Baked Chicken Noodles

Another great adaptation from Cooking Light. This chicken and pasta recipe combines two unlikely companions, Asian and Italian staples. Using linguine instead of chow mein noodles, and a soy sauce based sauce instead of a marinara dish yields a surprising new family favorite. While on paper the taste combination may not instantly sound appetizing, they somehow work together to create a light and non-greasy tasting noodle dish. 

Of course we've added a bit of sriracha, but even with just the red peppers, the dish has a subtle heat that doesn't overwhelm the other flavors. 

As always, we used the Cooking Light recipe as a guide and edited it to our tastes (and, admittedly, what was currently in the pantry). The recipe below yields a 9x13 dish and can easily yield 8 servings. Bonus: it heats up well and make for great leftovers or packed lunches. 

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 17-20 minutes, depending on how brown you like your bread crumbs

Ingredients:

• 1 16oz package of linguine 
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 1 medium sized red bell pepper, diced
• 8 oz mushroom caps (shiitake or portobello work nicely)
• 1.5-2 lbs chicken breast, cubed
• 3 small to medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 less-sodium cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons sriracha (optional)
• 2-3 heads of bok choy, leaves thinly sliced
• .5 to 1 bunch of green onion
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 3/4 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted

Cook the pasta according to your taste and preheat the oven to 400.

Heat peanut oil in a large pan or wok and add the bell peppers and mushroom. Saute for 2-3 minutes then add the chicken and garlic. Add the soy sauce and coat the mixture, stirring frequently.

In a separate bowl, combine cornstarch and chicken broth, whisking until cornstarch is dissolved completely. Add the mixture to the pan and cook until the liquid is slightly thick. Be sure to stir, stir, stir. 

Remove the pan from heat and add the vinegar, red pepper, and if using, sriracha paste. Then drain the pasta and add it to the mixture, followed by the bok choy, onions and 2 teaspoons of the sesame seeds. Toss to combine.

Grease your 9x13 dish (glass works best) and spoon the pasta mixture evenly into the dish.

Combine the melted butter and breadcrumbs, then sprinkle evenly on top of the pasta.

Bake for about 20 minutes, until the bread crumbs are slightly browned. 

Crumble Apple Pie

Paula Deen knows her desserts. And just in time for Thanksgiving, we took a liking to her crunch top apple pie and made it a bit easier for those uninitiated with baking, or just those without a lot of time. 

A note on equipment needs: you'll need a pie pan, ceramic, glass, or even foil, as well as an apple peeler and corer. While you can definitely make this pie without the peeler and corer, a knife would do, the specialized equipment makes it an easier and faster task. 

Prep time: 30-35 minutes

Bake time: 45 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 2 pie crusts at room temperature

Filling:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 4 medium sized Granny Smith Apples, cubed and peeled
• 16 ounces applesauce, option to go with the cinnamon flavored sauce
• Juice of half a lemon, about 1 tablespoon
• 2 tablespoons cold butter, chopped into small pieces

Crumble topping:

• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 tablespoon butter, at room temperature

Preheat oven at 425. Combine sugar, flour and cinnamon is a large bowl. Coat the apples with the lemon juice and combine with the sugar mixture. Add apple sauce and spoon the mixture in the pie crust and dot the top with the 2 tablespoons of butter. 

Unroll the second pie crust onto a floured surface. Cut it into 1/2 inch ribbons and create a lattice top. Sprinkle the crumble topping over the top evenly. Bake for 10 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350 and bake for 45 minutes or until the crust and topping are slightly browned. 

Cool for 30 minutes then serve. 

White Fish with Tomato and Pepper Sauce

Fresh produce always makes a good meal great. We stumbled upon some fantastic grape tomatoes and tweaked this Cooking Light chicken recipe to use tilapia we had in the freezer.

The mixture of tomatoes, red and yellow peppers would pair well with other white fishes and, of course, chicken. The sauce does not overwhelm the fish or poultry and it's a quick sauce, making it perfect for a mid-week meal.

This amount of tomatoes and peppers makes enough sauce for about 6-8 fish fillets. 

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 package of grape tomatoes, halved (about 2.5-3 cups)
• salt, pepper to taste

Optional: 

• black or green olives

Heat the oil in a medium sized pan. cook the onions until brown on the edges. Add the red and yellow peppers. If including olives, add them after the peppers. Cook until tender then add the tomatoes and cook until the skin is slightly wrinkled. Transfer mixture to another container and keep warm.

You have the option of cooking the fish in the broiler, or pan frying it in the same pan as the mixture.

• Broiler: line a pan with foil. Broil the fish for 2-3 minutes on both sides, taking care not to over cook.
• Pan fry: Using the same pan as the tomato mixture, pan fry the fish until browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side. 

Once the fish is cooked, top with the tomato mixture. Pair with a simple salad or grain, such as quinoa. 

Arroz con Pollo

Fresh spices have taken over our lives. We've moved on from our vanilla beans and onto saffron. While expensive, you use a very small amount to achieve a very satisfying flavor. Adding saffron to rice gives it a subtle flavor and a wonderful yellow color. 

Chicken and rice is an easily customizable dish, with a savory flavor made up of a number of vegetables. We put our spin on the classic Joy of Cooking recipe and did without the Dutch oven, ham and green olives. 

Very important tip: make sure the chicken is very brown and almost crispy before combining it with the rice mixture. This prevents overcooking the rice from cooking too long and sticking to the bottom of the pot. Making sure the chicken is well cooked also avoids a mushy dish, where all the textures melt into each other. 

This meal takes some time to prepare, but the reward is almost a whole week's worth of dinner for at least two people. 

Prep time: 30-40 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 3.5-4.5 pounds of chicken parts. The more variety the better
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 cups uncooked long grain white rice 3 cups chicken broth
• 3-4 strands of saffron, roughly 1/4 teaspoon 
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 red pepper, diced
• salt, pepper to taste

Optional:

• 1/4 cup chopped green olives
• pimentos
• 1/2 cup of diced ham
• pinch of oregano
• 1 green pepper, diced

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a pan and brown the chicken well on both sides. Once browned, take the pan off heat and set aside. 

Heat 2 tablespoons of pan drippings in a large pasta pot. Add the onions, garlic, red and green pepper. Cook until onions are tender but not yet brown, then add the rice. Stir and cook for another minute, until the grains are coated with fat, then add the chicken broth and saffron. Bring the mixture to a boil, taking care to scrape the bottom of the pot in case rice begins to stick. 

Place the chicken in the pot and cover. Allow the mixture to simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the unthawed frozen peas. 

Cover again and cook until the rice is tender, about 10-12 more minutes.