Garlic Chicken Stir fry with Quinoa

I've been really lazy about posting here the past couple of months....so now that it's the new year, it's time to play catch up!!

I made this dish back in November. I found it on the package of Trader Joe's Organic Quinoa; at the time, I was trying to find a pasta/rice-like filler that was lower WeighWatcher's points. Quinoa is an amazing food, high in protein and yet a grain. I also wanted to try this recipe because it sounded so simple, and it was! It is also an all-in-one dish, with veggies, meat, and starch.

Serves 4
1 serving = 15 WeightWatchers PointsPlus

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa
2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 lbs chicken breast
4 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped or thinly slice
1 medium red bell pepper
1 medium yellow bell pepper (I used green instead because it was on sale)
5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or pressed
20 basil leaves
1/4 grated Parmesan cheese

Step 1: Prepare quinoa with chicken stock, according to package intructions.
Step 2: Cut chicken into one-inch pieces.
Step 3: Heat large skillet over high heat and add oil.
Step 4: Add chicken and saute for 5 minutes or until golden brown.
Step 5: Add onions and bell peppers; saute for 1-2 minutes.
Step 6: Add garlic and saute until peppers are slightly limp, but still bright (about 1-2 minutes).
Step 7: Season with salt and pepper.
Step 8: Remove pan from heat; add basil and quinoa. Toss until basil silts; garnish with cheese.

Recipe times: Prep - 15 minutes, Cook - 10 minutes
My times: Prep - 45 minutes, Cook - 10 minutes
Total time: 55 minutes

Ingredients

Step 4

Step 5

Turkey Vegetable Cobbler

I felt like something healthy for dinner tonight, so I browsed through my Pampered Chef It's Good for You cookbook. Pork, nah...beef...fish...nah. Oooo, turkey!! So I looked at the recipe, and thought "hey, this doesn't seem so tough, I can do this quickly". Except when I went to the store, the only turkey I could find was the deli sliced one. So since the recipe said turkey OR chicken in the ingredient list, I decided to use the canned chicken breast chunky meat instead! So here it is!

~Turkey Chicken Vegetable Cobbler~

Ingredients:
~Turkey & Vegetable filling~
2 cups diced cooked turkey or chicken [I used 2 cans of chicken breast meat]
1 cup sliced carrots [about 3 medium carrots]
1/2 cup chopped onion [1 small/medium onion]
2 cups broccoli florets [about 1 head of broccoli]
1 can (10.75 oz) 98% fat-free reduced-sodium condensed cream of chicken soup
1/2 cup 100% fat-free chicken broth
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 garlic glove, pressed
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
~Biscuit Topping~
1 1/4 cups reduced-fat all-purpose baking mix [I used Bisquik]
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
1 egg white

Step 1: Preheat oven to 400F. Cut turkey into 1/2 inch cubes. Cut carrots into 1/4 inch slices (can use crinkle cutter to be fancy). Chop onion using Food Chopper (PC).
Step 2: Combine carrots, onion, and broccoli into Large Micro-cooker (PC) [I dont' have the Lg Micro-cooker, so I combined the veggies into my Classic Batter Bowl (PC) and microwaved the veggies with a paper towel covering the top. It worked fine.] Microwave, covered, on High 2-3 minutes, or until crisp-tender; drain.
Step 3: In Classic Batter Bowl (PC), combine soup, broth, milk, pressed garlic, thyme, and black pepper; whisk until blended.
Step 4: Stir in turkey (chicken) and vegetable mixture; mix well.
Step 5: Pour into Deep Dish Baker (PC) [I don't have a DDB, so I used my Deep Covered Baker (PC).]
Step 6: For biscuit topping, combine baking mix, milk, and egg white; stir just until dry ingredients are moistened (mixture forms a soft dough).
Step 7: Using Medium Scoop (PC), drop six scoops of dough over filling. [I actually had 8 scoops]
Step 8: Bake 30-35 minutes or until topping is golden brown. [I baked it for 27 minutes]

Recipe times:
Prep time: 15 minutes
Bake time: 30-35 minutes

My times:
Prep time: 30 minutes
Bake time: 27 minutes
TOTAL TIME: 57 minutes

Yeah, it took me a little longer than it should have....but still not bad! And it was HEALTHY!!!! According to the recipe, this has 6 servings; each serving contains 270 calories. Not bad! I probably ate 2 servings, because I was so hungry....and it still would be under 600 calories! Yay!! This was very similar to a pot pie, but with biscuits on top...

Ingredients (sans chicken)

Step 2

Step 5

Step 7

Curried Chicken with Couscous

Mmmm...I decided it was time to spice things up...with Asian cooking!! And I was in the mood for some coconut milk-based curry. This recipe is one I found in Pampered Chef's 29 Minutes to Cooking (volume 1). And it turned out D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!!!! Although, in hindsight....I used way too large of an onion. But at least it was one of the sweet varieties, so I was able to eat them (I don't enjoy onions usually). I also adored the golden raisins. I've never cooked with raisins, and you don't run into that many dishes that use them. These add a sweet flavor to the spiced curry-ness!!

Servings: 4

Ingredients:
~Chicken & Curry~
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
4 medium carrots
1 medium onion
1 tsp vegetable oil
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk
~Couscous~
2 cups chicken broth
1 1/3 cups uncooked plain couscous
1 tbsp butter
2 tbsp snipped fresh cilantro (plus extra from garnish - optional)

Chicken
Step 1: Cut chicken into 1 inch pieces. Lightly spray skillet with vegetable oil (or some non-stick oil spray). Heat skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until hot.
Step 2: As skillet heats, combine salt and black pepper in Prep Bowl (PC). Season chicken with half of the black pepper mixture.
Step 3: Cook the chicken 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Turn chicken over and cook another 2-3 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink in center. Remove from skillet; set aside.
Step 4: (as chicken cooks) Peel carrots [which I forgot to do...I was overzealous in my haste to cut the carrots]; cut in half lengthwise, then thinly slice on a bias.
Step 5: Cut onion in half lengthwise, then crosswise into 1/2 inch wedges. [I actually cut the onion prior to cooking the chicken, as part of the prep work...As I should have done with the carrots as they took me longer to cut than it took the chicken to cook]
Step 6: Add oil to skillet. Saute carrots and onion 5 minutes or until crisp-tender, stirring occassionally.
Step 7: Stir curry powder, raisins, coconut milk, and remaining black pepper mix into skillet. [If you think it looks like you need more sauce, fill the coconut milk can with a little water and add to the skillet]
Step 8: Add chicken; simmer 3-5 minutes or until sauce begins to thicken.

Couscous
Step 1: Pour broth into Rice Cooker Plus (PC); cover and microwave on High 3 minutes or until boiling. [I don't have that, so I used my Classic Batter Bowl (PC); it worked fine]
Step 2: Stir couscous and butter into broth. Cover; let stand 5 minutes.
Step 3: As couscous stands, snip cilantro using Kitchen Shears (PC). Fluff couscous with a fork; stir in cilantro.

Claimed time: 29 minutes
Total time: 48 minutes
(including prep)

Not bad!! Yes, if you wanted, you could make a vegetable dish, or add something green to the curry to make it an all-in-one meal. This was good enough for me! And I have plenty of leftovers to take to work this week!

Ingredients

Step 1

Step 5

 

Step 6

Steps 7 & 8

Couscous

Cheesy Chicken Chilaquiles

I was looking for a quick and easy recipe for tonight, so I didn't have to spend too much time in the kitchen on a day off, and opened up my Pampered Chef cookbook 29 Minute to Dinner: Volume 2. In it, I found something that looked absolutely delicious, and had less than 10 ingredients (spices included)!

~Cheesy Chicken Chilaquiles~

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts (can substitute thighs)
1 tbsp Southwestern Seasoning Mix (Pampered Chef) - can substitute taco seasoning mix
1 3/4 cups salsa verde
1 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
12 cups tortilla chips (authentic restaurant-style)
2 cups shredded Chihuahua cheese (can substitute mozzarella or monterey jack)
1 cup crumbled queso fresco (can substitute farmer's cheese)
Optional: Sour cream

Listed cooktime: 23 minutes

My ingredients:

I also had a 14 oz bag of tortilla chips that claimed they were "restaurant style" (I used the whole bag).

Step 1:
Cut the chicken into 1-inch pieces. Luckily, my Cutting Board (PC) has measuring units on each long side.

Step 2:
Combine chicken and seasoning mix in Deep Covered Baker (PC); mix well. Spread chicken evenly over bottom of baker. Microwave (covered) on High 4 minutes. Stir to separate chicken. Microwave (covered) another 4 minutes (or until chicken isn't pink). Drain using colander.

Step 3:

Combine salsa and broth. Chop cilantro. Arranged half the chips (broken) over bottom of baker (no need to rinse or wash baker prior).

Top with half the chicken, salsa mixture and cheeses. Sprinkle 1/2 cup of the cilantro on top.

Repeat layers once, ending with cheeses.

Step 4:

Microwave (covered) on High 5-7 minutes, or until cheese are melted. Let stand (covered) 5 minutes. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Serve with sour cream (optional).

The finished product:

Looks pretty close to the picture in the cookbook, huh? :) It worked out great! And it was very, very delicious.

Prep time: 20 minutes (including attempting to figure out if the 14oz bag of chips = 12 cups the recipe called for; I gave up)

Cook time: 38 minutes

Total time: 58 minutes

Not bad for a first attempt. I bet after I've made it a few time I could get it down to the proclaimed "23 minutes".