Baked Garlic Rice Pilaf

This month's theme for What's Baking is "Baking with Garlic".  My mind immediately went to garlic knots or garlic breadsticks or even a delicious garlic rosemary bread I found online.  But I wanted to think outside the box.  Plus, I eat enough bread as it is, did I really need that much extra bread in my house??  Of course my answer would still have been YES!! But, alas, I had nowhere to add it to my menu plan, plus I needed a side dish to my Shabbat chicken dinner.

Then I remembered a delicious rice pilaf I had made a few years back and realized I had never shared it here!  I don't remember how I first came across this exact recipe, but it is from my dear friend Jessica's blog.

Rice pilaf is rice cooked in stock (and not, as one contestant on Top Chef a few seasons ago thought, rice with 'a lot of stuff in it").  And this baked version uses some stock at the beginning and adds more partway through cooking.  I made a small adjustment to make this dish appropriate for a meat meal, then satisfied my own garlic craving by adding extra garlic.  The original recipe called for crushed garlic only, but just wait until you get the smooth deliciousness of a cooked garlic chunk.  It is like a little bite of heaven.  I had first made this back when coconut oil was becoming a thing so I used that as a parve substitute for butter and think that it really adds to the flavor of this dish.

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else made this month.  Garlic just might be my favorite ingredient to use!

Baked Garlic Rice Pilaf (slightly adapted from Sunny Side Up)

Ingredients
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3 garlic cloves, crushed
3 garlic cloves halved, quartered or roughly chopped
1 cup brown rice
2 1/2 cups chicken broth, divided  **use vegetable broth if you want to make this a parve dish
salt and pepper to taste

Directions
- Preheat oven to 375
- Melt the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and rice and cook for approx 3 minutes, or until the garlic starts to turn golden brown.
- Add 1 cup of broth, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.  Transfer the rice, garlic and broth to a casserole dish with a tight fitting lid or use two sheets of foil to seal a deep dish.
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove the dish from the oven and stir in the rest of the broth (1 1/2 cups).
- Re-cover the dish and continue baking for 45 minutes.

Fried Chicken Strips

Every year for Chanukah my grandmother makes fried chicken which she serves along with biscuits, latkes, and applesauce.  She coats her chicken in matzah meal before frying and it comes out crispy and delicious.  So when I was looking through my copy of A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking and came to the chapter called "A Baker Becomes a Cook", I wasn't surprised to see a recipe for chicken cutlets in the Passover section.

This can be a good lunch or dinner and should appeal to the whole family.  I would use this same recipe throughout the year (most likely only adjusting the oil I use for frying and maybe using flour instead of the potato starch if we didn't have any more on hand).

Fried Chicken Strips (slightly adapted from A Treasury of Jewish Holiday Baking)

Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
3/4 cup potato starch
2 1/2 cups matzah meal
1 tbsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp onion powder
4 eggs
oil for frying (cottonseed oil during Passover, canola oil the rest of the year)

Directions
- Using kitchen shears, cut the chicken into 1 inch thick strips.
- In a large skillet, pour in enough oil to come about half an inch up the side of the pan and heat until approx 350 degrees F.
- Into a shallow bowl or dish with high sides (I use deep paper plates), pour the potato starch.
- In a second shallow bowl, crack the eggs and lightly beat them.
- In a third shallow bowl, mix together the matzah meal, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
-  Set your plates in an assembly line - potato starch, egg, then matzah meal closest to the skillet.  Take a chicken strip and dredge in the potato starch, shaking off the excess.  Dip the strip in the beaten egg next, letting the excess drip off.  Last, press the strip into the matzah meal until fully coated.  Place the strip in the heated oil.
- Working in batches, heat the strips until golden brown, turning once.
- Place the cooked chicken on paper towels to drain.
- Serve warm or cold with any dipping sauce you desire (or no sauce at all!)

Slow Cooker Pulled BBQ Brisket

If anyone wants to buy me a gift, just get me one of the Kosher by Design cookbooks.  Seriously, I only have the Short on Time book but everything I have made from it has been absolutely delicious.  And this latest endeavor did not let me down.

Over the summer we were down at the Jersey shore with friends.  While my husband and I do not keep kosher outside of our house, these friends do, so when we heard about a kosher sports bar in town we jumped at the chance to go (mostly because our friend was craving chicken wings).  Looking at the menu, the item that jumped out the most was the pulled beef sandwich.  I don't go out for BBQ often, but this just sounded so delicious to me.  And it did not disappoint!  I was thinking about this meal the other day when I was menu planning and I came across this slow cooker recipe.  How could I not make it?!

The end result was so tasty.  I served it with roasted potatoes and steamed green beans for well-rounded meal.  And I had plenty of leftovers so I stored the beef with a little bit of the au jus (or is the correct term "I stored the beef au jus"?  either way...) in one container and the BBQ sauce in another so it wasn't totally smothered in the sauce when I reheated it.  I got to enjoy the leftovers for the next several days, but could easily have frozen some for later use.

Slow Cooker Pulled BBQ Brisket (slightly adapted from Kosher by Design: Short on Time)

Ingredients
3 lbs top cut brisket
fine sea salt
freshly ground pepper
1-2 tbsp canola oil
1 red onion, thinly sliced
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp whiskey
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried thyme
4 cups beef stock
1 (18oz) bottled barbecue sauce
2 tbsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tbsp water
crusty rolls cut in half horizontally for serving

Directions
- Line a slow cooker with a liner bag, if possible
- Slice the brisket into 2 pieces, season both sides generously with salt and pepper
- In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat.  Sear the meat on both sides then place in slow cooker.
- In the same skillet, sauté the onion, 3 minutes, stirring frequently to pick up the bits of meat.  Top the meat in the slow cooker with the onions.
- In a large bowl mix the Worcestershire sauce, whisky, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and stock.  Pour the stock mixture around the meat (try not to wash the onions off the meat) until you just cover the meat.
- Pour the barbeque stock directly onto the meat.  Cover the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.  The meat is ready when it can easily be shredded with a fork.
- Remove the cooked meat from the slow cooker (reserving the sauce) into a large bowl and shred it by pulling in opposite directions with two forks.
- Pour the sauce into a medium pot (reserving about a cup if storing any meat).  Add the dissolved corn starch and bring to a boil over medium heat.  Boil until thickened, about 3 minutes.
- Mix the meat being eaten immediately with some of the thickened sauce.
- Make a sandwich with the crusty roll and the meat, topping the meat with extra sauce if desired.

Turkey Chili

I love the fall.  The cooler temps mean that I can turn to my favorite comfort food - chili.  My go-to recipe had been my slow cooker meatless three bean chili, with melted cheese on top and a dollop of sour cream.  But sometimes you just want a nice, hearty, meaty chili.

Last year I had been perusing my local library and found the book Dinner: A Love Story by Jenny Rosenstrach.  It's a combination cookbook and memoir about life in her kitchen and dining room, spanning the years from her single life to life with two kids (and two working parents) and how they made it all work.  And it's not about how easy life is and how she whips up 3 course gourmet meals every evening, it's about real life and the shortcuts she uses.  The book was so interesting and the recipes looked so good that after I read it cover to cover and returned it to the library, I ended up buying it for myself.  I find that it really gives a realistic view of family dinnertime with all the craziness, pickiness, etc.  Plus it provides a wide range of recipes.

In the book, Jenny has a quick and easy recipe for turkey chili.  We first made it last year and it's become a staple in our home during the cooler months.  It's got a nice kick to it (especially because I use some hot chili powder, not just regular chili powder), and served over a bed of brown rice, it makes for a delicious, filling meal.  Plus, it makes enough that my husband can have seconds and we still have enough left over for 2-3 more meals.  I probably could freeze the leftovers for future meals but I usually end up eating it for lunch or dinner over the next few days.

Another thing I have been trying to incorporate into my routine is one pot meals.  We end up cleaning a ton of pots, pans, and prep tools every night and don't have a lot of downtime before bed.  This chili is great because it is not only a one pot meal (well, one pot plus a rice cooker if you make rice as well but that's a quick clean) but also the only other things to clean are a cutting board and knife which you can clean while the chili cooks, then it's just the skillet and spoon.  Between the easy prep and quick clean up, this can be made and cleaned up in about an hour.  So simple, but so delicious!!

Turkey Chili (slightly adapted from Dinner: A Love Story)

Ingredients
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves (or 2 large), minced
few glugs of extra virgin olive oil
1 lb ground turkey (dark meat is preferable)
salt & pepper to taste
3 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp chipotle or hot Mexican chili powder
28oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp cayenne
1 bay leaf
1/3 tsp cinnamon
14oz can black beans, drained
Brown rice, plus any toppings you want: avocado, tortilla strips, etc

Directions
- In a large skillet, over medium-low heat, sauté the onion and garlic in the oil about 3 minutes.
- Turn up the heat to medium-high and brown the meat until it loses its pink color.
- Add salt, pepper, and chili powders - let it sizzle a moment, then add the tomatoes and the rest of the spices.
- Turn down the heat, simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Add the beans and cook for another 5 minutes (until the beans are heated through).
- Serve over rice with any toppings you choose.

Primavera Chicken

Now that we have the baby, I am always looking for recipes that take very little prep time but still look and taste like I slaved for hours in the kitchen.  Flipping through my Kosher By Design: Short on Time book the other day I came across this recipe that not only was a perfect fit for a delicious fall dinner, but also takes no time at all to prepare.

All you have to do is slice up the zucchini, squash, and tomatoes the dish is basically ready to go!  Of course it takes 2 hours to cook but as someone who is home for most of the day but doesn't have all afternoon to cook, this is something that can easily be done.  Once I go back to work I would only make this on a weekend when we're busy around the house but even if you get home before 5:30 you can still have dinner on the table by 7:30.  I halved the recipe, but I typed it up as is below in case you have more than 3 people to feed.  It's very easy to halve since the original recipe calls for it to be baked in two separate 9x13 pans.

I actually threw in a few more vegetables (butternut squash and red onion), though I roasted them separately just in case they didn't all work well together.  In the end I served the added veggies underneath the rest and thought the combination was great.

This chicken dish will definitely make its way into our dinner rotation.

Primavera Chicken (from Kosher By Design: Short on Time)

Ingredients
6-8 chicken legs, with bone and skin
6-8 chicken thighs, with bone and skin
1 yellow squash, unpeeled
1 green zucchini, unpeeled
1 qt cherry tomatoes, halved
1 8oz bottle of Italian dressing

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Place the chicken pieces in single layers, skin side up, into two 9x13 inch baking pans.
- Slice the squash and zucchini in half lengthwise and slice into 1 inch thick half-moons.  Scatter over the chicken.  Toss on the halved tomatoes.
- Shake the dressing and drizzle it over the chicken.
- Bake, uncovered, for 2 hours
- Remove the chicken to a platter.  Toss the vegetables in the pan liquid and then scatter them over the chicken.

Margarita Chicken

During the summer I am always looking to make dishes with a lighter feel, and ones that don't take long are even better so I don't have to be in the kitchen for longer then necessary on a hot day.  This recipe fits perfectly on any summer menu.  And an extra bonus for me, since I can't enjoy a nice cold margarita this summer, I do get a little of that flavoring in this dish.

The one thing about this dish (which I've questioned with other dishes as well) is it says to serve it with a warm tortilla.  What is the purpose of this???  My husband cut up his chicken and made it into a taco which he said wasn't bad.  I ate the tortilla plain on the side.  If anyone has other ideas as to why they tell you to serve it with tortilla, please let me know.

The glaze on this chicken in so light and delicious, I could put this on the menu a few times a month and not tire of it.

Margarita Chicken (from Better Homes and Gardens Big Book of 30-min Dinners)

Ingredients
1/2 tsp finely shredded lime peel
1/4 cup lime juice
2 tbsp tequila
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp cooking oil
2 tsp cornstarch
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
4 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 lb total)
4 flour tortillas, warmed
1 medium tomato, cut into wedges
1 medium avocado, seeded, peeled and cut up
lime slices, cut in half (optional)

Directions
- For glaze, in a small saucepan stir together lime peel, lime juice, tequila, honey, cooking oil, cornstarch, garlic salt, and pepper  Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.  Cook and stir for 2 min more.
- Rinse chicken; pat dry.  Place on the unheated rack of a broiler pan.  Broil 4 to 5 inches from the heat for 6-7 minutes, turn once, broil for another 2 or so minutes.  Brush with some of the glaze and broil for an additional 5 minutes (chicken should be tender and no longer pink).
- Arrange chicken, warmed tortillas, tomato and avocado on 4 plates.  Drizzle chicken with the remaining glaze.  If desired, garnish with lime slices.

Cold Chicken Satay Noodles

I've mentioned in the past that my husband and I like to cook together.  Well, sometimes he takes over in the kitchen and makes dishes entirely on his own (or maybe with me as his sous chef chopping, etc as needed like he does for me).  The following is his first guest blog post, featuring one of our favorite summertime dishes - Rachael Ray's Cold Chicken Satay Noodles.....

This is a great recipe because the hardest part of it (the rotisserie chicken) is already made.

The rest is just simple ingredients that require very little prep work.  It is also a great summertime

 dish because as delicious as it is warm, it tastes even better when served cold as leftovers. 

The peanut butter and whole wheat pasta are a very flavorful combination and the vegetables add a 

nice freshness to it.  Just slice the vegetables, cook the pasta, combine all of the ingredients, 

dig in and enjoy!

Rachel Ray’s Cold Chicken Satay Noodles (recipe from Rachael Ray)
Ingredients

Salt
1 pound whole wheat spaghetti

1/4 to 1/3 cup smooth or chunky peanut butter
2 tbsp honey
1/4 cup warm water
1/4 cup tamari
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp hot sauce
3 tbsp peanut or sunflower oil
Handful of shredded carrots
4 scallions, thinly sliced on an angle
1 cup spinach, thinly sliced
1/4 cup chopped peanuts
2 cups shredded store-bought rotisserie chicken
2 tbsp chopped, fresh cilantro or flat-leaf parsley 


Directions

-  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Salt the water liberally, then add the pasta and cook to al dente.

  Run the pasta under cold water to cool.  Drain well.
-  While the water comes to a boil and the pasta cooks, heat the peanut butter in the microwave in 10

second-intervals until softened.  Place in a large bowl with the honey and warm water.  Whisk in the

tamari, garlic, lime juice, and hot sauce, then whisk in the oil in a slow stream.  Add the noodles,

veggies, and peanuts to the bowl and toss until the ingredients are well mixed. 
- Serve the noodles in shallow bowls topped with the chicken and cilantro

Pesto Chicken Burgers

It's my favorite time of the month, the week after I get my Food Network Magazine and try out all of yummy looking dishes in the latest issue!  This month had a lot of good recipes, but one that stood out was the Pesto Chicken Burgers.  I actually changed it up a little bit to make it kosher, and used the dairy-free pesto that I used for my pesto chicken rolls last year.  Also, my supermarket doesn't regularly have kosher ground chicken so I bought stir-fry chicken and ground it myself.  But even adding the time of grounding the meat myself didn't add too much time to this, so it still makes a good weeknight meal.

We did question the lack of seasoning in the chicken burger (it's just bread, chicken, salt and pepper) but honestly, the pesto added so much flavor that we really didn't think it was underseasoned at all.  Though my one note - when you cut up the roll to add to the chicken, I'd cut it into tiny pieces.  My pieces were small, but not tiny and I ended up having to separate them a lot more with my hands as I worked in into the meat.

We had this with a side of kale chips and it was a nice, filling, easy meal.  Definitely adding this to the rotation.  I may experiment with added seasoning in the burgers, but I would also make them again without.  And another good thing about this, the extra pesto that I made will end up being used for pasta next week.

Pesto Chicken Burgers (adapted from Food Network Magazine) 


Ingredients
5 whole-wheat hamburger buns (1 cut into tiny pieces, 4 split open and toasted)
1 1/4 lb ground chicken
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium tomato, thickly sliced
pesto (dairy-free recipe below)

Directions
- Toss the cut-up bun with 3 tbsp water in a large bowl; set aside1 minute.  Add chicken, 3/4 tsp salt, and pepper to taste.  Mix with your hands until combined.  Form into four 3/4 in patties (best to do this with wet hands)
- heat the olive oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Add the chicken patties and cook until no longer pink, about 7 to 8 minutes per side.
- Serve the burgers on the buns; top each with a spoonful of pesto and a tomato slice.



Dairy-Free Pesto (from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom)

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/3 cup Ppne nuts
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. fresh squeezed Lemon Juice (more or less, to taste)
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions
- In a food processor or blender, combine the basil leaves with the nuts, lemon juice and sea salt.  Pulse a few times until mixture is reduced in volume and the mixture is well incorporated.
- Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.
- Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the blender or food processor is running, stop to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
- Taste.  Add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed.

Tyler Florence's Chicken Noodle Soup

When Sarah from A Taste of Home Cooking posted that this month's theme for the recipe swap was Celebrity Recipes, I was excited.  Though I think I was more excited to pass along my recipe for Rachael Ray's poached flounder than I was to receive my assignment.  I mean, why wouldn't I want someone else to try out one of our favorites?!

When I was sent my assignment of Tyler Florence's chicken noodle soup (submitted by Jaida of Sweet Beginnings) I was excited.  I love making chicken soup, but my go-to recipe is my grandma's which takes several hours to make.  This one takes less than an hour (including prep time) so I'm glad to add something to my repertoire for when I want soup but don't have all day to make it.  This will be perfect for if my husband or I come down with a cold or something and would like soup when we get home.

The soup was super easy to make.  I needed to cook the chicken to shred, so I put on a smaller pot to boil and then got chopping to prep the veggies that go into the soup.  Just before I put the veggies into the soup pot, I put the chicken breasts in to smaller pot and turned it down to simmer to poach the chicken.  By the time I had put the noodles into the dish, the chicken was ready to shred.

I am always buying chicken stock to use in recipes, but rarely use it as a base for soup, so I liked being able to season it up and have it as it was meant to be eaten.  I will definitely make this again!

***And check out Dawn's post about the poached fish!

Tyler Florence's Chicken Noodle Soup (adapted from this recipe by Sweet Beginnings)

Ingredients 
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 
1 medium onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced 
2 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices 
2 celery ribs, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices 
4 fresh thyme sprigs 
1 bay leaf 
2 quarts chicken stock (I used Imagine Kosher Free-Range Chicken Stock) 
8 ounces dried wide egg noodles 
2 cups shredded cooked chicken 
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 

Directions 
- Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme and bay leaf. Cook and stir for about 6 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. 
- Pour in the chicken stock and bring the liquid to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. 
- Fold in the chicken, and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through; season with salt and pepper.

Greek Garlic Chicken

I make chicken just about every week or two, and I'm always looking for new/different recipes to use so we don't feel like we're eating the same thing over and over.  I found this recipe in Kosher by Design: Short on Time.  I love kalamata olives, so I knew I wanted to try this one out.

It was pretty simple to make (though the whole "short on time" part didn't really apply to this recipe.  The "5 min prep time" took about 25 min, and that's before it cooks for an hour, but that's ok since I made this on a Sunday so I didn't have as much of a time constraint.  I made a few adjustments - the first being that the recipe in the book calls for 2 whole chickens, so I made half a batch (and actually only used leg quarters cut into thigh & drumsticks due to not being able to get to the better store to pick up a full chicken).  I mean, unless I had a family of 4 and wanted leftovers, there's no reason to make two whole chickens!

The chicken came out delicious.  My husband inhaled it and I know there's going to be a fight over the leftovers (only 2 pieces left!).

Greek Garlic Chicken (slightly adapted from Kosher By Design: Short on Time)

Ingredients
1 chicken, cut into eighths
1 onion, cut into large chunks
1 lemon
6-8 sprigs fresh oregano
5 cloves garlic, halved
salt
pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
3/4 cup kalamata olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup kalamata olives, whole for garnish

Directions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  Place the chicken pieces in a single layer, skin-side-up in a 9x13 baking dish.
- Add the onion chunks.  Slice the lemon in half lengthwise.  Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken.  Cut each lemon half into 4 pieces, add to the chicken.
- Set aside 2 sprigs of oregano and strip the leaves from the rest.  Scatter the leaves and stripped sprigs over the chicken.  They will add their perfume to the dish. 
- Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.  Drizzle with the oil and wine.  Toss the mixture together.  Sprinkle the chopped olives over the chicken.
- Bake, uncovered, for 45min - 1 hour, or until chicken is fully cooked and no longer pink, or a meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh reads 180 degrees.
- Transfer to a platter and garnish with whole olives and reserved oregano sprigs.

Brisket and Non-Dairy Cornbread

One of my best friends and I get together every other week or so for lunch since we work a few blocks from each other, but we try to get together with our husbands as well every month or so.  It's nice because while she and I are sorority sisters who have known each other for 10 years now, we've become friends with each other's husband and the two guys have become friends as well.  To a point where our husbands argue that we're their friends.  Anyway, we had the two of them over for dinner the other night.  I knew when we invited them that my meal would have to be either meat or parve since my friend is allergic to dairy.  Fine with me, that meant I could break out my nice china for the meal! But what to make?

A few weeks ago, during Hurricane Sandy, my husband and I were at one of my other best friend's home to recharge our phones, check work e-mails and generally just warm up while we had no power.  My friend invited us to stay for dinner, and from the yummy aroma in the air, we couldn't resist accepting the invitation.  She served the most delectable brisket.  Of course I had to ask her for the recipe!  This was the perfect thing for our dinner party.

Thankfully I was planning on being home for most of the day of this dinner.  The brisket cooks low and slow - 250 degrees for 7 hours.  For sides I made a dairy-free cornbread, roasted potatoes and steamed greenbeans.    It actually lead to a pretty relaxing day.  I made the cornbread in the morning, put the brisket it, put the potatoes in the oven when the brisket came out to rest and then steamed the beans.  I served a black bean hummus when they first arrived and then a salad.  Dessert was a zucchini bread, which I will blog about later this week.  All in all, I think it was a pretty successful dinner party!

Brisket (very slightly adapted from Food.com)

Ingredients 

1 beef brisket (estimate 1/2 lb per person)
garlic salt
onion salt
celery salt
3 ounces liquid smoke
Worcestershire sauce
1 bottle barbecue sauce

Directions 
- Trim fat from brisket.
- Sprinkle meat liberally with all the salts.
- Line a baking pan with enough foil to seal over the meat.
- Put meat on foil lined pan and pour the whole bottle of liquid smoke over the meat.
- Seal the foil and refrigerate overnight.
- The next day drain the meat and sprinkle with worcestershire sauce.
- Cover with the foil.
- Bake 6 hours in a 250 degree oven.
- Open foil and pour on the whole bottle of barbecue sauce and bake 1 hour longer.
- let rest for 30 min before serving


Dairy-Free Cornbread (recipe from Whole Foods)

Ingredients 
1 1/2 cup yellow cornmeal 
1 1/2 cup flour
6 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup plain soy milk or rice milk
2 large eggs
1/2 cup corn oil

Directions

- Preheat oven to 400°F. Oil a (9-inch) square baking pan and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a second large bowl, whisk together soy milk, eggs and oil. Add milk mixture to cornmeal mixture and stir until just combined.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes.

Maple-Walnut Chicken with Sweet Potato Aioli

For Chanukah this year my father bought me the book Kosher by Design: Short on Time which he had seen at a relative's house a few months ago and kept in mind to give me.  It is exactly what it sounds like - a kosher cookbook with recipes that don't take too long to make.  When I got home, I thumbed through it and made mental notes about which ones I wanted to try out.

One that immediately jumped out at me was the Maple-Walnut Chicken.  It sounded like the perfect mix of sweetness with the chicken.  And it comes with a sweet potato aioli, so what's not to love about it?!  We had this with brussels sprouts to add in a little more veg to our meal.  This was simple to make.  While there was a bit of measuring to be done, there was no real chopping, etc to get this ready, which always adds on a lot prep time.

I made a few minor adjustments on this.  First off, the recipe calls for canned sweet potatoes.  Ummm....no thank you!  Maybe it would have shaved a few minutes off my cooking time, but I feel no need to use canned veggies when I can go out to the store and pick it up fresh.  I also halved the recipe (no need for 6 pieces of chicken for the two of us) and I found that halving the panko/maple syrup ratio for the crust didn't have the right consistency, so I upped the amount of syrup.

This was seriously delicious.  I was a little jealous when my husband brought the one extra piece for lunch today.  He ended up eating it cold (he seems to have an aversion to using his office's microwave) but I would recommend heating it up after.

Maple-Walnut Chicken with Sweet Potato Aioli (slightly adapted from Kosher By Design: Short on Time)

Ingredients
6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp pure maple syrup, divided
salt
freshly ground pepper
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 cup panko
2 sweet potatoes
1 1/2 tbsp light brown sugar
2 tbsp mayonaise
1 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking pan with parchment paper.  Set aside.
- Place a chicken breast smooth-side down on a cutting board.  Lift up the tender and if necessary, make a cut to form a long pocket.  Repeat with the remaining breasts.
- Stuff each pocket with 1 tbsp walnuts and drizzle 1 tsp maple syrup.  Close up the pocket.  Place pocket-side down on prepared pan.  Repeat with remaining breasts.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- In a small bowl combine the vegetable oil, Dijon mustard and thyme.  Brush eat cutlet with this mixture.
- Bake for about 18 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- While the chicken is baking, pierce the sweet potatoes several times with a fork.  Place on a microwave-safe plate and cook on high for 6 minutes.  If it is not yet tender, cook for additional time.  Set aside.
- Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix 1/2 cup maple syrup and panko to make a paste.
- After the chicken is baked, remove from the oven and spoon and press on the panko paste to form a crust.  Turn the oven to broil, return the chicken to the oven and broil 6-8 inches from the heat source for 3 minutes, until crust is golden-brown.
- Cut the sweet potatoes in half and scoop the insides into a bowl.  Using a fork, mix in the light-brown sugar.  Whisk in the mayonnaise and 1 1/2 tbsp maple syrup.
- Serve each cutlet with a dollop of the aioli.

French Farmhouse Garlic Chicken

Garlic is one of my favorite ways to add flavor to any dish.  When I saw this recipe for French Farmhouse Chicken in the Better Homes & Gardens Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners I saw that it called for 40 cloves of garlic.  Yes, you read that right, 40 CLOVES.  Crazy, right??  Well, I decided to give it a shot, and I am very glad that I did.

This dish was easy to make after a long day.  Peeling the garlic did take some time, and although the recipe says if you're pressed for time you can peel it after cooking, I think it was worth it to do it before.

And no garlic clove went to waste.  This is definitely a meal to have when everyone's eating it.  Otherwise, make sure you have plenty of breath mints on hand!

French Farmhouse Garlic Chicken (from Better Homes and Gardens)
makes 4 servings

Ingredients
4 small skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 3/4 pound total)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
40 small cloves of garlic (peeled or unpeeled, halving any large cloves)
1 tbsp cooking oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp dry white wine or chicken broth plus,  divided
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp dried basil, crushed
1/2 tsp dried oregano, crushed
4 tsp all-purpose flour
hot mashed potatoes or cooked rice

Directions
- Rinse chicken; pat dry.  Season with salt and pepper.
- In a 10-inch skillet cook chicken and garlic in hot oil over medium-high heat for 4-6 minutes or just until browned, turning once.
- Slowly add 1/2 cup white wine or broth, lemon juice, basil, and oregano,.
- Bring to boiling; reduce heat.  Cover and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes or until the chicken is tender and no longer pink.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the chicken and garlic to a warm serving platter.  Keep warm.
- In a small bowl stir together the flour and the 2 tablespoons dry white wine or broth.  Stir into pan juices and bring to a boil.
- Cook and stir for 1 minute more.  Spoon sauce over chicken.
- Serve with potatoes or rice.

Lemon Chicken

In an attempt to eat dinner prior to 10pm, I have been trying to find good weeknight dinner options.  In my cookbook collection I have Better Home and Gardens Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners.  I bought this book several years ago, when I was living on my own.  I made 2, maybe 3 recipes from it for myself and when my husband and I moved in together last year I put the book with my other cookbooks and promptly forgot about it.  It caught my eye the other day and I now have many recipes on my "to do" list!

This recipe for Lemon Chicken seemed very easy to make.  One thing I'd do differently next time is to buy thin-sliced chicken breasts.  The recipe says to take regular chicken breasts and then use a meat mallet to thin it out.  I didn't have a meat mallet, so I didn't thin the chicken out before cooking.  It ended up taking a bit longer to cook (about 20 min, not the 4-6 that it says).  It was the perfect amount for the two of us.  My husband loved how the flour coating made the chicken a bit crispy as if it had the skin on it.

I served this with sesame green beans and couscous.  It was delicious!  Not only that, but I didn't start cooking until 7:30 and we were sitting down maybe an hour later.  I know next time I'll be able to go a little faster and get the meal ready closer to the 30 min the book promises!

Lemon Chicken (slightly adapted from Better Homes and Gardens Big Book of 30-Minute Dinners)

Ingredients
4 medium skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 pound total)
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tbsp soy margarine
1 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

Directions
- Rinse chicken; pat dry.
- Place each chicken breast half between two sheets of plastic wrap.  Working from the center to the edges, pound lightly with the flat side of a meat mallet to 1/4-inch thickness.  Remove plastic wrap.
- In a shallow dish, stir together flour and pepper.  Lightly coat each piece of chicken with the flour mixture.
- In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  When butter is melted, cook the chicken for 4-6 minutes, or until chicken is tender and no longer pink, turning once.
- Remove chicken from skillet.  Keep warm.
- In a small mixing bowl, stir together chicken broth, lemon juice, and cornstarch.  Add to the skillet.
- Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly.
- Cook and stir for 2 minutes more.
- Stir in green onions.
- Serve chicken with sauce and, if desired, hot, cooked couscous.

Poached Flounder

When I was first living on my own, I decided that I should try eating like an actual adult and cook real meals, so I went out and bought Rachael Ray's Just in Time.  One of the first recipes I tried was her recipe for Poached Flounder.  In the past, I would eat flounder a few times a month, but mostly just put lemon juice and paprika on it and throw it under a broiler for a bit, so I was excited to have a new way to cook it.  It was so delicious that I started making it every few months.  A few months into dating my now-husband, I decided to cook for him and made this dish.  I'm convinced it's one of the reasons he married me.  Even at my bridal shower, they played a game where they asked me questions and I had to guess his answer.  They asked what his favorite dish I made was his favorite, and without hesitating I knew it was this one.  He knows that I've been trying to make new stuff and try new recipes, but every so often he'll put in a request for the flounder.

What's interesting about this dish, kosher-wise, is that it can be dairy, parve, or meat with minor adjustments.  I normally make it dairy, using butter and vegetable stock, but this time decided to make it a meat dish, using soy margarine and chicken stock.  To make it parve, I'd use the soy margarine and either vegetable stock, or (the best invention ever for Kosher cooking) Imagine No-Chicken Broth.  The recipe actually calls for chicken or seafood stock, but I haven't yet found a Kosher seafood stock, so I'm not sure how that would change the flavor profile.

I don't know if it was the chicken stock or the fact that my chopping skills have vastly improved recently (thanks to a knife skills class at The Brooklyn Kitchen) but this was the best this dish has ever tasted!  This recipe will be staying in regular rotation for a long time to come....

Cheryl's Poached Fish (from Rachael Ray's Just in Time)

Ingredients
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 large shallot, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 tablespoons drained capers
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup dry white wine
3/4 cup chicken or seafood stock
4 (6-8 ox) fillets of flounder or other white fish
Salt
Black Pepper
1 lemon, sliced
handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Crusty bread for mopping


Directions
- In a large skillet, melt the butter into the extra virgin olive oil over medium to medium-high heat.
- Add the shallots and garlic and cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the capers, Worchestershire, and wine, and allow the wine to bubble up and reduce for a minute, then stir in the stock.
- Pat the fish dry and season with salt and pepper on both sides.
- Arrange the fish in the skillet, scatter the lemon slices around the skillet, and poach the fish for 10 to 12 minutes until firm and opaque.
- Scatter the parsley over the fish, then transfer the fillets and sauce to shallow bowls or deep plates and serve with bread for mopping.

Balsamic Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Spinach

One of the biggest issues I run into when cooking dinners is usually a lack of time.  Most recipes say that they take a certain amount of prep time, and somehow I end up taking about 5 times as long to get the meal done.  9:00 is the usual dinner time in my home, even when I make super fast meals.  So I've been trying to choose meals that say that they take 30 min or less, knowing that if it takes me an hour, so be it.  This one from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals ended up in that category.  I'm sure I could have used pre-chopped garlic or other shortcuts, but I'd rather take the few minutes and chop the clove myself.  One time-saver was that I used my mandolin slicer for the onions.

It felt like a complete meal in one dish and even let me be a little fancy with the presentation; though I will admit I added a little more chicken to the plate after taking the picture.  I wanted to serve a complete chicken breast, not just the half that looked pretty :o)

In all, it took almost an hour, but I was also puttering around at the beginning since I had forgotten to make or buy chicken stock and had to send my husband to the store while I got started.  I waited til he returned to actually start cooking, so this probably would have taken less than 45 min in total otherwise.

Balsamic Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Spinach (from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals)

makes 4 servings

Ingredients
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp grill seasoning (I used McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning)
4 boneless chicken breasts
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
14 oz can cannellini beans
12 oz sack baby spinach
1 cup flat-leaf parsley
juice of 1 lemon


Directions

- In a shallow dish, combine the balsamic vinegar, about 2 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil, and the grill seasoning.  Coat the chicken breasts in the mixture and set aside to marinate while you start the white beans and wilted spinach.
- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, twice around the pan.  Add the onions, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are a little brown, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the white wine and chicken stock, bring up to a bubble, and cook for 5 minutes.

- Heat another large skillet over medium-high heat.  When it is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side.  Remove the chicken to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and let rest a few minutes.

- Add the cannellini beans to the skillet with the onions and stir to combine.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until the beans are heated through.  Turn off the heat and discard bay leaf.  Stir in the spinach, parsley, and lemon juice.  Toss and stir until the spinach wilts.

- To serve, place a portion of the white beans and wilted spinach on each serving plate.  Thickly slice each chicken breast on an angle and arrange over the bean and spinach.

Pesto Chicken Rolls

My husband came home from the store the other day with thin-sliced chicken breasts.  In the past I've sliced them up and cooked them with a little ground ginger and teriyaki sauce, but I wanted to do something different.  As I was on my way home last night thinking of what to make for dinner, the chicken entered my mind and I thought 'what if I put something on it, like maybe pesto, and rolled it up?!'  So I did a little googling and came across some recipes.  Of course, most pesto has parmesan cheese in it, so I knew I had to improvise to make this a kosher meal.  A little more googling of 'dairy-free pesto' followed, I made a stop at the store for some basil and pine nuts, and I had the makings of a delicious dinner!

This recipe even allowed me to use my immersion blender for the first time, which I've been meaning to use since we received it last fall.  The pesto was super easy to make (put ingredients into blending cup, blend, add garlic, blend, add oil while blending, done!).  The prep time ended up being about 40 minutes, which included unpacking my blender, so next time it will probably take me less than 30.

I put the rolls on top of pasta, which I had mixed with a little oil and salt for a bit of flavor and a delicious dinner was served!!

Dairy-Free Pesto (from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom)

Ingredients
2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/3 cup pine nuts
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice (more or less, to taste)
1/2 tsp. sea salt

Directions
- In a food processor or blender, combine the basil leaves with the nuts, lemon juice and sea salt.  Pulse a few times until mixture is reduced in volume and the mixture is well incorporated.
- Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.
- Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the blender or food processor is running, stop to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.
- Taste.  Add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed.

Chicken Pesto Rolls (slightly adapted from Taste of Home Cooking)

Directions 
- Spread each thin sliced chicken breast with a scoop of pesto to within 1/2 in. of the edges.
- Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; secure with a toothpick or small metal skewer.
 - Place chicken in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. 
- Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30-35 minutes or meat is no longer pink.
- Remove toothpicks or skewers. Serve warm as a main course.

Matzo Ball Soup

A holiday meal at my grandmother's just isn't complete without a bowl of her matzo ball soup.  Before the soup is served my grandmother comes out of the kitchen to ask the all-important question "one or two?" though we all know it's coming and already have our fingers in the air (newcomers to these meals are taught this tradition in advance so they are ready to place their matzo ball order).

Since we were not going to my grandmother's seder this year, I felt it unfair to ask her to bring us leftover soup, so I decided to take on this recipe myself.  I had never made chicken soup from scratch before (unless you count pouring a packet of seasoning into a pot of water and boiling it) so I was excited (and only slightly intimidated) by this undertaking.

When I swung by my grandma's the other day to pick something up I asked her to talk me through this recipe, and I'm glad she did!  She had some great tips for making this that really made it foolproof.  She provided me with "soup socks" so that I could put all the ingredients into it for easy clean-up (I put the chicken, veggies, herbs and cloves in the bag, but put the salt pepper and garlic salt right into the water), and provided me with the schmaltz that she had prepared herself earlier in the week.

Schmaltz is rendered chicken fat, which you can either buy at a kosher butcher, or you can make yourself by melting the fat in a saucepan.  My grandmother adds chopped onions to this and lets it saute, which gives the schmaltz a yummy flavor.  She keeps the onion with some of the schmaltz, but gave me a container w/o the onions.

Because the cooking process takes a long time and the matzo ball mixture has to set twice, I made the matazo ball mix, then as it set for the first hour as I prepped the soup and started that boiling.  Since it boils for 2-3 hours, I then moved the mixture into the fridge until it was ready 3 hours later.

After the first 2 hours I noticed that a lot of the water had boiled out of the pot (I had it mostly covered but left it a little open so it didn't boil over).  I added another qt or 2 of water and let it continue to boil for the last hour.

When the soup was ready, I lifted the soup sock with the chicken and veggies out of the water and used the steamer tray that came with my pot to help drain the extra soup out of the chicken, etc and back into the pot.  Since the chicken was then fully cooked, my husband cut it up and used it for a salad the next day with the cooked veggies.

I then cooked the matzo balls directly in the soup to give it a little more of that flavor.  When it was all done cooking, I let it cool and packaged up the soup and matzo balls separately to store in the fridge.  The next night I put 4 matzo balls and some soup into a small pot, boiled it for a bit and then served it up for a nice delicious meal!

I'm excited to have learned how to make chicken soup from scratch.  Now next time my husband or I are sick I'll just make my own instead of going out to the store to buy some.  I'm sure there's more medicinal quality to homemade chicken soup anyway....

Chicken Soup (my grandmother's recipe)

Ingredients

a chicken
3 carrots
3 stalks celery
parsley
dill
small turnip
parsnip
3 whole cloves
salt
pepper
garlic salt

Directions
-Clean chicken and place in 4qts water.
- Add carrots, stalks celery, a small bouquet of parsley and dill, turnip (cleaned and quartered), parsnip, cloves, salt, pepper, and garlic salt to taste.

- Bring to a boil and let cook at a rolling boil for 2 – 3 hours until chicken is tender.
- Remove all ingredients, strain and serve.

- If the water boils out during cooking, additional boiling water may be added during cooking.  Seasonings may be adjusted at any time.

Matzo Balls

Ingredients

4 eggs well beaten

½ cup cold water

1/3 cup melted schmaltz, warm – not hot

1 tsp salt

1tsp sugar

¼ tsp nutmeg

1 cup matzo meal

Directions

- Mix eggs, water, salt, sugar and nutmeg.
- Add schmaltz and beat well with fork or whisk.
-Add matzo meal and mix thoroughly.  It will be a loose mixture.
- Let stand at room temperature for one hour.  If it is still very loose, add up to ¼ cup of additional matzo meal.

- Put mix in refrigerator for several hours to set.

- In a large pot add salted water to boil.
- Wet hands and form batter into a ball the size of a clementine.   Drop into boiling water and boil for 40 min.
- Remove from liquid and drain in colander.  Serve with hot chicken soup.

Spanish Chicken and Veggie Kugel

It's Passover once again.  Growing up, Passover was the time of year when you order a ton of candy from the catalog you brought home from Hebrew school, and then spent the rest of the week eating things out of a box marked Manischewitz that probably tasted like cardboard (the food...not the box).  In recent years, though Manischewitz foods and mixes have gotten a bit better, I've also realized that I can still eat like a normal person with minimal adjustments (if any) to my recipes.  This week I will be blogging several of my family's recipes that have become a staple of our Passover diets for years in addition to a few new recipes.

When my husband and I sat down and looked at this year's calendar and figured out our holiday schedule, we decided to spend the first seder up in Massachusetts with my mom's family and the second night at his parents' home.  We wanted to spend some time this holiday with my father's parents, so we invited them over to our apartment for lunch.  I looked over my recipes and aside from making my grandmother's gefilte fish (recipe to be posted later this week) for an appetizer  I chose to make as our main course Spanish chicken with a side of veggie kugel.

The veggie kugel recipe is from my friend (and bridesmaid) Jamie.  She sent it to me a few months back and mentioned as an aside that if you swap matzah meal for the flour, you can make it for Passover.  It includes potato, carrots, zucchini (which I admit I had never tried prior to making this the first time!), onion and a few binders, then it cooks for an hour.  So simple!

The Spanish chicken is a recipe that my sister-in-law (and also a bridesmaid) gave me at my shower in the recipe book they put together for me.  It seemed pretty easy and the flavors seemed to be something that most people would enjoy (chicken stock, white wine, garlic...what's not to like?!).  It came out super moist.  I ended up doubling the recipe and cooking it in two separate roasting pans so I didn't have to layer everything, so I added about 10 min to the cooking time and an extra 5 to the broiling time.  Below is the single batch recipe.

I literally spent all day yesterday cooking, so I intend to share lots of recipes over the next few days.  Whether or not you celebrate Passover, you'll be able to add at least a few of these to your cooking repertoire.

Spanish Chicken (original source unknown)

Ingredients
3lbs chicken (I used leg quarters and drumsticks)

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

5 cloves garlic

8oz white wine (I used Kedem white cooking wine, which was kosher for Passover)

8oz chicken broth

Directions

- Rub Chicken with oil

-Place 4oz wine in food processor.  Add garlic and whirl until blended together.  Add 4oz chicken broth in processor and whirl together.  Add salt to taste.

-Pour mixture over chicken (add the other 4oz of wine and broth if the mixture does not cover the chicken) and marinate overnight.
- In morning, flip pieces to marinate both sides.

-Place chicken and marinade in baking dish (if you already had it in a roasting pan, just flip chicken right-side up and use same pan).
- Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.

-Remove foil, baste chicken and continue to bake, uncovered, for 45 min.

-Baste chicken (and remove excess liquid if chicken is too covered but don't remove it all) and broil for 5 minutes to darken the chicken.

Veggie Kugel (from Jamie at Skinny Apple, Fat Appetite)

Ingredients
2 lg carrots, grated

2 med zucchini, grated

2 med potatoes, grated

1/2 cup onion 

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil                                        

3/4 cup flour (or matzo meal during Passover)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- In a food processor grate carrots, zucchini, potatoes, and onion (If you want a good arm workout feel free to use a hand grater).
- In a large bowl use a whisk to combine eggs and oil.
- Add all remaining ingredients except for the flour and stir.
- Add in flour (or matzo meal)
 - Pour ingredients into a greased 9 x 13 pan, bake at 350 degree for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean.

Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

The What's Cooking message board on The Nest does a recipe swap every month, so I decided to join in this month.  This month's theme was soup.

I was assigned Slow Cooker Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

This excited me because my husband and I both love Asian food and we're always looking for new things to make in our slow cooker.  We keep kosher, so we loved that this uses coconut milk as the base (which is dairy-free and can be combined with the chicken for this dish).  A lot of the ingredients were things I hadn't worked with before (fresh ginger, rice noodles, bean sprouts) but thankfully my local ShopRite had all of them (***Note - thin rice noodles are the same as "rice sticks", I learned this from Google after I could only find rice sticks in the Asian food aisle!).  I usually use ground ginger in recipes, but I think I may have to start using fresh.  It definitely adds to the dish!

I think my biggest challenge was finding time to make this because it involves chicken.  I wouldn't want to leave raw chicken just sitting around waiting for the timer on my slow cooker to start, so I had to make this on a weekend.  The prep time of peeling, chopping, slicing, etc took about 30 minutes (my knife skills could use some improvement), but nothing was difficult.  The one adjustment I made was I didn't put all 2 red bell peppers in.  As I was chopping them, it just seemed like so MUCH!  Maybe I bought larger ones than the person who came up with the recipe, who knows?  I ended up putting maybe one and a half peppers in there.  The chicken shredded very easily after the initial 3 hours cooking.  Something ended up coming up, so after the last 30 min I had to turn it to warm and head out for a bit, but it was good to go when I returned ready to eat 4 hours later.

I absolutely loved this soup.  I'm not a big jalapeno person, but by throwing it into the bowl along with the lime juice it definitely added a nice aftertaste of heat to the soup.  And the rice noodles were delicious, too, and made it more filling.

Slow-Cooker Thai Chicken Noodle Soup

Ingredients
3 chicken breast halves
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbs. freshly minced ginger
2 (13.5 oz) cans coconut milk
4 cups chicken stock
3 Tbs. soy sauce
4 oz thin rice noodles
2 red bell peppers, diced
2 cups fresh beans sprouts
2 jalapenos, finely sliced
2 limes
cilantro for garnish
coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions
- In a slow cooker, add the coconut milk, broth, garlic, ginger, chicken, soy sauce, a pinch of salt and freshly ground pepper. Cook on high for 3 hours.
- Using tongs, remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks. Return to pot. Add the rice noodles, bell pepper and sprouts.
- Cook 30 more minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if needed.
- Serve each bowl garnished with sliced jalapeno, a good handful of cilantro and some gigantic squirts of lime.