Saturday, June 14, 2008

Chicken Stir Fry/Stew

The idea was originally to make a chicken stir fry, but there was a change in plans and I ended up making food for five people, and my pan wasn't quite enough to make a stir fry with so much stuff in it... So experimental techniques were used, and I'm actually pretty happy with the result.
I served this dish with rice, and since I couldn't fit all the vegetables in my pan i just added some of them into the boiling water with the rice. I mean, it all ends up in the same place anyway :D


Time to Prepare: ~60 minutes

Ingredients:
Tomatoes
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Carrots
Boneless skinless chicken breasts
Scallions (long, onion type things. Also called green onions)
Baby corn (I used the canned variety)

Cookware:
Pan/skillet
Pot to cook rice
Large bowl
Aluminum foil

Directions:
1) Cut your chicken into small pieces and marinade. My marinade included olive oil, basil, tarragon, oregano, garlic powder and chives)
2) Chop up all vegetables into small pieces.
3) Heat up your pan and brown the chicken slightly on high heat
4) Turn the heat to medium/low (but still hot enough to boil water), and add about half an inch of water to the pan. Add the vegetables. If you've chopped enough vegetables, they will make a heaping pile on your pan and you cant really stir the food without having everything fall everywhere.
5) Take a piece of alumium foil and cover the vegetables and pan. This essentially steams the vegetables while your chicken is boiling below.
6) After 20 minutes, pour the contents of the pan into a large bowl so you can mix everything together. Eat.

The same ingredients also work for a stir fry, if your pan is big enough first add the carrots, then the chicken, then the broccoli and cauliflower, and finally the tomato, onions and baby corn. Keep stir frying until done :)

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Potato Vegetable Quiche

The proportions in this recipe still need work. I sort of improvised as I went making this last night, so don't take these directions super verbatim... The proportions here make enough quiche to fill a 9x13 pan.

I stole this recipe off SmarterFitter Blog, and edited it a little. Here's the original: sweet potato quiche.

Time to Prepare: ~60 minutes
Time in Oven: ~45-60 minutes

Ingredients:
6 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 bag grated cheese (I used a 4 cheese variety)
4-5 potatoes
1 onion
1-2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup canned corn
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
olive oil
2 tomatoes
3 Cups wheat/graham flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
9 tbsp margarine or butter
3/4 cups water
Spices (ex: garlic powder, oregano, tarragon, etc)

Cookware:
Skillet or pan to saute vegetables
Dish to bake quiche in oven
Knife
Cutting board
bowl

Directions:
1. Mix the flour, baking powder, butter, and 3/4 cup of cheese together in a bowl.
2. Add the water to the mixture. The dough should be firm, almost to the dry side.
3. Cover the dough and set it aside for later.
4. Set your oven to 350F.
5. Dice the tomato, peppers and onion, and chop the garlic into tiny pieces.
6. Slice the potatoes into thin slices.
7. Heat up your pan and add some olive oil; saute the onion, garlic and peppers until the onion becomes translucent. Mix in the corn and tomato, add spices (ex basil leaves, oregano), and set aside to cool.
8. Mix the eggs and the milk. Add spices to the mixture if desired (ex, tarragon, garlic powder).
9. Grease your baking dish.
10. Take your dough and spread it on the bottom and sides of your baking dish.
12. Spread half of the sauted vegetables on the crust, and then layer about half of the potato slices on top of that, spread about half the remaining cheese on top of the potatoes.
13. Make a second layer with the remaining vegetables, tomatoes and cheese.
14. Pour the egg/milk mixture on top of everything. Try and spread it evenly over the top.
15. Put your dish in the oven for 45-60 min. I think you will get a nice top and a good consistency for your quiche if you increase your oven temperature to 375F after 25/30 minutes or so.

This recipe is still kind of in the "experimental" stage, if you try it leave comments and tell me what happened!

Sunday, June 1, 2008

Blue Cheese Chicken

While this food item isn't maybe quite as healthy as the other stuff I cook, its still not that unhealthy for you... And, it tastes good :)

Time to Prepare: ~30 minutes
Time in Oven: ~45 minutes

Ingredients:
4 potatoes
1 leek or a bunch of green onions
1 small bag of baby carrots
half of a head of cauliflower
REAL blue cheese (get it from the international/cheese section of your grocery store, not from the dairy section)
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
olive oil
1 tbsp chives and onion flavored cream cheese (optional)
1/3 cup skim milk (optional)
Spices (I used oregano, tarragon, garlic powder,and chives on the chicken)

Cookware:
knife
cutting board
oven bag
dish to prepare food in

Directions:
1. set your oven to 375 F
2. open up the oven bag and lay it on the bottom of your baking dish
3. cut all your vegetables into small pieces and spread them along the bottom of the bag/dish
4. cut off all the non-meat off your chicken breats, and cut deep cuts into the meat
5. stuff the cuts with blue cheese, and spice the chicken
6. (optional) mix the cream cheese and skim milk together and pour evenly over the vegetables
7. spice vegetables (ex: garlic powder)
8. place the chicken over the vegetables
9. pour olive oil over both the chicken and vegetables
10. add a tiny bit of water to the bottom of the dish, this is to keep the vegetables and chicken from drying out
11. close the bag and cut a few slits into it to keep pressures even
12. place the dish into the oven for about 45 minutes.

I served this meal with rice and a salad, both of which you can make while your chicken is in the oven :)