Roasted Citrus and Herb Chicken

Since I'm currently addicted to Pinterest.. Here is another inspired recipe I found, that has since been altered to my own taste.

It's a Roasted Citrus and Herb Chicken Breast.   I used chicken breast on the bone with skin, this allows the chicken to stay really juicy and the skin comes to a golden crisp.  

Ingredients for Chicken:
2 Chicken Breasts on the bone w/ skin (if serving more, just add more chicken)
Juice from 1/2 Orange
2 tsp Orange Zest
Juice from 1 Lemon
2 tsp Dried Rosemary spice
1 Garlic Glove - minced
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 425
Before i cook my chicken i like to trim it of any unnecessary bones.  The ones I bought had some crazy looking rib pieces hanging off the side of the breast, wasn't very appetising, so i cut those off. :)
Then season with salt and pepper.
In a bowl combine:  juice from 1/2 an orange, juice from 1 lemon, orange zest, 2 tsp rosemary, minced garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil.  Add the chicken breasts to your bowl and coat with mixture.
Place your chicken in a dish and pour remaining mixture over top.  
Cook for 40-50 minutes depending on thickness of chicken.

You will love this chicken - only took a few minutes to prepare and then you can relax or get other chores done while it's baking.  Perfect for a work day!   It's definitely one of our favorites.


For the side items we had the baked tomato, zucchini, squash (recipe in my previous blog) and a baked sweet potato (with pumpkin spice seasoning & butter)!
ENJOY!

Baked Tomatoes, Zucchini and Squash

This recipe was inspired by something I saw on Pinterest.    I love mixing different colors of vegetables so last night i made a baked tomato, zucchini and zucchini squash side item with our meal.

Ingredients:
2 Roma Tomatoes
1 Green Zucchini
1 Yellow Zucchini Squash
Olive Oil
Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 375
Wash your veggies and slice about 1/4 of an inch thick.  Arrange them in a baking dish, alternating colors.  Season with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil.  Sprinkle some Parmesan Cheese over all the vegetables. (I used just a light dusting).    Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Then, remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes. 



This is a picture of the vegetables before I put them in the oven:



The vegetables were super tender and delicious.  Very simple and healthy side dish - ENJOY!

Product I Love - Garlic Twist

I'm going to share one of my favorite, time saving, gadgets for the kitchen.
The Garlic Twist!

I just got this a few months ago and I still love using it.  Of course, I got it in green to match my other kitchen tools, but it comes in more colors.

You just place the peeled garlic gloves in the twister (I can fit up to 3 or 4 and have it still easily work).  Then you close the lid and start twisting.  It's genius.
When you are done you just shake the garlic out and throw it in the dish washer!

You can find these on Amazon.com for way cheaper than what i ended up spending at the local kitchen store - just an FYI!  It's called NexTrend Garlic Twist - Enjoy!

Mexican Lasagna

Happy Day after Labor Day!

After a long wonderful weekend.. I got lazy on my Labor Day cooking!
I decided to revert to a Rachel Ray 30 minute meal, Mexican Lasagna.  It is inexpensive, super quick, and delicious.

Here is the original recipe.

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients - with my own modifications:

• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 pounds ground chicken breast, available in the packaged meats case
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1/2 red onion, chopped - I didn't add this!
• 1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained
• 1 (14-oz) can fire roasted tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels
• Salt
• 8 (8 inch) spinach flour tortillas -  I used the Jalapeno Cheddar Flavor and it was awesome!
• 2 1/2 cups shredded Cheddar or shredded pepper jack
• 2 scallions, finely chopped - I didn't add this!
• 1 cup of Jalapenos Chopped - I added this to spice it up a little

 

 

 

This is what the ground Chicken looks like - if you can't find it, I'm sure ground Turkey Breast would work too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Directions:

 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Preheat a large skillet over medium high heat. Add Olive Oil and add chicken and season with chili powder, cumin, and red onion. Brown the meat, 5 minutes. Add fire roasted tomatoes. Add black beans and corn and Jalapenos if you like it spicy. Heat the mixture through, 2 to 3 minutes then season with salt, to your taste.
Coat a shallow baking dish with cooking spray or Olive Oil . Cut the tortillas in quarters (this works best) to make them easy to layer with. Build lasagna in layers of meat and beans, then tortillas, then cheese. Repeat: meat, tortilla, cheese again. Bake lasagna 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is brown and bubbly. Serve and Enjoy!

This recipe could really be changed up with any ingredients you prefer - have fun!