completely ignored the cooking time, and when we started it, my wife looked and freaked out: 2 hours! It’s been a long time since we’ve cooked something with a 2 hours prep time…kids just don’t lend themselves well to that. But I also had a general idea of what I thought this recipe should involve, and it didn’t seem like 2 hours, so we pressed on. I had to do some quick re-figuring of the recipe, but the end result was delicious and finished in 47 minutes. So here’s the rapid version of the recipe–I think it was really good, so I’m not sure what the extra hour adds…

Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Chicken Crepes with Asparagus and Mushrooms

Cooking time: 45-60 minutes

For the filling:

  • 6 Tbs unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup Flour
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk*
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup chopped shallot–we skipped this
  • 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms–we used 8oz, probably closer to 1 1/2  cups
  • 2 cups chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces
  • 3 tablespoons medium-dry Sherry*
  • 1 lb thin asparagus, trimmed and cut in ~2in long pieces

For the crêpes:

  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
  • 1 1/4 cups whole milk
  • 1 whole large egg
  • 1 large egg yolk
  • 1 Tbs unsalted butter

Making the filling:

This part we kept from the original: Heat 5 tablespoons butter in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat until foam subsides. Whisk in flour and cook roux, whisking, until pale golden, about 2 minutes. Gradually add milk and broth, whisking, and bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer gently, whisking frequently, until velouté sauce is silky and thick, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile cook the chicken over medium high heat in a pan with a little olive oil. I’d add the shallot here, but we didn’t have one…When almost done add the mushrooms. Cook until most of the juices have been released and cooked off. Add the sherry and asparagus and cook a few minutes longer until the asparagus is tender.

In one of the pans if they are big enough, or another bowl, mix the sauce (reserving ~1 cup) and the chicken, mushrooms and asparagus.

For the crepes:

Mix the flour, salt and nutmeg in bowl. In another bowl (or a 2c measuring cup) add the milk, egg, and egg yoke and lightly beat. Add the milk and egg mixture to the flour and whisk well.

Heat an 8in pan over medium heat. Melt a little butter and spread around. Add ~1/4 cup batter and spread. Cook crepe until golden brown on the bottom (~40-50 seconds). If you want, you can flip and cook the other side for ~10 seconds. Pile the crepes on a plate.

Assembling the crepes:

Put a crepe on a plate, add some filling, fold over and drizzle some of the reserved sauce on top. Enjoy!

*We accidentally used cream instead of milk…while I am sure that added to the deliciousness of the dish, I’d stick with the milk in future. We also forgot to add the sherry.

 

 

 

Papaya Chicken and Rice

Papaya was on sale, and I wanted to try to include it in a main dish, so I Googled around and found this recipe for Papaya Chicken Casserole. It was close to what I wanted, but not quite, so I stole the sauce, grilled up some chicken and served it over rice. The kids loved the sweetness of the sauce (OK, I thought it was pretty good too!).

Papaya Chicken and Rice

Papaya chicken and riceFor the Sauce:

  • Juice of 1 orange, plus water to make 1 cup
  • 2 Tbs Lemon juice
  • 1/4 brown sugar
  • 1 Tbs Corn starch
  • 1 Tbs Soya sauce
  • 2 cups Diced papaya

For the Chicken:

  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded to even out thickness, and grilled–add some salt and pepper or other spices if you want

Rice: 1 cup rice cooked as directed.

Bring all the sauce ingredients, except the papaya to a boil. Add the papaya and simmer for a few minutes while it thickens. Place a serving of rice on each plate, add a chicken breast and top with sauce.

Wild rice with chicken, oranges and cranberries

This ended up not being a salad as originally planned, since we had already eaten up the salad mix. But I can see how it would be god served over a bed of lettuce…Two Fat Als had an interesting recipe for Wild Rice Salad with Chicken, Fruit and Cashews. We aren’t big fans of dates, and cashews are out due to allergies, but it seemed like a good idea. So here’s my version

Wild Rice with Chicken, Oranges and Dried Cranberries

  • 2 chicken breast, grilled and dicedWild rice and chicken with oranges and cranberries
  • 2 cups Lundberg Wild Rice Blend
  • 2  oranges, peeled and cut into small pieces
  • 3 Tbs olive oil
  • 3 Tbs lemon juice
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1/4 cup torn fresh mint

Cook the chicken, or use leftovers. Cook the rice as directed. Combine the oil, lemon juice, vinegar and sugar in a small bowl. In a large bowl, mix the rice, chicken, dressing, oranges, cranberries and mint. The original called for serving this over a be of lettuce, which would be nice, but we ate it straight, which was good too.

Blueberry chicken salad

Blueberry chicken saladThis recipe for blueberry chicken salad from Allrecipes.com was fast, easy and really good. The dressing is lemon yogurt (6oz) and mayonnaise (3 Tbs), which sounded odd, but is really good, especially with the sweetness of the blueberries. Throw in some diced cooked chicken breast (we grilled a bunch earlier in the week and used it in several recipes), red pepper, celery and the blueberries. This was one of the only times the kids eat up a salad, including the lettuce!

Chicken, Oatmeal, Mushroom and Spinach Quiche

Chicken, oatmeal, mushroom and spinach quicheThis recipe from the Food Doctor was a little hard to follow but turned out quite good. The recipe is spread out over a long post and a bit more complicated than we normally do, but it made a good weekend dish and really only took about an hour to make. We added some thawed and drained spinach to the oatmeal and mushroom layer. The balsamic tomatoes turned out well too.Chicken, oatmeal, mushroom and spinach quiche with tomatoes