Deconstructed Guacamole Chicken Sammies

This sandwich is quick and easy.

Ingredients

• 4 pieces boneless, skinless chicken breast, 6 ounces each
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tablespoon smoked sweet paprika, a palmful
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon ground coriander
• 2 tablespoons EVOO – Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
• 2 ripe Haas avocados
• Juice of 1 lime or 1/2 lemon
• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 jalapeño peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
• 1 large clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1 15-ounce can diced, fire-roasted tomatoes, drained
• 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, finely chopped
• 4 leaves lettuce
• 4 crusty, cornmeal-topped Kaiser rolls, split
• Flavored specialty corn or blue corn chips

Preparation

Heat a griddle pan or cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat.

Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Combine remaining spices in a
small bowl and rub all over chicken. Drizzle griddle or skillet with a
tablespoon of EVOO. Cook chicken 12 minutes, turning once. Remove
from pan and let cool enough to handle; slice each piece on an angle into
4 pieces.

Halve and pit avocados and dress with lime or lemon juice. Cut each half
into 4 pieces and layer between chicken slices.

In a small skillet, heat remaining tablespoon EVOO, a turn of the pan.
Add onion, jalapeño and garlic, and sauté a few minutes to soften.
Add tomatoes and season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat and mix
in cilantro.

Place lettuce on bun bottoms and top with chicken and warm salsa,
set bun tops in place. Serve with a few chips alongside.

Thai Chicken Pizza

No, I never get sick of Rachael Ray's food. haha. This pizza is delicious. I recommend planning for two pizzas when you go grocery shopping. The veggies call for half of what is possible to buy...for example you only need 1/2 a bell pepper for one pizza. Another reason to buy for 2 pizzas, besides having leftover ingredients, is that it's so good! The hubby and I eat one pizza by ourselves. So naturally, we are still craving it a few days later because there were no leftovers. Also, the sauce, we just buy what is available out of the two options. Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 pizza dough, any brand
• 1/2 cup duck sauce or plum sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 package (2 cups) shredded provolone or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 rounded tablespoonful peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 2 teaspoons grill seasoning (recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning) eyeball it
• 4 chicken breast cutlets, 1/2 pound
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or cider vinegar
• 1/4 seedless cucumber, peeled and cut into matchsticks
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 1 cup bean spouts, a couple of handfuls
• Palm full cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped peanuts, 2 ounces

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

Form pizza crust on pizza pan or cookie sheet. Top with duck or plum sauce - spread it around like you would pizza sauce. Sprinkle the pizza with some crushed red pepper flakes then top with cheese and peppers. Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 to 17 minutes.

Preheat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Combine vegetable oil, soy sauce and peanut butter with hot sauce and grill seasoning. Use the microwave to loosen up peanut butter if it is too cold to blend into sauce, 10 seconds ought to do it. Add chicken and coat evenly with mixture. Let stand 10 minutes then grill chicken cutlets 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until firm. Slice chicken into very thin strips.

While chicken cooks, mix honey and vinegar and add the cucumber. Turn to coat evenly.

Top the hot, cooked pizza with chicken, scallions, sprouts and cilantro. Drain cucumbers and scatter over the pizza. Garnish pizza with peanuts, cut into 8 wedges and serve.

Creamy Pasta with Spinach and Fried Capers

Want a meal with virtually NO PREP?! This pasta is great as a meal or a side dish. You need to decide what you will use it as and modify the recipe accordingly. However, it's pretty good as leftovers too. The pasta is gemelli. You may not know about this pasta but it is fun! It's like rotini being in a spiral shape but it is skinny and hollow with fatter twists. Just find it and enjoy!

INGREDIENTS:

• Salt
• 1 pound gemelli, strozzapreti or other short pasta
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
• 1/4 cup capers, drained
• 1 large clove garlic, smashed
• 2 packed cups spinach, stemmed and chopped
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
• Pepper
• 1 pinch nutmeg (optional)
• 
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain, reserving the pot.

2. While the pasta is working, in a medium skillet, heat the EVOO, 8 turns of the pan, over medium heat. Add the capers and fry until they open, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Add the garlic to the skillet and cook until lightly golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach and cook until wilted, 1 minute.

3. In the pasta pot, whisk the ricotta and milk over low heat until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season with the thyme, some pepper and the nutmeg, if using. Add the pasta and toss to coat. 

4. Discard the garlic and stir the spinach into the pasta. If desired, add some of the spinach oil from the skillet. Top with the fried capers.

Roasted-Potato Pennette

When the hubby and I were considering being vegetarian for a week, we found this Rachael Ray recipe. It is mostly pasta and potatoes so it is very filling. It was not as good as leftovers but that's just because it was so good freshly cooked.

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 large baking potatoes (aboout 1-1/2 pounds)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 pound small tube pasta, such as pennette rigate
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
• 
  

DIRECTIONS:

1. Position a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat to 450°. Cut the potatoes into 1/2-inch cubes. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes with 3 tablespoons olive oil, 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper; arrange in an even layer. Roast until golden and crisp at the edges, 25 to 30 minutes

2. Meanwhile, in a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the pasta until al dente. Drain and transfer to a bowl. Add the parsley, butter and remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and toss. Season with salt and pepper; add the potatoes and toss again.

Stretch a Buck Turkey and Bean Burgers

Take a wild guess where this recipe came from. =) Rachael Ray is obsessed with burgers so the hubby has no problem with this recipe. This recipe is great if you have leftover rice from a previous recipe or takeout Chinese.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cold leftover white or brown rice
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
• Palmful chili powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons, half a palmful, cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons coriander, half a palmful
• 1 tablespoon grill seasoning, (recommended: Montreal Seasoning by McCormick)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 clove garlic, grated or finely chopped
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 red leaf lettuce leaves
• 1 ripe tomato, sliced
• 4 crusty rolls, split

Directions

Combine rice, meat and beans with spices and grill seasoning. Form 4 big patties from the meat and bean mixture then heat 1 tablespoon oil, a turn of the pan, in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook patties 7 to 8 minutes on each side.

While burgers cook, combine avocado with garlic, lime zest and juice, jalapeno and red onion. Mash to roughly combine, then stir in the sour cream.

Place burgers on buns with lettuce and tomato and top with sour cream guacamole.

Vegetable-Noodle Stir-Fry

This recipe, surprise surprise, is from Rachael Ray. There will be an ingredient or two in the sauce that you may not own. Trust me, go buy it and make this recipe. You will be making it enough times to use that ingredient. I made this recipe for when Jerome came home from classes one day. He went back for multiple bowls. I love this recipe and want to make it again soon.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound whole grain spaghetti or linguine pasta
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 baby bok choy, thinly sliced
• 1 small red bell pepper, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 small bunch scallions, chopped into 3-inch lengths
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• A handful of snow peas, thinly sliced on an angle
• One 1-inch piece fresh ginger, grated
• 2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup tamari or other soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons black bean sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce or sambal olek sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey or sugar
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta
   and cook until al dente. Drain.
2. While the pasta is working, in a large skillet or wok,
   heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1 turn of the pan,
   over high heat. Add the eggs and scramble until firm.
   Transfer to a plate.  Add the remaining 2 tablespoons
   vegetable oil, 2 turns of the pan, and heat until smoking.
   Add the bok choy, bell pepper, scallions, carrots and
   snow peas and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the ginger and
   garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute more.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the tamari, black bean sauce,
   lime juice, hot sauce, honey and sesame oil.
4. Toss the pasta with the sauce and vegetables. Top with the egg.