- was really, really good. I forgot to take a picture of this one though so you'll have to use your imagination or click through to the blog that I got the recipe from. Original recipe is
. (As a side note, I love the Pioneer Woman's blog!)
(To grill pineapple: cut wedges, stick on skewers, and grill over low heat. Cut into slices.)
(To pound chicken, place inside a Ziploc bag and pound with a mallet or large can to flatten to uniform thickness.)
Sprinkle with salt and pepper and Cajun spice (or cumin/cayenne,
etc.) Drizzle olive oil on a grill pan and grill on both sides until
done, brushing with barbecue sauce. Set aside and slice into very thin
slices.
Warm griddle over medium heat and put sizzling butter or margarine in
the pan. Slightly warm and toast tortillas on both sides, then remove
from griddle and set aside.
To assemble, sprinkle four browned tortillas with grated Monterey
Jack. Arrange chicken slices evenly over the surface. Add pineapple
slices and jalapeno slices. Sprinkle on cilantro. If desired, drizzle
extra barbecue sauce over the top. Add second browned tortilla on top of
each one. (You'll have four complete quesadillas at this point.)
Add to oven to warm, or back to skillet to warm, until cheese is
melted. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges. Serve with sour cream, pico
de gallo, and lime wedges.
My second favorite recipe so far has been this one:
Coconut Chicken with Apricot Sauce.
Again, my photography skills kind of suck when it comes to food pictures, but here is my version. Definitely not food blogger quality, especially since you can see where I slid the food away from the other food on the plate in an attempt to make it look better. Instead of looking better, you can just see the remnants of the food I slid across the plate...
Find the original recipe
here.
My notes about this particular meal: The recipe is enough for 4 servings. Since there's only the two of us, I cut the recipe in half. However, the apricot sauce that goes on top of the chicken I did NOT cut in half and I think I made just enough for two pieces. I guess you're supposed to use less of the sauce if that is supposed to be enough for 4 servings, but I think I used just the right amount to make it taste good. So my suggestion is to NOT cut the sauce recipe in half if you cut the rest of the recipe in half. And if you make the full recipe then double the sauce recipe.
As a side note, this was a really, really easy recipe to make. The prep time is super quick (5-10 minutes) and it comes out tasting like you spent hours preparing it. Definitely a recipe to make again.
The side dish in the picture is the same side that we ate with the Orange Chicken. Its Mr. V's creation of Coconut Mango Rice again - its delicious!
Coconut Chicken with Apricot Sauce
Yield: 4 servings
1 egg
1 cup sweetened coconut flakes
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 boneless chicken breasts
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup apricot preserves
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
Preheat the oven to 400˚F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Lightly beat the egg in a medium bowl; set aside. Mix the coconut,
flour, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Working with
one chicken breast at a time, dip the chicken in the bowl with the
beaten egg and then coat with the coconut mixture. Place on the baking
sheet. Once all chicken breasts are coated and on the baking sheet,
evenly drizzle with the melted butter. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes,
flipping once halfway.
To prepare the apricot sauce, mix the apricot preserves and the Dijon
mustard in a small bowl. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to
serve.
Freezer Friendly: After baking the chicken, let cool completely then
freeze in a freezer bag for up to 1 month. To reheat, bake in a
preheated oven at 400˚F for 20 minutes.
The next recipe is
Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce
I don't have much to say about this one, other than it was pretty good and I would definitely make it again. Mr. V also gave his approval. There's nothing spectacular about it, but its not something I've made before and I was pretty impressed with the result.
Original recipe is here.
Penne Pasta with Sun-dried Tomato Cream Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 cups (8 oz.) dry penne pasta
- 8 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped (about 1/3 cup)
- 1 can (12 fl. oz.) NESTLÉ® CARNATION® Evaporated Lowfat 2% Milk
- 2 cups (8-oz. pkg.) shredded Italian-style four-cheese blend
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
Directions
PREPARE pasta according to package
directions, adding sun-dried tomatoes to boiling pasta water for last
two minutes of cooking time; drain.
MEANWHILE, COMBINE
evaporated milk, cheese, basil, garlic powder and pepper in medium
saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until
cheese is melted. Remove from heat.
ADD pasta and sun-dried tomatoes to cheese sauce; stir until combined.
As far as recipe experimentation goes, I've been trying to duplicate a certain recipe for about a year now. I love Thai food, but one thing I have discovered about this delicious food is that no two Thai restaurants are the same. I've eaten at Thai restaurants in every place we've lived and whenever we go on vacation we usually find one to eat at. Not one of them has even slightly resembled another in the way their food tastes. Back in Washington, there was a local Thai restaurant that had AMAZING peanut sauce. I always ordered something called "Thai Best Peanut Sauce", which was chicken, on a bed of spinach and bean sprouts with rice on the side. I was addicted to this peanut sauce. I'd get carry-out from this place at least once a week, but sometimes even more often than that. We have tried three different Thai restaurants since moving to Corpus Christi and none of them taste anything like my favorite restaurant in Washington. I did manage to find one place that has really good peanut sauce, which makes it a nice substitute for the one I had to leave behind, but I'm still on a mission to find something that tastes identical. Since my search for a similar restaurant is proving to be fruitless, I decided to turn to turn to the internet for recipes to see if I can re-create the peanut sauce. I have several different peanut sauce recipes pinned on my Pinterest boards, but so far I've only made two of them. Neither of them taste anything at all like I want it to. They were decent and I'd make them again, but I'm still hunting for that perfect peanut sauce recipe!
First I made this -
Noodles with Curried Peanut Sauce
Original recipe is here.
It tasted decent enough, but it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I'd eat it again though, so if you're not as picky as I am when it comes to peanut sauce, then you'd probably like this recipe. (side note - I don't know why I can't get the picture to turn so its not sideways.)
Noodles with Curried Peanut Sauce.
Ingredients:
6 ounces dried flat Chinese egg noodles
1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
1/2 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 to 2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
Optional garnish: lime wedges, cilantro leaves
Directions:
1)
Bring 1-1/2 quarts salted water to a boil. Add noodles and return to a
boil. Simmer for 3-1/2 to 4 minutes, or until noodles are tender. Drain,
reserving 1 cup cooking water. Transfer noodles to a serving bowl.
2)
Meanwhile, combine peanut butter, soy sauce, coconut milk, lime juice,
coriander, curry paste, sugar and salt in a small saucepan. Cook on
medium-low heat, stirring constantly until peanut butter has melted and a
sauce has formed, about 3 minutes.
3) Pour sauce over noodles,
tossing lightly until each noodle is coated with sauce. If sauce seems
too thick, thin by adding pasta water, a spoonful at a time. Garnish
with cilantro and lime wedges. Serve hot or warm. Yield: 4 servings.
(this is probably my prettiest food picture)
Recipe is here. This one I would do things a little differently if I make it again. Out of the two peanut sauce recipes that I've tried, I liked this one the least. It tastes too vinegary, so if I make it again I would reduce the amount of vinegar and add more peanut butter and peanut oil. I'm not sure why the recipe calls for the amount of vinegar it does, and why there doesn't seem to be a lot of peanut butter in a peanut sauce recipe. I'll have to experiment with this one again one day.
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup warm water, plus more as needed
- 3 Tbs. creamy peanut butter
- 3 Tbs. soy sauce
- 3 Tbs. rice vinegar
- 2 Tbs. Asian sesame oil
- 1/2 tsp. chili paste
- 1/4 tsp. sugar
- 1/2 lb. dried rice noodles or rice vermicelli, soaked in hot water to cover for 15 minutes and drained
- 1/2 lb. baby spinach
- 1 Tbs. corn or peanut oil
- 1 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken
- 1 Tbs. chopped roasted peanuts
- 3 Tbs. chopped fresh cilantro
Many
kinds of dried Asian noodles need to be reconstituted in hot water
before they can be eaten. Place the noodles in a large bowl, add hot
water to cover, place a plate on top of the noodles to keep them
submerged and set aside for 15 minutes.
Directions:
Make the peanut sauce
In a blender, combine the 1/4 cup warm water, the peanut butter, soy
sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, chili paste and sugar. Process until a
smooth sauce forms. If the sauce is too thick, add up to 1 Tbs. more
warm water.
Cook the noodles
Bring a large pot of
water to a boil over high heat. Plunge the reconstituted noodles into
the water for 5 seconds and drain immediately. Pour the noodles back
into the warm pot, add the spinach and corn oil, and toss gently to
distribute the ingredients evenly.
Assemble and serve
In a bowl, toss the chicken with half of the peanut sauce. Transfer the
noodles to a large bowl or platter and scatter the chicken on top.
Garnish with the peanuts and cilantro and serve immediately. Pass the
remaining peanut sauce at the table. Serves 4.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Food Made Fast Series,
Asian, by Farina Wong Kingsley (Oxmoor House, 2007).
This is another one that I will definitely make again. It also got Mr. V's approval.
Recipe can be found here. I left out the onion, because again, I hate onions, but I don't think this needed the onion anyway. Mr. V loves onions and doesn't particularly like leaving them out of recipes if it can be helped, but he said he would never know that this recipe needed an onion. He liked it just fine without one. So personally, I'd recommend leaving it out, but I'm copying and pasting the recipe just as its written anyway.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds, 3-⅓ ounces, weight Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast, Cut Into Large Cubes
- 1 whole Onion, Peeled And Halved
- 2 cloves Garlic, Peeled
- 1 whole Small Green Bell Pepper, Seeded And Quartered
- 1 can (156ml Can) Tomato Paste
- 1 can (about 400ml Can) Coconut Milk
- 1-½ teaspoon Salt
- 1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
- 1 Tablespoon Garam Masala (Indian Spice Mix)
- 2 whole Dry Red Chili Peppers (optional For Extra Heat))
- 2 Tablespoons Water
- 1-½ Tablespoon Cornstarch
- 1 bunch Coriander (optional, For Decoration) Instructions
1. Place chicken cubes inside the slow cooker.
2. Place the rest of the ingredients (except chili peppers,
cornstarch, water and coriander) in a food processor bowl and process
together until the mix is smooth(ish). Pour sauce mix on top of the
chicken, mix well, add hot peppers if using any, then close the lid.
Cook on low for 6 hours.
3. An hour before serving, mix together water and cornstarch until
the cornstarch is completely dissolved. Add to the chicken curry and mix
well. Place the lid back on for the rest of the cooking time.
4. Serve on top of steaming white rice, something wonderfully
aromatic like jasmine or basmati rice. Decorate with lots of chopped
coriander. Inhale. So good!
I didn't get a picture of this one, but there's a picture of it with the recipe
here. It does call for linguine (obviously since its in the title) but I used spaghetti instead and I thought it worked perfectly. I also used bread crumbs from a store bought can instead of making my own. It was a good meal, but I definitely added too much garlic. That will need to be simmered down a bit the next time I make this. Other than the overpowering taste of garlic, it was pretty tasty!
Linguine with Garlicky Breadcrumbs
Ingredients
-
1
slice day-old hearty white bread (such as Pepperidge Farm), torn
-
2 tablespoons
olive oil, divided
-
6
garlic cloves, minced
-
8 ounces
uncooked linguine
-
1/4 cup
chopped fresh parsley
-
2 teaspoons
fresh lemon juice
-
1/2 teaspoon
salt
-
1/4 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 250°.
- Place bread in a food processor; pulse 10 times or until coarse
crumbs measure 2/3 cup. Place breadcrumbs on a baking sheet. Bake at
250° for 30 minutes or until dry.
- Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium
heat. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Remove from
heat, and let stand 5 minutes. Return pan to heat. Stir in breadcrumbs,
and cook 6 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring frequently.
- Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat;
drain. Place pasta in a large bowl. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil,
breadcrumbs, parsley, lemon juice, salt, and black pepper; toss gently
to combine. Serve immediately.
And finally, I'll stop boring you to tears with my final meal experiment:
Roasted Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons (but I'll be back later with more posts showing my breakfast, side dishes and dessert experiments!)
I cheated a lot with this one. Basically, I took the idea and completely ignored the recipe. I used tomato soup from a can and added milk and basil to it. I made the grilled cheese with American cheese, not cheddar, as the recipe calls for. And I put Italian seasoning on the grilled cheese (which I do normally). However, if you're interested in the actual recipe, and not just the idea, then click
here or read the rest of this post.
As a side note, I was pretty impressed with the presentation of this one. Its almost food blogger quality (and ok, I have to admit that Mr. V actually put it all together, so he's the one who made it look pretty - not me.)
Before I copy and paste the recipe here's my 2 cents. This is a great idea. But it doesn't work as well as you would think. I HIGHLY recommend DIPPING the grilled cheese into the tomato soup, but not actually using it as croutons. Reason being - the soup will make the bread VERY mushy, VERY quickly. Then it becomes a texture issue. I love grilled cheese, but when it became all mushy it was actually a bit nauseating to eat. If you don't mind really mushy food thats not typically mushy, then you might not care. But I had to eat my mushy sandwich, while telling myself "It tastes like grilled cheese" over and over in my head just to choke it down. The taste was fine in general, but wow the texture made for some disgusting eating. So my advice - dip the grilled cheese...don't let it just sit in the soup! If you do that, then this is a really tasty and good idea!
Roasted tomato soup with grilled cheese croutons
6 cups (3 pints) cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped onion
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1 cup whipping cream
Heat
the oven to 400°. On a baking sheet, combine the cherry tomatoes, 2
tablespoons of the olive oil, and the salt and pepper. Toss the
ingredients to coat evenly and spread them in a single layer. Roast the
tomatoes until they are shriveled with brown spots, about 35 to 45
minutes.
In a large pot, heat the butter and the remaining
tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and sauté
until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with their
juice, the broth, the thyme, and the roasted tomatoes, including any
liquid on the baking sheet. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the
heat and simmer, partially covered, for 40 minutes.
Using a food
processor or blender, puree the soup until it's smooth. Return it to
the pot and stir in the cream. Without letting the soup boil, warm it
over medium heat, stirring often, until steaming. Add salt and pepper,
if necessary.
Grilled cheese croutons:1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/4 teaspoon thyme
6 thin slices of bread
3 ounces Cheddar, thinly sliced
Heat
a large skillet over medium-high heat. In a small bowl, combine the
butter and thyme. Spread one side of each bread slice with the butter
mixture. Place 3 slices in the pan, buttered side down. Top with the
cheese, then with the remaining 3 bread slices, buttered side up. Cook,
turning once, until toasted on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
Remove the sandwiches from the pan. Let them cool slightly, then cut
them into 1-inch squares. Makes about 60 croutons.
And that ends my super long post about food! This has been pretty time consuming, hence the lack of blog posts. I still have more food to post and also some crafts that I got ideas for from Pinterest so those will be other posts for other days. In the meantime, try out some of these recipes! They're pretty yummy!
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