cause i'm a fatty

Tandoori Chicken Thighs 

What I like about chicken thighs is that they don’t dry out as quickly as chicken breasts when you’re grilling them. There’s been days I’ve had no time to marinate, but the thighs always work out. 

Sriracha Chicken Tenders with Bleu Cheese Dressing

When it comes to late night dining, I’ve never been that fond of grilled cheese sandwiches or burgers. But if there is one thing I can’t resist, it’s perfectly golden chicken fingers with the perfect dipping sauce (honey mustard mixed with a little tabasco is my go to condiment). I might have mentioned before that Boulder does not have any diners that are open past 2 pm. We had chicken tenderloins in the fridge so I decided to take on the task of making chicken tenders from scratch. It isn’t too labor intensive, and the results are better than anything I’ve had in a diner.

Using 1 1/2 lbs of boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch wide strips, marinade them over night in a bowl containing 3/4 cup buttermilk and 1/8 cup sriracha, with a dash of pepper. Ideally you should marinade this over night, but a hour would do well also. If you don’t have buttermilk, mix 3/4 cup of regular milk with either 1 tbsp of cream of tartar, 1 tbsp of lemon juice, or 1 tbsp of white vinegar. Let the mixture stand for 15 minutes then stir to prevent any curdling. Your buttermilk can be refrigerated or used immediately.

To make your coating mix the following ingredients in a shallow bowl.

1 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup flour
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp cayenne pepper or paprika 
1 tsp salt & pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp cumin (optional)

Dip your marinated chicken tenders into the bread crumb mixture, pressing down on each side to make sure they are coated well.

Turn your oven to 350-365 degrees. In a large saute pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil, shallow fry the chicken tenders, 2 minutes each side, until both sides have crisped up and are golden. Place the tenders on a cookie sheet or baking pan. Once all the tenders are done, bake them for 7-10 minutes or until the internal temperature is 165 degrees. (You could also simply cut a tender up and check for doneness)

Every chicken tender needs something delicious and enticing to be dipped in. Since these are so spicy, a cream based dip seems best. You could liven up a ranch dressing with chopped up cilantro, or make a bleu cheese dip, which is even better when made with fresh bleu cheese crumbles. The portions are up to you, but I mixed up 1/4 cup of bleu cheese, 2-3 tbsp milk, 3 tbsp light mayo, 2 chopped green onions, and a clove of garlic, until a creamy consistency started to form. A sprinkle of dried dill weed on the dressing is one of many great finishing touches on this dish.

Chicken Handi

It’s hard for me to differentiate chicken handi with other indian dishes because it uses the trifecta of indian ingredients: tomatoes, onions, chilis, and the usual spices of coriander, cumin, and tumeric. 

I made a yogurt marinade with red chili powder, coriander, some cumin, along with some ginger paste. I cut the chicken up into 1 in. by 1 in. pieces and let it sit for an hour. 

In a pot I boiled some tomatoes until they were tender and ran them through a strainer to get tomato paste. I also boiled some regular yellow onions until they were tender and blended them along with some crushed garlic and chili pepper 

In a shallow pan I heated up 2 tablespoons of ghee on med-high heat and threw in the chicken cubes, letting each side get golden brown (about 2-3 minutes). Afterwards I added the tomato and onion paste, and put the heat to simmer, covered, for 10 minutes. Finishing touches included a adding chopped cilantro, a little bit of milk (although they recommend heavy cream), and 1 tablespoon of ghee.

Here is a great site with pictures of each step.The images are helpful, but the dish looks too greasy if you use all the butter required. 

Tarragon Chicken Salad 

Tarragon is made to be used in chicken salad. It gives wonderful sweetness that is subtle, similar to rosemary. Many variations of tarragon chicken salad use chopped apples, dried cranberries, or raisins, but I personally don’t like my salad too sweet. This recipe is sweet, but spicy also from the dijon mustard and chili pepper. I even added a few drops of tabasco to give it more acidity, but it’s completely up to you. The green stuff in the picture is a few leaves of cilantro that my herb garden has yielded. I just couldn’t resist! 

Ingredients:

2 cups of chopped roasted chicken
1/4 cup of finely chopped red onion
1/4 tsp of salt (kosher is preferable)
1/4 tsp of ground black pepper
1/4 cup of mayonnaise (I don’t love mayo, but you can add more if you need)
1/2 cup of low fat cream cheese  
1 tbs of dried tarragon leaves, finely chopped
1 tbs of dijon mustard
1 finely chopped chili pepper (only if you like it spicy)
1 tbs of lime juice (lemon works fine also)
 

Directions:

Beat together all of the ingredients except for the chicken well.
Taste to make sure it’s all balanced. 
Mix in the chicken.

Use as a spread on crostinis, or simply in a sandwich. In this picture I put it in between 2 slices of garlic bread and it was heavenly! I’ve paired a Ritz cracker with a slice of cucumber and some tarragon chicken salad and it was delicious too. Definitely something to keep in mind for a party. 

Note: I didn’t have celery on hand so I went without it, but if you want to incorporate celery use about 1/3 cup. 

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Broccoli, Turkey Bacon, Scallions, Red Onions, Garlic, Manchego & Goat Cheeses. 

I love how creative you can get in making stuffing, two of my staple dishes being empanadas and and the dish you see above.

In the past I’ve stuffed chicken breasts with:

Brie & Apples (along with a Panko crust) 
Chorizo, Spinach, Feta, Onions, Cilantro
Prosciutto & Provolone. 

And variations along those lines. I always use onions, garlic, some type of a meat that is salty and a cheese. The cheese is what helps the dish remain tender without going dry, so I’ll never skimp out on it no matter how health conscious I’m trying to be.

Directions:

• Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. 
  Saute your ingredients in a pan and keep on the side.
• Put the chicken breasts between two sheets of wax paper and pound until they are slightly thinner, and more tender.
• Use a very sharp knife and carefully slit the breast so you carve out a pocket.
• Stuff the breasts. If you have extra stuffing save it! 
• Heat some oil up in a pan and cook the chicken breasts on both sides until they are a golden brown color (do not cook all the way!)
• Nestle the breasts into a tray and top with remaining stuffing, and add some extra cheese if necessary.
• Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes.
• Garnish with some more cilantro, scallions (if you wish).

Every time I’ve made this dish it’s always been juicy, tender, and tasty, it’s really a no fail situation. In the past we’ve also grilled the chicken breasts which gave them a natural smoky flavor. 

Sautéed Green Beans and Korean BBQ Chicken 

I remember all to well my distaste for green beans as a child. But I’ve come to realize that this was only because I never had green beans the correct way. I’ve learned from my boyfriend’s dad that all you need to do is boil the beans for 5 minutes, blanche them, and saute them with shallots and olive oil until the shallots are brown, and crisp. 

The chicken was simply diced and marinated in Korean BBQ sauce and sriracha (my FAVORITE condiment of all time) and sauteed with red bell peppers. -Even though they are a little bit more expensive, I always opt for red bell peppers over green, there are so many more nutrients in the red that completely makes up for the price difference.