Balsamic Baked Chicken

This was maybe one of the most beautiful looking dishes I've ever made.

I mean, it was just pretty! Also the combination of garlic and balsamic vinegar baking in the oven created the most delicious smell in the kitchen.

I made the original recipe from Pinterest, and as we were eating it my mind was running with all the variations I wanted to try.

The original recipe used cherry tomatoes and mushrooms, but we don't like mushrooms, and I had a random zucchini in my fridge that needed to be used, so I chopped that up and added it in, and it was great! So really, I think you could do this with any variation of vegetables - mushrooms, zucchini or squash, green beans, etc. 

This time I made it,  I followed the directions to use fresh basil in the sauce. If you like basil, you will LOVE this dish - it had such a strong, pronounced basil flavor. Kyle and I like basil, but don't love it, so I think next time I want to try using spinach and roasted red peppers instead of basil and cherry tomatoes. I'll let you know how it turns out!

I served this with brown rice, and it was a flavorful, healthy meal!

**EDIT**
I have now tried this dish with the spinach and red pepper combination. It was phenomenal. So good. Kyle and I liked it even better than the original, but keep in mind that we only mildly like basil. Follow the same recipe, except instead of basil, use about 2 cups of spinach in the blender. And instead of tomatoes, just throw in sliced red bell pepper, but cook that for the full time instead of adding it halfway through like the tomatoes.

Spinach and red pepper version

Balsamic Baked Chicken

Original Recipe

3-4 chicken breasts

6-7 garlic cloves

1 cup fresh basil

1 TBS olive oil, plus more for browning chicken

2 tsps balsamic vinegar, plus more for drizzling

1/4 cup water

1 package cherry tomatoes, halved

1 red onion, sliced

Chopped vegetable of choice - zucchini, mushrooms, green beans, etc.

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius

In a blender, add the garlic cloves, basil, 1 TBS olive oil, 2 tsps balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup water, and pulse until blended but not pureed.

In a skillet, heat another TBS of olive oil over medium high heat. Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides, then brown in the skillet - cook on each side 2-3 minutes until browned. Move browned chicken to a glass baking pan. Add sliced onions into the skillet and sauté for a few minutes until they start to brown. 

Sprinkle your chopped vegetable of choice around the chicken in the pan. Pour basil vinegar mixture over top. Then add the sautéed onions over the top. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

Remove pan from oven, and sprinkle halved cherry tomatoes over the top, and drizzle another splash of balsamic vinegar over the top. Return to oven and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until chicken is done.

Remove from oven and serve immediately with rice.

Mexican Rice

Confession: I didn't think I really liked Mexican Rice.

At Mexican restaurants when it would come with a side of beans and rice, I pretty much never at the rice.

But last week, a few of the girls and I were making Baked Chimichangas for dinner together, and Misha decided to make some Mexican rice as a side dish. I enjoyed eating it along with the chimichangas so much, that when I made the chimichangas again less than a week later (yep), I made some of my own Mexican rice to accompany it. 

So I guess you could say I'm an official fan of Mexican rice now. Especially when it's paired with chimichangas. 

Mexican Rice

Original Recipe

1 cup of basmati rice, rinsed

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups of water

1 chicken cube

1 box of tomato puree

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped red or yellow bell pepper

4-5 cloves minced garlic

1 tsp dried cilantro (coriander leaf) - or a handful of chopped fresh

salt and pepper to taste

Dissolve the chicken cube in the 1 1/2 cups of boiling water to make chicken broth.

Heat a deep sautee pan or pot to medium heat and add the oil. Add the uncooked rice, onions and bell pepper to the oil. Stir and cook until the onions are translucent and the rice is browned. Add garlic and cook another minute. 

Pour in the chicken broth, tomato puree, salt, pepper, and dried cilantro (if using fresh, save till the end). Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring frequently. Once it boils, turn heat to low and cover. Cook for 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed and rice is done cooking. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed. Add chopped cilantro, if using fresh.

Baked Chimichangas

This is a recipe that I used to make back home in America that translates really well to India!

Baked chimichangas. Yum yum yum. So yummy, in fact, that I literally made them twice this week. But they're baked, not deep fried, so that makes it ok. Plus, I even made my tortillas with half atta (whole wheat flour), so that makes it extra ok.

These are simple and tasty (and kid approved!), so go ahead and make them multiple times a week!

Baked Chimichangas

Original Recipe

1 lb chicken keema (ground chicken)

1 box of tomato puree

1 package of taco seasoning

1-2 cups of cooked black beans (or one can)

6-8 chopped jarred jalapeños

7-8 large tortillas

1 TBS + 1 tsp olive oil

1 cup shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius

Cook the chicken keema in 1 TBS of olive oil. Add tomato puree, taco seasoning, black beans, and chopped jalapeños. Simmer over medium low heat for 3-5 minutes. Divide cheese and meat mixture evenly onto the tortillas, and fold both sides in, and then both ends over to create a little burrito package. Place seam side down onto a greased baking sheet (I like to line mine with foil for easy clean up). Brush the 1 tsp of olive oil over the tops of each chimichanga. 

Place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until the tops are brown and crispy.

I liked serving this with some salsa, corn, and Mexican rice. Delicious! 

** Bonus! If you like the idea of baked chimichangas, but this specific recipe didn't float your boat, here's another version of chimichangas that my friend Lauren sent to me that you could try!

Quick Meal Ideas

So since returning to India this time around, I vowed that I was not going to eat peanut butter or grilled cheese sandwiches every single day for lunch. You can just only do that so long before you start to get depressed about life.

I have found that lunches and snacks are the hardest thing for me to figure out in India. With the lack of lunch meat for sandwiches, no frozen pizzas, or frozen corn dogs (my personal favorite indulgence), lunch is just a little more complicated. Or any quick meal for that matter. I was frequently finding that if I hadn't planned ahead for lunch, or even dinner, we were stuck eating PB&J, egg sandwiches, or pancakes (nothing wrong with that though). Leftovers are a good idea in theory, but if I make enough of a meal to have leftovers, I'm usually planning for us to eat it for dinner the next night.

So in the past almost month we've been back, I've been making an effort to have options to put together quick meals that are healthier, and with more protein. 

Here are some of the things I've kept stocked:

* Shredded Chicken: At the beginning of the week, cook a bunch of chicken, and then shred it up. I like to cook my chicken in the crock pot with a couple of chicken cubes in the water. I also like to add some fajita seasoning if I want it to be Mexican, or you can add any other favorite seasoning. You can also cook it in a pressure cooker, or the old fashioned oven or skillet if you don't have a crock pot. Shred up the chicken and then put it in the fridge to use for various meals throughout the week (or put some in the freezer for future use as well).

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

I discovered something magical on Pinterest. Instead of spending forever shredding your chicken with two forks like I have always done, you can shred it with a stand or hand mixer.

Why on earth have I not figured this out before now? If you knew and didn't tell me, shame on you. I used my Kitchenmaid mixer, and it perfectly shredded 2 lbs of chicken in about 20 seconds. A hand mixer will do the same. Revolutionary!!

* Cooked Black Beans: again at the beginning of the week, cook some black beans (I find a pressure cooker is best for this, but you could also do so in a crock pot or a normal pot on the stove, it will just take longer). You can leave the black beans plain, or after they're already soft, cook them in a pot with some chicken broth, chopped red pepper, onion and garlic (yum). Keep them in the fridge, or freeze extras for the future.

* Cooked Brown Rice: especially since there's no "Minute" rice in India, I like cooking a cup of brown rice and then just throwing it in the fridge to use for various meals. 

* Frozen Chapatis (tortillas): A friend pointed these out to me, and they are awesome! They are definitely NOT as good as fresh, homemade tortillas, but we all know those take work and planning ahead, and also don't stay fresh for more than a day or two, so having these frozen ones work great to make quick meals.

* Frozen corn, frozen peas, jars of salsa, shredded cheese, chopped bell peppers - just keep all of these on hand!

Now here are some different creation options:

- Mix some of the rice, chicken, and black beans with some corn, cheese, and salsa for a Chipotle style chicken rice bowl!

- Use the frozen tortillas to make a quesadilla with cheese, chicken, and black beans - you can even add some extra chopped peppers or onions for more veggies. You can do these quickly in the microwave, or if you want them yummy and crispy, follow these instructions.

- Make a sandwich wrap with a tortilla with some chicken, black beans, cheese, tomatoes, and even lettuce if you can find good lettuce in your city.

- Also if you can find good lettuce, you can make a taco salad with the chicken, black beans, cheese and some salsa.

- Using some of the cooked rice, you can mix up this great veggie rice bowl.

- If your chicken is not flavored with Mexican flavoring, you could add some veggies and chicken to the rice with some soy sauce, or any other Asian sauces you like. You could even throw it all into a skillet if you have some extra time. 

Other ideas:

* Chicken nuggets - ok, the frozen chicken nuggets here just kinda weird me out. I can't ever tell if they've been cooked before being frozen or if the chicken is raw, and that just kinda grosses me out. Thankfully, I found a very easy homemade alternative right here. I made a batch and froze them, and just last night gave some to the kids by just reheating them in the microwave! Landon and Layla loved them, and I loved that I wasn't scared about giving them mystery meat.

* Hot dogs - while we were home in the U.S., my kids fell in love with hot dogs. It was a blow to come back and not have them anymore. Thankfully, I ran into a friend at the grocery store and she had these in her cart:

She has lived in India for years with 2 boys, and she said they've tried just about every brand of hot dog, and that her boys really liked these. I bought a package, and both Landon and Layla loved them. You'll find them in the freezer section.

* Mini pizzas - our grocery store in the bakery section has little mini pizza crusts. A friend suggested keeping those on hand and letting your kids make personal pizzas. You can either buy jarred pizza sauce, or you can season some tomato sauce (tomato puree) with some sugar (the tomato puree here is very bitter, so add some sugar) and some oregano/basil etc. Then add cheese and whatever toppings your kids (or yourself) will eat! Pop in the oven!

* Bean and Cheese Burritos - I haven't made these yet this time around, but on our last stay in India I made a few batches of homemade bean and cheese burritos and froze them, and those made for great quick meals as well. 

* Granola bars - This is technically a snack idea (or breakfast, or anytime), but I've been making this recipe of homemade granola bars. You can get all the ingredients here, they're super easy, and they're delicious. I like baking them, as she suggests. I also like using the Quaker Oats Plus, if you can find those. As soon as I finish off one pan, I make another just to always have them on hand!

What other quick meals do you make? I'm always looking for more options. Please comment with any other ideas!

One Pot Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli with Rice

Ok, the picture of this meal doesn't really do it justice. But here it is anyway.

The picture on the original recipe website was so pretty looking, but seeing as how the cheese in India is white, and not bright orange and yellow, it kinda ruins the photogenic effect.

However, don't let that influence your opinion of this meal! This.was.good. Yum. It was cheesy, smooth, creamy, yet the onion and garlic gave it some savory depth of flavor. I've never actually had risotto before, but for some reason as I was eating, I kept thinking, "This is how I imagine risotto to be." (Just for the record, I know this is not risotto. This is not how you make risotto. But something about it made me imagine it was like eating risotto, even though I have never, in fact, eaten risotto. Glad we cleared that up.)

Landon and Layla even approved! 

And the great part - you make it all in one pot! Easy! And fewer dishes! (ok, that's not entirely true...since we have to make our own cream of chicken soup in India, that makes for 2 pots).

One Pot Cheesy Chicken and Broccoli with Rice

Original Recipe

1 lb of chicken breasts, cut into pieces

1 small onion, diced

4-5 cloves of garlic, minced

1 TBS olive oil

2 cups of chicken broth (2 chicken cubes dissolved in 2 cups water)

1 recipe of cream of chicken soup substitute

3/4 cup of rice (I used white basmati - rinse it with cold water first)

2 cups of broccoli florets

1 cup of shredded cheese (give or take...I probably added more in all honesty)

Salt and pepper to taste

To begin, boil 3 cups of water and add 3 chicken cubes to get your chicken broth. Save 2 cups aside for the recipe, and then use 1/2 cup to make your cream of chicken soup (you'll wind up discarding 1/2 cup of the broth, or you can refrigerate for later use, if desired). After your chicken broth and cream of chicken soup are ready, begin the meal.

Heat large skillet or pot to medium heat, and add olive oil. Once hot, add onion, garlic, and chicken. Cook for 4-5 minutes until the chicken starts getting browned (it doesn't have to cook completely at this stage, because it still has lots of time left in the pot). Season with some salt and pepper. Add the chicken broth, cream of chicken soup, and rice to the pot and stir to combine everything. Lower heat to medium-low and cover with a lid. Let cook until the rice is cooked through. This took about 15-20 minutes for me. I occasionally stirred and checked the rice, and also checked to make sure there was still liquid. If the liquid starts to run out, add some more water or chicken broth. When rice is soft add broccoli florets and cheese. Cook for 5 more minutes, or to whatever softness you like your broccoli. Ready to serve!

Brown Rice and Veggie Bowl

I have a great recipe to pass onto you from my favorite food blogger, Mix and Match Mama. I love her recipes...the only sad thing is that a lot of them are hard to make in India. But I've definitely adapted whatever I can of hers!

A couple of summers ago she did a series about good lunch ideas, and this was one of my favorites, and very easy to duplicate in India. Plus...it's super healthy. #winning

 Essentially, you start with a big bowl of brown rice or quinoa, and then add in whatever you want. Here's what I added this time:

Brown Rice and Veggie Bowl

Original recipe

1 cup of brown rice (or quinoa), cooked according to directions

1 red pepper, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

1/2 cup of frozen peas

1/2 cup of frozen corn

Handful of cherry tomatoes, halved

Dash of salt and pepper

Directions: mix everything together! This makes a big bowl that will last you for 2-3 meals. You can eat it cold, or I personally like it warmed up for 20-30 seconds. Just spoon out your portion for the day into a bowl, microwave, and then sprinkle with salt and pepper. So simple! And definitely a way for me to eat more veggies (and fruit...tomatoes are technically a fruit).

In her original recipe, she also added a handful of baby spinach leaves, which I loved doing when I was in America. But let's face it...the spinach in India tastes a lot more like dirt and not at all like American baby spinach. I don't think I could ever eat it just raw. So I left that out. Also, if you can't find baby tomatoes, you could easily just add some diced tomatoes, but I would suggest adding those in right before you eat it so they don't get mushy and soggy in the mix.

Other add in ideas:

* Cooked chicken

* Black beans

* Any other color of bell pepper

* Your favorite vegetable!

Whole Wheat and Oat Pancakes

So, my very first recipe posted on this blog was for Basic Pancakes. I made hundreds of them the first year and a half we were in India.

I have a confession...I haven't made them a single time so far. Because I'm obsessed with this new recipe, that I've made 5 or 6 times already in the 3.5 weeks we've been here.

I'm in love with this new pancake recipe, because it feels super healthy with the whole wheat, very little sugar, and using dahi instead of butter. The oats add an extra heartiness that fill you up a little more. And the hint of cinnamon gives such good flavor - normally I'm a die hard peanut butter on pancakes eater, but I like the flavor of these so much that I've been using regular old butter on them. They're real winners!! 

I hope you make them, and I hope you love them!

Whole Wheat and Oat Pancakes

Original Recipe

1 cup atta (whole wheat flour)

1/2 cups oats

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsps baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 TBS brown sugar

1/4 cup dahi (Greek yogurt)

1 tsp vanilla

Combine the atta, oats, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl.

In a separate smaller bowl, whisk the egg, milk, brown sugar, dahi, and vanilla together.

Pour the wet ingredients slowly into the dry, and whisk JUST until combined. Don't over mix, or you'll wind up with dense, tough pancakes, especially since these use whole wheat flour.

Heat a greased griddle to medium low heat and pour about 1/3 cup of batter per pancake. Cook a couple of minutes on first side or until lots of bubbles start to pop on the surface. Flip, and cook another 1-2 minutes or until done. Make 7-8 pancakes.