Tandoori Chicken

Who else out there is totally feeling humidity bunny lately? Anybody with me? 

When it's this warm, cooking is about the last thing on my mind. When I do cook, it's usually to whip up a marinade so that my husband can eventually grill it whatever we're marinading.  He's a good sport - standing over a hot grill when it's so hot out to cook dinner. If only it were cool enough to sit outside on the deck and eat, I'd be in business.

Tandoori Chicken with Mint Raita

Cooking Light, June 2012

Jalapeno Poblano Chili

I love CookingLight. The day the new issue arrives in my mailbox is sort of like a mini-Christmas. If it sits on my coffee table for too long without me looking at it, I start to get antsy. When I saw this recipe for Jalapeno-Poblano Chili, I knew we had to test it out as a more every-day substitute for the famous chili recipe that feeds an army and takes at least 2 days to prepare.

I took a few liberties with the recipe - most notably, I used actual beef, cut into cubes instead of ground beef (personal preference). I also used a regular light-colored beer instead of Corona (because I realized at last minute we didn't have any). 

The results were great. It is officially our new favorite "substitute" chili recipe. 

Poblano-Jalapeno Chili
CookingLight March 2012

Chicken & Herb White Pizza

As I mentioned in my last post, we're not the fastest at things like decorating our house. In August or September, about a month or so after we moved in, I went to Ikea and bought a few decorations, including a little shelf I thought would look good in the kitchen. Since that day, they sat in the spare room with all the other decorations we hadn't put up yet. Every time I went into the room, I would think about putting up the kitchen decorations I'd bought those months back. But I never did anything. Not even bug my husband to get out the power tools.

Then, last weekend, we were at Target browsed through the home decor section, and found a few wall-hangings that we decided would look cute in the kitchen with the previously-purchased shelf, and on Friday night, we hung them up. My kitchen now looks like a real, proper kitchen, and I love it so much.

It's now the perfect setting to cook things like this yummy pizza from Cooking Light - and I didn't even change a thing in the recipe.

Chicken & Herb White Pizza
Cooking Light, October 2011

Chicken in Shiraz Sauce

We moved into our house about 7 months ago. One of the things we really liked about it when we bought it was that there wasn't really anything we absolutely hated - appliances were nice, flooring was great, and we didn't hate any of the colors the walls were painted. 

Then, about 2 months ago, my husband mentioned that he wanted to paint out downstairs bathroom. Even though the yellow color it was previously didn't bother me much, once he mentioned he wanted to paint it, getting rid of the yellow color was all I could think about. I'd walk into the room and all I wanted to do was get rid of the yellow. All I could see was the yellow, and I almost instantly grew to hate it.

So, we spent about a month talking about painting it and discussing what color we may want to paint it (we're somewhat indecisive), and then finally painted it. The yellow is gone and it's now a nice blue/grey color. Next up will be the bedroom that's painted the same yellow color the bathroom was. 

After spending most of the afternoon painting, we wanted to sit down to something hearty for dinner, and this totally fit the bill.

I followed this recipe exactly, except I used Shiraz instead of Pinot Noir and chicken thighs instead of chicken breasts.

Roasted Chicken in Pinot Noir Sauce
Cooking Light, October 2010

Enjoy!

Fetuccini Alfredo

Despite how much I love it, eating fetuccini alfredo makes me feel really guilty. My favorite recipe calls for something like 12 tablespoons of butter, over 2 cups of cream, and 1 1/2 cups of cheese. Don't get me wrong, it's pretty much the best Alfredo sauce ever, but healthy... it is not.

So, along came this recipe. It's great - smooth & creamy, and much healthier than my beloved recipe discussed above. It definitely won't take over the #1 spot, but will enter our regular rotation so we can leave the calorie-laden stuff for special occasions.


Fetuccini Alfredo
Inspired by Cooking Light
Serves 2-3
Prep & Cook Time - 15 minutes

INGREDIENTS
8 oz uncooked fetuccini noodles (fresh or dry)
1 TBSP butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 TBSP flour
1 1/2 cups 2% milk
1-2 TBSP 1/3-less-fat cream cheese
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS
Cook fetuccini to al dente. Drain & set aside.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a large skillet or dutch oven over medium-low heat. Add garlic and cook for about 2 minutes, or until garlic is fragrant. Add flour and whisk together. Cook for about 1 minute, wisking constantly.

Add milk and combine thoroughly. Increase heat to medium and allow it to simmer until the sauce thickens, about 5-7 minutes.

Add cream cheese and Parmesan cheese and whisk together until cheese is melted. Toss with the cooked fetuccini noodles and top with additional Parmesan cheese, if desired.

Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic

I love trying new recipes. There's something oddly satisfying when you find that recipe that makes you smile and nod while making yummy sounds at first bite. It's been awhile since I've made such a recipe. Then, tonight came.

I've made versions of Chicken with 40 Cloves in the past, but all involved copious amounts of cream. Then, one day I found a version on CookingLight that called for absolutely no cream and about 5 ingredients. Don't get me wrong: the creamy versions are great. But sometimes you're just not in the mood for that, right? Ok, I know that most of the time you are. But every once in a while, you're not. Don't try to kid me. I know how you feel. That's where this recipe comes in. You must try it. Seriously. Go out, buy the ingredients, and make it tonight. It's delicious.

Don't be scared by the amount of garlic. The strength mellows while it cooks and they're delicious with the chicken or spread out on some nice crusty french bread.


Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic
Inspired by CookingLight,
Serves 4
Cook Time - 40 minutes

INGREDIENTS
1 whole chicken, already butchered
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
40 whole garlic cloves, peeled (about 2-3 heads)
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup dry white wine


DIRECTIONS
Combine butter and oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Tear the skin off the chicken. Season evenly with salt & pepper. Add chicken pieces to pan; cook 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove chicken from pan to keep warm. Feel free to do the chicken in two batches if you need to.

Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic and cook until garlic begins to brown, about 1 minute, stirring frequently. Put chicken back in the pan. Add broth and wine. Cover and cook 25 minutes or until chicken is done.

Remove chicken from pan to keep warm. Increase heat to medium-high and cook 10 minutes or until liquid is reduced to about 1 cup. If you want a thicker sauce, thicken by whisking in a cornstarch/water slurry. Serve sauce and garlic with chicken and crusty bread.

Butterscotch Bars

When I have nothing else to do on the weekend, I cook... or bake. This weekend, it was baking. I wanted to get out of the chocolate chip cookie/brownie rut I was in, so I looked through my recipe book and found a recipe for Butterscotch Bars that looked interesting. So, Butterscotch Bars it was. I'll be honest - I don't like butterscotch - but my husband gave these rave reviews. And as a bonus, they're fairly low-fat, considering they're from Cooking Light!



Butterscotch Bars
Recipe from CookingLight, adapted slightly

INGREDIENTS
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or stick margarine, softened
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
Cooking spray
1 cup butterscotch morsels

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°.

Beat sugars and butter at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add egg whites and vanilla; beat well. Lightly spoon the flour into dry measuring cups, and level with a knife. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt; stir well with a whisk. Add flour mixture to sugar mixture; beat at low speed just until blended.

Spread batter evenly into an 9 x 13 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with morsels. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Parmesan Chicken & Rice

Tonight was a simple night. A simple chicken & rice dish from Cooking Light was the ticket. I liked that when I was done cooking, I had one pan and one spoon.

Photo from www. cookinglight.com

Parmesan Chicken & Rice
From: Cooking Light
*Serves 4*

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms (I omitted)
3/4 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup uncooked instant rice
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup (2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, thyme, and mushrooms; sauté 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add chicken; sauté 4 minutes or until the chicken is lightly browned. Add wine, salt, and pepper; cook 3 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates.

Stir in rice and broth. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Stir in cheese and parsley.