Honey mustard is always a must with chicken tenders in our house. For that reason, it is shocking to me that I never thought to combine the two before cooking. That’s right, these crispy lovelies are marinated in honey mustard dressing for a couple of hours so that the tender chicken soaks up all the sweet tangy flavor of the dressing. Then, like my sriracha chicken nuggets, these little devils are coated in panko bread crumbs so that they crisp up very nicely in your oven, not your fryer.

I started making my own honey mustard dressing a little while ago. It is so simple and you probably have all of the ingredients on hand right now. All you need is: mayonnaise, mustard, vinegar, honey and salt and pepper. Simply whisk all of them together and viola! Honey Mustard dressing. Pretty easy huh? And since we can never get enough honey mustard flavor, I suggest making a little extra for dipping the chicken tenders in.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 1/2 pounds chicken tenders, rinsed and pat dry
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Whisk together mayonnaise, mustard, garlic, vinegar and honey. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Place chicken tenders in a bowl and pour honey mustard over the top. Turn to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours.
3. After the chicken has marinated, preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a cooling rack with non-stick spray. Place cooling rack on top of baking sheet and set aside.
4. Combine panko and plain bread crumbs in bowl. Remove the chicken from the mariande and let excess drip off. Dredge in the bread crumb mixture to coat completely. Place on prepared baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and bake for 20 – 25 minutes. Turn on the broiler and broil for 3 minutes or until browned.
5. Serve.

Enjoy!

Happy St. Patty’s Day everyone! I am pretty sure there is not an ounce of Irish blood in me however, it’s still fun to celebrate no? This year I’m going to celebrate with some Guinness of course and since eating is important when consuming Guinness, I am also celebrating by enjoying this traditional Irish dish.  And as with any traditional dish, there are many variations of colcannon out there but there are a couple of things that will definitely be in each recipe: potatoes and cabbage. Oh and butter, lots of butter.

For those of you that have had colcannon before, you may notice that I took a little liberty with my version. First of all I decided to add bacon, because well I like bacon. Next, if the scrumptious crispy bacon wasn’t enough, I decided to sautee the onions, garlic and cabbage in the left over pan drippings before stirring them into the creamy mashed potatoes. Drool.

If you’d like to make this vegetarian, and perhaps a little more traditional, don’t use the bacon and instead use a tablespoon of olive oil.

Serves 4 (as a side dish)

• 6 slices bacon, diced into 1 inch pieces
• 5 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1/4 cup butter, plus 1 tablespoon for serving
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 small head cabbage, cored and chopped small
• 3 green onions, chopped

1. Brown bacon in a large skillet. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Remove pan from heat and reserve 1 tablespoon of pan drippings.
2. Meanwhile, place potatoes in a pot with the water just barely covering the top. Bring to a boil and cook until fork tender. Drain. Return to pan and add 1/4 cup butter and milk. Mash with a potato masher. Turn burner to low and cover to keep warm while you prepare the cabbage.
3. Return bacon pan to stove and heat over medium heat. Add onions, garlic and cabbage to reserved bacon drippings. Stir to combine. Cover and cook for 15 – 20 minutes or until cabbage is soft.
4. Stir cabbage mixture into warmed potatoes. Stir in reserved bacon pieces and green onion. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to a serving bowl, top with remaining tablespoon of butter. Serve.

Why not finish your St. Patty’s day dinner celebration with these Irish Cream Cupcakes with Coffee Frosting? Enjoy!

Hey there everyone! You may or may not have noticed that I was not around last week. Unfortunately, I was not feeling well and decided that it would be best for me to relax and rest for a few days to get myself better. Now that I’ve had a few days I can say that I am feeling much better and am happy to be back to sharing recipes. First up this week is this quick flavorful recipe that is sure to please just about everyone.

In the nature of full disclosure, prior to this recipe, I had not had much experience with lamb. But about a month ago the Tri-Lamb Group contacted me to ask if I would be interested in developing a lamb recipe. I don’t usually do those types of things but since they weren’t asking me to review a specific brand, and just wanted me to cook with lamb,  I figured what the heck. I also liked the idea that it would give me some great experience with cooking a different protein. 

I went to my local grocery store first to see what kind of lamb that they had. Surprisingly, all I found was a couple of sorry looking vacuum packed lamb chops in the corner of the meat section. These little packages were not appealing at all, so I headed to a local butcher shop to see what I could find. Having not had any experience working with lamb what-so-ever I decided to go with ground lamb because I knew it would cook up quicker and would be relatively easy to prepare.

As far as flavors for the dish, I knew I wanted something Mediterranean. Looking at the ground lamb, I thought I could do a Mediterranean style meatball gyro. First,  I mixed the lamb with cilantro, shallots, cumin and all spice before baking them in the oven.  And while they were good on their own, I thought that they needed some kind of sauce. Something fresh and flavorful. That is when I got the idea for the mint yogurt sauce. Which, as it turns out, pairs very nicely with lamb.

Serves 4

• 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh mint
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1/4 cup plain bread crumbs
• 1 egg, beaten
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/4 cup minced shallots
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 pieces whole wheat pita bread

1. To make the yogurt sauce mix yogurt, garlic, mint, lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. In a bowl combine lamb, bread crumbs, egg, cilantro, shallots, cumin, allspice and 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt. Mix well. Roll into 12 meatballs (Helpful hint: Shape your meatballs using an ice cream scoop for consistent size). Place meatballs in a baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.
4. Spoon yogurt sauce on down the middle of the pita, top with three lamb meatballs. Serve.

These would also make a great appetizer. Simply put toothpicks in the meatballs and serve the yogurt mint sauce alongside for dipping. Enjoy!

Everyone needs a good quick meal every once in a while. Things get too busy but alas we all need to eat. I happened to have one of those days this week. This super easy pasta saved the day. It cooks in about the time it takes you to boil the pasta and has all kinds of goodies like lemon pepper, shrimp, shallots, garlic and wine.

If you’ve browsed my pasta recipes you can see that I often lean towards the long pastas. I love linguine, spaghetti and fettuccine. But for this pasta I wanted something a little bit lighter yet still filling. In comes fusilli, or corkscrew pasta. The little crevasses soak up the white wine garlic sauce very nicely. If you don’t have any fusilli, any other short pasta, such as penne will do.

Serves 2 – 4

You will need:

• 8 ounces dried fusilli pasta
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 shallot, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup dry white wine
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 pound 51 – 60 count prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• kosher salt

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook according to package directions. Drain.
2. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook shallots and garlic until shallots are softened, about 2 -3 minutes. Stir in white wine, lemon juice and lemon pepper. Cook 5 minutes. Stir in prawns and cook until prawns are opaque.
3. Add cooked pasta to prawn mixture. Stir in fresh parsley. Toss to combine. Season to taste with kosher salt.
4. Serve.

Enjoy!

Meatballs are always a crowd pleaser in our house. Whether they are served as an appetizer or dinner entree, everyone always devours them. Myself included. Most meatballs are made with ground beef or pork, but in an effort to lighten things up just a little bit I use ground turkey in this recipe. And when combined with the onions, cumin and Madras curry powder also in this recipe, you might have trouble believing they are a little better for you.

Some of you may be wondering what Madras curry is. Madras curry is a spicier version of curry powder that comes from South India. It has many of the same spices as regular curry like coriander, turmeric and cumin but Madras curry also has the addition of chili peppers. While I don’t find it too spicy, you could also substitute mild curry powder in this dish and still get the wonderful curry flavor.

Makes 20 meatballs

You will need:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped fine
• 1 1/2 teaspoons madras curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 egg beaten
• 1/3 cup dried plain bread crumbs
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine turkey, onion, curry powder, cumin, kosher salt, egg and bread crumbs in a bowl. Use hands to mix until well combined. Roll into approximately 20 meatballs.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium – high heat. Cook meatballs in batches until browned on all sides. Transfer to a baking dish. Bake meatballs for 15 minutes or until cooked through.
4. Serve.

Put some toothpicks in these and they make a great appetizer or serve them along side some rice for a quick weeknight dinner.

Enjoy!

According to the calendar, there are still a couple more weeks of winter. Just enough time for me to share this Shrimp and Corn Chowder recipe before everyone starts craving the lighter dishes that are common during spring. So as the last of the cold winter wind and rain patter at your window, cook up a pot of this soup full of all kinds of yumminess like shrimp, bacon, potato and corn.

For the longest time I did not like corn. I did not like corn on the cob, I did not like corn as a side dish and I certainly did not like corn in my chowder. But the older I got the more I opened up to it. I eased my way into corn on the cob and I started cooking corn more often as our vegetable side dish. However, it was not until this dish that I actually tried it in chowder and you know what, it’s pretty good. The sweetness of the corn compliments the sweetness of the shrimp and the kick from the cajun seasoning very nicely. Now if I could just work my way up to corn chowder.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 4 slices bacon, diced into 1 inch pieces
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3 tablespoons of flour, divided
• 1 (8 ounce) jar clam juice
• 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
• 2 medium red potatoes, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 pound (51 – 60) count prawns, peeled and deveined
• 1 cup frozen corn

1. In a large dutch oven cook bacon until browned. Reserve 1 1/2 tablespoons of pan drippings. Set bacon aside.
2. Add onion to the dutch oven with the reserved bacon drippings. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of flour. Cook 2 minutes.
3. Pour clam juice and water over the top. Add potatoes, celery, bay leaf, kosher salt and cajun seasoning. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and cook until potatoes are fork tender.
4. Stir 3 tablespoons of hot broth into the milk to temper it. Pour tempered milk into the soup.
5. Make a slurry with remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir slurry into soup and let simmer for 30 more minutes.
6. After soup has simmered add prawns and frozen corn. Cook 5 more minutes or until shrimp is pink and cooked through. Remove bay leaf. Stir in reserved bacon.
7. Ladle into hot soup bowls and serve.

Enjoy!

I have some pretty fond memories of Jo Jos. Way back when Ryan and I were first dating, he would come over to my mom’s house on lazy summer days and we would walk ourselves all the way to the grocery store hand in hand the whole way. Once we got there we would buy ourselves some chicken tenders and jo jos, with extra ranch of course. And to wash it all down we’d buy some Whipple Snapple’s do you remember those? I think they fall in line with other drink creations like Orbitz and Squeeze-its. But 90s novelty drinks aside, these outings were our thing. Now that we’re married, chicken tenders and jo jo’s is still one of our favorite meals except we make it at home and we opt for beer.

I’m sure that those jo jo’s that we ate all those years ago were fried. Maybe even double fried. But I think I like them baked. In fact, to be completely honest, I think I like them better baked. They are brushed with olive oil and melted butter then tossed in seasoned flour and baked until browned. They are slightly crispy on the outside and full of soft fluffy potato on the inside.

Serves 4 (as a side dish)

You will need:

• non-stick spray
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 3 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 6 – 8 wedges each
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray, set aside.
2. Mix butter and olive oil in a bowl. Brush mixture onto the potatoes.
3. Combine seasoning salt, flour and cayenne pepper in a resealable plastic bag. Add potatoes to bag and shake to coat.
4. Bake on prepared cookie sheet for 20 minutes. Turn and bake for 10 more minutes.
5. Turn on the broiler and broil for 5 – 7 more minutes or until browned.
6. Serve hot.

Enjoy and don’t forget the ranch!

I was craving pizza the other night and didn’t really want to go out for it or call the delivery guy so I decided to make some for Ryan and I. Traditionally I’m a pepperoni kind of girl but I didn’t have any. I did however happen to have some Italian sausage, bell peppers and onions. From my experience with my Sausage, Peppers and Onions Pasta I knew it would be even more delicious combined with homemade pizza sauce and homemade crust. The result was delicious enough that I think I just may loose the delivery guy’s number.

The idea of making your own pizza crust can make this pizza seem like too much work, but it really is more waiting time than anything. It took a little over an hour for me to make my pizza crust, including rising time, and I was really happy with the results. Making my own gave me the opportunity to add my favorite seasonings to to give it a bit of a flavor boost which can sometimes be a problem when eating pizza out.  However, if you don’t have the time to make your own, you can always pick up a pre-made dough at the grocery store.

Serves 4

You will need:

• 1 (1/4 ounce) envelope active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for flouring surface
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 cup homemade Pizza Sauce
• 2 – 2 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 pound Italian sausage
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced, seeds and stem removed
• 1 green bell pepper slice, seeds and stem removed
• 1/2 yellow onion sliced

1. In a bowl dissolve yeast in warm water. About 10 minutes.
2. In another bowl combine flour, basil, oregano, garlic, and kosher salt.
3. After yeast has dissolved, gradually mix in the seasoned flour. Mix with hands until well combined.
4. On a flour coated surface, kneed dough until soft, about 5 minutes. Add more flour as needed so the dough doesn’t stick to your hands or the board.
5. Grease a bowl with 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil. Place dough in the bowl, cover tightly with saran wrap. Let rise in a warm, dark place for 40 minutes – 1 hour or until it has doubled in size. I put mine in a kitchen cabinet.
6. Once it has doubled in size, punch the dough to release the air bubbles.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
8. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough  and then using your hands shape into 15 inch pizza pan. Once shaped, brush the dough with 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil.
9. Bake the plain pizza dough for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with pizza sauce, mozzarella, Italian sausage, bell peppers and onions. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the sausage is cooked.
10. Allow to cool for several minutes, slice and serve.

Enjoy!

If you don’t know, edamame are scrumptious little devils. I usually get the privilege to eat them at sushi restaurants. They are usually steamed and sprinkled with kosher salt. I could seriously eat them all day. And as good as they are on their own, they are also wonderful in this Asian twist on traditional hummus with edamame, garlic, lemon juice, tahini and oil.

You can usually find edamame in the frozen vegetable section at the grocery store. They are sold in their pods or shelled. When I am simply eating them as a snack I prefer to eat the pods but when I want to add them to things, like this hummus, I really to recommend buying the shelled variety. It makes things a whole lot easier.

Serves 4 as an appetizer

You will need:

• 1 1/2 cup shelled edamame cooked according to package directions and cooled
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 tablespoons tahnini
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt to taste

1. Combine first six ingredients in a food processor and process until well blended. With food processor running, slowly drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Taste test for salt and consistency. If you would like it a little smoother, return lid to food processor and turn on then slowly drizzle remaining olive oil.
2. Season to taste with salt. Serve.

Enjoy!

I am always looking for different ways to cook chicken wings and I have discovered yet another version. With these wings you get the best of both worlds. You see, they are sweet and spicy. First they are marinated with soy sauce, garlic and other yummy flavors. Then after being baked, that’s right baked not fried, they are tossed in a tangy sauce made with sweet thai chili sauce, sriracha ginger and more soy sauce.

When I was thinking of making these wings, I was originally going to make some sriracha chicken wings. However, I did recently share my recipe for Sriracha Chicken Nuggets and I didn’t want to do something too similar just yet. Then I thought to myself, why not go with a sweet and spicy chicken wing instead of a straight up spicy one? I knew that sriracha would give me the heat I wanted but where could I get the sweet? That is when I turned around and saw my jar of sweet thai chili sauce that I picked up at the grocery store a few weeks ago. It gave these wings the perfect twist.

Serves 2 – 4

You will need:

• 3 tablespoons peanut oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce, divided
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon chili oil (optional)
• 1 1/4 pound chicken wings tips trimmed and cut at the joint
• 1/4 cup sweet Thai chili sauce
• 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon sriracha

1. In a bowl whisk together peanut oil, rice vinegar, 2 teaspoons soy sauce, garlic, ginger and chili oil (if using). Place chicken wings in marinade and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place marinated chicken wings on top, cook 20 – 25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and skin has darkened. Turning once.
3. In another bowl whisk together sweet Thai chili sauce, 1 teaspoon of sriracha and remaining teaspoon of soy sauce. Taste and add more sriracha if desired.
4. Transfer hot wings to the bowl and toss to coat.
5. Serve with plenty of napkins.

Enjoy!