Category: Main dishes

Baked Chicken

Sometimes you just want an easy meal, right?  I often cook chicken this way and use some that night or the next day and then freeze a bunch of it to be used at a later time.  It can be served just the way it is with a size of frozen vegetables and it’s a tasty meal, or it can be put in mango chicken, spaghetti, or whatever!  I usually just eyeball it as far as proportions go, but here’s an estimate of the amount I use.  A rookie mistake it to heavily coat the chicken in oil which gives you a pan of sizzling oil and chicken broth, so coat it lightly!

 

4 pounds chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts

1/4 c. olive oil

1 T. salt

1 tsp pepper

 

Mix olive oil, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.  Coat a cookie sheet with aluminum foil (so cleanup is easier).  Place raw chicken on the cookie sheet with a little bit of space between each piece of chicken.  I usually have to use two cookie sheets.  Using a basting brush, lightly coat the chicken with the oil mixture.  If you have extra oil, you can turn the chicken over and coat it, but that’s not necessary.  The most important thing is to make sure you get some salt and pepper on each piece of chicken.

 

Cook chicken in an oven preheated to 375 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.  Chicken is done when you cut it and it shreds like chicken (think Chick-fil-a sandwich), or when you press on the top and it feels firm to the touch.  Make sure you let the rest of the chicken rest for 5 minutes before cutting so it can soak all those good juices back in and remain moist!

After the chicken cools, you can freeze it.  I usually put it in the fridge overnight and then freeze it the next day.  It seems to help it freeze better to gradually change the temperature.

Advertisement

Mango Chicken

The idea for this recipe came from some cookbook long, long ago.  I have changed it so much and made it my own, and I don’t remember where the original source was.  I made it several times using fresh mangos when I was in Central America.  The best I can do now is frozen mangos, but they taste good too.  My husband and I really enjoyed this and we hope you do too!

Mango Chicken

1 large onion, chopped

1 bag of frozen mangos, cut into smaller pieces (you can use fresh if you can find good ones, but the frozen ones worked great!)

2 pounds chicken tenderloins, precooked (I have a method for pre-cooking chicken which I will share in another post.)

2 T melted butter (I used Smart Balance dairy free)

1 tsp salt or more, to taste

1/2 tsp ground black pepper or more, to taste

1/4 tsp paprika

pinch of nutmeg

Grated rind of one lemon (optional)

1 cup chicken broth (make sure it’s gluten free- I use Swanson’s or HEB brand usually)

juice of 1 lemon

1 can coconut milk, 14 oz.  (use full fat, not the lite ones)

 

Chicken mixture:

Place onions in a large skillet and cook to soften.

Combine “butter”, salt, pepper, paprika, and nutmeg in a small bowl.  Rub all over chicken.

Put chicken and mango in the pan with the onions and cook until warm throughout.

 

Meanwhile, make the milk sauce:

Bring chicken broth to a boil in a saucepan.  Reduce the heat and stir in lemon juice and coconut milk.  Continue to simmer and stir until it thickens just a little.

Pour the milk sauce into the chicken mixture and cook for 5-10 minutes to let the liquid reduce a little.  May be served over rice.

IMG_4647
This is what it looked like in the pan before I served it over rice.

We hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Easy Meatloaf

Meatloaf?  How do you make meatloaf without bread crumbs?  It’s really quite easy.  Rice Chex are the answer.  One of my friends shared this trick with me and it has made breadcrumbs an easy ingredient once again!

 

Easy Meatloaf

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground meat (I used all ground beef this time, but I have used 1 pound ground beef and 1 pound ground sausage in the past)

1 Ener-G egg (or a real egg.  1 Ener-G egg is 1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 2 T water.  Allow it to sit for a few minutes before using.)

1 cup Rice Chex, crushed

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning if using sausage (use 2 Tablespoons if using all ground beef)

Salt and pepper to taste (I probably used 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper but I am not sure.)

 

Directions:  Mix the Ener-G Egg Replacer with water and allow to sit.  Crush Rice Chex.  Combine all ingredients including Chex and egg replacer and mix thoroughly (I did it by hand).  Place in a bread pan and push it in the pan to get out any air pockets.  If you have too much meat, you can spread into another pan.

Bake at 375 degrees for 1 hour.  Test the inside with a meat thermometer to make sure it has reached 160 degrees.  Serve with ketchup if desired.

IMG_4635
Topped with ketchup

 

 

Chicken Piccata

I had lemon juice and capers that needed to be used up and I came across this idea.  I wasn’t sure how this was going to go over, but my husband ended up loving it!

 

Chicken Piccata

 

Flour mixture:

1/4 c. brown rice flour

1/4 c. white rice flour

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp black pepper

dash salt

Chicken:

1 pound chicken tenderloins or chicken breast

2 T. olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

Sauce:

1 c. white wine

1/2 c. chicken broth

1/5 c. or less of lemon juice

1-2 T. butter (I usually use dairy free Smart Balance or Earth Balance)

2 T. capers, drained

1 T. dried parsley

2 tsp dried basil

Dash salt

 

 

Chicken prep:

Mix all dry ingredients and coat chicken in flour mixture.  Save any extra flour mixture for the sauce later.

 

Cook:

 

Heat oil and cook garlic for one minute.  Then remove garlic and set aside for later.

Cook chicken in heated oil for about 5 minutes on one side and  then 5 on the other side until cooked through (white should creep up around the sides and then after you flip it and cook, it should feel fairly firm when you press a fork on it without piercing it.)

Sauce:

Boil all sauce ingredients together in a pan after chicken is removed, starting with the wine.  Temper the excess flour from coating the chicken and then add it to the sauce (that means to take a little of the liquid out of the pan and put it in a bowl.  Stir the flour mixture into the liquid and then add it back to the pan.  This prevents it from clumping.)

 

Serve over cooked spaghetti noodles.  I served mine with a size of yellow squash and onions cooked in olive oil with a dash of garlic and salt.

 

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/100690/chicken-piccata-with-angel-hair-pasta/?internalsource=search%20results&referringcontenttype=search%20results

 

Eggplant and Beef Green Curry

For me, curry is a quick meal that tastes like I went to a restaurant.  One of the great things about curry is that you can toss in almost any vegetable and it is very forgiving.  Salt and lime are essential to making it taste good.  Also, if you can’t find some sort of curry paste, I would hesitate to make this recipe.  We tried it last night without the curry paste and tried to piece together our own, but we were missing about half the ingredients and well…let’s just say, use the curry paste unless you know what you’re doing with seasonings!  With the curry paste, it’s great!

Eggplant and Beef Green Curry

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1-2 T. oil or grease from ground beef

1 eggplant, peeled and diced

3-4 medium potatoes (I used golden potatoes with skins on), diced

1 zucchini, diced

1/2 onion, diced

 

2 tsp minced garlic

2 inches fresh ginger, minced

1 jar Thai Kitchen green curry paste

1-2 cans coconut milk

2-3 limes, zested and juiced

salt to taste

Directions:

Brown the ground beef and set aside.  Add some oil or grease back into the pan.  Cook the potatoes over medium heat with lid on until they are softening a little.  Add the rest of the veggies, ginger, and garlic.  Cover and stir occasionally until they are all getting a little soft.  Add curry paste and cook for about 1 minute.  Add the cooked meat.  Add coconut milk, lime zest and juice, and salt.  Serve over rice (I make mine in a rice cooker.)

 

 

Mom’s Crockpot Chili

Sometimes people think eating gluten free is so complicated.  It doesn’t have to be.  You also don’t have to eat weird things.  This recipe of my mom’s is naturally gluten free.

 

Mom’s Crockpot Chili

 

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef or deer, browned

1 large onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1 red pepper, chopped

1-2 tomatoes, chopped

4 carrots, chopped (optional)

3 cans tomato sauce (8 oz each)

3-4 tsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1/8 tsp cayenne red pepper

1/8 tsp paprika

1 can of beans (I cooked pinto beans in another crockpot because that’s what I had on hand, but normally we use kidney beans.)

 

Directions:

If using dried beans, soak overnight and then cook in a crockpot all day.

Brown the ground beef.  Chop all the veggies (I usually dice them into about 1/2 inch squares).  Add all ingredients to the crockpot and set on low all day.  See?  Isn’t that easy?  And no special modifications had to be made.

I usually serve with my Golden Sweet Cornbread.

If you are cooking for someone who is gluten free, always make sure your ingredients are gluten free.  If you are unsure, please ask the person so you make sure they can eat it :-).

Here is the progression:

First the pepper and onions
Then I decided to toss in some carrots
Add the meat
Add the tomato sauce and spices and stir
%d bloggers like this: