Pan-Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri and Charred Vegetable Rice

I have been looking for a really good, light dinner for our family. Something we would all love. Well....this is it!! It was exactly what I was looking for, had 2 of my most favorite ingredients (cilantro and lime!!!!), and we all loved it!!!! Definitely will be making this one again soon!!!!





Pan-Grilled Chicken with Chimichurri and Charred Vegetable Rice
submitted by Camille
(adapted from Cooking Light magazine)

1 1/2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1 Tbsp chopped fresh shallots
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp black pepper, divided
Cooking spray
4 boneless chicken breasts, or 6-8 drumsticks

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl; stir in 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper.

Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle remaining 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp pepper over chicken. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side, or until chicken is cooked all the way through. Serve chicken with sauce.

Charred Vegetable Rice

1 cup cooked rice or Quinoa
1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup frozen corn
1/2 cup chopped zucchini
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1 Tbsp lime juice
3/4 tsp salt

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn and zucchini to pan; saute 5 minutes or until veggies are charred. Stir in tomatoes and green onions; saute another minute or 2 until tomatoes almost wilt. Combine veggie mixture, rice, lime juice and salt.

Taco Stromboli

This one might sound different, but it was really good!!!! So very quick and easy to make, and everyone loved it!! Try it, and tell me what you think!!



Taco Stromboli
submitted by Camille
(from Blue Cricket Design)

1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or turkey
1 Tbs. oil
1/2 diced small Onion
1/2 pack of Taco Seasoning
1/2 cup Salsa
1/2 cup Sharp Cheddar Cheese
Sour Cream
Cheese for top
1 Pizza crust dough in a tube

Add oil into skillet and saute the onions for a few minutes. Add meat. Brown and drain meet. Add seasoning and salsa.

Roll out your pizza dough making it long and a large rectangle. Pour meat into the center of the dough and top with 1/2 cup of cheese. Fold over sides and close the ends of the dough.

Bake at 350 for about 16 minutes or until golden brown.

Slice and serve over a bed of shredded lettuce. Top with Sour Cream and cheese. You could also add tomatoes, olives and green onions on top.

White Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Sweet Onions

This pizza was soooo good!!!! And there is no shredded cheese over it, just a little cream cheese on the crust! Fun and different....and EASY too!!! I thought it might be a little complicated, but it wasn't at all. I had the whole thing made pretty quickly! My kinda meal!! I sure hope you try this one...and let me know what you thought of it!!!

P.S. my kids liked it too!!!! Major plus!



White Chicken Pizza with Caramelized Sweet Onions
submitted by Camille
(adapted from pillsbury.com)

2 Tbsp butter or margarine
3 cups halve thinly sliced sweet onions ( I only had yellow onions on hand, it tasted fine!!!!)
1 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp ground thyme
2oz cream cheese
1 prepared pizza crust (I used pillsbury pizza dough)
1/3 cup Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded cooked chicken

In skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Cook onions and sugar in butter 20-25 minutes, stirring frequently, until deep golden brown and caramelized; stir in thyme.

Meanwhile, heat oven to 410 degree's. Spread cream cheese evenly over pizza crust/dough. Top with Alfredo sauce, shredded chicken and onions. Place on greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Bake in oven for 15-18 minutes, or until bottom or crust in a nice golden brown.

Parmesan Chicken

I had been looking for a good Parmesan Chicken recipe. I really like Parmesan Chicken, but hadn't found a GOOD recipe yet, and one that was on the healthier side. I found this one on a recipe blog, and changed it a little. It originally called to fry the chicken, but as I said, I wanted it on the healthier side, so I baked it instead. Still very good!!!



Parmesan Chicken
submitted by Camille
(adapted from Rookie Cookie)

4 to 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (we prefer bone-in chicken, we think it is more moist..so that is what I used)
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 eggs
1 Tbsp water
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra for serving


Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water. On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup grated Parmesan. Coat the chicken on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Cover a cookie sheet with foil, and then lightly spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Place chicken on cookie sheet and bake in 400 degree over for 25-30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, and is cooked through. Serve over some cooked pasta with a little bit of pasta sauce!!!!! So, so good!!!!

Candy-Cane Oreo Mint Brownies

Oh wow!!! Were these ever good!!! I found these baking chips at Wal-Mart, and they were so much easier then trying to chop up candy-canes!!! My husband LOVED them, and he isn't too crazy about the whole mint/chocolate mix thing. So so GOOD!!!!!





Candy-Cane Oreo Mint Brownies
submitted by Camille
(from I heart Naptime w/ Chocolate Sundaes)

~ One box of your favorite brownies
~ 1 pkg Oreo's (I used their festive Christmas ones, but regular can work fine too)
~ 1 Package Andes Peppermint Crunch Baking Chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325. Make brownie batter according to package directions. Then you will put about a spoonful of brownie batter into each cupcake holder. Next lay an Oreo on top. After that cover the entire Oreo with batter. The batter should be almost hitting the top. Then you will bake them for about 25-30 min (whenever a tooth pick comes clean). Just make sure not to brown them! Allow brownies to cool.

After the brownies cooled, I then melted about a half cup of the baking chips in the microwave and and then drizzled it over each brownie cup. Then I sprinkled some more baking chips on top of each one. Then let the drizzle cool before eating.