Category: What’s for dinner

Find out what’s cookin’ for dinner in the Elston home. Will try to update daily.

By Posted on Posted in Misc Food, Smoked Goodness, What's for dinner No Comments

Alright, lavish might be a bit of a stretch but incredible or mightily tasty left overs would suffice.  It all started at lunch today, which I do not have a picture of and for that I ashamed.  However, it began it lunch with a spinach salad topped with cranberries, croutons, Saturday’s smoked chicken, and last weeks Balsamic and Rosemary Vinaigrette.  It was incredible my mouth is still watering now, the balsamic rosemary vinaigrette nicely complimented they smoked chicken and the cranberries were a nice contrast to the rest of the flavor in the salad.   Yes, my mouth is watering which it shouldn’t be.  If lunch was the appetizer, dinner was dessert and the main course, another leftover miracle.

Dinner consisted of Lowfat Chicken Enchiladas made with some of Saturday’s smoked chicken leftovers.  These thing were incredible the first time we made them, and as such I was anticipating greatness once again.  I was no disappointed, I am anxious for the leftover enchiladas I will be eating for the next day.

Smoked chicken enchiladas gracing my plate

I can’t wait for tomorrow leftovers will be in lunch box and in vogue.  At least to me.  Had any incredible leftover adventures lately?  Tell me about em.

Note: Even though its not technically a recipe this one still gets a rating.

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Well another day of chicken and another recipe this one in the box for the long haul.  The chicken we ate wasn’t really that incredible, just a rub and roast with a balsamic chicken and fish rub.  That said the chicken wasn’t half bad, although I am starting to develop a beef with Tyson boneless skinless chicken breasts.  What made for a great recipe was the balsamic and rosemary vinaigrette, I drizzled (or maybe smothered) over my spinach and chicken salad.  It was incredible a burst of garlic at first and then later a balsamic tang, all encompassed with a ting of rosemary.  It was incredible and will be the next time I eat it as well, which will probably be everyday until its gone.

Balsamic Rosemary Vinaigrette with a Spinach Salad

This might be the easy dressing I have ever made out side of a straight vinegar or oil drizzle on a salad this might take the cake as the easiest.

Ingredients
1/3 c balsamic vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp fresh rosemary (I substituted 1 tsp dried whole rosemary)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 clove garlic

Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth and creamy.  That’s all.  Will store in the refrigerator for a couple weeks is stored in a sealed container.

That’s it and out came this incredibly creamy and delicious dressing.  Sometimes simpler is better.  This would also be delicious with salmon or pork on the same salad.

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Cooking chicken is like walking into a Jelly Belly store, you know there is potential but there are so many different choices you are not sure which one will lead you astray and that is the direction I feared I was headed tonight when I was making this chicken.  After making the wet rub, for lack of a better term, I took a taste and it was well not good.  Hoping for the best I pushed onward.  Much to my surprise the resulting chicken was not half bad, in fact I may make it again.

Now that is some good looking chicken.  Even the simplest of recipes can yield a complex result on occasion.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp melted margarine
1 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper

Instructions
Preheat oven to 400ºF.  Grease a glass baking dish.  Wash chicken under cool water and pat dry with paper towels.  Set aside.  In a bowl combine all ingredients besides chicken and mix until uniform.  Spread mixture over entire surface of chicken, rubbing into the meat.  Bake for about 35-40 minutes until done.

While not my favorite chicken recipe of late, I mean its no Curried Chicken, this wasn’t half bad and we may make it again at a later date?

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Disclaimer: Ordinarily an ordinary recipe like this would not make it to the blog, however, with the request for more variety in chicken recipes come the good and the bad.  Usually when we make Jerk Chicken in the summer or spring we use a whole chicken and go all out, it is certainly not the poor man’s variety and I will make a point to write about it this summer.

With that aside, we had another workout and cook at the same time meal tonight.  It was called Jerk not because of the process or its temperament but because of the seasoning we applied and despite its ease and lack of process and a rich marinade it was far more than edible it resembled jerk chicken and it was easy.  Besides that it tempted us with smells of the Caribbean, while we did our plyometrics.

Poor Mans Jerk Chicken and RiceIngredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp lime juice
jerk seasoning (I got mine at Penzeys)

Instructions
Preheat oven to 375°F.  Combine lime juice and olive oil in a glass baking dish until uniform.  Roll chicken several times in the mixture and sprinkle both sides, covering evenly with jerk seasoning.  Bake for about 50 minutes or until done, turning once.

While not nearly as delicious as the real thing, our poor man’s jerk chicken was a tasty treat with a bit of a kick in the middle of winter.

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We are still on the chicken diet and instead of waiting after our workout tonight to prepare dinner I decided it would be nice to have dinner done at the same time were done working out.  So that is what we did, a little prep before and basting on water break and an easy but oh so tasty dish of Curry Chicken on rice was born.  Our workout last somewhere around an hour usually and as such we had pause for just long enough to throw the chicken in.

Curry Chicken on Rice

This could be love at first taste, it became apparent tonight as I ate my dinner that I have not eaten enough curry in the past and will have to include this in my diet in an increasing fashion in the future.  My curry love affair has been born.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1/3 c honey
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tsp curry powder

Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 375°F.  Place butter in a glass baking dish and heat until melted.  Add honey, mustard and curry powder to melted butter and mix thoroughly.   Add chicken and roll in curry mixture several times.  Cook for 50 minute basting frequently.  Serve over hot rice and smother with curry mixture left over in the baking dish.

I used a cheap curry I had purchased at the grocery store and will be looking next time I am at the spice shop at the variety of curries they have available.  Also of note I made the rice as usual in my rice cooker and allowed it to warm once it was complete.

This might not be as low fat as other chicken dishes but at about 350 calories a serving (did a little math) I’ll take it, its good enough for me, besides what is the point of working out if you can’t eat more?

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