This is one of my favorite chicken recipes from Cooking Light. I can't believe I haven't posted it yet. We're having this tonight with Italian-stuffed Zucchini Boats.
Ingredients
Salsa:
2 1/4 cupschopped tomatoes (about 2 medium)
1/2 cupchopped fresh basil (I use dried when it isn't summer)
1 tablespoonthawed orange juice concentrate
1/2 teaspoonsalt
1/2 teaspoonminced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoonbalsamic vinegar
1/4 teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
Chicken:
1 tablespoonchopped fresh oregano
2 tablespoonsfresh lemon juice
2 tablespoonsbalsamic vinegar
1 tablespoonolive oil
1 tablespoonDijon mustard
1 teaspoonchopped fresh rosemary
1 teaspoonchopped fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoongarlic powder
1/2 teaspoonchopped fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoonsalt
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
Cooking spray
Preparation
To prepare salsa, combine the first 7 ingredients in a medium bowl. Cover and chill 1 hour.
To prepare chicken, preheat grill.
Combine oregano and next 10 ingredients (through 1/4 teaspoon salt) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add chicken to bag; seal. Marinate chicken in refrigerator 1 hour, turning occasionally.
Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on each side or until chicken is done. Serve with salsa.
Cut zucchini in half lengthwise; scoop out pulp and seeds, leaving 1/4-inch shell (use a small spoon for this). Reserve pulp from two zucchini and chop. Combine zucchini pulp, garlic, tomato, mushrooms, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper flakes, olive oil and 1/2 cup cheese in a medium bowl. Divide mixture among zucchini shells.
Place stuffed zucchini in a 13 x 9 baking dish; cover with foil. Bake for 25 minutes or until zucchini is tender. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake uncovered 5 minutes more or until cheese is melted. Top with fresh basil.
Brian saw this recipe on Cooks Country and wanted me to give it a try. It looks incredibly easy, and much yummier than traditional chicken tacos from a package, so here goes...
We like the convenience of boneless, skinless chicken breasts in our Easy Chicken Tacos, but they were so lean that an unsuitable cooking method guarantees they’ll wind up dry and rubbery. Poaching proved the best method, producing meat that was tender and moist. Chipotle chiles gave our poaching liquid a smoky, full-bodied flavor, and orange juice, instead of chicken broth, offered a touch of sweetness that tempered its vivid acidity.
For more robust flavor from our chicken, we called on Worcestershire sauce and mustard, two (surprising) Latin American staples. Worcestershire mimicked the complex flavor of dark meat, and mustard added sharpness that balanced the sweet orange juice and smoky chipotle.
Serves 6
To warm the tortillas, wrap them in foil and heat in a 350-degree oven for 15 minutes. Top the tacos with shredded lettuce, grated cheese, diced avocado, tomato, and sour cream.
1. POACH CHICKEN Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic and chipotle and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in orange juice, Worcestershire, and ½ cup cilantro and bring to boil. Add chicken and simmer, covered, over medium-low heat until meat registers 160 degrees, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping chicken halfway through cooking. Transfer to plate and tent with foil.
2. SHRED AND SAUCE Increase heat to medium-high and cook until liquid is reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes. Off heat, whisk in mustard. Using 2 forks, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces and return to skillet. Add remaining cilantro to skillet and toss until well combined. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with tortillas.
I am planning to try it with Creamy Avocado Yogurt dip:
1/2 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt
2 ripe avocados, peeled and seeded
1 clove garlic, minced
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
Pita chips, tortilla chips, cut up veggies-for serving
directions:
1. Place the yogurt, avocados, garlic, cilantro, jalapeño, lime juice, and cumin in a blender or food processor. Mix until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
2. Scrape dip into a serving bowl and serve with pita chips, tortilla chips, or cut up veggies.
The VERDICT:
These were delicious! Not as easy as Brian said they'd be, but absolutely delicious. Jack gobbled his taco up right away, which is a huge endorsement, since he is a pokey eater. ONly with things he actually LOVES will he eat quickly. The avocado dip was yummy, too, but a little too spicy for Jack and Ben (Ben tried it but whined and called it spicy). Brian and I loved it though.
When Jack told me he wanted an owl party for his fourth birthday, I wasn't sure where to go with the food, but thanks to Pinterest, I found some great ideas for cupcakes. And Brian suggested that I try the Hostess cupcake recipe from America's Test Kitchen. So, in an effort to please both of my June birthday boys, that's what I did. I only used the cake portion of the cupcake -- I told Brian he'd have to wait until Father's Day to get the whole cream cupcake -- so I topped it with green tinted buttercream frosting and the result (in spite of me accidentally forgetting to add the eggs -- I got distracted, okay?) was delicious.
Blooming cocoa in boiling water and adding chocolate chips and espresso powder gave our Chocolate Cream Cupcakes recipe plenty of chocolate depth. Simply plopping a marshmallow into the batter created moonlike craters in our cupcakes. Combining marshmallow creme and the right amount of gelatin gave us the perfect creamy filling.
The Chocolate Cream Cupcakes were too delicate to allow us to inject the filling with a pastry bag. Instead, we used a paring knife to cut inverted cones from the tops of the cupcakes, added the frosting, and plugged the holes.
Makes 12 cupcakes
To ensure an appropriately thick filling, be sure to use marshmallow creme (such as Fluff or Kraft Jet-Puffed Creme), not marshmallow sauce.
1. MAKE BATTER Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in bowl. Whisk water, cocoa, chocolate chips, and espresso in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, sour cream, oil, eggs, and vanilla and mix until combined. Whisk in flour mixture until incorporated. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into cupcake comes out with few dry crumbs attached, 18 to 22 minutes. Cool -cupcakes in tin 10 minutes, then turn out onto wire rack and cool completely.
2. PREPARE FILLING Combine water and gelatin in large bowl and let sit until gelatin softens, about 5 minutes. Microwave until mixture is bubbling around edges and gelatin dissolves, about 30 seconds. Stir in butter, vanilla, and salt until combined. Let mixture cool until just warm to touch, about 5 minutes, then whisk in marshmallow creme until smooth; refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Transfer 1/3 cup marshmallow mixture to pastry bag fitted with small plain tip; reserve remaining mixture for filling cupcakes.
3. ASSEMBLE CUPCAKES Microwave chocolate and butter in small bowl, stirring occasionally, until smooth, about 30 seconds. Cool glaze to room temper-ature, about 10 minutes. Following photos 1 to 3 at left, cut cone from top of each cupcake and fill cupcakes with 1 tablespoon filling each. Replace tops, frost with 2 teaspoons cooled glaze, and let sit 10 minutes. Using pastry bag, pipe curlicues across glazed cupcakes. Serve. (Cupcakes can be stored in airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.)
