This Week in Food...

Wednesday night I made Lime and Coconut Chicken inspired by Chaos in the Kitchen.  Due to the fact that I like to get dinner on the table in 40 minutes or less, I didn't follow her recipe exactly. So look above if you have 2+ hours to marinate the chicken first.
Ingredients:
1 lbs boneless, skinless chicken tenders
3 tbsp oil
zest of 1 lime
1 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup coconut milk
pinch cayenne
1 small chipotle chili
Fresh limes
Instructions:
Mix all remaining ingredients except limes. Pour the marinade into a small saucepan and bring to a rolling boil.  Boil continuously for at least 2 minutes, stirring occasionally so it doesn’t burn. In a heavy skillet or grill pan, heat a splash of oil over high heat. Cook the chicken in an even layer. Place the breasts in the hot pan and cook without turning for a couple minutes. Flip the breasts over and cook until the other side is golden, it shouldn’t take long depending on the thickness of your chicken. Right before chicken is finished cooking, add some of the marinade and mix together with chicken so it gets a nice orangy color. Sprinkle with fresh lime juice and serve with sauce on top and more on the side.

I served this along with some brown rice.  I also sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds and green onions on top.

I actually cooked 2 pounds of chicken on Wednesday and put 1 pound aside for Thursdays dinner.  On Thursday I made Tex-Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole inspired from Better Homes and Gardens.  Remember that magazine?  I remember that my mom used to get it when I was little.  I'm not really sure how I found this recipe.  I had written down awhile ago that I wanted to make Tex-Mex Chicken but I forgot where I saw it.  So I used my friend google to get inspired again.  Have I mentioned how much I love GOOGLE?!?! Alright, so I found this recipe and added a lot more delicious ingredients. Here is what I used to make this dish along with diced cooked chicken:

And here is the recipe- Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Casserole

Ingredients  
1  container Uncle Bens :90 Chicken Flavored Rice
2  cups chopped cooked chicken or turkey 
1 can Rotel Tomatoes with Green Chilis
1/2 small can of green chilis

1-1/2  teaspoons chili powder 

1/8  teaspoon ground cumin 

1/8  teaspoon black pepper

1/2 Can of Black Beans, Drained

1 Cup of Fresh Salsa from the Produce Aisle (I use this all the time!)

1/2  cup shredded Mexican blend cheddar cheese

Instructions:
Cook rice in the microwave Transfer the rice mixture to a large bowl. Stir in chicken, tomatoes, chile peppers, beans, chili powder, cumin, and black pepper. Transfer half to a casserole dish.  

Sprinkle half of the cheese ontop.  Then add the rest on the casserole dish and sprinkle the rest of the cheese. Bake, covered, in a 425 degree F oven for 25 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

 Serve with diced avocado on top!

So I didn't have to use the stove at all to make this dish, I decided to also make Jalapeno Popper Soup inspired by Chaos in the Kitchen ( I like this blog, can you tell?)  THIS  SOUP WAS INSANELY SPICY.  I ended up throwing more than half of it away.  I tried hard to eliminate the seeds in the jalapenos but I guess one two many got in there.  I also more than halved her recipe.  Like I used only 3 jalapenos and my soup was still RIDICULOUSLY SPICY!  Eeekkkk!!!  I don't even think my drain enjoyed the soup- literally when we put it down the garbage disposal, you could feel the spicy fumes in the air! So this was kinda a fail for me.  But check it out on Chaos in the Kitchen!

I did end up eating my portion of the soup.  Dave had like two bites and couldn't handle the heat, but I do like things spicy!  Just not so sure I like it THAT SPICY!  Here is my entire meal all-together.  We have the casserole, soup and a side salad.

And just now I made Chicken Enchiladas inspired by Annie-Eats.

Chicken Enchiladas
Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 jalapenos, seeded and chopped fine
1 tsp. canola oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. chili powder
2 tsp. cumin
1 tbsp. sugar
1 can tomato sauce ( I used half of my favorite- Classico)
1 cup water
1/2 cup can of diced tomato with chilis (the rest of the can from Thursdays dinner)
1/2 can of green chilis (the rest from Thursdays dinner)
1/2 can of black beans (the rest from Thursdays dinner)
Salt and pepper
1 lb. boneless, cooked, skinless chicken tenders
1 cup light Mexican blend Cheese
8-12 (6-inch) soft flour tortillas
Cooking spray 
Directions: 
Combine the onion, jalapeno and oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Cook, stirring often, until the onions and peppers have softened, 8-10 minutes.  Stir in the garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar, and cook just until fragrant, less than 30 seconds.  Mix in the tomato sauce, water, and diced tomatoes, chili and black beans.  (I love being able to use ingredients in two different meals and not wasting anything!!!)

Bring the sauce to a simmer, lower the heat and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.  (Nestle the chicken into the sauce.  Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook until the chicken is completely cooked through (160˚ F on an instant-read thermometer), about 12-20 minutes.  Transfer the chicken to a plate and set aside to cool.  - my chicken was already cooked!) Strain the sauce through a large mesh strainer into a medium bowl, 

pressing down on the onions and tomatoes to extract as much liquid as possible.  Transfer the reserved solids to a large bowl and set aside.  Season the sauce with additional salt and pepper to taste. Shred the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the bowl with the onion mixture.  Add in ¼ cup of the enchilada sauce, ½ cup of each of the shredded cheeses, and the cilantro.  Stir to combine. Preheat the oven to 425˚ F.  Oil a 9 x 13" baking dish with cooking spray.  Stack the tortillas on a plate, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 40-60 seconds, until warm and pliable.  Spoon 1/3 cup of the chicken mixture evenly down the center of a tortilla.  Roll up the tortilla around the filling tightly, and place in the prepared baking dish, seam-side down.  Repeat with the remaining filling and tortillas. 

Lightly spray the tops of the enchiladas with cooking spray.  Place in the oven, uncovered, for 7 minutes or until the tortillas start to brown slightly.  Reduce the oven temperature to 400˚ F.  Remove the enchiladas from the oven and pour the sauce oven the top.  Sprinkle with the remaining shredded cheese.  Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes, until the cheese is browned.  Remove from the oven and let stand 10 minutes before serving. 

This was an AMAZING lunch!  I was supposed to make this last night for dinner, but we decided to go out for Turkish food with my brother and sister-in-law instead.  Dave and I watched an episode of Anthony Bourdain when he visited Istanbal and have been interested in trying out the food ever since.  If you live around Brookline, MA try out The Family!  
I'm off now to relax with sports- Celts game.  Then its bedtime bright and early.  Got to get ready for my Half-Marathon tomorrow, wish me luck!  And let's hope it doesn't snow or rain!  I'm going into this without expectations- just to run hard and see where that goes!  This is after all a training run for a much bigger picture.  Details on that to come soon...