MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - THAI PEANUT CHICKEN RAMEN NOODLES

 This week's choice is from Greens and Chocolate hosted by Taylor. The original recipe can be found here. We gave this a 10 out of 10, it was delicious! It had been a while before we made Thai. It's one of our favorite foods and fast to prepare. Thank you Taylor!

Thai Peanut Chicken Ramen Noodles 

Servings: 6

Calories per serving: approximately 513 calories 

From prep to table: 30 minutes (always takes me longer but it is still a fast meal.

½ cup peanut butter

¼ cup soy sauce

¼ cup sweet chili sauce

Juice from 1 lime plus another lime cut into sections so that you can squeeze the juice over your finished plate at the table if you like that idea - I personally enjoy that little zap of lime

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 red bell pepper, seed and stem removed and diced

½ white onion diced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger finely chopped

2 cloves garlic minced

1 15 ounce can full-fat coconut milk

4 (3 ounce) packages ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded

2 cups diced/shredded cooked chicken approximately 2 medium chicken breasts (for an easier way to go, it is suggested using an already cooked rotisserie chicken, which is what we did)

Chopped cilantro, sliced green onion, and chopped peanuts, for garnish 

In a small food processor combine peanut butter, soy sauce, sweet chili sauce, lime juice, garlic, and ginger. Pulse to combine until smooth (I don’t have a processor and just mixed with a whisk until thoroughly blended).

Bring a pot of water to boiling and cook ramen noodles according to package instructions. They will likely only take a few minutes to cook, so while the water is coming to a boil, continue on making the rest of the sauce.

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.

Add red bell pepper and onion, and cook for 5 minutes, until softened.

Add the sauce from the food processor along with the coconut milk, stirring to combine.

Add the cooked ramen noodles and chicken, stirring well to combine.

Serve topped with cilantro, green onion, and chopped peanuts.

Taylors Notes:

Use rotisserie chicken or pre-cooked diced chicken to make this recipe even easier.

Store any leftover fresh ginger in the freezer.

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

(I recommend looking at Taylor’s recipe not only for her suggestions, but she also has the full nutritional information, plus all the other great recipes.) 

Can be prepped ahead - If you want to save some time when it comes to cooking dinner, you can make the peanut sauce in advance.

In our host’s own words, “Let's just be clear - these are not traditional ramen noodles in any sense.  They're not classic ramen noodle bowls with clear broth and all the fixin's and they're not the college kind, either. While I actually did use the noodles that come in your typical college ramen noodle soup packet, I tossed the seasoning and made my own Thai peanut sauce.”

Shredded Chicken - this is a great use for leftover shredded chicken. I also love buying the shredded rotisserie chicken from Costco or Target to use in this (we get ours from Costco).

Variations:

Different protein - use ground beef, ground pork ground chicken, shrimp, or tofu instead of shredded chicken.

Add more vegetables - you can really beef up these noodles with more vegetables, if you'd like! Anything like broccoli, mushrooms, shredded carrots, edamame, snow peas, and spinach would work. Just add them with the onions and bell pepper to cook.

Substitute almond butter for peanut butter.

Use spaghetti noodles instead of ramen noodles.

Add some spice with 1-2 tablespoons of Sriracha. We add ours at the end after we've served the kids.

Denise’s Notes: What did we think? It will be put into our favorite folder. We loved it and if you enjoy Thai Food with peanut butter sauces, I hope you will too. 

As mentioned, instead of the food processor which I don't have, I used a whisk. I have a blender but it seemed too big for what we needed. I thought an immersion blender would be ok but the whisk was fine. Just as long as everything is well blended.

There was no green onion in our supplies as I had thought, but it was great with the cilantro and chopped peanuts. We used the no-salt added peanuts.

A few dashes of Sriracha was a nice addition, amount to your own taste, or leave off entirely if you don’t like the extra heat. 

The following is what we used (link to company here) instead of fresh garlic and ginger. These little cubes are very handy. We freeze and thaw out a couple when needed. One garlic cube is equivalent to one medium clove. One ginger cube is equivalent to 1 teaspoon of fresh. If you don’t have these, there is probably an equivalent in your area. It is nice to be able to take a couple of shortcuts at times.

That’s all I can think of right now. If you need any more info, or if you think I left anything out, you can leave me a comment and I will do my best to answer.

The full address follows for you to copy and paste if you prefer, rather than use the link at the beginning of today's post.

https://greensnchocolate.com/thai-peanut-chicken-ramen-noodles/

Thanks for looking, have a great day and

Bon Appetit!

MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - FINELY CHOPPED, GREEK-INSPIRED CHICKEN SALAD - 4 servings

I have been looking for a salad recipe that is a little different from our usual throw-together veggie salad. I also wanted the protein included. When I came across this one it was just what I was looking for. I found it at The Natural Nurturer hosted by Taesha Butler, and the original recipe can be found at this link. I try to remember to do this each week, and recommend you visit Taesha’s recipe. Her photos are great, there is good advice, many tips and also other great recipes to try in the future.

Finely Chopped Greek-Inspired Chicken Salad

Servings: 4

Calories per serving: approximately 331

For the salad: 

1 romaine heart

½ English cucumber

2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes

1 small bell pepper, any color you like

½ small red onion, or 4 scallions

½ cup pitted kalamata olives, or mixed Greek olives

1 cup feta cheese , about 6 ounces

1 large cooked chicken breast, about ½ pound

½ cup fresh herbs of choice , such as mint, parsley, dill and/or basil..whatever you have on hand. These are optional but they add a nice fresh flavor to the salad (our choice was dill)

For the Dressing:

4 teaspoons red wine vinegar

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ teaspoon garlic powder, or one small clove of fresh garlic, grated

½ teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon kosher salt

ground black pepper, to taste

1 medium lemon, juiced (we added this ourselves as wanted a little bit of extra zip)

Pita Bread 

Prepare and measure all ingredients.  

Dice vegetables and put into a large bowl. 

Whisk the dressing ingredients together. Set aside. Just before serving pour over salad and toss to combine. Taste and add more salt and pepper as needed. 

At this point we felt it needed extra zip. The juice of 1 lemon was added. If you do the same you may prefer to use less, so best to add a little at a time and taste test. And then again you might prefer leaving it out and like the dressing as is.

(Also, since we have tried it again, we found we enjoyed it with no dressing at all.)

We didn’t add any of the salt asked for.

Taesha's notes: To make this salad vegetarian, you can simply leave out the chicken and add 2 cups of cooked chickpeas instead. (I personally think it would be great just with the main ingredients minus the chicken.)

To make this salad dairy-free, omit the feta cheese.

The salad is very nice eaten in a pita bread or rolled into a tortilla wrap (we used a pita bread half and that was excellent but this salad can stand alone.)

Did we change anything? 

A very tasty recipe and we went to the supermarket just before we made it. The ingredients were either bought that day or were already in the pantry/fridge. 

The only change was the addition of lemon juice for the dressing mentioned above.

There is quite a lot of preparation work, and the vegetables are cut into small dice. I started early.

I made a poached chicken recipe which you can find at this link. You could also use an already cooked rotisserie chicken, which would speed things up a little.

My thyme for the chicken recipe had leaves that were larger than usual. I couldn’t pass an opportunity for photos. The leaves were a pretty burgundy color on the back. 

As we had leftovers, we added only enough dressing to the first two portions and put the rest in the fridge, storing separately. Taesha had said to only add the dressing right before serving. Perhaps the ingredients get soggy if they are mixed too soon.

I would probably cut back on the olive oil and not add as much. 

My next meal I left the dressing off and ate as is.  It was tasty enough to do that, but I have never been a fan of salad dressings.

For those who prefer to copy and paste rather than use the links at the beginning of this recipe.

https://thenaturalnurturer.com/finely-chopped-greek-inspired-chicken-salad/

I think that's all but if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask in the comment section.

MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - CHICKEN FRIED RICE - SERVES 4

 

I found today's recipe at Kitchen Sanctuary hosted by Nicky. The recipe was excellent and we will be making it again. The original recipe came from this website. Always encourage going to their blog to see not only notes, tips and photos, but the measurements are metric. I have only used Imperial.

Chicken Fried Rice - serves 4 - calories per portion approximately 477

2 tbsp vegetable oil (we used avocado oil)

1 onion peeled and diced

1 red bell pepper deseeded and finely chopped 

2 cloves garlic peeled and minced

2/3 cup frozen peas

2 cups cooked shredded/sliced chicken

½ tbsp sesame oil

4 cups cooked and cooled long-grain rice

2 eggs

2 tbsp dark soy sauce (we used low sodium soy sauce)

¼ tsp salt

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

3 or 4 spring onions, chopped (for garnish)

Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large wok on medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly for 5 minutes until the onion starts to turn soft and translucent.

Add remaining vegetable oil, chopped red bell pepper, garlic, and peas. Cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

Now add chicken and sesame oil. Stir together, then add in the rice and turn up the heat to high.

Use a spatula to mix everything together. This also prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan.  Stir until all reheated for about 5 minutes.

Push the rice over to the side of the pan and crack two eggs in the space. Add a splash of soy sauce to the eggs.

Making sure the part of the wok with the eggs in is over the heat, fry the eggs, giving a mix with the spatula until the egg starts to cook and look scrambled, but is still a little runny.

At this time mix the egg into the rice.

Pour in the remaining soy sauce, sprinkle on the salt and mix it all together.

Add the lemon juice, stir and taste. Add a little more lemon juice if required.

Divide between 4 bowls. Top with spring onions. 

Nikki's notes state that this can be made ahead. She suggests spreading the cooked rice out in a large dish so that it will cool quickly. Then cover and refrigerate for up to a day. 

Important to note do not leave at room temperature as bacteria can grow on cooked rice very quickly.

This being the case, refrigerate very quickly.

Don't store for more than 24 hours in the fridge and thoroughly reheat it. 

Reheat in a wok, over a medium-high heat, moving it around the pan with a spatula, until piping hot throughout. 

You may need to add an extra splash of oil, as the rice will have absorbed the oil whilst in the fridge.

She also says this can be frozen.

Again, cook the rice, then spread it out in a large dish (so it will cool quickly) cover and freeze.

As before, don't leave cooked rice out at room temperature. Bacteria can grow on cooked rice very quickly, so it's important to freeze it as quickly as possible and defrost in the refrigerator overnight (don't store in fridge for more than 24 hours). Thoroughly reheat it in a wok, over a medium-high heat, moving it around the pan with a spatula, until piping hot throughout. You will need to add an extra splash of oil, as the rice will have absorbed the oil upon storing.

Add an extra squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh chopped spring onions on top before serving.

If you have any doubts, please read Nikki's notes at her website.

Changes made:

We added a whole bag of pre-sliced cabbage bought from the supermarket, the type you usually make coleslaw with. This was put into the pan after cooking the onion, along with the other veggies. There was red cabbage in the mix, and I only mention this because I read recently that there are more nutrients which you can read about here. The bag of coleslaw cabbage wasn't bought for this reason, it was the only one available. I seem to be reading more articles on nutrition and health these days.

We used avocado oil instead of the vegetable.

Gregg thought - for our own taste - this dish would benefit from either Thai basil or chopped Cilantro. We like both and I think he has a point.

Gregg did most of the cooking, so he also added 2 tablespoons of Chili Garlic Paste, 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and 4 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, stirring into the ingredients at the end of the recipe. He is an adventurer, more so than I am, and it all turned out great.

We used low sodium soy sauce.

After adding the sliced green onion for a garnish, I also put a tablespoon of chili crisp on top of mine, drizzling it all over my portion.  

Gregg added a tablespoon of sour cream to his.

From the chili garlic paste to the sour cream, you can obviously leave all of this off if you prefer.

I thought sliced mushrooms would be a nice addition.

I also must remember not to cut the cooked chicken into such teeny pieces. It just about disappeared into the mix never to be found again!  I dislike chunks and suggested to dear other half that I would do the task this time. Afterwards, when we sat down to eat, he said where was the chicken (it was an already cooked rotisserie from the store the day before - we already had one meal and there was a lot of it left). I did go a little overboard and promised to do better next time. Yes I am smiling. My brain was racing that day and that knife was flying. The knife was giving the cutting board a real workout.

There were two meals left for the next day, and it tasted even better. 

I tend to make additions as I think of them, so check back after a couple of days if you are interested in this recipe. 

That's it! If you have any questions let me know in the comment section and I will do my best to answer.

MONDAY RECIPE POST - WHITE CHICKEN ENCHILADAS

Happy 1st Day of April! I hope you have had a great weekend, and I wish you all a very happy month of April!

This is an old recipe from my other blog, now closed. We haven't made any new dishes this week as unusual for us we have eaten out a few times when out and about. On other days we have stuck to light fair - because of all that eating out - and had salads and soup and veggie only meals, all simple throw-togethers. Today's recipe comes from Joyful Mamma's Kitchen hosted by Alexis.

White Chicken Enchiladas - original recipe found here.

10 soft taco shells

2 cups cooked, shredded chicken

2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup sour cream

1 (4 oz.) can diced green chilies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9 x 13 inch pan.

Mix chicken and 1 cup of cheese.  Roll up in tortillas and place in pan.

In a saucepan melt butter, stir in flour and cook 1 minute.  Add broth and whisk until smooth.  Heat over medium heat until thick and bubbly.

Stir in sour cream and chilies.  Do not bring to a boil, you don't want curdled sour cream.

Pour over enchiladas and top with remaining cheese.

Bake 22 minutes and then under high broil for 3 minutes to brown the cheese.

This was very tasty.  While I took the hot dish out of the oven for it to cool a little, Gregg offered to make the salad, and you can basically see what he made in the photo above.

If you look at the original recipe at Alexis' website, there are very good tips about this dish.  I read that you can't really freeze as is, rather you can make the enchiladas without the sauce.  You can make the whole dish up to 24 hours ahead but if you want to freeze the meal, you can do so, but stop short of making the cream sauce, just freeze the enchiladas.  

You make the sauce the day you serve, first thawing the enchiladas overnight and then cook according to the original instructions. It might help to take them out of the fridge half an hour before putting in the oven.

When I fix this another time, I will halve the recipe just for the two of us, make one batch of enchiladas to serve that day and put the rest - minus sauce - in the freezer.  

MONDAY RECIPE POST - CHICKEN EGG NOODLE SOUP

Yesterday (December 10th), it was a rainy day here in our part of Virginia. I had a soup on my list for such a day. It was delicious so thank you Elizabeth, host of Cook2EatWell. You can find the original recipe here. It is a great soup, has a wonderful flavor, and a ten out of ten!  Please visit to see all the notes and helpful tips for this recipe.  Other great recipes on here also.

Chicken Egg Noodle Soup

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 

Total time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 6 - Calories: approximately 261calories per serving.

 

1 pound chicken breasts (2 pieces) skinless, boneless and trimmed of any fat

8 cups chicken broth divided (2 cups to poach the chicken, plus 6 cups for the soup)

Pinch of salt

4 thyme sprigs divided (2 for the poached chicken and 2 for the soup)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 tablespoons butter

1 small onion, finely diced

2 carrots, sliced into rounds (about 1 cup)

1 celery rib, sliced or diced

2 garlic cloves minced

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

4 ounces egg noodles

Poach the Chicken:

Place the chicken in a medium saucepan large enough so that they fit side by side without overlapping. Cover the chicken with 2 cups chicken broth, add 2 thyme sprigs and a pinch of salt.

Start the chicken on high heat and bring the broth to a boil. As soon as it starts boiling, lower the heat to medium-low and cover.

Gently simmer the chicken breasts for 15-20 minutes or until fully cooked (165°F at the thickest part).

Remove the chicken breast from the poaching liquid and set it on a cutting board to cool.

Don’t discard the chicken broth; we are going to use it for the soup. Strain it using a fine mesh strainer and reserve it for the soup.

When the chicken has cooled enough to handle shred it using two forks, or your hands.

Make the Soup

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large pot over medium heat. When the oil is hot and the butter has melted, add the onions, carrots and celery. Cook the vegetables gently for 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

Add the garlic to the pot and cook for 1 minute, stirring almost constantly.

Add the flour to the pot and stir well until it’s incorporated. Cook the mixture for 1-2 minutes. Stir almost constantly.

Slowly add in the reserved poaching liquid and the 6 cups of chicken broth. Stir constantly until the ingredients are combined and the flour mixture is dissolved in the broth.

Raise the heat to medium-high and bring the broth to a boil.

Add the shredded chicken and the remaining thyme sprigs to the pot. Stir well.

Lower the heat to medium-low, cover the pot and cook the soup for 20 minutes. Stir the soup occasionally and keep it at a simmer; if it starts boiling too vigorously lower the heat a bit.

While the soup simmers cook the egg noodles to package directions in a separate pot. Use the lowest recommended cooking time. We don’t want to overcook them.

Drain the egg noodles well and set aside until the soup is ready

 

Finish the soup:

Remove the thyme stems from the pot. Use tongs to fish them out and discard.

Add the cooked noodles to the soup and stir well. Turn off the heat, cover the pot and let the soup sit for a few minutes before serving.

Taste the soup and add salt if needed.

Elizabeth's Notes:

Cook the egg noodles in a separate pot, not in the soup. If we add the uncooked noodles to the soup, they will soak up most of the broth as they cook.

Don’t add salt to the soup until the end because packaged chicken broth contains a good amount already.  (Denise’s note: I always use low-sodium chicken broth.)

It was a great soup and I didn't make any changes.  I made cornbread to go with it.

Added note: we have leftovers for at least two meals each. The next bowl will have had a chance for the flavors to develop even more. They will be very welcome as there is a dusting of snow on the ground today.   

I also like to freeze meals for another day. I found this website with some great tips on freezing.  There are also links to more chicken soup recipes.

MONDAY RECIPE POST - CHICKEN IN A DELICIOUS MARINADE - serve 6

This is one of those recipes I don’t know where it came from originally, but it is our all time favorite marinade and I wanted to share it today. 

Chicken in a marinade which includes low sodium soy sauce, sesame oil, Worcestershire Sauce and lemon juice.

Serves 6

8 chicken thighs, bone in, skin on

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoons sesame oil

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Juice from 1 large lemon

5 tablespoons honey (or maple syrup)

7 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger

2 teaspoons salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Pat your chicken pieces dry.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oils, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, honey, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. 

Add the chicken and toss to coat all. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight. Turn over pieces in marinade once or twice during that process.

Preheat your oven to 450°Fahrenheit.

Transfer your chicken to 9×13" baking dish and pour the marinade over. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reads 165°Fahrenheit.

Baste chicken thighs with marinade halfway through cooking time.

If needed, turn your broiler on to brown the top for the last few minutes (mine did not need this as you can see from the photos).

Oven temperatures vary so I would check your chicken towards the end of cooking time.   

You can use boneless chicken breasts - cook at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 20-25 minutes - time vary depending on thickness of meat.  

I used skinless and boneless on one occasion and next time used skin left on and bone in.  I liked my second try better as the chicken crisped up more and seemed less dry and tastier, though no complaints either way.

This is what it looked like still in the pan. I lined it with nonstick aluminum foil to make an easier clean up. 

I wouldn’t change anything about this recipe. It was a 10 out of 10.   

We served it with Jasmine rice and sautéed grape tomatoes.  Sweet Basil for garnish.  

We ate one piece each and had the leftovers the next day.  (I cooked four pieces in total).  Dear other half requested cornbread this time, which was a very nice addition.   

Thanks for looking, have a great day 

and Bon Appetit.

 

MONDAY POST - A SIMPLE RECIPE FOR POACHED CHICKEN

No link today.  I wanted something simple for lunch.  Sometimes I forget and cook without any additions, which is okay but done this way, the chicken turns out more tender and flavorful.  I have added it to my blog so that I can remember.

Poached Chicken

2 poached chicken breasts

1 red onion cut into large pieces

1 stick of celery cut into 2" to 3" pieces, with leaves attached

3 to 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and pressed with a spoon

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

A handful of fresh parsley

2 to 3 sprigs of fresh rosemary

2 to 3 sprigs of fresh thyme (if you don't have fresh, add half to a tablespoon each of dried)

A few slices of lemon 

Prepare all your ingredients beforehand and place them at the side of the stovetop, within easy reach as you go through the steps.

Don’t wash your chicken.  Pat it dry with a paper towel.  (I read this interesting article on food safety. Once again I know I am preaching to the choir so to speak, and those who have been cooking their whole lives already know this, but I add info for any new cooks out there, and also as a refresher for myself.)

Bring water to a simmer (to the point where you can see the start of little bubbles) but do not boil.  There should be enough water to cover your chicken 1 to 2 inches above.  

Carefully add the chicken breasts, along with the other ingredients.

Turn down to a simmer and cover.

Cook for 15 minutes, or until done.

Thermometer in thickest part of the chicken breast should read 170 degrees Fahrenheit.  

I usually serve this with a mixed veggie salad.  I have also made chicken salad which you can see here.

I have made the recipe with dried herbs when I didn't have any fresh, but I try to remember to put fresh on my shopping list the day of cooking.  We both feel the taste is more flavorful.  However, it is still very good with dried herbs.  

I keep the liquid from the pan to use in other recipes after carefully removing the chicken to refrigerate.  Put a strainer in the sink over a large bowl, and carefully pour the broth into the strainer to remove the veggies.  This is for when I need chicken broth. I keep it in the refrigerator overnight.  This allows the fat to solidify on the top.  The next day I scoop off the fat and measure out the broth and put in 1 cup sealed containers.  If I am not going to use it straight away, I put it in the freezer until needed.