Easy Chicken Parmesan

Lately, I have been on the lookout for fast, delicious dinners and this one is perfect!  I found the recipe at Mel's Kitchen Cafe (which, if you have never visited, I highly suggest you do so right after reading my post). 

It's easy, its delicious, and it fits the needs of all members of my family.  It is cheesy and involves pasta (we all love pasta!), with lots of sauce and juicy chicken.  Perfect.  The clever girl eats this right up!

Easy Chicken Parmesan
adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in half lengthwise to make 6 thinner chicken cutlets
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons canola oil
3/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
3/4 cup shredded provolone or sharp provolone cheese
Hot spaghetti noodles for serving

Combine the garlic, crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, oregano, basil, sugar, salt, pepper and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese in a medium bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until hot.  Rinse and then dry the chicken pieces with a paper towel, then season both sides of each piece with salt and pepper.  Place the flour in a shallow bowl and dredge the chicken in the flour, coating both sides.  Gently place the 3-4 of the chicken pieces (whatever fits loosely) in the hot skillet and cook for 3 minutes.  Flip over and cook for another 3 minutes until a golden crust is formed on each side.  The chicken will cook further later, so you do not need to make sure they are cooked through in this step.  Remove the chicken to a plate and repeat with the remaining pieces.

Wipe the excess oil from the skillet and pour the tomato mixture into the skillet.  Be careful, as the skillet might still be hot!  Turn the heat to medium and gently nestle the browned chicken into the sauce, making room for all of the chicken pieces.  The chicken should be mostly covered with sauce.  Cover the skillet and simmer on medium or medium-low for 15 minutes.  If the chicken is sticking to the skillet, turn the heat down a bit.  Now is a good time to cook your pasta noodles.












Remove the lid from the skillet and sprinkle the mozzarella, provolone, and remaining Parmesan over the chicken and sauce.  Cover again and cook for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is melted. 

Serve over hot spaghetti noodles.
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An easy weeknight meal.  What is better?

Easy Chicken Enchiladas

I have found an easy, yummy way to make chicken enchiladas!  I didn't come up with it myself, but stumbled upon it during one of my weekly quests for dinner inspiration online.  The recipe comes from Add A Pinch. 

Chicken Enchiladas
adapted from Add A Pinch
6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs OR 3-4 breasts
1 10-oz. can + 1 14-oz. can enchilada sauce
1 8-oz. can green chiles
1/2 medium onion, diced
8 10-inch flour tortillas OR about 15 6-inch flour tortillas
12 oz. Monterrey Jack cheese, grated
2 green onions, chopped for topping (optional)
cilantro, chopped for topping (optional)
avocado, sliced for topping (optional)
sour cream, for topping (optional)

Spray a slow cooker insert with cooking spray.  Add chicken to insert and pour smaller can of enchilada sauce over the chicken.  (If the chicken isn't totally covered, add more from the second can of sauce.)  Cook on high setting for 4 hours or low setting for 8 hours.  Shred chicken with a fork in the enchilada sauce.  Drain green chiles and add to the chicken with the diced onion.  Mix well to combine.

Preheat oven to 350F.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Spoon chicken mixture into the center of each flour tortilla.  Top with a generous sprinkle of cheese and fold the ends of the tortilla over the filled center.  Place the tortilla seam side down into the baking dish.  Repeat until all tortillas have been filled, or you run out of chicken filing, whichever comes first.  Pour the second can of enchilada sauce over the assembled tortillas.  Sprinkle more grated cheese over the top.  Place in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and has gotten bubbly. 

Garnish with chosen toppings.
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This was so good and so easy!  I used smaller tortillas that are made in my grocery store (and are amazingly yummy) and ended up using more than just a 9x13 pan.  I used another pan, maybe a 7x11, for the rest.  Sorry, it has been a while and I can't totally remember, but it all depends on the size of your tortillas and how fat you stuff them!

I am definitely going to try this again with a green chile/cilantro sauce or something.  You could totally spice these up and change them around, or just eat them as is, which is delicious!  Go for it!

Tarragon Chicken Salad

I  enjoy a good chicken salad.  However I tend to be a bit picky about it, I suppose.  I have a hard time ordering chicken salad at a restaurant, as often it is too mayonnaise-y or sweet or chunky...  I think everyone has their own idea as to what chicken salad is supposed to be like so if you order it out, you are at the whim of the restaurant, which may or may not be to your liking.  Not a sure thing.  So I tend to make my own chicken salad at home to quench that desire when it comes.  Meet Tarragon Chicken Salad.  

TWD - Baking with Julie: Oasis Naan

The Tuesdays with Dorie baking group chose Oasis Naan for our recipe this week!  If you have ever had a desire to bake some flatbreads, I recommend this recipe.  It  was fairly simple and came together pretty easily!  I will admit that my naan does not look the way it is supposed to look.... it is supposed to be flat in the middle, not puffy like mine.  We'll get to that later.  Regardless, they tasted great!  You should try Oasis Naan!  The recipes can be found on Maggie's blog Always Add More Butter and on Phyl's blog Of Cabbages and King Cakes.

As it seems many of these TWD recipes are, this was a two-day process for me.  It didn't have to be, but it was for me.  Don't get me wrong, both days were REALLY EASY, so there is no stress involved with this recipe, there is simply some advance planning needed!  You start by making the dough of a recipe of what the Baking with Julia book calls "Persian Naan".  No mixer needed, friends.

Avgolemono - Greek Chicken Soup

I've been a bit under the weather.  Bad allergies with the current Houston air turned into some sort of overall yuck.  When I am sick I want my mom to make me some chicken soup.  Since my mom doesn't live anywhere near me (boo), I just have to make some chicken soup myself!  I'm a mom, so it should still work!    I decided to make Avgolemono, a Greek chicken soup with egg-lemon sauce.  Hello.  I may have found a new favorite soup!

Avgolemono in Greek actually means egg-lemon.  You start off with a fairly basic chicken soup recipe,  but instead of ending with just chicken soup, there is MORE.  You add a sauce made of lemon juice, eggs, and fresh ground pepper to the stock and it takes chicken soup to an entirely new level! 

The chicken stock is made of chicken, water, a leek, a carrot, some salt and bay leaves.   When the chicken is cooked, you remove it and then add a sauteed onion and either rice or orzo.  Shred or dice the chicken, put it back into the broth, and there you have a nice tasty chicken soup. 

But wait!  There is more!  Mix up some lemon juice, eggs and pepper, temper the eggs with some of the hot chicken stock, and then mix it all into the chicken stock. 

Instead of having a simple chicken noodle soup, you have a chicken noodle (if you used orzo) soup with the extra zip and vitamin C benefits of lemon!  The egg-lemon sauce really makes the soup amazing.  It adds a creaminess and vibrancy to the dish.  Often when I am not feeling well, I feel like my taste buds have gone on hiatus, and this soup will encourage them back. 

So whether your mom makes it, you make it, or someone else makes it, get yourself a nice bowl of Avgolemono. 

Avgolemono - Chicken Soup with Egg-Lemon Sauce
Adapted from Food Network, Cat Cora

1 (3 pound) free range chicken
12 cups cold water
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 leek, cleaned and quartered (or 1 inch pieces if you intend to keep it in the soup)
1 carrot, peeled and quartered (or 1 inch pieces if you intend to keep it in the soup)
2 bay leaves
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups finely diced onion (about 1 medium onion)
2/3 cup arborio rice (I used about 1 cup whole wheat orzo)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

In a 6 to 8-quart stockpot, combine the chicken, water, and 2 tablespoons salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to a very low simmer, and skim the foam from the surface. Add the leek, carrot and bay leaves and continue to simmer with the chicken until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.  The internal temperature of the chicken needs to be 165F.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until translucent, about 6 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.


Remove chicken from the broth and allow meat to cool before dicing or shredding. Strain the broth (optional) and skim the fat.

Return the broth to the stove, bring it back to a boil, and add the onion and rice or orzo.  (I happened to have the orzo on hand and thought it'd be tasty!!)  Reduce the heat and simmer until the rice/orzo is almost cooked through, about 20 minutes for rice, 6-8 for orzo. Add the chicken and reduce the broth to a low simmer.

 
In a medium sized bowl, beat the lemon juice, eggs, and pepper. Ladle 2 cups of hot broth into a measuring cup with a spout. While whisking, slowly pour the 2 cups of broth into the egg mixture. Pour the egg mixture back into the pot with the remaining 1 tablespoon of salt. Stir well to blend. Divide among bowls and serve immediately.
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