Chicken Spaghetti Squash Parmesan, and my first brisket

Chicken Parm

Last night's dinner was chicken parmesan.  Now, I've made versions of this from scratch before.  As in, debone the chicken breasts, pound them out, bread them, fry them, make the marinara sauce, etc. etc.

This was not that kind of chicken parmesan.  I did use spaghetti squash instead of pasta and had to roast the squash.  It was good, but the only pesto I have left in the freezer is arugula pesto, and it wasn't as good as basil pesto would be.

Spaghetti squash chicken parm
1 spaghetti squash
16 oz marinara
olive oil
1 small onion
10 oz sliced mushrooms
2 cubes frozen pesto
4 cloves garlic
mozzarella and parmesan cheese
frozen breaded chicken tenders (From TJ's)

Slice the squash in half and scoop out seeds.  Place face down in a pan coated with cooking spray. Roast 1 hour at 375F.  Let cool.  Remove strings with a fork.

Saute onion and mushroom in oil.  Add squash strands.  Add pesto and combine well.

Spray a 9x9 pan with cooking spray. Layer veggie mixture out.  Place chicken tenders on top.  Top with marinara and the cheeses.

Bake covered at 350F for 15 min.  Increase to 375F, remove foil, and bake for 15-25 more min.  Delish!

I roasted the seeds!

Brisket

I also bought my first brisket at the farmer's market. I found a decent crockpot recipe.  And...we didn't like it.  The sauce was good, but the brisket was way too fatty and chewy.  So, maybe we screwed it up (spouse did it today - he had the day off).  How can you screw up a crockpot recipe?  Anyway, next time I just go with pot roast.

We also steamed up some baby kale and cabbage leaves and I made a cream sauce with milk, parm, cream cheese, garlic powder, and lemon juice.  I don't have a final photo, but THAT was great.

Chicken and Rice

I was originally going to make chicken fried rice.  But I didn't have the energy to make the rice ahead of time (and it's much better if you do).  And I also didn't feel like dirtying another dish.

So I made the chicken and rice all in the rice cooker.  And except for the fact that I added the peas too soon (and they got gray), it was very good.

Chicken and Rice in the Rice cooker:
1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1/3 to 1/2 cup leftover pan juices from roasting the chickens (see note below)
1 cup frozen peas
2 large carrots, chopped
1 chicken breast, chopped
1 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

Note: The Fine Cooking recipe for citrus roasted chicken recommended saving the pan juices to use as flavoring later.  I saved about a cup of it.  1/3 was chicken fat that solidified in the fridge.  I skimmed off most of the fat, leaving about 1-2 Tbsp.  I put that and the rest of the pan juices that had also solidified into the rice cooker.

Into the rice cooker: brown rice, water, pan juices.  Press go.

About 15 minutes before it should be done (45 min later), add diced chicken and carrots and stir.  I also added the peas, but I'd recommend adding them even later.  When the rice cooker is done, stir well and eat!

Top with a little soy sauce.

Chicken and bean burritos

I have been ON FIRE this week.  After cooking up that chicken on Sunday (well, 2 chickens) I've been morphing those babies into many meals, including chicken burritos, chicken sandwiches, chicken and potatoes, chicken salad...

One night was chicken and bean burritos.  I made a pot of pintos last week and used some in a sausage and bean crockpot extravaganza.  The remaining pintos went into the freezer, destined for these burritos.

The filling contained:
1 chicken breast, cut up
3-4 cups pintos
1/3 bag frozen peppers and onion
some salsa
garlic powder
S&P

As usual for me, it's all about the toppings.  Now, you can't see the toppings here (they aren't on here yet), but I had shredded local cheddar, sour cream, salsa, and some fabulous guacamole (the avos are really good this year...so creamy).

We had broccoli on the side, but after the burritos, I wasn't hungry so I took it for lunch.

Fine Cooking - Cinnamon Raisin Swirl Bread and Roast Chicken

So, I started getting Fine Cooking by subscription recently.  My son's school was selling magazines, and this is one that I will buy whenever traveling for airplane reading.  I get good tips and recipes, including ginger-glazed carrots, that stay in my repertoire.

This month was no exception.  They had a good article on roast chicken (I know, me? roast chicken?).  And on how you can roast two chickens and eat for a week.  It used to be that one chicken lasted us two weeks, but we were mostly vegetarian then.  Now we are three people, and I've learned that it's easier to maintain my weight if I eat more meat, because I get less hungry.  Too many carbs = hunger for me.

The recipe this month was for citrus roasted chicken.  I did not buy two whole chickens and break them down myself as recommended.  I did not buy two cut-up chickens from the farmer's market, at $23 each.  I did buy two cut-up kosher chickens from Trader Joe's, at $10 each.  Sometimes, you compromise.

I edited the recipe a bit.  I generally don't buy whole lemons - my neighbor has a tree.  In season, I pick 'em (with his permission), and then zest and juice them and freeze both in ice cube trays.  So, I used 4 cubes of juice/zest.  I didn't use oranges - I subbed our tangerines from our tree out back.  I also didn't read the recipe until 2:30 pm, so the chicken didn't get the recommended 6-12 hours of marinating (only got two). I also edited the cooking temp/time for my oven, and for the fact that I forgot to reduce the temp. It was still quite tasty.

Citrus roasted chicken
2 chickens, cut into 8 pieces each (legs, wings, thighs, breasts)
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 cubes of lemon juice/zest (about 1/3 to 1/2 cup)
3 tangerines.  Zest and juice two and slice the third.
8 cloves garlic, pressed
3 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
S&P to taste

Mix the lemon juice, tangerine juice and zest, garlic, soy sauce, red pepper flakes, and honey.

Place the olive oil in a roasting pan large enough for all the chicken to lay without overlapping (I use my turkey roaster).  Swirl it around.  Place the chicken in the pan.  Pour over the marinade.  Cover with plastic and refrigerate up to 12 hours, but two will do if that's what you've got.  Or 1/2 hour.  I don't know.

Preheat oven to 425F.  When ready, turn chicken to skin side up and add salt and pepper.  Roast for 45 mins at 425F.  The skin is supposed to get brown. Mine didn't really, and that's with doubling the recommended time at 425F.  Reduce heat to 375F and cook 15 more minutes.  My oven is low and slow, so I always need to up the recommended baking/cooking time.  Just saying.  YMMV.

I served this with fried potatoes and kale chips.  Gotta have the messy kale chips the night before the cleaning person comes.

The leftovers are destined for chicken salad sandwiches, chicken and bean burritos, and maybe some chicken fried rice.  I saved some of the pan juices.  They recommend risotto, but I'll probably go with the fried rice.

I also started the day by trying out cinnamon raisin swirl bread from the same issue.  Again, my house is on the cool side, so even with extra time on the stove top with the stove on warm, it didn't quite rise like I wanted it to, so the bread is a little bit dense.  But still delicious.  Should freeze a loaf so it doesn't go bad.

The recipe calls for using the stand mixer, so it really wasn't that hard.  I started at 7 am and was done at 11 am.  Next time I might try the bread machine though.

Roast chicken and vegetables

It looks a lot like what we had for Thanksgiving, except with chicken parts.  The veggies were sweet potatoes, onions, and carrots.  Served with broccoli.  I wasn't hungry, so I ate it later, cold.  Had it for lunch today too.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a low-key chill Thanksgiving.  With a cold, I just wasn't feeling up to being social, since our first set of plans fell through.  I declined other invitations so that I could nap.  We ended up watching way too much TV: Madagascar, then back-to-back Willy Wonkas (both versions).
Our dinner was simple, but still not ready on time (1/2 hour late).  Figures.  We did my favorite Ina Garten chicken recipe on a bed of vegetables.  I'm going to say it: how come the chickens at the farmer's market don't come with giblets anymore??
We started by chopping onions, carrots, yukon potatoes, and sweet potatoes and putting them in our roasting pan with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Then you put the chicken on top and roast 1.5 to 1.75 hours.  Remove chicken, and let rest before carving.  The veggies get all caramely and delicious.

 

My husband made his grandpa's famous cornbread stuffing.  (It was missing something this year.  We aren't sure what.)

We weren't feeling up to homemade rolls, so pillsbury to the rescue!

Here's my plate before:

And here's my plate after:

I just wasn't that hungry.  Of course, I passed out at 8 pm, woke up at 1 am.  I've been awake for an hour, so I finished off my plate with a glass of milk, and I'm hoping it will put me to sleep soon.  Ugh.