Chili Lime Chicken Rub

We recently came into possession of a hand-me-down grill.  It is slow, doesn’t tell you the temp, is confusing to use, but has also opened the door for all new kinds of cooking ideas (you may sense my excitement here, but I’ll spare you my attempt at typing squeal sounds).

Now that being said, this site is about Average Pantries and not everyone has a grill, so I’m just sharing recipes that could also be made by some other means – oven, broiler, etc.  This recipe is a new fav that was simple to prepare, but fresh and tasty in every bite.

Chili Lime Chicken Rub
(adapted from a Betty Crocker recipe)

• 2 tsp chili powder
• 2 tsp brown sugar
• 1 lime, zested and juiced
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Combine all powders (including lime zest) in a small dish.  Trim chicken as desired.  Lay chicken in a large sealable container then add half of the lime juice and half of the powder.  Rub and press mixture onto chicken, then flip to the other side and repeat.  Seal container and place in refrigerator for at least 30 minutes (I let mine go all afternoon) then cook as desired.  Since I took the oil out of this dish, you may want to use a bit of cooking spray on your grill or in your pan.

*Kim’s note:  These were great along a Roasted Carrot Salad that I plan to share soon, but we’re also going to chop up the leftovers to put in Navajo Tacos tonight.  This is a very versatile dish!

Happy Cooking!

Wheat Rolls

This recipe is seriously worth bragging about.

Wheat rolls that are smooth and soft, but are actually a combo of wheat and regular flours so no added gluten or softeners are required.  My average pantry has made these twice already because we just can’t get enough!

Wheat Rolls

• 1 c. warm water
• 2 tsp yeast
• 1 Tbs milk
• 2 Tbs canola oil
• 2 Tbs honey
• 2 Tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then turn off once it has preheated.  Combine warm water and yeast is a small dish, let stand until yeast gets frothy.  Meanwhile, combine milk, oil, honey, sugar, and salt in a large mixing bowl.  When yeast mixture is ready, add it to the large mixing bowl, then add the whole wheat flour, stirring until combined.  Next add the all purpose flour (I find that this smoother flour works in better as the dough begins to stiffen compared to the whole wheat). Knead the dough in the bowl by hand until all flour is incorporated and the dough becomes mostly smooth.

Remove dough, lightly spray the mixing bowl, then return the dough and give it a quick shot of cooking spray as well. Cover bowl with a cloth and put dough in the preheated oven for an hour to rise.  After an hour, punch the dough down and divide it into 12 equal pieces.*  Work the pieces into smooth balls and place in a lightly greased baking dish, cover and put back in the warm oven for about 30 minutes.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, remove from warm oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for around **13 minutes and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

*Having a hard time getting equal sized rolls? Start by cutting the dough ball in half, then in half again.  Break each quarter piece down into 3rds and you’ll have a dozen equal rolls.

**I noticed that my rolls cooked faster (11 minutes) when in a metal pan.  When I made them in glass, they weren’t ready that fast and I had to put them back in for an additional 2 minutes.  Watch your rolls and feel their sides, not the tops, to know when they’re done.

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Apple Couscous

Have you ever had a recipe that you thought was OK, but didn’t quite hit the mark? Have you ever thought of taking that recipe and pairing it up with something new to push it in a whole new direction?  That’s what I did this last weekend and the results were outstanding. This recipe will be a repeat in our house, when at first it was just a snooze.

Even if you’re scared of couscous, I would strongly recommend trying it out. You never know what the outcome will be – Cee LOVED his and gobbled it up like candy, but rice would work for this too if that’s what you have on hand.

Pecan Crusted Chicken with Apple Couscous

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed and cut into strips
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup crushed saltine or wheat crackers
• nutmeg
• 1 box whole wheat couscous
• 1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed, divided
• 2 tablespoon honey
• 2 tablespoons Honey Dijon mustard (I used French’s Brand with good results)
• 1 tsp corn starch

Prepare chicken coating by separating the egg white, adding a little bit of water and whisking it with a fork on a plate.  Crush/chop the crackers and nuts, mix together on another plate.  Dip chicken pieces into egg white wash, then into cracker/pecan mixture, then place in a lightly sprayed dish.  When all of the pieces are done, sprinkle them lightly with the nutmeg.  Bake in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes (longer if you are using thick or whole breasts rather than strips like me).

While the chicken bakes, place couscous in a small mixing bowl. Heat 1/3 cup of the apple concentrate and 2/3 cup water to boiling  then pour apple liquid into couscous. Stir and cover tightly with foil.

Whisk together remaining 2/3 cup apple concentrate, honey and mustard in a small sauce pan. Bring sauce to a boil, stirring constantly.  Once the sauce boils, reduce heat and add the corn starch. Allow sauce to thicken.  Serve chicken with couscous drizzling sauce over all.

Kim’s note:  Want something more? Add fresh spinach leaves to the couscous before it cooks. The warm liquid wilts them down perfectly and they are delicious!

Happy Cooking!

Mini Peanut Butter Cookies (Gluten Free)

I’m about to show you a cookie that is flour-less, butter-less, and that boasts only 4 ingredients in its batter. Brace yourself:

Huh. I was a little surprised myself.  This is a normal looking little cookie – not what I’ve come to expect from gluten-free baking.  Sadly I made these when I was so sick that I lost my sense of taste completely, so I can’t tell you how they are straight out of the oven, but I will say that their texture improves with time and their taste on day 2 is very scrumptious.

Mini Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
(Slightly Modified from Spark Recipes)

• 1 c Peanut Butter* (works best with natural PB, reduced-fat, low sodium, that kind)
• 1 egg
• 1/2 c. packed brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• Milk chocolate chips, if desired

Combine first 4 ingredients and stir until well combined.  Use a rounded teaspoon to scoop dough onto a cookie sheet (I lined mine with parchment paper for easy removal).  Bake at 350 degrees for 7 minutes, remove from oven, stick one or two chips into the cookie tops, then return cookies to oven one final minute of baking.  Let cookie sit on baking sheet to cool then remove them to a rack.

*Kim’s notes: I’d love to try this recipe again with natural Almond Butter.  Also, if you aren’t a fan of chocolate, skip the chips and criss-cross the dough balls with fork tongs for a more classic PB cookie look.

Peanut Butter Frozen Fluff

This is a dessert that can please almost anyone.

The Reese’s lover looking for a chocolate-PB fix.  The health nut that needs a treat that won’t ruin the day.  Even the Weight Watcher’s crowd only has to count one little point for this dessert.

Oh, and it’s easy. That pleases me.

You can eat these in their wrappers, straight from the freezer, or you can be a little classier and turn them out into a dish or plate to be eaten with a utensil.  When sharing one with Cee tonight I used the plate approach, which was classy… until I licked the plate to not waste one drop of the gooey joy that is this stuff.

Peanut Butter Frozen Fluff (adapted from Spark Recipes)

• 1/2 tub of light or fat-free whipped topping (such as Cool Whip)
• 1 Tbs of natural, reduced-fat Peanut Butter
• Chocolate syrup (such as Hershey’s), reduced calorie or sugar-free
• cupcake liners

Stir together the whipped topping and peanut butter until combined. Spoon into liners that are in a cupcake pan or set out on a tray (this recipe makes 6).  Freeze until set – I let mine go over night, then put cups into a freezer bag or wrap them individually to be stored in the freezer until time to serve.

Kim’s note: These were great, but maybe PB isn’t your thing.  I’m thinking of trying this again, but mixing in a couple of Tbs of cheesecake pudding, then drizzle it with strawberry sauce.  Or mashing some berries and putting them in for fruit fluff.

Happy Cooking!

Banana Oat Cookies

This is actually another semi-healthy cookie recipe.  The banana flavor pounds your taste buds, the oats give it substance, and with only 3 Tbs of butter (I used a light spread) there isn’t too much to be guilty about…

UNLESS (dun dun duuuuhhhh)….

You take them to the next level by adding chocolate chips and crushed up Reese’s pieces (in Easter colors).

These cookies are pretty ugly, but that’s their only negative – they’re soft, moist, and flavorful. At the end of the day, there was only 4 left which I think says plenty about their flavor.

Banana Oat Cookies
(adapted from Spark Recipes)

• 3 Tbs butter, softened (I used light spread)
• 1 mashed ripe banana
• 1/2 c. brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 egg white
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 3/4 c. flour
• 1 c. quick oats
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 2/3 c. mix in’s (in the pictured cookies I used mini chocolate chips and crushed Reese’s pieces, but to be healthy you could use some raisins, chopped nuts, blueberries, whatever suits your tastes)

Combine all wet ingredients and brown sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Add dry ingredients and stir well. Add mix in’s and blend until evenly distributed.  Spoon cookies out onto cookie sheets (I baked mine on parchment paper) in about tablespoon sizes, not too big.  Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes. Cookies will be soft, cool on baking sheet and then on wire racks.  Makes close to 2 dozen.

Happy Cooking!

Brioche Rolls

Just in time for Easter, here’s the perfect roll:

Brioche (according to my bread maker company, from whom I’m tweaking this recipe) is a rich, white, egg bread.  Its texture is soft and smooth, especially straight out of the oven, and it’s no-salt flavor can be paired with just about anything from gravy to honey.

Do try them with honey. No joke, I could cry it was so good.  Just crack it open like this:

And drizzle the honey on.  No butter necessary, these stand alone.

Brioche Rolls

• 2/3 c. warm milk
• 1 1/2 tsp. yeast
• 1 1/2 Tbs light butter/margarine, melted
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbs. sugar
• 3 c. flour

Preheat oven to 200 degrees, then turn off once it has preheated.  Combine warm milk and yeast is a small dish, let stand until yeast gets frothy.  Meanwhile, melt butter in a large mixing bowl, then add the eggs and sugar.  When yeast mixture is ready, add it to the large mixing bowl, then add flour by cups, stirring between each addition.  Knead the dough in the bowl by hand until all flour is incorporated and the dough becomes mostly smooth (mine was a little cracked in places).

Remove dough, lightly spray the mixing bowl, then return the dough and cover with a slightly moist cloth and put dough in the preheated oven for an hour to rise.  After an hour, punch the dough down and divide it into 8 equal pieces.*  Work the pieces into smooth balls and place on a lightly greased baking dish, cover and put back in the warm oven for about 30 minutes.

Once the rolls have doubled in size, remove from warm oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Bake the rolls for 10 minutes and serve warm or store in an airtight container.

* Kim’s notes:  I made 8 rolls, but they were HUGE!  I could have easily cut them again and made 16.  If you chose to make smaller rolls, adjust the cooking time so that they don’t come out too tough.

Before baking, I spritzed my rolls with a little I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Spray. You could do this, smear a little melted butter on, or leave them plain.

Happy Cooking!

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Surprise Ingredient Chocolate Chip Cookies

These cookies are healthy.  That means a somewhat odd texture, but a taste that’s just about normal.

If that doesn’t weird you out then keep reading.

Did you spot the surprise ingredient?  That would be a chickpea.  A garbanzo.  Otherwise known as a bean.

I got this recipe from my friend the Trainer Mama.  I didn’t do much to her recipe, just used regular flour since that’s all I had, and added a few of my own touches to the dough-making process.

Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies

• 1 c. brown sugar
• 3/4 c. sugar free applesauce
• 2 large egg whites
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
• 2 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 2 c. flour (she uses whole wheat, I used all-purpose)
• 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt (I would only add this if you’re using no-salt beans, canned beans have TONS of sodium)

I found that the cookies tasted most like cookies when the beans were mashed – if you don’t mash them then the occasional bite just tastes like a bean.  To mash I warm the beans up a little first then mash with my hands and a potato masher.  They will be flaky, but that’s normal.

Add all wet ingredients and sugars to the mashed beans and blend together.  Next add the dry ingredients and stir well to form the dough.  Lastly stir in the chocolate chips.

Bake on parchment paper or a lightly sprayed cooking sheet at 350 degrees for 11 minutes.  Remove from oven and let cool on wire racks.  Store in an air tight container and can be frozen to make them last longer.

*Since these are a low-cal sweet treat, I have a small bag that I keep in the freezer for when I need an emergency dessert that won’t ruin my healthy day.  I even like them cold and straight from the freezer since that makes the odd/chewy texture less noticeable.

I was worried my boys wouldn’t like these and I’d have to end up eating them all by myself, but they really surprised me.  Jay and Cee both gobbled them up like regular cookies…

Sometimes it can be a little hard to get the shot I want when cookies are involved.

Happy Cooking!

Chicken Tomatillo Soup

Tomatillos are bordering on the “obscure ingredient” boundary that I’ve set for this food blog.  BUT I’m letting it slide because they can be found in most grocery stores and because I wrote a little tutorial about them that can be found HERE.  I hope you’ll forgive this little jaunt, especially since I love this fruit SO much now that I’ve worked with it.

With that being said, you really ought to try this soup:

I know that Mexican Tortilla soup recipes are a dime a dozen on line, but I dare you to compare the freshness of this recipe to any of those others that use taco meat seasoning packets or bottled salsa.  This recipe got the whole family excited – even my sister in law who was visiting.  It doesn’t have a lot of kick to it since my boys are spice sissies, but if you want more spice adding some diced jalapenos or tabasco sauce would be a very simple alteration.

Chicken Tomatillo Soup

• Shredded chicken meat (about 2 breasts worth)
• 4 c. chicken broth (I used low-sodium)
• 1 can beans, drained and rinsed (I used black, but pinto or kidney would go great)
• 1/2 c. corn
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 3 tomatillos, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 can chopped tomatoes, including liquid
• 1/4 cup cilantro, divided
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 bay leaf

Top soup with:

• shredded cheese (cheddar, jack, mexican blend), if desired
• 1 avocado, diced (Recommended – Jay and I couldn’t get enough of the avocado in ours)
• sour cream, if desired
• tortilla chips

If not using leftover chicken, place 2 chicken breasts in a pot with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer until the chicken tests done, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the chicken from the water, allow to cool a bit then shred the chicken by hand or with forks.  Store shredded chicken in fridge until ready to use it.

Add a little cooking spray to your soup pot and set over medium heat. Add onions and the tomatillos and cook for about 5 to 8 minutes, until the onions have softened and are beginning to turn a light brown. Stir in the chopped garlic cloves and cook for another 2 minutes.  Next, add the chopped tomatoes with liquid, beans, corn, chicken, cumin, paprika, bay leaf, cilantro, and finally the chicken broth.

Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf before serving.  Serve the hot soup with the toppings I used or others to your liking.

Happy Cooking!

Questions in an Average Pantry: What’s a Tomatillo and How do I pick one?

For awhile now I’ve been telling Jay that I’d like to try my hand at tomatillos.  In case you’ve never seen one face to face they are those Mexican green tomato-y things that have husks and that are the main ingredient to the amazing green sauces that you’ll find in restaurants and at grocery stores.

I’ll eat just about anything if it’s smeared in green sauce. I love it.  But I was a little worried to try a tomatillo recipe on my own since I didn’t have the foggiest clue how to pic one or what to do with it.

So, if you’re like me, here’s a little run down:

To pick a good tomatillo (they are found in the produce section of most grocery stores) the husks should be tightly fit, but dry, and the green color should really pop.

Now, I don’t like raw tomatoes, so when I was chopping these guys up I took a little taste to see what I was dealing with here.

THEY DON’T TASTE LIKE TOMATOES! I was blown away.

These amazing little fruits taste like a green vegetable (imagine fresh garden green beans or peas) but injected full of lime juice.  They are very citrusy and wonderfully delicious.  You don’t need to worry about their cute little seeds either – these aren’t like peppers, the seeds aren’t spicy.