Pesto-Yogurt Chicken

I found this in a random magazine. As I was making it, I was kind of skeptical, but it turned pretty good!

Ingredients-Pesto (makes a little more than you need, but pesto never goes to waste!)

• 2 cups basil-packed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2/3 cup oil
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Mix ingredients in food processor or blender until well blended.

For the rest of the recipe you are only going to need 3/4 a cup of pesto.

Pesto-Yogurt Ingredients (makes 2.25 cups):

• 3/4 cup pesto
• 1.5 cups Greek yogurt (I used the Arab Labne)
• Salt and pepper to taste

Just mix the ingredients!

You only need 2 cups for the recipe. So I would suggest making a small amount less. I also didn't add salt and pepper, but I do suggest you add some flavoring. I cooked the chicken according to the recipe and then tried it. It tasted a bit bland so I had to improvise by adding spices and cheese later. It might help to add the spices from the get go.

Finally, the rest of the ingredients:

• 2.5-3 lbs. chicken
• salt and pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1tbsp. olive oil
• 2 cups pesto-yogurt sauce
• Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Clean up chicken and cut up into slices like picture above.
2. Sprinkle salt on a cutting board and cut up the cloves of garlic. This is supposed to make a paste. It didn't work for me. 
3. Mix oil, pesto-yogurt sauce, salt, and pepper. 
4. Marinate chicken overnight.
5. Pre-heat oven to 425F.
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
7. Take out, sprinkle with salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese browns.  

Chicken Fajitas and Guacomole

I had sour cream and cheese. So of course I needed to make chicken fajitas. And what are fajitas without guacamole?!

Ingredients

• 2 chicken breasts. 
• 2 tsp. chilli
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. corn starch.
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped

Directions

1. Cut up chicken in slices.
2. Mix ingredients in bowl.
3. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
4. Heat up some oil in a pan.
5. Cook for 6 minutes or until browned.

Guacamole

Ingredients

• 1 avocado.
• 1 tbsp. chopped onion.
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin.

Directions

1. Mix items in plastic ziplock bag. (i put it in a bag because it is easier to small up the avocado that way if you dont have mortar and pestle)
2. Smash up avocado.
3. Eaaaat.

BBQ Chicken and Greek Salad with Balsamic Vingerette

Hello!
So I had a couple of friends over for dinner and this is what we had:

BBQ Chicken from here, I changed a couple of things.
Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 T lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 3-4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp. powdered ginger
• 1 lb. chicken

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients. Marinate chicken for at least four hours. (I could only do 30-45 minutes, but it still tasted good :-))
2. Heat up some oil in a pan.
3. Also, place a kettle of water on the stove.
4. Place chicken in pan. Save some of the marinade. Cook 5 minutes on each side on medium-high. This allows the chicken to brown.
5. Lower heat to medium. Add a bit of the  marinade and the hot water. Cook like this for 20-45 minutes depending if it is bone-in-chicken or not. Bone-in-chicken needs more time to cook.  Add water when water level gets too low.
6. Every once in awhile check to see if chicken is cooked by cutting it open and seeing the color. Pink is bad, white is good.

Balsamic Vingerette. This makes enough for many salads. I got it here.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup Balsamic Vingerette
• 2 tsps. brown sugar
• 1 tbsp. garlic
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3/4 cup olive oil

Mix ingredients in re-usable bottle. Shake well.

Make sure you shake well before you use it every time.

The Greek salad just consisted of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and black olives.

The feta cheese offsets the the strong taste of the balsamic vinegar.

Enjoy. We sure did :-)

Tandoori Chicken

Ingredients:

• 1.5 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 tbsp. crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp. chopped up garlic
• 1 tbsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cumin 
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 tsp. coriander powder
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• 1/2 cup yogurt
• 2 tbsp. oil
• 1 tsp. fenugreek leaves

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 425.
• Rub chicken with salt, chili,  and lime. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
• Mix the remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
• Rub mixture on chicken. 
• Place remaining mixture and chicken in pan and bake for 20-35 minutes.

It tastes best with fresh onions and naan (a special type of flat bread).

Chicken Curry

I kind of made up this recipe on my own. It is not really spicy, but if you don't do spicy food it is. If you do spicy food add more curry. :-)

Ingredients

• 2 pounds chicken, chopped into bite size pieces
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium tomato
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 tbsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tbsp. ginger
• 3/4 tbsp. salt
• 2 tbsp. vegetable curry powder
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. paprika 
• 1 tsp. turmeric powder
• 1 bay leaf
• Vegetable oil

Directions 

1. Heat oil in pot. Saute onion until lightly browned.
2. Add tomato, ginger, and spices.
3. Stir for 3-4 minutes.
4. Add chicken.
5. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 20-25 minutes.
6. Add lemon juice.

Butter Chicken

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breasts, cubed
• Vegetable oil for cooking
• 2 onions, chopped
• 3/4 tsp. cinnamon
• 3 tsp. garlic, crushed
• 4 tsp. powdered ginger (3 tsp. fresh)
• 1.5 tsp. tumeric powder
• 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes
• 6 tbsp. crushed almonds
• 3 cups tomatoes peeled
• 3 tbsp.  tomato paste
• 3 tbsp. yogurt
• 2 tbsp. fresh coriander
• salt
• pepper

Prep Work

1. Wash chicken, remove excess fat.
2. Cube chicken. Season chicken with salt and pepper.
3. In order to be able to peel tomatoes place in water and boil.  Once the tomato begins to crack remove from heat.  Wait until the tomatoes cool, then chop them.

Directions

1. Heat vegetable oil.  Add chicken. Cook until golden-brown. Remove chicken and place in bowl.
2. Using the same pan add vegetable oil and heat.
3. Add onions and cinnamon.
4. In separate bowl mix garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, red pepper flakes, crushed almonds, tomatoes, tomato paste, yogurt.
5. Add the above mix to the pan with the onions and cinnamon. Mix well.
6. Bring ingredients to a boil. Allow to simmer for 3-5 minutes.
7. Blend mixture in blender.  Add milk if too solid.
8. Place mixture in pot and add chicken.
9. Allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes. Add coriander to mixture.

I got the recipe from here, but changed a couple of things.

Stuffed Chicken

Something I came up with..

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound chicken
• 3/4 cup peas
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• Spices
• Flour
• Egg white
• Seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

So I did not actually measure how much I used. You just have to guess while making it. You will know its right by just looking at it.

1. Cook peas according to directions on bag
2. Mix peas and ricotta cheese such that there is an even distribution of peas and cheese. Add spices to flavor the mix (ginger, garlic powder, etc.)
3. Clean chicken. At the part where its thickest start making a cut. You will now have a little pocket.
4. Stuff mix in the pocket.
5. Heat some oil on the stove.
6. Flour the chicken. Then smear egg white on both sides.
7. You can either dip the chicken in season bread crumbs or you can mix the seasoned bread crumbs with more spices! I recommend the latter.
8. Cook chicken on stove. I needed around 6 minutes on both sides on medium heat.

Tips:

• You can also use mashed potatoes.
• If you used mashed potatoes add some shredded Parmesan cheese.

Teriyaki Chicken

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds chicken
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. ginger powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. vinegar

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Mix ingredients: white sugar, brown sugar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and vinegar.
• Place in deep pan with

White sauce chicken lasagna

I got this recipe from allrecipes.com. I changed some things here and there.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/White-Cheese-Chicken-Lasagna/Detail.aspx

Ingredients:

• 9 lasagna noodles
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups ricotta cheese
• 2 cups cubed, cooked chicken meat
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese for topping

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil.
• Cook lasagna noodles in pot for about 8 to 10 minutes.
• Remove noodles and rinse with cold water. It helps to have a large pan set up to put the cooked lasagna noodles on because you can only cook a couple at a time.
• Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Cook the onion and garlic in the butter until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in the flour and salt, and simmer until bubbly. Mix in the broth and milk, and boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Season with the basil, oregano, and ground black pepper. Remove from heat, and set aside.
• Spread 1/3 of the sauce mixture in the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer with 1/3 of the noodles, the ricotta, and the chicken. Arrange 1/3 of the noodles over the chicken, and layer with 1/3 of the sauce mixture, spinach, and the remaining 2 cups mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese. Arrange remaining noodles over cheese, and spread remaining sauce evenly over noodles. Sprinkle with parsley and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
• bake 35-40 minutes

If you have frozen garlic bread you can just make that.

If you don't you can make some at home.

All you need is:

• White toast
• Dried parsley
• Powdered garlic
• Salt
• Butter

Spread some butter on the toast. Then sprinkle the dried parsley, powdered garlic, and salt on it. Cook in oven for about 5-10 minutes.

And as usual enjoy your meal!

Baked "fried" chicken

This recipe is for baked chicken that has the crispiness of fried chicken but is healthy!

Ingredients:

• 2 lb. Chicken breast (you can also use other parts, but this works best with chicken breast)
• 2 cups Sour cream
• 2 cups crushed Corn flakes
• powdered garlic
• powdered ginger
• basil
• fajita seasoning
• Any type of seasoning you would like

Directions:

• Mix the sour cream 1 tsp. powdered ginger, 1 tsp. powdered ginger, 1 tsp. fajita seasoning
• After cleaning the chicken, coat both sides with the sour cream mix.
• Place in the oven for about 20 minutes. This helps minimize the mess when you add the cornflake mixture.
• Crush the cornflakes until they are almost like a powder
• Mix the cornflakes with any type of seasoning you would like. I added salt, powdered garlic, powdered ginger, basil, fajita seasoning, and some chili powder.
• Take the chicken out of the fridge and coat with the cornflake mix.
• Place chicken in a 375F preheated oven.
• Bake for about an hour.

Eat, and enjoy!