Fennel and Onion Chicken in the Crock Pot

This is adapted from a 30-minute-meal recipe by the much-loved (or much-hated, depending on who you ask) Rachael Ray. It was an easy thing to do in the CrockPot, and it was SO good.

The Recipe:
Serves 4-6
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs (I used frozen from Trader Joe’s)
1 large head of fennel, sliced (or 2 small-medium heads)
1-2 medium onions, sliced (you’ll want about as much onion as fennel)
3 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp poultry seasoning
1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce
2 Tbs bacon bits or chopped cooked bacon (optional)
2 tsp fennel seeds
¼ cup flour
1 ½ cups dry white wine (I used chardonnay)*
1 cup chicken broth
½ tsp salt
2 tsp pepper

*If you don’t want to use the wine, you can use 2 ½ cups (total) of chicken broth. But the wine adds a LOT to the dish, just FYI.

Put the sliced onion and fennel in the CrockPot and top with the frozen chicken. Sprinkle/pour/distribute the remaining ingredients (liquid last) over the vegetables and chicken. Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4. (If the chicken is thawed, cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high for 2-3 hours.)

The best way to eat this? With a generous serving of bread and butter and a glass of the wine you used in the meal. YUM.

Sweet and Spicy Garlic Chicken - Part 1

This was inspired by a noodle dish that I used to love (well, I still do, but it's REALLY bad for you, so I don't make it very often). I used the same spices and sauces on chicken, and it came out pretty well. (I cooked it a little long, so it was a little dry – but I know what I should have done differently, so the recipe is fixed. :D) I call this “Part 1,” because later I’ll shred the chicken in the recipe below, add some veggies and some cooked pasta, and stir-fry the whole thing. YUM.

Note: I made this in the CrockPot, but you can do it in a roasting pan (or glass baking dish) in the oven. Just cook it on 350 for 45 minutes (if using thawed chicken) or an hour and fifteen minutes (if you're using frozen chicken).

The Recipe:
Serves 2 hungry adults, or 2 adults and 2 kids (Figure about 1 pound of chicken per person, if you're using bone-in pieces. I only had 3 pounds, so that's what I used. But that's why the serving size is weird. Just FYI.)
3 lbs chicken pieces (I used breast halves with the bone in and the skin on)
3 Tbs rice wine vinegar
8 cloves garlic, minced (yes, EIGHT)
1 Tbs sesame oil
1/3 cup oyster sauce
½ tsp hot sauce (optional)

Put the chicken pieces in the CrockPot. Mix the sauce ingredients together and pour over the chicken pieces. Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6-8 hours. (I cooked it on low for nine and a half hours, and it was really dry. Don't cook it longer than 8 hours. Seriously.)

Ta-da! Yummy goodness. (Oh, and that funny white mark is where I tore a piece off to see JUST how dry it was. Very dry. Eight hours MAXIMUM, my friends. No lie. Nine and a half was WAY too long.)

Mu Shu Chicken!

Yay! for Mu Shu! I love that stir-fried goodness, all wrapped in a rice pancake and topped with some plum sauce! MMMMMmmmmmm . . . Ok, I actually don’t really care about the pancake. I like the vegetables and the plum sauce. Protein is a bonus.

PLUS! It's HEALTHY! It's almost all vegetables, plus whatever protein you add. There's a little bit of fat for cooking, but other than that, the only thing you really have to be aware of is what's in your sauce. Who could ask for anything more?

The Recipe:
Serves 6-8

2 Tbs canola oil
1 onion, chopped
1 head of celery, stalks sliced diagonally into quarters (in other words, BIG pieces)
½ 10-oz bag grated carrots
1 10-oz bag sliced mushrooms
2 10-oz bags presliced cabbage
6 large green onions, white parts chopped, green parts cut into 3-inch lengths
2 cups cooked protein: chicken, scrambled eggs, steak, whatever (I usually use eggs, but had some leftover chicken to use up, so I used that in this recipe)
*Note: I do NOT add salt or pepper to this; most of the sauces you’ll put on top have salt, and that will be plenty.

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the onions and celery, lower the heat, and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, until the celery begins to soften just a little bit, and the onions begin to get translucent.

Add the carrots and mushrooms, stir to combine, and cook until they begin to soften.

Add the cabbage and green onions, and stir gently until the cabbage begins to wilt. (Note: you might have to add the cabbage a little at a time, stirring until it wilts before you can add the next couple handfuls. Your pan will be REALLY, REALLY full.)

Add the protein and heat through.

Spoon generous portions onto plates, and top with plum sauce.

*There are LOTS of sauces that will work with this: sometimes I add oyster sauce or soy sauce mixed with chili sauce. I’ve added sesame oil, I’ve added fish sauce, I’ve added spicy peanut sauce. These particular veggies seem to go best with an Asian-style sauce, but feel free to experiment. The only flavors you’re working with are the vegetable flavors, and the sauces usually have salt, so I don’t even add that to the mix.

What I Ate for Dinner - Old School Chicken Salad

I LOVE chicken salad. With lots of mayonnaise and celery and onions. I LOVE IT. But I have to admit that I don’t usually eat it on bread. My favorite way to eat it is spooned over a generous plate of cooked, chilled broccoli. I know, I know, it sounds weird. But it’s really, REALLY good, especially in the summer when it’s hot out, and the cool chicken salad and broccoli is a nice change from regular, lettuce-based salads.

The key here is to use LOTS of vegetables (well, lots for chicken salad, anyway) and REAL chicken, chopped. Don’t use canned chicken, although chopped pre-cooked chicken works just fine.

Yum.

The Recipe:

1 pound cooked chicken, chopped
6-8 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
5-7 large celery stalks, chopped
Mayo, salt and pepper to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and stir to combine. Chill, and then serve over cooked, chilled broccoli.

FANTASTIC. Really. ;)

Speedy Chicken Stir-Fry

Stir-fries are the go-to meal for the time-crunched, and with good reason. This particular stir-fry took me literally 20 minutes, from the time I turned on the burner, to the time the finished meal hit the plate. Full disclosure: I was so tired tonight that I almost didn’t post this, because I did NOT want to cook anything, and I knew that I had a backup post or two in the Drafts section of Blogger. But since I’d already defrosted the veggies, I figured I might as well go ahead – and boy, was I glad I did! Nothing makes you feel better than a quick hot meal before bed! Those prepackaged dinners (I’m looking at you, Lean Cuisine) have got NOTHING on real food!

This particular stir-fry works well (and comes together fast) for a few reasons:
First, the vegetables are defrosted when they go into the pot – no waiting around for frozen veggies to thaw! (I just throw them in the fridge before I leave for work in the morning, but if you’re doing this at the last minute, defrost them in the microwave. It’s still faster than trying to cook them through in the pan.)
Next, oyster sauce and soy sauce both are PACKED with flavor, so you don’t really need any other seasonings (although I add salt to EVERYTHING, but that’s my problem – ha!).
And by using prechopped veggies and chicken, you save a BUNCH of prep time.

Ready?

The Recipe
Serves 4

1 Tbs canola, grapeseed or peanut oil (suitable for the high heat of a stir-fry)
1 pound chicken tenders or strips (if you want to make this vegetarian, add an extra package of mixed vegetables or 1 pound of tofu)
1 10-oz package cabbage-based coleslaw mix
1 16-oz package mixed vegetables (I used the Harvest Hodgepodge from Trader Joe’s), DEFROSTED
3 Tbs low-sodium soy sauce
3 Tbs oyster sauce
1 tsp garlic powder or 2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot sauce on the side (optional)

Heat the oil in a large pan. Add the chicken and sauté, stirring, until cooked through (about 5 minutes). Add the cabbage and stir until it begins to wilt (about 3 minutes). Add the vegetables, soy sauce, oyster sauce and garlic powder, and heat through.

That’s it! You’re done! Just set out the salt, pepper and hot sauce for folks to add as they go along.

What I Ate for Dinner: Chinese-Style Soup – AKA Marste’s Soul Food

When I have a stomachache or cramps, or when I’m tired and weepy, or when I’m just emotionally exhausted and need to feel taken care of, this is what I eat. The ingredients vary – the recipe below is LITERALLY what I ate for dinner Thursday night – but it almost always includes garlic, ginger, onions, beef broth and soy sauce. (Sometimes that’s ALL it contains.)

The rest of the ingredients change depending on what I have in the fridge at the moment. I’ve used bok choy (fantastic), crab (well, imitation crab, anyway), beef, ground turkey (the consistency was weird on that one, though), carrots, green beans, lettuce (yes, really – it was good, too!), chopped celery (also good!), tomatoes, mushrooms – whatever is in the fridge.

What you see below is what I had in the fridge last night, so it’s what I had for dinner. As written, it won’t serve many, but you can just double it to feed a family. The whole thing, start to finish, took me about 15 minutes. Yes, really.

The Recipe:
Serves 2

½ Tbs canola oil
1 clove garlic, minced OR ½ tsp garlic powder
¼ cup frozen, pre-chopped onion
¼ tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp 5-spice powder
1 Tbs low- sodium soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce
2 cups beef broth
1 handful frozen broccoli
1 or 2 pre-cooked chicken breasts, chopped (I use Trader Joe’s grilled chicken strips)
2 handfuls raw spinach (prepared)
½ package Chinese rice noodles (optional)

On the side:
chili paste
vinegar
sesame oil

If you’re using noodles, prepare those first. Boil them according to the package directions, and drain them. (Don’t worry about them getting cold; we’re going to pour boiling soup over them in a minute.)

In a pan, heat the canola oil. Add the garlic, onion, ginger and 5-spice powder, and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the soy sauce, fish sauce, and beef broth and bring just to a boil. Add the frozen broccoli and the chicken and bring back to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer about 3-5 minutes, until the chicken is hot in the middle. Add the raw spinach and stir just until it wilts, about 15 seconds.

If you’re using noodles, portion the noodles out into bowls and pour the broth over the top. Otherwise just dish yourself up some soup!

Serve with vinegar, chili paste and sesame oil on the side, and let each person doctor their soup to taste.


Yeah. I know it looks a lot like this one. I had a lot of the same (visible) ingredients on hand. The spices are different though, so it doesn't TASTE the same. Really. ;)

Chicken, Mushroom and Spinach Stir-Fry (Inspired by PF Chang's)

Mom and I spent the last week at a film convention in Las Vegas. It was fun for the first day and a half, but then I started to feel like if I had to visit another buffet full of steak and pasta, someone was going to get hurt. I needed some vegetables BADLY. Fortunately, we found a PF Chang's at the hotel next door, where it turned out Mom and I could order sides of vegetables - and they even LOOKED like vegetables! None of that warmed-over, brownish-green, overcooked crap. So this is my not-so-faithful-but-still-damn-tasty merging of a couple of their vegetable dishes. ;)

You can use this recipe with pretty much any vegetable you have on hand. Broccoli would be really good, as would edamame. Bell peppers and onions would work, along with baby corn, water chestnuts, green beans, cabbage, chopped carrots . . . pretty much any vegetable you can think of. AND it’s a great way to use up raw leafy greens that haven’t quite gone bad, but that are a little old to use in a salad.

If you serve this with rice, you can stretch this to 6 good-sized servings, or 8 smaller ones. Without rice, figure 4 large servings or 6 smaller ones.

The Recipe:
2 tsp canola oil
1 tbs butter
2 cloves minced garlic
1 inch fresh ginger, grated*
1 10-oz package sliced mushrooms (crimini)
1 lb pre-cooked chicken strips
12-16 oz fresh spinach
¼ tsp red pepper flakes (optional)

Melt the butter and canola oil in a pan. Add the garlic and ginger and sauté until garlic is golden. Add the mushrooms and cook over medium-low heat until mushrooms are soft, and release their juices.

(If you’re making the sauce below, now is the time: while the mushrooms soften.)

Add the chicken and red pepper flakes (if using) and heat through.

Add the spinach, a couple of handfuls at a time, stirring as you go. As soon as the spinach cooks down, add more. The idea is for it to be wilted, but not soggy.

You can leave it this way, or if you like, you can add the sauce (below). If you’re serving this over rice, put the rice on the plate, then the chicken mixture, then pour some sauce over the whole thing. If you’re not serving rice, just pour all the sauce into the chicken pan and give it a good stir. :)

*Note: Ginger can be a real pain in the ass. The easy way to grate fresh ginger? Go to the store and buy a ginger root. Cut it into pieces roughly 1 to 1.5 inches each, then toss them all in a sandwich bag and put the bag in the freezer. When you need some fresh ginger, grab a grater with teeny little holes (I use this Microplane grater) and grate the frozen ginger, peel and all, right over the pan/pot. Works like a charm, and it's dead easy. None of that mucking around, trying to peel the freakin' ginger. FanTAStic.


Stir-fry Sauce:
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup water
½ tsp sugar
1 tsp white vinegar
Chili paste (optional)
Chinese hot mustard (optional)

Combine soy sauce, water, sugar and vinegar in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds, just enough to heat lightly. Mix ingredients together until sugar is melted.

Taste. Little by little, tasting as you go, add chili paste and hot mustard to taste. (Did I mention that you should taste as you go? ;D) If by chance you get too much spice in the sauce, just add a splash of white vinegar to calm it down.


Since I'm not a big rice person, I just poured the sauce into the pan, and then the whole mixture into a bowl. Like this:



YUM. That is all.

Middle Eastern-Style Salad

This is a variation on a classic salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onions. It's one of my favorites, and every year when I bust it out again in the spring, I'm reminded all over again of why I like it: the strong flavors of the onions, tomatoes and basil are balanced nicely by the milder flavors of the cucumbers and cheese. Since I do better on more protein, I add turkey or chicken strips to this salad, but you could serve it just as easily without the meat.

The Recipe:
Serves 4-6 as a meal

2 large English cucumbers
1 large red onion, coarsely chopped
16 oz cherry tomatoes (or other small tomatoes), halved
OR 2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped*
3 oz basil (one large grocery store package)
11 oz goat cheese**
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbs red wine vinegar

Optional: .75 oz mint (one small grocery store package)
Optional: 1 pound turkey or chicken strips, cooked

Chop or shred the basil and mint. Break the goat cheese into small, bite-size chunks.

In a large bowl, combine cucumbers, onion, tomatoes, basil, goat cheese, olive oil, vinegar and HALF the mint (it’s a strong taste, and you can always add more – it’s harder to take it out!). Toss to combine, and check for taste. Add more mint if you like.

Serve the salad in bowls, with the turkey/chicken strips on top.

SO GOOD. Like summer in a bowl.

*I use cherry tomatoes, and only halve the big ones. That way the tomato juice doesn’t leak all through the salad, which is helpful if you want to have it for leftovers later. If you’re serving the whole thing right away, either kind of tomato will work.

**Salads like this one usually call for feta cheese, which is a little harder than regular goat cheese. I like the softer goat cheese though, because it’s a milder flavor, and because it’s so soft that as you toss the salad, some of the cheese breaks down into the olive oil and vinegar dressing, giving it a slightly creamy consistency.