Pesto Chicken Spaghetti Squash Lasagna

INGREDIENTS

• 1 small or 1/2 medium-large spaghetti squash, baked and scraped out
• 2 cups chopped cooked chicken
• ¼-1/2 cup pesto
• 1 cup ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
  1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
  1 small onion, chopped
  2 cloves garlic, minced
  1-2 T. butter
• ¼-1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, packed
• ¾ tsp garlic powder
• ¾ tsp dried parsley
• ½ tsp Italian spice blend
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup (or more) marinara or crushed tomatoes
• 6 slices of fresh mozzarella or 2-4 oz freshly grated mozz
• Shaved parmesan (optional)
• 
  

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Saute peppers & onions in butter til softened. Add garlic and cook another minute. Add cooked spaghetti squash, Italian seasoning, and marinara.
2. In a medium bowl, add pesto to cooked chicken.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk up an egg. Add ricotta and add freshly grated parmesan cheese, garlic powder, dried parsley, salt, and your favorite Italian seasoning blend.
4. Spread some marinara in a casserole dish to line it.
5. Add veggie mixture. Add extra marinara on top if desired.
6. Layer ricotta mixture over that..
7. Layer pesto chicken over that.
8. Top with sliced or grated mozzarella and shaved parmesan and cover the baking dish in foil, leaving a little room at the top [like a tent!] so the mozz doesn't stick.
9. Bake at 350 degrees F for 35 minutes. Remove foil and cook another 5 minutes.
   
   Makes great leftover to take to work!

Slow Cooker Rosemary Chicken with Butternut Squash

I happened to have some chicken breasts and a butternut squash, so I tried this recipe on a lark. So delicious!

Ingredients

• 3 pounds butternut squash, peeled and seeded
• 1½ pounds chicken thighs, browned (breasts cut in half works fine)
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil, for browning
• 1 medium onion, small dice
• 1 can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 teaspoon rosemary, ground up
• 1 Tablespoon salt (I used a little less and it was plenty)
• top with shaved parmesan for serving

Instructions

1. Cube the squash into 1½ inch cubes and place a 4-qt crockpot. Cut the onion into small dice and place it in with the squash.
2. If you're browning the chicken, place a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the olive oil and the chicken thighs. Brown for just a minute on each side. Transfer the chicken to the crockpot.
3. Pour the Homemade Cream of Chicken soup over the top and sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary.
4. Place the lid on the crockpot and turn to low for 6-7 hours.

Pesto Game Hens

So easy, so delicious! I prepared the game hens and put them in the fridge before work. Then all Randy had to do was toss them in the oven. Ours took 1:15. We ate them with steamed green beans. Delish!

Heat oven to 350°.

Wash hens and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and pepper Place on a rack in a roasting pan, breast side up. Rub about 1 teaspoon of the pesto between the skin and breast on both sides of a hen, then rub about 1 teaspoon of pesto over the skin, along with about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Repeat with remaining pesto and Cornish game hens. Roast for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer registers 180° in the thickest part of meat.

Note: If you spatchcock the hen, it will take only about 45 minutes to cook. If it's not as brown as you want at the end, switch to broil for a few minutes.

Mexican Chicken Stew (Slow Cooker)

Damn, this is tasty! And easy...

Ingredients

• 1 1/4
  pounds chicken or turkey breast, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1
  14 1/2 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1
  cup chopped onion (1 large)
• 3/4
  cup chopped green sweet pepper (1 medium), or whatever pepper combo you like
• 1/2
  cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 3
  tablespoons tomato paste
• 2
  teaspoons ground cumin
• 2
  teaspoons chili powder
• 1/2
  teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4
  teaspoon salt
• 
  

Directions

1. in a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker combine meat, tomatoes, onion, peppers, broth, tomato paste, cumin, chili powder, black pepper, and the 1/4 teaspoon salt.
2. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 3 hours.
3. 
   
4. To serve, ladle stew into serving bowls. Top with your favorite garnishes. We drizzled with crema Mexicana, and it was perfect!

Honey Orange Chicken in the Slow Cooker

A new favorite! So delicious... I served this over sesame rice, with steamed broccoli. A fantastic and easy meal.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons orange zest
• 2 tablespoons orange juice
• 3 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce or tamari
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 12 medium chicken drumsticks (3-3 1/2 pounds), skin removed 

PREPARATION

1. Combine honey, orange zest, orange juice, soy sauce (or tamari), garlic, ginger, vinegar and crushed red pepper in a small bowl.
2. Coat a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker with cooking spray. Add drumsticks, pour in the sauce and mix to coat. Cover and cook until an instant-read thermometer registers 165°F when inserted into the thickest part of the meat without touching bone, 2 to 3 hours on High or 4 hours on Low.
3. Transfer the drumsticks to a bowl. Very carefully pour the liquid from the slow cooker into a medium skillet. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil until reduced and syrupy, 10 to 15 minutes. Pour the sauce over the drumsticks and stir to coat.

Spiced Roasted Chicken

Another recipe from Martha Stewart. This recipe yields a moist, flavorful bird. However, I ended up having to continue cooking it for an extra half hour to get to the right temperature. But it's possible the inside of my chicken was still partially frozen. So just make sure you check the temperature of the thigh every ten minutes past the recipe time until you get there. Also, the veggies were not done so I tossed them on a baking sheet for another 15 minutes after the bird came out. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), rinsed and patted dry, legs tied
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled, halved crosswise, and cut into 1/2-inch wedges
• 2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 orange, unpeeled, cut into 8 wedges

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a small bowl, combine spices. Season chicken with salt and pepper, then rub all over with spice mixture. Place in a large Dutch oven or heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid. Arrange vegetables and orange wedges around chicken and add 1/2 cup water. Cover and roast 30 minutes. Remove lid and roast until skin is golden brown and juices run clear when chicken is pierced between breast and leg (an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of a thigh, avoiding bone, should read 165 degrees), 30 minutes. Let rest 10 minutes before carving. Serve with vegetables and orange wedges.

Clay Pot Honey Lemon Chicken

                                                     CLAY POT HONEY LEMON CHICKEN

Easy and delicious! The recipe below came from Emeril Lagasse. But of course, I made a few small changes of my own. Enjoy!

1 (3 1/2-pound) fryer chicken
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (reserve lemon shell)
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon melted butter, plus 4 tablespoons, softened at room temperature
2/3 cup honey
1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour


Directions

Prepare a clay roaster by soaking in cold water for 15 minutes.

Rub chicken all over with 2 tablespoons of the lemon juice and season evenly on all sides with the salt and pepper. Place the reserved lemon shell inside the chicken cavity. Place the chicken inside the prepared clay roaster and brush with the melted butter. Cover the roaster and transfer to a cold oven. Set the oven temperature to 400 degrees F and cook for 45 minutes.

Combine the remaining 1/4 cup of lemon juice, honey, and soy sauce in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until heated through. In a small bowl, make a paste from the remaining 4 tablespoons of butter and the flour. Whisk the butter-flour mixture into the melted honey-lemon-butter mixture. Continue to cook until the sauce has thickened slightly. Remove the clay cooker from the oven and pour the honey-butter mixture all over the chicken, making sure to evenly cover the breast and any exposed areas. Cover the roaster and return the chicken to the oven for 35 minutes. Remove lid and cook another 10 minutes so the chicken will brown up. Transfer the chicken to a platter or carving board, cut into pieces and serve immediately. Transfer the sauce to a gravy boat for serving, or spoon some of the sauce over each piece of chicken.

Coca Cola Chicken: Slow Cooker Version

Just as easy and delicious as the skillet-cooked version. This is better if I'm making a large amount, too large for the skillet.

Ingredients
6 chicken drumsticks
4 chicken thighs

3/4 cup soy sauce
1 can coke

Garnish: scallions and sesame seeds

Place chicken in slow cooker. Add liquids, then push the chicken pieces down so they are soaking in the liquids as best they can. Cook on low for 6 hours. Remove chicken, drain some or all of the leftover liquid into a pan or skillet and cook until reduced to a syrupy sauce. Pour over the chicken. Garnish chicken with scallions and sesame seeds. 

Tender, falling off the bone, delicious! I served these with mashed cauliflower.

Coca Cola Turkey Drumsticks

Got the idea from a simple preparation of chicken wings. But not being a wings eater, I made the same recipe using turkey drumsticks and it was delicious! Also quite easy:

Soy Sauce
1/2 can Coke
Turkey or Chicken Drumsticks

Easy peasy. Just heat up a non-stick pan, adding a little sesame oil if you feel like it. Throw the drumsticks (or whatever form of poultry you like) in, pour a tablespoon or two of soy sauce over the legs, and cook for five minutes. Flip them over, add more soy sauce, and cook another five minutes. Pour in the Coke, more soy if you want it, then pop a lid on and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. Presto! Add chopped scallions and sesame seeds for garnish.

P.S. Don't use the wok.

A note after making this wonderful dish several times:
Don't use too much liquid. In fact, most recently I let the drumsticks marinate all day in soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and a little oil. Then cooked the drumsticks in the mixture, just enough for bubbling sauce but not drowning in it. Less liquid makes it faster and easier to cook down the sauce after removing the chicken so that you have a nice thick sauce to pour over it before serving. 

Chicken Lime Pepper Soup

CHICKEN LIME PEPPER SOUP

I've made this soup many times, and I vary the peppers each time. If you're trying to kill a nasty cold, include the chipotles in adobo sauce for a nice, spicy kick. This is also a great use of leftover turkey and stock from the holidays!

Serves: 6

Ingredients

·         2 Tbsp olive oil

·         1 medium yellow onion

·         2 stalks celery

·         1 medium jalapeno

·         Pasilla & Anaheim peppers

·         1-2 chipotles in adobo sauce

·         4 cloves garlic

·         ¾ lb. chicken breast

·         6 cups chicken broth*

·         1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes w/chiles

·         1 tsp oregano

·         ½ Tbsp cumin

·         1 medium lime

·         ½ bunch cilantro

Instructions

1.      Dice the onion, celery, and jalapeno (scrape the seeds out of the jalapeno before dicing). Mince the garlic. Cook the onion, celery, jalapeno, peppers, and garlic in olive oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until tender.

2.      Add the chicken breast, chicken broth, canned tomatoes with chiles, oregano, chipotles and cumin to the pot. Bring the whole pot up to a boil over high heat then reduce the heat to low, place a lid on top, and let simmer for one hour.

3.      After simmering for an hour with a lid on, carefully remove the chicken breast from the pot and use two forks to shred the meat. Return the meat to the pot. Squeeze the juice of one lime into the soup. Get as much juice as possible from the lime by using a spoon to scrape the inside of the lime.

4.      Rinse the cilantro and then roughly chop the leaves. Add to the pot, give it a quick stir, and serve. 

Turkey Cheddar Casserole

This is comfort food for sure. Like many recipes from Taste of Home, it's not low-cal in any way. But it was a great use of leftover turkey, and the friends I served it to on UFC Fight Night loved it. I used gluten-free rice noodles and dijon, but otherwise followed the recipe.

Cheddar Turkey Casserole Recipe

This recipe comes with lots of mass appeal, thanks to its cheesy sauce. Pasta, veggies and leftover turkey combine to create a filling meal. —Steve Foy, Kirkwood, Missouri

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 35 min.YIELD:6 servings

Ingredients

• 4 cups uncooked spiral pasta
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon prepared mustard
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 cups 2% milk
• 1-1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 cups cubed cooked turkey
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds

Directions

• 1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cook pasta according to package directions.
• 2. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, saute garlic in butter until tender. Stir in flour, salt, mustard, thyme and pepper. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil; cook and stir 2 minutes or until thickened. Remove from heat; stir in cheese until melted. Drain pasta; place in a large bowl. Toss with turkey, vegetables and cheese sauce.
• 3. Transfer to a greased 13x9-in. baking dish. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake, uncovered, 35-40 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 6 servings.

Nutritional Facts

1-1/3 cups equals 513 calories, 23 g fat (12 g saturated fat), 87 mg cholesterol, 703 mg sodium, 46 g carbohydrate, 5 g fiber, 31 g protein.

© 2015 RDA Enthusiast Brands, LLC

Turkey Mercedes

Ok, so this tasted fine, but the garlic cloves stuffed through holes in the flesh was too much, and looked ugly as the garlics turned green after cooking! However, the temp and timing on this turned out a perfect bird in about 4.5 hours.  Note: Don't make this recipe if you're hoping to make gravy from the drippings. The orange juice doesn't lend itself to that.  Turkey Mercedes

Rated: Submitted By: Anel Photo By: Allrecipes Prep Time: 40 Minutes Cook Time: 5 Hours Ready In: 13 Hours 40 Minutes Servings: 20

"Thanksgiving turkey has been given a Cuban twist! We celebrate this American holiday by preparing a turkey marinated with the flavors of Cuba. The recipe is foolproof and the turkey is the best you'll ever taste!"

INGREDIENTS:

3 heads garlic, peeled 1 tablespoon black pepper 1 tablespoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon dried oregano 2 tablespoons salt (or to taste)

2 cups fresh lemon juice 1 cup dry white wine 1/2 (12 fluid ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed 1 (16 pound) turkey

DIRECTIONS:

1.	Crush the peeled garlic cloves, and place into a large bowl. Season with pepper, cumin, oregano, and salt. Pour in lemon juice, wine, and orange juice concentrate; whisk together until well mixed.
2.	Using a sharp paring knife, pierce the turkey breast, thighs, and legs; creating holes for the marinade to penetrate. Pour the marinade over turkey, and into the holes. Finally, stuff garlic pieces into the holes. Cover the turkey well, and refrigerate overnight to marinate.
3.	Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
4.	Roast turkey in the preheated oven until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the thigh measures 180 degrees F (80 degrees C), about 5 hours. Baste the turkey every 30 to 45 minutes. Once the breast has browned, cover loosely with aluminum foil to prevent it from becoming burnt.

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Printed from Allrecipes.com 1/4/2015