Grilled Lemon Chicken

Grilled Lemon Chicken
Nutrition Facts

Ingredients:

3-4 pounds bone in skin on chicken breasts and/or thighs
Marinade

Marinade Ingredients:

2 Tbsp lemon zest
1 cup lemon juice
¼ cup olive oil
6 cloves garlic
2 t dried thyme
1 t dried rosemary
2 T fresh parsley
½ t red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

Click here for the complete directions!

Don't forget to follow me at MindfulPalate.com!

Sort of Moroccan Chicken

I grew up in the Midwest US eating up all the plain cookery that is made there. We had corn of course because so much is grown in Central Illinois. We also ate ground beef casseroles, fried chicken, pot roasts, and tomatoes. Seasonings consisted of salt and in the more daring presentations - bit of black pepper (ground fine and from a little can). I lived there and ate this way for about 25 years.

Then we moved to Houston, a city known for its amazing restaurants featuring every possible cuisines found on the planet. I cannot say I dove right in and started sampling all the flavors, as I did not. I did expand my small town palate a bit and soon loved the more manageable Tex-Mex. It took some time before I ventured passed Tex-Mex and on to the foods of countries I only knew about because of world news reports.

This dish began life somewhere as a Moroccan recipe, but as I am unable to leave a recipe alone, because my husband really cannot tolerate a chickpea that has not been hummusified, and because he also does not care for the texture of regular couscous, I did mess with the recipe and really cannot stand here and pretend it is Moroccan anymore. So, I am about to create an entire new classification of food for this blog - Moroccan American - if you lose this recipe in the posts, look for it there. If you are into the nutrition of foods, here it is, the calories include the couscous but not the side dishes.

Sort of Moroccan Chicken 
(with whole wheat pearl couscous because it's more like rice in size and my husband likes it)

What you start with:

1 T good oil - pure olive oil is ok but do not use extra virgin as you will be doing a high heat saute and brown and EVOO will smoke on you. There's a nice blend of canola and pure olive oil that has a nice high heat point and will not smoke. That way you can have a bit of the good for you oil.

1 medium - large onion, chopped - the size depends on just how much you love onion.

Seasonings to measure ahead of time and put in a little bowl so you can just dump them in at the right time:

2 large bay leaves
8-10 whole cloves, crushed - I used my garlic press!
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric - somewhere along the line I found a place that sells turmeric that is more mustardy in color than the dark orangey brown stuff usually found in the supermarket. I think it tastes better and if you can find it, do get it.
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper

The rest of the stuff to prep and have ready before beginning to cook:

2 pounds of chicken thighs, deboned, deskinned, and chopped

2 pounds of chicken breasts, deboned, deskinned, and chopped

2 (16oz) cans great northern beans, drained and rinsed - if you are not married to someone that hates chickpeas, use those instead and your dish will more resemble real Moroccan food. If you can, get organic and look for a brand like Eden that sells beans in BPA free cans.

1 (16 oz) can fire roasted diced tomatoes, preferably organic

2 cups (minimum, go ahead and have more ready) salt free chicken stock (I'm a fan of Kitchen Basics).

1 T cornstarch (*optional) 

2 large carrots, peeled and cut

1-2 zucchini, peeled and cut

2-3 cups spinach, torn

2 cups whole wheat pearl couscous - prepared per the package directions

How to cook it all together:

Set a large pot on the stove over medium heat. Add the oil, and when it is shimmering add the onions. Saute until they are nicely softened - probably about five - ten minutes. Dump in all the spices and stir things up a bit for a minute - increase the heat to medium high. Then add the chicken and cook until it starts to brown.

Add the beans, tomatoes, stock. Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to low and allow to cook for a couple hours. The time is necessary as the seasonings really meld and morph during that time.

Now, this is where you may want to make an adjustment. Ideally, this dish cooks itself a bit thick. *If it is too thin, mix up some cornstarch (about 1T) in some of the stock and then add it to the pot. If the mixture is too thick, add more stock. I kind of like the consistency you get with the cornstarch and will use it anyway - the first time I made this I put in WAY too much stock and had to thicken it. It did help that the son kept tasting it and reducing the stock in that way.

About 45 minutes before serving, add the carrots and zucchini. after 30 minutes taste and adjust the seasonings. You may be a salter. If you are, this is the time to add a little. About 15 minutes before serving, start cooking the whole wheat pearl couscous in a medium sized pot. Add the spinach to the meat mix and stir a few times while it wilts.

To serve, spoon couscous on a plate and top with the Moroccan Chicken. In the picture above you can see that I served it with a piece of pita bread and Shirazi Salad from The CC Palate.

Panko Chicken

Ok, I have just about had it with the stupid super lean chicken breasts in the store. Do yours squeak when cooked? Mine did. When they "look" done, they are over done. When they ARE done, they look unattractively underdone. I've tried braising, pan sauteing, oven baking, roasting, etc. But when I cook a boneless skinless chicken breast, I keep hearing that obnoxious squeak when I cut it that means it's over cooked and dried out. Bleh.

It's easy to cook up a moist and lovely chicken thigh or a whole bird...or even a bone in skin on chicken breast. But the weekday speedy boneless skinless breast was really beginning to annoy me.

So, I tried a bunch of stuff. Really I did. I ruined many a batch o' chicken breasts. Then one day, I tried again. The first thing my son said after sampling this experiment was "Wow. I can even cut this with a fork." Then he said "This is awesome, I'd pay $30 for that in a restaurant." 22 year old men are odd things.

I guess I finally figured it out. Here's what I did. Now remember,  my non chicken ingredients are at this point rather estimated because I only made it once and am not much of a measurer anyway. The recipe was repeated with success by a friend though so I think it's pretty dratted close. I'll edit it later if I find that I am off in an important area.

Panko Buttermilk Chicken Breasts

The main ingredients with notes as to flexibility and variations on a chicken breast theme:


3 large organical chicken breasts of the uneven size and proportion (don't worry, we'll fix that)

Enough Buttermilk to cover the chicken breasts (I did not measure and really, most of it will be poured down the drain later so don't worry about the calories, ok?)

Several shakes of Tabasco sauce (optional, but I thought it made a wonderful flavor enhancement and besides I love my food spicy, although this did not make the chicken spicy, there was just a hint of something extra). My friend Gabi, the BrokeAss Gourmet likes to use a couple tablespoons of Sriracha Sauce instead of Tabasco. Give it a try, it's tasty.

1 1/2 cups Panko Japanese Style Bread Crumbs (I used the Italian seasoned ones this time, but it's not important cuz you add whatever seasonings you want and I meant to grab the plain when I was at the store and I just didn't. So this is what I had to work with)

1 cup freshly grated Parmigianno Reggiano (or your favorite hard Italian cheese all grated up. Do make sure it's fresh grated. Never buy grated cheese in a bag or plastic container unless you don't like the people coming over for dinner.

More Seasonings I used probably 3 t or even more of garlic, oh say 2 t dried parsley, about a 1 of oregano, and a number of turns of the black pepper mill. You use the seasonings that you like. You might not be a major garlicaholic like me so you would NEVER additional garlic if you got the Italian seasoned Panko. BTW, you don't have to make this Italian. Use whatever your favorite herbs and seasonings are. You may love white pepper tarragon chicken or you may be a big Herbs de Provencal person. If so, then make it so.

How the thing is put together and baked to glorious tenderness and juiciness:

Get out one of those big zip lock bags and your meat mallet. Put one chicken breast inside the ziplock bag. Do not seal it, but lightly flatten the open end with one hand because you are about to whack the whathaveyou out of your chicken with the flat side of the mallet and you don't want the chicken squirting out. Don't use the bumpy side of the mallet, ok? Whack away. Whack until the breast is about even thickness throughout. You'll probably find it between 1/2 an inch to 3/4 of an inch thick depending on how big the breasts were in the first place. Repeat with the other two breasts.

One thing you will notice is that your three breasts are now incredibly huge. Didn't look like so much meat before. Now you know that only 1/2 of one is going to be just fine for dinner. Put the flattened breasts in a bowl or other container with a lid. Cover with buttermilk. Lift each breast to make sure the buttermilk gets all around them. Stir in some Tabasco while you are doing the lifting part. Cover and return to the fridge for about 1/2 an hour to an hour or whatever amount of time you find you have. Bring out of the fridge and sit for 1/2 an hour to bring to room temperature before cookery.

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Yes. 500, not 350, not 375, not 425. 500 degrees in Fahrenheit.

While the oven is heating up, mix up all the other non-chicken ingredients in a wide bowl. Inhale the aroma and adjust the seasonings until the dry mix smells awesome. This is my most favorite of mindfulness cookery techniques. Use your nose, eyes, and memory in addition to a recipe.

Line a large baking pan with foil and give it a spritz of non stick spray.

Pull out one of the chicken breasts and coat well with the Panko mix on both sides. Place in the pan. Repeat. Repeat.

Now, the best thing is if your chicken breasts do not touch so use a large enough pan. If they have to touch you may need to add five minutes to the cookery time.

When the oven preheating dinger goes off and you know your oven is really hot, put the pan in and let it bake for about 20 minutes. Yes. 20 minutes. If you think your chickens were more on the 3/4 inch size you may need five more minutes. I will let you cut one or use your meat thermometer to make sure. Then remove from the oven and let them sit in the pan for five minutes to seal in the juiciness and flavors.

As you can see, the chicken was not only perfectly cooked but the Panko gave it a nice brownness - which helped me mentally because a non-browned chicken shrieks underdone to me and I am immediately prejudiced against it. Give it a try. If you use different seasonings, let me know what you did and how it turned out.

Don't forget to enjoy your chicken mindfully. :D

Awesomeness with Chicken

Chicken Stew is one of my new faves. I've been making Aline's Cajun version (here at Mindful) for a while, but recently tried a more standard Central USA version...well, I did make a few changes cuz that's what I do. Just can't stop changing spices or in this case the entire finish and presentation. Here's a link to the original version by Rachel Bilson, I'm sure it's great as is too.

I began my changes with subbing in white wine for the dry sherry, not because I thought it would taste better but because it was Sunday in Houston and that meant that I could not buy any sherry. If I had cognac in the house I would have used that instead because I'm not a sherry fan...I'm not a cognac fan either, but I think I don't mind that as much. We always drink the red kind of wine so I still had to go out and buy a bottle of white (after trying to buy the sherry and finding out that they would not sell it to me).

Avocado Chicken and Rice

This is one of those dishes that falls into the comfort food category for me. Maybe it's the cheese. You can cheese it up for as much comfort as you need. I've posted the calories here at Calorie Count using slightly less olive oil instead of the butter and using only one cup of the cheese, less avocado, and slightly smaller servings (the calories are for four servings). You can do that, it changes the taste and texture just a little, but it's still very good and a lower calorie way to go. If you are calorie counting, use those portions, otherwise, make it like I do!

I am more likely to make it as described below, easy (also comforting), use some convenience items, and not worry so much about the calories when I'm making it, so I go for more cheese and avocado!

Avocado Chicken and Rice

Ingredients for three main dish servings:

1 T butter (or olive oil)
3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 T butter (or olive oil)
1 package Low Sodium Chicken Rice-a-Roni
1-2 Hatch chilis either hot or mild as you prefer (or 1 small can hatch chili peppers) - you can use more chilis if you use mild or use a mix!
2 1/2 cups chicken broth or water

2 T chopped cilantro
1-2 C Monterrey jack cheese
3 small avocados, firm but ripe
1 lime cut in half
1 1/2 C Pace Chunky Salsa in medium or hot
extra cilantro for garnish - optional

Directions:

In a large deep skillet that has a lid, melt the butter over medium heat, add the chicken chunks and saute until browned. Remove to a plate and cover with foil. Add the second T of butter to the pan and pour in the Rice-a-Roni. Stir til the bits of vermicelli are golden brown. Stir in chopped hatch chilis. Add the broth and the bag of seasonings that came with the rice and stir well. Add the chicken to the mix, bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 15-20 minutes or til the rice is done. Stir in the cilantro and as much Monterrey jack cheese as you like.

You can do the presentation in a couple different ways.

Cut the avocados in half and scoop the seed and squish the lime juice over them.. Set two avocado halves on each plate with the cavity facing up. Spoon in the avocado chicken mixture, top with salsa, sprinkle with more cilantro and serve.

I've also done it as shown in the picture - make a ring of avocado slices and then mound the rice and chicken mix in the center, top with salsa, sprinkle with more cilantro and serve. Or just dice the avocado and sprinkle them on top.

 This recipe is easy to make for four or more, just increase the ingredients accordingly. There's a family size package of Rice-a-Roni that is perfect if you are making this for four.

Enjoy mindfully.

Savory Baked Chicken

Here's another delicious recipe from my friend and guest blogger crazypotato.

I was having a busy week and wanted to do something super quick (to prepare) and easy (meaning let it cook in an oven or crock pot without me having to mess with it). This recipe fitted the bill. Delicious, just sprinkle the stuff on top and put it in the oven while you take care of other business (such as, piano practice, painting, exercising, quality time with family, or watching Star Trek reruns on Youtube). Then just take it out and eat it. :-)

Savory baked chicken
2 1/2 to 3-lb frying chicken, cut up
3 tbsp margarine, melted
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp tarragon leaves
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp pepper

Heat oven to 325 F. Place chicken pieces in 13x9 inch pan. Combine margarine and lemon juice; pour over chicken. Sprinkle with salt, tarragon, paprika and pepper. Cover with foil. Bake at 325 F for 45 minutes. Uncover; bake another 15 minutes or until tender.

From The Pillsbury Cookbook

Chicken Fajitas

Nothing better than a sizzling platter of goodies to make the Tex Mex build your own "sandwich" known as a fajita! The creative possibilities are endless and they can please the vegetarian as well as the meat lover. For the vegetarians, just make sure to have plenty of portabello mushrooms.

Ordinarily I marinate flank steak in a big freezer bag with a liberal amount of balsamic vinegar and most of a little jar of chopped garlic and do likewise with portabello mushrooms in a separate bag. For a variation, I sometimes add a bit of that Instant Smoke stuff, but not always. Marinade at least an hour, turn frequently and bring to room temperature before grilling. When the coals are ready, grill both til done, slice, and fight off the *neighbors who are now all standing by your fence, plates in hand, asking what on earth that heavenly smell is and when should they come over. Don't recommend this marinade if you use chicken. It "colors" the meat unattractively, just rub with spices and grill.

*true story, well, true except for the plates.


Recently made chicken fajitas without the usual and most excellent addition of that outdoor grilled over coals flavor because I did not decide until the last minute what I wanted to eat. Sure, it's better if you can do the meal over coals, but this did just fine in a pinch and since chicken can be done without a marinade that was the meat of choice.

 


Ingredients and Directions All Mixed Up With Variations:

Whole wheat flour tortillas (warmed in the microwave)

3 thin chicken breasts coated liberally with your favorite fajita seasoning or other southwestern combination of seasonings. I used Emeril's this time. Pan fry til browned and just done with a little olive oil over medium heat, allow to sit a bit covered with foil to keep warm and slice before serving.

1 portabello mushroom given the same treatment of liberal seasoning, sliced, and sauteed in the chicken pan til softened and add to covered plate of chicken.

On another and much prettier plate, arrange sections with a pile of quartered cherry tomatoes or the tomato of your choice cut small, slices of sweet yellow onion, sliced jalapeno peppers, and torn lettuce of your preference (I used red leaf lettuce as you can see by the darkened lettuce edge to the right hand side of the "fixings" pile on the tortilla, but the type of lettuce is totally up to you).

In a bowl, squish the juice of 1/2 a lime. Then slice a not overly soft Haas avocado in half and pull apart. Use a spoon to scoop out the seed. The use the spoon to scoop bite sized lumps of avocado and add it to the bowl of lime juice and stir to coat. Scoop out the brown bits if needed - always good to have a spare avocado or two!


The lime juice will keep the avocado from turning an ugly brown. If you like the taste of lime, squish in the other half too! You could make guacamole if you prefer, and that's best kept simple: scoop the avocado(s) into a bowl with the squishings of lime juice, add a little minced garlic and mash all together, taste and add a pinch of salt if you like (I used to use celery salt and it was very good that way too). That's really all you need to do, however if you want to get fancy, add tiny bits of tomato and jalapeno as that is also very good. I don't suggest using picante sauce or Tabasco as that tends to "color" the guac and it's prettiest nice and green! For me, the more you "do" to the guacamole, the less guacamole-like it is. I've seen people make a horrid pale green mess by adding things like sour cream or some such abomination. *shudders*. Do not ever do that.

Set all this on the table with some grated sharp cheddar and your favorite salsa and get creative, or even competitive, as you build your sandwich!

Aline's Chicken Stew

I work with a lovely woman from White Castle, Louisiana named Aline who is a fabulous cook. As do all the best cooks from Louisiana, her recipe begins "first, you make a roux...". But, because Aline has learned over the years that some short cuts work as well as the original long cuts, she also said that I should use Tony Chachere's Instant Roux, and you know what? That stuff works great! Five minutes from powder to roux. In the recipe below, you are more than welcome to make your own roux if you are too good to use instant. Aline uses vegetable oil and I use butter in the traditional roux, you use what you like. Aline and I will use instant roux.

This is absolutely Louisiana home style comfort food at it's best. I served it over brown rice and added a side of green beans for color. I've been told that the appropriate way is to serve it over rice with a side of baked macaroni and cheese, and a frosty cold Barg's Root Beer from a bottle. Maybe I'll try that next time, but first I'll ask Aline for the proper mac and cheese recipe.

 Aline's Chicken Stew

One cup prepared roux
2 pounds chicken thighs (either bone in or not as you prefer)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
3 T Paul Prudhomme's Magic Seasoning for Chicken (brand preference is mine, you use what you like)
2 cups chicken stock
3 t garlic, chopped
fresh cracked pepper to taste

First, make a roux. See! I told you! You only need to make the roux first if you are not using the instant roux. If you use instant you can make it right before it is to the sauteed veggies.

Season the chicken thighs with a couple teaspoons of the Magic Seasoning and cracked pepper. Place in a baking pan that has been sprayed with your favorite cooking oil. Roast in a 350 oven for 30-45 minutes until  browning but not quite done.

While the chicken is baking, saute the onions and celery in a little olive oil in a large pot, add the roux, the rest of the seasonings, the chicken, the stock, and simmer covered for 15 minutes to finish cooking the chicken - the 15 minute finish the chicken part is what you do if you used bone in chicken. At this point you would remove the chicken and take the meat off and return it to the pot if you don't want bones and skin at the table. Otherwise, just proceed with the simmering. I just used boneless chicken so all I had to do was discard the skin... which I did at this point!

You can either use prepared chicken stock, or make your own. Or, if you started cooking and realized you don't have any stock, add a couple cups of water to the pan drippings from the baked chicken and simmer a bit, adjusting flavor to your taste with some pepper and maybe some garlic or a dash of Tabasco.

Continue to simmer 45 minutes - or longer if you want the chicken to fall apart. The falling apart chicken was to die for. Just cook the chicken until it's dinner and don't fuss the time too awfully much.

If the gravy is too thin, add more roux (mix the instant roux with some of the gravy and add back to the pan so you don't have to worry about lumps). If it is too thick, add more stock. Make it as thick as you like. Adjust the seasonings to your taste.

You know you have the seasonings are right when your son comes in from the garage and says "what is that? Even the garage smells great!"

Excellently and mindfully served over brown rice with a side of tender green beans.