Mexican Chicken-Rice thing.

Hi. I made this up one day. :)

I wanted to call it Mexican fried rice but then I realized it wasn't fried at all. Sooo...here ya go.

Ingredients

1/2 lb chicken breast

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, finely chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 can black beans (optional)

1 tsp cumin powder

pinch of red chili powder

1-2 tbsp mexican oregano (I didn't have any so I used regular Oregano, you can also use Italian seasoning. I know, this is not an Italian dish, but whatever.)

1/2 tsp paprika

a few dashes of tabasco or taco sauce

salt to taste

1 cup rice

handful chopped cilantro

lime or lemon juice

Boil the chicken breast with a bit of salt and when its cooked and cooled, shred it up.

Heat oil in a sauce pan and sautee the onions and bell peppers for 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the tomato and jalapeno/serrano peppers and let cook for about 1 minute. Add the cumin, salt, red chili powder, oregano, paprika and the hot sauce and then stir in the rice and 1 3/4 cups of water. You can either add the chicken now or at the end after the rice is cooked. Let the rice come to a boil. When the rice is almost cooked, reduce heat to low, cover and let steam. When cooked, add the chopped cilantro and lime/lemon juice. Voila.

Apple Crisp

Warm, comforting, delicious apple crisp. Goes perfectly with vanilla ice cream. This is soo yummy and so easy to make. My SIL made it one day and I've been obsessed with it ever since. This is a recipe I found online for it, with a couple adjustments I made. This recipe will make enough for a 9x9 inch pan.

Ingredients:

4 or 5 apples (I use half red delicious and half granny smith) peeled, cored, and sliced a little thin

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp or so of cinnamon powder

pinch or two of nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup water

You can also add blueberries, raspberries, etc into the filling if desired. 

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 stick of butter, melted

You can also throw in some chopped pecans into the topping. 

Mix the apples with the first set of ingredients until thoroughly covered with the mixture.

Mix the second set of ingredients together. It will be kind of clumpy and crumbly. If it seems too wet, like a dough, add a bit more oats and flour.

Put the apples in the pan and pour whatever liquid is left in the bowl over the apples. Crumble the oat mixture over the apples evenly. Pop it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. It'll be nice and golden brown and the place will be smelling loooovely!

Corn and Bean Salsa/Salad

This is really fresh and tasty on its own as a salad, or with chips as a salsa! You can play around with the ingredients and seasonings too - it's very versatile.

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can whole kernel corn

1 small green or red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion chopped and rinsed

1-2 green chilies (I used serranos, they're about 20 times hotter than a jalapeno)

handful of chopped cilantro

1 tomato, chopped (optional, I didn't put any in)

1 firm avocado, chopped (also optional)

3-4 tbsp lime/lemon juice

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic)

salt and black pepper to taste

Mix everything together. Done. :)

Lychee Mocktail

This is also totally my SIL's recreation of a drink she had at an Indo-Chinese restaurant (I believe) and it was SOOO GOOOD. I think you have to be a fan of lychee to really love it though. It's fresh and tropical and a super easy yet creative drink to have at your next gathering that'll impress the crowd.

Ingredients:

a can of lychees

grenadine (you can find this in the drinks section of most grocery stores or target.)

2-liter bottle of ginger ale

Pour the juice from the canned lychees into a large jug. Add about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of grenadine. Pour in the ginger ale. Stir, taste and adjust. You can either throw the lychees in the jug or add them individually to the glasses. Yummyyyy.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

So this is totally my sister-in-law's recipe that she made up on the spot after drinking some mexican hot chocolate at some place. It was confusing, silly, fun, exciting, spicy, and lucious. And other adjectives.

Ingredients:

Milk (preferably whole...because it's yummy)

hot chocolate mix of some kind or chocolate syrup

red chili powder (to your taste)

cinnamon powder (I'll say about 1/4 tsp per cup? does that seem like a lot? I dunno, eyeball it.)

a tiny dash of salt

Boil milk, add chocolate syrup/mix. Throw in chili powder, cinnamon and salt. Taste, adjust, enjoy.

NOTE: My SIL put in a good amount of cinnamon and chili powder. The cinnamon was yummy, not too strong, but the chili powder gave you a good kick in the back of your throat when you swallowed. =)

Mmm..Chicken Salad

LOL! I make this salad for my husband to take to work everyday! (he's on a 'DIET') and I cant believe I haven't mentioned this yet. I got this recipe off of some website years ago, but I tweaked it a bit to make it my own.

It turns out really really good! And when you pair it with a great italian dressing and croutons and maybe a hint of cheese over a great salad it turns out quite impressive although you haven't done much work.

Also, what I like to do, is ill marinate a bunch of chicken (maybe 4-5 lbs) at once and then separate into baggies and freeze it. so that way, i only have to slightly defrost in the morning and then bake it and hubby is ready to go! Which is also a good idea if you might have guests over suddenly.

so heres the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 lb chicken breasts cut into filets
10 tbsp. Minced garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red flakes
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano
salt to taste
olive oil to fry

Warm olive oil in a pan. Add in all ingredients except chicken. Let simmer on med lo for 5 mins or until brown. Remove and let cool. Mix with thin chicken filets and let marinate for 3-4 hrs. Bake at 350 degrees until cooked (around 25-30 mins). Cut into strips and serve with salad of choice (lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, etc).

ok remember, what i mean by filets is that chicken breasts are waay too thick, so you want to make them thinner. so basically you just cut them into thin slices like pasandas and then put slits in them as well, so you chicken isnt white and the flavor seeps all the way through. also after you're done baking do not discard the juices! make sure you keep that on the chicken as it gives it a more juicy flavor.

Do not use garlic paste, because the minced garlic really does give it a great flavor!
You don't have to cook the ingredients if you don't want to. The original recipe didn't. I just like the brown garlic and the flavor that comes after cooking. Again it's a very versatile recipe. Make it your own if you like!

Pineapple Chicken

i had more boneless chicken i wanted to experiment with so i did what i did last night. grilled in olive oil in an cast iron skillet and waited until the sides were browning. then i dumped in an entire can of crushed pineapples and let it simmer, almost completely covered. i threw in a huge sliced green bell pepper and some mushrooms (thickly sliced). afterwards, when the juices were drying up, i sprinkled some crushed red pepper on top and viola! it was amazing alhamdulillah

Ingredients

Boneless Chicken (1lb) thickly cubed
Olive Oil
Large Can of Crushed Pineapple
Sliced Bell Pepper
Sliced Mushrooms
Crushed Red Pepper

Sunshine Chicken

Ingredients

1lb boneless chicken cut into large bite sized pieces
1/2 green bell pepper cut into strips
5 large mushrooms sliced (thick)
1 cup of orange juice
2-3 lemon slices
salt/pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions

Grill boneless chicken pieces in the olive oil. I used a cast iron skillet. Once chicken is cooked on both sides and is browning, add the vegetables in the skillet. Saute the vegetables around the chicken and add the orange juice. Let simmer (half covered) until liquid evaporates. Add more OJ if your chicken seems dry. Season with salt/pepper and toss the lemon slices on top. Cover to retain moisture and to wilt he lemon slices (so flavor goes into the chicken/vegetables). Serve with rice or over pasta.

This literally took 30 minutes. Tasted awesome. Mushrooms are GREAT for soaking up flavor. Next time I may use canned pineapples.

Mac 'n Kheema Casserole

I literally made this up (to fit peoples dietary needs). Please feel free to experiment and update on how yours turns out, inshaAllah

1/2-1lb kheema
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2+ cups of thickly sliced mushrooms
2 cups of macaroni elbow noodles
1/4 cup spaghetti sauce of choice
olive oil
cajun spice seasoning
other spices (salt/pepper) as desired

Sautee mushrooms until half tender. Remove and place in medium sized casserole dish (covering the bottom of pan). Cook kheema until done (I added in some desi masalas here, laal mirch/haldi/ground black pepper). Add the spaghetti sauce and other vegetables. Mix well under high heat. Cover mushrooms in casserole dish with everything in the pot.

I had to cook the macaroni noodles on the side (bc some ppl can't have too many carbs) BUT I think if you cooked them WITH the kheema/veggies the taste would be better integrated. Also, I couldn't top it with cheese but a cheese & spinach topping would be divine (along with a 1/2 cup of cheese inside the kheema mixture to hold it together). I cooked the macaroni noodles with some cajun spice seasoning and it was YUM.