Chicken and Vegetables Over Couscous

Couscous is my new "thing".  I'd really never had it before until about 2 years ago when it came with my meal at Restaurant Marrakesh in Epcot... to be honest, that was my first experience with Moroccan/Middle Eastern food... but I was pretty much hooked from that point on.  I really love the flavors, the mix of sweet, savory and pungent that seems to be the base for many of the dishes,  as well as how the blank slate that is couscous ties it all together.  I admit, this one is not exactly traditional, but I was craving couscous and had enough on hand to drum up something close to chicken and couscous dishes I've had elsewhere.... and pretty darn good as well.  I suppose this recipe could be considered on the lighter/healthier side as well... definitely something I need to do more of.

Fair warning, this recipe makes a lot of food, the kids and I ate it for 2 days and I still had a little left to take for lunch.

2 boxes Near East Garlic & Olive Oil flavored Couscous (5.8 oz each)
4 boneless chicken breast halves, cubed into bite size pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 medium zucchini, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small bunch asparagus, tough ends trimmed, remaining stalk cut in thirds
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup chicken stock
handful golden raisins

Marinade for Chicken

1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs lemon juice
1 Tbs olive oil

Mix together all marinade ingredients, then toss with chicken to coat.  Marinate chicken 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat a little olive oil in the bottom of a large heavy pan over medium high heat.  Add chicken and marinade and cook, stirring occasionally until meat is no longer pink.  Remove chicken from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add onions and zucchini to the pan and cook, stirring frequently for about 2 minutes.  Add the bell pepper, asparagus, white wine and chicken stock.  Continue to cook, stirring, until vegetables are desired tenderness.  Add the chicken back to the pan and also add the raisins and warm through.

Prepare couscous according to package directions, serve chicken and vegetables over couscous.


Serves 8 with leftovers.

Homemade Chicken Soup

Early Spring seems to be the time my kids get colds. They survive the winter without so much as a sniffle, but bring on the change in the weather and excess pollen... and BAM, we have sick children in this house.

When I was a kid, if you got a cold you were almost guaranteed to be having chicken soup for dinner, and my parents didn't mess around... Campbell's was not an option. If you were sick, you were getting the real deal, a whole chicken, onions, celery, garlic and herbs simmered until cooked through, the meat removed and the bones returned to the pot until a rich stock was created. The aroma coming from the kitchen could cut through the worst stuffy nose and begin to comfort you long before it was ready to eat. To this day I still crave this soup when I need some comfort, but now I have to make it myself, and I gladly do so. My kids have picked up on just how comforting this soup is and without fail will ask for it when they don't feel well.

This is another one of those recipes I was taught to make by eyeballing ingredients, and it's very forgiving... so you can't really mess it up by adding more of this or less of that... it's just done to your taste. I'm just going to give you the basics, and let you take it from there.

1 whole fryer chicken, about 4 lbs
water to cover the chicken
4-5 cloves of garlic, smashed
2 large onions, quartered
3 large carrots, cut in large chunks
2 celery stalks, with leaves, cut in large pieces
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried thyme
1 cup white whine
1 lb baby carrots, cut in half inch pieces
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1/2 bag frozen peas
1/2 bag frozen corn
16 oz bag medium egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

Remove giblets from chicken cavity an rinse chicken. Place chicken, onions, garlic, celery, carrot chunks, wine, thyme and bay leaf in large stock pot with water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 1 1/2 hours or until chicken is tender and falling off the bone. Remove chicken from pot and remove as much meat as possible, chopping into bite size pieces, cover meat and set aside in refrigerator until ready to use. Return chicken carcass to pot with white wine, and continue to simmer until stock is reduced and becomes a nice golden color, about 1 more hour. Strain stock through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.

Return strained stock to pan and add baby carrots, simmer for 5 minutes. Add in egg noodles and continue to cook 5 minutes. Add remaining vegetables and seasoning to taste, let simmer until vegetables are tender but still retain some of their color and noodles are cooked through. Add reserved chicken. Season to taste with salt and pepper, allow to stand covered for 20 minutes and serve.

Cap'n Crunch Chicken Nuggets

I've always loved the combination of sweet and savory, so when I saw a recipe for Cap'n Crunch chicken I was intrigued. I mean, really... who doesn't like Cap'n Crunch or chicken nuggets? It sounded like a winner to me!

I found the original recipe here and tried them as-is the first time. The kids loved them, but I thought they needed a little more savory to compliment the sweet, so I tweaked them a bit.

These are great for dinner (especially if you have picky kids), or even as an appetizer at a party. I've heard of people baking these as well, though I haven't tried that myself yet, I imagine you could easily spray the coated nuggets with cooking spray or an olive oil mist and bake on a cookie sheet with good results.

Cap'n Crunch Chicken Nuggets

2 cups Cap'n Crunch Cereal
2 cups Rice Krispies
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp black pepper
4-6 boneless/skinless chicken breast halves
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup beer (or soda water if you prefer not to use beer)
canola or peanut oil for frying

Heat 2 inches of oil in a heavy dutch oven or electric fryer to 350º.

Place cereals in a gallon size ziploc bag, press out the air and seal. Crush cereals using a rolling pin or mallot (this is excellent stress relief and/or something fun for the kids to do) until you have fine crumbs. Add in flour and seasonings, shake bag well to mix.

In a small mixing bowl, beat eggs, then add beer and buttermilk.

Trim chicken breasts of all fat and cut into nugget size pieces. Dip each piece in egg mixture, then place in bag with cereal and shake to coat well. Fry in hot oil,6-8 pieces at a time, 3-4 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through. Drain on paper towels. Serve with honey mustard or green onion honey dip (see below).

Green Onion Honey Dip

1 cup sour cream
1-2 Tbs honey (start with one and add to taste)
3 green onions, white and green parts, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cajun seasoning (or less, to taste)
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Mix all ingredients together, cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Chicken Chow Mein

With the economy being what it is, prices being so high on everything and only having one income due to a crummy job market, I've been trying to stretch our food budget a little more than usual. Part of that has been going back to old standby recipes, and part of it has been finding recipes that use items I always have on hand. If the recipe makes enough for 6 people to eat for 2 meals... even better!

This one came about while I was browsing for chicken recipes. I knew I had only 4 breast halves in the freezer, meaning that in order to stretch that for 6 people, it would have to be a casserole or stir fry. I came across a recipe for Chicken Chow Mein. Now, I don't know about you, but this was a dish my mother made in the 70's... and granted, as a kid I liked it, but the majority of it came from a can. The last time I had tried the version from a can, it wasn't quite what I remembered. But I was willing to give it another shot... on my terms. This began my search for a REAL recipe for Chow Mein. I found quite a few, took my favorite parts of each one and came up with this. Not only did it stretch those 4 chicken breast halves to feed all 6 of us, it also made enough for leftovers for Monday... BONUS! I also had most of the ingredients on hand already, the only purchase I made for this was the bamboo shoots, beans sprouts and cabbage... which cost all of $2.40.

4 large chicken breast halves (about 2 lbs), cut in bite size pieces
3 Tbs canola or vegetable oil
salt and pepper to taste
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1 med onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
12 oz package sliced mushrooms
2 handfuls fresh bean sprouts
1/2 small head of cabbage, sliced
1 cup chicken stock or broth
7 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs oyster sauce
1/2 cup rice wine
3 Tbs honey (I prefer honey, but you can use sugar)
1/4 cup water
3 Tbs cornstarch
6 green onions, white and green parts chopped
cooked rice
crispy chow mein noodles


Heat oil in large frying pan over med-high heat. Season chicken to taste with salt and pepper, then brown in hot oil. Remove chicken with slotted spoon and set aside.

Add celery and onions to the pan, and saute 2 minutes, stirring often. Add garlic, ginger, mushrooms, bean sprouts and cabbage. Continue cooking 2 more minutes or until vegetables just start to cook down.

Mix together chicken stock, soy sauce, oyster sauce, rice wine and honey in a medium mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together water and cornstarch until smooth, then add to the broth mixture, mixing well. Add sauce mixture to the pan, stirring almost constantly until sauce begins to thicken.

Return chicken to the pan, add green onions and heat through. Serve over rice and top with chow mein noodles.

Chicken Marsala

I love this recipe. It tastes like it took all day to make, but it's easy enough to throw together for a quick weeknight meal.

1 cup flour
salt and pepper to taste
4-6 boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2" thickness
2 Tbs olive oil
2 Tbs butter
8oz package of fresh mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup marsala wine
1 cup chicken stock

In a shallow dish combine flour and salt and pepper to taste.

Add olive oil and butter to a large skillet and melt over medium high heat.

Dredge chicken in flour and brown on both sides in hot oil/butter mixture. Set chicken aside and keep warm. Add mushrooms to pan and saute until soft. Add wine and scrape up any brown bits in the pan, reduce heat and simmer until reduced by half. Add chicken stock and bring back to a simmer. Return chicken to pan, cover and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sauce has thickened.

Oven Fried Chicken

I LOVE fried chicken. When I think of making fried chicken though, I almost always come up with a number of reasons not to make it. For starters, it's time consuming and makes a huge mess of the kitchen, then there's that pesky nutrition thing... fried chicken is just plain bad for you. So, it was time to come up with an alternative.

I've always looked at oven fried chicken recipes a little suspiciously, to me they just never looked they would work well or the recipe used bread crumbs, which... well , just reminds me a bit of shake n bake. This week, however, I decided to try one of the recipes I had set aside a while back and give it a shot. Not only was it healthier than fried chicken, it tastes really good and was a whole lot easier and less messy. I was actually very surprised with how well this recipe turned out, it was crispy, flavorful and the coating stayed on! This will now be making regular appearances in our monthly menus as it's quite affordable on top of everything else... WIN WIN WIN!

1 cup low fat buttermilk
1 heaping Tbs whole grain Dijon mustard
1-2 Tbs your favorite hot sauce
12 chicken legs (you can remove the skin to make it healthier, but I left it on)
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
salt and pepper to taste
cajun seasoning to taste
2 tsp paprika
olive oil cooking spray

Combine buttermilk, mustard and hot sauce in a gallon size zipper top bag, add chicken legs and allow to marinate 2 to 4 hours (you can even let this go overnight if you want).

Preheat oven to 425ºF. Line a baking sheet with foil and place a baking rack large enough to hold all of the chicken pieces on it. Spray the rack with olive oil spray.

Mix flour and seasonings in a medium bowl. Remove chicken from marinade, shaking off excess, and coat in flour. Place on prepared rack. Spray chicken pieces with olive oil spray, turn and spray the other sides. Place in oven and bake 40 minutes, turn and continue baking another 15-20 minutes or until chicken is browned and cooked through.

General Tso's Chicken

This is one of those dishes that I make when I want to impress company, or when I want a favor from someone I know :) It's also the one meal my husband and kids ask me to make most often. Sure, it's a bit time consuming, but once you get the process down you can really get it done in under an hour. On days when I'm really in the mood to spend the day in kitchen (honest, I have lots of days like that!), I serve this with homemade egg rolls and fried rice. Other days I send hubby over to the take-out place down the street for those sides (hey, as Pioneer Woman would say, I'm just keeping it real here). Fresh steamed broccoli also goes well with this, but in all honesty, you don't have to stick to traditional sides... serve it with some rice-a-roni if you like.

Here's the recipe to serve 6:

3 Tbs cornstarch
3 large eggs
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts
oil or shortening for deep frying

Heat oil in deep fryer (I use a deep electric skillet with enough oil to cover the chicken pieces) to 275ºF. If you're using boneless breasts, cut each breast half into 2 or 3 large pieces, pounding the thicker pieces out a bit so all the pieces will cook evenly. You can leave boneless thighs whole.

Whisk the cornstarch and eggs together to make batter. The batter will be very thin, only slightly thicker than the beaten eggs alone. Dip each chicken piece in the batter and place 3 or 4 at a time in oil. I know you may be thinking that I still haven't caught my mistake on the oil temperature, but it wasn't a mistake (come on now, my typing isn't THAT bad!). Let the chicken cook until the coating just turns white and sets slightly, about 1 minute. Remove the chicken pieces to a paper towel lined plate. They should look like this:



This is called velveting the chicken. You can skip this step if you're pressed for time or if you're just feeling lazy that day, but it really does help keep the chicken (especially the breast meat) from getting tough.

Once all the chicken pieces are done, increase the heat to 375ºF (ahh THERE'S the temp you were looking for earlier!). It's going to take that oil a bit to come up to temperature, so while we're waiting let's make the sauce.

3 Tbs cornstarch
3 Tbs sugar
2 1/2 Tbs rice vinegar
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup dry sherry
1 Tbs chile garlic sauce (or to taste)
1 bunch green onions (white and green parts) chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp grated fresh ginger root
4-16 small dried red chile peppers(keep whole)
2-3 Tbs honey
2-3 Tbs sweet and sour sauce

In a medium mixing bowl, combine cornstarch through chili garlic sauce, mixing well. The sauce will be cloudy.

In a large frying pan or wok, heat about 1 Tbs of oil over medium heat. Saute the dried chiles until the start to blacken. Add the chopped ginger, garlic and green onions and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir the sauce mixture again, and then add to the pan, stirring constantly. The sauce will start out cloudy:



But as it cooks, it will thicken and become a bit translucent, looking more like the General Tso's sauce you're familiar with:



Once this happens, add the honey and sweet and sour sauce to taste (you can also adjust the heat at this point by adding more chili garlic sauce), turn the heat off and go back to the chicken. Fry the chicken pieces in hot oil until golden brown, about 2 or 3 minutes more.



Once all of the chicken is browned, add it to the sauce. Return the pan to medium low heat and simmer the chicken in the sauce about 5 minutes.

Serve each chicken piece with a spoonful of sauce... and if you really want to mess with your kids... some chopsticks :)