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 Salad

My boyfriend put in a request for chicken salad this week (and jokingly, or maybe not so much, put in a request for a sandwich on the Saucy Jocey's Kitchen Facebook page). I love chicken salad, tuna salad, potato salad... anything with crunchy bits and mayo really. I also received a request for a healthy twist on a yummy dish so I decided to try to lighten up chicken salad. Now I won't go out and say this is healthy considering it still has mayo in it, but using Greek yogurt in place of a large portion of the mayo helps a bit! I've heard vegenaise is a nice light substitution for mayo as well! This chicken salad also loads on the veggies, with plenty of celery and onion for added crunch. We used to make little cracker sandwiches with salads like this when I was little so I served it with crackers and a few pieces of fruit :)

Chicken Salad

Makes about 3 cups

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients (( Healthier Ingredient Substitution ))

1 chicken breast, cooked and chopped

3 celery stalks

1/2 onion

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup mayonnaise (( vegenaise ))

1/2 tsp tarragon

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

1. Chop chicken, celery, and onion.

2. Mix together Greek yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and pepper. Tear tarragon into pieces and add to dressing mixture. Add salt to taste and mix.

3. Mix all ingredients together. Serve chilled with crackers and fruit or on a sandwich with lettuce and tomato. (( Use whole wheat crackers or bread for healthier version )) Enjoy!

Chop the veggies! And chop the chicken breast.

The fresh tarragon. It's very soft so I just tore it into the dressing mixture. I love the smell of tarragon. I'll have to learn some more recipes that use it!

Mix the Greek yogurt, mayo, garlic powder, pepper, and torn tarragon together. Taste test and add salt as needed. Then mix all ingredients together! So simple!

It's the perfect lunch served with crackers, fruit, and cheese slices. Another option is to toast some bread and serve it as a sandwich with lettuce and tomato. Either way, this chicken salad is nice and creamy and you can still feel good about eating it! 

Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

Two great things about fruits and vegetables that are in season - they taste their best and they are cheap! I've been buying cherries lately because I can actually afford them at their in-season summer price (poor college student) and they are so SWEET and PERFECT. Experimenting with baking is my goal for the next few weeks, and these chocolaty and tart treats are the first success story! I love the way the fresh cherries taste with the semi-sweet chocolate chips. The chocolate chips aren't as sweet as milk chocolate and the cherries are sweet but tart, so these cookies don't taste like a mouth full of straight sugar. They're just the right amount of sweet :)

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Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies

by Saucy Jocey's Kitchen July-12-2012

Fresh cherries and semi-sweet chocolate chips come together to create the perfect sweet and tart cookie!

Ingredients

• 1 cup white flour
• 1/4 cup wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 1 cup Fresh cherries
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Instructions

1. Mix white flour, wheat flour, baking soda, and salt. 2. In a separate bowl mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. Mix in the egg. Gradually add flour mixture to sugar mixture and mix until fully combined.3. Remove the cherry seeds and coarsely chop the cherries. Stir cherries and chocolate chips into batter mixture.4. Scoop heaping tablespoons of batter onto a cookie sheet and bake for 10-12 minutes at 375 degrees F. Enjoy!

Details

Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 25 mins Total time: 40 mins Yield: 32 cookies

Adapted from the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe.

Mix both flours, salt, and baking powder and set aside.

In a separate bowl mix granulated sugar, brown sugar, butter, and vanilla. Mmmm I'll admit I eat this form of the cookie batter sometimes. Sugar and butter and vanilla. So wrong but so right.

Mix in the egg!

Gradually add flour mixture into the butter and sugar mixture and mix until fully combined.

Cut out the seeds out of the cherries. This is kind of tedious, but obviously necessary. Just eat a cherry or two as you're cutting and you'll stay happy.

Coarsely chop the cherries so they are in perfect bit-sized cookie pieces.

Ah the best parts! I'm a BIG chocolate chip cookie fan. They remind me of the holidays because we always make at least 5 batches around Christmas time. The cherries give these cookies a nice summer flavor though :)

Scoop heaping tablespoons on batter onto the cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F for 10-12 minutes! I always line my cookie sheet with aluminum foil, which makes clean-up easy!

Take advantage of the BEAUTIFUL summer cherries and bake these cookies! I had a few of my friends taste test them and they definitely got the stamp of approval. Chocolaty and tart and sweet, all in one!

Ricotta & Roasted Garlic Bread

I could honestly eat ricotta cheese straight out of the container. I happened to have some in my refrigerator, I was making spaghetti and meatballs and wanted some cheesy bread, and voila! This lovely combination of ricotta and roasted garlic came to me. Don't get me wrong, I love raw garlic as much as the next Greek girl, but I thought I would go with roasted garlic for this cheesy bread to give it a milder flavor considering this is a side dish. It's not overwhelming but this is definitely garlic bread. Try making this in place of bread sticks for a little something different!

Ricotta & Roasted Garlic Bread

Makes 10 servings (2 pieces each)

Total time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

1 loaf French bread

1 cup ricotta cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 head of garlic

1 Tbsp parsley

1 Tbsp olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel back the first few layers of the garlic skin. Cut the head of garlic in half. Cut the tops off of the top cloves of garlic.

2. Drizzle olive oil on top of the cloves. Wrap in tin foil and bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes.

3. Squeeze garlic cloves out of the skin. Smash the garlic cloves with a fork to break them up. Mix garlic cloves, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, parsley, and salt and pepper to taste.

4. Cut the French bread loaf in half lengthwise. Spread cheese and garlic mixture evenly over the two slices. Broil in the oven for 2 or 3 minutes just to toast the bread, watching carefully. Slice into individual servings and enjoy!

Mmmm I LOVE garlic. Peel back the first few layers of the skin and chop the head in half. Cut the tops off of the cloves.

Drizzle olive oil on top of the cloves, wrap in tin foil, and get ready for your kitchen to smell AMAZING as it bakes in the oven for 30 minutes.

The cloves become milder and kind of sweet after they bake. They squeeze out of the skin very easily. Give them a few mashes with a fork and mix them with the cheeses, parsley, salt, and pepper. Make sure to taste test the mixture here and add salt and pepper as needed.

Slice the bread loaf in half and spread the mixture evenly on both pieces. Broil for 2 or 3 minutes and KEEP CHECKING to make sure you just toast the bread and don't burn it. I've definitely done it before! I practically glue my hand to the oven door and check it every 5 seconds just to be sure!

This was a delightful side dish to my spaghetti and meatballs and it would go well with any meal you would eat breadsticks with. The ricotta stays creamy but the bread gets crunchy and then there's the warm garlic flavor. Oh man it's good!

Italian Beef Sandwiches

I remember the first time I smelled this glorious dish being cooked in the slow cooker... It was love at first whiff. This is my boyfriend's mom's recipe for Italian Beef Sandwiches and the first time I tried it I HAD TO HAVE THE RECIPE! I make it on a regular basis now and it really doesn't get much easier and tastier than this, folks. Throw everything in the slow cooker, let it cook and get super tender for 8 hours, melt some cheese on a sandwich roll, and stuff your face. That's what happens when this sandwich is on the plate in front of you - pure happiness and face-stuffing. And your house will smell FANTASTIC and did I mention it was easy? Ugh. Yum (*does happy-food-dance).

Thank you Mrs. E for sharing the recipe with me!!! :) 

Italian Beef Sandwiches

Makes 6 sandwiches

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours and 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 lb bottom round roast or chuck roast

1 onion

6 Italian rolls

6 slices provolone cheese

12 fl oz (1 jar) hot banana pepper rings

0.7 oz Italian salad dressing mix (dry packet)

Enough water to cover the roast in the slow cooker

1. Slice onion. Add roast, onion, banana pepper rings (including the juice from the jar), and salad dressing mix to the slow cooker. Add enough water to just cover the roast. Cook on high for 8 hours. (This can be done with a larger roast as well, up to 3-5 lbs. Add more onions and water to the slow cooker for a larger roast)

2. Shred beef with two forks and discard any fatty pieces. Slice rolls in half and put provolone cheese slice on one side. Broil to melt the cheese, about 2 minutes.

3. Use a slotted spoon to scoop Italian beef, onions, and banana peppers onto the rolls with cheese. Drizzle juice from the slow cooker over the beef or serve with a side of the juice for dipping. Enjoy!

Want to know how easy this recipe is? This is the hardest step - slicing an onion.

Put the roast, sliced onion, banana peppers with the juice, salad dressing mix, and enough water to cover the roast in the slow cooker and cook on high for 8 hours. Yay for setting it and forgetting it!

Oh my. Just look at how beautiful it is after 8 hours!

It is so tender that it falls apart when you take two forks to it. Shred it into small enough pieces for a sandwich.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat and onions and peppers but you'll also want to either ladle some of the juice onto your sandwich or get an extra little bowl of juice for dipping! 

Brown the sandwich bun and melt the cheese in the broiler for a few minutes, assemble the sandwich, stuff face. Mmmm warm, tender meat with very VERY little work. And whatever you do, don't let the delicious juice go to waste! Either drizzle some directly on the sandwich or have a little dipping bowl like above.

Potato Salad

My mom is admittedly not a big fan of cooking. I always cooked with my dad growing up and my mom GLADLY  passed on the cooking duties to us, but there are a few select dishes she LOVED to make. One of those dishes is potato salad and it's her specialty! She makes enormous batches for cookouts and barbecues and parties and it's always a big hit! The key to this potato salad - the crunch. It has plenty of crunchy little bits with the celery, onion, and radishes that are a nice variation in texture from the soft potatoes and creamy dressing. 

*Disclaimer: My mom insists that the hard boiled eggs are crucial in this recipe. I'm not a fan of hard boiled eggs so I left them out and it was still PHENOMENAL. Add them if you like hard boiled eggs in potato salad!

Mom’s Potato Salad

Makes 8 cups of potato salad

Total Time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

10 redskin potatoes (or other types of potatoes)

5 radishes

3 celery stalks

1 white onion

1 cup mayonnaise

1/3 cup milk

1 tsp mustard

1 tsp salt

A sprinkle of paprika

(optional) 3 hard boiled eggs, chopped

1. Rinse potatoes and boil in a large pot of water over high heat until fork tender, about 30 minutes.

2. While the potatoes are cooking, chop celery, onion, and radishes into small pieces. Mix together mayonnaise, milk, mustard, and salt.

3. Pour potatoes into a colander and let cool for 5 minutes. Peel the skin off of the potatoes. Cut potatoes into large 1 inch chunks.

4. Mix together all ingredients and season with more salt if desired. Let cool in the refrigerator before serving.

5. Sprinkle paprika on top and enjoy!

It takes a while to boil the potatoes, but that gives you time to chop the veggies and mix the dressing. It took these 10 redskin potatoes about 30 minutes in boiling water to get fork tender. Make sure you don't over cook them or else your potato salad will be mushy! Drain them when you can easily insert a fork into them but they're still firm enough to hold their shape and not fall apart.

Ah all the crunchy bits! This is my favorite part of the recipe because you get different textures in the potato salad. There's nothing worse than mushy potato salad!

Let the potatoes cool and peel the skin off. Chop the potatoes in larger chunks than you think you will need because they break up a bit when you stir everything together!

I forgot to take a picture of the dressing, but its very easy! Just mix the mayonnaise, milk, mustard, and salt. You can taste test the dressing before you mix everything together and add more salt if desired. Mix all ingredients! Let it cool in the refrigerator before serving.

Sprinkle with paprika and you've got a perfect side dish for any barbecue or cookout!