Grilled Chicken and Artichoke Salad

Posted by CK in artichoke, chicken, easy, feta, recipe, salad

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Summer is upon us and it's time to take out your grilling tools! For A and I, summer is usually a time to reset our eating habits - key word HABIT. I'm the first one to know that eating healthy isn't always easy! Sticking to a routine that works is a challenge, but when you find fun and delicious recipes to work with, it makes the task that more easy! In order to get on that train, we've decided to include more salads in our diet. So, on our last grocery run, we made sure to buy ingredients that would help us create interesting salads. Here's one that was definitely a winner and that was SO easy to toss together!

Ingredients (yields 4 large portions):

• 2 chicken breasts
• Montreal Chicken Spice
• 4 handfuls of lettuce (any kind will do, I used mixed greens)
• 1 can artichoke hearts, cut in quarters
• 1/3 cup cubed feta cheese
• 1 1/2 tbsp sunflower seeds
• 1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 tbsp honey

Method:

1. Heat your BBQ on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes
2. Cut your chicken breasts in half, along the long side (basically make them thinner) and spice them with the Montreal Chicken Spice on both sides
3. Reduce your BBQ to medium-low heat and cook your chicken through, flipping occasionally
4. While your chicken is cooking, toss together the lettuce, artichokes, feta cheese, sunflower seeds, and cherry tomatoes.
5. Once your chicken is cooked, cut it into small cubes and add them to the mix.
6. In a small bowl, thoroughly mix the olive oil, vinegar and honey.
7. Add to the salad and mix well.

This is a perfect salad to make with any kind of left-over chicken!

Vegetarian option: Replace the chicken with shrimp, or simply omit the chicken! 

Enjoy!

- CK

Chicken and Plum Sumac with Herbed Feta Quinoa

Posted by CK in chicken, easy, feta cheese, plum, quinoa, recipe, sumac

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In an attempt to keep diversity in our meals (while staying healthy and keeping A happy), I picked up the free Fall issue of the LCBO magazine. Filled with recipes and wine pairing suggestions - it was definitely my cup of tea!

The recipe I'm about to introduce was definitely a winner in our home (with slight changes to adapt to my left over ingredients). It's a great recipe to welcome the Fall!

Ingredients: (Yields 4 portions)

For the Chicken and Plums
- 3 plums
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp sumac
- salt and pepper to taste

For the Quinoa
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 1/3 cups quinoa
- 3/4 cup cubed feta
- 1 tsp each dry parsley, oregano and rosemary
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. If you have a Roast option on your stove, now would be a great time to use it.
2. Slice each plum into 6 chunky wedges. Cut each chicken breast into chunky cubes
3. Place the plums and chicken onto a foil-lined baking sheet.
4. Brush with olive oil and sprinke with sumac. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Roast in the centre of the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and plums are tender.
6. In the meantime, pour the chicken broth in a saucepan and bring to a boil
7. Add quinoa and reduce heat to a simmer. Let cook for 12-15 minutes.
8. Remove from heat and let sit for 8 minutes.
9. Using a fork, fluff the quinoa and add to a bowl. Drop in the feta, olive oil, herbs and pine nuts (if using).
10. Serve the chicken over the quinoa

The LCBO suggests serving it with a Chardonnay from the Niagara Region.

The original recipe served the chicken on couscous. I'll definitely be trying that option next time!

Enjoy!

- CK

Guillaume's Cooking: Chicken Quinoa Salad

Posted by CK in chicken, easy, quinoa, recipe, salad

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Before we head into this absolutely delicious recipe, I would like to introduce our new monthly guest blogger: Guillaume! While he is a work colleague of mine, he's worked in restaurants for many years. So, I'm sure he'll bring some great insight into the art of cooking! :) One of his recipes will be featured every second wednesday of every month. So make sure to check in! Welcome Guillaume!

This is one of my simple “go-to” dish I do very often as it requires very little preparation and it is enjoyed by all of my friends. If you wish to save a bit of time during the preparation, you can easily replace the tomato sauce by sun-dried tomato pesto or regular pesto. This dish incorporates many elements of a Greek salad with the feta bringing all components of the dish together with its saltiness and creaminess. The richness of the roasted pine nuts accentuates the texture of the quinoa. The use of quinoa instead of pasta keeps the dish light and fresh.

Preparation:

25 to 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts (diced)
• 1 Lemon or lime
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon

Quinoa

• ½ cup of quinoa
• ½ cup of stock (chicken or vegetable)
• ½ cup of water

Tomato Sauce

• 2 Tomatoes
• 1/3 cup of finely chopped white onion
• 1 finely chopped garlic clove
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• ¼ cup of pine nuts

Vegetables

• ¼ cup of finely chopped red pepper
• ¼ cup of finely chopped green pepper
• ¼ cup of finely chopped cucumber
• ¼ cup of finely chopped red onion
• ¼ cup of feta (crumbled)

Method:

1. Place the chicken breasts in a plastic bag and add the juice from one lemon or lime. Add the cinnamon and bit of salt and pepper to taste. (the cinnamon can be replaced by oregano, thyme, cumin, or any other combination of spices you may enjoy). Vacuum seal the bag and place in the refrigerator while cutting the vegetables.
2.  In a saucepan, boil water and blanche the tomatoes for five minutes. Remove the skin and dice the tomatoes. Keep some of the liquid used to blanche the tomatoes in a cup.
3. In another saucepan, bring to boil ½ cup of water and ½ cup of stock. Incorporate the quinoa and cook on medium heat, stirring intermittently, until all the liquid has evaporated. Let the quinoa cool for 5 minutes.
4.  In the saucepan used to blanche the tomatoes, combine a bit of oil and add the finely chopped white onions and garlic. Add the diced tomatoes, the oregano, and some salt and pepper to taste. Let the onions, garlic and tomatoes reduce at medium heat stirring once in while. As the tomatoes, onions and garlic reduce, add some of the liquid used to blanche the tomatoes as needed to help build the sauce base. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Lightly roast the pine nuts in a pan. In a blender, incorporate the tomato sauce and half of the roasted pine nuts. Blend until the texture of the sauce is nice and smooth. Let the sauce sit for 5 minutes.
6. Cook the chicken in a pan or on the barbecue. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before dicing it.
7.  In a bowl, combine the quinoa and tomato sauce, the rest of the pine nuts, the vegetables, the feta and the chicken.
8. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Spicy Lime and Honey Chicken

Posted by CK in bbq, chicken, easy, honey, lime, recipe

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Now that summer is right outside our door, the BBQ's are out!! Lately, I've had a craving chicken wings. I know, I know. Not very healthy you'll say. But I guess it all depends how it's prepared! BBQ or bake your wings and you'll see all the difference in the world :)

So, in addition to the most delicious sweet and sour sauce (tried it on wings - marinated them overnight in this sauce, it was absolutely fantastic!), I'm adding this spicy lime and honey sauce. Very easy and quick to make. Great to prepare for cottage week ends or summer potlucks! I adjusted this recipe from the What's Cooking, Chicago? blog since I didn't have all the ingredients. I also used chicken breasts instead of wings because I didn't have any wings available :(

Ingredients (Yields 3 portions):

• 1/3 cup lime juice 
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 1/2 tsp ground hot peppers (adjust according to spiciness liking)
• salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 chicken breasts

Method:

1. Pre-heat your BBQ or grill pan to medium-high heat.
2. Prepare the marinade: Mix the lime juice, honey and ground hot peppers in a bowl and place aside. (Note: the original recipe asks to cook this sauce until it slightly thickens. I didn't try that, but go ahead and play around with this recipe!)
3. Toss the chicken breasts with the garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper.
4. Grill the chicken until marked, turning as needed.
5. Baste your chicken with the marinade until your chicken is fully cooked. Make sure to keep basting to ensure that the chicken stays moist. 

You can also marinate overnight your chicken breasts/wings in a combination of all the ingredients and simply grill them the next day. I'll definitely try that out at my next BBQ! :)

Enjoy!

- CK

Easy Roasted Chicken and Potatoes

Posted by CK in carrot, chicken, easy, potato, recipe

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As a New Year's resolution, A and I decided to work on our diet. He's been wanting to include healthier foods and essential nutrients in his diet, but when cooking isn't your favorite thing to do, that goal can be hard to achieve. That's why we decided that once a week - preferably on Sundays, we'd cook at least 4 full meals for the week - as we both like to indulge in a little take out once in a while or are often invited to family suppers.

In any case, last Friday was our first cooking day during which we prepared a lasagna, spinach pies, an amazing quinoa, sweet potato and broccoli soup recipe (our first guest blogger will be posting up this recipe very soon!), a pad thaï for that night's supper, as well as today's special: roasted chicken drumsticks with potatoes and carrots. To create this delectable meal for 6-8 portions, get:

• A large box of 15 chicken drumsticks
• 5 large Russett potatoes
• 4 large carrots
• 3/4 cup of olive oil

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 3-4 tbsp italian spices
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Put your drumsticks in a bowl and rince. Spread about 1/2 tbsp of salt on them and mix well.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees F.
3. Peel and cut your potatoes into cubes (or however you fancy your potatoes, cutting them in cubes makes for more portions).
4. Peel and cut your carrots into large slices.
5. Place your carrots and potatoes in a large roasting pan. Place the drumsticks over them.
6. Add a dash of pepper and your italian spices.
7. Cover the roaster and cook for approximately 2 hours, or until your chicken is cooked.

That's it. Easy peasy! The long part is mostly the cooking itself. It's a great meal to prepare in advance and freeze up. If you do pick that option, make sure your meal is cool before putting it in the freezer. Once you just can't wait to eat it anymore, take it out of the freezer and stick it in the fridge that morning. Before you eat it, put it back in the oven for about 20-30 minutes - or heat it up in the microwave.

Enjoy! :)

-CK

Cottage Component 2!: Summer-Lovin' Sweet and Sour Skewers

Posted by amanda in budget, chicken, grill, kabobs, onion, peppers, recipe, sauce, shrimp, skewers, zucchini

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Before we left for our cottage adventure, CK came up with a great plan for feeding us right: we adjusted a recipe she found in a magazine to suit our group's budget and tastes, and came up with this winner! The quantities on this one are rough, because it really depends who you're trying to feed - our menfolk ate easily three times are many skewers apiece as we did. That being said, we served 6 people for about 6$ a head (including the pasta salad). We made around 40 skewers with this quantity of marinade, but that included a bunch that were just shrimp, without veggies. These, as it turns out, are a big hit, so when you run out of veggies and chicken, begin skewering just shrimp, and you will be everyone's favorite.

Marinade: (Note: Because I don't eat chicken, we split up our shrimp and chicken into different batches, dividing this amount of marinate between two bowls, and divvying up the veggies accordingly as well)

Props to Remy: Our host and a master griller!

In a large bowl (you'll be putting your chicken shrimp and veggies in here too) mix together...



3 tbsp ketchup
3 tbsp soy sauce (try to get reduced sodium)
3 tbsp sugar
1.5 tbsp apple cider vinegar

 Skewer ingredients: 

• 3 small zucchinis, chopped into rounds
• 1 green pepper, deseeded and chopped into chunks
• 1  red pepper, likewise
• 1 sweet onion (we used the leftovers from the pasta salad), cut into chunky wedges
• An orange pepper would be a nice addition too, chopped into chunks
• 1 bag frozen deveined shrimp (ours was a bag of 60-70 shrimp) - if you can buy them uncooked with tails off, power to you. Or, you can spend a good 15 minutes taking the tails off these babies if you REALLY love your guests).
• 4 chiclen breasts, cut into chunks

Mix skewer ingredients into marinade (whether you keep' em separated or not), and let sit for about 15 minutes. If you like your skewers really juicy, set aside a few spoonfuls to brush onto the cooked skewers. Skewer ingredients onto sticks, alternating meat with vegetables for as long as possible. Grill on the BBQ for about 4 minutes each side. Serve immediately. Pairs nicely with the Picnic-Perfect Pasta Salad!

Grill on!

-A

Bring the Restaurant Home with Chinese-style Chicken!

Posted by CK in chicken, chinese, recipe, soya

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Wow! It's been a while since I posted a recipe!

Without further ado, here's an AMAZING recipe that my roommate and I tried out last night for supper. I always had trouble keeping chicken moist, but this time, I felt like a real restaurant chef! This recipe is truly finger-licking good!!

Ingredients:

- 2/3 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless, cut into 1x5 cm strips

- 1 1/3 cup snow peas

- 1 green peppers, cut into thin strips

- 1 onion, coarsely chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

- 2 tbsp sherry [optional]

- 2 tbsp cornstarch

- 2 tbsp soy sauce

- 2 tsp suga

- 4 slices gingerroot, cut into thin slices
- 3 tbsp canola oil

- salt to taste

- ground pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Slice the chicken breast into strips ½ to 1 cm wide and about 5 cm long. Mix with the soy sauce, sherry (optional), cornstarch, sugar, and 2-3 slices of ginger. Chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.
2. Preheat the oven to the lowest setting.
3. Prepare the vegetables. Coarsely chop the onion, thinly slice the pepper, and mince or press the garlic. Keep the snow peas whole. Cut 2-3 more slices of ginger.
4. Heat ½ to 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying-pan or wok. Add the garlic, onion, and bell pepper, cook 2-3 min until they start to soften, then set aside on the warmed serving plate in the oven.
5. Turn up the heat and add ½ to 1 tablespoon of oil. First add some salt, then immediately add the snow peas. Stir constantly for 2-3 min since they cook very quickly (the colour should stay dark green). Put the snow peas on the plate with the other vegetables. Keep the plate warm.
6. In the same wok, add the remaining oil and the marinated chicken. Reserve the remaining marinade. Stir constantly over medium heat 7-8 min until the meat is almost cooked. Then put the vegetables back into the wok, add the new slices of ginger plus the reserved marinade. Cook another 2 min. Add salt and pepper to taste then serve.

Serves 2.

(source: http://soscuisine.com/en/recipes/view/chinese-style-chicken-with-snow-peas?sos_l=en)

ENJOY! :)

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

Posted by CK in cheese, chicken, lemon, pasta, recipe

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I just stumbled upon this recipe. It seems like it's somewhat a long preparation, but the outcome looks delish! Again, haven't tried it yet. Perhaps something I'll try when I move into my new home! :)
(source: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/)

Ingredients

• 4 whole Grilled Chicken Breasts, Sliced
• 1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente
• ½ sticks Butter
• 3 whole Lemons, Juiced
• ¾ cups Heavy Cream
• ¼ cups Half-and-half
• 1-½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• 20 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a colander.

In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. Dump in cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt and pepper. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed.

Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining basil all over the top, then add sliced chicken breasts. Serve immediately!


Alternative: For our vegetarian Amanda, perhaps some grilled tofu or shrimp would be a good replacement to the chicken!