Roasted Chicken with a Rosemary-Salt Crust

Roasted chicken is something that we make on a weekly basis, and what I love most about chicken is how many ways it can be seasoned and used. Essentially, this means we don't get tired of it because it's a bit different each time. This week I forgot to marinate the chicken overnight as I usually try to do so I decided to be a bit heavy-handed with the seasonings to ensure maximum flavor. What resulted was a mouthwatering, golden, salty crust over a juicy rosemary flavored chicken. Even better, the leftovers were delicious simply chopped and served cold in a salad. Hooray for leftovers!

Ingredients:

• 1 roasting chicken
• 1/3 cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tablespoon cracked black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 

 Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450 F.
2. Mix the salt, rosemary, and pepper in a small bowl.  Rub the oil all over the chicken. Gently rub the salt mixture all over the chicken. Place the chicken breast-up on a greased and foil-covered roasting pan. Sprinkle any of the remaining salt mixture evenly over the chicken.
3. Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 375 F and bake for an additional 55-65 minutes.
4. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving (I tipped the chicken to let any excess salt fall off).

Chicken and Salsa Bake

The great thing about chicken is that it is an excellent vessel for flavor. One of the easiest marinades that I go to time and again is salsa. Jarred, fresh, homemade, roasted, fruity, spicy... any salsa will work wonders on your chicken and you won't have to do anything except pouring it on the chicken. See, I told you it was easy!


Serves 2
Ingredients:

• 2 fresh chicken breasts
• 2 cups salsa of your choice, separated

Directions:  

1. 2 hours before you plan to bake the chicken, place it in a large ziploc bag with 1 cup of the salsa (you can do this up to 8 hours ahead of time -- if my chicken is frozen I start marinating overnight so they thaw and marinate simultaneously). Seal the bag with as little air as possible inside, and let the chicken marinate in the fridge.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F and line a baking pan with foil and grease it. Place the chicken breasts in the pan, top each with 1/2 cup of salsa. Bake for 45 minutes. 

Sides to serve it with: rice, black olives, shredded lettuce, green chile, beans, diced tomatoes, corn, avocados, and shredded cheese. 

Click here to see some of my Mexican side dish recipes!

Slow cooker Coconut Curry Chicken

I love putting a whole chicken in my slow cooker for an easy weekday meal, and this recipe is so juicy and tender that I think we will be slow cooking our chicken like this many more times to come. The BF isn't a huge curry fan, but the flavors are so subtle that even he was delighted with how the chicken turned out -- hooray! The coconut milk makes the chicken extra tender, it basically melts off the bone!


Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 1 whole chicken
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons green curry
• 1/4 cup sriracha
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

 Directions:

1. Do ahead: Place the chicken in a gallon-sized ziploc bag and add the rest of the ingredients. Let the chicken marinade overnight. 
2. Empty all of the ziploc contents into your slow cooker and cook over high heat for 6-10 hours. The longer the chicken cooks the more the meat will fall off the bone later. 
3. Once the chicken is cooked turn the heat off. Use tongs and a fork to take the meat off the bones, discard the bones or freeze them in a bag for making broth in the future. Let the chicken soak up the juice in the slow cooker as you prepare the rest of your meal (I like this served on top of rice with sauteed asparagus, snow peas, and basil!). Serve hot. 

Roasted Chicken with Baby Potatoes

I love roasting chickens but I have been really lazy lately and I've been slow cooking most of the ones I buy. But not yesterday! It was straight to the oven for this little chicky, and it wasn't any more work than plopping a chicken into a slow cooker. This meal took about 10 minutes out of my day and it tasted like I slaved over it! This is the kind of meal I love to eat-- effortless but yummy.

Serves 4 (or 2 with leftovers)
Ingredients:

• 1 roasting chicken
• 2 lbs baby gold potatoes, cleaned
• Salt, pepper, and dried rosemary to taste
• Olive oil

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 450F. While you wait for the oven to warm, rub olive oil all over the chicken. Put the bird belly-side down and coat it with a generous layer of salt and pepper, then put the chicken in a roasting dish belly-side up and do the same for this side. You want to really coast the chicken evenly because the seasonings are going to create a nice crust on the skin. 
2. In a medium bowl pour 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle 2+ teaspoons of rosemary. Add the potatoes and toss to coat evenly. Place the potatoes around the chicken in the roasting dish.
3. Roast the chicken and potatoes at 450F for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 375F and cook for an additional 55-60 minutes, or when the chicken is pricked with a fork the juices run clear. Turn the potatoes halfway through roasting.
4. Let the chicken stand loosely tented with foil for 15 minutes before carving and serving. Serve with the potatoes and a light green salad!

Slow Cooker Chipotle Barbeque and Lime Chicken

My slow cooker is my best friend in the kitchen. When I want sauces and sides to be the stars on the plate, I usually throw a chicken or a hunk o' beef in the slow cooker. I knew we were going to have soft tacos for dinner tonight, so last night before bed I added the marinade to the chicken and let it defrost overnight. Now, I have an arsenal of hot sauce, so if you don't have chipotle sauce on hand you can find it in, surprise, the hot sauce section of most grocery stores. Otherwise, you can add any other hot sauce you like to the mix (like tapatio or cholula!).

The chicken goes well with Mexican flavors, but I plan to use my leftovers in a lasagna!
If you are looking for sides to accompany this dish, check out my post here!

Makes enough for 8 soft tacos plus leftovers
Ingredients:

• 1 cup bbq sauce
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/2 cup chipotle sauce
• 1 roasting chicken

Directions:

1. The night before, marinade the chicken in all of the sauces (you can put it all in a large ziploc bag or in a plastic-wrap covered deep dish). 
2. In the morning, place the chicken and the marinade in a slow cooker over high heat. Cook for 8-10 hours. 
3. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker using tongs, and carve it. Add the meat back into the sauce of the slow cooker, and keep it on low heat until serving time. 

Udon with Chicken and Asparagus

The BF and I ate this last night, and it took approximately 10 minutes of work... it was amazing! The best part about this meal is that it was super filling and I had everything in my pantry/fridge, so it required very little effort.

Serves 2 large portions (or enough for 2 servings + lunch leftovers)
Ingredients:

• 2 frozen chicken breasts
•  1/3 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sriracha
• 10 stalks of asparagus (or however many you want!)
• 2 servings of udon noodles (available at most supermarkets, usually portioned out in packaging)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

Directions:

1. In the morning, put the chicken breasts and the teriyaki, soy and sriracha in a slow cooker. Turn the heat to low and let it cook for 8-10 hours. 
2. When you are ready to eat, bring a pot of water to boil and add the udon noodles. Boil for 2 minutes then drain and set noodles aside. 
3. Chop the chicken and asparagus. Preheat a large saute pan to medium heat and add the chicken and asparagus, then soy sauce to taste. Stir often and cook for 2 minutes, then add the noodles. Stir and cook for about 1 more minute, mainly to reheat the noodles and mix everything together. Turn the heat off, and right before serving mix in the sesame oil.

Enjoy!

Soy Sauce Roasted Chicken

This is a simple yet utterly delicious way to liven up a roasted chicken! It's so ridiculously easy to prepare, and the flavor pops! Serve this with garlic roasted asparagus, fried rice, ginger garlic veggies, or any other "Asian" inspired sides.


Ingredients:

• 1 roasting chicken
• 4 cups soy sauce

 Directions:

1. Place the chicken in a gallon-sized zip-loc bag. Pour in the soy sauce and marinate the chicken for at least 12 hours (the longer the better, I marinated mine for 2 days!). 
2. Preheat the oven to 450 F. Foil and lightly grease a roasting pan (or 9x13" casserole). Place the chicken breast-side up in the dish and roast in the lower third of the oven for 15 minutes. Decrease the oven temperature to 375 F and roast for an additional 50-60 minutes*.
3. Let it sit for 10 minutes before carving, then serve!

 * Note: Keep an eye on your chicken as it roasts, some ovens run hotter than others. The chicken should be a dark golden brown when it's finished. You want the chicken to be sitting just a little lower than the direct middle of the oven for best results!

Slow-cooker Chicken and Asparagus with Cream Spinach

I'm moving this weekend, so for a while now I've been avoiding the grocery store and trying to make use of the random food supplies I have on hand. This started out as a way to use up a bunch of asparagus and ended up becoming a delicious dish that I am going to make again soon, because it's basic ingredients that I have on hand more often than not, and it required like 10 minutes of work. Who doesn't love that?


Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced lengthwise into 3 strips each
• 4 frozen spinach portions (or 1 cup thawed and drained)
• 8-10 stalks of asparagus, halved with tough ends trimmed off
• 3 tablespoons cream cheese
• 1/4 cup skim milk
• Salt/Pepper/Cayenne to taste

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a slow cooker over low heat and cook for 5-7 hours, until chicken is cooked through and cream sauce has thickened. Serve hot! It's yummy over fettuccine or spiral pasta, spooned on a bowl of steamed rice, or even in a bun!

Thai Soup

My mom would make this when I was growing up, and it has always been a favorite. She got the gist of the recipe from a Thai girl named Nook, who was doing a home-stay with a family we'd met in Costa Rica... although when we met Nook they were living in Arizona, and my family had road-tripped from Colorado to their house. I know, I know, my family history makes no sense, but basically if it weren't for them we wouldn't have had this amazing Thai soup that is now one of my favorite "mom" dishes. You know how your own mom makes some things like, so much better than any other mom? This is one of those things.
Anyway, it's a soup that has so many flavors and textures that it's a soup that you can make year-round and not get tired of it! To me, that's a gold star!

Feel free to add in any other veggies or nix ones on this list that you don't like. It's delicious served over rice, or just as a soup!

Makes: 4 soup servings or 6 servings over rice


Ingredients:

• 2 stalks of celery
• 2 large carrots
• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 can bamboo shoots
• 8-12 white mushrooms
• 1 cup snow peas
• Green curry paste (to taste, I use 1 tsp at a time!)

Directions:

1. Chop the carrots into 1/4" thick coins, slice the celery stalks lengthwise in half then roughly chop, and cut the mushrooms into quarters. Heat a large pot to medium-low heat, then add your chopped veggies. Add a little canola oil or butter (depending how naughty you feel), then put a lid on and let it cook for 4 minutes. 
2. Chop your chicken breasts into 1/2" cubes, then add to the pot. Turn the heat to medium, and let the chicken cook for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Don't worry about the chicken being cooked all the way through at this point, you want it to finish cooking in the liquid. 
3. Add the mushrooms, snow peas, bamboo shoots, coconut milk, and 2 cups of chicken stock to the pot (I start with 2 cups and go from there depending on how soupy I want my soup to be...). Turn the heat back to medium-low, and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes. After simmering, add a teaspoon at a time of the green curry paste to taste. The more curry you add the spicier it will be! You can add more chicken stock now if you want your soup to be thinner. Simmer for 15-20 more minutes, then serve hot.

Enjoy!
Hint: this soup makes for excellent leftovers! The flavors just keep on developing, but good luck staying away from it for more than a few days, it's delicious!



P.S. Speaking of my mom, this is her b-e-a-utiful website in case you want to know more about her!

Mini Chicken and Prosciutto Quiches

These are perfect for on-the-go days when you need something substantial enough to keep you going for a few hours but you’re not ready for a full-on meal.

Ingredients:

·         1 chicken breast

·         3 slices prosciutto

·         ½ cup spinach

·         4 jalepenos

·         6 cloves garlic

·         3 tablespoons mayo

·         ¼  cup grated parmesan cheese

·         1 egg

·         12 mini tart shells, frozen

Directions:

1.      Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice the jalapenos in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and membranes. Peel the cloves of garlic and place them in a 8x8 baking dish, cover with foil. Roast them in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes.

2.      Meanwhile, preheat a skillet to medium heat. Chop your chicken into ½” cubes put them in the skillet. Roughly chop the prosciutto and add it to the pan. Once the chicken is cooked through, about 5 minutes, add the spinach and turn off the heat. Stir the chicken mixture to let the spinach wilt and set it aside to cool.

3.      Once the jalapenos and garlic are finished roasting, remove them from the oven and transfer them to a bowl. Using a small knife and fork, roughly mash/chop the jalapenos and garlic into a paste-like consistency. Mix in the mayo and parmesan, then add the chicken mixture.

4.      Crack the egg onto the bowl of filling, then mix it for a few minutes to make sure everything is evenly combined.

5.      Spoon the mixture into the thawed pastry shells, then bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.

6.      Remove them from the oven when the crust is golden, then let them cool for 5 minutes before scarfing down.

Chicken Sandwiches with Cambozola and Roasted Garlic

I love using leftover chicken or turkey or beef for my sandwiches! There is something about eating a sandwich with leftover meat or poultry, it's like the homemade-ness of it lends a deeper flavor (or maybe just a deeper satisfaction in knowing that you're using up leftovers!).

I try to roast up something each week, like a chicken or a big beef roast so that I can have easy leftovers throughout the week to have on hand for my meals that week. One of the best and easiest ways to use up leftover meat is to put it in a sandwich! I love sandwiches with pretty much anything on them (it's a curse, really), but I do have a few favorite flavor combos and this is on the top of my list. It does call for a few extra steps that usually go against the whole "quick and easy" nature of sandwiches (see the roasted garlic recipe at the end), but trust me, it's soooo worth it.


Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup chopped chicken
  
• 2 slices sourdough bread
• 1 tablespoon peach chutney
• Cambozola wedge (may use brie if you don't like the chunks of blue cheese in cambozola) 
• 2-4 cloves roasted garlic (or as many as you prefer!)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. 
2. Slice as many pieces of cambozola as desired to put on one piece of sourdough (I like 3 medium-sized slices). 
3. Spread the garlic cloves across one slice of sourdough. On the other slice, spread the chutney.
   
4. Put the cambozola on the garlic-spread slice of bread, and top the chutney-spread slice with chicken.  Put the sandwich halves face up on a baking sheet and bake for 8 minutes. 
5. Remove the open sandwich from the oven, then put the sandwich together. Eat while it's hot!

Enjoy!




Simple Roasted Garlic: 
Preheat the oven to 425 F. Slice off the top 1/2 inch of a head of garlic, so that each bulb is exposed on top. Place the head on a square of foil, drizzle with olive oil. Wrap the foil up around the garlic head and pinch it shut. Place in the middle rack of the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until the garlic is fork tender. Let cool for 5 minutes, then use a knife to pop out each garlic clove, reserve in a small jar or even a ziploc bag. Hint: roasted garlic can punch up any dish... think mashed potatoes, quiches, pizza, alfredo/marinara sauce... the list goes on!

Slow-Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

A great way to get the most out of your ingredients is to keep leftovers in mind. I love roasting chickens because I know I can use some of the meat that night, whether it's the drumsticks or the breasts, and the leftovers can be used the rest of the week in a variety of dishes. I use the meat in sandwiches, burritos, pastas, salads... the list is endless! Once I'm getting tired of chicken (usually around day 3 because I use it in my breakfast burritos, my lunches, and my dinners!), I make soup with the remaining meat. The bones from the chicken are also great for making soup, as they lend amazing flavor and nutrients. Chicken noodle is a simple soup that can use up any leftover chicken and veggies in your refrigerator, and it's a filling and relatively low-calorie meal to boot!

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken carcass (I like to keep everything, but you can also just use the bones from drumsticks, wings, etc. if you don't want to bother storing the whole cavity until it's soup-making time)
• Left over chicken, cut up into small chunks
• 5carrots
• 8 stalks of celery
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 bay leaf
• Dried seasonings: oregano, cumin, thyme, rosemary, pepper/salt
• 3 cups boiled noodles, al dente

Directions:

1. Chop 2 carrots and 3 stalks of celery into 3" long pieces, the cut the onion in half. Store the remaining vegetables.
2. Turn the slow-cooker to high, add in the chicken bones, the bay leaf, and the prepared vegetables. Pour in 8 cups of water and cook for 8 hours (tip: do this before bed and cook until morning). 
3. Strain the broth over a large bowl, discarding the cooked vegetables. Dice the reserved carrots, celery, and onion and add them to the slow cooker. Add 6 cups of broth back to the slow cooker along with the pieces of chicken. Add seasonings to taste (go lightly and season again at the end of cooking), then cook the soup for 8-10 hours on low. 1 hour before serving, add the cooked noodles. 

Enjoy!

You can also make this soup in a stock pot, cooking low and slow. I just prefer my crockpot because I can set it and forget it!

Roasted Chicken

This is the perfect roasted chicken for a weekend meal! I love dishes that provide enough for leftovers so that I can have easy meals the next few days. Roasting a whole chicken is great because you can use leftovers in so many ways! If you leave meat you can have chicken sandwiches, add it to pasta, roll it into a wrap! Keep the bones and you can make your own chicken stock or even your own chicken noodle soup! Oh the possibilities are endless with a roasted chicken... who doesn't love that?

This chicken has a crispy skin with juicy juicy meat on the inside, and it's really easy to prepare. I like to marinade my chicken for at least 6 hours, preferably a full 24 hours for maximum flavor. Trust me, the marinading is key!

Here is what you need for a perfect roasted chicken.....

Ingredients:

• Whole raw chicken (2-3 pounds)
• Olive oil/Canola Oil
• Salt/Pepper/Seasoning (I use an Italian blend)
• Fresh Rosemary

Directions:

1. Put the chicken into a large ziploc bag, and add the oil and spices -- be generous with the spices! Get your hand in there and rub it all over the chicken, then after washing your hand with scalding water because raw chicken is bad bad bad, close the bag and refrigerate for 6-24 hours.
2. Preheat the oven to 450 F, and put the chicken in a roasting pan. Stuff the cavity with the fresh rosemary and bake the chicken for 15 minutes. 
3. Reduce the heat to 375 F and bake for and additional 50-60 minutes, or until the juices run clear when the chicken is pierced with a fork.
4. Remove from the oven and tent with foil. Let the chicken rest for 15 minutes before carving and serving!

Enjoy!

Suggestions:
- My BF's mom adds a whole lemon to the cavity of her chicken before she roasts it, which adds a subtle lemon flavor and adds to the juiciness!
- Stuff rosemary stalks under the skin of the chicken before roasting, just remember to remove them before carving!
- Squeeze some lemon juice into the marinade bag to tenderize the chicken even more and add lemon flavor!
- Put peeled garlic cloves into the cavity before baking for a garlic flavored roast chicken

Baked Chicken Wings

Football season is here, and that means football party foods are recirculating.  This recipe requires very little effort and attention, which makes for excellent party food.  These are also not breaded or deep fried, keeping them on the healthier side of things which is always nice when football parties are usually laden with fatty or fried foods. The icing on this proverbial wing cake is that while it requires the same 3 ingredients, you can adjust the amounts to suit your preferences every time: barbeque, Frank's hot sauce, soy sauce. Also, if you want a less saucy wing you can marinade the wings in a ziploc back, then remove them from the sauce before baking. Alternatively, you can also reserve a portion of the sauce when you first whip it together to toss the wings in post-baking (don't re-use the marinade that the raw chicken sat in). You see? The possibilities are endless.

Ingredients:

• Wings 
• Barbeque Sauce
• Soy Sauce
• Hot Sauce (Frank's)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F, and grease 1 large rimmed baking sheet. 
2. Combine the sauces in any ratio you prefer to make about 3/4 cups of sauce per 30 wings. 
3. Toss the wings in the sauce in a large bowl, then pour onto the prepared baking sheet. Spread the wings so they are in a single layer, and bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven. Flip them, and bake another 20 minutes.
4. Using tongs, transfer the wings to your serving dish and let them sit for 2-4 minutes before serving so you don't burn your fingers off!

Chicken Stiry-Fry with Easy Cocount Curry and Rice

I went out on a limb last night when I made dinner for myself and the BF - I made a curry dish. The BF is not a fan of anything curry, and he really does not like savory-sweet meals. He likes Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese... Indian? No. Middle Eastern? No. So when I was secretly pouring coconut milk and teaspoons of curry powder into our stir-fry, I was praying to the food gods that he would like it. And guess what? He liked it! Woohoo! This means I can now start making samosas and Indian-style cuisine when he's around.

This was incredibly easy to whip up! I happened to have all of the ingredients on hand which made it even easier.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or 1 small chicken breasts)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 2 stalks of green onion
• 1 small head of broccoli
• 4 stalks of asparagus
• 6-8 mushrooms
• salt/pepper/dried basil/bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 cup frozen peas 
• 1 can coconut milk
• 4 cups cooked rice
• Optional: Sriracha for extra spice

Directions:

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Chop all of the veggies (expect peas) into 1/2 to 1 inch chunks. Slice the chicken into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Add all ingredients except the last 4 ingredients to the pan and cook until chicken is browned, stirring occasionally. 
2. Add the peas and coconut milk to the stir-fry. Turn the heat to low, then simmer for 25 minutes.
3. Taste the curry, then add seasonings as necessary and sriracha if you want it hot!
4. Serve over warm cooked rice, making sure to scoop some of the sauce from the pan onto your rice!

Enjoy!

Barbeque Chicken Sandwiches

I really really really love all things barbeque sauced. Yes, bbq SAUCED. I usually go straight for a bbq pizza, but since I was in the mood for a sandwich I made a barbeque chicken sandwich! That's my brain working. No big deal.

I like lots of flavors in my sandwiches, unlike the BF who just likes ham, cheese, and butter on his bread... Tonight I'm a free woman and I've loaded this sammy with all the goods. Of course, you can get even more wild by adding jalepenos or hot sauce, or you can go the other direction and skip the veggies altogether for an unadulterated bbq chicken sandwich.

Also - you may notice that I didn't slather the bread with anything like mayo, and I also didn't add cheese... I find that the bbq sauce is plenty saucy for this sammy, and the creamy avocado more than satisfies any cheese cravings you may have.

This makes enough for 2 little sandwiches or one semi-big one.

Ingredients:

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs 
• Salt/Pepper/Olive oil for cooking
• 4 slices of tomato
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 small onion
• sandwich bread
• bbq sauce

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Brush the chicken thighs with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place the thighs on a baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat a small skillet to medium-high heat. Slice the onion into thin rings and  add to the hot skillet with a splash of olive oil. Flip after 1 minute, and cook for additional minute. You just want to sear the onions! Put the onions in a small bowl with 2-3 tablespoons of bbq sauce (or whatever amount you feel comfortable with).
3. Once the chicken is done (when pierced with a knife the juice should run clear!), chop the chicken into cubes. Put into the bowl with the onions and bbq sauce and toss to coat.
4. Assemble the sandwiches by piling the chicken and onions and topping the bbq mixture with tomato and avocado slices.