Asian Apricot Chicken Wings

Ingredients:

1 Package Chicken Wings (approximately 2 pounds)

Peanut Oil

Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar

Soy Sauce

Fish Sauce

Ground Ginger

Red Pepper Flakes

No Sugar Added Apricot Jam

Kosher Salt and Cracked Pepper

 
How To:

Preheat oven to 450°.

Line baking pan with foil and insert rack.

Prep wings. Cut off wing tips or as Alton Brown calls them, the culinary wasteland. Snip the skin between the wing and drumstick portion then snap it backwards for its natural breaking point. You can now easily cut thru making two pieces. Lay chicken pieces flat on the baking rack. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15 minutes.

In the meantime make the sauce. I didn't measure so this is approximate: Equal parts oil and vinegar to equal ¼ cup; about a tablespoon of soy sauce; about a teaspoon of fish sauce, a good sprinkle of ginger (about a ½ teaspoon) and a shake or two of red pepper flakes. Mix with a wire whisk. Add 2 heaping tablespoons of jam. Mix to combine.

After wings have been in the oven 15 minutes, brush sauce over wings, turn them over and brush the other side. Return to oven and bake 15 minutes. Put under broiler for about 5 minutes or until golden brown.

~Source: This was inspired by a Kraft recipe that called for Asian Ginger Salad Dressing and Orange Marmalade. I had neither so I made my own version of an Asian Dress and used SF Apricot Jam instead. (The original recipe called for ¼ cup dressing; ¼ cup jam and double baking. I added the salt & pepper, turning the wings over to get the sauce on both sides and the broiler part cuz I like ‘em tasty and crispy!)

Patti’s Notes: The foil lined pan will make clean up a snap and the rack will allow the heat circulate for even cooking. Don’t throw away the wing tips. Put them in a zip bag and freeze them for another day (chicken stock). Hey, you paid for them, might as well get your money’s worth and not have to buy stock/broth. Don’t be afraid of Fish Sauce (found in the Asian section of the grocery store). It does not taste fishy; it just tastes like a different layer of salty.

Health-o-Meter: I’d say middle of the road because of the chicken skin.

Easy Meter: Also middle of the road because of prepping the chicken. You may be able to find wings already separated. In that case I’d say easy schmeasy but DIY is less expensive.

Pizza Pinwheels

1 can Pillsbury Refrigerated Pizza Crust
½ tsp Garlic Salt
1 tsp Dried Basil
¼ Cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1 Cup Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
½ Cup Sliced Pepperoni, Chopped
1 Cup Marinara or Pizza Sauce

Preheat oven to 425°

Roll out dough from pop can and stretch into rectangle. Sprinkle with garlic salt, basil, cheeses and pepperoni. Starting at the short end, roll dough into a log. Slice into 1” pieces. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until browned on top. Serve with warm marinara sauce for dipping.

~Source: quickdish via pinterest

Patti’s Notes: Okay, I confess, I didn’t measure anything and I didn’t chop the pepperoni. I do however, put the pepperoni on a paper towel and put it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to drain out some of the fat. I also used the Thin Crust version of the pizza crust and I used my pizza stone. I left them on the pizza stone for serving so they would stay hot. I had some two ounce plastic cups so after I heated the marinara sauce I put a little scoop of sauce in the cups. That way people could put the sauce cup on their plate and use it for dipping instead of the sauce running all over the plate.

Tip of the Day: After rolling everything into a log, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the freezer for about 10 minutes. It will make it easier to cut. Also, use a serrated knife. If not everything will squish together and you’ll end up with pizza blobs instead of pizza pinwheels. It would still be tasty but not very pretty! ;-)

Easy Meter: Yes.

Health-o-Meter: Let’s be honest, pizza isn’t the healthiest thing in the world but it’s not the worse either. You could make a veggie version or substitute other toppings but don’t put the sauce in the mix. From what I’ve heard it makes a big gooey mess. Use it on the side for dipping.

Taco Cups

1 lb ground beef
1 packet taco seasoning
2/3 cup water
1 can black beans, drained
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
36 wonton wrappers
Toppings: salsa, cheese, sour cream, lettuce, tomatoes, etc.
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 375°

Brown the meat in a skillet and drain off fat. Add the taco seasoning, water and black beans. Mix and simmer for 5-10 minutes, until water is absorbed.

Spray 18 regular muffin pan cups with cooking spray. Place one wonton wrapper in each muffin cup. Divide half of the taco meat between muffin cups. Sprinkle half of the cheese over the cups. Repeat layers: wonton, taco meat and cheese.
Bake at 375 for 20 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly. Top with your favorite taco toppings.

~source: plainchicken via pinterest

Patti’s Notes: You don’t need to use muffin liners; they easily lift right out of muffin pan when
done. When putting the cooked meat/bean mixture into the wonton wrappers I used a melon baller (small ice cream scoop). I pressed down a little on the second wonton wrapper so they would ‘fuse’ together.

Easy Meter: Simple Simon. They don’t take long to assemble and I didn’t miss frying tortillas at all.

Health-o-Meter: Wonton wrappers are WAY lower in calories than tortillas, then they are baked not fried so in my book they rate healthier than regular tacos. The calorie count would vary depending on what toppings you use, i.e.: regular sour cream, light sour cream, plain Greek yogurt, guacamole or no toppings at all.

Slow Cooker Cinnamon Roll Bread Pudding

8 Cups Mini Cinnamon Rolls, cut in quarters
4 Eggs
2 Cups Milk
¼ Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Butter, melted
½ Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
¼ Teaspoon Ground Nutmeg
1 Cup Raisins
1 Cup Pecans, chopped


Place half of the cinnamon rolls in the slow cooker and top with half of the raisins and half of the pecans. Add remaining cinnamon rolls. In small mixing bowl combine eggs, milk, sugar, butter, vanilla and nutmeg. Wisk until blended. Pour over cinnamon rolls and gentle stir.
Cover and cook on low for 3 hours.

~Source – this was a combo of a few different recipes so I guess the credit goes to me! Research, combine and improvise.

Patti’s Notes: Super easy and very good with a dollop of Cool Whip Lite.

Health-o-Meter: Not so diet friendly.

Easy Meter: Easy Schmeasy.

Clean Out The Veggie Bin Chicken Stoup

This is another of my ‘How-To’ Slow Cooker inventions rather than a recipe.
I had green beans, carrots and zucchini that I didn’t use last weekend and I’ll be gone this weekend so I figured I better do something with them or I’ll be throwing them away (except the carrots would have been fine). I hate to waste my Farmer’s Market veggies. I had three boneless skinless chicken breast in the freezer so I took them out first thing in the morning. They were still partially frozen before I left for work but that’s okay. I put them in the crock pot, sliced the carrots and the zucchini; cut the tips off the green beans and cut them in half. Everyone into the cauldron. I sprinkled about 1-2 teaspoons of herbes de provence over the top. Then I grabbed a jar of the tomatoes I canned at summertime. If you [probably don’t] remember I put a clove of garlic and quartered onion in the bottom of the jars before adding the tomatoes (thank you for the idea Tonopah Rob). The ‘How To’ is in my Food Porn Blog 6-13-11. Anyhow, I added the jar of tomatoes, juice and all, and popped the lid on. When I got home from work the kitchen smelled amazing. I would put this in the category of what Rachel Ray calls *stoup*. That’s kind of a cross between a stew and a soup. It would have been good with some crusty bread on the side, which I happen to have in the freezer but I didn’t remember it until just now.
This rates high on the Health-O-Meter because it’s just chicken, veggies and spices. No added fat, no added sodium, no starch - although I would have thrown in a potato if there would have been one in the bin. :wink:

Easy Schmeasy Chicken Enchiladas

1 can (10 ¾ oz) Campbell’s Cream of Chicken Soup (Regular or Healthier versions) ½ cup sour cream (Regular or Light) 1 cup Pace Picante Sauce (I use Original but you could sub Mild or Spicy) 2 tsp. chili powder 2 cups shredded cooked chicken (I use the breast meat of one rotisserie chicken from Sam’s/Costco) ½ cup shredded cheese (I use Kraft Mexican 4 Cheese but you could use Monterey Jack or Low Fat Cheese) 6 flour tortillas.

Heat oven to 350°; spray baking pan with Pam. Mix soup, sour cream, Pace Picante Sauce and chili power together. In separate bowl mix 1 cup of the soup mixture with the chicken and cheese. Put 6 tortillas in the pan, divide chicken mixture between the tortillas spreading it down the center. Fold in one side, then the other, then turn seam side down in the pan. Spread remaining soup mixture over the top. Cover with foil and bake 40 minutes until cheese starts to bubble around the edges. Eat as is or garnish with chopped tomato and sliced green onion. Paul likes to add a dollop of sour cream.

~Source - once upon a time it was probably a Campbell’s Soup recipe in a magazine.

Patti’s Notes: Paul thinks its better reheated the next day. 

Health-O-Meter: Depends. You can make it diet friendly or fully loaded. If you lighten it up, I recommend low fat cheese, not fat free. Fat free cheese tends to turn to a plastic like substance when melted (IMO - YMMV). 

Easy Meter: Easy Schmeasy.

The Tale of Two Chicken Salads

Base ingredients are:
1 Rotisserie Chicken (I like Sam’s Club or Costco’s chickens)
1 Apple (I like Pink Lady apples but any apple will do the trick)
Mayonnaise

Remove meat from chicken (I use mostly just the white meat) and cut into bite size pieces.
Peel, core and chop the apple.

Here’s where your chicken salad can go either way.

For REGULAR CHICKEN SALAD I add about a cup of grapes (cut in half), sea salt and cracked pepper.
For CURRY CHICKEN SALAD I add a handful of golden raisins, garlic salt, cracked pepper and curry powder.

Back to the basics: Add enough mayonnaise for it to stick together. Refrigerate. Add a little more mayo just prior to serving.

De-lish.

You could also add chopped celery and/or onion. I don't like raw onion and celery isn't one of my favorites, but you can experiment and add what you like. Pears instead of apple, chopped nuts, dried cranberries, etc.

~Source - as you have probably guessed, I made this one up myself.

;-)