Okay, I can see that I cook with chicken a lot. What I have been trying to do is to incorporate substitutions if I feel we are in chicken overload. For example, the chicken Alfredo and quesadilla recipes can easily work with shrimp. Once I decide on a base recipe, it’s easy to switch out proteins, veggies and starches. Actually, this is a great way to introduce new foods to kids — using a base recipe they like. It’s all about the base…
So here are some simple chicken recipes I’ve recently made:
Oven Baked Fajitas
I was planning on using this recipe from Budget Bytes for fajitas and then a reader recommended it. So now I know it was meant to be! I like that it can be prepped beforehand (good for workdays) and just thrown in the oven while attending to the kiddos. And it turned out great! A few more times making it and it will transform into a tried and true.
The only changes I made were adding the lime, oil and spices in a bowl and mixing together before adding to the chicken. When it was done, I squeezed the second half of the lime on top. See full recipe here.
Chicken and Black Bean Quesadillas
I’ve been making this quesadilla for a long time and also serve it for Saturday lunches. Now I add whatever we have to it like red onions or leftover veggies. Kids usually like it simple with beans, chicken and cheese and tomatoes on the side. I also have added a dribbling of my white sauce which is plain yogurt mixed with lime and taco seasoning.
Chicken Alfredo
I have been making a basic white sauce for pasta for a while. But truth be told, it’s not all that exciting and I don’t make it that often. I’m not a huge fan of rich white sauces, so I turned to Cooking Light for help. This lighter Alfredo recipe is one of their most popular. I made some changes like decreasing the milk, trying half and half oil and butter and adding less Parmesan cheese. It had great flavor but a little too thick. Will keep working on it!
Slow Cooker Chicken Teriyaki
I don’t even want to get into how many times I’ve tried to make a teriyaki sauce from scratch. So when I saw this Crock pot Chicken Teriyaki recipe on Wannabite, I thought it was worth a try. This sauce is perfect but it made too much so I decreased the ingredients. I steam whatever veggies I have on hand to add at the end, this time it was cauliflower and carrots. This is a keeper!
- 1 lb chicken
- ⅓ cup teriyaki sauce or marinade
- 2 Tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp grated ginger or ¼ tsp dried
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup chicken broth
- ½ tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- sesame seeds (optional)
- Place chicken in a slow cooker. Mix the next 7 ingredients in a medium bowl and top over chicken. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6.
- Before its done, steam veggies of choice.
- When it’s done cooking, scoop out the sauce into a pan and add the cornstarch stirring to thicken. Cut the chicken into bite size pieces (this can be done earlier — up to you).
- Combine the sauce, chicken and veggies. Top with sesame seeds and serve.
Okay, off to make some soups. Have a great weekend!
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