Buffalo Chicken Burgers

It's football season!  Finally, it's time for Saturday's spent at the stadium, tailgating, cooler weather, sweatshirts... the list goes on and on, I love fall.  While summer is full of fresh fruits and vegetables, sunshine, and pool time, it also requires (at least in my world) air conditioning and bug spray.  While summer is great while it lasts, by August I'm always impatiently waiting for fall to make an appearance.

To kick off the home football season this year (sort of, technically I missed the first game - college football shouldn't happen on Thursday nights) I brought buffalo chicken burgers to our tailgate.  These burgers were pretty tasty - so much so in fact that I made them again just a couple nights later.  Full disclosure - the speediness was partially so I could take the picture that I forgot to take in the parking lot but it was also at the request of my husband.  For tailgating, I made these as sliders (aka mini burgers) but at home I made them full size.  Take your pick, although I prefer the sliders, just because they are more fun in my opinion.

In my mind there are two choices for condiments when it comes to buffalo chicken, ranch or blue cheese.  If you side with me on this one, top your burgers with a dollop of ranch dressing and a slice of cheddar cheese.  If you disagree, top them with some blue cheese crumbles and blue cheese dressing.

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Burgers:
1 lb ground chicken
3-4 green onions, diced
1/4 cup Frank's Red Hot sauce (plus more for serving)
1 egg
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 slices day old bread or 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp celery salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

To serve:
Ranch and/or blue cheese salad dressing
Frank's Red Hot sauce
Cheddar cheese slices or crumbled blue cheese
Pickles
8 small rolls or 4 hamburger buns

Prepare grill to medium heat or preheat a cast iron skillet if cooking indoors.  If you are using day old bread, quickly tear into chunks and pulse in a food processor to make crumbs.  In a large bowl, add all of the burger ingredients and gently mix until just incorporated.  (Don't skip the egg and breadcrumbs, they will really help the patties stay together.)  Form into four patties for full size burgers or eight small patties for sliders.  Make each patty slider larger than the bun and slightly thinner in the center (this is more important for full size burgers.)  Cook finished patties about five - seven (three to four for sliders) minutes per side (you want these cooked all the way through since it's poultry and not beef but don't overcook them or they will be dry), flip once and cook through.  Just before the finished, top with cheddar slices if desired.  Serve on hamburger buns topped with condiments of your choice.

Chipotle Chicken Sliders

Well here's an idea of how far behind I am on blogging -- I actually made these sliders for the Superbowl.  The fact that it's a month later and I'm just now getting around to posting them says nothing about the quality of these sliders but is really just an idea of how crazy my life has been.  Truthfully, I've got even more recipes to post that I made well before these. 

I love sliders -- they are the perfect size for a party so you don't have to commit to just eating a burger.  I quickly made these sliders because I had an open can of chipotles in adobo from my chipotle chicken pasta that I wanted to use some more of rather than freezing.  I used a nice sharp cheddar cheese to top these but I think a monterey jack or pepper jack cheese would also be delicious.  Get some nice fresh rolls from a bakery for these - I used some sourdough rolls that were great.  A little red onion and a cilantro lime mayo are the finishing touches for a great little sandwich.

Chipotle Chicken Sliders

Burgers:
2 T olive oil
1 pound ground chicken
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, finely chopped + 1 T of the sauce
1/4 cup finely diced red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1 egg
8 rolls
8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese
8 thin slices of red onion

Mayo:

1/2 cup mayo
1 T lime juice
1/4 cup cilantro
Chop cilantro finely and stir into mayo with lime juice and set aside. 


Preheat a grill pan or skillet over medium high heat and add oil.  Combine all remaining ingredients except rolls, cheese, and onion slices in a large bowl, gently mix until just combined.  Divide mix into eight equal portions and form into small patties, thinning just slightly in the center.  Transfer patties to hot pan, cooking about 2-3 minutes per side until cooked through. 

Meanwhile preheat broiler on low.  On a large sheet pan, cut rolls in half and lay out evenly.  Add burgers and cheese to bottom of rolls.  Broil until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown.  Spread tops of rolls with mayo and top burgers with onion slices and serve.

Steelers are going to the Superbowl!

Here we go, Steelers, here we go!

Obviously this is old news but I'm a little behind on starting this Superbowl recipe post.  Since half the fun of the Superbowl is making a bunch of appetizers and snacking all day (at least that's half the fun for me) I've got some great recipes to share with you. 

To start off - here are six recipes from the archives in honor of each of the Steelers past Superbowl victories!

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Cheddar Ranch Cheese Ball

Beer Cheese Fondue

Spicy Chicken Tortilla Roll-Ups

Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

Since the Steelers are attempting to win their 7th championship game, here's a 7th recipe for spicy sausage pizza roulade. 

This recipe is really easy and essentially a rolled up pizza, so you can change up the filling to whatever your favorite pizza toppings are.  I would recommend staying away from things with a high water content though, like pineapple if it's on the top of your list, so that you don't end up with soggy bread.  You can use any bread dough you want for this - a standard pizza crust from scratch or even roll out a dough like Pillsbury's French bread dough, they even have one that doesn't contain any high fructose corn syrup or trans fats.  That's what I used for this one since I didn't have any pizza dough ready to go and I had a coupon to try their Simply Rustic French bread dough. 

Spicy Sausage Pizza Roulade

12 oz hot ground Italian sausage
1 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pizza or french bread dough
1 tsp pizza seasoning
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup shredded pizza or mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
2 T butter, softened
1 tsp garlic powder
Pizza sauce for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking sheet with baking spray or line with parchment paper.

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.  Add sausage and crumble as it browns.  After about 2 minutes, add onions, peppers and garlic.  Cook until sausage is just cooked through and vegetables are softened.  Remove from heat and drain any grease off the sausage.  Lightly flour a smooth counter surface and roll out dough into a large rectangle, about 12x18 inches.  Evenly sprinkle pizza seasoning and crushed red pepper flakes over dough.  Spoon sausage mixture onto bottom third to half of the long edge of the dough, leaving an edge of about one inch open at the outside.  Next add cheeses directly next to the sausage mixture on the 2nd third of the dough, a little overlap is fine.  The final third should be open. 

Begin rolling from sausage side, rolling the dough gently into a long tube.  Pinch the seams to seal the dough and place the dough seam side down on prepared pan.  Fold the ends under slightly, pinching to seal the ends.  Bake about 25 minutes and remove from oven.  Add garlic powder to melted butter and brush over the top of the bread dough and return to the oven for about five more minutes until golden brown.  Cool at least 5-10 minutes before slicing into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Serve with warmed pizza sauce.

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

Have you ever used the chipotle in adobo peppers you can usually find the Mexican or ethnic aisle of your grocery store?  I absolutely love them.  They have such awesome flavor.  I add them to chili, salsa, taco meat, and all kinds of things.  The adobo sauce adds such a great smoky heat.  Chipotles in adobo are dried, smoked jalapeno peppers cooked in a sauce of spices like cumin and garlic among other things, vinegar, tomato sauce and ancho chilis, there is often a little brown sugar added too. They are spicier than a jalapeno though so be careful.  If they are too hot for you, you can scrape out the seeds to cut down on the heat.  The ones I buy come in a small can that looks like this.

As for this pasta, I wanted a spicy pasta with a light cream sauce.  I added lots of bell peppers, onions, and cilantro to give it extra flavor.  I let the chicken marinate in a little lime juice, cilantro and spices for about half an hour before cooking it to give it some extra flavor.  I used whole wheat pasta to make it a little healthier.  I've cut back on the chipotles in this recipe from the way I made it the first time.  Although I was fine with using three chipotle peppers, my husband thought it was just too spicy so I would start with one pepper and taste it along the way.  That way you get the flavor but adjust the heat to suit your own tastes.  I didn't take out the seeds.  Remember though that it will get a little hotter as it cooks.  I used farfalle or bowtie pasta but feel free to substitute whatever shortcut pasta you would like.  This makes a lot of pasta - about 8-10 servings.

Chipotle Chicken Pasta

2-3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 2 lbs)

1/4 cup lime juice

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup cilantro, finely chopped

1 tsp ancho chili powder

1 tsp salt

2 T olive oil

1 lb farfalle pasta

1 large red bell pepper, diced

1 large green bell pepper, diced

1 red onion, diced

1 chipotle pepper + 1 T of adobo sauce, minced

1/2 cup chicken stock

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Trim fat from chicken breasts and cut into bite-size pieces.  Combine lime juice, 1/2 of minced garlic, 1/2 of cilantro, chili powder, and salt and mix together.  Pour over chicken to coat and marinate chicken about 30 minutes. 

Heat a large pot of water to boiling.  Add generous amount of salt and add pasta.  Cook according to package directions until al dente.  Drain and set aside.  Meanwhile, add olive oil to large saute pan and heat over medium heat.  Add chicken, bell peppers, onions and remaining garlic and cook about 6-8 minutes until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are softened.  Add chicken stock and chipotle pepper and adobo sauce and cook until stock is reduced by about 1/3.  Reduce heat to low and add cream and cheese.  Stir to combine and return pasta to sauce pan and toss to evenly coat with sauce.  Cook about 5 minutes and top with remaining cilantro and serve.

A Giveaway and an Easy Weeknight Dinner

***This contest is now closed - Thank you for participating!***

Well it's a good thing I didn't make a New Year's resolution to blog more often -- oh wait I did that??  FAIL!  These last couple of weeks have really just gotten away from me.  In a bit of good news, I have gotten a lot done, work has been busy, the nursery is finished and all the baby's laundry is cleaned and put away, and my freezer is full of meals frozen for easy dinners once she arrives.  So there's my excuse.  To make it up to you -- here's a GIVEAWAY for a beautiful cookbook, Bottega by Michael Chiarello Chef Chiarello is the host of Easy Entertaining on the Food Network and chef at Bottega Napa Valley Restaurant.  Along with this great cookbook, you'll also receive a box of the Progresso Lemon-Pepper Panko Breadcrumbs that I used in the recipe below to try out.

To enter the contest, simply leave a comment at the bottom of this post telling me what you would like to try to make or what your favorite dish using panko breadcrumbs is.  For a second chance to win, "like" Homemade by Holman on Facebook by clicking on the link in the side bar of this page and leave a separate comment telling me you're a fan.  All entries must be made before Tuesday, January 25 at 6 pm Eastern and must include a valid email address to be eligible. 

Speaking of the recipe... I promised a quick and easy dinner and this definitely meets those qualifications.  You can have all this ready to go in about twenty minutes.  If you have never used panko breadcrumbs before, they make a much crisper breading than traditional breadcrumbs.  I generally just buy the unflavored variety in the grocery store and season them up as needed but these lemon-pepper flavored breadcrumbs work great with the pesto pasta.  In the interest of full disclosure, I had pesto on hand when I decided to make this as I made a big batch this fall when I had an abundance of basil from the garden and froze it.  But pesto is really easy to make and only takes a few minutes, so I've included the recipe below (although this will make more than you need but you can freeze the extra.)  You can also find pesto in the grocery store if you want a pre-made version.

Lemon Pepper Panko Crusted Chicken with Pesto Pasta

Serves 4

Chicken:

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and cut into 4 pieces

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

3 T olive oil

Pasta:

8 oz spaghetti (I used whole wheat)

1/4 cup pesto sauce

Salt

Pesto:
1 cup packed basil leaves
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil (if desired, you can cook directly on the baking sheet but foil makes for extra easy cleanup).  For the chicken, set up two wide shallow dishes for the breading process.  In one dish, beat egg and add milk, salt and pepper and whisk to combine.  In the second dish, add breadcrumbs.  Pound chicken breasts to an even thickness approximately 1/2" thick.  Dip each piece in the egg mixture, coating both sides and letting any excess drip off before transferring to the breadcrumbs.  Coat both sides, lightly pressing the breadcrumbs into the chicken to ensure they are well-coated.  Heat a large skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add chicken breasts and cook about 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown.  Transfer to baking sheet and continue cooking in the oven until cooked through, about 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken.

For the pasta, heat a large pot of water to boiling over high heat.  Generously add salt and add pasta to boiling water.  Cook pasta to al dente according to package directions.  Drain and toss with pesto sauce.

For the pesto, combine basil, garlic and pine nuts in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped, slowly stream in olive oil with processor running until uniform. Stir in cheese and pour over pasta.

Please note: Giveaway provided by General Mills via MyBlogSpark.  Although these products were provided to me free of charge, the opinions above are my own and are not influenced by General Mills or MyBlogSpark.

2010's Top 10

Happy New Year!  2010 was a pretty good year for me, although it sure went by quickly.  The year started and ended with lots of travelling, I think we went home to Iowa a half a dozen times this past year.  I also travelled to Texas a couple of times for my sister's wedding festivities, we went to St. Louis to celebrate our own 1st wedding anniversary, and spent a week at the beach in August with my college roommates.  We ended the year travelling for the holidays and a weekend in Chicago to celebrate my mom's birthday.  My husband started a new job this fall and I kept busy throughout the summer and fall with lots of baking jobs making hundreds of cupcakes and several birthday cakes.  

Of course the big news is that we found out we'll be having our first child in 2011, thank you all for sticking around even though it was tough to keep up with this blog when I could barely think about food for the few months.  These last few months have been busy with preparing the nursery, baby showers, and doctors appointments.  Now we're almost there and our daughter should be here mid-February! 

As we all recover from the sugar coma of the holidays, I'll be sharing some recipes from my baby shower, as well as some freezer meals as I try to stock up before the baby arrives.  For now though, I'll leave you with the most popular recipes from 2010.  Evidently the popularity of cupcakes isn't over yet!

S'mores Cupcakes

Margarita Cupcakes

Chocolate Cherry Coke Cupcakes

White Cheddar Chicken Pasta

Snickers Cupcakes

Lasagna Roll-ups

Italian Cream Cake

Triple Lemon Cupcakes

Dijon Chicken Club Sandwiches

Mudslide Cupcakes

Chicken Enchilada Soup

It’s cold and gloomy here which is perfect soup weather. Especially when that soup has a little heat of its own from some spicy jalapeno peppers. I'm not really ready for winter weather yet -- I held out as long as I could before having to turn the heat on but with temperatures getting down in the 30s and 40s, this week was the end. The beautiful fall weather is over; it’s cold and dark before 6:00 at night, which means it’s almost winter. Have I mentioned that I really don't like winter? I look forward to the holidays, my birthday, etc but after that, I pretty much look forward to spring. I could do without the snow and gloomy dark days. But anyway, you're here for the soup recipe not to listen to me complain about the weather.

I'm calling this chicken enchilada soup because the flavors remind me of the enchilada soup at Chili's. This one has a few extras in it though with some corn and black beans. I used two kinds of cheese, a grated pepperjack cheese which adds some extra heat and melts beautifully and some crumbled cotija cheese which has a very mild flavor but adds a delicious creaminess to the soup. I poached the chicken in chicken stock with some spices and then shredded the chicken and returned it to the soup later in the cooking process. You can use boneless or bone-in chicken for this just remove the skin before cooking.

You could also make this soup in a crockpot, you'll just have to extend the cooking times - expect that it will take at least 3-4 hours on high and you'll probably want to use a 5 quart crockpot.  You can cook the chicken prior to adding to the crockpot or just put it all in together using chicken breasts cut into smaller chunks.  Add everything except the cheese and cilantro and cook.  Add the cheese and most of the cilantro just before serving to allow it time to melt, serve and top with cilantro.

Chicken Enchilada Soup

3 cups chicken stock
2 skinless, chicken breasts
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
4-6 jalapeno peppers, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups frozen corn
1/2 cup tomato paste
8 oz cotija cheese, crumbled
8 oz pepperjack cheese, divided
1 cup cilantro, chopped
Tortilla chips

In a large Dutch oven or stockpot, add chicken stock and heat over medium heat. Add chicken breasts, cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Simmer about 20-25 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and set aside. Add tomatoes, jalapenos, bell pepper, onion, and garlic to the pot. Simmer about 30 minutes, covered until tomatoes have begun to break down. Add black beans, corn, and tomato paste and stir to incorporate. Add cotija cheese and half of the pepperjack cheese and stir to melt. Return chicken to soup and cook about 20 more minutes until desired consistency.

If soup isn't as thick as desired, you can add strips of flour tortillas. They will dissolve into the soup to thicken the broth. Add cilantro, reserving some to top individual bowls if desired. Ladle into serving bowls and top with crushed tortilla chips, reserved pepperjack cheese and cilantro if desired.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I much prefer homemade pizza to takeout or delivery - maybe I'm in the minority but to me, its much better to be able to put whatever toppings you want on the pizza and its a lot cheaper.  If you keep dough on hand in your freezer and thaw it out the night before you want to make pizza, it can also be faster than delivery.  I typically make a double batch of dough so I always have an extra crust available.  You can thaw the dough in the refrigerator and then all you have to do is roll it out and prepare your toppings.  I made this using my favorite pizza crust from The Way The Cookie Crumbles - which is awesome - but using half whole wheat flour, half bread dough to make it healthier.

So Buffalo chicken pizza was what I came up with when I thought I was all set for pizza night only to discover I had no pizza sauce.  I didn't even have any tomatoes on hand to make some pizza sauce.  But I know I've seen Buffalo chicken pizza on other food blogs with a ranch dressing type of sauce.  Of course, I didn't have ranch dressing either - that bottle got thrown away the last time I cleaned out the fridge to get rid of anything containing high fructose corn syrup.  But I had buttermilk and sour cream so making my own dressing was easy.  Adding some Frank's Red Hot, shredded chicken, onions and a combination of mozzarella and sharp cheddar completed the pizza.

It turned out to be a great improvisation and the pizza was delicious. 

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Crust:
From this recipe with 1/2 of the flour replaced with whole wheat flour.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Place pizza stone in oven to heat.  When oven is preheated, transfer shaped pizza dough on a pizza peel or parchment paper to hot stone dusted with cornmeal.  Cook about 15-20 minutes until crust begins to brown.  Meanwhile prepare toppings.

Sauce:
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup buttermilk
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 T fresh chives, finely chopped
1/4 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 - 1 T Frank's Red Hot or other hot sauce

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together until smooth.  Top pizza crust with a thin layer of dressing.

Toppings:
2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
Frank's Red Hot, to taste
1/2 white onion, sliced into thin strips
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Toss chicken with one to two tablespoons of hot sauce.  Top pizza with shredded chicken, cheese, and onions and return to oven.  Bake 15-20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and golden brown. 

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Quesadillas are a perfect weeknight meal when you need something quick and easy to put on the table.  However, quick and easy doesn't have to mean boring.  These also work great as an appetizer.

These quesadillas are full of chicken, bell peppers, onions, jalapeno, cilantro, and cheese.  The chicken is flavored with lime juice, cayenne pepper, ground cumin and garlic.  The lime juice makes for an extremely quick marinade, especially when you cut the chicken into small chunks, which also speeds up the cooking time.  Make sure you use a good quality cheese for these - grating your own cheese instead of buying the shredded stuff will add so much more flavor.  I used a blend of about half each of sharp cheddar and pepperjack but if you don't want them to be as spicy, Monterrey jack would be a good alternative.

Chicken Fajita Quesadillas

Chicken:

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/4 cup lime juice 

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp ground cumin

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp salt

Cut the chicken into approximately 1" chunks and sprinkle with salt.  In a large Ziploc, combine lime juice, garlic and spices, add chicken and let sit about 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

Quesadillas:

4 large flour tortillas

1 bell pepper

1/2 onion

2 jalapeno peppers

1 cup cheese

Handful of cilantro

1 T canola oil plus more if desired for cooking quesadillas

Slice bell peppers and onions into long thin strips.  Grate cheese and set aside. 

Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with 1 T canola oil, add chicken, peppers and onions and cook about five minutes, turning occasionally until cooked through.  Wipe out skillet with a paper towel and reduce heat to medium-low.  You can add a little oil to the pan, but I don't usually think its necessary and I prefer to save the calories and fat. 

You have two options for assembling the quesadillas.  You can use one tortilla and put the filling on half and fold it over - which does make it easier to flip the quesadilla - or build the quesadilla on the entire tortilla and then cover with a second tortilla.  I use both methods, it just depends on the day.  To assemble, layer on chicken, peppers, onions and jalapenos and top with cheese.  Tear cilantro and sprinkle over the top.  Fold or cover and transfer to skillet.  Cook about 3-4 minutes per side, until cheese is melted and tortilla is golden brown.  Cut into wedges and serve. 

Chicken and Mushroom Dinner

This dinner was inspired by a dish my mom used to make all the time. It was a combination of ground beef, egg noodles, cheddar cheese soup and cream of mushroom soup. Despite the canned soup, its delicious and a great comfort food dish.

However, I wanted to eliminate the high sodium, chemicals and fat from the canned soup and ground beef to lighten this dish up. I also switched out the regular egg noodles for whole wheat. It's still comfort food and a bit of splurge with the cheddar cheese but it’s also delicious. Since you're splurging with the cheese, make sure you get a block of decent sharp cheddar and grate it yourself - you'll get so much more flavor for only a little extra effort.


Chicken and Mushroom Dinner

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 T olive oil
1 cup sliced mushrooms - I used white button mushrooms but use whatever mix you like
1/2 white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 T butter
1 T flour
2 cups milk - I used skim
1/2 tsp dry mustard
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper + more for chicken
1/4 tsp salt + more for chicken and pasta
1 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 T fresh thyme
8 oz egg noodles

Heat a large pot of water to boil. Separately, heat a large skillet over medium high heat. Trim any fat off chicken and butterfly and cut into thin small sections. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Add olive oil to the pan and add chicken when hot. Cook chicken approximately three minutes per side until golden brown. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Add onions, garlic and mushrooms to the pan and cook about five minutes.

Salt pasta water when it boils and add egg noodles. Cook to al dente and drain.

Meanwhile, add wine to skillet and reduce heat to medium low, cook until the wine is almost all evaporated, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spatula. Add butter and flour and stir to combine until smooth, reduce heat to low, cook about one minute and slowly add milk. Stir to incorporate. Add mustard, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook until sauce begins to thicken. Add cheese and stir to melt. Thinly slice chicken and add to pan. Add drained noodles to pan. Toss to coat with sauce and cook a couple minutes for flavors to combine. Top with fresh thyme and serve.

Jerk Chicken Mango Kebabs

Kebabs are always fun to make on the grill and they generally impress your guests as well because you can incorporate different vegetables and fruits to make them nice and colorful. For maximum impressiveness, leave the kebabs skewered and serve, to make it easier on people, pull everything off the skewers and serve on a plate. This is what I do at home since the metal kebabs stay hot for a long time. They are also convenient because they cook very quickly because you cut the food into small chunks. In this case, I made jerk chicken and skewered it with mango chunks and red bell pepper pieces. The sweetness of the mango and peppers works great with the slightly sweet but spicy jerk chicken. The mangoes get soft and turn even sweeter when grilled to be completely delicious.

One thing to be aware of when making kebabs is that you want to load them up with foods that will cook at similar speeds. That way you don't have burned vegetables and undercooked poultry. If necessary you could also load up skewers with each type of food so they can be cooked at different times or over different parts of the grill.

You also want to make sure you soak wooden skewers if you are using them for at least 30 minutes before you put them on the grill so they don't catch on fire. You can also use metal skewers which I like because you don't have to mess with the soaking and they can be used over and over.

Jerk Chicken Mango Kebabs

Juice of 2 limes
1 T chili powder
1 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 mangoes
2 red bell peppers

Combine all ingredients through cinnamon in a large plastic Ziploc bag and mix well. Trim any fat off the chicken breasts and cut into approximately 1 1/2" chunks. Add chicken to the marinade and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Cut mangoes into large chunks. Mangoes have a large flat pit in the center. Cut each side off the mango, your knife will easily slice through the flesh of the fruit but not the pit so you'll know where to cut. Score each half into large chunks and fold the peel in to pop the pieces out. Slice off the chunks of mango to remove the peel.

Cut the bell peppers into large chunks and skewer alternating with the mangoes and chicken pieces. Grill about six minutes, rotate skewers, continue grilling about six more minutes until cooked through.

Lemon Spaghetti

If you love lemons, then you have to try this dish. I randomly had a craving for lemon spaghetti, a meal I have never even had before, on Tuesday night. I have no idea why I wanted it, but I had a bag of lemons on hand and needed something I could toss together really quickly as I was in the middle of making a cake. Generally, I would have made some paninis or something on such a night but instead I had my husband pick up a rotisserie chicken from the grocery deli and I threw this together.

Because I've never actually had lemon spaghetti before, I'm not sure if this is truly a traditional recipe or not. I googled it and found several recipes that all seemed close to what I had in mind, the closest being a Giada De Laurentiis recipe from Food Network. Then I adjusted as usual to suit our tastes. I added some chicken to the dish because I wanted it to be more of a main dish rather than a side dish. I removed the skin from the rotisserie chicken (the traditional, not flavored version) and cut up the breast meat for this dish. I used about 1 1/2 breasts for four servings. This pasta would also be great served with pan-fried breaded chicken cutlets, fish or scallops.

Lemon Spaghetti

1/2 pound spaghetti (I used whole wheat)
3 lemons (approx 1/2 cup juice plus a scant tablespoon of zest)
1/4 cup olive oil
Generous 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
3 T fresh basil (a good handful of leaves)
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 - 2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
Up to 1/2 cup reserved pasta water

Heat a large pot of water to boiling, add a generous pinch of salt, and add spaghetti. Cook until al dente (about 6 minutes for whole wheat). Meanwhile, in the bottom of serving bowl, combine lemon juice, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest and thyme. Whisk together until incorporated. Slowly stream in olive oil while whisking. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Either drain pasta and reserve 1/2 cup of cooking water or transfer pasta with a slotted spoon from pot to bowl. (I just transfer the partially drained pasta with a slotted spoon since I'm going to add cooking water to thin the sauce anyway but if you are afraid you'll end up with too much water, drain it first because you'll need anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water.) Toss pasta with sauce to coat evenly and add in chicken. Stack basil leaves, roll, and chiffonade into ribbons. Add to pasta and top with additional Parmesan if desired.

Spicy Hawaiian Burgers

First of all, sorry for my absence - my little sister got married this past weekend and I intended to have some posts scheduled but with the travelling, last minute wedding details and all the fun we had in Texas, it just didn't happen. But I'm back and I've got some great recipes to share with you coming up.


I've been eyeing the fresh pineapple every time I walked through the produce department for a couple of weeks. Finally I decided to buy one. I have to admit, I have never bought a fresh pineapple before thinking it would be way too much work to cut up. If I bought it fresh, I would buy the already cored and cleaned pineapple for way too much money that comes in a little plastic cup. But that means I over paid by about 5 times. For something that is really very easy. So if you have this same trepidation about purchasing a whole fresh pineapple, check back tomorrow for a how-to post and learn just how simple it is. If you want to, you could also use canned pineapple to make these burgers, but fresh pineapple grilled better and make sure you buy the pineapple in its own juice not heavy syrup.


For now, let's talk about these burgers. These were absolutely delicious. I had a chicken sandwich at a restaurant once (although I cannot remember what restaurant) that had pineapple, pepper jack cheese, BBQ sauce and chicken breast. I wasn't a big fan of the BBQ sauce, but I loved the combination of spicy cheese and sweet pineapple. I had some ground chicken breast at home and since I had finally decided to buy the fresh pineapple, I decided to make my own version. I think the pineapple is juicy enough and as long as you don't overcook your burger, the sauce is unnecessary but if you wanted to add something, a little chipotle mayo would be my recommendation. I would also throw a couple slices of red onion on these next time but I didn't have any on hand this time. As you can see in the pictures, I served these burgers with some chipotle corn on the cob that was a great match, so check back for that recipe later this week.


Spicy Hawaiian Burgers

2 pounds ground chicken
6 pineapple rings (or equivalent slices, cut about 1/2" - 3/4" thick)
6 slices pepper jack cheese
6 whole wheat hamburger buns
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp seasoning salt (I use Lawry's)
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced

Combine the ground chicken, soy sauce, 1/2 the paprika, 1/2 the chili powder, seasoning salt, cumin, and garlic. Lightly mix with your hands and divide into 6 even balls. Form patties, making them slightly thinner in the middle and sprinkle with remaining paprika and chili powder. Refrigerate about 30 minutes.

Preheat the grill to medium heat. Coat grates lightly with oil. Grill burgers over medium heat about 6 minutes per side. The burgers should flip easily when they are ready to turn, if they want to stick, give them another minute. Top with cheese for the last 1-2 minutes of cooking time to melt. Remove to a plate and cover with aluminum foil to rest. Grill buns if desired.

For the pineapple, if you are using rings, grill directly on the grates over medium heat. Carefully turn after 1-2 minutes. If you are using pineapple slices or chunks, thread onto skewers and grill skewers in the same fashion. Assemble burgers and enjoy.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

Last week lemons were on sale at the grocery store so I picked up a whole bag of them. There are tons of things that you can use lemons to make. A bit of fresh squeezed lemon juice adds brightness to so many foods. You can add it to sweet or savory things, it mixes really well with lots of herbs - my favorites are thyme and rosemary. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a rosemary plan when I was buying some herbs to put in my garden this year.

Oregano and Thyme

Speaking of herbs - if you knew how cheap and easy they were to grow, you wouldn't pay the ridiculous prices for them in the store. Pick up some small herb plants or seeds and plant them. For a total investment of under $15, I have oregano, basil, thyme, sage, cilantro, and flat leaf Italian parsley growing in my garden right now. And my neighbor gives me chives and mint when I want them or I would have planted those too.

You can grow them in pots in your kitchen or on your patio or mix them in with flowers in your flower beds - this is what I do. However, I will warn you if you are going to grow mint, put it in a pot as it can be invasive.

Sage

Some of these herbs are even perennials, meaning they will come back year after year - my sage, oregano and thyme have been going for three years now. I cut them all way back this spring so they don't take over. Both thyme and oregano spread almost like a ground cover. Plant them in a sunny spot and water as necessary, they are all pretty hardy and don't take much effort. Make sure you keep your herbs from blooming or going to seed by pinching off the tops and cutting them frequently and they will continue to produce all summer.

Cilantro - an annual so its much smaller than the perennials at this point

But anyway, back to chicken since that's what I'm supposed to be talking about. This lemon thyme chicken is really easy and only involves a few ingredients. Marinate, refrigerate and toss it on the grill and you have a quick, healthy summer dinner. I served mine with an edamame succotash that I'll post shortly.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

1.5-2 pounds skinless boneless chicken breasts
2 lemons
1 T olive oil
8 -10 sprigs of thyme
Salt and Pepper

Trim any visible fat from chicken breasts and butterfly them to make thin cutlets of an even thickness. Rub olive oil on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Zest 1 lemon over the chicken. Squeeze juice of lemon over the chicken. Strip thyme off stems by holding the tips and running fingers down the stems, the leaves will fall right off. (I like to leave a couple sprigs to top the chicken after cooking.) Lightly chop and sprinkle over chicken. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.

Preheat grill to medium heat. Add chicken and cook about five minutes per side, chicken will easily release when its ready to be flipped. Cook until juices run clear. Remove to a plate and tent with foil for 5-10 minutes to let juices redistribute. Squeeze juice of remaining lemon over chicken or serve with lemon wedges. Garnish with more thyme if desired.