SMOKY CHICKEN BREASTS WITH BACON AND CHEESE

This chicken is insane.  Juicy, flavorful, BACON, melted cheese, come onnnnnnnn.  Normally I stare blankly at a package of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, wondering how in the world to make those boring things edible.  Now I have the knowledge.  I have the power.  You can too.  Just make this chicken!!!

First, make some bacon.  I went the oven route.

While the bacon is doing its thang in the oven, get to work on your boring chicken.  Place chicken between sheets of plastic wrap, then pound away with a meat mallet.  You want them at an even thinness of about 1/2 an inch.  I loathe thick chicken.  Generously sprinkle both sides with your choice of creole or cajun seasoning.

Pour on a good amount of ranch dressing.  Ken's is delicious and very thick, which works well here because you need the ranch to stay put. 

Next, you need some cheddar.  I made this dinner on a whim, so I had NO BLOCKS OF CHEESE in my fridge.  Totally weird.  Usually the cheese drawer is full at this house.  I had a few cracker cuts left, thank goodness.  My plan was to use shredded cheddar, but I think when I make it again, I'll slice the cheese.  This melted perfectly slow and didn't melt off the chicken. 

Your bacon should be done by now.  Drain it on some paper towels, then break pieces to fit on your chicken breasts.  Cover the chicken with bacon until you forget it's there.

Bake at 350 for half an hour.  You'll probably be bored, so eat the rest of the bacon while you wait.

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 lb bacon
Cajun/Creole seasoning
ranch dressing
cheddar cheese, sliced or grated

Cook bacon.  Preheat oven to 350.  Pound chicken to even thinness, about 1/2 inch.  Place in pie plate and sprinkle both sides with cajun seasoning.  Drizzle on ranch dressing.  Place cheese on top.  Drape bacon over chicken, breaking to fit.  Bake for half an hour, or until chicken is done.

Recipe inspiration

HUMMUS CRUSTED CHICKEN

Do you ever bookmark recipes, only to forget about them and then of course, never make them?  Yeah. Me neither.  So when my friend, Nicole, sent me this recipe for Hummus Crusted Chicken I had two thoughts.  1, this chicken looks AMAZING.  And 2, this chicken looks FAMILIAR.  So I searched my saved recipes, and sure enough, there it was!  That's when you know you have to make something.  Nicole has never led me astray when it comes to food, and she absolutely raved about this chicken.  Oh, and did I mention it cooks in one pan and requires minimal prep?

I didn't follow the recipe EXACTLY (shocking, I know) so here are my changes: I used my mandoline to slice the veggies in record time, forgot to use an onion, fileted the chicken breasts so they'd cook faster, and used sumac AND smoked paprika for flavor.  Pat the chicken as dry as you can get it so the hummus sticks on there really well. 

Delicious and healthy dinner in half an hour, what more could you ask for?

P.S.  Apologies for the not great pictures.  Lack of daylight and desire to dig in are to blame.

CHICKEN ENCHILADA SPAGHETTI

I am a Mexican food addict.  Regular spaghetti with pasta sauce?  Meh.  Spaghetti with spicy enchilada sauce, veggies, chicken and cheese?  Yes, please!  Usually, I cook chicken to make this dinner, but I got lazy and purchased a rotisserie chicken breast instead.  SO MUCH BETTER!  The flavor was fabulous.  This recipe is huge and uses an entire pound of pasta, so feel free to halve it if you're still determined to maintain your summer bikini bod.

Important notes:  Depending on the brand of enchilada sauce you use, you may want to adjust your cayenne pepper amount.  Perhaps taste before adding the extra heat!  Also, if you salt your pasta water enough, you won't need to add salt at the end.

Love love love this paprika.

The most delicious cooking shortcut!

Ingredients

1 lb spaghetti (regular, not thin)
Shredded rotisserie chicken breast, about 3 cups
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cans chopped green chiles, 4.5 oz each
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
3 cans red enchilada sauce, 10 oz each
1-2 cups freshly grated cheddar cheese
salt, to taste

Boil spaghetti in salted water according to directions on box for al dente.  Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add olive oil.  When smoking, add onions and cook for a couple minutes, until soft.  Add chopped green chiles, undrained.  Cook for another 5 minutes.  Add garlic and stir for one minute.  Stir in cumin, chili powder, paprika and cayenne.  Pour in enchilada sauce and let simmer for about 8 minutes, until sauce has reduced a bit.  Add chicken and heat through, about 2 minutes.  Turn off the heat.  Using tongs, add spaghetti in small batches to the sauce and combine.  Gently fold in the cheese and serve!  

CHICKEN VERDE WONTON TACOS

I spotted this recipe on one of my all-time favorite blogs over a year ago, and for some insane reason it took me until now to finally make it.  I am so glad I did though!  These little tacos are perfection.  Wonton wrappers enveloping a creamy, cheesy, slightly spicy chicken filling.  So simple.  You can find the recipe here.  I pretty much followed the recipe exactly as written, except I didn't use light cheese or sour cream.  Full fat dairy is my weakness.  Oh, and I doubled it since this was going to be a main course for us, not an appetizer.  Although these would be perfect little snacks to contribute to your next gathering!

First, you must find wonton wrappers at your grocery store!  They're usually in the produce section.

Then, you have to acquire some cooked chicken.  The most delicious way is to use a rotisserie chicken.  Or you could cook your own.  OR, you could reach into the freezer for your favorite shortcut: fully cooked chicken!  I keep this on hand for quick meals like wraps, quesadillas and buffalo chicken topped salad. 

Finally, you'll need some authentic salsa verde.  Found this amazingness at World Market.

Now it's time to mix everything together in a bowl.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, then scoop the filling onto each wonton wrapper.  Top with cheese.

Bring two opposite corners up, pinch together with water, then bake!

 Ingredients

4 ounces cooked and shredded chicken
1/4 cup salsa verde
1 tablespoon sour cream
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin
2 tablespoons sliced green onions
1/4 cup shredded cheese (I used white cheddar)
8 wonton wrappers

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line baking sheet with parchment paper.  In small bowl mix the chicken, salsa, sour cream, chili powder, garlic powder, cumin and green onions.  Place the wonton wrappers on baking sheet and scoop about one tablespoon of filling into center of each wonton.  Sprinkle cheese evenly over each wonton.  Bring two of the opposing corners together using a little water to stick them together.  Bake for about 5 minutes, until wontons get crispy.  Keep a close eye on them the entire time so they don't burn.  (I was able to bake mine for almost 10 minutes and they got perfectly crisp)

SPINACH ARTICHOKE CHICKEN PASTA BAKE

Have you ever been in the middle of making a recipe, then decided to completely change it?  That's how this meal came to be.  The original recipe was for simple and delicious spinach artichoke chicken, which we've had several times.  You place chicken breasts or tenders in a baking dish, then mix together spinach, artichokes, parmesan cheese and mayo, then spread it over chicken and bake. Easy.

BUT, as I was spreading the mixture over the chicken it suddenly became very obvious that the spinach dominated the dish and the chicken was basically invisible.  It wasn't a lot of chicken, and who wants to eat just forkfuls of spinach for dinner?  Usually in cases like these, I turn to my best friend: pasta.  And what do all delicious pasta dishes need?  That's right, a creamy dreamy cheese sauce.  Mozzarella seemed like a perfect match for spinach, and there just so happened to be half a block sitting in the fridge.  You guys, it was like fate.  Word of warning: this completely filled a 13x9 baking dish, so if you're not feeding a crowd, halve the recipe.

Boil about 3/4 a pound of pasta with kosher salt, reserving a cup or so of starchy, salty pasta water.  Mozzarella is a sturdy cheese, and when it's melted it still manages to keep its consistency pretty well.  Adding pasta water really helps to smoothly mix the ingredients together.

Make an easy roux with butter and flour, add milk, remove from heat and whisk in cheese.  Throw in some salt, pepper and crushed red pepper for flavor.

When chicken is done baking with spinach mixture, cut it apart in the baking dish and mix it all up.  Pour cooked pasta on top, then cheese sauce, and finally the pasta water.  Stir until combined, then sprinkle on some parmesan before the final bake.

Ingredients

1 lb boneless skinless chicken tenders or breasts
2 bags frozen spinach, thawed and drained well
2 cans artichoke hearts in water, drained rinsed and chopped
1 cup mayonnaise (or nonfat Greek yogurt)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus 1/4 cup for topping
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 pound rotini pasta

Cheese sauce

2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups milk
2 cups shredded mozzarella
salt
freshly ground black pepper
crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Spray a 13x9 baking dish with cooking spray, then lay chicken flat without overlapping in dish.  Season with salt and pepper.  In large bowl, combine spinach, artichokes, mayonnaise, parmesan and garlic together.  Taste, add salt and pepper if needed.  Spread mixture over chicken.  Bake for 30-40 minutes, until chicken is done.  Remove from oven, cut apart chicken and mix with spinach.
Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente (it will cook a little more in the oven) and scoop out a cup of pasta water before draining.
For the cheese sauce: melt butter in saucepan over medium heat, then whisk in flour.  Keep whisking until thick and light brown/caramel colored, about 3-4 minutes.  Slowly pour in milk while whisking.  Keep stirring until it thickens and reaches a boil, about 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat, then stir in cheese.  Season with salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Pour pasta on top of chicken spinach mixture, then pour cheese sauce all over.  Pour in hot pasta water and mix well.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup parmesan on top, then bake for 10 minutes.  Switch oven to high broil, then keep a close eye on it until it's slightly browned, about 5 more minutes. 

Note:  This recipe is super versatile.  I used what I had on hand.  If you love chicken, use more than a pound.  If you're not obsessed with pasta, use less.  Switch up the cheese.  If you're not a mayo fan, sub nonfat Greek yogurt.  Go wild!