Sweet, Sticky and Spicy Chicken

Sugar Baby found this recipe on allrecipes.com and made it for our lunch (or is that dinner?) today. It was soooo good! We will definitely be having it again. She doubled the sauce part of the recipe and it made enough for all eight of us. Here is the recipe, copied & pasted from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger root
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 2 tablespoons hot sauce
• salt and pepper to taste
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1/2 inch strips
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Mix together brown sugar, honey, soy sauce, ginger, garlic and hot sauce in a small bowl.
2. Lightly salt and pepper the chicken strips.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken strips and brown on both sides, about 1 minute per side. Pour the sauce over the chicken. Simmer uncovered until the sauce thickens, 8 to 10 minutes.

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs

We eat quite a bit of grilled chicken around here. It is so simple, delicious and reduces the amount of cleanup in the kitchen. (That last part is the most important.)

Usually, I marinate the chicken in zesty italian dressing or mojo sauce and then grill them and they are soooo good. Like, company good.

However, I am always on the lookout for new recipes, and when I saw this flavor combination, I was intrigued. Plus, it had about a zillion 5 star reviews on allrecipes.
I had never done kabobs before, but since we had a box of 1,000 wooden skewers (think cake pops), I thought I'd try them.

The results were definitely 5 star. We all loved them & it was a nice change from our marinades. I served them with pasta & homemade marinara sauce & it made for a really scrumptious meal.

From allrecipes.com:

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup ranch dressing
• 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon white sugar, or to taste (optional)
• 5 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cut into 1 inch cubes

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, stir together the olive oil, ranch dressing, Worcestershire sauce, rosemary, salt, lemon juice, white vinegar, pepper, and sugar. Let stand for 5 minutes. Place chicken in the bowl, and stir to coat with the marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the grill for medium-high heat. Thread chicken onto skewers and discard marinade.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Grill skewers for 8 to 12 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink in the center, and the juices run clear.

   

Give 'em a try!

Garlic Pan Chicken

I had pulled some chicken breasts from the freezer the other night, planning to grill them, but when the time came to grill, it was too cold to go out. I've always been under the impression that cooking chicken breasts in a pan [not talking about fried chicken here!] with no sauce resulted in little flavor and dry meat. Boy was I wrong! These were very tender and full of flavor.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 Tbs oil

Lay the chicken breasts on a cutting board and, holding your knife blade parallel to the cutting board, cut each chicken breast in half so that it is half as thick as before. I hope that made sense - it was really hard to explain!

Now, combine the remaining ingredients and rub them into the chicken. Chill for at least an hour.

Heat the oil in a pan and sautee the chicken for 5-8 minutes on each side until the juices run clear and it's cooked through. Very simple! You can also vary the spices to suit your tastes.

Mexican Casserole

This is one of my high-mileage recipes. It is a great way to use leftover chicken or Thanksgiving turkey, or any kind of meat really. It's also a great way to use those refried beans I mentioned below. You can even make it without the meat - it's a very flexible dish.

Ingredients:

4 cups cooked chicken or turkey, shredded or chopped

2 Tbs taco seasoning (or a packet)

2 cups salsa

1 1/2 cups sour cream

4 cups refried beans
2 cups cheddar cheese


In a 9x13 dish, layer the ingredients in the order in which they are given. Bake at 350F for 30 minutes or until heated through. Top with whatever taco fixin's you normally like (olives, salsa, lettuce, etc...) and serve with tortilla chips. Serves 8.

Sundried Tomato Chicken Pasta

This is sooooo good. My sister-in-law made it for us several years ago & it has been one of our favorites ever since. I have tweaked the original recipe a bit to suit our tastes and number of servings.

Just look at that creamy, flavorful sauce...

Ingredients:

1 Tbs oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium onion, diced

3 chicken breasts, cubed

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes*, chopped

1 cup heavy cream

1 cup milk

3/4 cup grated parmesan

salt & pepper to taste

basil, chopped

8 oz pasta (I usually use bowties, but this time I happened to use campanelle)

salt

2 Tbs butter

Cook & drain the pasta according to package directions. Stir in the salt & butter. Set aside.

Cook the garlic & onion in oil until translucent. Add the chicken & tomatoes and cook until the chicken is done. Stir in the cream, milk, parmesan, salt & pepper. Cook over medium heat until it is heated through.

Spoon over plates of hot pasta & sprinkle with a little chopped fresh basil. Serves 8.

*If the sundried tomatoes are packaged dry (as opposed to being packed in oil), rehydrate them by soaking them in very hot water for 10 minutes. If they're in oil, drain them well.