A Recipe for Me

A Collection of Recipes from Lisa and Donna

Easy Crunchy Ranch Dressing Chicken Breasts

This recipe was a pleasant experiment that actually turned out GREAT!

What you need:

  • 1 skinless, boneless chicken breast per person
  • Flour
  • Your favorite bottled Ranch dressing
  • Panko bread crumbs
  • Oven-safe Wire rack
  • Baking sheet

(more…)

Bacon-wrapped, Stuffed Chicken Breasts

This recipe is more about technique for baked stuffed chicken. The filling could easily be substituted with whatever type of cheese or stuffing you like. I started with cream cheese and fresh chives.

What you need:

  • 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast per person, butterflied, and pounded slightly
  • Cream cheese, softened
  • Chopped fresh chives
  • -or-  Pre-packaged cream cheese and chives spread
  • 2-3 Bacon strips per chicken breast (smoked thick-sliced works great)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Combined cream cheese and chives in a bowl and blend well. Spread a good spoonful of cheese mixture over chicken breast. Roll chicken breast to conceal the cheese mixture, and then wrap with bacon strips, securing with toothpicks as needed. Repeat for each chicken breast.

Place chicken on a foil-lined baking sheet (for easy clean-up). Bake for 30-35 minutes till cooked through. Broil for an addition 5+/- minutes to crisp up the bacon.

Serve!

Amazing Baked Chicken

This is more about technique than preparation. You can season the chicken to your own liking. When I made this, I used salt, pepper and Italian seasoning.

You’ll need one boneless, skinless chicken breast per person, about 1/2-3/4 pound each (I’m just guessing; the ones I used were very plump, and weighed not less than half a pound each).

Ingredients

  • Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
  • Seasoning (salt, pepper, garlic, etc. Use what you like)
  • Olive oil

What to do

Preheat oven to 355F.

In an appropriately sized baking dish, drizzle olive oil over bottom of dish. Sprinkle season (to taste) in oil. Dip chicken in oil, coating both sides. Space chicken evenly in dish, and seal with aluminum foil. Bake for 30-45 minutes, till done. I cooked my chicken for about 35 minutes and it was perfect! Tender and tasty!

Pacific Rim Stir-Fry

This light meal for two is from the Better Homes and Gardens “Cooking for 2” magazine. I made it this evening and it was easy and delicious. Of course I had to add my own spin to it, so what you see here is my version.

What you’ll need:

  • 2 oz. rice sticks or dried vermicelli, broken
  • 3 T sherry
  • 3 T soy sauce
  • 1 T cornstarch
  • 8 oz. skinless, boneless chick breast halvess (sub thighs if you prefer dark meat)
  • 1 medium carrot, cut into thin bite-size strips or thinly sliced
  • 1 C broccoli florets
  • 1 small red or green sweet (bell) pepper, cut into 1-inch strips
  • 2 T cashew halves or peanuts

(more…)

Greek Chicken with Capers, Raisins, and Feta

This recipe is from Great Plates by the best of Cooking Light magazine. It is delicious, easy to make, and a nice change of pace in the kitchen. You can use packaged crumbled feta cheese and chicken cutlets to prepare this meal even faster (keeps you from pounding the chicken breasts).

Serves 4.

What You’ll Need:

  • 4 4-oz skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
  • 2 T all-purpose flour
  • 1 t dried oregano
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 1 C thinly sliced-onion
  • 1 1/2 C fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/3 C golden raisins
  • 2 T lemon juice
  • 2 T capers
  • 1/4 C (1 oz) crumbled feta cheese
  • 4 thin lemon slices (optional)

What to do:

  1. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of plastic wrap; flatten to 1/4-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Combine flour and dried oregano in a shallow dish, and dredge chicken in flour mixture.
  2. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm. Add onion to pan; saute 2 minutes. Stir in broth, raisins, and lemon juice; cook 3 minutes, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits. Return chicken to pan. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 8 minutes or until chicken is done.
  3. Place a chicken breast on each of 4 serving plates. Add capers to sauce in pan. Spoon 1/3 C suace over each serving; top with 1T cheese. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired.

Serve with Vermicelli with garlic and herbs.

Wine Pairing: Riondo Prosecco Veneto
From the Wine Advocate: This effusively fruity, light-bodied offering offers terrific floral notes, persistent effervescence, and a clean, delicate finish. There is not much body or weight in this crystal clean, pure, sparkling white. It is an amazing Prosecco. Score: 90