Chicken Fried Rice with Veggies

Easy baby! Even the boy ate it, little skeptical mind you, but ended up enjoying it.

2 Boneless Chicken Breasts, cut into cubes
1 Medium Onioin, sliced
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
1 Lb Frozen Asian Vegetables
2 Cups Cooked Rice
2 Eggs
1 Tablesppon Peanut oil
Soysauce (low sodium preferred)

To Prepare
Heat oil in wok to high, stir fry onions for 2 minutes. Add garlic and chicken and stirfry until done (2-3 Minutes) then remove to plate. Add veggies to wok and stirfry for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked rice and continue to stir for 3 minutes. Push All ingredients to side leaving a clear place in center of wok. Crack to eggs into middle and beat and cook until scrambled. Add chicken back to wok mix all together, add a few squirts of soysauce (to your taste), keep mixing for another minute.

Ready to serve

General "Love you long time" Tso Chicken

This is SOOO GOOD, so easy, and quite inexpensive. You can use chicken breast, but I prefer to buy drumsticks and take the time to debone and skin them. I find the meat more tender and tasty. I sometimes make the sauce myself, but if tired and lazy, will use a bottles General Tso sauce. To me the Presidents Choice is the best, VH also good.

Serve 4 easily.
1 package of 10 chicken drumsticks - deboned and skinned. Cut into bite sized pieces
1 bunch green onions, finely sliced into 2" long pieces
1 large carrot, finely sliced into 2" long pieces
Peanut Oil

Batter
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 cup cornstarch

Sauce
1/2 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
2 teaspoons ginger, finely diced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
3/4 brown cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 cup chicken stock
or buy a bottle of premade General Tso Sauce - almost as good.

To prepare
Sauce
Place sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk. You can make this ahead of time just refrigerate until needed, mixing again ready to use.

Batter
In a large bowl mix inredients. It will be thick. You might need to add a touch of water, but you want to keep as thick as possible. Add chicken pieces to bowl, coat well. Heat oil in wok to 350 degrees. Add chicken 5-10 pieces at a time and fry until crispy. If you put too many in it lowers the heat and they don't get crispy.
Place cooked pieces on a paper towel on a plate. Keep warm in oven (150 degrees) until all chicken is fried.

Drain almost all oil from wok and, on high heat, cook carrots and green onions for 1 minute. Add sauce cook until thick. If it gets too thick add water. Add chicken, cook until all is boiling hot. About 2 minutes.

Marylin Burgers - Beef, chicken, turkey or veggie

Makes 6 Burgers

2 Lbs Lean ground beef (can sub ground chicken or turkey)
1 Medium mild onion finely diced (Vidalia, Spanish etc...)
1 Egg
1 Cup Bread Crumbs
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 Tablespoon Grainy Mustard
Splash Worcestershire Sauce
Crushed Chilli Peppers

To prepare
Put all ingredients in large bowl except bread crumbs, and mix together well until you feel they are evenly ditributed. Start adding bread crumbs. The amount you need will vary per batch. The goal is to make sure the burger will hold together well (When you form a ball and drop it on the counter it shouldn't break).
Break into 6 even portions and form a ball, than flatten to desired thickness.

In the summer I would BBQ on high indirect heat (to keep from flaring up) with lid closed for 8 minutes per side. Today I pan cooked becuase its snowing and I din't feel like going outside. 1 tablespoon of olive oil on Medium high heat, add burgers and put on tight fitting lid. Do not touch for 8 minutes. Remove lid, flip burgers, put the lid back on. Reduce heat to medium. This will keep the burgers juicy. Too much flipping will dry them out. Put on your favorite bun. We today did the Marylin style which is on a toasted white ot whole wheat bread. Add your favorite toppings and you're done!

VEGGIE VERSION
Makes 6 burgers (We made 2 large burgers tonight - just 1/2 the ingredients)

2 Can Chickpeas(can sub lentils, kidney beans etc...)
1 Medium mild onion finely diced (Vidalia, Spanish etc...)
2 Eggs
1/2 Cup - 1 Cup Flour
Salt and pepper
2 Tablespoons Ketchup
1 Tablespoon Grainy Mustard
Splash Worcestershire Sauce
Crushed Chilli Peppers

To prepare
Put all ingredients in large bowl except flour, and mix together well until you feel they are evenly ditributed. You want the 1.2 the chickpeas to be in a paste and the other 1/2 still 1/4 to 1/2 of its original shape. This allows for some texture in the burger. Start adding flour. The amount you need will vary per batch. The goal is to make sure the burger will hold together well.

Break into 6 even portions and form a ball, than flatten to desired thickness.

1 tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat, add burgers and put on tight fitting lid. Do not touch for 8 minutes. Remove lid, flip burgers, put the lid back on. Reduce heat to medium-low. Too much flipping can break them. Put on your favorite bun. We today did the Marylin style which is on a toasted white ot whole wheat bread. Add your favorite toppings and you're done!

Chicken Fajita Recipe

3 chicken breasts (boneless/skinless -about 1-1/2 lbs)- flatten to about 1/3" thick - as even as possible.
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 large onion cut into slices
1 red or green bell pepper cut into slices
6 button mushrooms cut into slices
3 cloves garlic crushed
Crushed chili peppers to taste
Parika to taste
Cumin to taste
Salt and pepper
8 soft tortillas

Toppings
Grated cheese (your preference), Diced tomato, Chopped lettuce, Yougurt or sour cream.

Marinate the chicken for as much time as you can with 1 tablespoon olive oil, garlic, crushed peppers, paprika, pinch of salt and pepper.

Over medium-high heat, add remaining olive oil and cook onions, bell peppers, mushrooms until they become soft (not too soft, about 3 minutes) and browned. Place in bowl and cover with foil. Use same pan and cook chicken until done (about 4- 5 minutes a side). Slice the chicken in even strips.

Warm the tortillas at 325 for 5 minutes.

On a large platter, place chicken on one side, veggies an the other and all your toppings in the center and let everyone serve themselves!

Chicken Cacciatore

Feed's 4 with leftovers

3 Chicken Breasts Boneless (or use 4 chicken legs with thigh bone-in/skin-on)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, coarsley chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large celery stalk, chopped
3/4 cup white wine (if open)
1 can whole tomatoes (san marzano if possible)
1 can tomato sauce
1-2 teaspoons dried oregano an or italian seasoning
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Pour oil in to medium high saucepan
Cut breasts, lengthwise and sprinkle some of the spices on the both sides.
Brown both sides (approx 5 minutes)
Add onions, garlic and veggies until softened (2-3 minutes)
Add wine, if using and reduce to 1/2
Add tomatoes and sauce and rest of spices.
Cook on medium low for 1/2 an hour
Crush tomatoes with fork.

Works well with most pastas, we usually use spaghetti, linguini, fusilli or gemelli.