Chicken and Zucchini Pad Thai

I've tried to make Pad Thai from scratch and it never turns out like the way you think Pad Thai should taste. However, there are some really good sauces that allow you to make a perfect Pad Thai dinner. The key to getting Pad Thai right is to use the proper noodle so it doesn't taste like Pad Thai spaghetti. I use Well-Pac Japanese Udon Noodles and they're perfect.

 

Ingredients:

Japanese udon noodles

1 small diced chicken breast
1 small dice zucchini
1/2 diced yellow onion
4 - 5 diced green onions
4 crushed garlic cloves
Pinch red pepper flakes
1 bunch chopped cilantro
chopped nuts
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:
Cook the udon noodles according to the package which is in boiling water for 5 minutes. When cooked, rinse in cold water and set a side.

Take a 12" sauté pan and heat to medium. Add the olive oil, onion, garlic, green onions and cook for a couple of minutes just until the onion starts to turn translucent.

Add the diced chicken, zucchini and cilantro and red pepper. Turn up the heat to hi and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Add the Pad Thai sauce and udon noodles and heat and toss until everything is well incorporated.

To serve, place a portion of Pad Thai on a plate and garnish with chopped nuts, chopped cilantro and diced green onions.

Crock Pot Chicken and Biscuits

This is awesome comfort food for sure. Maybe it the fall weather setting in, but I just had a craving for make a crock pot dish. This is really easy to prepare and absolutely killer comfort.

Ingredients:
 

4 medium large chicken breast

1 can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 can of condensed cream of celery soup
1 table spoon butter
1 medium onion diced fine
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons Wondra flour
1 package Pillsbury Grand's biscuits

Preparation:
Set your crock pot to 6 hours. Add the chicken breast to the crock pot. Sprinkle the diced onion on the chicken. Add the cream of chicken soup and cream of celery soup to the pot and mix in. Let the chicken cook for 4 hours.

 

After 4 hours you want to thicken up the sauce. Add the flour to the milk and mix in really well so there are no lumps. Pour the mixture in the crock pot and mix in. This should thicken up the sauce nicely.

Next take the biscuits out of the package and cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Take the biscuit pieces and place on the top of the chicken so they cover the entire surface. Cook for another 2 hours and you're done.

 

To serve, place some sauce on a serving plate and add a couple of pieces of chicken, couple of biscuits and garnish with a salt and pepper and a little chopped parsley.

 

 

Grilled Grass Fed Rib Eye Steak with Scalloped Potato Stack

You can't go wrong with a grilled rib eye steak and potato dish....

Ingredients:
Bone in rib eye steak
Russet potato's
Sliced yellow onion
Cheddar cheese
Light sour cream
salt and pepper

Preparation: Steak
Heat your grill to hi heat. Coat each steak with olive oil and generous salt and pepper. If your steak is 1" thick, follow these instructions.

Place the steaks on the grill 45 degrees to the grate. Cook for 3 minutes 30 seconds. Flip the steak and cook for another 3 minutes 30 seconds. . After a total of 7 minutes the steak should be on the rare side of medium rare. Cook 1 extra minute if you like medium. Place the steaks on a plate and tent cover the steaks with aluminum foil for 3 - 4 minutes. Perfection!

 

Preparation: Potato Stack
Peel the russet potato's and use your mandolin to slice the potato's very thin. Use the mandolin to also slice some yellow onion, you don't need much.

 

I use a metal 3" ring mold to make this scalloped potato dish. Place the ring molds on to a baking pan and spray the inside of the ring mold and bottom of the baking pan with olive oil or canola oil.

 

Place slices of potato in the ring mold about 1/3 of the way to the top. Add a couple of slivered
yellow onion, it doesn't take much. Add a little sprinkle of shredded cheddar and a pinch of salt and pepper.

 

Create another layer by adding more potato till your about 2/3's the way up to the top followed by a few slivered onions, cheddar cheese and salt and pepper. Top the scalloped potato with a little more cheese.

 

Cover the potato's with aluminum foil and bake in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

 

When done cooking use a oven mitt and hold the ring mold and use a sharp knife to cut the potato loose. Take a spatula and take the ring mold to the serving plate and slide the ring mold off.

 

Top the scalloped potato with lite sour cream, sprinkle of cheddar cheese and green onion.

Garlic and Red Pepper Flake Sautéed Asparagus

Here is a quick and simple preparation for asparagus that's so good. The key to this dish is to cook the asparagus half way and then add the garlic and red pepper. By doing this the garlic and pepper won't over cook and become bitter or burnt.

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus

4 garlic cloves

Pinch red pepper flakes

Preparation:
Cut the asparagus at an angle into 3/4" pieces. Heat a 10" sauté pan to medium high and when hot add 1 table spoon avocado oil. The reason I like avocado oil is that it's every bit as healthy for you as olive oil, but it has a higher burn temp so it works better for  sautéing.

Cook the asparagus for 5 minutes or until the asparagus starts to soften. Add the crushed garlic and red pepper. Sauté another couple of minute and serve.

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Thighs

I was working up in Seattle and did you know they have a thing for teriyaki? Ya, names like Best Teriyaki, Yummi Teriyaki, Teriyaki 1st, I love Teriyaki....there's a million of them. Anyway, I got home from my trip and made my own grilled teriyaki chicken and it was awesome.

 

The key to good grilled teriyaki is to marinate the chicken thighs for a couple of hours to infuse the flavor, but then remove the teriyaki sauce of the thighs so they're mostly dry before throwing on the grill. The reason is that you want to cook on a nice high heat to char the outside, but if you leave the sauce on, because of the sugar in the teriyaki sauce,  you just end up with a burning mess.

 

Ingredients:

Organic skinless boneless chicken thighs

Kona Coast Island Teriyaki Sauce

Basmati rice

Diced green onions
Sesame seeds

 

Preparation:

Place the chicken thighs in a large Ziploc bag. Marinate the chicken thighs in some teriyaki sauce for a couple of hours. When ready to cook, remove the chicken thighs from the bag and place on some paper towels and remove as much of the teriyaki sauce from the chicken thighs as you can.

 

Heat your grill to high. Use some spray canola oil to coat the chicken thighs and place on the grill. Cook the chicken thighs for about 5 minutes per side. If the grill is hot enough you should have some nice char and grill marks. Remove the chicken from the grill to a plate and cover with foil for 5 minutes.

 

To serve, take the chicken thighs and slice into 4 or 5 pieces and place on top of some basmati rice. Brush on some teriyaki sauce and garnish with diced green onions and sesame seeds. 

Bacon, Lettuce and Tomato Chopped salad with Blue Cheese Yogurt Dressing

I've been wanting to make this for a while and it turned out better than I thought. All the flavors work wonderfully together and with the yogurt dressing, it pretty healthy as well.

Ingredients:
1 head iceberg lettuce
2 tablespoons real bacon bits
Sliced cherry tomato's
Opa Greek yogurt blue cheese salad dressing

Preparation:

Take the head of iceberg lettuce cut in half and remove the core. Slice each half of the lettuce as thin as you can ending up with a pile of shredded lettuce. Take half the amount of dressing and toss into the lettuce and place a serving portion on a serving plate. Drizzle on a little more salad dressing and top with bacon bits and sliced cherry tomato's. Finish the salad with fresh ground pepper.