Veggie-ful Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

As I've alluded to in the past, I'm not really into the hiding-vegetables-in-your-kids'-food trend. In my book, the ideal is for kids to learn to enjoy the veggies themselves, if humanly possible. Hiding vegetables in an unsuspecting child's dinner puts feels a bit like a sneaky parlor trick, and I'd rather not feel like a con artist when putting dinner on the table. But sometimes a recipe comes along that so effectively incorporates vegetables in an unexpected place that I find it fools even me. This slow cooker salsa chicken does just that. I would not normally put carrots and celery into a salsa-based dish (would you?), so when I first tried this recipe, I was a little wary. Carrots and celery in combination remind me of soups or pot pie, something warm and brothy and probably originally from the East Coast--certainly not anything Mexican. So it's kind of shocking how seamlessly they blend into this tomato-y, chili-spiced shredded chicken. Makes me wonder where else I could add veggies without them being overpowering (and without them being "hidden" to fool unwitting children).

Another other reason I love this recipe (in addition to how easy it is--did I mention that, too?) is its all-purposeness--it has made appearances in burritos, wraps, nachos, and on salad at our house. I'm even contemplating making a dessert with it--bad idea? It's pretty much perfect for one of those days you know you want something homemade but can't be home for very long to get it ready. Give it a try. You won't be disappointed with its spicy-yummy goodness, and your kids, if you have them, won't be freaked out by its subtle vegetables (especially if you wrap it up in a tortilla--that's not too sneaky, right?).

Veggie-ful Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken
(Adapted from Sparkpeople.com)

Ingredients:

2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken breasts or tenderloins
2 Tbsp. taco seasoning (preferably homemade--see here for an easy recipe)
1 c. salsa
1 c. petite diced tomatoes with green chilies (fire-roasted are especially good!)
1 c. onion, diced
1/2 c. celery, diced
1/2 c. carrots, shredded

Directions:

1. Place chicken in the bottom of a 6-quart slow cooker. Season on both sides with taco seasoning.

2. Layer salsa, diced tomatoes, onion, celery, and carrots on top of the chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high 3-4 hours.

3. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred. Return to slow cooker and drain the liquid from the entire mixture with a fine-mesh strainer. Serve with tacos, nachos, tostadas, wraps or in a taco salad!

Serves 8.

Coconut Curry Chicken

I freely admit that I kinda feel like a phony making Indian food. I am about the furthest you can get from Indian. In fact, here is a picture of my family of origin:

More or less. My dad's family is primarily from Switzerland and my mom's side is primarily from Germany, and the family trees actually converge if you go far enough back. As in, my parents are fourth cousins. Seriously. (No, I don't have any genetic abnormalities....that I'm willing to divulge publicly.) Once stateside, my forebears settled in central Illinois and I ended up being raised here in the eastern suburbs of Phoenix. So about the closest I've ever come to India is half-heartedly watching Ghandi on Netflix while working on a cross-stitch sampler. Even so, I very much enjoy Indian food. A good chicken tikka masala can bring me to a When Harry Met Sally diner scene level of enjoyment. So I should really find a solid recipe for that. But in the meantime, let me share with you this fantastic coconut curry chicken. 

As someone with very little experience with Indian cooking, this recipe makes me feel like a pro...or at least like someone who could tell you that the capitol of India is Mumbai not Mumbai, but rather New Delhi. Or maybe like someone who can pronounce the word "ghee" without sounding like a redneck about to make a romantic advance. With relatively few, non-ethnic grocery store ingredients, the chicken in this dish turns out tender and the stewed sauce of tomatoes and coconut milk amalgamates into a velvety spiced tomato gravy. While it takes some time to reach this apex of deliciousness, the recipe really isn't labor-intensive and the result is worth the wait. I must warn you, though, that it will make your house smell like curry for 24 hours after cooking it, so if you're, say, throwing a Cinco de Mayo party or something the next day, just be advised. Otherwise, you're in the clear to enjoy both the taste and the fragrance of this simple-but-terrific Indian meal. 

Coconut Curry Chicken

(Adapted from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" chunks

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

2 Tbsp. curry powder

1/2 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

14 oz. light coconut milk

14 oz. petite diced tomatoes

8 oz. tomato sauce

2 1/2 Tbsp. white sugar

Directions:

1. Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.

2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat vegetable oil and curry powder over medium-low heat. Stir and cook 3 minutes, then increase heat to medium-high and add onion and garlic. Cook 1-2 minutes. Add chicken, tossing to coat with oil and curry, and cook 7-10 minutes or until the pieces are no longer pink in the center. 

3. Add coconut milk, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, and sugar, stirring to combine. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens to your liking.

Serve over rice.

Serves 4.

Turkey Taco Calzones

Well, after that first post of the year declaring how great it is to eat meatless 50% of the time, how about....a recipe with meat? Ha! Albeit a recipe for meat in which one pound of ground turkey stretches to serve eight. Plus, it's turkey instead of beef, so hey, props for that, right? And really, it's not that there's anything wrong with meat in moderation--as I should have mentioned in my half-vegetarian manifesto, in the world of dietetic science, meat is considered a "high biological value" protein. This is a measure of how well our bodies utilize the protein in a food for protein synthesis in our cells. Protein from animal sources gets the highest rating.

I dreamed up this meat-containing recipe as our family was on a road trip last weekend. Sitting in the car with no one asking me to play with them/check their homework/wipe their bottom gave me the chance to ponder what new and interesting dinner I might try in the coming week. I've been wanting to make calzones, and got to wondering how they would taste with a little Tex-Mex treatment. The answer, I discovered, is delicious! These came out super hearty, a little spicy, and excellent with a Mexican-style green salad. They also reheat well the next day.

As for our road trip, it took us to Payson, AZ, where we had a near-perfect snow day. The sun was shining and it was nice and warm, but snow still thickly covered the ground, providing plenty of fodder for snow ball fights, 

snow forts,

and even a king-sized snowman (which gave my husband a Parkour-style workout hauling the boulders of snow on top of each other).

My daughter sampling the snow.

We are so thankful to live in the great state of Arizona, where we can easily visit the snow (but it doesn't have to visit us).

Turkey Taco Calzones
A Love Letter to Food Original Recipe

Ingredients:

2 1-lb. packages refrigerated whole wheat pizza dough, like Trader Joe's
1/2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb. ground turkey, 93% lean
2 1/2 Tbsp. taco seasoning (I always make my own, recipe here)
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained
1 1/4 c. fresh salsa (or canned, if fresh is unavailable)
8 oz. shredded cheddar or Mexican cheese blend
1/3 c. chopped green onion
Salsa and sour cream for serving

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Remove pizza dough from packaging and follow directions for rising (Trader Joe's dough rises for 30 minutes, which is just about what you need to prepare the calzone filling).

3. Prepare the filling: heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion and garlic in oil for 1 minute, then add ground turkey and cook until browned. Drain any excess liquid from pan. Add taco seasoning and stir until well combined. Add black beans and salsa, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 5 minutes.

4. Grease 2 rimmed baking sheets with cooking spray. Spread 1 risen pound of dough in the bottom of each baking sheet. Spread turkey mixture crosswise on the lower halves of the dough. Sprinkle with cheese and green onion. Fold the empty upper half of the dough over to cover the filling. Crimp the bottom and sides together.

5. Bake in the preheated oven until the dough is brown and fully cooked, about 18 minutes. Cool 5 minutes, then cut into slices and serve with salsa and sour cream.

Serves 8.

Lasagna "Cupcakes"

Before I begin this post, let me just say, YES, I do realize the seeming wrongness of the word "lasagna" followed by the word "cupcakes." The idea of noodles and tomato sauce combined with cake and frosting is too weird even for me. BUT stick with me--it's not what it sounds like! Fortunately, the cupcake part of the term "lasagna cupcake" is merely descriptive of the fact that these shrink-rayed lasagnas are baked in a cupcake tin...or a muffin tin. So you could also call them "lasagna muffins." Equally strange. 

I decided to give these miniature entrees a whirl in anticipation of our annual Christmas party. The menu is still in the finalization stage, but these have definitely made the cut. Their small size and overall uniqueness make them an ideal choice for a party buffet, and they're hearty enough to be a dinner mainstay, not just an appetizer. Piping hot out of the oven, these are gooey, meaty, cheesy bites of Italianate deliciousness. Can you tell I'm smitten? 

Lasagna Cupcakes
(Adapted from Tablespoon.com)

Ingredients:

3/4 lb. ground beef or turkey (I used turkey)
salt and pepper
36 wonton wrappers
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 c. ricotta cheese
2 c. shredded mozzarella
1 26-oz. jar tomato-basil spaghetti sauce
Basil leaves, for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 1 1/2 12-cup muffin tins (18 muffin wells).

2. Brown ground beef or turkey over medium-high heat. Season generously with salt and pepper. Drain.

3. Press 1 wonton wrapper into the bottom of 18 muffin wells. Sprinkle a layer of Parmesan on top of each wrapper, then a thin layer of ricotta and a sprinkle of mozzarella. Using your fingers, crumble a layer of ground meat on top of cheese, then spoon a small amount of spaghetti sauce on meat. 

4. Repeat layers again: wonton wrapper, Parmesan, ricotta, mozzarella, meat, sauce. Top with one more sprinkle of mozzarella and Parmesan.

5. Bake 18-20 minutes or until edges are brown. Let stand for 5 minutes, then loosen edges with a knife and remove from pan.

Makes 18 "cupcakes."

Chicken Pot Pie

Okay, for once I'm gonna shut up about other random stuff and just talk about food. FOOOOOOD. Like 

THIS.

CHICKEN.

POT.

PIE. 

It's true that you'll find thousands of chicken pot pie recipes out there on the internet and in every self-respecting cookbook, but this, my friends, is a pot pie to be reckoned with. This past Christmas, when our family was holed up in a cabin in chilly Show Low, AZ (yes, it does get chilly and even snow in parts of Arizona) I decided we were allowed to indulge in comfort food galore. Over the three days of our stay, we had creamy ham and potato chowder with homemade biscuits, herbed turkey meatballs with cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes, and this chicken pot pie. (I guess you're a pretty dyed-in-the-wool foodie when you remember every meal you ate on a trip seven months later.) It was an interesting challenge to make do with whatever was on hand in an unfamiliar kitchen, as well as shop at unfamiliar stores. (An aside: if you ever want to feel truly sad for humanity, go to Wal-Mart at 5pm Christmas Eve.) In the spirit of making do, I cobbled together parts of several existing recipes for chicken pot pie I found online and ended up with this version. Despite having to use a temperamental gas stove, an old-fashioned temperature-dial oven, and haphazard kitchen tools, it came out like the pot pie of my dreams. Flaky crust, rich herbed gravy, sautéed vegetables with just a hint of caramelization, and of course chicken combined for comfort food heaven.

I do realize that it is July now--not exactly pot pie season--but comfort food (and the need for it) takes no summer breaks. Sometimes you just crave something savory, warm, and gooey. For those days, this is the ticket.

Chicken Pot Pie

(A Love Letter to Food original recipe)

Ingredients:

2 9-inch unbaked pie crusts

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large Russet or sweet potato, peeled and diced 1/4 inch thick

1 c. carrots, diced

2 stalks celery, diced

1 small/medium onion, diced

1/3 c. butter

1/3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

3/4 tsp. dried ground thyme

1/4 tsp. dried rosemary

1 1/2 c. chicken broth (homemade if possible!)

1 1/2 c. shredded cooked chicken

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add potato and sauté about 5 minutes. Add carrots, celery, and onion and cook another 10-15 minutes or until potatoes are soft and carrots and onions just begin to brown. Season lightly with salt and pepper.

3. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt butter over low heat. Add flour and whisk to combine. Add salt, pepper, thyme, and rosemary and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Slowly add chicken broth. Increase heat to medium and continue to whisk/stir constantly until sauce becomes thick. (The whisk should leave a very defined trail in the sauce when it's thick enough.) Remove from heat. Add chicken and vegetables to sauce and stir to combine. 

4. Place 1 pie crust in pie dish. Pour hot chicken-vegetable mixture in, smoothing the top. Cover with second pie crust and seal the edges. Cut slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape.

5. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Makes one 9-inch pie. 

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

For a long time, I was skeptical of making, ordering, or in general eating shepherd's pie. To the best of my knowledge I have never met a person who herds sheep, so it's not like I have a prejudice against shepherds. And trust me, I love pie. So neither of those things were the problem. Believe it or not, my reservations about this one-dish wonder came from eating it at my favorite restaurant, the Cheesecake Factory. Like everything else on their menu, it sounded delicious: "Ground Beef, Mushrooms, Carrots, Peas, Zucchini, and Onions in a Delicious Sauce Covered with a Mashed Potato-Parmesan Cheese Crust." (Yes, I am quoting from their menu. No, I do not have it memorized....not all of it, anyway.) But for whatever reason, at least the one time I ordered it, it was Gross with a capital G. The veggies were hard to the point of being crunchy and something was definitely off in the sauce. I guess since then I figured that if even the wonder-working Cheesecake Factory couldn't pull off a good shepherd's pie, I certainly couldn't expect to. (Then again, it has been a staple of English cuisine since at least the 1790s...though I'm not entirely certain whether that's a pro or a con.)

Still, I am a big-time sucker for any one-dish meal that packs meat, vegetables, and a starch in one 9 x 13 (or 8 x 8 or 11 x 7) Pyrex dish. Freezable, portable, and compact can all be great qualities in a dinner, especially under certain circumstances, like taking a meal to someone recuperating from surgery, or your next ice cave spelunking trip. So despite my bad meal at Cheesecake Factory, and the fact that my shepherding experience is limited to shooing sheep out of the way so I can exit the petting zoo, at some point I decided to give shepherd's pie another try. I'm happy to report that I have now made this several times and the vegetables are not crunchy, nor is there anything funky about the sauce. In fact, the combination of juicy turkey and hearty veggies on bottom and creamy mashed potatoes on top is delicious! Great comfort food, made just a little healthier by swapping the traditional ground beef or lamb for turkey. Give it a try and you may decide it's a good thing this British casserole has endured for over two centuries. 

Turkey Shepherd's Pie

(Inspired by Skinnytaste)

Ingredients:

4 c. prepared mashed potatoes* 

1 lb. lean ground turkey

2 tsp. olive oil

1 medium onion, diced

1 celery stalk, chopped

2 cloves garlic, diced

10 oz. frozen mixed vegetables

2 Tbsp. flour

1 c. chicken broth

2 tsp. tomato paste

1/2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped

1 tsp. fresh thyme, chopped

3/4 c. shredded Cheddar cheese 

paprika, salt, and pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. In a large sauté pan, brown the turkey and season with salt and pepper. Remove from pan and set aside to drain on paper towels. 

3. In the same pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and sauté 2 minutes. Add celery and cook another 3-4 minutes. Add flour and season with salt and pepper. Add chicken broth, tomato paste, Worcestershire, rosemary, thyme, frozen vegetables, and cooked turkey, and mix well. Simmer on low 5-10 minutes.

4. Spread the meat mixture evenly on the bottom of an 11 x 7 baking dish. Top with mashed potatoes, then sprinkle with paprika and Cheddar.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes. Let cool at least 5 minutes before serving.

*These can be leftover, made from frozen (like Trader Joe's excellent version), or made fresh by boiling 1 1/2 lbs of peeled potatoes for 20 minutes and mashing with 1/4 c. butter and several tablespoons of milk (season with salt and pepper to taste).

15-Minute White Chicken Chili

For as often as I make chicken dishes, it's kind of weird how seldom they show up here on the blog. Maybe because chicken, as a rule, is just not the most visually appealing of meats and therefore not terribly photogenic, whether raw, 

NSFW?

 cooked,

Who doesn't want to eat a pile of legs?

 or in "original" form:

"I have NO idea why I crossed the road."

See what I mean? Chicken needs to go on one of those reality makeover shows like Ten Years Younger before it's camera-ready. (Ironically, I just looked up that show. It aired ten years ago. Whoa. That's meta.) Anyway, chicken. It may not be going to win Miss Teen Meat USA, but dang if it's not cheap, versatile, and easy to cook. At our house we're all over chicken like white on meat. Even in spite of our part-time vegetarian status, we probably average at least one chicken dinner per week. And a chicken dinner earns bonus points from me when it also contains wholesome ingredients and can go from fridge/pantry to table in under 30 minutes, like this super-simple white chicken chili. Did I mention it also only uses one pot? YEAH. 

So on a weeknight when life is crazy and you know you won't even make it home until 6:45, with a little planning, a delicious dinner can make it to the table by 7:00...which beats this kind of chicken any day:

Mmm...mechanically separated chicken goo.

And even though it might not be the prettiest dish you ever serve, it's a bit like the quote from the mother to her daughter in Thornton Wilder's play Our Town--it's "pretty enough for all normal purposes." Like dinner in a pinch. 

15-Minute White Chicken Chili
(Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

Ingredients:

2 c. shredded rotisserie chicken
2 c. crushed tortilla chips
2 15-oz. cans cannelini beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 c. shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 4.5-oz. can diced green chilies
20 oz. chicken broth
1 tsp. cumin
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro (for garnish)

Directions:

In a large stock pot, combine all ingredients except cilantro. Bring to boiling over medium-high heat. Reduce heat. Simmer uncovered for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Ladle into bowls and garnish with fresh cilantro.

Serves 4.

Soba Salad with Chicken and Cabbage

Can we just raise a collective cheer for weeknight dinners that are fast, easy, tasty, healthy, and relatively inexpensive? My list of meals that fit all those criteria is pretty short. These last couple of weeks have been pretty crazy in my life, so finding healthy dinners I can whip up easily has taken top priority. The beginning of May is always a little extra busy in our family, since two of my kids have early May birthdays, but this year there's been the added crunch of trying to finish up this semester's courses toward my nutrition degree and preparing to head to the Nutrition and Health Conference in Dallas this Sunday (which I'm super excited about and plan to blog about soon!). So basically fast and easy are my best friends right now in all areas of life.

Fortunately, I happened to place this soba chicken salad on the roster of dinners for this week. As a perpetual fan of Real Simple's cookbooks, I've been working my way through this one that I got for Christmas and had been meaning to try this recipe for some time. I'm glad I finally did--it's one of those one-dish meals that's perfect for a weeknight when you're slammed. With chicken for protein, noodles for starch, and cabbage and carrots for vegetables, you're set. The sweet and sour dressing of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and ginger gives it a mild Asian flavor that even my kids enjoyed. 

So sayonara for now--look for a post next week on all the cool stuff I'm expecting to learn at the Nutrition and Health Conference!

Soba Salad with Chicken and Cabbage
(Adapted from Real Simple)

Ingredients:

8 oz. soba noodles
8 small chicken tenderloins
salt and black pepper
6 Tbsp. canola or vegetable oil, divided
3 Tbsp. rice vinegar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
3 c. shredded red cabbage
1 large carrot, shredded
6 scallions, sliced

Directions:

1. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain and run under cold water to cool.

2. Meanwhile, season the chicken with salt and pepper to your liking.

3. Heat 3 Tbsp. of the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken until golden brown and cooked through. Cut into strips.

4. In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 3 Tbsp. of oil, the vinegar, soy sauce, and ginger. Add the noodles, chicken, cabbage, carrot, and scallions and toss.  

Serves 4. 

Chicken Tetrazzini

Here in Mesa, it's been raining. It rained for two days in a row, which by Phoenix-area standards is nothing short of miraculous. We here in the desert tend to get extra excited by rain. We tend to think of it like that old Weather Girls song It's Raining Men, if you take out the word "men," as in: 

"It's raining! Hallelujah, it's raining!" 

The reason, of course, for our unmitigated joy over the mysterious wet stuff that comes out of the sky is that (being in a desert) we don't tend to see a lot of it. I vividly remember the record dry spell of 2006. After 143 days without rain, it was as if the clouds had been saving it up and rained so hard and so much there was SNOW on Superstition Mountain. In March. When it's usually 85 degrees and you're hoping you remembered to take your sunscreen with you to the Renaissance Fair. 

The reason I remember all of this is that I was scheduled to run a 5K at the Phoenix Zoo that day, and since apparently the race planners had not considered rain a possibility, I ended up running wearing one of the black garbage bags they passed out instead of rain ponchos.

That's what I'm talkin' bout. P.S. Friends don't let friends have bangs this awful.

Garbage bag ponchos aside, I really do love the rain. And when it rains, I always crave comfort food, don't you? So last night, after almost an entire day of rain (hallelujah!) it was time for something warm, hearty, and creamy: chicken tetrazzini, one of my favorites. I didn't grow up eating this dish--in fact, I had never heard of it until my husband made it for me on my 23rd birthday. We were living in our ghetto first apartment with a tiny kitchen, irrepressible cockroaches, and the claim to fame that the management gave all new residents The Club car lock as a welcoming gift.

Welcome to your new home! We're freely admitting that thugs will try to steal your car here!

Upon tasting it, I was instantly hooked. Eight years later, this meal is still in my rotation. You might look at the recipe and wonder how it could be at all flavorful, since the only spices it contains are salt and pepper, and the other ingredients wouldn't appear to add much in the flavor department. All I can say is you're gonna have to trust me on this one. The richness of the roux (butter and flour heated to bubbling) combined with cream and chicken broth make this a melt-in-your-mouth dish that needs no additional seasoning. Additionally, it boasts the interesting trivia of being named after the turn-of-the-century opera star Luisa Tetrazzini (who looks like she probably ate quite a bit of it in her time, if you know what I'm saying). All in all, it's a perfect dinner for those rare and wonderful Arizona rainy days...when you have an opera singer on your mind. Or something along those lines.

Chicken Tetrazzini

(Adapted from Betty Crocker's Cookbook: Bridal Edition) 

Ingredients:

7 oz. spaghetti, broken into thirds

1/4 c. butter

1/4 c. all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1 c. chicken broth

1 c. heavy cream or 1/2 and 1/2

2 Tbsp. dry sherry or water

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Cook spaghetti as directed on package.

While spaghetti is cooking, melt butter in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in broth and cream. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute.

Drain spaghetti. Stir spaghetti, sherry or water, and chicken into sauce.

Pour spaghetti mixture into an ungreased 2-quart casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake uncovered about 30 minutes or until bubbly in center.