Category Archives: Chicken

I’m still looking for and finding new ways to use kale (and Swiss chard and collard greens)…in this case it subbed in for broccoli. Apparently I’m also eating a lot of chicken lately. I made this for my friends Claire and Keith, who are navigating the joys (and screams) of being new parents, and we all thought it was pretty darn tasty. Or maybe they’re just sleep deprived and appreciative of anyone who shows up in their kitchen to take care of dinner. I think it’s probably all of the above.

Poultry seasoning…apparently that’s a thing? I substituted a “poultry rub” that Claire had on hand, but next time I might try to make it myself, with this recipe from allrecipes, or this one.

Chicken quinoa kale casserole
Serves: 6

Chicken prep

Adapted from Pinch of Yum, via Pinterest

Ingredients
2 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk, divided
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 cup flour
1 cup water
1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
1/4 cup cooked, crumbled bacon
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, sliced into thin strips
Kale, lots and lots of kale (or greens)
1/2 cup shredded Gruyere cheese

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and generously grease a 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Casserole!

2. In a medium saucepan, bring the chicken broth and 1/2 cup of the milk to a low boil. In a measuring cup, whisk together the other 1/2 cup of milk with the poultry seasoning and flour. Add the mixture to the boiling liquid, lower heat, and whisk until a smooth, creamy sauce forms. 

3. Remove the sauce from the stove top and stir in 1 cup of water, quinoa, and bacon until combined. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Lay the strips of chicken breast on top of the quinoa mixture. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes.

4. Remove the casserole from the oven, and stir in the kale. Bake for additional 20-30 minutes, or until the kale is cooked and the quinoa has popped. Top with Gruyere cheese and bake for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Another Sunday funday of chopping veggies to make this yummy soup. And I was able to put my CSA kale and sweet potato to good use (and an onion and some garlic too)!

Mise en place

The original recipe called for 2 chicken breasts (about 26 ounces), which I did, but then decided to just add one back to the soup. I shredded the other one to use later in the week…and then the little light bulb went off above my head. This could be a great way to cook extra chicken in the future!

Chicken sweet potato and kale soup
Serves: 6
Adapted from Skinnytaste.com

Ingredients
1 bone-in chicken breast
Salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

Adding in the kale

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
6 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 fresh jalapeno, sliced in half lengthwise (discard ribs and seeds)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes
1 bunch kale, chopped

Directions
1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and set aside while you prep the vegetables.

Homemade soup!

2. Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the chicken breast to the pot, skin side down and cook for 5-7 minutes until the skin is brown and releases from the bottom. Remove from pot and set aside.

3. Add the onions, celery, and garlic and cook for 3-5 minutes until softened. Stir in the oregano, thyme, and cumin, and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken broth, chicken (skin side up), and jalapeno. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the sweet potato and kale, then cover and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked, about 25-30 minutes.

4. Remove the chicken, then remove the skin and bones and shred. Return the chicken to the pot and stir to combine. Discard the jalapeno, then serve and enjoy!

I have made this recipe twice and both times have failed to successfully capture a “finished” photo…perhaps the third time will be the charm, but in the meantime I decided to share this with you anyway. Wikipedia tells me that chicken Marengo is a French dish, originally named to celebrate Napoleon’s win in the Battle of Marengo. It also tells me that it is supposed to be garnished with fried eggs and crayfish but that these are often omitted. I think this is similar to Julia Child’s “Napoleon’s Chicken.”

Cutting up the raw boneless chicken thighs was not a whole lot of fun, but if you can make it past that part, then this recipe is pretty tasty. 

It is important to cook the pieces of chicken in a single layer to get them to brown properly. If you have to cook it in two batches (as I did), I would recommend using 1 Tablespoon of oil at a time and wiping out the bottom of the pot in between batches. Otherwise, the yummy brown bits that become part of the sauce when you deglaze the pan will become not so yummy burnt black bits. I speak from experience…

The first time I had this with pasta, and then I made it with polenta. Pasta was much easier for me than polenta, but that might be because I managed to burn myself as I was whisking in the cornmeal. I also thought it was kinda bland.

Chicken Marengo

Browned chicken thighs

Source: Crunchy Creamy Sweet
Serves: 4

Ingredients
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 2″ pieces
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 large yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup white wine
1 can (14 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 cup sliced black olives

Directions
1. In a large ziploc bag, toss the chicken in the flour, salt, and pepper.

2. In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the oil on medium. Cook the chicken in a single layer until browned, 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from pot and set aside on a plate.

3. Add more oil to the pot if needed. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, until it is softened. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds.

4. Add wine and deglaze the pan (scraping up all those yummy brown, not black, bits). Add tomatoes, chicken broth, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and olives. Bring to a boil.

5. Add chicken back to the pot. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

I really liked the idea of attempting to combine two recipes for chicken cutlets, both from March issues of Everyday Food magazine. I wanted to use the artichokes, capers, and pasta from the “Chicken with artichokes and angel hair” recipe…and from the “Chicken cutlets with white wine and garlic” recipe, I liked the idea of prepping and freezing the chicken ahead of time in white wine, garlic, and melted butter.

The original recipe states that if you are not freezing the chicken, then you can just marinate the chicken in the white wine mixture for 30 minutes.

The only thing I would really change for next time would be to try to get a better sear on the chicken, either through a hotter pan and/or incorporating some butter into the cooking step. I think it’s a delicate balance with chicken cutlets because they are thin and I didn’t want to overcook them.

Chicken with artichokes and linguine
Serves: 4
Source: adapted from Everyday Food, March 2009 and Everyday Food, March 2010

Chicken cutlet freezer prep

Ingredients
8 chicken cutlets (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
1 Tablespoon melted butter
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 jar (12 ounces) marinated artichoke hearts, reserving 1/4 cup liquid
2 Tablespoons rinsed and drained capers
8 ounces linguine
1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano

Chicken with artichokes and capers

Directions
1. Place chicken cutlets in a 1-gallon freezer bag. In a small bowl, combine 1 Tablespoon melted butter, wine, garlic, and thyme, and whisk to combine. Season with pepper. Pour marinade into bag with cutlets and marinate in refrigerator for about 30 minutes (or you can freeze this and thaw it in the refrigerator the night before).

2. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente and drain, reserving about 1/2 cup cooking liquid for use as needed.

Dinner is served!

3. After marinating (or thawing), remove cutlets from bag and discard marinade. Gently shake chicken to remove liquid and season with salt. In a large skillet, heat 1 Tablespoon oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken cutlets and cook until browned and cooked through, flipping halfway through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer to a dish and set aside.

4. Add broth and reserved marinated artichoke liquid to skillet and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by about half. Add artichokes, capers, and the chicken with any juices. Gently stir to combine and bring just to a boil. Remove skillet from heat and cover to keep warm.

5. In a large bowl or the pot used to cook the pasta, add the cooked linguine, a couple of ladle-fuls of sauce from the chicken and artichoke mixture, and the Pecorino Romano. Mix well and if needed, add some of the cooking liquid to adequately coat the pasta. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta.

I have a confession to make…hello, I am an RD (Registered Dietitian), and I like dark meat. I also like the skin when it’s cooked perfectly crispy. And yet, I have not had great luck with boneless chicken thighs (see chicken quinoa soup, though I have also stopped trying to convince myself that I like quinoa!). I don’t know if it was the bone, or the skin, or the roasting, but these chicken thighs were “damn delicious!” I have to say, I was pretty impressed with myself, and I am already looking forward to my leftovers.

I made some adaptations, mainly decreasing the butter and increasing the spinach. I think the sauce got a bit too liquid-y because I used a whole container (5 ounces) of baby spinach, so next time I would probably decrease the amount of broth. I think it would be tasty with mushrooms too, or grape tomatoes…so many options! With very little prep needed, this might just become my new go-to weeknight meal.

Roast chicken thighs with some perfectly crispy skin

Lemon butter chicken
Serves: 3-4
Source: adapted from Damn Delicious

Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
Smoked paprika, salt, and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 Tablespoon butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup light cream
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano
Juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon dried thyme
5 ounces baby spinach

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Season both sides of chicken thighs with paprika, salt, and pepper.

3. Melt butter in a large oven-proof skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken, skin-side down, and sear on both sides until golden brown, about 2-3 minutes per side. Set chicken aside.

4. To the same pan, add garlic, and cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken broth, cream, Romano, lemon juice, and thyme. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and stir in spinach. Simmer until spinach has wilted and sauce has slightly thickened, 6-8 minutes. Return chicken to the skillet.

5. Place skillet in the oven and roast until chicken is cooked through, about 25-30 minutes.

I had some extra buttermilk, leftover from making Irish soda bread, that I wanted to put to good use. I also recently came across two recipes for buttermilk baked chicken…what perfect timing! One of the recipes used bone-in chicken breasts and the other used boneless. I made them both, and no big surprise, the boneless chicken won. It was easier to marinate and took less time to cook. 

With the hot sauce and cayenne pepper, this has a little kick. Feel free to omit either or both if you’d like it a little milder. Just a warning, the marinade with the hot sauce looks a little bit like Pepto!

Marinating the chicken

I had the chicken for dinner with some roasted potatoes and asparagus. I also sliced up some leftovers and put it on a salad for lunch.

Southern oven unfried chicken
Serves: 4-6
Source: Art Smith via People magazine, March 4, 2013

Ingredients
1 cup buttermilk
1 Tbsp hot sauce
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups whole wheat or panko bread crumbs
3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 tsp onion powder
1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp paprika
Olive oil spray

Directions
1. In a bowl, combine buttermilk and hot sauce. Add the chicken and allow it to marinate in the refrigerator at least 1 hour.
2. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika in a gallon-size Ziploc bag.
3. Remove chicken from the marinade and place in the bag. Shake well, until chicken is evenly coated. Lay chicken on lightly oiled baking sheet and chill uncovered for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
4. Remove chicken from refrigerator and lightly coat with olive oil spray. Bake 15-20 minutes, turn over and bake 15-20 minutes more or until done.

Dinner is served!