Mahogany roasted chicken thighs with sauteed kale

I bought a bag of freshly chopped raw kale last week and have just gotten around to making it tonight. I had completely forgotten about a product that I used to use a lot called Chicken Base. It's almost the same thing as Better Than Bouillon and can be found at Costco.

Here is the recipe for Mahogany chicken (of which the kids completely devoured) and sauteed kale (of which 1 kid devoured).

Chicken:
4 chicken thighs
3 Tbs. soy sauce
1/4 C. hoison sauce
1/4 C. plum sauce

Preheat oven to 350. Place chicken in a shallow glass pan, combine 3 ingredients and add to the chicken. Bake for 25 minutes or until chicken skin has turned a dark golden color. The skin will look similar to roasted duck, dark and shiny.

While the chicken cooks, add 1 Tbs. of olive oil to a large nonstick pan with tall sides. Add 2 cubes frozen garlic and rinse 5 C. chopped kale. Heat pan to medium high. Add kale to the pan and stir to combine. Add 1 Tbs. of Chicken Base and 1/2 C. water. Stir to dissolve, cover and continue cooking until the kale is soft but still bright green, about 20 minutes. If the kale is looking dry, add another 1/4 C. of water. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Vegan stuffed zucchini

My friends are coming over for lunch today and one of them is vegan. I had a few zucchini in the house so I decided to make quinoa and brown rice stuffed zucchini.

Here's the recipe: The stuffing is delicious eaten as a salad or can be stuffed into zucchini or red bell peppers.

This recipe makes 3 cups of stuffing/salad

Finely dice 1/2 purple onion, and saute in 2 Tbs. of olive oil in a large nonstick pan on medium high heat for 5-7 minutes or until onion begins to brown. Add a good pinch of kosher salt and pepper. While the onion cooks, grate 1 whole zucchini and add to the pan. Continue cooking until zucchini has softened. Add in a small pinch of dried thyme, 1/2 C. toasted pine nuts and 1/2 C. golden raisins. Stir to combine and remove from heat.

I had leftover quinoa and brown rice, you can add either or both or even couscous. I added in about 1 1/2 C. total of mixed brown rice and quinoa with another tsp. of olive oil. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. You could also saute a few finely diced mushrooms with the zucchini, and a drizzle of truffle oil would be delicious.

Remove the mixture from the pan and add 1 Tbs. of olive oil, 1 C. of bread crumbs and 1/2 tsp. of garlic salt. Cook until breadcrumbs turn brown, about 1 minute. Watch these closely and stir frequently as they brown very quickly. Remove from heat so they don't burn.

I washed and sliced 2 zucchini in half lengthwise, and using a grapefruit spoon hollowed out the center of the 4 pieces. Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with either a Silpat mat or aluminum foil and add the zucchini boats. Fill each boat with the stuffing and top with toasted bread crumbs. Cook in the oven to 10-12 minutes.

Stuffed chicken breasts

Tonight's dinner was met with mixed reviews. The grown-ups loved it, the kids... not so much.

Anyhow, here's my recipe for goat cheese and artichoke stuffed chicken breasts.

Saute 1/2 C. mire au poix (which you can buy pre-chopped from Trader Joe's) in 1 Tbs. olive oil and 1 cube frozen garlic. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Add a pinch of salt and pepper. Add in 3-4 jarred artichoke hearts that you have roughly chopped and continue cooking. Turn heat off after a few minutes and add in 3 Tbs. goat cheese. If you don't have goat cheese, you can also use cream cheese or boursin.

While the veggie mixture cools, preheat the oven to 425 and slice 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts almost in half horizontally, being sure not to slice the breast completely in half. It should look like a pouch.

Add 1 tsp. olive oil to coat the bottom of a casserole pan. After stuffing the chicken, add them to the pan.

Smear a little dijon mustard to the outsides of the chicken breasts and add 1-2 Tbs. of the vegetable mixture to the pocket of the chicken. Finally, add a sprinkling of Italian bread crumbs or Panko to the top of the chicken breast. This will give it a nice crunch.

Bake chicken for 18-20 minutes or until the top of the chicken is golden brown.

I served this with quinoa and green beans. My kids had a FIT, and my adventurous eater even started to cry! I made her try a bite which she choked down and I eventually heated up some of the leftover barley soup from the other night.

The adults loved the dinner so I guess it wasn't a total loss!! Give it a try and let me know what your kids think.

Vegetable barley soup

It's raining here (again) and although I generally stop making soups when the daffodils bloom, we are supposed to get rain here for the next 4 days. Soup seemed to be a natural meal for the next couple of days.

Here's my recipe for vegetable barley soup.

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 C. sliced and rinsed leeks
2 C. frozen corn kernels
2 C. cooked barley
1 C. canned diced tomatoes
1/2 C. sliced carrots
4-5 sliced mushrooms
1 1/2 C. white beans (rinsed)
3 Tbs. Better Than Bouillon
1 bay leaf
5-6 C. water
salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pot, add olive oil and leeks, saute for 3-4 minutes until leeks begin to sweat. Add corn, cooked barley, tomatoes, carrots, beans, and mushrooms. Stir to combine and add in bouillon, water and bay leaf. Reduce heat to medium low, cover and let cook for at least 30 minutes, preferably longer. Taste and season with salt and pepper as needed.

When ready to serve, ladle soup into a bowl and add a spoonful of grated Parmesan cheese to top before serving.

Egg white burrito with leek and roasted tomato

I got the kids off to school today and realized I hadn't had breakfast yet. As my mornings are usually crazy (like every other mom), I found myself with a quiet morning and decided to make a delicious breakfast.

I made a fried egg white, and added a spoonful of roasted leeks and tomato that I had leftover from earlier in the week. I then added a slice of proscuitto and a teaspoon of crumbled ricotta salada to the egg. If you've never eaten ricotta salada, it is delicious, hard and salty. Wrap the egg in a warm flour tortilla and enjoy.

I also made a roasted beet salad yesterday for lunch with toasted pine nuts, beets, ricotta salada, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

Easy Chicken Enchilada Burritos

Tonight was another softball practice night and I got off easy with a playdate. I still made a dinner that could have been transported rather easily and takes almost no time to make.

Here's the recipe:

1 C. precooked chicken, chopped (I had 2 chicken thighs and a drumstick leftover that I had grilled a few days ago)
8 oz. enchilada sauce
1 C. shredded cheese (if you don't keep your shredded cheese in the freezer, do so, it will last 6 months frozen and thaws in about 5 minutes)
1/4 C. shredded cheese for topping
4 large flour tortillas
(optional to add to burritos)- 1/2 C. frozen brown rice, 1/2 C. frozen corn, 1/4 C. salsa

Preheat oven to 450. Rub a little olive oil or spray a little Pam to the bottom and sides of a casserole pan, this will prevent the enchiladas from sticking.

Mix the chicken, enchilada sauce and shredded cheese in a bowl. Spoon equal amounts of the mixture into 4 tortillas. Fold over the smaller edges first, then roll the tortilla. It should look like a burrito and be fully closed.

Place the burritos into the casserole pan, sprinkle remaining cheese atop burritos, and bake for 10-15 minutes.

I boiled some corn on the cob while the enchilada burritos cooked. Once the cheese has melted and looks golden brown, they are done. To take these on the road, simply wrap each burrito in aluminum foil and a couple paper napkins and they're good to go.

White wine poached mahi-mahi with mushrooms, fennel and carrots

I bought a beautiful fillet of mahi mahi yesterday and made it for dinner tonight, it was delicious, although the girls were not so sure!

Here's the recipe:

1 tbs. olive oil
1 C. thinly sliced fennel
1/2 C. thinly sliced mushrooms
1 peeled and thinly sliced carrot
1/2 C. white wine
6 oz. mahi mahi
pinch of kosher salt and pepper
juice from 1/2 lemon plus rind

Heat a large nonstick pan with a lid on medium high heat. Add olive oil, fennel, mushrooms and carrots and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add in wine (chicken stock or water work fine also) and filet. Add a good pinch of salt and pepper and the juice from 1/2 a lemon plus the squeezed lemon skin. Cover and cook for 6-7 minutes on medium high heat until fish is white and most of the liquid has disappeared.

If there is still a lot of liquid left in the pan, remove the fish, turn the heat to high and reduce the liquid and vegetables for another minute.

The girls ate a bite of fish, but ended up eating mostly mushrooms, carrots and quinoa. I, however, loved the fish and will keep trying.