Chicken Skewers

Today since it was quite nice outside, I decided upon a simple tasty dish for lunch. I looked in my fridge and found that I had some Chicken that needed to be cooked soon and thought that skewers were something I have not had in quite awhile.

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, cubed
7-10 sm Bamboo Skewers
1/2 cup Caesar Italian Salad Dressing
1/2 cup Italian Roast Red Pepper Salad Dressing
Olive Oil
2 Scallions, diced

I began by cubing the Chicken. This works a little better when you freeze the chicken, or get it close to frozen, and cut it then. I find it a lot easier to cut then.



I got the two bottles of Salad Dressing.



I poured them in with the cubed Chicken. Mix together. Put in fridge for about 30 minutes. You could probably leave out of the fridge, it's up to you.



Now get your Bamboo Skewers and soak them in water. This tends to make them less likely to burn or splinter during this entire process. You can leave them in water for an hour if you would like, however I only left them in for about 15 minutes.



Now once you are ready around 15 minutes later, use your Skewers to put 3 or 4 pieces of Chicken on each Skewer.



Now using a saucepan put in some Olive Oil and turn the heat to MEDIUM.



My saucepan is a bit deeper than usual saucepans and most likely has a different name but I treat it like a saucepan. Anyways, I put four Skewers in at first.



Once they are done, which I tested by cutting open one as the cooking process went on. I turned them over every few minutes in an attempt at a thorough cooking.

So I took them off once they were cooked properly and plated them. To them I added a diced Scallion. Enjoy.

Spicy Chicken Snacktime!

This was just thrown together since I had just gotten back from Minnesota and the Christmastime holiday. It is ridiculously tasty and even opened my eyes to new flavor combinations!

Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breast, diced
Soy Sauce
Teriyaki Sauce
Caesar Salad Dressing
Lime Juice
Sweet Sour Sauce
Garlic Salt
Ground Turmeric Root
Ground Ancho Chili Powder
Asiago Cheese, shredded

First, freeze your Chicken Breasts. This makes cutting it into smaller pieces so much easier. Once frozen, dice them up and put them in a mixing bowl.

Now, get your marinade ingredients.

Alright, good work. Now you mix everything together that is in the picture. I did not use exact amounts. I can say I used a large portion of the Caesar Salad Dressing and then added from there. Then I mixed everything together.

Find your Garlic Salt. Pay no attention to the hand in the picture, it's just my grubby old mitt!

Alright, now put a skillet on the stovetop and turn the heat to MEDIUM. Give it a few seconds and pour in the marinade and Chicken. Give it a healthy dose of Garlic Salt. I love Garlic Salt, so you might want to use a little less.

Now add a dusting of Ancho Chili Powder and Ground Turmeric. Mix them in.

Let it cook for a few minutes, stir a few times somewhere in there. Should be easy to taste when they are done.

I took them out, sans sauce, and sprinkled some shredded Asiago Cheese on top. It was delicious!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Today I was feeling a little under the weather and thought how I would feel better. Then I remembered the cure all for all ailments, Chicken Noodle Soup. I had some Chicken in the fridge that I had to use for something soon, so I threw it in the freezer and went to the store. I needed more materials. This recipe is the delicious result.

Ingredients:
3 Chicken Breasts, diced
1 bag Whole Wheat Egg Noodle Pasta
4 Carrots, diced
1 White Onion, finely diced
4 Celery stalks, halved and sliced
1/2 stick Butter
Caesar Salad Dressing
Italian Herb Mix
Ground Black Pepper
32 oz Vegetable Broth
32 oz Chicken Broth
1 cup Water (optional)

So, I began at the store for this recipe. I knew I wanted to make Chicken Noodle Soup and all I had for it was the Chicken and Carrots. So I picked up some White Onions, Celery, and the 2 Broths.

I put the Chicken in the freezer first because when it's partially frozen it is a lot easier to cut into small pieces.

I then added some Caesar Salad Dressing to it and set it aside since it comes into play much later on.

Now dice up your Carrots, White Onion, and Celery stalks.

Alright, put a stockpot on the stove. Throw or lightly toss your Butter in there.

Once the Butter is mostly melted, throw in your diced White Onion, Celery stalks, and Carrots. Stir and add a few pinches of an Italian Herb Mix with a single pinch of Ground Black Pepper.

Let cook for about 6 minutes or until the Carrots are somewhat softened and Onions have caramelized.

Then you find the 2 Broths.

Pour them in. Stir.

Add Noodles.

Stir and then put a saucepan on a different burner with heat on medium. Put the Chicken and Dressing on in.

Make sure to keep stirring them around in the pan so they do not burn to it at all.

Now add in 1 cup of Water to the stockpot if you think the liquid level is low. I did and it turned out amazing.

Alright, once the Chicken is done cooking you strain out the excess Dressing and put the Chicken into the stockpot. Stir it in well.

Once the Carrots are soft enough it is done. For the entire recipe, I want to say this took me like 30 to 45 minutes total. I am sure if I let it cook longer it would taste a bit different, however as is it is a very rich soup. Enjoy!

Chicken Caesar Salad

This dish is a very very simple recipe to throw together when you want something quick and easy. I decided to do this a couple days ago and finally got around to it for dinner this evening.

Ingredients:
1 cup Italian Caesar Salad Dressing (FAT FREE)
1 lb Chicken Breast
Salad Mix
Bacon Bits
Parmesan/Romano Cheese Mix
Olive Oil

Alright, seems quite simple doesn't it?

Well that's because it is!

The marinade is literally just the Italian Caesar Salad Dressing. That's it. Boom, so easy. I put it in a bag due to the ease of marinating the Chicken in it.

I cut the Chicken up into smaller strips so it would cook faster and absorb the marinade quicker. Then into the marinade the Chicken goes!

I put a saucepan on the stovetop and turned the heat to medium. I added in a drizzle of Olive Oil.

About 15 seconds after turning the heat on, I poured the marinade and Chicken into the saucepan.

I turned the Chicken strips over about 2 minutes later.

This is what the look like when done. Total cook time should take about 6 minutes, but check to be sure by cutting one of the pieces open.

After they were done I turned off the heat and got my Salad Mix out. It is a simple Salad Mix from the store so I did nothing more than take it out of the container, wash it, and plate it. To this I added some Bacon Bits (fake bacon but tasty) which the Chicken went on top of. Topped with a healthy dose of Parmesan/Romano Cheese Mix. Enjoy.

Chef's Original: Shiitake Sampler

Alright, so this recipe is a very simple one that I would think makes a great appetizer or finger food. Was very spur of the moment when I noticed I had 3 mushrooms in my fridge still.





Ingredients:
3 Shiitake Mushrooms
Caesar Salad Dressing
Sweet Sour Sauce
Sesame Seed Oil
Olive Oil
Butter
Fennel Powder
Garlic Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Italian Herb Mix
Paprika

I began by putting a sauce pot on the stove top. I put in about 2 spoonfuls of Sweet Sour Sauce, 1/3 cup of Caesar Salad Dressing, around 10 drops of Sesame Seed Oil, 1 spoonful of Olive Oil, and 1/4 stick of Butter.

Then I turned the heat to medium and turned my attention to the spices. I put in a dusting of everything. Not very exact, but then again I did not really want to depend on the spices to flavor everything due to what was already in there.

Once it started to boil, in went the Mushrooms. I places them cap side down with the stems up. I did this because I wanted this dish to literally be a finger food item, in other words you don't need utensils. Just grab the stalk and eat the cap.

Stay close since these are done in a minute or so due to the caps not being that thick. I presume if I used White Button Mushrooms that a toothpick would have to be used for the part where you hold the mushroom to eat it, but Shiitake's have long stems.

Well, once done you plate them. I literally just plucked them out of the pot and put them on the plate, then added a pinch or two of Italian Herb Mix and Ground Black Pepper. Enjoy.

Zesty Chicken

So after mixing together the Zesty Chops, I decided I was not done making food Zesty. However, using the same marinade to make pork and chicken Zesty was not to be had. I had to Zesty it up even more!







Ingredients:
1 lb Chicken Breasts
Caesar Salad Dressing
Honey Mustard Salad Dressing
Lime Juice
White Wine
Italian Herb Mix
Garlic Powder
Onion Powder
Ground Black Pepper

I began by trimming the Chicken Breasts and slicing them lengthwise in half. I then turned my attention to the marinade. I used 1 cup Caesar Salad Dressing and 1 cup Honey Mustard Salad Dressing. I topped this off with a 1/2 cup of White Wine and a heavy dash of Lime Juice. Mix together.

Add in the 1/2 cup Italian Herb Mix, dustings of Garlic Powder and Onion Powder, and as much Ground Black Pepper as you want. Mix. Once mixed, add in the Chicken. Let sit for about 30 minutes.

Use a saucepan with medium heat. Once it is heated, add in the marinade and Chicken. Cover.

Make sure to stir every minute or two to make sure the Chicken cooks properly. It should be done in about 10-15 minutes, I cut them open to check out done they were. If not done, cook some more!

I took them off and served with some spicy rice I cooked up in my rice cooker. Enjoy.

Zesty Chops

I picked up a plethora of Pork Chops the other day and decided some cooking was in order. I have not Zestified anything as of late, so today I decided to Zesty it up.









Ingredients:
8 Pork Chops
Italian Caesar Dressing
Lemon Juice
White Wine
Italian Herb Mix

I began with trimming the Pork Chops because I demand lean cuts of meat! I am not a fan of the fat on pork, chicken, or beef unless it's a long cooking process where the fat will melt away.

So after trimming them, I created a Zesty marinade. I used 1 cup of Italian Caesar Dressing to start with. To this I added about a 1/4 cup of Lemon Juice. Then I noticed a delightfully non-empty bottle of White Wine nearby, which I poured about 1/2 a cup's worth into the mixing bowl I was using. I stirred all of this together.

Then I put in about a 1/3 of a cup of Italian Herb Mix in and stirred again. Then in went the Pork Chops that I used a fork to mix into the marinade mixture. I let sit for about 30 minutes while I cooked up some other foods.

I placed a large saucepan on the stovetop and proceeded to turn the heat to medium. Once I felt some heat coming off the pan, I poured in the mixture and Pork Chops. I cooked the Chops in the marinade for a more intense flavor. After about 5 minutes, I flipped them for an even cook through.

Then I took them off and served them with some spicy rice I cooked up in my rice cooker. Enjoy.