A PERFECT Summertime Chicken......

This grilled chicken SCREAMS summertime. Pound out the chicken so that it is nice and tender and cooks evenly on the grill. In a large bowl combine a salad dressing of your choice (Italian, sun dried tomato, etc) and a bunch of fresh basil. You need enough to cover the chicken generously. I used about a cup for 3 chicken breasts and 2 Tbs of fresh basil. Let it marinade for at least 30 minutes but the longer it sits there the better. Overnight is fine too!!!

In another bowl combine some tomato's, fresh basil, fresh mozzarella, and salt and pepper to taste!! For 3 chicken breasts I used 1 tomato 4 Tbsp fresh basil, and probably about a cup of fresh mozzarella.

Now first you want to grill the chicken. Pre-heat the grill on high when ready to grill you want to turn down the heat to Med-Low and grill the chicken for about 6 min on each side. When finished grilling place the Tomato-cheese mixture on top of each chicken and grill for 2-4 min. longer just so the cheese gets all melted.

We had our chicken with some rosemary potato's and teriyaki zucchini.

Basil Potato hash....

This used to be one of our favorite things to eat but I have not made it in a long long time. It's a great time for it right now with basil being in season and WE LOVE basil here! It's another Ina Garten recipe from 2006. I changed a few things up like I always do but if you would like to take a look at the original recipe you can find it HERE.

Ingredients

• 2 whole (4 split) chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on
• 16 basil leaves
• Olive Oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 2 pounds boiling potatoes, peeled and large diced
• 2 red bell peppers, large diced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh leaf parsley
• 1 cup mushrooms, diced

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Loosen the skin from the meat with your fingers, leaving one side attached. Place 4 basil leaves under the skin of each chicken breast. Pull the skin over as much of the meat as possible so the chicken won't dry out. With your hands, rub each piece with olive oil and sprinkle very generously with salt and pepper. Bake the chicken for 35 to 40 minutes, until the skin is lightly browned and the chicken is just cooked through.

Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove the meat from the bones. Cut the chicken in large dice pieces and set aside.

 Melt 4 tablespoons of the butter in a large saute pan. Add the potatoes and onions, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and saute over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until evenly browned and cooked through.

In a separate saute pan, melt the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the red peppers, garlic, thyme, paprika, tomato paste, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and saute over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until the edges of the peppers are seared.
Add the chicken and the pepper mixture to the potatoes and heat through. Add the scallions and parsley, toss together and place on a serving platter.

Pasta and chicken dish.....

Simple but delicious chicken and pasta dish

1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp roasted red pepper, minced
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dry basil
1 tsp dry parsley
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 pkg dry hidden valley ranch dressing


8 oz (uncooked) radiatore pasta, cooked according to the box directions
2 grilled chicken breasts
1 avocado (Neal hates avocado so he did not have any on his, I on the other hand put avocado on everything)

While the pasta is cooking mix the first 8 ingredients in a medium bowl. Drain the pasta and toss with the olive oil mixture.  Slice the chicken into strips and dice the avocado and place on top then enjoy. So simple but so delicious.

The chicken was actually leftovers from the night before. I don't have an actual recipe for the marinade but it was quite delicious. I used a sun dried tomato dressing, a bunch of fresh cilantro and basil, garlic, salt and pepper and a little bit of honey. I beat out the chicken to tanderise it then let it marinade for a few hours.  To cook heat the grill on high, when you are ready to grill drop the temperature to Med/Low and grill for 6 minutes on each side.

Chicken stuffed shells in an alfredo sauce.....

I made this the other night and we literally wanted to lick the baking dish. It was super delicious and it's pretty easy to make with the help of some store bough ingredients. The sauce is actually a recipe that I got from Neal's mom. It's used for a slow cooker recipe but I have used it in so many ways.

Ingredients for the sauce:
1 Family size cream of chicken soup
1 8 oz pkg cream cheese at room temperature
1/2 cup milk
1 packer DRY Italian dressing


Directions for the sauce:
Combine all the ingredients and mix till well combined.

Ingredients for the filling:
1 box of the large shells cooked according to the box directions
2 chicken breasts on the bone
fresh herbs of your choice (I used a few leaves of basil a tsp of fresh rosemary and 1/2 tsp thyme)
3 Tbsp roasted red pepper chopped
salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup of shredded cheese (I used sharp cheddar)

Directions:
Preheat the over to 375 degrees.

Place the chicken in a baking dish. Separate the skin from the meat and shove the herbs underneath the skin. This gives the chicken a really nice flavor. Drizzle the olive oil all over the chicken then season generously with salt and pepper. Bake for about an hour till the skin is nice and crispy and the meat pulls off the bone. Let the chicken cool then pull off the skin and pull the meat off the bone and shred the meat. Add half the sauce to the meat and mix well then add the roasted red pepper and Tbsp of the leftover sauce mix till combined. Place a few Tbsp of the sauce on the bottom of your baking dish place the shells on top and pour the leftover sauce all over that. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top. Bake for 45 min to an hour at 375 degrees or until nice and brown on top.

What do you do with your leftover chicken???

Remember when I made THIS! Well I had some leftover chicken left and decided to make chicken quesadillas!

6 tortilla shells 

1 cup of grilled diced chicken

1 cup of cheese

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 avocado diced

1/2 cup lettice

1 medium tomato 

juice of 1/2 lemon

2 fresh basil leaves

sour cream for dipping

First dice up your tomato, avocado, and basil then mix them together. Drizzle the lemon on top and season with salt and pepper.

On one tortilla shell place some of the diced up chicken and cheese then place on the griddle. Brown on both sides.

Simple and delicious!!!

BBQ Chicken Braid....

Printable Recipe 

Dough:

• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 cups all-purpose flour

In a large mixer bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.

To the yeast mixture, add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic, about 8 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat. Cover with a damp cloth, and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Filling:

• 2 cups shredded, cooked chicken
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced into thin half moons
• 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
• 1 cup fresh mozzarella
• 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 Tbsp fresh basil

Turn the dough out onto a flowered surface.

Roll the other portion into about an 11X17-inch rectangle. Using a pizza cutter, knife, or dough cutter, cut 1-inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. 

 Mix a little of the bbq with the onions and the rest with the shredded chicken.

I grilled my chicken on our fancy little grill that I got from my mom and dad.

fill the center with the chicken onions, cheese and basil.

Start at one end and braid the dough. I used a little egg wash at the end brushed the top to give it a little shine. 

It's a little tricky moving the braid to the cookie sheet so mine did not come out very pretty but ohhh boy was it yummy. 

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!!!!!

Printable Recipe 

Stir Fry.....

I really liked this recipe I tried from from Pioneer Woman. Pretty simple to make!!! I used broccoli, mushrooms, peppers and asparagus for my vegetables and I used corn starch instead of arrowroot as my thickening agent. Ohh and now that I'm looking at her recipe again I did not use the cilantro but that would have been a nice fresh addition.

Butter Chicken....

 This was posted by PW but it was a tasty chicken recipe and you can find it HERE. I did my own similar version of the recipe. I had to improvise since I did not have all the same ingredients. 

Ingredients:

1/4 tsp chipotle

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cardomom

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic, chopped crushed whatever you like

1 whole lime

1 Tbsp of butter

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Tomato Sauce

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes

1 Tbsp fresh basil

1 Tbsp fresh parsley

1 pint Whipping Cream

Directions:

Combine the 1st 8 ingredients in a bowl ( I like to do it in a zip lock bag) and let sit overnight or for a couple of hours so that the ingredients can combine and marinate. 

I like to pound out the meat to tenderize it and this way it cooks evenly!!

Next you want to brown the chicken on both sides and then add the onions to saute.

When the chicken is browned on both sides and the onions are soft add your tomatoes and sauce (we do not like chunks of tomatoes so I just did the sauce) Then add the parsley and basil! Let it simmer for about 30 minutes!!

AND while you wait you can pull your kids around the house in a laundry basket.....yup never a dull moment around here!!!

Ok enough fun back to cooking!!!

Then in the very end add your cream.

 We had rice with ours. I I like to brown the rice a little first before cooking. For a cup of rice I use a Tbsp of butter 1/2 tsp of salt and 1/2 tsp of black pepper and just saute it for 2 or 3 minutes then add the water.

For our vegetable we had zucchini....nice and easy. Just sauteed it in some Olive Oil salt and pepper and just a little teryiaki (1Tbsp).