Criskpy Kale Salad with Chicken

So I may have a new dinner staple with this one....it was so good. I hate lettuce so I never eat salad, but you gotta get those greens. This meal is like a protein and green stuffed super health bomb, minus the salt. And the oil. But a little bit of oil will not kill you.

Ingredients:

1. One bunch kale
2. Lemon pepper
3. Grapeseed or olive oil
4. vegetables: brussels sprouts, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli
5. Chicken breast or chicken cutlets

*Preheat oven to 350

Start by getting your kale ready. I forgot to post a picture, but It's on the right side of this blog under "popular posts." Just rip the leaves off the stem and drizzle oil over it, mix it around, sprinkle on salt. 

Chop up those veggies. In retrospect, I wouldn't have used the zucchini because it gets kind of mushy, but it was still good. Cut your brussels sprouts in half too--it helps them cook better. You can also microwave them before hand to get the party started. 

Spread the veggies in a pan with some oil so they don't stick, and add..

Lemon pepper! Mine has salt in it too...obviously. 

I added juice from two lemon wedges. Lemon juice is the best. 

Mince up some garlic (or use garlic powder, who cares) and sprinkle it over the veggies....

Then put the raw chicken right on top. This seems to violate every health food rule I have ever learned, but I'm getting too used to one pan cooking to care. 

Sprinkle some more seasoning on it. I used one of the pre-mixed mccormick's seasonings, the garlic herb one. 

READY

I put it all in on 350. I let the kale cook for 15 mns, and the chicken/veggies for 20. 

The time your chicken takes will depend on how big the pieces are. 

I did an experiment and cooked some kale right on a cookie sheet without foil, and some on a sheet WITH foil. 

If you cook the kale on tin foil, it wont get crispy as quickly because tin foil doesn't really get that hot--something about surface area and thin-ness. I would just put it right on a pan with the oil, no foil. 

Remember: with oil, no foil.  

DONE! Mine burned. oops. Put the kale in a bowl. 

Grab the chicken and veggies....

Dump them in and mix it up. 

So good!

One Pan Stove-Top Chicken and Vegetables

Working full time at an office job has made me a very hard worker 8-10 hours of the day, and a lazy bum for the rest of the day. So I give you, one pan stove top chicken and vegetables! This meal can get old really quick if you make it too often, so mix it up with the seasonings and broth that you use. Today I did garlic powder and lemon pepper, but you can do cajun seasoning, rosemary/thyme, rosemary and lemon juice, fennel, curry, italian seasoning (pre mixed or use oregano, thyme, basil, pepper, rosemary, and marjoram)...the list goes on!

Ingredients:

1. Vegetables of your choice

2. Small chicken cutlets

3. olive oil

4. seasoning

5. whole wheat pasta

Get your chicken started in some oil. I added lemon pepper and garlic powder. 

While it cooks, cut up some vegetables. If you use asparagus, remember to cut off the bottom two inches. Then, split the stem at the bottom--this helps it cook better and will make it not so "stringy."

After the chicken cooks for about 6-7 mns, turn it over....

Then dump the veggies right on top. 

Cover it for a few minutes and let it cook!

Now, take the lid off and add some water, veggie broth, chicken broth, white wine...whatever you have. I did veggie broth. 

Let it cook a bit more. Enjoy some funyuns while you wait. 

When the veggies are tender, you can probably take it off the heat because realistically those little chicken cuts cook super quick. If you use full sized chicken breasts, they will probably take 15 mns or so--depending on thickness. 

I dumped this on top of whole wheat pasta. You might notice I forgot to chop up the chicken....like I said, I'm tired! 

and done!

Easy One Pan Chicken and Vegetables

So I got home from work today (finally employed, yes!) and I was not about to make a big hassle with dinner because its friday. So here is what I did:

Wrap Cauliflower, Broccoli, Carrots, and Peppers in foil, drizzle with oil and add salt + pepper. Then I put the chicken in separate foil, added lemon pepper and a little bit of oil. 

Cover it! Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes, depending on thickness of the chicken. 

Done. Kind of like those old reynolds wrap commercials, right?

Doesn't this picture look great? Matt said the vegetables were great. Something about roasting them makes the flavor just pop. Enjoy! You can also do this with asparagus, onion, zuchinni, eggplant....whatever you have on hand. 

Home made baked pita chips

So instead of shelling out 4.50 for a bag of tostitos (seriously??) I decided to use up the rest of the ungodly amount of pita bread we got from the greek restaurant near me with our takeout. Seriously, they gave us about 35 pieces of pita bread.

Ingredients:

1. pita bread
2. olive oil
3. sea salt

Cut them into triangles. 

Lightly brush with olive oil. 

Sprinkle with sea salt..

And bake in the oven on 300 for about 20 mns, or until the oil is mostly absorbed and they are crispy.

My oven does not have a self cleaning setting. Please don't judge me.  

Yum!

Broiled Salmon with Dill

Alright, so this was my first attempt EVER at cooking salmon. It turned out pretty well, but Matt is too preoccupied with his new xbox 1 to tell me how it tastes....then again, he's still eating it!

I purchased sockeye salmon because it was the only thing kroger had that was wild caught. I prefer not to buy farmed salmon from there because I really don't know how it was farmed....but that is a whole other issue. I recommend downloading the seafood watch app for more info!

This salmon also had the skin on it, but you can ask the butcher or seafood person or whoever to skin it for you.

This is the recipe for one piece of salmon (I didn't make two because, confession time: I hate salmon. The smell makes me gag. I'm sorry).

Ingredients:

1. your choice of salmon
2. 1 tsp oil
3. lemon wedge
4. 1 small clove of garlic, minced
5. fresh dill (about a tablespoon)

The vegetables on the left are what I steamed on the side with lemon pepper. 

Set your oven to broil. (Such a high quality photo)

Add juice from a lemon wedge to a little bit of olive oil, then mix it together. 

Add in the minced garlic. 

Brush it on your salmon.

Sprinkle a little bit of sea salt on. 

And fresh dill! I LOVE FRESH DILL. Put it on your steamed broccoli, it will change your life. 

Seriously, sorry these photos are so terrible today. 

Put it right under the broiler on the highest rack and cook it for about 6-8 minutes. 

Done! You really don't want to overcook salmon and if your oven gets as absurdly hot as mine, you don't need to blast it in there. I wait til the edges get a little crispy, which is probably too much.

Enjoy!

Other options: Bread it with panko crumbs, add cajun seasoning, put the salmon directly on vegetables and broil it all together, save the extra and make salmon dip, eat the extra on a bagel with cream cheese...I could go on. 

Grilled Stuffed Breakfast Wrap

I wanted to make a version of taco bell's doritos locos tacos for breakfast, and here is my attempt! 

Ingredients:

1. scrambled eggs (about 3)

2. egg toppings--veggies, lunch meat, cheese, etc

3. tortillas

Scramble yo eggs. 

chop up your toppings. I used green onion, anaheim pepper, orange bell pepper, green bell pepper, and some cajun turkey lunch meat (because matt bought a whole pound of it for some reason...?!)

Put the eggs and toppings on the tortilla. 

fold it up. in hindsight, I would have rolled it instead. I wanted to be cool and do the taco bell thing and it didnt stay together very well. 

back in the pan on medium-high heat. 

success! You can definitely use cheese too-this one was for matt and he doesnt eat cheese. (I know)

Tonights Dinner! Salmon + Roasted Vegetables [and why you should buy a steamer]

So I kind of cheated and used leftover salmon from a restaurant. We picked up some fresh salmon but I didn't make it tonight--that post will be coming up soon! You can actually steam it just like you steam vegetables. Tonight isn't really a "how to," its more of a post to give you inspiration for your own dinners. 

Here we got the salmon heating on some canola oil. 

Chopped up some cauliflower, carrots, green onion, and green pepper. Added some salt and pepper on top. 

Pro tip: chop up your vegetables for the week and save them in tupperware. When you have them already prepped, you will be a lot more likely to steam them as a quick and healthy side for the protein you are making. 

In the steamer! They cook pretty fast, about 7-10 minutes, depending on your vegetable. Faster steaming veggies are broccoli, asparagus, squash, and zuchinni, and slower are carrots, cauliflower, and peppers. 

Unfortunately, steamers like the one above can run about 30 bucks and higher. You can purchase one like this at bed bath and beyond, or any store, for under 15. In fact, your mom probably has an extra one in the kitchen or in storage. If she doesnt, your grandma probably does. If SHE doesnt, you probably ate a lot of take out as a kid. 

And its ready! 

Steamers are a great investment--you can cook so many things in them. You can even steam pears or apples in them with a little bit of cinnamon + sugar on top for a quick dessert. The best part is they make whatever you are steaming tender, and you don't need to add tons of butter or oil. Enjoy!