SJK Approved - Vegetable Lasagna

I am SO excited to share my first SJK Approved post with you all. I'll be featuring recipes, restaurants, kitchen gadgets, and other foodie goodies which I have personally tested and approved and LOVE! Stay tuned and follow along at #SJKApproved for more!

First up is Vegetable Lasagna by The Pioneer Woman. This is one of those recipes I've made over and over again because it's just so darn good. Pasta? Check. Cheese? Check. Hearty veggies cooked in a spicy tomato sauce + a little wine? Check. Done and done. It's not heavy like some lasagnas I've had, and you don't miss the meat at all! Meatless Monday never tasted so good.

My husband puts in requests for this recipe! And while I'm usually cooking for just the two of us, I don't mind making a big batch because this lasagna freezes VERY well. I use a few zucchini in place of the mushrooms because Paul isn't a mushroom fan :( I'm saddened by this, but the veggie lasagna tastes amazing either way.

Can I also gush about how much I love Ree Drummond for a minute? She's so fun to watch on the Food Network because she's so cheerful! I love the personal touches she puts on her recipes, sometimes planning them with specific family members in mind. She's such a great story teller and you can see all of the love she puts into her food on the show! She's lovely and her recipes have never failed me. Two thumbs up for Ree Drummond.

You all NEED this vegetable lasagna in your lives! See the recipe and Ree Drummond's flawless step-by-step pictures here: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/04/vegetable-lasagna/

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Um. Buffalo Chicken Pizza. I'm kind of speechless. This is all of your favorite buffalo wing flavors - on top of pizza dough... It's as good as it sounds, and I think I'm just going to leave it at that!

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Makes 1 large pizza or 2 medium pizzas (about 4 servings)

Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

Pizza dough

1 chicken breast, cooked

1 celery stalk

1/4 onion

3 Tbsp ranch dressing

2 Tbsp hot sauce (give or take a Tbsp depending on your spicy tolerance)

4 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese

4 oz low fat crumbled blue cheese

Garlic powder to taste

1. Chop celery stalk and onion.

2. Chop chicken and mix in half the hot sauce.

3. Roll out pizza dough to desired crust thickness. Layer ranch dressing evenly on the dough, then add chicken, celery, onion, mozzarella cheese, and blue cheese. Drizzle remaining hot sauce over the pizza. Sprinkle on garlic powder to taste.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes or until cheeses are melted and dough is cooked. Drizzle with more hot sauce if desired, and enjoy!

Chop celery stalk and 1/4 onion. It's nice to have a little bit of crunch along with all of the creamy cheese!

Chop cooked chicken breast and smother in half of the hot sauce. Trust your instincts here with the amount of hot sauce. Everyone has a different spiciness tolerance, so add hot sauce accordingly!

Roll out the pizza dough and add the ranch dressing as you would normally add tomato sauce. You could use blue cheese dressing here instead if you prefer!

 Add chicken, celery, and onion...

And mozzarella and blue cheese. MMMMM!

Drizzle extra hot sauce on top and sprinkle with garlic powder. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes and let the bubbly goodness begin...

 I don't know why it took me so long to make this pizza! I've had it at a few different restaurants, and I have an unhealthy obsession with buffalo chicken wing dip, so this pizza makes PERFECT sense. So easy, and just a party in your mouth. As I said before, it's every bit as scrumptious as it looks!

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

 This stir fry recipe is VERY versatile. The sauce has a great mixture of flavors that would taste great on whatever vegetables and meat you wanted to use! Salty soy sauce, rich sesame oil, some zesty lime juice, a kick from red pepper flakes, garlic, and ginger. You really can taste each element individually. Once the sauce is done, switch up the veggies and meat as you like! I'm in LOVE water chestnuts and bell peppers so they always make it into my stir fry. Go with whatever you're in the mood for and whatever is fresh!  

Spicy Chicken Stir Fry

Makes 4 servings

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups rice (brown rice if you'd like)

3 cups water

2 tsp chicken bouillon 

3 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp fresh grated ginger

1 tsp lime juice

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 chicken breast

1 bell pepper

1/2 onion

1 head broccoli

8 oz water chestnuts

1. Mix water, rice, and chicken bouillon in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cook covered for 20 minutes.

2. While rice is cooking, chop florets off broccoli head and set aside. Slice bell pepper, onion, and chicken breast. Slice skin off ginger and grate. Chop garlic.

3. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, olive oil, garlic, ginger, lime juice, red pepper flakes, chicken, bell pepper, onion, and water chestnuts. Set aside.

4. Bring a pot of a few cups of water to a boil and add broccoli florets. Cook for 2 minutes and strain. Return pot to the stove and turn heat to medium high (or use a wok instead if you have one!).

5. Add strained broccoli and chicken and vegetable mixture to the pot and cook until chicken is fully cooked, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Serve with fluffed rice and enjoy!

First, get the rice set up because it takes a while to cook. Bring rice, water, and chicken bouillon to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cook covered for 20 minutes. Chop the florets off the broccoli and set  aside. These will have to cook for a few minutes before getting stir fried with everything else! 

Slice the skin off of the ginger before you grate it.

Mmm is smells delightful!

Slice up the veggies and chicken! 

Mix together everything but the broccoli and (obviously) the rice mixture.

Bring a few cups of water to a boil in a pot and cook the broccoli for two minutes. Strain the broccoli and return the pot to the stove on medium high. 

Return the broccoli to the pot along with the chicken and veggie mixture. Stir constantly and cook until the chicken is done! About 5 minutes. By this time the rice will be about done!

Serve stir fried veggies and meat over the fluffed rice and enjoy! Switch it up with steak instead of chicken and use your favorite vegetables. The spicy sauce will season your favorite stir fry ingredients beautifully!

Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

I'm really excited to share the beauty that is Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip with everyone. This dip is a CROWD PLEASER  if there ever was one. It is probably my friends' favorite thing I cook for them! I wish I could make a meal out of it... but that would probably be a bad idea. The spiciness and cheesiness and the chicken! Ugh! You can't beat it. I'm telling you... This is one of my favorite things to cook and eat. If you're having a party with more than 4 or 5 people make 2 batches or else you will be out of dip FAST.

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine :)

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Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip

by Saucy Jocey's Kitchen August-11-2012

This cheesy, spicy, meaty Buffalo Chicken Wing Dip is the ultimate crowd pleaser at tailgate parties on gameday!

Ingredients

• 1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped
• 1 block (8 oz) softened cream cheese
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup hot sauce
• 1/2 cup blue cheese salad dressing (or ranch if you prefer)
• tortilla chips, celery, and carrots for serving

Instructions

1. Mix blue cheese dressing, cream cheese, and hot sauce until evenly combined.2. Mix in chicken and shredded cheese.3. Bake in a 350 degree F oven until the cheeses melt, about 10 - 20 minutes.4. Stir and serve with tortilla chips, celery and carrots. Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 5 mins Cook time: 15 mins Total time: 20 mins Yield: 4 cups

Chop up the chicken.

It seems like a lot of hot sauce but trust me, it will be fine if you eat medium or hotter buffalo wings.

Mix together the blue cheese dressing, the softened cream cheese, and the hot sauce so all of the flavors come together evenly. You might need to take a fork to the cream cheese if it's still a little firm. No worries though. All of the cheeses will melt in the oven and it will be easy to give it a good mix in the end.

Stir the chicken and shredded cheese into the buffalo mixture. It's hard not to eat half of it at this stage because it's REALLY GOOD cold too.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes just to melt the cheeses. And then give it one last stir!

This recipe is for a single batch but a bigger batch is pictured above. If more than 4 or 5 people will be eating it I would HIGHLY recommend making a double batch! The first few times I made it for parties the single batch was gone in about 10 minutes. I'm telling you - Crowd. Pleaser.  Serve with tortilla chips, celery, and carrots! Enjoy!

Salsa

Lucky me - someone gave me a bunch of organic produce this week! I saw all of the beautiful red roma tomatoes and said to myself salsa is happening. Ever since I wrestled my parents' food processor away from them (not really, it was a wedding present they never used) I've been loving trying out different kinds of fresh salsa. I made a Sweet Pepper version that was quite tasty. This recipe below is your classic tomato and jalapeño salsa, and it's delicious. I kept the seeds in the jalapeño so it's got a decent kick to it. I would say it's on the hot side of medium. Make this fresh salsa instead of eating the jarred stuff!

Salsa

Makes 2 cups of medium salsa

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

4 roma tomatoes

1 jalapeño (2 for hot salsa)

1 clove garlic

1/4 red onion

1 Tbsp cilantro

2 tsp lime juice

1 tsp cumin

Salt to taste

Cut stems off tomatoes and jalapeño and cut into large pieces. Blend all ingredients in the food processor until smooth. Enjoy!

Beautiful vegetables. Definitely one of the big advantages of making your own salsa - you know what's in it! And this is pretty much it, just bright fresh produce (aside from seasonings). *I didn't end up using all of these romas. 

Cut the stems off the tomatoes and jalapeño, give them a rough chop, peel the garlic, and add everything to the food processor. Blend until smooth! I like my salsa smooth. Feel free to just pulse it if you like it chunky (I would recommend cutting the ingredients into smaller piece before you pulse in this case).

So simple and so fresh. You really get the flavors of each ingredient! It blows the jarred salsa out of the water and I know what's in it. And you can taste test as you go and tweak the seasonings until it tastes perfect to you. I'm in love. I think salsa will be only homemade in Saucy Jocey's kitchen from now on!

Fiesta Chicken

Who doesn't love simple, quick, cheesy, crunchy, warm comfort food? It's pictured inside tortillas for quesadillas here, but the possibilities for this Fiesta Chicken mixture are endless. I ate my leftover servings melted on top of tortilla chips for loaded nachos. Serve it cold on a bed of lettuce and tomatoes for a zesty salad. Add more beans and cilantro lime rice to the mixture and roll up in a large tortilla for a burrito. Switch up taco night... I could go on for days. I'll admit that I even ate a spoonful or two out of the fridge cold. Make this fiesta chicken and I promise - you will love it!

Fiesta Chicken Quesadillas, Nachos, Salad, etc.

Makes 4 servings

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients (( Healthier Ingredient Substitutions ))

1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped

1 bell pepper

1 clove garlic

1/2 avocado

1/2 onion

1 cup shredded pepper jack cheese (( 1 cup shredded low fat pepper jack cheese ))

3/4 cup cilantro

2/3 cup black beans

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Tbsp lime juice

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

Salt to taste

Tortillas for quesadillas, tortilla chips for nachos, lettuce for salad, etc.

1. Pulse cilantro, avocado, garlic clove, lime juice, and 1/2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil in the food processor until smooth. 

2. Chop bell pepper and onion. Saute bell pepper and onion in olive oil until onions become translucent, about 3 minutes.

3. Mix all ingredients together. Use as a filling for quesadillas, on top of tortilla chips as nachos, over some lettuce and tomatoes for a salad (( healthier option )), with more beans and rice for burritos, etc. Enjoy!

Blend cilantro, avocado, garlic, lime juice, and extra virgin olive oil in the food processor. I want to experiment with a sort of cilantro pesto some other time. Hmmm.... 

Zesty Goodness!

Dice the bell pepper and half onion. I'm a big texture person so these crunchy veggies are a must!

Saute the pepper and onion until the onions just become translucent.

Mix all of the ingredients together! I'm telling you - this is a hit.

As you can see above, I got a little hungry while taking these pictures. There's crunch from the vegetables, creaminess from the cheese and avocado mixture, a little kick from the pepper jack, and of course flavorful chicken and spices. It's aaaaall there. Use this as a base for your favorite Mexican dish and you will have a tasty meal on your plate in no time!  

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

I've been DREAMING about enchiladas lately. I think I was going through Mexican food withdrawals because I haven't been to my favorite restaurant lately. But rather than going out to eat I decided to make an attempt at chicken enchiladas! I've never made them before but I looked at a million recipes online and put together my own little concoction. I personally prefer the green tomatillo sauce to the red sauce so I cleaned out my grocery store of tomatillos and made that from scratch too! I am not claiming that this recipe is authentic Mexican or anything, but I at least made everything from scratch and damn it, it tastes good!

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce

Makes 10-12 Enchiladas, 5-6 Servings

Total time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 large chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

10-12 corn tortillas

8 tomatillos

3 cloves garlic

2 jalapeños

1 white onion

1 lime

2 1/2 cups Monterey jack cheese, shredded

1 cup water

3/4 cup sour cream

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup cilantro

1/2 tsp cumin

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Husk, rinse, and cut stem end off tomatillos. In a large saucepan bring water, tomatillos, jalapeños, and half of the onion to a boil. Covered and boil over medium high heat for 10 minutes. The tomatillos will turn a more olive green color, as opposed to lime green.

2. Place cilantro, juice of half the lime, cumin, garlic cloves, the cooked tomatillos, jalapeños, and half of the onion in a food processor and blend until smooth. Add salt and pepper to taste.

3. Dice and sauté the other half of the onion until it becomes translucent. Mix sautéed onions with shredded chicken, 1/3 cup Monterey jack cheese, and 1/4 cup sour cream. Add salt and pepper to taste.

 4. Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Using tongs fry the corn tortillas one at a time in the hot oil for 10 seconds on each side. Place fried tortillas on a plate lined with paper towels.

5. Spread a few spoonfuls of tomatillo sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture and roll up. Place rolled tortilla seam side down in the baking dish and repeat until chicken mixture is gone.

6. Pour remaining tomatillo sauce on top of rolled tortillas in baking dish. Spoon remaining sour cream on top of tomatillo sauce. Sprinkle remaining Monterey jack cheese on top.

7. Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes and broil for an additional 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese (watch carefully!). Enjoy!

Husk, rinse, and cut the stem ends off the tomatillos. I cleaned my grocery store out of them! Boil 1 cup water with tomatillos, jalapeños, and 1/2 the onion covered for 10 minutes (ignore the poblano pepper - I didn't end up using it).

 The tomatillos will turn a kind of olive green when they're done!

Place tomatillos, jalapeños, half the onion, cilantro, juice of half the lime, cumin, and garlic cloves in the food processor. Blend until it is very smooth!

The sauce should not be chunky. Add salt and pepper to your liking. This would be great as a green salsa on its own!

Dice and saute the other half of the onion until the pieces are translucent.

Mix sauteed onions with shredded chicken, 1/3 cup Monterey jack cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream, and salt and pepper to taste. Using a rotisserie chicken for this recipe would be perfect! Just make sure you get a plain rotisserie chicken, not bbq or lemon pepper or whatever.

Fry the tortillas in vegetable oil over medium high heat for 10 seconds on each side. Make sure the oil it HOT or else the tortillas will just get soggy. And ONLY 10 seconds on each side! Place the fried tortillas on a plate lined with paper towels.

Spread a few spoonfuls of the tomatillo sauce in the bottom of a 9 X 13 baking pan.

Fill each tortilla with a few spoonfuls of the chicken mixture.

 Roll each tortilla and place them seam side down in the baking dish.

Here's where it gets fun... Top with the remaining tomatillo sauce!

Spoon the remaining sour cream on top of the tomatillo sauce. The sour cream and cheese balance out the spiciness of the tomatillo sauce well. I wanted to use Mexican crema but my grocery store didn't have any :(

Top with the remaining Monterey jack cheese!

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes to melt the cheese and broil for another 2-3 minutes to brown the cheese. Look at all the cheesy goodness!

Each serving should get two enchiladas (the corn tortillas are small) and I served it with black beans and rice. This DEFINITELY fulfilled my Mexican food cravings!