Chicken and Biscuits with Gravy

For some reason I was craving this yesterday, so I had to try to make it today.  I've never made chicken and biscuits before, so I just winged it, and it turned out pretty yummy.  Is it bad that I slathered so much chicken and gravy on that it completely covered the biscuit in my photo?  Nah.  It was so good.

Chicken and Biscuits with Gravy

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 package (8 oz.) crimini mushrooms, sliced
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 1 pound chicken breasts, thinly sliced into bite-size pieces
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• large pinch of thyme
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 cup nonfat milk
• a couple heaping tablespoons of whole wheat flour
• 100% whole wheat biscuits

Directions

• Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet and saute the mushrooms with some TSSS.  When they soften, add the chicken breast pieces, TSGG and thyme.  Saute until the chicken is no longer pink, then add the chicken broth.
• In a small cup or bowl, whisk together the milk and whole wheat flour until smooth.  Add to the chicken skillet and bring to a boil, stirring often.  Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes.  The gravy will thicken.  If you want it thicker, whisk a little more flour into a little more milk and add to the skillet.
• Serve hot over some 100% whole wheat biscuits.

Crispy Anise Cookies

I love biscotti, how they're light, crispy and crunchy, how they're not too sweet, and how they're perfectly dunkable in a mug of hot coffee.  But oh how I hate the time and effort (and mess!) it takes to bake them twice (because, you see, biscotti = twice baked).  So I decided to try my basic biscotti recipe as a drop cookie.  Genius, isn't it?  Ok, maybe not genius, but it is delicious and oh-so-dunkable.

My basic recipe uses just anise for flavoring, but you could easily mix it up with all sorts of add-ins.  How about chocolate chip almond cookies (replace anise extract and seeds with almond extract and mix in 1 cup of toasted blanched almond slivers and 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips)?  Or cranberry orange cookies (replace anise extract and seeds with vanilla extract and mix in 2 tablespoons orange zest and 1.5 cups of dried cranberries)?  Or peppermint cookies (replace anise extract and seeds with peppermint extract and mix in 1 cup of crushed candy canes)?  I'm drooling already.

Crispy Anise Cookies
Yields approximately 4 dozen.

Ingredients:

• scant 3.5 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 large eggs
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons anise extract
• 2 teaspoons anise seeds

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
• In another bowl, beat the eggs and sugar on high speed until it becomes light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.  Beat in the anise extract and seeds.
• Add in half of the dry mixture and mix until incorporated, then add in the rest of the dry mixture and continue to mix until incorporated.
• Drop by teaspoonfuls onto the parchment-lined baking sheets.  Bake for 20 - 22 minutes until lightly golden.
• Remove from oven.  Once the cookies are cool enough to touch, transfer them to a wire rack and let cool completely.  Store in an air-tight container.

 Left: cranberry almond cookies (2 teaspoons vanilla extract, 1 cup toasted slivered almonds, 1 cup dried cranberries)

Right: chocolate chip almond cookies (2 teaspoons almond extract, 1 cup toasted slivered almonds, 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips)

Chicken Stuffed with Black Beans and Cumin

Earlier this week I was making a batch of Brown Rice and Lentil Soup when I realized how much I love cumin, and how I really don't cook with it enough.  Then I remembered seeing a recipe for Cumin Chicken with Black Bean Stuffing.  It looked delicious, but I wanted something a little simpler, easier and quicker for a weeknight meal.  If you've been following this blog for a while, you'll know that I love stuffed chicken breasts; so easy, so versatile, and it makes plain ol' chicken breasts fun.  So I figured, why not stuff chicken breasts with black beans seasoned with cumin?  Sounds weird, right, to stuff chicken breasts with beans?  But it is SO good!  Don't omit the spritz of lime at the end, it's killer!

Chicken Stuffed with Black Beans and Cumin

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• approximately 1.5 teaspoons ground cumin, divided
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• Tastefully Simple Onion Onion
• small lime wedges

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Spray a baking pan lightly with cooking spray.
• In a bowl, combine 1 teaspoon of cumin with about a teaspoon of TSSS.  Rub onto the outside of each chicken breast.
• In a separate bowl, combine the beans, the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of cumin, a few dashes of TSSS and a few dashes of TSOO.  Mash briefly with a fork.  Divide the bean mixture into fourths and stuff into the chicken breasts.
• Place the stuffed chicken breasts in a single layer in the sprayed baking pan and into the pre-heated oven.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until cooked through.
• Spritz lightly with lime wedges before serving.