Chicken Cobb Salad

It's almost summer, so that means more salads! I swear it's the only time when I actually crave salads and can eat them without a grimace. This one is pretty darn good too. And filling. Until I realize I'm missing carbs. You see...I have a problem; if there aren't a lot of carbs in a meal, I'll believe I'm hungry until I eat a lot of carbs. But at least now I'm mixing in brown rice, red rice and black rice in with my Jasmine rice so it's healthier. :D

Anywho, this is an awesome salad. Definitely one of the staples we're going to have more often of.


Chicken Cobb Salad
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts
• 2 medium avocados, diced
• 1 341ml (12oz) can of corn niblets
• 2 medium tomatoes, diced
• 1 cup cooked black beans
• 4 slices of bacon, diced
• 2 romaine lettuce hearts, rinsed and chopped
• 4 eggs, hard boil and diced/chopped
• 4 green onion stalks, finely diced
• 1/2 - 1 cup ranch dressing
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a skillet, cook bacon over medium high heat until crisp. Remove from pan to a paper towel lined plate. Set aside.
2. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Brown in the skillet with the bacon fat. Cook for about 6-7 minutes each side until nicely browned on both sides and cooked through in the middle.
3. Meanwhile, divide romaine lettuce into 4 large bowls (or plates). Divide avocados, corn, tomatoes, black beans and eggs and arrange on top of the lettuce, leaving space for the chicken.
4. Once chicken is cooked, let it rest for 5 minutes before chopping into bite size pieces. Divide and add to the salad.
5. Sprinkle the bacon bits and green onions on top of salad.
6. Drizzle with ranch dressing and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Serve alone or with garlic bread.

Roasted Congee

I don't roast a lot of things, but when I do, I keep the carcass for congee the next day. Why waste it? The carcass typically has lots of roasted flavour from the roast, so it gives the congee a nice mouth feel and TOTALLY makes it less boring. Plus when I debone the roast, I don't have to stress over leaving too much meat on the bones. It wont' matter since it'll go into the congee the next morning. >:)


Roasted Congee
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• Leftover bones from a roast (e.g., prime rib, chicken, turkey)
• Water
• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 4-5 cups water
• 2 thick slices of ginger
• Salt & pepper, to taste 

Directions:

1. Wash rice until water runs clearish. 
2. Combine rice, water (4 cups for thicker congee and 5 cups for a looser congee), ginger and leftover bones into the instant pot pot. Press the congee button. 
3. Once the machine beeps, wait 15-20 minutes before lifting lid. Remove the bone and separate any remaining meat from the bones. Place meat into the congee. Season with salt and pepper. 
4. Serve by itself or with green onions and Chinese donut. 

Wrapless Lo Mai Gai

This is by far one of my favourite things to eat at dim sums. The only pitfall is that it's really filling so then you can't have as much of the other yummy stuff at dim sums. That being said, I usually don't order it or I'll order it and then not eat it so I can save it to go. Teehee.

You can wrap it in parchment paper (if you don't have the lotus leaves) and then steam it for 15 minutes in a steam basket to make a more traditional Lo Mai Gai. But I didn't care for any of it so I just topped the sticky rice with the filling in this "wrapless" Lo Mai Gai. ;)

Note: If using a pot to cook the rice, then soak rice in water overnight and add enough water so that it's 1 part rice and 1.5 part liquid. Add seasonings. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes, covered. Turn off heat and let stand for 10-15 minutes before stirring/serving.


Wrapless Lo Mai Gai
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 3 "cups" uncooked sweet/glutinous rice
• 4 chicken skinless boneless chicken thighs, cubed
• 5-7 Shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated & sliced/diced, steeping liquid reserved 
• 2 lap cheong (Chinese sausage), thinly sliced
• 1/2 tsp five-spice
• 1 Tbsp ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 2 Tbsps yellow wine/shaoxing wine
• 1/4 cup soy sauce, divided
• 2 tsps cornstarch, divided
• 2 Tbsps sesame oil, divided
• Water

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, mix together five-spice, ginger, garlic, sugar, wine, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil with the chicken thighs. Marinate for 30 minutes on the counter.
2. Rinse out the rice and add the reserved mushroom steeping liquid and enough water to meet the 3 cups line. Add in a tablespoon of sesame oil and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce. Cook sweet rice in the Instant Pot using the rice option. 
3. In a large skillet or wok over medium high heat, toss in the lap cheong slices until they become bright red and the oil comes out. Make a large well in the middle and add the marinated chicken thighs and mushrooms. Cook until chicken is cooked through, stirring frequently.
4. Meanwhile, make a slurry out of the remaining teaspoon of cornstarch and 1/2 cup of water. Add to the wok or skillet, scraping up any brown bits. Cook until the sauce thickens. Turn off heat.
5. Scoop rice into 4 bowls and top with skillet mixture, drizzling extra sauce over the rice.
6. Serve hot with soup and steamed veggies.

Three Cupish Chicken

I think it's too oily when you use equal parts of sesame oil to wine and soy sauce. Using half as much oil is enough, and still gives tons of flavour.

I can see why they would've had so much oil back in the day though. Oh it is so luxurious...but too fatty. :P

I had this the day after in a bowl with some of the sauce over everything. It was way yummy. Total comfort food. Once my basil plant gets enough basil, I'm going to totally make this again.


Three Cupish Chicken
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 6 chicken drumsticks or thighs or a combination of both
• 1/2 cup dark soy sauce
• 1/2 cup yellow wine
• 1/4 cup sesame oil
• 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and separated
• 5 ginger slices
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 red chili pepper (optional)
• A handful of Thai basil leaves

Directions:

1. In a wok or clay pot, heat up sesame oil over medium high heat. When the sesame oil shimmers, add ginger, garlic and chili pepper (if using). Cook until fragrant.
2. Gently lay chicken in a single layer in the wok or clay pot, skin side down. Brown both sides.
3. Add sugar, soy sauce and wine. Mix well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, partially covered, until chicken is cooked through, about 15 minutes. Turn the chicken every once in a while so that it will get dark on all the sides.
4. Turn off heat and toss in basil leaves. 
5. Serve with rice ad steamed veggies.

Sweet & Spicy Mango Chicken

I've had mango chicken before, but it tasted a little weird. I'm not sure how I feel about mangoes with chicken. But this one was pretty good. It's more sweet and spicy than mango-y though. Maybe I just needed to add more? I DID add a lot of other stuff :P


Sweet & Spicy Mango Chicken
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 mango, peeled, pitted and cut into 2 inch long strips
• 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 4 slices ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 3 Tbsps Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp Sriracha
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 green onion, cut into 2 inch long strips
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine chicken with cornstarch and a pinch each of salt and pepper. Marinate for 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat up a wok over high heat. Add canola oil. It should start shimmering. Add chicken breast.
3. Once chicken starts turning opaque on one side, stir around. Add in ginger, garlic, peppers and onions. Toss around until the onions start to soften.
4. Stir in mango strips, ketchup, sugar, Sriracha and soy sauce until everything is well coated in sauce. At this time, if you want your dish to be really saucy, add about 1/4 cup of water.
5. Cover with a lid and cook until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender crisp.
6. Adjust seasonings if needed. Stir in green onions.
7. Serve with rice and soup.

Fish Tofu & Veggies Stir Fry

There's nothing quite like a simple stir fry to stretch your protein. In this case, it's a half pound of fish tofu. Okay, fine. So fish tofu doesn't really have that much protein, but still. It's protein-ish? Meh, you can always just sub the fish tofu with any protein. Chicken or pork slices are always my go to (marinated with soy sauce, sugar, cornstarch and oil). It's what I grew up with...but I think fish slices would go nicely too. Just gotta brown them, take them out and then add them back in at the end so that it's not overcooked.

To make this totally vegetarian, just add some marinated firm tofu and you're good to go. :D


Fish Tofu & Veggies Stir Fry
(serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup toasted/roast cashews
• 1/2 - 1 lb fish tofu, sliced (or 1 marinated chicken breast, sliced/1 package marinated tofu, cubed/ 1/2 - 1 lb marinated pork tenderloin, sliced; etc.)
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
• 3 celery ribs, thinly sliced
• 3-5 slices ginger
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1 green onion, cut into 2 inch long pieces, white parts separated from green parts
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat up a wok over high heat. If your cashews aren't roasted, toast them in the dry wok and then set aside in a clean bowl.
2. Add oil and let it heat up until the oil shimmers. Add in ginger, garlic and white parts of the green onion. Cook until fragrant.
3. Add protein and cook until lightly browned.
4. Toss in onions, carrots, celery, salt, sugar and soy sauce. Mix well. Cover and cook until protein is cooked through and veggies are tender crisp.
5. Stir in green parts of the green onion. Transfer everything onto a serving dish. Top with toasted/roast cashews.
6. Serve with rice and soup.

Sweet & Sour Chicken

I don't know what's more toddler friendly than sweet and sour chicken. Honestly. It's sweet, it's tangy and it's saucy. God, I love this stuff. K just goes for the pineapples. He'll eat a couple of peppers, but then spit them out cuz he likes the pineapples more. It's almost impossible to get him to eat anything other than the pineapples if he feeds himself. Can't blame him. They are pretty darn sweet. Fresh all the way!


Sweet & Sour Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
• 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
• 1 1/2-2 cups fresh pineapple chunks
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 inch knob of ginger, minced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsps cornstarch, divided
• 1/4 cup soy sauce, divided
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 4 tsps sugar, divided
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1 green onion stalk, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 4 tsps canola oil, divided

Directions:

1. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon of cornstarch, 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and 1 teaspoon of canola oil. Toss in chicken and marinate for 10-15 minutes.
2. Heat up the wok over high heat. Add remaining canola oil. Once the oil shimmers, add chicken to cook in one layer. Once one side is browned, turn the chicken slices over to start cooking on the other side while you add ginger, garlic and onions. Stir the mixture and let it cook while you put the slurry together.
3. In a small bowl, dissolve the remaining cornstarch in water, remaining soy sauce, and vinegar. Add to the mixture in the wok.
4. Toss in bell peppers and pineapples. Add ketchup and the remaining sugar. Mix well. Cover and let it cook for a few minutes until the peppers are tender crisp and the chicken is cooked through.
5. Taste and add more ketchup if needed. Toss in green onion.
6. Serve with white rice and soup.

Chicken Florentine Penne Casserole

I have not made a chicken florentine in a LONG time. The last time I made it, I really loved it and swore I'd make it again. Well, I never did. It was just too much work. Lazy much? Totally. =\

Well, I'm totally craving the flavours again, so I made this concoction. I wasn't sure if there'd be enough milk to cook the pasta properly without drying out anything. OMG how happy was I when it came out perfectly. I gotta give credit to the mushrooms and spinach though. I'm sure they helped in it. :D

You can make this vegetarian or into a side dish by just not adding the chicken. Or you can sub with firm tofu.


Chicken Florentine Penne Casserole
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 3 1/2 cups dry penne pasta
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 300g frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and drained
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced
• 2 1/4 cups whole milk
• 2/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 284ml can cream of mushroom soup
• 1 Tbsp dry Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/3 cup butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cup Panko breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together milk, cheese, mushroom soup, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper until the mixture is no longer clumpy. Mix in chicken breasts, penne, spinach and mushrooms. 
3. Transfer mixture into a  2 1/2 quart casserole dish. Set aside.
4. In a small bowl, mix melted butter and Panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle on top of the casserole. Tightly cover the casserole with a greased aluminum foil.
5. Bake for 45 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for another 10 minutes, uncovered, to crisp up the breadcrumbs.
6. Serve with a light salad and/or soup.

Sriracha Baked Chicken Breast

It sucks when I try something new and I like it but Hubby doesn't. This was the case for this chicken. I liked it cuz it's so easy and I can use it for salads, quesadillas, fajitas, burgers, etc. But Hubby did not like the taste of it. Boo...I guess I'll have to file this under the list of things I'll have to have when he's not around....unless I want to make a separate meal for him. >_>


Sriracha Baked Chicken Breast
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tsps virgin olive oil
• 2 tsps Sriracha
• 1 /2 tsp allspice
• Pinch each of salt & pepper
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking/roasting tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In a shallow dish (or even right on the baking/roasting tray), mix together oil, Sriracha, allspice, salt, pepper and lime juice. Place chicken into the dish/tray, flipping and rubbing to get chicken all coated with the mixture.
3. If needed, transfer chicken to baking tray lined with the parchment paper and bake for 25-30 minutes, until chicken is cooked.
4. Take chicken out of the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing.
5. Serve as is with rice and a salad, or use in salads, quesadilla, fajitas, burgers, etc.

Quick Cream of Chicken Soup

Oh leftovers...They're usually pretty great. But when you have something like 3 tablespoons of chicken pie filling, it's hard to figure out what to do with it. I figure I'll just make a quick soup for Hubby. Weird as a breakfast item, but MEH! His throat was sore and I wanted to get rid of it. TEEHEE. :P


Quick Cream of Chicken Soup
(serves 1)

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsps or so of leftover chicken pie filling
• 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups milk
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small pot, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in flour until all the flour has been absorbed by the butter. Mix in leftover chicken pie filling and combine well.
2. Slowly whisk in milk until the soup is a little more liquidy than you'd like. Heat through while stirring occasionally to prevent soup from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
3. Season with salt and pepper. The soup will get thicker as it cools, so making it a little more liquidy than you'd like will usually yield the consistency that you like by the time it's cool enough to drink.
4. Serve with toast.

Kimchi Fried Rice

One of my favourite foods in the world for sure! I love a runny egg with almost anything. Seriously. And I love fried rice. And have you TRIED kimchi paired with rice and a runny egg? OMG it's to DIE FOR.

You could make this vegetarian or with any kind of protein. I made mine with leftover diced deli ham, but I've tried it with diced spam. HELLO...loving it. But I do love my spam, so meh! :P

This really is an awesome dish to use up leftover kimchi and leftover rice. You can even make it using leftover fried rice, which makes this dish even easier than it already is. :D


Kimchi Fried Rice
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup kimchi, chopped
• 1 1/2 cups leftover cooked rice
• 3 Tbsps kimchi juice
• 1 heaping Tbsp gojujang
• 1 Tbsp water
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 lb diced spam/ham/cooked chicken/beef strips/bulgolgi/firm tofu etc.
• 2 green onions, finely diced
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 2 tsps sesame oil
• 2 eggs
• Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large pan, heat up 1 teaspoon of canola oil. Add mushrooms and cook until caramelized. Add kimchi and stir fry until heated through.
2. Add in protein and rice. Using a spatula, break up the clumps of rice, while stirring everything so it doesn't stick to the pan too much.
3. Pour in the kimchi juice, gojujang and water. Stir until well combined. 
4. Drizzle in the sesame oil and add in green onion. Stir to loosen up everything. Take off the heat and place into 2 bowls. Set aside.
5. In a small skillet, heat up the remaining canola oil over medium low heat. Gently break the eggs into the pan and cook until almost cooked through. Season with a little bit of salt and continue to cook until all the whites are cooked through. Cover the pan with a lid if you want to cook it faster.
6. Slide one egg each over the bowls of kimchi fried rice. Garnish with sesame seeds, if desired.
7. Serve with a side of seaweed salad, pickled radishes or alone as is.

Yellow Chicken Curry

OMG. Whatever you do, don't forget the onions like I did. K was distracting me as usual when cooking. But this time I actually forgot something. Sigh. Oh well. It was still alright but DEFINITELY needed the onions to give it that depth of flavour. Now I know how those Chopped contestants feel when they forget an ingredient. :(

This may seem a bit unorthodox. But Hubby dislikes eating saucy chicken with bones. Therefore, to keep the flavour of bone in chicken but not have bones on the chicken (and not have to debone saucy chicken after it's been cooked cuz I really don't like that), I just brown the chicken bones with the chicken. Then I remove the chicken so that it doesn't get tough. Weird, but it works!


Yellow Chicken Curry
(serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 6 skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces after bone have been removed (reserve bones)
• 2 medium potatoes, chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3 Tbsps curry powder, divided
• 2 Tbsps canola oil, divided
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 red chili pepper, diced
• 1 inch knob of ginger, sliced
• 3 whole garlic cloves, smashed
• 3/4 cup evaporated milk
• Water
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of curry powder, 1 tablespoon of oil, soy sauce, cornstarch and sugar with chicken thigh. Marinate for 30 minutes.
2. In a wok over high heat, heat up remaining oil. Once it's smoking, add ginger and garlic. Cook until fragrant. Add in in chicken thigh bones and chicken. Cook the meat until browned and then transfer chicken pieces to a bowl.
3. Add in onion, potatoes, remaining curry powder and red chili pepper. Cook until potatoes ave just starting to cook on the outside, stirring occasionally. You should see the outside 2mm coloured differently than the rest of the potatoes (about 3 minutes).
4. Transfer chicken back into the wok. Pour in just enough water to cover everything. Make sure the potatoes are covered. Bring to a boil. Lower heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are fork tender and chicken is cooked through.
5. Mix in evaporated milk and heat throughout. Do not let boil. Season with salt to taste.
6. Discard bones and serve with rice.

Chicken Teriyaki

Isn't this chicken breast just GORGEOUS? Lol. I think it's pretty anyway. :)

I love chicken teriyaki. I prefer it with chicken thighs but I'll usually make it with chicken breasts, simply because I don't like deboning a huge package of chicken thighs. Lazy? Hells yes. :P

But you know what? I can always claim that the best is healthier. So there. >:)

Traditionally you'd use mirin but I almost never have mirin at home, so I just use my yellow wine. It works just as well. I just have to add more sugar. That being said, if you have mirin, don't use as much sugar!

The sauce is pretty standard so you can use it to make tofu teriyaki, salmon teriyaki, beef teriyaki, etc. I just like to add veggies to it cuz they soak up all the sauce and impart some flavour to the sauce itself. ;)


Chicken Teriyaki
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless chicken breasts (with skin!)
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup yellow wine/dry sherry/mirin
• 3 Tbsps sugar (use less if using mirin), more to taste
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat up canola oil. Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. 
2. Put chicken in the pan skin side down. When the skin has a nice golden colour (about 7 minutes), turn it over. Lower the heat to low and cook until the juices run clear. Transfer chicken breasts to a plate to rest. Set aside.
3. Toss onions and bell peppers into the pan. Cook until onions start to soften. Stir in soy sauce, wine/mirin and sugar, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom. Add more sugar if necessary and cook until sauce is bubbly and thickened.
4. Spoon onions and peppers onto a plate, top with the chicken breasts and drizzle sauce over chicken. Serve with rice and miso soup (or another clear broth/consomme).

Chicken Pie Turnovers

Okay, confession: I hate using eggwash over pastry. I love the look of it and everything. But I hate having to brush it over the pastry and then having leftover egg and no clue what to do with it afterwards other than making a puny little "scrambled egg".

This is where K comes in. He's small and still eats smallish meals (smaller than ours anyway). So I end up making steamed egg for him with the leftover egg wash. LOL. He likes it and it gets rid of the excess eggwash, so why not?

Anywho, Hubby loves these chicken turnovers. Mainly because he loves chicken pot pie but always complain that he doesn't get enough puff pastry (I like to steal most of it cuz it's my favourite part of a pot pie too :$). So one day I just decided to make the chicken pot pie into a turnover. SUCCESS!

This recipe is a total cheat though. Seriously. The truth of it is that I just threw all these leftover bits and turned it into a turnover. Smart, eh? ;)


Chicken Pie Turnovers
(serves 6-12)

Ingredients:

• 2 cooked chicken breasts, shredded (or more or less equivalent in leftover chicken)
• 1 large carrot, finely diced
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup leftover/ready made gravy
• 3 sheets all butter puff pastry
• 1 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 egg, beaten
• Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add in carrots and onions. Cook until onions are translucent.
3. Stir in frozen peas, chicken and gravy. Mix and cook until heated through. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Take off the heat.
4. Roll out each sheet of pastry so that they're each 12" x 12" or so. Using a knife, section each sheet into 4s (aka cut down the middle vertically and then cut down the middle horizontally) to make 12 square puff pastry sheets. Lay the squares on the parchment lined baking sheets.
5. Spoon about 2 heaping tablespoons of filling on one of the squares. Fold over to make a triangle. Use the tines of a fork to press down on the edges, sealing the turnover. Repeat with the other 11.
6. Use the fork to poke a few holes on the tops of the turnovers and brush with eggwash. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.
7. Serve with salad and soup to serve 12, or only soup or only salad with 2 turnovers to serve 6. Alternatively, you can have just one with a salad or soup for a light lunch.

Chicken Fajita Wrap

Originally I was going to make the chicken wrap that my mom always made for us when we were younger. But then I forgot to marinate the chicken and pfft. Just added taco seasoning to it and POOF! Chicken fajita wraps. :D

I always have a batch of this taco seasoning on hand. It's awesome and I always have all the ingredients on hand anyway, so why bother buying packaged stuff (that's probably filled with MSG and other crap)?


Chicken Fajita Wrap
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 10" whole wheat flour tortillas
• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into strips
• 1 large bell pepper, cut into strips
• 1 large onion, cut into strips
• 1 cup cheddar/Monteray Jack cheese, shredded
• 1 Tbsp taco seasoning
• 1 Tbsp canola oil

Directions:

1. Place tortillas in oven set to 250F to heat up until warm. (Or place in the microwave and nuke for about 30 seconds just before assembling fajitas.)
2. In a large hot skillet, heat up oil over medium high heat. Add in chicken strips and cook until opaque. Add in bell pepper strips, onion strips and taco seasoning. Cook until chicken is cooked through and veggies are tender crisp. Add more seasoning if required.
3. To assemble, place 1/4 cup cheese in the center of a warm tortilla and then top with 1/4 of the chicken and veggies filling. Fold the sides over the filling and roll up into a wrap. Repeat with the other 3.
4. Serve with salad and/or soup.

Mom's Chicken Soup

Call it a broth, consomme or whatever but to me it's a "soup". That's what we call it in Canto anyway.

Super SUPER easy. It just takes some time. Mom always uses a whole chicken (skinned so that it's less oily) but I use chicken carcasses. I find that if you use two carcass for a large dutch oven, it's good. I'll use a 3L pot for one carcass. This takes a while, but it's so yummy. I used fresh goji berries for the soup that's pictured, but if you use the dried goji berries, it gives the soup a deeper red colour.

You can get the dried goji berries and dried Chinese yams in Chinese medicine shops or Chinese supermarkets. The goji berries would usually be labeled wolfberries and the Chinese yams would be labeled dioscorea opposita. Thank goodness I know what they look like because I always have a hard time remembering their Chinese names and I never had a clue what their English names were. Just imagine me poking around an Asian supermarket at the bags of Chinese herbs with the English names. Now THAT was a whole new experience. Totally different than going to Chinatown with Mom to shop for these things.


Mom's Chicken Soup
(serves 6-8)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole skinless chicken, or 2 skinless chicken carcasses (skin on will produce more fat to skim off later)
• 1/4 cup fresh wolfberries (goji berries), or 3 Tbsps dried wolfberries (goji berries), rinsed
• 3 pieces dioscorea opposita (dried Chinese yam)
• 2 inches knob of ginger, smashed
• Water
• Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Throw everything into a large (5.4L or so) pot or dutch oven. Add enough water to fill the pot/dutch oven 3/4 of the way up with water. Bring to a gentle boil. 
2. Skim off any scum that surfaces. Lower heat to the lowest setting. Cover and simmer for 2 hours.
3. After 2 hours, bring the soup back to a boil. Skim off remaining scum and oil. Season with salt.

The soup can be made in a slow cooker. I've dumped the chicken carcasses (frozen or fresh) into a slow cooker with everything else and just cooked it for 6 hours on low. It works fine. Just harder to skim off all the scum and oils at the end because the soup isn't boiling. Still good though!

Broth Butt Chicken

Okay, so I lied. I wasn't going to roast a chicken any other way than when I did my Sage & Bay Salt Roast Chicken but I had a friend's beer butt chicken one day and it was just crazy moist. I was intrigued...

Originally I was going to use some beer instead, but I found some beef broth in the fridge I wanted to use up, so I used that instead. Shouldn't you be using chicken broth instead? Yeah, I probably should've but that would've meant I'd open up another 1L thing of chicken broth when I really only needed to use a little over half a can to cook the thing.

I can't tell you how important it is to let anything you plan on roasting to rest on the counter an hour before you roast it (same goes for steaks). It cooks more evenly so it tastes way more awesome. I hope I never forget to do this. Lol. :P


Broth Butt Chicken
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 can of chicken broth/beer, can rinsed and dried
• 4 russet potatoes, washed, peeled & cubed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 celery ribs, chopped
• 1 head of garlic, cloves separated & peeled
• 4 tsps Sage & Bay Salt, divided
• 2 Tbsps extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a large bowl, toss potatoes, onions, carrots, celery and garlic cloves with olive oil and 1 teaspoon of Sage & Bay Salt. Pour into a 9" x 12" roasting pan.
3. Open up a can of chicken broth or beer, pour 1/3 to 1/2 of the can onto the veggies (or consume the beer). Make a little spot in the middle of the pan for the can and place the can in the opened space. Set aside.
4. Rub chicken with remaining Sage & Bay Salt. Stick the chicken onto the can so that it props the chicken up (as if can is sticking up into its butt opening).
5. Carefully place roasting pan into the oven and roast for 70 minutes, or until internal temperature reaches 165F.
6. Carve the chicken and serve with the roasted veggies and potatoes with a side salad.

Ham & Pepper Fried Rice

OMG we always have so much leftovers after a Christmas dinner. Same for Thanksgiving too. Maybe next year I'll just make turkey for Thanksgiving and ham for Christmas. I really actually only like the ham. Hubby used to love turkey but he prefers ham now so really it's just the extended family that likes turkey.

I gotta say though, it's pretty amazing when you present a nicely cooked turkey to a big group of people. Makes you feel accomplish. ^^

Anywho, I used deli ham for the picture cuz I forgot to take a picture of the one with real ham and sometimes I need to get rid of deli ham quick. But who cares. It's still the same recipe. Only it tastes way more amazing with real ham that you've cooked using a picnic shoulder. Drool....


Ham & Pepper Fried Rice
(serves 2-3)

Ingredients:

• 2 cups cold leftover white rice (1-3 days old)
• 1/2 lb ham (or any cooked meat or medium firm tofu), finely diced or crumbled
• 1 bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 - 2 Tbsps ginger, minced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 2 green onion stalks, finely diced
• Salt or soy sauce, to taste
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat a wok on high heat to warm up canola oil. Add in ginger, garlic and ham. Stir fry until ham starts to caramelize/brown. Add in eggs, stirring vigorously so that it doesn't burn and scrambles into tiny pieces.
2. When egg is still a little runny, add in bell peppers and rice. Stir to break up all the rice. Season with salt or soy sauce. 
3. Once the rice softens and is no longer in clumps, turn off the heat. Stir in green onions.
4. Serve with soup.

Yellow Wine Chicken

I made "all" this yellow wine over the summer and still haven't used it for anything more than marinades and sauces. I've been meaning to make Yellow Wine Chicken, and so I finally did. I normally don't like it at all, but I liked this one. Probably because it wasn't so strong that it could kill someone and wasn't so weak that it makes you wonder where the wine went. :P

The broth is very good for you, so don't waste it!


Yellow Wine Chicken
(serves 2)

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken legs, thigh and drumstick separated
• 1 inch knob ginger, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups yellow wine

Directions:

1. Place everything in a medium pot and bring to a gentle boil. Lower the heat and simmer covered for 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
2. Serve alone or with rice.

Mushrooms & Chicken

Typical simple dinner fair. It's almost all in one! If you don't have carbs, then yes it can be. Otherwise it's a pretty standard dish to eat with rice. Yum. Rice. Seriously there is no food better than rice and some sort of dish to eat with it. Either that or just rice. But this was pretty good. K ate all the peppers and mushrooms in his bowl and then ate more of it the next day for his lunch. So proud that he eats so much veggies. I hope this lasts. >_>

Anywho, you can also make it vegetarian by using medium firm tofu instead of the chicken. It's what I'd do if it was just K and me eating. But Hubby needs his meat. Meh.


Mushrooms & Chicken
(serves 3-4)

Ingredients:

• 1 large or 2 small chicken breasts, cubed
• 1 bell pepper, cut into strips
• 2 cups mushrooms, sliced
• 2 green onion stalks, cut into 2 inch long pieces
• 1 inch ginger, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 dash Maggi Seasoning
• 2 Tbsps soy sauce
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp water
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 2 Tbsps canola oil

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a wok on medium high heat. Toss in chicken and cook until meat starts turning opaque.
2. Add in ginger and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms start turning brown. 
3. Stir in garlic, bell peppers, Maggi, soy sauce, sugar and cook until peppers are tender crisp.
4. In a small bowl, dissolve cornstarch in water. Add to wok. Toss in green onions and stir until sauce is thick.
5. Serve with rice.