Gym Dinner: Spicy Cashew Chicken

So I've sold my soul and joined a gym, which is great for my health, but sad for my weekday dinners. I use to come home around 6:30, but now it's late and I'm tired and take out is not an option. So I've started collecting a few quick dinners that require fewer ingredients and even less prep, but aren't your typical boring meals: introducing Gym Dinners.

This first recipe was something I've been meaning to try for awhile, taken from my sister's blog, Brioche & Bourbon. It was spicy, filling, and tasty.

Perfectly cooked chicken!

Chipotle Cashew Chicken

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2-3 chipotles en adobo 
• 1 Tbl. cilantro- chopped finely 
• 1 tsp. lime zest 
• 2 tsp. brown sugar 
• 2 Tbl. tamari or soy sauce 
• 2 garlic cloves- finely chopped 
• 2 Tbl. fat free mayo 
• 1 tsp. olive oil 
• 1/2 c. roasted cashews, plus more for garnish

1.  Preheat oven to 425. Roast cashews on a low heat for 5 minutes until nicely browned. 
2. Combine all ingredients, except the chicken, in a food processor.
3. In an oven safe pan place the chicken and pat dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. 
4. Rub the marinade over chicken and bake in the oven for 45 minutes until breasts are plump. Serve with lime wedges.

Side Dish Idea: I bought two small sweet potatoes, and roasted those at the same time as the chicken. Just peel, toss with a little olive oil, brown sugar, and salt, and roast until tender. Add in half a red onion, cut in large slices, to give it extra depth.

Marinate Tonight: Lemon Garlic Chicken

The charred, eatable lemon is great mixed into the mashed potatoes

This can be a fast recipe, ready after a quick 30 minute marinate, but we prepped it the day before and let it sit for 24 hours and the lemon REALLY stood out in a way that makes it a great, refreshing summer meal. 

A Few Notes:

• Watch the time cooking---we let it go for 30 minutes, and the chicken was way too dry. 20 minutes to start should be plenty, and then maybe another 5 to brown if you think it needs it.
• The recipe calls for Garlic Oil, which you can make ahead the day before (if you marinate), or just forgo it completely it you're looking for something quick. While it sounds cool, the lemon overpowers the oil in a way that makes its assembly almost worthless.

Chicken Marinated in Garlic Oil
Everyday Food, July/August

1/4 c. Garlic Oil (or regular Olive Oil, plus 4-6 garlic cloves smashed and peeled)
1 lemons, cut into rounds
1/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
4 chicken pieces (we used breasts, with or without skin)
salt/pepper to taste

1. To Make Garlic Oil: Smash and peel 1 head of garlic and heat over a medium-low heat with 1 cup Olive Oil until it starts to bubble. Reduce heat to low, and cook for 10 minutes (don't let the garlic brown). Remove from heat and let cool at room temp, at least 45 minutes. Store in the fridge for up to a week.
2. In a zip-top bag, combined all ingredients and shake to coat. Let sit 30 minutes, or refrigerate overnight.
3. Preheat the oven 45 degrees. Transfer to baking sheet, season with salt and pepper, and roast until skin is golden, 20-25 minutes. Turn in the final 5 minutes to brown other side, if desired.

Cayenne Chicken

The avocado salsa really matches the spicy cayenne rub nicely

Not really sure what to make tonight, I did a quick troll of Everyday Food's website (why don't I have a subscription yet!) and found this recipe for a Cayenne-rubbed Chicken with avocado salsa. The prep was super easy--10 minutes, and I liked the versatility of the meat. We ate the breasts whole, but you could easily shred the meat and make some tasty tacos as well. The kick from the spice was a perfect pairing with both the bland chicken flavor and the citrus avocado salsa. This is a must-make recipe.

Cayenne Chicken
Everyday Food

• 2 chicken breasts
• 1 t. salt
• 1/4 t. pepper
• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper
• olive oil for pan
• 1/2 small red onion
• 1 haas avocado
• 1 lime

1. Mix the salt, pepper, and cayenne together and rub over the chicken. 
2. Heat a pan with oil and add chicken. Cook on a medium heat for 5-8 minutes on each side, until the outer skin is crispy and brown, and the meat is puffed out (resist slicing into the meat because you'll let the juices escape). Let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes.
3. As meat is cooking, thinly dice onion and squeeze lime juice on top of the pieces. Right before you serve, cube the avocado and add to the onion mixture.

Again--this recipe took 20 minutes tops---and the entire meal was under $15. And we've never devoured anything so quickly. (well, maybe honey mustard chicken) Try it!

The Long and the Short of Dinners

I made two dinners this weekend, one took 4 hours, and the other was ready in 30 minutes. Both can be made for $10-$15, and both were amazing meals and worth the effort it took to make them--so I wanted to post both in case they give you any ideas going into the winter. 

The Short Ribs are a great meal to make in the late afternoon on a cold, winter weekend when you have the time to let them braise---and the Honey Mustard Chicken is fantastic for a quick, easy weekday meal; so you can decide what sounds good for when.

Short Ribs on Polenta with red wine

Braised Short Ribs 

• 1 package 5-6 bone-in short ribs
• 1 t. allspice
• 2 T. flour
• 1 large onion, finely diced
• 2 celery ribs, finely diced
• 2 large carrots, finely diced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 2 cans Rotel tomatoes (10 oz. each)*
• 1 can tomato paste (8 oz.)
• 2 cups hearty red wine 
• 2 cups chicken stock (if needed)
• 2 t. thyme
• 2 bay leaves

1. Coat an oven-safe dutch oven with olive oil and bring to a high heat. Salt spare ribs, combine allspice and flour and coat the ribs on all sides. Add ribs to the pan and brown, 2-3 minutes per side, and remove.
2. Add onion, celery, carrots, and garlic to pan, season with salt, and cook 5-7 minutes. Add in tomatoes, cook another 5 minutes. *The Rotel gives the ribs a spicy finish, but if you'd rather use 1 large can crushed tomatoes, that's more traditional. Add in the wine, lower the heat to medium, and reduce the mixture by half--usually about 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
3. Return the ribs to the oven and add in enough chicken stock to just cover the ribs. (If your mixture is still watery, you can skip adding in the stock--but feel free to add more as it's cooking to keep it moist). Cover and place in the oven for 2 hours, uncovered for the last 30 minutes. When done the meat should be tender, but not falling apart.
4. Serve ribs and braising liquid together. Also, placing the dish on baked polenta, mashed potatoes or something else that can sop up the braising liquid is a nice touch--and easy to create when you're waiting for it to cook.

Honey Mustard Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Old Fashions

Honey-Mustard Chicken
 Serving for two

• 2 Chicken Breasts (thighs are okay too)
• Garlic Salt
• Dijon Mustard
• Two parts lime juice
• One part honey

1. Preheat oven to a high broil. Sprinkle with garlic salt and spread each liberally with mustard. Broil chicken 5-7 inches away from heat for 10 minutes.
2. Stir lime and honey together and brush mixture on chicken. Broil for another 5 minutes then turn the pieces over. Spread the other side with mustard, broil for another 5 minutes, or until tender. Baste with remaining lime-honey mixture and let rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting into it. Serve with rice or potatoes.

Dinner in 15: Fish Tacos

So I wish that was my food up shown above---but sadly it's straight from Food and Wine. Not that I used their recipe, because with fish tacos, you really don't need one--just a guideline on how to cook the fish. Bobby Flay and Martha also had other intriguing recipes, if you want a cheat sheet.

So this dinner came about because I was cooking for my boyfriend, but didn't really want to spend the entire evening in the kitchen, because that's not as much fun. Fish tacos are great because they are quick, interactive, and even have an air of fancy to them. I spent five minutes slicing up the toppings, and another 10 cooking my fish. REALLY fast.

Your steps are simple:
1. Pick your fish. You want a white, flaky fish (Mahi Mahi, Cod) but I have used Tilapia in the past because it's cheap, and as you are adding a ton of spice and flavor to the taco, the blandness isn't really an issue.
2. Pick Your Toppings. Avocado, cabbage, and salsa are all necessities. All you need to do to all three is slice or shred thinly. You can toss the cabbage in a lime-chili powder dressing, but it's not necessary. Other options: Tomatoes (although we found salsa worked better), Creama or Sour Cream, or Guacamole (I used half of my Haas for the tacos, and the other half to make my homemade guac recipe).
3. Cook Your Fish. Grills are preferred, but I sauteed on the stove---just be sure to get the pan as hot as possible. You can marinate the fish first (a little oil, lime, chili powder, and salt on top should work just fine) but 5-10 minutes is fine for that. Once your surface is hot, grill the fish flesh side down. Keep on the grill until the fish is nearly done--Bobby Flay said 4 minutes, but we cooked ours for at least 15 (I think our stove wasn't quite there for a High Heat). Around 6-8 start checking it and eye the skin until the raw color turns into the bright white, but try to err slightly on undercooking the fish so it doesn't dry out. For the last minute, grill skin-side down. Let it sit for five minutes, then pull the fish meat apart with a fork.
4. Create Your Taco. Less is more---go for one slice of avocado instead of three, because you want the fish to shine. Definitely use corn tortillas (steamed 1 minute in a microwave with a damp paper towel) over flour.