Sautéed Curry Chicken and Veggies

I had an old container of crimini mushrooms and some leftover baggies of spinach and arugula that needed to either be eaten very soon or tossed.  I loathe tossing good food, so I had to figure out what to cook with it all.  And to top it off, hubby asks for something curry.

Solution?  Sauté it all up together and serve over brown rice, of course.  :-)

Sautéed Curry Chicken and Veggies


Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 8oz. container of crimini mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Onion Onion
• 1 pound chicken tenders, sliced into small pieces
• 1 tablespoon-ish curry powder
• 1 teaspoon-ish cumin powder
• 1/2 baggie baby spinach
• 1.5 baggies arugula
• 1 cup-ish chicken broth (optional)

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil and sauté the mushrooms with a few dashes of TSSS and TSOO for a minute or two until they begin to soften.
• Add the chicken pieces, some more TSSS and TSOO, the curry powder and cumin powder.  Sauté until cooked through, about 5 minutes.
• Add the spinach and arugula and stir until they are wilted.
• I would have stopped there and served it, but hubby asked for something a little saucy, so I added about a cup of chicken broth and stirred until it came to a boil.
• Serve over brown rice.

Mozzarella, Tomato and Avocado Salad

This was so simple, yet so delicious.  It has 3 of my favorite foods: cheese, lusciously sweet grape tomatoes, and rich creamy avocado.  The original recipe calls for fresh herbs, but I only had dried, so that's what I used.  My local supermarket carries BelGioioso (LOVE!) mozzarella "pearls", which are the perfect size for this dish.

I made just enough for a single serving for me, but this dish is very easily made in medium batches for a family, or big batches for a party.  

Mozzarella, Tomato and Avocado Salad
Taken from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 oz. mozzarella "pearls", drained
• 1 small handful grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 avocado, diced
• juice of 1/2 a small lime
• a couple dashes of salt and black pepper
• a dash of dried basil
• a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

• Toss everything together in a bowl.

You can cover and refrigerate for 1 hour to let everything marinate, or do as I did today (last-minute-like) and eat it right away.

Crispy Baked Chicken Strips

A staple in our house; I just can't believe I haven't posted this yet. (Or maybe I have and am missing something?) I love the parmesan-panko crust.

You can also use this recipe to make crispy baked fish sticks.  Just use slices of red snapper, tilapia, halibut, or even salmon instead of chicken.

Crispy Baked Chicken Strips

Ingredients:

• cooking spray
• 1 pound chicken tenders or boneless, skinless breasts cut up into strips
• a few tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• water
• whole wheat panko
• shredded parmesan cheese
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.
• Create a dredging station with 3 shallow bowls:  Put a few heaping tablespoons of whole wheat flour in the first bowl.  In the second bowl, whisk the eggs with a couple tablespoons of water.  In the third bowl, combine equal parts whole wheat panko and shredded parmesan (about 3/4 cup each), along with a few dashes of TSSS.
• One by one, dredge each chicken strip into the flour, shake off excess, dip into the egg, let excess drip off, then dredge in the panko/parmesan mixture.  Place in a single layer onto the sprayed baking sheet.
• Bake in pre-heated oven for about 20 minutes until crispy.  (You can flip the strips halfway through the cooking time, but I don't bother.)

Creamy Chicken Rice Soup

Today was drizzly and chilly, so what better meal to accompany it with than a warm, creamy, hearty soup.  I used this recipe as the springboard, then I messed around with the ingredients and quantities based on what I had on hand.  I used uncooked chicken breasts, increased the vegification factor, and used brown rice.  Yummy for my tummy!

Creamy Chicken Rice Soup
Adapted from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 3 large ribs of celery, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 carton (32 oz.) reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup uncooked brown rice
• 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 1 can (12 oz.) nonfat evaporated milk

Directions:

• In a large dutch oven, heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and saute the onions for a few minutes until translucent.  Add the chicken, TSSS and TSGG and continue to cook, stirring often, until chicken is browned and just cooked through, 5 - 7 minutes.  
• Add the carrots, celery, dried herbs, chicken broth and rice.  Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for about 30 - 40 minutes until the rice is cooked.
• In a small bowl, whisk together the flour and evaporated milk.  Add to the soup pot and stir.  Bring to a simmer, stirring often, and cook for a few minutes until soup thickens.  Add TSSS and freshly-ground black pepper as necessary to taste.

Italian Peasant Soup with Cabbage, Beans and Cheese

This soup is simple and delicious. Instead of one big slice of bread in the middle, I cubed mine into crouton-size pieces.  And I had regular green cabbage on hand, not savoy.  And I used chicken broth instead of vegetable broth, again because that's what I had in the pantry.

I bet this would also be very satisfying with some shredded rotisserie chicken added in.

Italian Peasant Soup with Cabbage, Beans and Cheese
Taken directly from this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 15-oz. cans cannellinii beans, washed and drained
• olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium head of cabbage, shredded
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 clove garlic, halved
• 5 cups vegetable or chicken broth (I used chicken)
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
• slices of toasted crusty bread (I used sourdough)
• parmesan cheese

Directions:

• Mash half the beans and set aside.
• In a dutch oven, saute the onions on medium heat in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.
• Add the cabbage and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes, stirring often, until the cabbage wilts.  Add in the beans (both mashed and whole) and broth.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, partially-covered, for about 15 minutes until the cabbage is tender.  Season with TSSS and black pepper.
• Arrange bread in soup bowls.  Ladle the soup over the bread.  Grate some parmesan cheese over the top and drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil.  Serve immediately.

Applesauce Stuffed Pork Tenderloin

I saw a beautiful pork tenderloin on sale at Sprouts today and just had to have it.  I didn't want to do the same old same old, so I thought I'd stuff it.  With applesauce.  And raisins.  It was a little messier than I expected, mostly due to the applesauce oozing out while I was trying to roll up the pork.  But it was yummy.  Next time when I have more time, I'll cook up some sliced apple pieces until tender and roll the pork with those instead of the applesauce.

If you want to be completely SBD-compliant, use your own home-made applesauce (no sugar added) and replace the raisins with diced dried apricots.

Applesauce Stuffed Pork Tenderloin



Ingredients:

• 1.5 pound pork tenderloin, all visible fat removed
• 1/4-ish cup applesauce
• 2 tablespoon-ish raisins
• Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt
• Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
• olive oil

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F.  Spray a baking sheet with oil.
• On a cutting board, slice the pork tenderloin length-wise (like you're unrolling a cinnamon bun) a few times until you get an open rectangle of meat that is about 1/2-inch thick.  Pour the sauce and sprinkle the raisins on the pork.  Roll it back up.
• Place pork seam-side down onto the baking sheet.  Sprinkle the top and sides with TSSS and TSOO.  Drizzle with olive oil and rub it into the meat.
• Roast in pre-heated oven for 45 minutes - 1 hour.  Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes before slicing.  Spoon any "escaped" sauce from the baking sheet onto the sliced pork.