Is Chicken Boring?

 Chicken, Dinner, food, Low Calorie Recipes, protein, recipes  20 Responses »
Mar 062013
 

Chicken is kind of a boring protein. Okay, maybe not, maybe it’s just me? Chicken is never my first choice when I sit down at a restaurant and look at the menu. I remember this quote from Anthony Bourdain’s book, Kitchen Confidential (GREAT book): “Chicken is boring. Chefs see it as a menu item for people who don’t know what they want to eat”. When I read that, I remember saying out loud, “Yeah! He’s right!” Chicken is boring and safe.

But it doesn’t have to be. The way I got over the “chicken is boring” lackluster feeling was experimenting with lots of different recipes. I’ve had some favorites, too; recipes that were savory and delicious and I made repeatedly. Here are just a few of my favorites:

Braised Chicken and Spring Vegetables
BBQ Chicken Thighs
Garlic and Soy Chicken Thighs
Mexican Crockpot Chicken

I wish I had another recipe to add to the list, but this recipe was missing something. It wasn’t BAD, but it was just a tad boring. I’ve seen some other bloggers write about balsamic chicken before and loved it. I wonder what this recipe is lacking that I could add? Unfortunately  I don’t remember which blogs I read that raved about their balsamic chicken!

I don’t know where I found this recipe. It was in my stack of printouts, with no website on it, so I can’t link to where I found it. But here it is:

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Balsamic Chicken
Prep time:  60 mins
Cook time:  20 mins
Total time:  1 hour 20 mins

 

Ingredients
  • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 5 ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a large ziplock bag, mix well. Seal and marinade on refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
  2. Heat a grill pan over medium heat until hot. Place chicken on pan, discarding excess marinade and cook 6-10 minutes per side, or until no pink remains and juices run clear.

3.1.09

The only balsamic we had on hand was the pomegranate infused balsamic vinegar. I used this because the flavor doesn’t taste like pomegranate. It’s only a hint of sweet. I also added some onion powder to the mixture.

Mix it well and then pour it into the bag. I cut two large chicken breast cutlets in half to make four smaller pieces. I let it marinade for about an hour.

I made a salad as the side dish with the chicken. The chicken was a bit on the bland side, like I said. Maybe it needs a bunch of garlic? Help me out!

QUESTION: Do you think chicken is boring?

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Spicy Tofu Hotpot

 beer, Chocolate, Cravings, Dairy-free, Dairy/Gluten-Free Challenge, Dinner, food, Food update, gluten-free, Low Calorie Recipes, recipes, Recommendations, Review, Vegetarian  22 Responses »
Feb 212013
 

I don’t really cook food of the Asian persuasion very often and I wish I did. It’s so healthy and delicious. The problem I face is that I often don’t know what certain ingredients are, or how to use them. This recipe was relatively simple and had ingredients I was able to buy at my local grocery store. When it came time to make it, I admit I had to google “how to cut bok choy”.

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I still don’t think I did it right, despite watching a video. Oh well, it tasted the same. (I think.)

Print
Spicy Tofu Hotpot

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 6

Serving Size: 1.5 cups

Calories per serving: 251

Fat per serving: 7grams

From: http://www.eatingwell.com/recipes/spicy_tofu_hotpot.html

Ingredients

  • 14 ounces firm tofu, preferably water-packed
  • 2 teaspoons canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced (about 2 cups)
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 4 cups vegetable broth, or reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 teaspoons chile-garlic sauce, or to taste
  • 4 cups thinly sliced tender bok choy greens
  • 8 ounces fresh Chinese-style (lo mein) noodles
  • 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Instructions

  1. Drain and rinse tofu; pat dry. Cut the block into 1-inch cubes.
  2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Add ginger and garlic; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms and cook until slightly soft, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in sugar, broth, soy sauce and chile-garlic sauce; cover and bring to a boil.
  3. Add bok choy and tofu, cover and simmer until greens are wilted, about 2 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the noodles, pushing them down into the broth.
  4. Cook, covered, until the noodles are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in cilantro.
  5. Note: Chile-garlic sauce is a spicy blend of chiles, garlic and other seasonings; it is found in the Asian section of the market.
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Two things I should point out: this was not a soup recipe like I thought it was and it could have been spicier. I also think I bought the wrong tofu. I rarely cook with it and it kind of fell apart instead of cubing when I cut it. Tips? Tricks?

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It’s odd when you have a picture of the final product in your mind and it was completely different. Like I said, I thought it was soup. So when I was adding the noodles at the very end, I panicked. “Oh my god! It’s soaking up all the liquid!” I added some more chicken broth and it soaked that up too. Then I realized, oh maybe it’s NOT soup…I think because I added more liquid it diluted the Sriracha.

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Despite my mistakes in making this recipe, it turned out really well. It was a noodle dish and despite diluting it with chicken broth, it still had some bite to it.

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It was also gluten-free and dairy-free. I would definitely make this recipe again and I’d add a lot more sriracha to it. If you aren’t a fan of tofu, you could easily substitute chicken or shrimp and I think that would be fantastic. The recipe says it makes 6 servings but I got about 7 out of it.

Before we got home from work Tuesday night, Michael and I stopped at New Seasons (kind of like Whole Foods) here in Portland. We picked up some too-expensive GF and DF items.

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We found dairy free chocolate! And it was divine. I got two flavors: dark chocolate with orange and dark chocolate with lemon. Michael and I ate the whole thing for dessert between the two of us. The dark chocolate was rich and the hint of orange went well. It was much more satisfying than those gluten and dairy free cookies I bought earlier this month.

Above you can see we also got a tofu jalapeno spread by Toby’s.  I was reluctant to buy it. It was spendy and I was nervous about committing to it in case it was disgusting. It wasn’t. It was…odd…but not gross. It tasted like a cross between guacamole and egg salad. Odd, right? I had a few bites to sample it. I don’t think I’d buy it again but it will work for this challenge.

IMG_4316

The big win of the night was GLUTEN FREE BEER! Woohoo!!!! I am happy to report that it was REALLY TASTY. Surprise, surprise. I was resigned to giving up beer for the month of February and was okay with it. Michael really wanted to try Omission and I’m glad we did. It was a decent substitution to the rich IPAs I like.

I’m really happy to report that there are lots of decent alternatives if you are gluten-free. It really isn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be.

QUESTION: Do you cook Asian food very often? Any favorite recipes?

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