Chicken Creole

A while back, I shared my version of this recipe for Shrimp Creole by Never Enough Thyme. It was a weekly staple at our house for quite a while, but eventually it faded as these things tend to do. I was recently stuck for dinner ideas and decided to try making it again, but I realized after I started that I didn't have any shrimp at home. Solution? Make Chicken Creole instead! So that's what I did… and the hubs and I both like it better than the shrimp.

What you need:

1 to 1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast (bscb), trimmed and cut into cubes

2 Tbsp butter

3/4 C yellow onion, chopped (not as fine as dicing, but smallish pieces mmmkay?)

3 small celery ribs, chopped (see above.)

1 green pepper, cored, seeded, chopped (see above the above)

3 garlic cloves, minced. I used 3tsp of pre-minced garlic from a jar... you use what you like.

1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes (I use Meijer organic petite diced)

3 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried, but trust me, use fresh!)

2 bay leaves

12 dashes of Tabasco sauce

Salt and pepper to taste

2 servings of rice (we now use quinoa or  a combination of the two. It's awesome.)

What you do:

As advertised, trim anything undesirable and cube your chicken. Ideally, cut your chicken to the size of standard sugar cubes.

Cook chicken in a pan with a bit of olive oil over medium heat. Normally I will cook it until it seals, then take it off the heat and set aside. Always check your chicken's internal temp before eating!

Prepare your rice /  quinoa  / grain mix. You'll want that ready to go when the Creole finishes.

Melt the butter in a large sauté pan, then add the onion. Cook until the onion softens, but do not brown. Add celery, green pepper, and garlic, and cook for 5 minutes, stirring often, or until the veggies are softened.

Add the tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, Tabasco, salt, and pepper. Stir, then add your chicken. Simmer for 10 minutes uncovered, stirring often. You'll want some, but not all, of the liquid to evaporate; I would say this is one of those "evaporate to taste" kind of situations. Personally, I like it a little saucier, but you might want it drier. Your call.

Using a meat thermometer, test a few pieces of chicken to ensure they are cooked through (165F). If not cooked through after 10 minutes, cover and leave to simmer another 3-5 mins, or until meat is cooked.

Once cooked, remove from heat and let rest for a few minutes before serving over rice. Feel free to garnish with parsley if you're so inclined… I can't be bothered. 

For my take on Never Enough Thyme's Shrimp Creole recipe, click here.

Crispy Microwave Sweet Potato Chips

*Yep, I ate these. They were delish.

I had my mind blown today by an article in The Awl about using the microwave. The article also included a method for making sweet potato chips (and others, including beets) in the microwave.

In retrospect, I'm not sure why I was so surprised by how well this worked. After all, I used to make pita chips* all the time in almost exactly the same way. I guess I just never thought of it for vegetables before.

Anyway, my chips turned out extremely crispy and crunchy, which is exactly what you want in a sweet potato chip right!? Obviously, they're not quite the same as a fried chip, but I suspect these are a bit healthier (and, they had more sweet potato flavor, which I consider a bonus). I only prepared a sweet potato; it's up to you to read the original article if you want ideas for using other veggies.

What you need:
A sweet potato, or several, depending.
Olive or vegetable oil
Salt
Seasoning, if you're into that.

A mandoline slicer will help you immensely for this recipe. If you don't have one, you'll need to slice your sweet potato very evenly and super thin. I wouldn't recommend a knife; a vegetable peeler might be better.
You'll also need some paper towels, a microwave-safe plate or dish, and... duh... a microwave.

What you do:
Wash and dry your sweet potato. Leave the skin on, obvs.
Using your mandoline, slice the sweet potato into even, thin slices.
Place the slices in a single layer on a layer of paper towel. Place another layer of paper towel on top and press gently to dry your slices. You'll never get them totally dry, so don't try, just get as much as you can by blotting and move on.
Toss your slices in your oil or spritz the oil on if you've got a mister. You want to coat each slice but you don't want them dripping oil.
Place a fresh layer of paper towel over your microwave-safe plate.
Next, put a single layer of oiled sweet potato slices on top of the paper towel.
I recommend salting at this time, but you can play around with this. ((My first batch I salted after I finished cooking them and the salt didn't stick. The second batch I salted at the halfway mark, and they were a little saltier. Next time, I'd salt them right at the oiling stage.)
Put the plate in the microwave and cook on high for 2-3 minutes**.
Remove them from the microwave, flip each slice, and put back in for 2-3 minutes on high.
They're going to get a little brown in the middle. That's ok; just don't let them get too brown. Obviously, this means you have to watch them fairly closely while you make them.
Once cooked, take them out of the microwave and just let them rest*** for a few minutes. If you're using a seasoning, now's the time to add it.
Once they're cool, you can eat them right away. I have no idea how you'd want to store these yummies but I will update this recipe once I've tried a few methods. Feel free to leave suggestions below. :)

*To make pita chips: cut pita bread (the kind that is like a pocket) into pieces of the desired chip size. Place pieces on paper towel on a microwave-safe plate and nuke them for however long it takes for them to get crispy; I haven't done this in a while but I feel like I was doing 1-2 minutes on high per side in the past.

**As the original article says, all microwaves are different so you may need too experiment with cooking times. I did 3 minutes on high on one side, 2 minutes on high on the other. I tried 2:30 on the second batch and half of them burned... so play around and see what works for you.

**I actually used my wire baking rack to help cool them; I just lifted the paper towel and sweet potato slices right off the plate and set them on the rack. If you don't have a rack, you might consider putting another paper towel layer down on a cutting board or other flat surface and lifting your microwaved paper towel and sweet potato onto it.

The Prettiest little veggie dish in town

*These are my pics! 

I am a serious Pinterest addict. I know that the first step is admitting I have a problem, but whenever I do that people are like, "Oh really? Have you found any good recipes on there?" and I have to tell them YES!

Like this one by Just a Pinch Recipes. Seriously the best vegetable dish I've ever made, and the prettiest. It was a work of art to my eyes and my taste buds. The hubs and I have already talked about a bunch of ideas to vary the recipe and possibly even add a protein, but I'm not sure I want to mess with perfection.

What you need:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium zucchini
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium potato
1 medium tomato
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp kosher salt and pepper to taste
1/4 C shredded cheese (I used a colby jack this time)
2 Tbsp shredded aged parmesan

Update 1/19/2014: I made this recipe tonight with just yellow and zucchini squash. It was delicious. You definitely can vary the veggies if you're feeling adventurous!

Update 3/6/2015: I made this last night with only zucchini squash (4 medium). I also used fresh basil (about 1.5 TBSP), and kosher salt. Finally, I used a very mild Parmesan cheese (BelGioioso, comes in a shrink-wrapped triangle wedge, tastes more like a moderately aged asiago than a parm). I didn't change the cook time or anything, just the ingredients. It turned out amazing.

What you do:

First up, preheat your oven to 400F. Take your favorite 8x8 baking dish and spray it with a non-stick, or oil it up in your preferred method. I used olive oil and a paper towel. Do your own thing.

I will admit the prep for this recipe is kind of long... especially if you are hand-cutting all your veggies. If you have a mandolin or a food processor that will slice thinly (and very consistently), by all means, go for it!

If not, cut up your tomato, squash, zucchini, and potato into thin slices. Try to make the slices of each veggie consistent with each other.

Finely dice your yellow onion. Be anal about this: make the pieces very small! It will pay off.

Heat the oil in the pan. Toss in your onion and garlic and sautée until they soften... Probably about 3-5 minutes. Don't brown the onions... just soften them.

Once they're done, spread the onion and garlic into the bottom of your 8x8. Try to keep it even so the flavors will spread out through the whole dish.

Next is the artsy part: stand all your sliced veggies up vertically in an alternating pattern. You'll probably get 3-5 rows of veggies into your dish. I used a little less tomato than the other veggies, so when I got to my last row I had to re-arrange a few slices here and there to get everything spread out evenly. The pattern itself doesn't matter, by the way... but if you keep it consistent, the flavors will all blend together in layers of awesomeness.

Once all your veggies are standing up pretty, sprinkle the salt, pepper, and basil over the whole dish.

Wrap it in foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Once the time is up, take the foil off and inhale deeply. Once you've done that a few times, sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the dish, trying to keep as much as possible over the rows of veggies. Repeat with the parm.

Throw it back in the over for another 15-20 minutes, or until your cheese looks brown and the bottom of the dish is bubbling. After the additional 15 minutes, I turned on the broiler and left the dish in there for another 2-3 minutes just to get it really brown at the top. This is optional of course.

Pull it out and let it rest for a few minutes. This would be great as a side, but we ate it as our main course and it was delicious and very satisfying. It was sad to break into the pretty rows to serve it (and messy too; we used a large spatula to select segments of the rows to serve them!), but oh em gee was it delicious!