Lemon and Thyme Chicken Tenders

 Modified from NY Times, although it wasn't grilled as in the original recipe.  Wanted to use the thyme from the garden.

Ingredients:
-Chicken tenders (about 1.5-2 lbs)
-2 Tbsp chopped thyme leaves (it's more than you think!)
-4 garlic cloves, crushed and peeled (use more!)
-1 lemon + zest
-salt
-pepper
-olive oil

Directions:
1. Marinate chicken, salt, pepper, thyme, garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil for 2 hrs+

2. Bake in oven - 375 for 20 min or less

Notes: again, would use more crushed garlic as it tasted nice when having a baked garlic to eat with your chicken.

Served with asparagus (bought 2 bunches for 3 nights) and mashed potatoes

*American

Double Baked Chipotle Chicken Sweet Potatoes

Recipe modified from cleanfoodcrush.com

Ingredients for 6 servings (3 nights):

-3 large sweet potatoes or 4 medium ones

-1 lb ground turkey

-1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (7 oz can) - 1/3 for turkey, 1/3 for potatoes, 1/3 for veggies

-1/4 cup cheese (used queso fresco, but parmesan, mozzarella, colby jack mentioned)

-1 tsp dried oregano

-garlic powder

-pinch of sea salt and pepper

-red pepper flakes

-Veggie medley as side: zucchini, onions, bell pepper

-avocados

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Poke holes in sweet potato with fork and roast for 40 min - was more like 1 hour - depends on size

3. Meanwhile, cuisinart can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce.

4. Cook ground turkey with garlic powder, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

5. Then stir in 1/3 of the adobo sauce (3 TBSP)

6. Cool sweet potatoes. Slice lengthways, and spoon out flesh into bowl

7. Add and mix into that bowl: cheese, oregano, 1/3 adobo sauce (3 TBSP), pinch sea salt and pepper 

8. Put into those oven bowls, put turkey on top, then cheese on top, and put under broiler until cheese melted

Served with veggie medley - zucchini, onions, bell pepper.  Had leftover corn, but too sweet since sweet potatoes sweet.  Cook chopped garlic and jalapeños in oil.  Then add veggies.  Also added the 1/3 leftover adobo sauce.  Avocados on top.

Notes: just microwaved and didn't put back in oven for 2nd and 3rd nights.  Still tasted good.

Thinking cooking sweet potatoes in air fryer might be better since I am not re-using the skins.

*Mexican

Turkey Burger (plain)

Took recipes from a couple of places - tastesbetterfromscratch.com, allrecipes.com, cookingclassy.com, and allrecipies comment section

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground turkey

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

-1/2 tsp onion powder

-1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

-1 tsp soy sauce

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

-1 tsp dried parsley

-1/4 cup bread crumbs

-1 egg

-flour

Directions:

1. Form into patties

2. Light sprinkle of flour over patties

3. Cook

Served with:

-mashed avocado

-red onion

-tomato

-jalapenos

-butter lettuce

-SIDES: corn on the cob and frozen sweet potato fries

*American

*Burger

Lettuce Wraps

Tried recipe from DamnDelicious

Ingredients:

-1 lb ground chicken (turkey)

-2 cloves garlic, minced

-1 onion, diced

-1/4 cup hoisin sauce

-2 Tbsp soy sauce

-1Tbsp rice wine vinegar

-1Tbsp freshly grated ginger

-1 Tbsp Sriracha

-1 (8 oz) can of whole water chestnuts, drained and diced

-2 green onions, thinly sliced

-pepper and salt

-1 head of butter lettuce

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in saucepan and add ground meat.  Cook until browned about 3-5 min.  Drain excess fat (wasn't any because 99%)

2. Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger, and Sriracha until onions translucent, about 1-2 min

3. Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 min.

4. Season with salt and pepper (forgot)

So, I also made Chinese green beans (1 lb) + rice + the microwaved Chinese buns.  It ended up being too much food the first night and didn't eat rice the 2nd night.  So all in all, I think this could be 3 meals with green beans, rice, and Chinese buns.

*Asian

General Tso's Chicken

I can't believe I haven't tried this recipe yet, but got it from Skinnytaste.com

I doubled the amounts.

Ingredients:

-2 lbs chicken breast - says to cut into bite-sized pieces, but I felt that it was difficult to flip, so recommend cutting chicken tenders in half for bigger pieces to flip

-1/2 cup soy sauce, divided

-1/2 cup cornstarch, divided (consider arrowroot)

-2 large egg whites

-2 inch piece of ginger

-4 cloves of garlic

-scallions, separate whites and greens

-2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth

-2 tsp sriracha sauce

-6 Tbsp hoisin

-sesame oil

-sesame seeds for garnish

-orange zest

-honey

-1 jalapeno, thinly sliced 

-1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced (julienned)

-1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

Directions:

1. Chop veggies - bell peppers, onions, jalapenos, scallions (set aside greens for garnish)

2. Cuisinart garlic and ginger.  

3. In a medium bowl, combine chicken, 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp) soy sauce, 6 Tbsp cornstarch, and egg whites.  Toss to combine.

4. Heat small sauce pot over medium heat.  Add 2 tsp sesame oil, ginger, garlic, scallion whites, jalapenos.  Sauté for 1 minute.

5. Mix 2 Tbsp corn starch with the chicken broth and whisk until clumps gone. Add to pot.

6. Add 1/4 cup soy sauce, sriracha (1 squirt), honey (1 squirt), and hoisin, orange zest. Whisk to combine.

7. Once thickened, turn heat low and keep warm. Add the bell peppers and onions to sauce.  

8. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add some sesame oil and chicken (don't crowd).  Cook chicken for 3-4 min or until browned on the edges.  Flip chicken and cook an additional 2-3 min or until cooked through.  Can do in batches if needed

9. Add sauce to the skillet and toss to coat

10.  Sprinkle with scallion greens and sesame seeds.

Notes:

Served with baked broccoli (with sesame oil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, white pepper) and brown rice.

I didn't mix the corn starch with broth ahead of time and had clumps in the sauce to deal with.

Seemed like a lot of work, but tasted pretty good.  

I estimated honey - like 1-2 Tbsp - seemed to sweet, so cut out or add less next time.

*Asian

Harissa Chicken

Made bulk Harissa paste from TheMediterraneandish.com
I tried doubling the servings because the jar of roasted red peppers was 12 oz, but I didn't get to double the bag of chiles because I only bought 1 bag. I made the paste a day ahead of cooking (Saturday), let it rest in the fridge for 24 hrs.  I reserved about 4 Tbsp for cooking the next day, and then put the rest in the ice tray and froze.  Knocked out and stored in ziploc freezer bag.

Ingredients:
-7 dried New Mexico Chiles or Guajillo Chiles (1 bag)
-6 oz jarred roasted red peppers drained, rinsed, and dried
-2 Tbsp tomato paste
-4 large garlic cloves
-1 tsp caraway seeds toasted and ground (toasted in skilled, then used cuisinart, then mortar and pestle)
-2 tsp ground coriander
-2tsp ground cumin
-1 tsp smoked paprika
-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
-kosher salt
-juice of 1 large lemon (2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice)
-2 Tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Soak and prepare the dried chiles.  Place dried chiles in a heat-safe bowl and cover with hot water.  Set aside for 30 min until chiles are tender and re-hydrated.  Drain chiles and remove the stems and seeds.

2. Combine chiles with remaining ingredients.  Transfer chiles to food processor.  Add tomato paste, roasted red peppers, garlic, ground caraway seeds, coriander, cumin, smoked paprika, cayenne, and pinch of kosher salt.   Add fresh lemon juice

3. 

Run the food processor, and while it's running, drizzle the extra virgin olive oil from the top opening.  Stop processor to scrape down the sides and run again until you reach desired paste-like texture.  

4. Store.  Transfer harissa paste to clean mason jar.  Cover with a very thin layer of  extra virgin olive oil, then cover jar with its lid tightly and refrigerate - good for 6 weeks, but I just froze.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Harissa Chicken Recipe

Modified from feelgoodfoodie.net 

There are several recipes out there.  I actually didn't measure out the spices because I marinated the chicken with the Harissa paste.

Ingredients:

-Extra virgin olive oil

-2 Tbsp Harissa paste (used like 4)

-4 garlic cloves, cuisinart-ed

-1 tsp paprika

-1 tsp cumin

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 tsp pepper

-2 pounds chicken breast, cut into chunks

-Veggies - green bell pepper, zucchini, yellow onion, can of chickpeas (would probably cut the green bell pepper next time and use more zucchini or cauliflower

-Avocado

Directions:

1. Marinate the chicken with 2 Tbsp Harissa paste + a little more of the spices above for 2 or more hours

2. Cook chicken and remove

3. Add veggies to skillet and add more Harissa paste (like a Trader Joe Jar).  

4. Add chickpeas last

5. I did add a little bit of water to veggies.

*UPDATE

Marinated chicken with 1 Tbsp Harissa paste

Veggies I used: zucchini, yellow onion, can of chickpeas, bag of cauliflower (steamed in microwave), avocado.  Topped with cilantro helped. Eric said he would cut out zucchini and add more cauliflower.  Would cook the cauliflower in the oven next, too.

*Mediterranean

Burma Chicken Dal Curry

Recipe taken from Skinnytaste.

Modified a little. Subbed garbanzo beans for the split peas.  Chicken breast instead of bone-in thighs.

-I used the Instant Pot version, but seemed overcooked because didn't use the right chicken. Will rec less time next time.

-Needed more veggies - maybe an extra bell pepper, but likely bc got a too small onion

-Too much liquid, so add less water next time.  Maybe try chicken broth instead and less salt?

-Added a dash of fish sauce (as per the comments in the website)

-Doubled curry and garam masala 

-Added extra garlic bc I couldn't gauge how many to peel - probably peeled 2 whole garlics

-Also didn't cook chicken separately, browning.

-Overall, tasted good and tasted healthy.  Would make again with some more changes.

Ingredients

-Thing of chicken

-1 Tbsp paprika

-1/2 tsp turmeric

-1 tsp Kosher salt (instead of 1 3/4)

-1 Tbsp olive oil

-1 oz piece of ginger (used 2 because had a big piece)

-2.5 cups minced onion (1 large yellow onion)

-1/3 cup minced garlic

-1 Serrano pepper (instead of Thai chilis)

-2 bay leaves

-2 1/4 cups of water (see above, too much)

-2 tsp curry 

-1 tsp Garam masala

-1 tsp fish sauce

-1 can garbanzo beans

-VEGGIES - 1 green bell pepper, 1 red bell pepper, maybe another one if onion too small?

-cilantro for garnish

Directions:

1. Season chicken with paprike, turmeric, and salt

2. In Instant Pot, press saute, and heat oil

3. Add ginger and cook until browned, 2 minutes

4. Add onions, and cook until softened, 3-4 min

5. Stir in garlic, chiles, bay leaves, and cook 2 min

6. DIDN'T DO - remove onion mixture and cook chicken separately, browning, about 3-4 min on each side

7. Add water to onion mixture.

8. Add chicken, garbanzo beans, veggies (bell peppers), curry powder, garam masala.

9. Stir, cover, and cook high pressure 20 min --> too high, try 15 min

10. Serve with cilantro, rice, avocados

*Indian