Tag: chicken

Pesto Chicken Meatballs with Sundried Tomato & Corn Pasta

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This is a great way to fake having access to fresh ears of Summer corn that is worth eating.

Who me, missing good – or even terribly edible – corn? Never. The perils of #expatlife. We certainly don’t have Silver Queen, and the ears of corn we do get are mealy and gross. Frozen it is.

gluten-free

Pesto Chicken Meatballs with Sundried Tomato & Corn Pasta

1 lb ground chicken

2 Tbsp pesto

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp baking soda dissolved in 1 Tbsp water

2/3 c frozen corn

1 large zucchini, chopped

5 sundried tomatoes, chopped

4 slices precooked bacon, chopped (I used turkey bacon)

2 Tbsp pesto

Half a box of your favorite pasta (I used a chickpea pasta)

Nutritional yeast (optional)

Fresh basil (optional)

Combine 2 Tbsp pesto with the minced garlic, baking soda and ground chicken and form into ping pong ball sized meatballs. Cook in your preferred method (I air fried mine for 10 minutes).

Put your pasta water on to boil and cook pasta to al dente. Reserve a little pasta water to help build the sauce when draining.

Salt, pepper & oil

Sauté the corn and zucchini in a little oil spread in large pan over medium-high. Hit with salt and pepper and let go until browned in bits.

Add the sundried tomatoes and bacon and let go another minute or two.

Add 2 Tbsp pesto, the pasta, and enough pasta water to loosen the pesto up to form a sauce. Toss and serve with the meatballs, snipped basil, nutritional yeast and a few cracks black pepper.

Serves 3 – 4 for dinner

Hawaiian Pizza Chicken Bowls

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I’m firmly team any way I can get pineapple – including on pizza. Yum.

gluten-free

Hawaiian Pizza Chicken Bowls

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Your favorite pizza sauce (mine happens to be a red pepper & garlic spicy pesto, but you do you)

Vegan mozzarella (the mozzarella I used was fairly tasteless and could have really been skipped)

8 slices ham or prosciutto (I used turkey prosciutto)

1 can pineapple rings (I much prefer canned in juice)

Italian herb mix

1 cup basmati rice cooked in veggie stock

1 large zucchini, chopped

4 – 6 ounces mushrooms, sliced

Oil, salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 200C/375F and prep a baking sheet. Chop the zucchini and slice the mushrooms. Set aside.

If your rice isn’t already made, start this now.

Season the chicken generously with Italian seasoning, salt and pepper. Spread a thick layer of pizza sauce over top. Top that with a couple slices ham/prosciutto, and cheese. Add a ring or two of pineapple on top of that, and sprinkle with more seasonings.

Arrange on the baking sheet with the veggies. Drizzle veggies with oil, salt, pepper and more Italian seasoning.

Bake 15 – 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the veggies are done to your liking.

When the rice is done, add a couple Tablespoons of your pizza sauce and the rest of the pineapple (cut into chunks).

Serve chicken and veggies over this nice rice.

Serves 4 for dinner

Peachy Chicken

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This dish surprised me. I had envisioned a kind of rice salad, but as it turns out, this dish lends itself much better to a warm but light almost stew.

Sounds weird, but it totally works.

gluten-free

Peachy Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces

1 smallish yellow onion, sliced

1.5 c green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 c balsamic vinegar

1 Tbsp honey

3 peaches, sliced (about 2 cups)

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes

1/4 c basil leaves, thinly sliced

Hand full slivered almonds

1 Tbsp butter

Red pepper flakes

Olive oil

Salt & pepper

A base (I served with black rice cooked in vegetable stock)

Put a large pan that has a lid over medium-high heat. Add a turn or two of olive oil and bring up to temp.

Slice the onion into thin half moons and sauté until they are beginning to soften.

When the onions are ready, push to the sides of the pan. Add the chicken to the pan, season with salt and pepper and sauté until golden. Remove the chicken.

Add the garlic and balsamic and cook, stirring frequently, until the vinegar is reduced by half.

Add the peaches, honey, tomatoes and green beans. Season with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken back into the pan, stir, cover, and reduce the heat to medium-low.

Simmer 5-10 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

If your mix is a bit too wet, remove the chicken again so it doesn’t get rubbery and sauté the mix over medium-high with no lid until some of the excess liquid evaporates.

Add the butter while this is going on and stir to combine.

Top with the basil, almonds and red pepper flakes. Serve with the base of your choice.

Serves 4 for dinner

Pineapple Fried Rice with Meatballs

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This is a great meal full of natural juice from the pineapple and luxury from the coconut rice. The meatballs I could happily have on repeat.

A note on the ground chicken: if you, like me, cannot for the life of you find ground poultry in the store (seriously. I looked in multiple stores for a couple weeks and nada), you can whiz a packet of boneless skinless chicken in your food processor (or Ninja). It works just fine, but if you use breasts – it lacks a bit of fat.

gluten-free

Pineapple Fried Rice with Meatballs

Meatballs:

1 lb ground chicken (or boneless skinless chicken chunks)

1/2 onion, minced (or whizzed with the chicken chunks)

1/2 c cilantro, chopped (or whizzed with the chicken chunks)

1 jalapeño, minced (or whizzed with the chicken chunks)

3 cloves garlic, minced (or whizzed with the chicken chunks)

2 Tbsp hot sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

2 tsp date molasses

2 tsp – 1 Tbsp spice blend (I used a hot chicken mix and it was great)

1/2 tsp baking soda

Generous pinch salt & pepper

Form into roughly ping pong sized balls and cook with your preferred method – I pan fried mine over medium; I also love to bake in a 400F oven for 15 – 20 mins.

Sides:

1 can pineapple cubes in juice, drained

1 red bell pepper, chopped

Sauté the pineapple and pepper in a little oil over medium-high heat until the pepper is soft and the pineapple is browned in bits.

Last week’s coconut rice

Topper:

1/3 c cilantro, chopped

2 scallions, chopped

To serve, combine the rice with the pineapple/pepper mix, top with cilantro & scallions and plunk a couple meatballs alongside.

Serves 4

Basil Curry Comfort Rice

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This is like a green hug in a bowl. Coconutty, silky, and freakin addictive. This was all I ate until the bowl ran dry. Bonus: it was hands-off to make.

gluten-free

Basil Curry Comfort Rice

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped

1 bunch basil leaves, divided into 2 piles

5 cloves garlic, chopped

1 inch knob fresh ginger, minced

2 jalapeños, seeded or not and minced

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 bunch broccolini, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 can coconut milk

1 c. (ish) your favorite stock (I added a bouillon cube to the pot + 1 fill of the empty coconut milk can of water)

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (check your labels!)

1 Tbsp. fish sauce (check your labels!)

1/2 c. your favorite rice (I used unwashed sushi rice)

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. cardamom

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. turmeric

1/2 tsp. cumin

Generous salt & pepper

Add everything but half the basil & the broccolini to the bowl of your slow cooker. Slow cook on “soup” for 1 hour.

At the :35 minute mark, add the broccolini.

In 10 – 15 more mins, add the second half of the basil (I chopped this half, intending to fish out the whole pieces but it turned out not to be necessary).

Let that go another 5 minutes and pull the whole thing.

Serves 4 – 6 depending on your self control around ricey comfort dishes

Hot Honey Chicken Bowl

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This is a great one to keep in your back pocket. This chicken is [fire] and would be fantastic in a cold summer salad (I’m thinking a mandarin affair), or a quick stir fry. Yum.

gluten-free

Hot Honey Chicken Bowl

Chicken:

1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into cubes

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 Tbsp. cornstarch or arrowroot powder

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

Generous salt & pepper

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1/4 c. honey

2 Tbsp. sambal olek

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. soy sauce or coconut aminos

More salt, pepper, cayenne & red pepper flakes

Bowl:

1-2 zucchini, cut into moons & air fried until nice and brown with a little salt, pepper & oil

2 carrots, shredded

1 avocado, chopped

2c. quinoa or cous cous cooked in broth with salt & pepper

Juice & zest of 2 limes

Sauce:

1/4 c. your favorite yogurt (I used a thick Skyr-style soy)

1 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. ranch seasoning powder

Hand full of chopped chives or scallions to garnish

Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces and toss with the garlic powder, cornstarch/arrowroot powder, cayenne & a generous sprinkle salt & pepper. Blast with a little spray oil and air fry on 400 15 mins or until crispy and done (shaking and re-spraying a couple times through the cook time).

In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil, honey, sambal, minced garlic, lemon juice, soy sauce/coconut aminos and a generous sprinkle each of salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and cumin. Toss the chicken with the sauce and set aside.

Prep the grain bowl bottom and veggies.

Assemble as you wish.

Combine the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, thinning out with a little water if you want a more pourable sauce.

Top with the scallions or chives.

Serves 4

Gochujang Chicken Stir Fry

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I love Gochujang. This is a quick to throw together dinner that manages to be low calorie and packed with flavor.

gluten-free* (check your Gochujang label!)

Gochujang Chicken Stir Fry

1 lb. ground chicken

1 large carrot, diced

1 bell pepper (any color), chopped

1.5 c snap peas (tipped and halved)

1.5 Tbsp gochujang

1 tsp sambal olek

2 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1 Tbsp rice vinegar

1 Tbsp garlic powder

2 tsp cornstarch

2 tsp honey

2 tsp butter

Sesame seeds

A little oil

Chop the veggies and set aside. In a large pan over medium high heat, warm a couple teaspoons oil.

Add the chicken and carrots. Stir fry until the chicken is brown and the carrots are just beginning to soften.

While the chicken is working, whisk the sauce ingredients (the rest of the ingredients except for the sesame seeds and butter) together in a small bowl. set aside.

When the chicken is ready, add the pepper and snap peas and continue to stir fry until the veggies are done to just about your liking.

Add the sauce and continue cooking a minute or two, stirring frequently, to combine fully. Add the butter and stir until it melts.

Serve with rice (or not). Garnish with sesame seeds.

Serves 4

Air Fryer Sweet Potato & Chive Chicken Meatballs

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These are addictive. I’m not sure why, since they’re so simple, but they are. It’s probably the chive. So good, I’m keeping some on hand for snacking.

gluten-free, paleo, Whole30

Air Fryer Sweet Potato & Chive Chicken Meatballs

1 pound ground chicken

1 small sweet potato, peeled & rough chopped (about 2 cups when shredded)

1/4 cup chives, snipped fine

1 small shallot, peeled & rough chopped

Salt & pepper

Whack your chopped sweet potato and shallot in a food processor until the pieces look like small shreds. Mix with the ground chicken and hit with generous salt & pepper.

Preheat your air fryer to 200C/400F for 3 minutes.

When your air fryer is done heating, form the ground chicken mix into roughly ping pong ball sized meatballs and drop into the basket in a single layer, leaving a little space around each ball to breathe. I did mine in 2 rounds. Air fry 7 minutes per batch, shaking a few times during the cooking process to avoid sticking. Mine wanted to stick a bit, but with the shaking, the balls stayed together and ended up coming out just fine.

Serve with pretty much anything – I had some for a super simple ‘I’m not that hungry’ dinner with some babaganoush one night, nestled in a mess of stir-fried snow peas for lunch, and alongside some lazy af Ranch-y zucchini for another dinner. These babies are versatile. Would also be great with pasta.

Serves 4-6, depending on what you do with them

Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Nibbles

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Ooh man, the air fryer can make some delicious nuggets. I let this batch marinate longer than anticipated (afternoon + over night instead of for like an hour) and the ginger garlic was definitely noticeable in every bite.

gluten-free

Air Fryer Honey Garlic Chicken Nibbles

1 pound chicken thighs, chopped into bite-sized pieces

Marinade:

2 Tbsp honey

2 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

2 tsp your fav vinegar (I used ume plum)

1/2 inch grated ginger

2 cloves grated garlic

Sauce:

2 Tbsp soy sauce or coconut aminos

1.5 Tbsp honey

2 tsp sambal olek

1 tsp vinegar

2 tsp garlic powder

1 Tbsp sesame oil

1/2 tsp grated horseradish

Cornstarch

Black pepper

Spritz oil (I have flaxseed, but any kind will do)

Add your marinade ingredients and chicken to a large bag or bowl. Shake well to coat and marinate for at least an hour, but I would suggest over night. Mine went for almost a full day because my chicken was still a bit too frozen and it was magnificent.

Preheat your air fryer to 200C/400F for 3 minutes.

While the air fryer is warming, add your chicken to a large bowl (trying to get as little of the marinade as possible). Generously sprinkle with cornstarch and black pepper. Toss. Hit again with cornstarch and pepper – you’re looking for most if not all of the pieces to be coated.

Add to the basket of your air fryer and blast with a few spritzes oil.

Turn the timer to 10 minutes and fry, shaking vigorously to break up any clumping and spritzing with oil 3-4 times while the chicken cooks.

While the chicken is going, whisk together all the sauce ingredients.

This is great served with some veggies (I did peppers, onions & portobello mushrooms) simply air fried with salt, pepper and a blast of spritz oil until a touch browned (takes about 12 minutes).

Serves 3-4

Air Fried Pepper Chicken

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This recipe is enchanting. Not 100% what I had envisioned (no sichuan peppercorns or deep fried taste), but gone in seconds.

Note: I ran out of cornstarch about halfway through making this chicken and had to finish the rest without it. It was also delicious.

gluten-free, paleo

Air Fried Pepper Chicken

500g chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces

2 Tbsp. soy sauce or coconut aminos

1 inch ginger, grated

2 Tbsp. rice vinegar

1 c. cornstarch or arrowroot powder

2 eggs, beaten

Generous shake salt & pepper

Oil for spritzing

Sauce

2 Tbsp. butter

2 tsp. Togarishi seasoning

2-4 tsp. sambal olek

Generous shake black pepper

Cut your chicken into bite sized pieces. Grate the ginger and add ginger, soy and rice vinegar to the chicken. Marinate :30 or overnight.

When you’re ready to cook, cut a piece of baking paper to cover the bottom of your air fryer basket. Preheat the air fryer for 3 minutes.

While your fryer is warming, set up a dredging station – 1 plate of cornstarch seasoned with salt & pepper and 1 shallow bowl of beaten egg.

Dredge the chicken chunks in cornstarch, egg, and back into cornstarch. Add to the preheated and lined air fryer basket in a single layer with a little room around each piece (you will need to do this in multiple batches).

Spritz with a little oil and air fry 8 minutes, flipping and re-oiling if necessary halfway through.

Continue on with the rest of the chicken.

While the chicken cooks, combine the butter (melted), togarishi and sambal in a small bowl; hit with a generous amount of black pepper.

To serve, toss the fried chicken with the sauce.

Serves 4