Tag - dinner

Easy Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Jason and I went to an event at a Senegalese restaurant in Oakland this afternoon. We were invited by a friend who is from New Jersey too. I met her through someone back home who introduced us because we moved to the Bay Area around the same time. It’s lovely talking with people who are experiencing similar trials and tribulations of moving across the country. It can sometimes be challenging to get familiar with a new area, build a network, make new friends, etc. There were quite a few people at this event who are NY/NJ transplants so it was lovely reminiscing about the things we miss about the East Coast and relish in the things that are much better out West.

Since I knew that we were going to be there for a few hours today, I wanted to make something in the Crock Pot for dinner so it could cook while we were out of the house. We have a lot of butter lettuce ready in the garden so it seemed like a nice time to try out a chicken wrap recipe. These have the right amount of heat that’s nicely balanced with the blue cheese. The snap of the celery gives enough texture so that there’s some crunch to it too. I created my own seasonings mixture in this recipe, you can always replace the spices with a pre-packaged Ranch dressing mix instead. Either way, this is a simple recipe with lots of leftovers.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons dill, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried chives
1 teaspoon salt
6 chicken breasts
1 12-ounce bottle Frank’s buffalo sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Carrots, shredded
Celery, sliced thin
Butter lettuce leaves
Blue cheese dressing

1. In a small bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.

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2. Place the chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle spice mixture on top of the chicken. Pour in the buffalo sauce and stock. Mix the chicken together. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.

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4. Remove the chicken from the Crock Pot and place in a large dish. Shred the chicken using two forks. Add some of the sauce to the chicken until you’ve reached the exact about of spice you’re looking for.

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4. Serve with shredded carrots, celery, and blue cheese.

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Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

This could be a one pot dish if I had a oven safe pan big enough to fit all the chicken I wanted to make for this week. If you only make this with four thighs, it can totally be done and you don’t have to use a casserole dish. I also learned from my Chicken Stroganoff recipe that everything is better with wine. This is one of those dishes. You can certainly omit it, but it gives it a nice boost.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
8 chicken thighs, skin on
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 smal red onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 can of artichoke hearts
1 cup white wine
16 oz baby spinach

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1. Heat olive oil in a large pan, salt and pepper both sides of chicken and place skin down in hot oil. Brown both sides and set aside.

2. Add carrots, onions, garlic, artichoke hearts into hot pan. Cook until slightly browning. Add white wine and cook for 6-7 minutes until wine cooks off a bit. Ensure the veggies don’t get too tender, they’re going to finish off in the oven.

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3. Add spinach to pan and cook until slightly wilted.

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4. Place chicken on the bottom of a casserole dish, pour vegetables on top. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

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5. Check to makes sure that the chicken temperature reaches 165 degrees before serving.

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BBQ Chicken, Kale, and Sweet Potatoes

We went to Napa on Saturday with our friends Laura and Matt who were visiting from Los Angeles this weekend. Our first stop was Judd’s Hill Winery and one of their tastings was a wine and BBQ sauce pairing. Unconventional? Perhaps. Delicious? Absolutely! The experience we had there was wonderful and the sommelier was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. We also talked about food as much as we talked about wine — which made us all very happy and hungry. Jason and I couldn’t help but add a bottle of the BBQ sauce to our purchase. It was so tasty that I then had to cook with it this weekend. I’m sure any BBQ sauce will do here, but try using one that has some nice balance of heat and sweet.

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Oven BBQ Chicken 
4 pieces of chicken, bone in
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups BBQ sauce of your choice
Salt and pepper

1. Cut excess fat off chicken, salt and pepper both sides. Heat oil in a frying pan. Brown chicken on both sides.

2. Place chicken on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Cook in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven, and baste both sides with BBQ sauce. Put back in oven for 15 minutes. Take the chicken out a second time and baste with sauce. Place back in oven for afinal 15 minutes, when you take it back out, put on some more sauce! Check the internal temperature to make sure that it’s reached 165 degrees.

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BBQ Kale
2 bunches of kale
Salt and pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cook on the grill until lightly crisped. Approximately 2-3 minutes on each side if the flame is on low.

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Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes 
4 sweet potatoes
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground clove

1. Boil potatoes for 20 minutes, or until just tender. Be careful not to over cook. The potatoes still need to keep their shape while being grilled. Place potatoes in cold water to prevent further cooking. Remove skins and cut potatoes into friends (approximately 8 per potato).

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2. Mix spices together in a small bowl. Place cut potatoes in a large bowl and mix with oil and spices.

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3. Cook potatoes on the grill until lightly charred.

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4. Enjoy everything together!

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Chicken Stroganoff

Just like the pizzagaina was reminiscent of home, this recipe is too. My mom used to make chicken stroganoff all the time. It was one of the first recipes I knew how to cook. This is a lighter take on it, but was a nice way to feel closer to family. This is definitely good but next time I plan to add some white wine, possibly instead of the chicken stock — mostly because wine makes everything better.

Chicken Stroganoff
4 chicken breasts, cut into slivers
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 large onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, chopped
3 cups crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons corn starch
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup sour cream

1. Cut the chicken into slivers and toss in a bowl with the spices. In a dutch oven, heat the oil and place in the seasoned chicken, cooking for a few minutes on both sides. Just enough to brown the chicken, not fully cook it. Be careful not to crowd the chicken, I did this in three batches. Once all the chicken has been browned, remove from pan and set aside.DSC_0119b

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2. Leave all the good brown bits in the dutch oven. Add a little more oil if you need it and bring to temperature, then add the onions and garlic. Cook and stir until they become translucent. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook down.

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3. Once the mushrooms have begun to brown, make a small area in the middle and add the butter. Once melted, add in the corn starch and stir. This will help thicken the sauce. Stir the mushrooms into the butter/starch and then add the Worcestershire sauce and chicken stock.

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4. Add the chicken and cook for about 7 minutes until cooked through. Remove from heat and stir in the sour cream.

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5. Serve with pasta (usually egg noodles, but I can’t find those in GF) and vegetable of your choosing!

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Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup

Sometimes you just want some soup. Simple, fresh, soup. Today was one of those days. I was even able to use kale from our garden! I had to supplement it with some from the farmers’ market but they were both very good. I would highly recommend this soup for anyone who wants their house to smell magical. Now if only I could turn this soup into a candle.

Sausage, Kale and Potato Soup
2 10 oz packages of organic spicy chicken sausage
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 large bunches of kale, stemmed and chopped
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
4 medium sized red potatoes, halved and sliced
2 cartons chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Chop up the chicken sausage (first remove casings if necessary). Place a dutch oven over medium-high heat and cook the sausage until fully browned. Remove it and set aside.

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2. Do not worry about the brown bits at the bottom, just add the butter and oil and scrape with the back of your spoon. Add the onions and garlic and continue scraping. Season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until translucent.

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3. Rinse and chop the kale and then place into the dutch oven. Stir until all of the kale begins to cook and wilt. Add the nutmeg and cook down for another few minutes until the kale is bright green.

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4. Rinse and cut the potatoes then add them, with the spinach to the pot.

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5. Stir the ingredients together and then add the chicken broth. Cook until it begins to boil then bring it down to a simmer. Cook until the potatoes are tender then add the cream.

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6. Serve! But not to your landlord’s dog. He’ll get a rumbly tummy if you do.

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