Chicken Stir Fry with Broccoli, Green and Yellow Beans

More CSA-inspired goodness, this time with green and yellow beans as the centerpiece. I can't remember where I got this recipe, but modified it a bit from the original - didn't have any red pepper sauce. It was delicious and literally took me maybe 10-15 minutes to throw together. We marinated our chicken the night before when we cooked another chicken dish, and this made it even faster and easier. I also tossed on a bit of the thai peanut sauce noted in the previous recipe at the end, which gave some additional flavor.

* 6 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
* 3 tablespoons soy sauce
* 3/4 teaspoon Asian spice blend
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* 1/2 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed, cut into 3-inch lengths (we used green and yellow)
* 1 tablespoon minced garlic
* 1/4 cup roughly chopped cashews
* 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
* 1 teaspoon sesame oil
* 1 tablespoon lightly toasted white sesame seeds
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* Chopped green onions

Directions

In a bowl, combine the chicken, 4 1/2 teaspoons of the soy sauce, and Asian spice blend. Toss to coat and let sit for 10 minutes. (We just marinated our chicken in a thai peanut marinade from Whole Foods the night before and threw it in the pan.)

In a large wok, heat the oil over high heat and cook some of the green onions. Add the chicken and stirring constantly, cook until brown, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the beans and stir-fry until wrinkled, stirring, about 2 to 3 minutes; add the broccoli about a minute after the beans. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 10 seconds. Add the cashews, hoisin, remaining 3 teaspoons of soy sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, and red pepper flakes. Stir to coat, and cook for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and serve immediately over white rice. Garnish with green onions.

Napa Cabbage, Chicken and Thai Peanut Sauce Salad

We inherited our friends' CSA haul for two weeks while they're out of town, which has literally been a life changing experience. My mom jokes about her "balanced lifetime" philosophy towards vegetable eating, developed to avoid guilt over my picky eating in childhood; the idea was that over the course of a whole lifetime, I'd eat enough vegetables. Well, this week has certainly made up for those early years - I probably have had more servings of vegetables than I did for the first decade of my life.

Today I chose to use the giant, gorgeous Napa cabbage from Tantre farms and made this delicious, hearty, healthy protein-filled salad, with an absolutely delectable homemade peanut sauce I found on the internet from a great site called shesimmers.com. This is my new favorite thing, and the chef/blog author says it keeps for weeks in the fridge. I can imagine a lot of other uses besides salad dressing too, like stir frys (fries?) or satays.

For salad:
1 head Napa cabbage
1 chopped green onion, mostly white parts
Black sesame seeds
Toasted sesame seeds
Unsalted peanuts
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cubed

Cut up green leafy parts of Napa cabbage into bite size pieces and put in bowls. Garnish with unsalted peanuts, black and toasted sesame seeds, and chopped green onion. Meanwhile, cook the cubed chicken pieces in a nonstick skillet with some olive oil. Put chicken on top of prepared salads and top with Thai peanut sauce, add sea salt and pepper to taste.

For Thai peanut sauce dressing:
1 13.5 oz can of coconut milk
About 1/4 cup of Thai red curry sauce
3/4 cup peanut butter (I used chunky but the original recipe says creamy)
1/2 tablespoon salt
3/4 cup sugar (I used a little less)
2 tablespoons white vinegar (can use cider too, just not red)
1/2 cup water

Combine everything in a saucepan and bring to a low boil over medium heat, whisking constantly.
Let the mixture simmer for 3-5 minutes.
Serve over salad.

Salad adapted from shesimmers.com, peanut sauce recipe at http://www.shesimmers.com/2009/03/how-to-make-thai-peanut-sauce-my-moms.html

Pineapple-Mustard Glazed Chicken with Pineapple-Cilantro Salsa

Normally tropical fruits are not my thing, but this was worth the deviation. Just about perfect timing for listening to half a podcast of This American Life! Note that the original recipe had about 1/4 of the glaze - I made more for the rice to sop up.

* 1 cup pineapple juice
* 8 tablespoons (packed) brown sugar
* 4 tablespoons yellow mustard
* 1-2 cups cubed fresh pineapple
* 3-5 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
* 1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
* Dried chiles to taste
* 2 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
* White rice

Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring pineapple juice, brown sugar, and mustard to boil in small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Boil until glaze has thickened slightly, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook rice.

Mix pineapple, cilantro, onion, and chiles in medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Line baking sheet with foil. Place chicken on sheet and brush with glaze. Bake 15 minutes. Brush again with glaze, then broil until cooked through and golden, watching closely to avoid burning, about 5 minutes longer (I found it took about 10 minutes longer because the breasts were very large).

Put chicken breasts over bowls of rice, spoon salsa and leftover glaze over chicken and serve.

Adapted from Epicurious

Salad with Breaded Chicken, Peaches and Citrus Vinaigrette with Yogurt-Balsamic Dip

So, I haven't posted here in several months not because I'm through with cooking - but because I'm pregnant and had morning sickness so severe that there was no way I could even get near a kitchen, much less cook in one. My sweet husband fended for us for several months, and I had a triumphant return today, although I kept forgetting where things were kept and banging my head on our hanging pots - out of practice!

I made this delicious salad, which we've had before: It was originally called "Almond-Crusted Chicken and Nectarine Salad with Buttermilk-Chive Dressing" (available at http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/almond-crusted-chicken-nectarine-salad-buttermilk-chive-dressing.aspx) but I modified based on what I had on hand to the below. I also added a lighter citrus vinaigrette to replace the buttermilk-chive dressing, and made a yogurt dip instead for the chicken tenders.

Salad:
* 6 cups torn tender lettuce (I like butter lettuce)
* 2 small to medium ripe nectarines (I used peaches), halved, pitted, and sliced 1/4 inch thick
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:
* 1-1/2 cups fresh orange juice
* 1/4 cup olive oil
* 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Yogurt dip:
* About 1/4 cup regular plain or Greek style yogurt
* 1 Tbs. sour cream
* 1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar (original recipe says white but I prefer regular)
* 1/2 tsp. honey
* 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
* 1 Tbs. thinly sliced fresh chives
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Chicken:
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* About 1 cup bread crumbs (original recipe says to use almonds but I find these harder to cook with)
* 1-1/2 lb. chicken breast or tenders, sliced thin into 2-inch pieces
* Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 2-3 Tbs. vegetable oil

*To make chicken:*

Lightly beat the eggs in a wide, shallow dish. Stir the bread crumbs and flour together in another dish. Season the chicken on all sides with 1 tsp. salt and 3/4 tsp. pepper. Dip one piece of chicken at a time in the eggs. Shake off the excess and dredge in the bread crumb mixture, pressing lightly to help it adhere. Set aside.

Heat 2 Tbs. of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat until shimmering hot. Working in batches, cook the chicken until light golden brown on both sides and just cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Transfer the chicken to a paper-towel-lined plate when done. Between batches, remove any stray crumbs from the pan and add more oil if necessary.

*To make the citrus vinaigrette dressing:*

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and whisk.

*To make the yogurt dip:*

In a medium bowl or liquid measuring cup, combine the yogurt, sour cream, vinegar, and honey. Slowly whisk in the oil to blend. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

*To assemble the salad:*

In a large bowl, toss the lettuce and peaches with about half of the dressing. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among 4 dinner plates. Divide the chicken among the plates, overlapping the pieces on top of the salad. Drizzle additional dressing over the chicken and serve with yogurt dip as a side for each plate (or you can put the dip on top of the salad at the very end before serving).

I find the yogurt dip really makes it, although it's too heavy as a dressing; it works great in complement with the citrus vinaigrette, since both have balsamic notes.

West African Peanut Soup with Chicken

I've been craving this dish since we saw it at a stand at the Eastern Market in Detroit, and found this version on Allrecipes.com. Delicious, flavorful, and very filling, especially with a good crusty bread. I added chicken to the original recipe which gives it a bit more dimension. I also minced the onion, peppers and garlic in a food processor because I don't like a lot of crunchy texture, but you may want to just finely chop with a knife if you want more texture.

* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 onion, finely chopped (recipe called for 2 originally, but I downsized)
* 2 large bell peppers (any color) finely chopped (I used red)
* 6 large cloves garlic, minced (I upped to 8 cloves)
* 1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes with juice
* 8 cups vegetable broth (I used a mix of chicken broth and vegetable, which is what I had on hand)
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
* 1/2 cup uncooked rice
* 1 (18 ounce) jar creamy peanut butter
* 2 chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
* Chopped roasted peanuts (optional)
* Sea salt

Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Mince together onion, bell pepper and garlic until very fine, and then cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, vegetable broth, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Add rice to soup and stir. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 25 minutes, or until rice is tender. After about 15-20 minutes of simmering, cook the chicken in a separate skillet - saute in olive oil for about five minutes until cooked through. When rice is cooked, whisk in peanut butter and cooked chicken and return to a simmer for several minutes. Garnish with chopped roasted peanuts, if desired, and sea salt to taste.

Marinated Apricot and Olive Roast Chicken

My mom introduced me to this recipe about 5 years ago, and every time I've served it at a dinner party, people literally lick the bowl. I've found it does turn out best when marinated ahead of time, but I've only ever done 2-6 hours, not the 24 hours the recipe originally called for. And the sauce is flavorful enough that even if you don't have time to marinate, it can still work. Could also be an excellent sauce for a white fish like tilapia.

Yield: 6 servings.

Boneless skinless chicken breasts to serve 6 (you can also do thighs,
other pieces, etc, I just like the white meat best)
1 1/2 t salt
5 large cloves garlic, peeled
4 t. ground cumin (1T + 1t)
1 ½ t paprika
1/3 c sherry vinegar (you can also do regular distilled white vinegar
with a tablespoon of sherry mixed in)
1/3 c orange juice
¼ c honey
3 T olive oil
Rice
4-5 oz. dried apricots
24 whole black olives

Wash and dry the chicken pieces thoroughly. Press down on the breasts with your hand to flatten slightly. With a sharp knife poke slits in both sides of each chicken piece to allow marinade to penetrate. Put chicken in a large bowl. Toss with 1 ½ t salt. Crush the garlic cloves, sprinkle with a little salt, and mince into a fine paste, and add to bowl and coat chicken with it.

Put cumin, paprika, sherry vinegar, OJ, honey and olive oil in a small bowl, whisk to thoroughly combine.

Scrape the above ingredients the big chicken bowl and marinate the chicken, plus 4-5 oz. dried apricots and 24 whole black olives, for 4-6 hours (up to 24 hours for maximum flavor). Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate while marinating. Makes sure everything has marinate coating it.

Up to an hour ahead, remove the chicken from the refrigerator. Pour chicken and marinade into baking dish. Tuck apricots and olives under and around the chicken pieces. Let it sit at least 20 minutes to warm up a bit. Meanwhile heat oven to 400.
Bake the dish about 25 minutes at 400, check at 20 minutes to make sure it isn't overcooking.

Serve over rice.

Chicken Satay with Peanut Sauce, Cilantro and Lime

Last night, we recreated my childhood experience of chicken satay at the great Thai place by the Seattle Center where I grew up eating with my family, right down to the quarters of white-bread toast that accompanied the dish.

The amounts below are designed to make 24 skewers and be served as a party appetizer; we made it our entree dish and were very full by the end.

• 1 cup plain yogurt (original recipe calls for 1.25 cups but I found this to be a bit much)
• 1 tsp. freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp. minced garlic
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 1.5 pounds of large skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into strips (we cut down to just 2 large breasts)
• Vegetable oil (for grill)
• 2 tbsp. cilantro, chopped
• Lime wedges, 2-3 per person
• White bread, 1-2 pieces per person

For peanut sauce:

• 1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
• 2 drops hot pepper sauce
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup water

1. Combine yogurt, ginger, garlic and soy sauce in a bowl. Toss in chicken strips until well coated. (The original recipe calls for marination up to 2 hours, but it was late and we were hungry so we didn't do this - just tossed the chicken in there for a bit before throwing on the grill. It still turned out great.)

2. Preheat grill. When ready to grill, thread the chicken pieces onto skewers, working the skewer in and out of the meat, so that it stays in place. Place on perforated pan over medium heat and brush with oil to prevent sticking. Grill for 5 minutes on each side, until seared and cooked through. (We used a perforated pan but if you don't have one, we found that it worked better to just grill the pieces directly on the heat; do whatever works best for you.)

3. While chicken is grilling, make the 5-minute peanut sauce with ingredients above. In a small bowl, stir together peanut butter, soy sauce, sugar, hot pepper sauce and garlic until well mixed. Transfer to a small skillet and over medium-low heat, gradually stir in water until texture is smooth and creamy.

4. Toast pieces of white bread and cut into quarters.

4. Remove skewers from grill and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. Serve with peanut sauce, lime wedges, and toast. I find that the lime really gives it an extra kick with the peanut sauce especially.

Madras Chicken with Couscous in Slow Cooker

• 3 onions, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic
• 4 apples, cut into chunks (I used gala; original recipe says to peel the apples but I decided it doesn't need this)
  
• 1 teaspoon sea or kosher salt (original recipe said 1/2 teaspoon but I felt it needed more salt so I upped it)
  
• 1-2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 (8-ounce) jar mango chutney (I used cranberry-apple chutney and it was good)
  
• 3 pounds boneless skinless breasts (recipe calls for thighs but I like breasts better)
  
• 3 cups hot cooked couscous
• Greek or plain yogurt
  

Combine all ingredients in a slow cooker. Cover and cook until chicken is thoroughly cooked and onions are tender for about 3 hours and 45 minutes on high, 7-9 hours on low. (Original recipe says 7-9 hours, but this came out perfectly in our slow cooker, which doesn't have different temperature options.)

Stir well and serve over couscous with a dollop of plain yogurt on top and additional salt and pepper as desired.

Update on 2/23:
This has become one of our favorite dishes and I've made it several times. In the latest version, I just used one onion and upped the garlic cloves to about 12, and it was great. Also have not had chutney on hand a couple of times, so have substituted jam instead - not as perfect a flavor but still delicious.