I like having a variety of ways to cook chicken, as we tend to eat more chicken than any other type of protein source. This turned out pretty good for a quick glaze. I can definitely see doing this again, but perhaps adding a few other ingredients (can you say Sriracha?) and possibly looking at different types of honey to change up the taste. OOOh, and maybe using stone ground mustard.
Hmmm…
Squirrel note: my cousin gave me a recipe for Samoa truffles. Definitely looking to do that sometime soon! 🙂
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Honey Dijon Chicken
Instructions
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Melt butter in saute pan. Toss in garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes
Add honey, mustard, and salt and pepper to your taste. Stir well and let simmer for a few minutes to start to reduce glaze.
Use a 8x8 pan or similar to leave only a little bit of area between the chicken breasts. Too large a dish will cause the glaze to burn.
Place chicken breasts in pan and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
Pour glaze over breasts and bake for 15 minutes.
Remove and baste the breasts with the glaze and then return to oven for another 15 minutes.
Allow chicken to rest before serving.
And we’re back again to zucchini! 🙂 One of the best wedding presents we were given was a rice cooker. While this recipe can easily be done without one (and I’ve included those instructions below), I find it much easier because, again, I’m lazy. Toss it all in and leave it alone. Plus, it can stay in there on warm for a while. The ratio is two cups of water to one cup of rice.
I used chicken stock with the rice, but you can easily use vegetable stock or even plain water if you like. I also upped the amount of cheese (because CHEESE!) from the original recipe that I found. This turned out pretty good!
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Cheesy Zuchinni Rice
Instructions
Shred the zuchinni - either in a food processor or with a mandolin. Zuchinni contains a lot of water, so to help with this, lay out your shredded zuchinni on some paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Let sit for bit and then blot well with paper towels as much as necessary to get rid of the excess water.
Before beginning: decide how you want to cook rice. If you use the rice cooker, do this first, using the stock instead of water. If not, just follow the directions below.
In a large saute pan, melt butter.
Toss in garlic and cook for 1-2 minutes
Stir in rice and broth and bring to boil. Cover and allow to cook for 15- minutes or so, when rice is done.
OR
Toss in already cooked rice.
Toss in zucchini, cheese, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well and turn off heat. Cover and let sit for a few minutes to allow cheese to melt.
Recipe Notes
This is pretty simple to do and to change up as your taste desires.
I cook a lot of tilapia. It’s the one fish I really enjoy that doesn’t taste ‘fishy’. I found this particular recipe on Pinterest, tried it, and modified it because a) I don’t like frying food*, b) the sauce did not thicken well, and c) I have a better recipe to coat the fish. 🙂
So below is my modified recipe. The fish will taste just as good with or without the sauce, by the way.
*Fried food is good, don’t get me wrong. But it isn’t generally healthy for you and why deal with all the oil splatter to clean up later? As stated elsewhere, I’m lazy.
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Parmesan Crusted Tilapia w/Tomato Basil Cream Sauce
Instructions
Sauce: heat oil in small skillet on medium heat. Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes.
Add cherry tomatoes and cook for 2 minutes or so.
Reduce heat to low and add cream and fresh basil. Simmer for 15 minutes. Thicken by mixing cornstarch with a bit of water to make a slurry. Add this to the sauce and stir thoroughly.
Fish: Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking pan with Pam or equivalent.
In shallow dish, combine melted butter, garlic powder, and lemon juice. In another shallow dish, combine panko and parmesan.
Dip each filet in butter mixutre and then roll well in panko mixutre. Place filets in a single layer onto baking pan.
Press any remaining panko mixture onto the tops of the filets.
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I love zucchini, which is saying a lot since I don’t like many veggies. Something that my taste buds have changed their mind about over the years. This is why I recommend trying things you may not have like the taste of previously. I do it about every 7-10 years.
Anyway, I like finding new ways to cook it. This is one that looked interesting and it involved cheese, so why not? Adding cheese to most things makes it tastier. However, I can tell you that this particular recipe needs tweaking. I added more cheese, because cheese, but if you prefer less, cut down the amount of cheddar by half.
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Zuchini Au Gratin
Instructions
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Slice zucchini - about 1/4 inch
Blanch zucchini - see notes below.
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until translucent.
Add milk, paprika, garlic powder, nutmeg, allspice, salt, and 1 cup of cheddar cheese.
Stir until cheese is melted. Remove from heat and add egg.
Pat dry the zucchini one more time. Lay zucchini out in dish.
Pour cheese mixture over zucchini.
Sprinkle remaining cheddar cheese and fontina over the top.
Crumble up crackers and sprinkle on top.
Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Take foil off and broil for 5 minutes to brown top.
Recipe Notes
To blanch: Set up an ice bath in a bowl big enough for your colander to fit into. Boil enough water that will cover all your zucchini. Once water is boiling, toss in zucchini for one minute. Drain into colander and plunge into an ice bath to stop them from cooking more. Lay out zucchini on paper towels and pat dry. Sprinkle with salt and set aside.
