Orange Chicken and Vegetables

My husband loves Chinese food. I think he would choose take out every night if he had the choice. I also like Chinese food but always feel like I've eaten a ton of grease afterwards. This recipe satisfied both of our Chinese food desires. The chicken was nice and juicy and had a nice, light breading. The sauce was great and I loved all of the vegetables. This will definitely show back up on our menu soon.

Orange Chicken & Vegetables
adapted from Mommy's Kitchen

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
3 Tbsp olive oil
5 large carrots, julienned
1 small onion, cut
1 green bell pepper, cut into chunks
4 stalks celery, sliced
salt and pepper to taste

Orange Sauce:
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 tsp ginger
2 tsp rice vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp sesame oil
pinch of red pepper flakes
2 Tbsp corn starch
1 cup chicken broth

Cut the chicken breasts up into 1 inch cubes. Combine the flour and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a small bowl or large zip lock bag. Coat the chicken with the flour. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil into a large skillet or wok and add half the chicken. Once it is cooked add the second half.

Cook your chicken until it is golden all over. (About 10 minutes) While your chicken is cooking, cut up your vegetables. Make sure they are about the same size. When the chicken is golden brown place it on a plate lined with a paper towel. Add another tablespoon of oil into the hot skillet. Add your vegetables and cook over medium high heat until crisp tender, about another 10 minutes.

While your vegetables are cooking add all of the orange sauce ingredients into a medium saucepan. Whisk them together until combined. Bring to a boil. Keep cooking until it thickens. When your vegetables are done add the sauce and chicken into the pan. Stir the mixture to combine. Serve over rice or Chinese noodles.

Low Calorie Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo

We had this meal for dinner tonight. It was delicious! I didn't even get a chance to take a picture of it. I have tried many similar recipes, but on the low calorie side, this has definitely been the best!

Low Calorie Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo
adapted from Food Network Magazine

1 Tbsp butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp grated lemon zest
2 tsp all-purpose flour
1 cup 2% milk
Kosher salt
2 Tbsp Neufchatel or low-fat cream cheese
1 cup grated parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
12 ounces fettuccine
1-2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken

Make the sauce: melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook until the garlic is slightly soft, about 1 minute. Add in the flour and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, 1 minute. Whisk in the milk and 3/4 tsp salt and cook, whisking constantly, until just thickened, about 3 minutes. Add the Neufchatel and parmesan cheese; whisk until melted, about 1 minute.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the fettuccine and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup cooking water, then drain the pasta and return to the pot.
Add the chicken, sauce and 1/2 cup of the reserved cooking water to the pasta and gently toss to combine, adding more cooking water as needed to loosen. Divide among bowls and top with parmesan.

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine

Three-Cheese Chicken Penne Florentine
adapted from Cooking Light

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups chopped fresh spinach
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp pepper
1 (16-ounce) carton 2% low-fat cottage cheese
4 cups hot cooked penne pasta
2 cups shredded chicken
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 cup milk
1 can condensed reduced-fat cream of chicken soup, undiluted

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and saute 4 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add spinach, oregano, and black pepper. Saute 3 minutes or just until spinach wilts.

Place cottage cheese in a food processor; process until very smooth. Combine spinach mixture, cottage cheese, pasta, chicken, 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, milk, and soup in a large bowl. Salt to taste. Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cheddar cheese and remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes or until lightly browned and bubbly.

Pad Thai

While I was watching the Food Network I came across this recipe. I have tried a few Pad Thai recipes, but didn't really like any of them. This one seemed easy and the reviews on it were really good. It was really easy to make and tasted delicious!

Pad Thai
adapted from Sandra Lee

1 (16-ounce) package rice noodles
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tablespoon brown sugar
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1-2 tablespoon chile sauce, depending on how hot you want it
2 tablespoon lime juice
2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 cup chicken broth
3 carrots, grated
4 scallions, sliced thin
2 cups bean sprouts
Chicken, Shrimp, or Tofu (I used 2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded)
1/4 cup peanuts, coarsely chopped, for garnish
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, roughly chopped, for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook rice noodles according to directions. Set aside.

In a wok or a large skillet scramble the eggs. Cook until they are firm. Remove them from the pan and let them cool a bit. Roughly chop them and set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, soy sauce, fish sauce, chile sauce, lime juice, garlic, and broth. Set side.

Add the 1 tablespoon oil to the pan along with the carrots, scallions, and bean sprouts and stir fry 1 minute. Add the reserved eggs, noodles, chicken and sauce, stirring to coat everything completely. (I doubled the sauce from the original recipe so I only used about 3/4 of the sauce. Then we poured the left over sauce on top of our noodles once we had dished up). Cook for another minute. Serve garnished with peanuts and cilantro.

Dumpling Soup

Over the holidays my family and I went to one of my favorite restaurants, The Mandarin. They had the most wonderful wonton soup. When I got home I was flipping through my Foodnetwork magazine trying to decide what to make for the week, and came across this recipe. I was so excited to try it. Granted it is not as good as The Mandarin's because the dumplings are not homemade, but it was really good, and will satisfy my craving until I get back there.

Dumpling Soup

4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 pound thick-sliced ham, diced
2 Tbsp dry sherry or Chinese rice wine
1 Tbsp sugar
1 1-inch piece ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
4 3-inch strips orange zest*
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
2 medium carrots, thinly sliced
2 to 3 napa cabbage leaves, thinly sliced
24 frozen chicken or vegetable dumplings or pot stickers
Soy sauce, for drizzling (optional)

Combine 2 cups water, the broth, ham, sherry, sugar, ginger, orange zest, 1/2 tsp salt, and pepper to taste in a large pot. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the scallion whites, mushrooms and carrots. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, until the carrots are crisp-tender, about 4 minutes.

Add the cabbage, dumplings and scallion greens. Cover and cook until the dumplings are soft and heated through, 4 to 5 minutes. Divide the dumplings and soup among bowls. Drizzle with soy sauce, if desired.

*I did not know how to do strips of orange zest, so I just put in about 1/4 tsp of orange zest and it tasted fine.

Cranberry Salsa

I know my blog has not been too festive this year. Sadly I have not been baking wonderful holiday treats because I don't want them around my house. I'm trying to avoid gaining the holiday 15. But this recipe screams holidays to me. My sister in law, Alyssa, has made this for our family the last few Christmas'. It is so good! It is different than anything I have ever tasted.

Cranberry Salsa

1-12 oz bag of cranberries
1 Anaheim pepper, seeded
2 limes, juiced
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
pinch of salt
1/2 cup sugar

Put above ingredients in a food processor and blend well.

To make it "Holiday style":

Blend 8 oz cream cheese, 1/2 cup sour cream, and 1/4 cup mayo and spread onto a platter. (It is also really good over just cream cheese). Cover with cranberry salsa. Serve with chips or crackers.

**Leave out a few cranberries and cilantro leaves to garnish with.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Pesto Butter

I tried this recipe for dinner last night and we really liked it. The pesto butter is delicious! The chicken is nice and moist. We will definitely be making this again soon!

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Pesto Butter
recipe courtesy Ali Broadbent

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, washed and dried
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
3/4 cup breadcrumbs
garlic salt

In a food processor combine basil, parmesan cheese, garlic and butter. Process until well combined. Pound the chicken flat. Place the pesto butter in the middle of each chicken breast. Roll up and secure with toothpick. Dip the chicken in the egg then in the breadcrumbs. Place in a greased 9X13 pan. I used Panko breadcrumbs which didn't have any seasoning in them so I sprinkled a little garlic salt on top of the breaded chicken. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. The last 5-10 minutes I took the chicken out of the oven. The butter had melted in to the bottom of the pan so I spooned it over the chicken breasts. It added a nice flavor and also helped them get nice and golden brown.