Lemon Braised Chicken with Beans and Pesto

This recipe for lemon braised chicken is going to change your life during the summer; not only can you make it in a crockpot, it can also be served cold in its leftover life.  Brilliant!
I tweaked a few little things: soaked my navy beans overnight in the crockpot (thus didn't have to dirty another bowl), added more boiling water than recommended because I wanted it a bit soupy, and used a store-bought basil pesto.  I'm sure the mint is absolutely delicious, though, so certainly make it if you've got the time!  It's great served over white rice.

Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie

You may have noticed that pregnancy and now parenthood have brought out the carnivore in me.  I didn't grow up in a vegetarian household, and all I'm craving right now is comfort food.  For me, that means meaty lasagna, chicken pot pie, chili (yes, even during the dog days of Atlanta summer), and biscuits.  However, I've got a 6-week old to entertain and keep an eye on, and not a ton of energy to make these traditionally time-intensive meals.
I've done some tweaking on the standard c.p.p. recipe, and think this is quite possibly the easiest chicken pot pie recipe ever.  Everything is cooked in the same pan that it's baked in (!!), we use storebought pie crust and precooked chicken , and you could even buy pre-cut veggies from a salad bar if you were so inclined.  Does it get any easier?
You're welcome.  And dig in!

Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie
1 storebought pie crust, thawed if frozen
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bag frozen corn (about 2 c.)
1/2 bag frozen peas (about 2 c.)
2 c. rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 tsp. Paprika
1 tsp. Oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp. flour
2 c. chicken stock
1 c. heavy cream or whole milk
1 egg

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Heat olive oil in cast iron skillet until shimmery, then add carrots and onions.  Sautee until onions are mostly translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add corn and peas, and cook through.  Toss in chicken and seasonings, stirring to coat all veggies and protein.  Sprinkle in flour and cook another minute.
3. Add in chicken stock and cream, and bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally.  When liquid is thickened, about 15 minutes, top skillet with pie crust and brush with an egg wash.
4.  Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven, serve, and enjoy!

Lemon-Herb Chicken (and Salad)

I am very lucky that this man of mine loves (loves) salads.  On any given day, I could throw some lettuce on a plate, add some oil and vinegar, and maybe a hunk of baguette, and he is a happy camper.  Most times, though, I try to get a little fancier than just lettuce and bread (though, it's definitely not difficult to improve on such meager offerings).  

This Lemon-Herb rub is from Everyday Food's Great Food Fast, and is lovely and light, with a little bite of acidity from the lemon, and earthiness from the bay leaves.  For this particular salad, I also roasted up some potatoes (fun little purple ones that I found!), and green beans, then made the salad dressing by deglazing the pan after I cooked the chicken.  I'll get to all that.

If you want to make this exact salad, preheat your oven to 350, and place potatoes and green beans on a rimmed baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper; place in the oven.  Cook these while you do the rest of the stuff for the salad.

To make the lemon-herb rub, you'll need 1 tbsp. tarragon, 1 tbsp. grated lemon zest, 4 crumbled bay leaves, 3 minced cloves of garlic, 1.5 tsp. coarse salt, ground pepper to taste, and 3 tsp. olive oil.  Mix it all up!

Rub the mixture onto some chicken breasts, then let them sit for a couple minutes to soak in all the juicy goodness.  

While the chicken breasts are sitting, heat some olive oil (or coconut oil, if you prefer) in a skillet over medium-high heat.  You'll want the pan good and hot before you add the chicken, so that it gets lovely and brown.  Cook the chicken for a couple minutes on each side, to get that brown goodness, then lower the temperature and cover the pan to continue cooking.  

While the chicken finishes up cooking, cut up your lettuce.  Remove the chicken from the pan, and get excited about all that good fond left at the bottom of the pan. (Bet you didn't know that the little brown bits of food left in the pan after cooking were called "fond".  This is a very educational post.)  Remove the pan from heat.  I added a bit of extra olive oil, some vinegar, lemon juice, and a smidge of Dijon mustard to the pan and swirled it all around.  Let that just sit.  

Slice up the chicken, remove the roasted veggies from the oven, and pile it all up on the lettuce.  Add the dressing from the pan, and you are all set!  

Now, the Lemon-Herb Rub can be used for a lot of other meats, too; Everyday Food recommends "leaner foods such as turkey...and flaky white fish (such as halibut, cod, or snapper)".  Let me know if you try it/have tried it on something else--I would love to hear about it!

Chicken Piccata

Is there any recipe that involves pounding meat really thin, breading it, and baking or frying it, that is NOT completely delicious?  This recipe from Ina Garten is no exception; the sauce is tart and rich and buttery, and the chicken is fairly easy to get together.  The sauce is definitely the best part, though, and could be used over steamed veggies, fish, or just plain grilled chicken!

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.  Place chicken breasts between parchment paper and SMASH them out flat!  I don't have a tenderizer, so I use my metal ice cream scoop and it works just as well.  Heat up some coconut oil in a pan.  While that's getting good and hot, dip each chicken breast into flour (seasoned with salt and pepper), then egg, then breadcrumbs.

Fry the chicken for about 2 minutes on each side, and then bake them in the oven while you make the delicious, delicious sauce:

Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, then add 1 tablespoon of butter, the juice of two lemons, the lemon halves, and 1/2 cup of chicken broth.  The recipe calls for 1/2 cup of wine here, but I was completely out of wine (tragedy!), and substituted chicken broth.  Season with salt and pepper, and boil until the sauce is reduced by about half.  

Once the sauce is reduced, remove the lemon halves, and remove from heat.  Add in two tablespoons of butter, and swirl it around until it melts.  I served the chicken with whole wheat fettuccine, and a side of steamed green beans, with the sauce all over everything!  Try making this and NOT putting the sauce all over everything--I dare you!

Oh, and if you accidentally spill coconut oil all down the front of your cabinet and onto the floor, don't worry about it.  Layla will take care of it for you.

Chicken Pad Thai

Guys.  I discovered this recipe from Brownies for Dinner about 2 months ago, and I have made it every week since.  I made it when Mommi came to visit, with chicken and homemade egg rolls.  I made it when Abbi visited us, with tofu and mushrooms.  I make this all. The. Time.  Once you get the basics of this recipe down, you can embellish with the add-ins; I went a little wild this time, because I want these leftovers to last me through the weekend!

Pad thai noodles are wide, flat rice noodles, and you soak them in very hot water for a couple minutes if you plan to use them in stir-fry.  The basic recipe is just rice noodles, scallions, garlic, eggs, and the pad thai noodles.  The sauce is soy sauce, brown sugar, and lime.  I add some Sriracha to the sauce, you know, for the spice in life.

Start soaking the noodles before you start anything else!  Then, slice up the whites of 3 scallions, and sautee them for a short minute with some minced garlic.  Add 2 eggs, beaten, and cook them until they are very soft.  You'll be adding them back in to cook completely later, so don't overdo it now! Remove the eggs from the pan.

I add my veggies to the pan at this point; like I said, I don't usually use so many veggies, but I want this to last forever, so I used broccoli, carrots, and snow peas. I add a little water to the pan, and put the lid on it to steam them for about 2 minutes.  Again, these will be cooked more later, so don't overdo it!  Remove the veggies from the pan, throw in some oil, and cook up your protein.  Shrimp?  Chicken?  Tofu?  Go crazy!

While that's cooking, mix up the sauce: 3 parts soy sauce, 2 parts brown sugar, and the juice of one lime.  Feeling daring?  Add in some sriracha and be brave!  

You're almost done!  Mix every single thing that we just cooked in the pan.  Pour your sauce over it and let it simmer, covered, for a couple minutes.  Slice up another lime to use for garnish/squeezing.  Do a taste test.  Think about buying a giant pan so that you can make even more of this.  Do another taste test.  Put it in a bowl and have yourself some pad thai!

Disclaimer: Yes, I know pad thai is supposed to have peanuts and cilantro, but honestly?  Cilantro kind of gives me the willies and Matt's allergic to peanuts.  That's the beauty of this recipe, that you can go very basic and work your way back up to exactly what you want!   

Dijon Chicken Burgers

Hello and welcome to the first meat-centric recipe post on The Lovely Prelude in months!  This recipe is definitely much healthier than your traditional hamburger (which, don't get me wrong, is delicious!), and it is inspired by the "Favorite Turkey Burger" recipe in Martha Stewart's Great Food Fast, which is a staple in our home.  Matt and I have been trying to eat much healthier, and rarely ever buy red meat anymore, which could easily be very distressing to me.  These burgers, however, are so satisfying and have such a great combination of flavors that they can almost convince me that I don't need red meat (almost!).  The original recipe calls for turkey, but I just as easily subsituted ground chicken for an almost identical taste.  I omit the cheese from Martha's recipe, but I just add a slice of cheese to the top of Matt's burger and I hear no complaints. 

Now, Matt's best friend, a self-proclaimed turkey burger connoisseur, tried the turkey burgers made with this recipe and declared them even better than his favorite restaurant's turkey burgers. I call that a success! 

At this point, I've been making these for so long that I just "eye-ball" the measurements.  It's really difficult to go wrong here. 

Dijon Chicken Burgers
1 1/2 pounds ground turkey (preferably 93 percent lean)
1/2 cup finely grated Gruyere cheese
4 scallions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
4 hamburger buns

1. Heat the grill to high.  In a medium bowl, use a fork to gently combine the turkey with the Gruyere, scallions, breadcrumbs, Dijon mustard, and garlic; season generously with salt and pepper.  Dividing the mixture evenly, gently form the mixture into four 1-inch-thick patties.
2. Lightly oil the grill.  Place the patties on the hottest part of the grill; sear until browned, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Move the patties to the cooler part of the grill; continue grilling until cooked through, 5 to 10 minutes per side.
3. Split the hamburger buns and toast on the grill if you like; place a burger on each bun and serve with the desired accompaniments. 

In my case, the desired accompaniments were sauteed collard greens and a slice of tomato, with extra Dijon.  Matt's desired accompaniment was a simple slice of cheese--my man's easy to pleasy.  We had them with spicy roasted potato wedges and cauliflower. 
(love, haley)

Chicken n' Biscuits

When I lived in Saint Augustine with identical twins, I often came home to the smell of chicken and biscuits cooking in a crock pot.  It's intoxicating: rich with cream, sweet with slow cooked carrots and peas.  This recipe doesn't completely replicate the Bores twins', but it's not too shabby either.  The chicken thighs cook quickly, and the creamy sauce is perfectly sopped up with drop biscuits.  It's a great meal to share with people you love!

Creamy Chicken with Biscuits (from March 2011 Real Simple)
4 carrots, cut into 1-in. lengths
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 c. flour
1 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
1/2 c. dry white wine
1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth
6 biscuits, store-bought or drop
1 c. frozen peas
1/2 c. heavy cream
1. In a 4-6 quart crock pot, toss together the carrots, celery, onion and flour.  Place chicken on top and season with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper.  Add wine and broth.
2. Cover and cook until chicken and veggies are tender, about 2 1/2 hours on high or 5-6 hours on low.
3. Ten minutes before serving, add peas, cream and 1/2 tsp. salt to chicken mixture.  Cover and cook until heather through, 5-10 minutes more.
4. Serve spooned over split biscuits,

Biscuits
2 c. flour
1/2 c. cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 c. whole milk
1. Heat oven to 400.  In a food processor (or with your hands if you don't mind getting messy), combine the flour, butter, baking powder and salt; pulse until pea-sized clumps form.  Add milk and pulse until just moistened.
2. Drop 6 larges mounds of dough onto baking sheet.  Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes.

 

John Paul's Balsamic Chicken

There are a lot of reasons for me to love John Paul, and near the top of the list is his deep love of food. The man loves all things culinary: tools, cooking food, the science behind food, and above all, eating great food. We can't afford to eat out a ton, but it doesn't even matter. We eat really well at home, and a lot of that has to do with my man's uncanny knack for putting different flavors together without a recipe. He has no fear in the kitchen, and somehow, things turn out miraculously well when he's there.
One of our go-to dishes is a balsamic marinated chicken that John Paul concocted one night, when our fridge was empty (the dreaded "day before grocery shopping" syndrome refrigerators are known to come down with) but for chicken. We generally have the other items in the recipe in the pantry, and it pairs really well with a salad or even just white or brown rice. The balsamic vinegar caramelizes a bit in the pan, leaving the chicken and onions with tangy sweetness that's incredibly delicious and refreshing. All in all, balsamic chicken is hard to go wrong with, and I think you'll be reaching for this recipe when you want to impress people with minimal effort.

John Paul's (Apparently Well Known) Balsamic Chicken
John Paul would like me to convey that he cooks by eyeballing, so these measurements are not exact. Use as much or as little onion or chicken as you'd like, or substitute tenders for thighs for a lighter version (as we did in these pictures).
2 shallots, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/3 c. balsamic vinegar
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 lb. chicken thighs, thawed and ready to cook

1. Combine ingredients in a medium bowl, and let marinate for 15 minutes.
2. Heat large saute pan on medium-high. Dump all ingredients from bowl into pan, and let cook, until chicken is opaque throughout, about 7-10 minutes.
3. Remove chicken from pan, but allow onions and shallots to continue cooking an additional 5 minutes. This will give them a great caramelized, sweet taste.
4. Remove onions and shallots from heat. Serve over salad or rice.

Green Olive-Lemon Chicken

Okay, I'm going to level with you: I hate cooking meats. Even fish is just too much for me to deal with sometimes. During the process, I'm just sitting there thinking, "This is going to be undercooked and someone is going to get sick and then their stomach will just fall right out and it will be all my fault for not just making a stupid salad!" My man usually has to step up to the plate if we're going to have steak or pork or mahi-mahi. He's a saint for several reasons.

This recipe, though, is soo good, I'm willing to face my fear of cooking chicken. Lemon and green olives are a perfect flavor combination: slightly tart and salty, and the lemon helps detract from some of the bitterness of the olive. Serve over white or brown rice. Trust me. You don't want to waste any of the delicious sauce, full of shallots, white wine and cumin. I'm going to eat leftovers of this meal while typing this post.

I made a couple of changes to the original recipe, but they're small and done because I don't have a zester.

Lemon Chicken with Olives (adapted from Real Simple, here)
2 Tbsp. flour
Juice of 1 lemon*
1 tsp. cumin
Salt and pepper
1 lb. chicken tenders
3 Tbsp. olive oil
2 shallots, thinly sliced
1 c. green olives, halved
3/4 c. white wine

1. On a plate, combine the flour, cumin and 1/2 tsp. salt and pepper. Coat chicken with flour mixture, tapping off any excess.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chicken in two batches until golden, 2-3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plat.
3. Heat remaining oil in skillet, and reduce heat to medium. Add the shallots and cook until soft, 3-5 minutes. Add olives, wine and lemon juice, and bring to a boil.
4. Place chicken back into skillet. Simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, 4-6 minutes.
5. Enjoy!
*When squeezing lemons for their juice, just use a mini-strainer to catch the seeds. Plus, mini things are ridiculously cute, even if they're kitchen utensils.