Recipe Archives | Page 5 of 12

Spicy and Sweet Roasted Nuts

June 2, 2015
Allison
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Recipe
chili, chipotle, nuts, recipe, roasted nuts, snack, spicy, sweet

I’m giving you a fair warning. These are addictive. They have everything you want… sweet, savory, spicy, and salty. I highly suggest portioning these out or you’ll go through half the batch before you realize it.

Spicy and Sweet Roasted Nuts

1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1 large egg white

1 cup slivered almonds

1 cup unsalted cashews

1 cup unsalted sunflower seeds

1. In a small bowl, combine the sugar, salt, chipotle, cumin, oregano, and chili powder.

2. In a large bowl, whisk the egg white until it begins to get foamy. Pour the nuts into the egg and mix until they’re evenly covered.

3. Mix in the spices. Lay the nuts out on a baking pan lined with parchment. Cook in a 325 degree oven for 15 minutes, tossing in between. Shut the oven off after the timer goes off and leave the nuts in the oven for another 15 minutes.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps

June 1, 2015
Allison
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Recipe
buffalo, butter lettuce, carrots, celery, chicken, dill, dinner, recipe

Jason and I went to an event at a Senegalese restaurant in Oakland this afternoon. We were invited by a friend who is from New Jersey too. I met her through someone back home who introduced us because we moved to the Bay Area around the same time. It’s lovely talking with people who are experiencing similar trials and tribulations of moving across the country. It can sometimes be challenging to get familiar with a new area, build a network, make new friends, etc. There were quite a few people at this event who are NY/NJ transplants so it was lovely reminiscing about the things we miss about the East Coast and relish in the things that are much better out West.

Since I knew that we were going to be there for a few hours today, I wanted to make something in the Crock Pot for dinner so it could cook while we were out of the house. We have a lot of butter lettuce ready in the garden so it seemed like a nice time to try out a chicken wrap recipe. These have the right amount of heat that’s nicely balanced with the blue cheese. The snap of the celery gives enough texture so that there’s some crunch to it too. I created my own seasonings mixture in this recipe, you can always replace the spices with a pre-packaged Ranch dressing mix instead. Either way, this is a simple recipe with lots of leftovers.

Easy Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
2 Tablespoons dried parsley
1 1/2 teaspoons dill, chopped
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon dried chives
1 teaspoon salt
6 chicken breasts
1 12-ounce bottle Frank’s buffalo sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
Carrots, shredded
Celery, sliced thin
Butter lettuce leaves
Blue cheese dressing

1. In a small bowl, combine the first eight ingredients.

2. Place the chicken on the bottom of the slow cooker. Sprinkle spice mixture on top of the chicken. Pour in the buffalo sauce and stock. Mix the chicken together. Cover and cook on LOW for 5-6 hours.

4. Remove the chicken from the Crock Pot and place in a large dish. Shred the chicken using two forks. Add some of the sauce to the chicken until you’ve reached the exact about of spice you’re looking for.

4. Serve with shredded carrots, celery, and blue cheese.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

May 30, 2015
Allison
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Recipe
artichokes, carrots, chicken, dinner, garlic, recipe, red onion, spinach, yellow onion

This could be a one pot dish if I had a oven safe pan big enough to fit all the chicken I wanted to make for this week. If you only make this with four thighs, it can totally be done and you don’t have to use a casserole dish. I also learned from my Chicken Stroganoff recipe that everything is better with wine. This is one of those dishes. You can certainly omit it, but it gives it a nice boost.

Roasted Chicken and Vegetables
8 chicken thighs, skin on
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced
1 small yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 smal red onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
1 can of artichoke hearts
1 cup white wine
16 oz baby spinach

1. Heat olive oil in a large pan, salt and pepper both sides of chicken and place skin down in hot oil. Brown both sides and set aside.

2. Add carrots, onions, garlic, artichoke hearts into hot pan. Cook until slightly browning. Add white wine and cook for 6-7 minutes until wine cooks off a bit. Ensure the veggies don’t get too tender, they’re going to finish off in the oven.

3. Add spinach to pan and cook until slightly wilted.

4. Place chicken on the bottom of a casserole dish, pour vegetables on top. Cook in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

5. Check to makes sure that the chicken temperature reaches 165 degrees before serving.

BBQ Chicken, Kale, and Sweet Potatoes

May 27, 2015
Allison
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Recipe
balsamic vinegar, bbq, cayenne, chicken, cinnamon, dinner, garlic, kale, recipes, sweet potatoes

We went to Napa on Saturday with our friends Laura and Matt who were visiting from Los Angeles this weekend. Our first stop was Judd’s Hill Winery and one of their tastings was a wine and BBQ sauce pairing. Unconventional? Perhaps. Delicious? Absolutely! The experience we had there was wonderful and the sommelier was very knowledgeable and answered all our questions. We also talked about food as much as we talked about wine — which made us all very happy and hungry. Jason and I couldn’t help but add a bottle of the BBQ sauce to our purchase. It was so tasty that I then had to cook with it this weekend. I’m sure any BBQ sauce will do here, but try using one that has some nice balance of heat and sweet.

Oven BBQ Chicken
4 pieces of chicken, bone in
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 cups BBQ sauce of your choice
Salt and pepper

1. Cut excess fat off chicken, salt and pepper both sides. Heat oil in a frying pan. Brown chicken on both sides.

2. Place chicken on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet lined with tin foil. Cook in 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Take out of the oven, and baste both sides with BBQ sauce. Put back in oven for 15 minutes. Take the chicken out a second time and baste with sauce. Place back in oven for afinal 15 minutes, when you take it back out, put on some more sauce! Check the internal temperature to make sure that it’s reached 165 degrees.

BBQ Kale
2 bunches of kale
Salt and pepper
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil

1. Mix all ingredients in a large bowl. Cook on the grill until lightly crisped. Approximately 2-3 minutes on each side if the flame is on low.

Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes
4 sweet potatoes
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cayenne
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground clove

1. Boil potatoes for 20 minutes, or until just tender. Be careful not to over cook. The potatoes still need to keep their shape while being grilled. Place potatoes in cold water to prevent further cooking. Remove skins and cut potatoes into friends (approximately 8 per potato).

2. Mix spices together in a small bowl. Place cut potatoes in a large bowl and mix with oil and spices.

3. Cook potatoes on the grill until lightly charred.

4. Enjoy everything together!

Homemade Granola

May 26, 2015
Allison
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Recipe
agave, almonds, berries, breakfast, cinnamon, coconut oil, flax seed, granola, recipe, sunflower seeds, yogurt

I’ve been buying granola at the farmers market the past few months. It’s a nice addition to my work-breakfast routine of greek yogurt and berries. The only downfall is that it’s fairly expensive and a little too sweet sometimes so I decided to make it at home this week! This is a great base recipe for you to add any nuts, dried fruit, sweetener, or oil. Mixing and matching encouraged.

Homemade Granola
3 cups gluten free oats
3 Tablespoons flax seed meal
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
3 Tablespoons agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup almond slivers

1. Mix oats, flax seed, and cinnamon in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mis the agave nectar, vanilla, and oil. Combine the two until all of the ingredients become moist. Add in the seeds and almonds.