Category Archives: Juliana’s Favorites

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

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I can’t believe it’s been a week since I posted anything, but I have been buried in snow and also had a ton of deadlines. The family were all home with snow days, which meant I couldn’t get anything done. But I did create this fantastic, one pot dish on Friday.  One of my best friends came over for dinner, we opened a bottle of wine, and savored this. It’s wonderful, easy, and delicious. What more can you ask for?

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 medium red onion

1 red bell pepper

1 heaping teaspoon cumin seed

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup Pomegranate infused dried cranberries

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 box garlic flavored couscous

½ cup chopped cilantro

3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken

Zest from half an orange

This one pot dish is absolutely delicious and comes together in 20 minutes. It’s packed with flavor

Chop onion and red bell pepper and set aside.  You can use a food processor, just keep the bell pepper a little more chunky.

Remove skin and chop chicken breasts and either leg or thigh meat. Depending on the size of the bird, this should yield enough chicken.

Take about 2/3 of a bunch of cilantro and chop it. Set aside.

Zest your orange and set aside, too.

In a large nonstick pot, heat oil over medium heat. When hot, add onion and cook until almost tender. Add red bell pepper, cumin and cinnamon and cook 2 minutes.

Then add as much water as required to make the couscous (it will say on the back of the box and you’re making the entire box), and flavor packet and dried cranberries.

Basically, you are making it according to package directions but you cut amount of olive oil in half because you already used canola in the vegetables.

When water comes to a boil, add couscous, stir, cover with a tight lid and let it rest for 5 minutes.

NOTE: If your chicken is fresh from the store, you will add it at the end. If it’s been refrigerated, then you should add it with the couscous before you put the lid on.

When couscous is ready, fluff with a fork and toss in cilantro, chopped chicken and orange zest.

Serve immediately.

The orange zest and red bell pepper are a great source of Vitamin C in this dish.

NOTE: if you don’t like using flavored couscous, you can use plain, but I suggest cooking it in reduced sodium chicken broth instead of water. You use the same measurements.

Chicken Pot Pie with Refrigerator Biscuits

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Chicken Pot Pie with Refrigerator Biscuits

My drop biscuit chicken pot pie is a favorite in our house. It’s totally comforting with warm biscuits baked on top to soak up the juices in the dish. I use the refrigerator biscuits on top, so that saves time.

It’s packed with vegetables and I use whole milk instead of cream, to lighten it up. A dash of thyme and bay leaves lifts the flavor in this dish.

It’s a simple recipe, but will take longer than my usual recipes because you have to bake it for 15-20 minutes. But hey, I find that’s the perfect time to clean up and set the table.

Chicken Pot Pie

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 ½ cups chopped yellow onion

2 cups chopped celery

2 tablespoons flour

2 bay leaves

¼ teaspoon thyme leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

1 ½ cups chicken stock

3 cups whole milk

1 ½ cups frozen peas and carrots

4 cups chopped rotisserie chicken meat

2 packages small refrigerated biscuits

This makes a large batch, but you could halve the recipe and make it in an 8 x8 dish. If you’re a family, you will want the larger version because it’s delicious and you will probably eat more than you expect. This is the quintessential winter dish—down home and comforting. It’s a great recipe to make on a Sunday night.

Chop all ingredients and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add the onion, celery, flour, bay leaves, thyme and cook for 5-7 minutes. Stir to be sure the flour doesn’t burn. Then add a dash of salt and pepper.

Add chicken broth, milk, peas and carrots and cook 7 more minutes, stirring frequently. The sauce should be thickening. Add your chicken and cook about 3 more minutes.

If sauce is not thickening to your likening, remove ½ cup of liquid and whisk in 1 teaspoon cornstarch. Then whisk that back into the mix and turn heat up slightly. It will thicken. Keep in mind though, this is meant to be slightly soupy so that you can soak it up with the biscuits on top.

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When done, pour into a 13 x 11 baking dish. Topwith 15-20 refrigerator biscuits (these are the small ones). Bake for 15-20 minutes, until biscuits are golden.

Serve. Here’s a close up of the buttery goodness.

pot pie

Chicken Tortilla Soup: Healthy, Easy, Delicious

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Woo Hoo, I did it! Revamped my delicious chicken tortilla soup and transformed it into a wonderful Rotisserie Chicken Queen soup. From start to finish, it took me 25 minutes!

My old version took about an hour and a half and this new version is spectacular! It has more ingredients than most of my recipes but it’s still easy.

If you enjoy the flavors or cumin, cilantro and corn, you should love this.

And it freezes beautifully, so if you are single or travel a lot, you can easily freeze it.  There’s about six servings in a pot and I ran the ingredients through one of those calorie calculations, and it has 311 calories a bowl. It was rated B+, which is awesome, so it’s nutritious as well as delicious.

It has 12 percent of your daily recommended intake of iron, 48 percent vitamin C, and 20 percent vitamin A.

If you made my Mexican Lasagna, you probably have left over corn tortillas, so you can use them in this. For future reference, corn tortillas freeze well, too.

You’ll notice, I give directions as if I am there with you in the kitchen because I know where the pauses are in my recipe and it helps you move faster. You don’t have to de-bone the chicken before you start the soup. If you do, you will add a little extra time to the 25 minutes I said it takes. I try to be as efficient as possible with whatever I make. “Efficient” is a commonly used word in my home and is usually greeted with a mental eye-roll from my husband. I don’t blame him. I strive to be more efficient with everything I do.

This is one efficient, yummy venture. I hope you enjoy it.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 large yellow onion

1 ½ teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon chili powder

½ teaspoon cumin seed

1 large red bell pepper

*1 garlic clove or dash of dehydrated garlic (see my note)

32-ounces reduced sodium chicken broth (one of those boxes of broth)

1 can of corn, drained

½ a bunch of cilantro

4 corn tortillas

1 tablespoon cornmeal (if you don’t have any, just add 2 more tortillas)

1 ½ cups chunky salsa (your favorite brand)

Meat from 1 rotisserie chicken

Avocado to garnish (optional)

*If you want to save time and you’re not cooking with dehydrated garlic, you need to buy some. It’s awesome! I tried it when I visited the New Orleans School of Cooking and I was skeptical, but instantly won over. Now I only use fresh garlic if I am making a dressing or something that must have it. Dehydrated garlic saves me time, effort and I don’t have stinky hands. You can order it online, but I recently bought some from Big Lots, of all places.  It was inexpensive, too. I’d call your local store before heading over.

Directions:

First, chop onion and red bell pepper and set aside (use a food processor, if you have it).

Split a head of cilantro in half and cut the stems off one half. Then bunch up the leaves and slice those and set aside.

In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. When hot, add onion, cumin, chili powder and cumin seed. Stir occasionally while it cooks for about 7 minutes. While that cooks, do the next steps but be sure to stir the onion so it doesn’t burn.

Pile tortillas on top of each other, slice them and then cut into small squares and set aside.

Tear the meat off your chicken. Discard the skin or save it for another use. Coarsely chop the chicken and set aside (if you have time; if not, you will get to that in a second).

When onion is tender, add all the ingredients from the bell pepper through the salsa. You do not want to add the chicken yet because it’s already cooked. Bring soup to a soft boil and cook 10 minutes.

  torti-making
is is what it looks like before it boils

Finish chopping your chicken, if you haven’t already

When soup has cooked 10 minutes, drop chicken in and turn off the heat. The soup is piping hot and will quickly heat the meat. See how creamy the soup looks now? Transformed in 10 minutes.

torti2
Optional: Serve with a slice of avocado, crumbled up tortilla chips, cheese or plain. The calories calculated were plain. Stir the soup and serve.

Nutritional Analysis

Good points

High in niacin

High in selenium

High in vitamin B6

High in vitamin C

Bad points

High in sodium

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Puff Pastry filled with Chicken, Artichokes, and Cheese — pairs beautifully with wine

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ATTENTION EXCLUSIVE WINE LOVERS. Have you ever noticed that nachos or wings, typical Super Bowl fare, doesn’t pair that well with a glass of red or white?

I have, and so I usually drink beer or margaritas during the game, but if you only like wine, then this appetizer is for you.

Golden, buttery puff pastry is wrapped around chunks of artichokes and chicken tossed with creamy mayonnaise, cheese, a hint of salty bacon, and accented with Italian seasoning. It’s lovely.

This also makes a quick dinner. If you serve this for dinner, I’d suggest serving grilled asparagus and salad or sautéed spinach on the side. DSC_0144 (2)

Puff Pastry filled with Chicken, Artichokes and Cheese

1 puff pastry (Pepperidge Farm is my favorite)

1 cup drained artichokes

1 cup chopped boneless, skinless rotisserie chicken breast

1/3 cup shredded Asiago cheese (could substitute Parmesan if you can’t find Asiago)

2/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

½ cup mayonnaise

½ teaspoon Italian seasoning

2 tablespoons crumbled cooked bacon or real bacon pieces (optional)

Dash of garlic salt

Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Drain artichokes, pat with a paper towel to dry and roughly chop artichokes. Stir together artichokes, chicken, cheeses, mayonnaise, bacon and Italian seasoning. Top with a dash of garlic salt.

Lay a piece of parchment paper on a baking sheet, this will help prevent the puff pastry from sticking.

Unfold puff pastry and remove the paper. The pastry will naturally be divided in thirds and all you want to do is fill that middle third with the chicken mixture. So carefully spoon all the mixture down the center of the pastry and fold the sides up and over to seal. Dip your fingers in water and seal the edges so the cheese doesn’t bubble out.

Bake 18-22 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing. Enjoy with a glass of Sauvingnon Blanc or  Chardonnay; or any red from a Pinot to Cabernet. Cheers to drinking wine and eating food that pairs well with it during the Super Bowl.

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Easy Enchilada Dip

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This dip screams “Make me for the Super Bowl.”

Super Bowl Sunday is America’s second largest food consumption day, after Thanksgiving. So there’s a lot of competition for good food, but this dip will get attention.

If you’re not a good cook, this is the dip for you because it’s so easy!

You can use red or green enchilada sauce, whatever you prefer. Just be sure you use a sauce you like because it will heavily flavor the dip.

I love cumin, so I personally would use cumin seed because when you bite into it, it explodes with flavor, but the ground cumin is probably better for a crowd.

If you don’t like cilantro, you can garnish this with chopped avocado, or buy premade guacamole and drop a pile of that in the center.  You can also add shredded iceberg lettuce in the middle.  Serve with tortilla chips for dipping.

Leftovers are good warmed in the microwave (but don’t reheat the entire dip, just scoop out what you need).

I love this dip and I hope you will, too.

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Enchilada Dip

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

¾ teaspoon ground cumin (substitute cumin seed if you love cumin)

1 ½ cups refried beans

2 1/3 cups rotisserie chicken

10 ounces red or green enchilada sauce (this recipe works with either; just be sure you like the sauce)

½ cup drained corn

2 cups Mexican shredded cheese (or Taco style cheese)

Cilantro to garnish (optional)

Tortilla chips for serving

Directions:

Set cream cheese on the counter for 30 minutes to soften it and make it easier to spread. If you forget that step, it will still spread, but it’s a little harder.

While cream cheese softens, pull both breasts off the chicken and shred breast and thigh meat. Do not use any skin. Chop chicken, place in a bowl and cover with enchilada sauce and set aside.

Drain corn and set aside.

If you plan to garnish with cilantro, cut off the stems and chop cilantro. I like to use about half a cup and pile it in the center, that way anyone who doesn’t like it can avoid it. If you know everyone likes it, or don’t care, then chop as much as you want.

Preheat oven to 400.

Spread cream cheese into the bottom of a deep dish pie pan. Sprinkle with cumin.

Spread refried beans over that layer. Spread corn over beans. Then spread chicken over that. Top with shredded cheese and bake for 22-25 minutes.

When done, garnish with cilantro and serve with tortilla chips.

ench enchilad

Buffalo Chicken Pizza (5 ingredients)

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Are you looking for the perfect Super Bowl recipe? Here it is.

My Buffalo Chicken Pizza is the perfect blend of spicy sauce mix, creamy cheese, chewy pizza dough and heavenly cream cheese. Yes, I use cream cheese as the base and then top that with chicken breast tossed in wing sauce and cheese.

I am a big believer that cream cheese makes the world better.

With only 5 ingredients, this is EASY and scrumptious.

One of the keys is to use Ott’s hot sauce, it has amazing flavor and a perfect balance of heat for most people. If you can’t find Ott’s, then use your favorite wing sauce. I try to make this spicy, but not unbearable because people like all different heat levels and if you have a party, you never know what people like.

Anyway, as you gear up for football this weekend, consider this recipe. It’s lighter than wings. I like the flavor of wings, but hate the fattiness and skin. This is skinless chicken and is soooooooooooo much better. Try it and let me know what you think

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

1 ready made pizza crust or naan bread (Stonefire is my favorite)

1 1/3 cups chopped skinless rotisserie chicken (I like to use breast for this)

1/2 cup Ott’s hot sauce, plus more for drizzling

8 ounces of cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Toss chicken with hot sauce, stir to coat and set aside.

Spread cream cheese evenly over your pizza crust. When covered, spread chicken out across the pizza.

Top with cheese and then a slight drizzle of more hot sauce.

Bake 15-20 minutes until cheese is melted to your desired consistency.

Note: Not every store carries Stonefire Pizza Dough, which also makes naan. It’s usually kept next to the Naan. It’s awesome though.

Chicken and Andouille Po’ Boy with Horseradish Slaw

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This was one of my favorite inventions of 2014.

This photo does not do the level of deliciousness justice. The chicken is hidden under the slaw and sausage is never sexy to photograph.

BUT, the recipe is FABULOUS!

If you like a little kick, and it’s only a little, you have to try this!

I love Louisiana food. My husband is from there and we visit every year, but long before I met him, New Orleans was one of my favorite food cities.

So last summer, I wanted to invent an easy Po’Boy, which is one of my favorite sandwiches.

All my favorite Po  Boys are fried and I wanted something lighter, so I decided to mix lean chicken breast with spicy Andouille and top it with a spicy slaw.

The horseradish slaw makes this dish!!! It’s fantastic. You will have leftovers of this slaw, so I often plan either a barbecue meal the next day or even a salmon sandwich. This slaw is great on pork, brisket or salmon. The slaw is best made 2 hours in advance to let the flavors marinate. If you don’t have that time, make one and a half times the dressing recipe for the slaw so there’s more sauce on it.

Andouille is a smoked, pork Cajun sausage and it’s traditionally spicy.  If you or your children don’t like a lot of spice, you could use Johnsonville New Orleans style Andouille, which is not very spicy; or even use kielbasa. If you do like a little kick and you’re in the Springfield area, try Circle B Ranch’s Andouille. Circle B. Ranch is a humanely raised certified hog farm in Seymour. I’ve been there and the hogs graze freely. I like that. You can find the product at Harter House or the Greater Springfield Farmers Market. One bite and you can tell there are not fillers, but it is spicy, so keep that in mind, if you’re sensitive to heat because the slaw has a little kick. You can find more information about Circle B Ranch and where to buy their pork: http://www.circlebranchpork.com

Chicken and Andouille Po’ Boy with Horseradish Slaw

1 (14-ounce) bag cole slaw mix (I like the tri-colored, but plain is fine)

½ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons Sandwich Pal Woeber’s horseradish sauce (if you substitute another horseradish, just taste as you go because sauces vary a lot in terms of heat)

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Assemble

6 hoagies or sausage rolls

6  Andouille sausages

2 breasts from the rotisserie chicken, sliced and skin removed

For the slaw: in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sugar and horseradish. Salt and pepper to taste and cover and refrigerate 2 hours.

Remove the chicken breasts from the rotisserie chicken and cut into slices.

Cook Andouille according to package directions. I often slice it in half just so it lays flat in the bun.

I like to heat my hoagie rolls or sausage buns (I prefer sausage buns), but that is up to you. If you do heat them, I would put them in a 400 degree oven, keep the bread closed, and toast for 3 minutes.

When done, place Andouille in hoagie, top with sliced chicken and then add a big pile of horseradish slaw.  Enjoy! This is a delectable sandwich.DSC_0713 (2)

Southwest Chicken Egg Rolls

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This is one of my all-time favorite indulgent recipes! This is my take on a restaurant favorite, and these are just as good. They would be perfect for a Super Bowl party or entertaining in general. A margarita pairs beautifully with these. Your guests or family will be impressed when you serve these delightful bites.

southwest eggroll

Directions

1/2 cup canned corn, drained

1/2 cup black beans, drained

1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons chunky salsa (a chunky salsa is a MUST)

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 cup  Campbell’s Fiesta Nacho Cheese Soup

2 cups diced rotisserie chicken, skin removed

3/4 teaspoon cumin seed

3 tablespoons chives

1 tablespoon chopped cilantro (optional)

Egg roll wrappers

Canola or peanut oil

Stir together the first eight ingredients. Add cilantro, if desired. Fill the egg rolls, following  the directions on the back of the egg roll wrapper package on how to roll the egg rolls. Only make about 10 and then start heating the oil. You can make the rest while the oil heats.

Add oil to a large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Do not heat the oil too fast or it will brown the egg rolls.

When they are all assembled, test oil. If it bubbles when you add an egg roll, add egg rolls and fry 2-3 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve with a dipping sauce of equal parts Ranch dressing and Salsa.

Quick Posole

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If you have 15 minutes, then you can have dinner on the table. That’s right, from start to finish, this soup will only take you 15 minutes.  Here’s another piece of good news: this flavorful soup boasts only 220 calories a bowl.

Posole is a stew popular in Columbia and Mexico that is slow cooked and contains hominy. While Posole is traditionally slow cooked, I don’t have time for that so I came up with this snappy version. It’s actually inspired by a slow cooker pork posole one of my girlfriend’s makes.

It’s flavored with broth, green enchilada sauce, cilantro, cumin, salsa and then a squeeze of lime. The shredded chicken is so tender in this dish.

It’s not my best soup, but it’s very good, especially when you consider how quick it comes together.  So pop a beer and dinner will be done before you can even finish your brew (well, I guess that depends on what type of day you’ve had).

I assume everyone has a food processor, but if you don’t, then add a couple extra minutes to the cooking time (and then go buy yourself one). I have a cheap one that I paid $10 for at Walgreens or Walmart in 2000. I am not kidding. So there’s no need to save up for a good one; this has served me well. I always use it to chop onions. You only need to chop an onion and cilantro for this dish, so there’ s not a lot of chopping anyway.

Quick Posole

Makes 4 servings

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 yellow onion

1 bunch cilantro

½ teaspoon cumin seed

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

1 (15-ounce) can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 (10-ounce) can green enchilada sauce

2 cups water

1 can yellow hominy

2/3 cup salsa (red or green will work; I prefer red)

2 cups skinless, shredded rotisserie chicken

1 lime for serving

Chop onion and cilantro set aside. When chopping cilantro, I just keep it as a bunch, chop the stems off where the leaves end and then chop that part, including stems. Some people take the time to pick off leaves, but not me. That takes forever. Stems are fine in the soup.

In a medium pot, heat oil and add onion and cumin and cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add cilantro, broth, enchilada sauce, water, hominy, salsa and cook 5 minutes. While that cooks, shred your chicken and then add it to the pot and cook 5 more minutes.

Note: the easiest way to shred is pull of the skin, pull the chicken off the bone and shred it by hand. I always save the skin and bones for stock. You can freeze that if you won’t have time to make it this week. I find two birds boiled together makes a better stock anyway.

Serve with a lime wedge. If you want add more vegetables, you can serve this with chopped avocado and tomatoes.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 220; 24 g protein; 19 carbs; 1,175 ml sodium

Chicken, Bacon, Sundried Tomato Pizza

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I have a hankering for pizza lately. I think it’s this cold weather, it’s comfort food. This is an excellent pizza that you can make for lunch or dinner or even as an appetizer for a party. It’s great with red wine or beer. This comes together quickly and is easy, so it’s great for a weeknight dinner.

Chicken, Bacon Pizza with Sundried Tomatoes

1 ready made pizza dough (Stonefire is my favorite brand)

Pizza sauce, desired amount

1 cup chopped, skinless rotisserie chicken

1/3 cup real bacon pieces (store bought it what I used)

1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

1 1/3 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese (or desired amount)

Fresh basil to garnish

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Spread pizza sauce over dough. Top with chicken, bacon and sundried tomatoes.

Top with cheese and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

Remove and garnish with slices of fresh basil.

My nephew doesn’t like any pizza other than cheese and he ate four slices of this, so that was a huge compliment. My dad loved it, too, but he loves bacon.

This pizza is easy, great for a quick dinner or parties. Serve with or without fresh basil.  Delicious!