A girl can dream of a big ktichen

It's always a treat when I get to cook for others. Of course, we all seek the praise and affirmation of our friends and family, but they are also the most likely to be honest and blunt about whether or not you are the BEST or could be BETTER at something. 

I was going back and forth thinking I wanted to be really daring and ambitious, with such a large kitchen at my disposal, I wanted to whip up something complicated. But I was conservative and went with a favorite. A simple oven baked rosemary chicken dish that packs a lot of flavor without the calories; this recipe is originally from Cooking Light, with only one modification, believe it or not! 

A great insider's tip for any cook or baker: 1 cup of buttermilk = 1 cup of yogurt

BAM! The secret is out! Cut the fat, and maybe more than half, by substituting recipes with regular or greek yogurt instead. 

Side Note: I am a huge fan of Cooking Light, for two reasons: they provide great, everyday recipes that are slimmed down and their recipes cater to beginner cooks who want to learn basics that they can eventually build off of. 

Oven Baked Rosemary and Walnut Chicken

Crispy Panko breadcrumbs and the crunch of those walnuts give this chicken a bite like none other.

adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup low-fat buttermilk ( I used yogurt here instead)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 thinly sliced, chicken cutlets
• 1/3 cup Panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
• 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts 
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• cooking spray
• rosemary leaves (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine yogurt and mustard in a shallow dish, stirring with a whisk. Add chicken to yogurt mixture, turning to coat.
3. Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Add panko to pan; cook 3 minutes or until golden, stirring frequently. Combine panko, nuts, rosemary, pepper and salt in a shallow dish. Remove chicken from buttermilk mixture; discard buttermilk mixture. Dredge or coat chicken in panko mixture until evenly and completely covered.
4. Arrange a wire rack on a large baking sheet; coat rack with cooking spray. Arrange chicken on rack; coat chicken with cooking spray. Bake at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked. Garnish with rosemary leaves. This dish is great with a side of salad, vegetables or sliced into a salad, for a healthy leftover lunch. 

Enchiladas for the lazy gal

Presentation can often be the key in cooking, especially when you become more advanced and comfortable with it, people definitely eat with their eyes (guilty here!) Now I know rolling up corn tortillas isn't exactly rocket science, but making and enchilada casserole just seemed way more efficient, a guess what, I think this dish still looked delicious, rolled up or it. 

I used my Shredded Mexican Chicken recipe (love repurposing recipes like this!), to make a healthier chicken and cheese enchilada. The great thing about this recipe is that you can add or take away whatever ingredients you want. The original recipe called for pinto beans and olives, but I omitted them since I wasn't feeling the beans and olives just add extra fat (and of course, I'd rather add more cheese!) By adding bell peppers, black beans, corn, you name it, these enchiladas make it a very versatile; with that said, I adjusted this recipe a lot, so feel free to do the same!

Chicken and Cheese Enchilada Casserole

Hearty and healthy!

adapted from My Recipes on Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• Shredded Mexican Chicken
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions (about 4-5 green onions)
• 12 (6-inch) corn tortillas, divided in half
• Cooking spray
• 2 cups (8 oz.) pre-shredded reduced fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
• 1 (16-ounce) jar of your favorite green salsa (I chose a green salsa from a brand called Frontera)
• 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Layer 6 tortilla halves on bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.

2. Spread about 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese. This is great time to add beans, olives or any other veggie you'd like. Repeat layer again. Top with remaining 6 tortilla halves. 

3. Combine your salsa verde of your choosing and reduced fat sour cream in a bowl. Mix until throughly combined. Layer on top of casserole. 

4. Bake casserole, covered with foil, for 30-35 minutes. Add remaining cheese, green onions (olives, optional) and bake, uncovered for about 5 minutes or until the cheese it melted.

5. Serves about 6-8, depending on how hungry the crowd is! I chose to serve my enchilada casserole atop a bed of baby spinach. This is a relatively healthier alternative to enchiladas, with each serving size between 400-485 calories, depending on what other veggies you added here. 

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Cooking or going to gym, we all know the obvious choice

This past Monday I had stress really getting to the best of me. As soon as I walked through my front door, I was confronted with the ultimate dilemma, go to gym or cook? It's like asking chicken or the egg...except not really. But I think both are good for my health. Since there is no such thing is summer here in San Francisco, I  turned my apartment into a crisper, cooking up a storm. The night ended with a big release, letting my frustrations out with two forks and some juicy chicken breasts, shredding away like my life depended on it!!

Well, it was less dramatic that that (although shredding the chicken was kind of fun!) and the end result was homemade taco bowls and Mexican shredded chicken; both were a success and total keepers! Both of these recipes came from the same site, Emily Bites, who is clearly obsessed with using cupcake tins to make anything...therefore dubbed GENIUS in my books. Kuddos Emily. 

So I'd seen these links floating around, on the interwebz, using cupcake tins to make taco bowls out of small, corn tortillas...except the tins were turned UPSIDE DOWN! These crevices literally hold anything you can stuff in a taco shell...or bowl in this case. I was going to use the standard, ground turkey, but sometimes I find it too dry for my liking; I wanted some moist (yup, used that word, deal, I know some you hate that word) chicken that was juicy, yet flavorful and light. And then I came upon this easy, affordable and versatile, recipe to make shredded Mexican chicken, which has lasted me days! Best of all, you don need a crockpot! (On that note, I really need one, I'm a terrible Indian girl for not owning one!)

Taco Bowls

adapted from Emily Bites

Ingredients:

• 6, 6-inch corn tortillas
• Cooking Spray
• Water
• Salt

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375.  Sprinkle each tortilla lightly with water and stack them on a plate. Cover the top with another plate turned upside down and microwave the tortillas for 1 minute or until warm. 

Turn two 12 cup muffin pans upside down. Mist each side of a tortilla lightly with cooking spray and center it in the space between 4 muffin cups, creating a bowl. Repeat with the 5 remaining tortillas, forming 3 bowls on each tin. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes.

Shredded Mexican Chicken

adapted from Emily Bites

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce
• 2 tsp white wine vinegar
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 4 tsp taco seasoning
• 2 tsp oregano
• ½ tsp sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 tb extra virgin olive oil
• 1 ½ lbs boneless (about 3 pieces) skinless chicken breast

Directions:

In a medium bowl, mix together the tomato sauce, vinegar, garlic, chili powder, taco seasoning, oregano, sugar, salt and pepper until thoroughly combined. In a large skillet or sauté pan, bring the oil to medium-high heat. 

Add the chicken breasts in a single layer and cook for 3 minutes on one side, flip them over, and then continue to cook for 3 minutes on the other side. Add the tomato sauce mixture to the pan and bring it to a boil. Lower the heat to medium-low and cover the pan. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked through. 

Remove the lid from the pan and transfer each breast to a cutting board, shredding it using two forks and then returning it to the sauce. When all the breasts are shredded, stir them into the sauce until thoroughly combined. Continue to cook for about 5 more minutes until the sauce thickens and soaks into the chicken. 

This dish is great in tacos, burritos, added to a salad and even by itself!