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Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan

I bought a huge tub of plain, non-fat yogurt to use in some dish I planned on making. Then, I couldn’t remember what dish I wanted to make. Does this ever happen to you?? It happens to me way too frequently. I tried to fix this by writing down the meals I have planned on a piece of paper, but then I end up misplacing the paper or throwing it out. Maybe I should start writing the dishes I want to make with it on the food itself.

I looked online for a bit to find a dish that would use a good portion of yogurt and finally found one that I thought sounded pretty good. Chicken Tikka Masala. Don’t let the long list of ingredients scare you. It’s really a lot easier than it looks, since most of the ingredients are spices! Give it a try – I loved it and will definitely be making it again!

Chicken Tikka Masala
serves 4

For the marinade:
1 cup plain, non-fat yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch pieces
skewers

For the sauce:
1 tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, minced
4 teaspoons ground cumin
4 teaspoons paprika
2 8-ounce cans tomato sauce
2 cups half and half
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

  1. To make the marinade, combine yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, and ginger in a large bowl. Stir to combine. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight.
  2. Preheat grill to high.
  3. Thread chicken onto skewers. Discard marinade. Grill chicken until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
  4. To make the sauce, melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Stir in cumin and paprika. Pour in tomato sauce and half and half, and stir to combine.
  5. Bring to a boil and reduce heat and let simmer for about 20 minutes, or until sauce is thick. Add in grilled chicken and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
  6. Garnish with cilantro and serve with rice or naan (or both)!

recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Easy Garlic Naan

1 .25 ounce package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup white sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon salt
4 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 cloves garlic, chopped

  1. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in 1 tablespoon sugar and let stand for 10 minutes, or until frothy.
  2. Pour liquid into mixer fitted with dough hook. Add in milk, egg, salt, and 2 1/2 cups of flour. Knead on low speed for 1 minute, or until ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Add in remaining 2 cups of flour 1/2 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix until dough clings to hook and cleans sides of bowl, about 2 minutes.
  3. Knead for 2 more minutes, or until dough is smooth and elastic. Remove dough from hook and place in oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and set aside to rise. Let rise for 1 hour, or until dough has doubled in size.
  4. Punch down dough. Pinch off ping-pong ball sized pieces of dough. Roll into a ball and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining dough. Cover dough with a damp cloth and let rise for 30 minutes, or until double in size.
  5. Meanwhile, combine melted butter with garlic and set aside.
  6. Roll risen dough balls into a thin circle.
  7. Heat oil in a small pan over medium high heat. Cook dough on one side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Before flipping, brush uncooked side with garlic butter. Flip, and cook second side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Brush cooked side with melted butter. Continue this process until all the naan has been prepared.


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Tortellini with Basil and Tomatoes

I am so excited to share this dish with you guys because I finally got to use basil from my garden!! I am still so proud of myself for keeping something alive. This dish is a wonderful summer dish. It’s light and requires minimal time in front of the hot stove. In fact, it requires minimal time cooking, period. I can’t wait to try it again with tomatoes from our garden! I have no idea if we have any cherry tomatoes growing back there, so I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

Tortellini with Basil and Tomatoes

18 ounces refrigerated cheese tortellini
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
2 ears of corn, cooked and kernels removed
1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup basil, chopped
salt and pepper, to taste

  1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.
  2. Meanwhile, combine olive oil, Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.
  3. Toss cooked tortellini with sauce and remaining ingredients.
  4. Serve immediately.


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Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Folks, I’ve never made pulled pork before in my life. In fact, I’ve probably only eaten it a couple of times. I don’t know why the idea of making pulled pork got stuck in my head, but I’m so glad it did. And I’m so glad I didn’t ignore that little voice, because oh my goodness, you have no idea how good this stuff is.

It’s so simple – toss everything into a slow cooker, set it, and come back to a delicious heap of tender pork. Take a few minutes to shred it, slap it on a roll, and BAM! Dinner. I made it a little more time-consuming, though, by trying my hand at making my own barbecue sauce instead of using the bottled stuff. I loved the way it turned out, but I would definitely use some Sweet Baby Ray’s if I was ever in a rush.

I served it with a side of tangy coleslaw – check back soon for the recipe! Or even better, subscribe or “like” me on Facebook to get instantly notified when it gets posted!

Pulled Pork Sandwiches
serves 10

For the barbecue sauce
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons honey
1  teaspoon black pepper
1  teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

For the pork
4 pound pork shoulder roast
1 cup homemade barbecue sauce
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped

To serve
10 kaiser rolls

  1. To make barbecue sauce, combine all barbecue sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 40 minutes, or until thick.
  2. Place roast in bottom of slow cooker. Add in remaining ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and cook on low for 10 – 12 hours, or until roast shreds easily with a fork.
  3. Shred roast with two forks. Return meat to slow cooker and cook for 1 more hour.
  4. Spoon pulled pork onto kaiser rolls and serve with a side of coleslaw.


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Pad Thai

It’s just like take-out. But better. I seriously can’t get enough of this stuff. I never bothered making it at home because I thought Mike hated it. Boy, was I wrong. I’m not sure why I ever thought that, but I tentatively brought up making Pad Thai for dinner and he enthusiastically agreed to it. I was thrilled. And disappointed that I hadn’t brought this up sooner. Like, 4 years sooner.

I purchased a large portion of these ingredients at the local Asian grocery store. I was able to find the tamarind concentrate, palm sugar, fish sauce, rice stick noodles, cilantro and mung bean sprouts there. I love the Asian grocery store because everything is so dang cheap. I can buy bean sprouts at the normal store for $2 or pay $1 at the Asian store for 3 times as much.

I opted to use shrimp for this, but I think I’m going to try chicken or tofu next time. Feel free to use whatever protein you want!!

The best part (other than the leftovers, that is)… I was able to cross of the first dish on my 11 for ’11 list!!

Pad Thai
serves 4

For the sauce:
1/3 cup fish sauce
1/2 cup palm sugar
1/2 cup tamarind juice concentrate
4 cloves garlic, minced

For the noodles:
14 ounces dried rice stick noodles
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups shrimp
2 eggs
2 cups carrots, match stick
1 cup green onion cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups mung bean sprouts
1 cup dry roasted peanuts, chopped
1 cup cilantro, optional
1 lime, cut into 4 wedges, optional

  1. Combine sauce ingredients in small saucepan over medium high heat. Cook until sugar has dissolved. Taste, and add more sugar if you would like. Remove from heat and set aside.
  2. Boil noodles 5 minutes, or until al dente. Drain and immediately run around cold water. Cut noodles in half with scissors.
  3. Heat 1 tablespoons oil in wok or large pan and cook shrimp. Remove to small bowl.
  4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil to pan and scramble eggs. Remove to small bowl.
  5. Heat remaining  oil and add garlic and onion to pan. Stir fry for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add noodles and cook for an additional minute. Add 5 tablespoons Pad Thai sauce, stirring mixture until noodles are well coated.
  6. Add shrimp to pan and cook for 2 minutes. Add egg and 3/4 of the following: carrots, green onion, and sprouts to pan and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
  7. Taste noodles and add more sauce, if desired. Cook until all additional sauce has been absorbed.
  8. Remove from heat and plate. Garnish with remaining carrots, green onion, and sprouts. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and garnish with lime wedge and cilantro, if desired.
Recipe adapted from savory sweet life.


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Israeli Couscous Salad

Ah yes, another couscous salad. As much as I loved this recipe with grilled vegetables, I wanted to try something else. I wasn’t quite sure what to make, and I really didn’t want to go to the grocery store. I used this as an opportunity to use up some pantry and fridge items. Mostly, I wanted to get rid of the million limes I had left over from Mike’s birthday bash.

Have I mentioned that I love Trader Joe’s Israeli couscous?! Come to think of it, the chickpeas and olive oil were also from Trader Joe’s. I should just name this Trader Joe’s Israeli Couscous Salad!

See? I wasn’t kidding…

For being as random as this dish is, it turned out pretty darn tasty. I love that it requires so little cooking. I have 2 more boxes of couscous left and I really want to make more of this salad. But the thought of using up more of this couscous makes me want to cry. It’s hard to use up “valuable” food when you have to travel 2 hours to get more. Why oh why can’t we have a TJ’s in Appleton!?

Israeli Couscous Salad
serves 4

1 box Trader Joe’s Israeli Couscous*
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 3/4 cup vegetable stock
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 tomatoes, diced
1 medium cucumber, diced
3 limes, juiced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste

  1. Heat olive oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Add in couscous and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until couscous is lightly browned.
  2. Add in vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover. Simmer for 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let cool.
  3. Toss cooled couscous with remaining ingredients. Refrigerate for 2 hours, or overnight, if possible. Serve cold.


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Cajun Chicken Pasta

I’ll admit it – I’m kind of absentminded. I make food, take pictures, and forget about them. By them time I find the pictures again, I have a hard time remembering what the dish was and what I put in it.

Today, I realized just how many of these dishes go un-posted and now I’m making an effort to be more diligent. Mike helped me identify this particular dish from 3 months ago.

This particular dish was super easy to make. I opted to make it “lighter” by using less butter and swapping out the heavy cream for half and half. The spices in this make it easy to cut fat without sacrificing flavor. Yum 🙂

Cajun Chicken Pasta
adapted from allrecipes.com – serves 4

8 ounces linguine
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
6 teaspoons Cajun seasoning
3 tablespoons butter
2 green bell peppers, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
8 ounces white button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 green onions, thinly sliced
3 cups half and half
1 teaspoon corn starch
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated

  1.  Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. Meanwhile, sprinkle Cajun seasoning evenly over chicken on all sides.
  3. Heat butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and saute until chicken is cooked, about 5 – 7 minutes. Add green and red bell peppers, mushrooms, and green onions. Cook until peppers are tender-crisp, about 2 – 3 minutes.
  4. Whisk together half and half and corn starch until well combined.
  5. Reduce heat to low and add in half and half. Stir in basil, lemon pepper, salt, garlic powder, black pepper, and cayenne. Heat through.


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Greek Pasta Salad

Yum.

This pasta salad is one of my faves. It’s quick and easy and completely from scratch. That’s right folks, no bottled salad dressing over here. I think the hardest part of this was using a Swiss Army knife to open the can of olives…

One day we will find our can openers. I refuse to buy another one because I’m pretty sure we have at least 2, maybe even 3, lurking in some unpacked boxes. Until then, we’ll have to rely on good ol’ Mr. Swiss.

Greek Pasta Salad

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound short pasta of choice, cooked and drained
8 ounces white button or cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced
4 ounce can whole black olives, drained and rinsed

  1. Whisk together olive oil, vinegars, garlic powder, basil, oregano, and pepper.
  2. In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta and vegetables. Pour dressing over top, mixing thoroughly.
  3. Cover and refrigerate several hours, or overnight if possible.
  4. Sprinkle with feta right before serving.


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Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I love spicy foods and I’ve found out that my spice tolerance is a lot higher than 99% of the people I know. That said, I try to stay away from making spicy dishes since I”m a horrible judge of spice levels. What I think is medium spiciness ends up being a light-a-normal-person’s-mouth-on-fire spiciness. Oops.

This dish turned out to be a tolerable amount of spice for Mike, though. At least I think it was. I mean, he wasn’t chugging down glasses of water, so that’s a good sign, right?

That said, if you’re not so good with heat, use a little less ginger and Sriracha. I served this dish with some steamed rice and some vegetables. It was a quick, filling meal and clean up was a breeze. Enjoy!

Sweet and Spicy Chicken
serves 4

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch strips
whole wheat flour
salt and freshly ground pepper
1 large onion, chopped
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced

  1. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Dredge in flour. Spray pan with cooking spray and cook chicken until lightly browned on all sides. Add in onions and cook, stirring frequently, until tender-crisp, about 3 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk together honey, brown sugar, soy sauce, Sriracha, ginger and garlic. Pour into pan with chicken and lower heat to medium. Cook until sauce has reduced and thickened, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately with rice.


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Pepper Chicken

There was a Chinese restaurant in Madison that had this pepper chicken that I loved. It was spicy and I loved that the chicken wasn’t fried.  I haven’t had luck finding a comparable pepper chicken in Appleton, WI. So, I decided to make my own.

It turned out pretty darn well and I know for a fact that I will never pay a restaurant to make this for me. I loved that I could make it as (not) greasy and spicy as I wanted.

Pepper Chicken
serves 4

4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breasts, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and thinly sliced (optional)
black pepper
white pepper
salt

  1. Marinate chicken in soy sauce for 15 minutes.
  2. Heat up oil in large non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Add onions and cook until aromatic. Add green bell pepper and jalapeño. Cook for 2 minutes and add in chicken strips with soy sauce. Season liberally with black and white pepper, until desired  level of spiciness is reached.* Cook until chicken is cooked through.
  3. Serve immediately with steamed rice.


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Spinach and Feta Pasta

This dish is really similar to the penne dish I posted about last Monday here. The taste was completely different though. Funny how a switch in cheese and a couple additional ingredients can make such a big difference, huh?

Spinach and Feta Pasta

8 ounces whole wheat pasta of your choice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
salt and freshly ground pepper
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. Heat oil in large pan over medium heat. Add onion, garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until onions are translucent.
  3.  Stir in tomatoes and mushrooms. Cook until mushrooms are tender. Stir in spinach until wilted. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
  4. Mix with cooked pasta and top with feta cheese.