Chicken Recipes: Chicken or Turkey Enchiladas

I turned to one of my favorite “comfort food” recipes to use up some of that Thanksgiving turkey: the “Chicken Enchiladas” recipe that I found about a year and half ago on RecipeTips.com. Yes, even at my house, we occasionally walk on the wild side and serve something other than chicken. This casserole-like dish is a snap to make, and it really lends itself nicely to using any type of leftover poultry (although I still prefer to use chicken). Go to RecipeTips.com and check out this great recipe. I know you’re going to enjoy “Chicken Enchiladas,” even if you make them with turkey instead.

 

Chicken Recipes: Thai Chicken Burgers with Mango Mint Topping

This is a grilled chicken recipe that I found on BetterRecipes.com that is actually called “Thai Turkey Burgers with Mango Mint Topping.” Of course, I decided to use chicken instead. I don’t have anything against turkey; in fact, I like it occasionally, but I just don’t like it as well as chicken. And, I rarely ever have a reason to have it on hand, except maybe on Thanksgiving, but I always have plenty of chicken ready to pull from the freezer and use for dinner the next day. Anyway, I’m sure that using chicken in this recipe didn’t hurt anything.

This delicious burger recipe, submitted by “roxiechan,” combines ground chicken (or turkey) with several tasty ingredients to make a patty bursting with Asian flavor and appealing aromas. And, the mango mint topping is a great complement to the grilled chicken burger.

Ingredients:

• Chicken burger:
  • 1 ½ pounds ground raw chicken
  • ¼ cup plain yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons minced green onion
  • 1 teaspoon minced gingerroot
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • 1 clove garlic, crushed
  • 1 teaspoon curry past
     
• Mango mint topping:
  • 1 cup peeled mango, cut in a small dice
  • 1 teaspoon lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • ½ tsp grated lime zest
  • 2 tablespoons snipped mint
     
• When ready to serve:
  • 6 sesame-seeded rolls, split
  • 6 lettuce leaves

Directions:

• Combine the ground chicken (or turkey) and the next 6 ingredients and mix well.
• Form the mixture into 6 patties.
• Grill over high heat for 5 to 7 minutes per side or until the patties are cooked through.
• While the burgers are grilling, combine the ingredients for the mango mint topping until well blended.
• During the last minute of grilling, add the roll halves to the grill rack, cut side down, to lightly toast.
• To serve the burgers, place a lettuce leaf on the bun bottoms, add the grilled chicken burgers, cover the burger with the mango mint topping, and add the bun top.

These chicken burgers are so much better than those plain old grilled hamburgers that some of us get so tired of during the summer. (I know I’m probably in the minority on that one.) This great burger recipe is really something different, so I urge you to give it a try. Thanks “roxiechan” for this wonderful recipe.

 

Chicken Recipes: Baked Chicken with Pasta

With winter upon us and the weather looking really ugly, it’s the time of year to treat ourselves to some of our favorite comfort foods. One of mine has always been chicken casserole—or casseroles, since there are so many variations that I enjoy. (Mom’s is still the best, however. See “Food Memories: Birthdays.”) The version I found on RecipeTips.com is certainly one of those that I have added to my list of favorites. “Baked Chicken with Pasta” is a thick, creamy, stick-to-your-ribs variety that I really enjoyed.

Baked Chicken with Pasta

Ingredients List:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
• 3 stalks celery, chopped
• 8 ounces of mushrooms (use your favorite), sliced
• 4 ounces of pimento, drained and chopped
• ½ teaspoon of poultry seasoning
• 4 sprigs of fresh thyme (use just the leaves)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 – 10 ¾ ounce can of cream of celery soup
• 1 – 10 ¾ ounce can of cream of chicken soup (Use the kind with herbs if you can find it.)
• 2 cups of chicken broth
• 8 ounces of Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts that have been seasoned with lemon pepper; then sautéed or grilled and chopped into bite-size pieces. You may also use 3 to 4 cups of leftover chicken, which is what I did. (Of course, I would have preferred to grill the chicken first, but the grilling season is now only a memory.)
• Freshly ground black pepper to taste
• 16 ounces of spaghetti, fettuccini, or angel hair pasta (I used the fettuccini this time, because it was what I had on hand.)
• 1 cup of seasoned bread crumbs
• ½ cup of Romano cheese, shredded (You can also use shredded parmesan cheese.)

Directions:

• In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and sauté the onion, pepper, mushrooms, and celery.
• Add the pimento, poultry seasoning, thyme leaves, garlic, and green pepper. Stir to combine and cook for an additional 1 to 2 minutes.
• Stir in the soups, chicken broth, and Velveeta cheese. Stir until the cheese is melted.
• Add the chicken to the skillet and stir it into the other ingredients until well blended; then lower the heat to low.
• While the chicken mixture is simmering, bring water to a boil in a large pot, and cook the pasta according to the package directions.
• When the pasta is cooked, drain it; then add it to the chicken mixture. Gentle stir to combine the pasta with the other ingredients and heat thoroughly.
• Pour everything into a greased casserole dish.
• In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and the shredded Romano or parmesan cheese; then sprinkle this mixture on top of the casserole.
• Bake the casserole at 375°F for 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

If you would prefer, you can use some of that Thanksgiving turkey that you may have stored in the freezer rather than using chicken. (I stuck with the chicken.) I suppose you could serve the casserole with a salad and bread and side dishes and all that extra stuff if you would want to, but I thought it was so filling and satisfying, that it really was enough by itself. Enjoy!

 

Chicken Recipes: Chicken, Rice, and Green Bean Casserole

When I found this recipe on the RecipeTips.com site, it looked like it would be a tasty dish to make after the Thanksgiving holiday—one of those quick and easy recipes that allow you to use up some of that leftover Thanksgiving turkey. I decided to try it last weekend using chicken, as the recipe calls for, to find out whether it would worth making again after the holiday. The answer was yes, I will definitely be making “Chicken, Rice, and Green Bean Casserole” again after the holiday, substituting the chicken with turkey. With only nine simple ingredients—mushroom soup, milk, uncooked rice, chopped cooked chicken, frozen green beans, canned mushrooms, pimentos, shredded cheddar cheese, and French fried onion rings—this dish was prepared, baked, and ready to serve in just under an hour.

Chicken, Rice, and Green Bean Casserole

This recipe is basically a variation on the ubiquitous Thanksgiving side dish, “Green Bean Casserole,” but it’s so much better. With the inclusion of chicken, rice, mushrooms, and cheddar cheese, it’s hearty enough to be served as a main meal; in fact, I served it with just some crusty bread rolls and nothing else (oh, and maybe a glass of wine or two). The recipe states that the French fried onions are optional, but I can’t imagine making the dish without them. The onions provide terrific flavor, and the crispy golden brown topping that forms in combination with the shredded cheese is unbeatable. Give this recipe a try and you won’t be disappointed.

 

Food Memories: Grandma’s Thanksgiving Jell-O Salad a la Awful

When I was a kid I remember that on Thanksgiving Day, Grandma would pull into town in her big Caddy (a three-bedroom house on wheels known as a Cadillac Sedan Deville) and arrive at my parents’ home bearing her contribution to the Thanksgiving feast: a gastronomic catastrophe that for lack of a better name, I’ll call, “Grandma’s Thanksgiving Jell-O Salad a la Awful.” Actually, I could call it a variety of more colorful names, but none of them are fit to publish here. My sister called it, “Ick!” my brother called it, “P-U!” and Mom simply called it, “Oh, God!” All I know is that whatever you chose to call it, the Thanksgiving dinner was not enhanced by the presence of Grandma’s ever-repulsive runny lime Jell-O with carrots and peas topped with mayonnaise and paprika. While it might be a hit in some quarters, it certainly wasn’t at our house. Why ruin perfectly innocent lime Jell-O with mayonnaise—and paprika, for Pete’s sake! And so, while feasting on Mom’s beautifully roasted turkey with sage dressing, homemade cranberry sauce, buttery mashed potatoes served with her excellent roasting pan gravy, delicious sweet potato hot dish, always popular green bean casserole, and of course, Dad’s famous baked beans; we were forced to plop Grandma’s Jell-O nightmare onto our plates. Nobody liked it; nevertheless, we all choked it down, not because we didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but because we would never hear the end of it if we didn’t eat it. With a smirk on her face, she always dished up an extra large helping for Mom and expected her to gobble it up. Poor Mom.

I always thought that Grandma’s only purpose in serving the unwanted green gunk was as a joke—just to get a rise out of everyone—because she must have known how much we hated it. Three moaning children and the shell-shocked expressions on the faces of my parents, aunts, and uncles made that fairly obvious. We loved Grandma for many things, but her cooking wasn’t one of them.