Michelle Can Cook!
I do many things, but when I'm doing what I love – it is cooking! Welcome to my happy place filled with all things delicious!
Easy Red Chicken Chili
WHAT?! It is Sunday and I’m not making pasta? What in the world is happening here?? Oh, well… chicken chili it is!
This recipe is very easy to throw together and you likely have all of the ingredients on hand. I had 2 chicken breasts (3 may have been better – but, you work with what you have!) that I had defrosted in the refrigerator (thinking that I’d be making pasta – best laid plans, I guess!). Cans of beans and tomatoes in the pantry and some fresh cilantro and Colby & Monterrey Jack cheese. Chicken chili sounded good!
As all good recipes do, this one started with me chopping up some onion…
Rather than cube the chicken, I decided to cook it whole and then shred it. Given that direction, I sprayed the dutch oven (have I mentioned how much I LOVE my Le Creuset dutch oven? I’m not a fancy person, at all, but was given this as a 20 year anniversary gift from the company I work for – and I, absolutely, adore it!!) with some olive oil – added in the onion and garlic (medium to high heat), cooking until the onions were mostly translucent. Then I added the chicken breasts, browning both sides to lock in the moisture.
While the chicken was browning, I opened the can of chipotle peppers and rough chopped them (my daughters probably wouldn’t be excited to get a mouth full of a chipotle pepper, so chopping makes sense). I did not throw out the adobo sauce, as it really adds to the chili, so hold onto it!!
After the chicken is browned and the chipotle peppers are chopped, it was time to start adding everything to the pot – tomatoes, beans, peppers – all straight into the pot. Also, add the chili seasoning at this time (and any salt and pepper you may want). I allowed the pot to come to an initial boil, then reduced the heat – covered and set a timer. You’ll want to let it simmer for 45 minutes to an hour (longer is better, in my opinion).
Once the timer goes off – remove the chicken breasts from the pot and shred.
Then return to the pot, add some cilantro, cover and simmer for another 30 minutes!
I decided to top mine with some grated Colby & Monterrey Jack cheese (fresh grated is best!) and cilantro – perfection!
Easy Red Chicken Chili
2-3 chicken breasts
1 tsp cumin
1 large onion, rough chopped
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 small can Rotel tomatoes and chilis
1 large can petite diced tomatoes
1 large can crushed tomatoes
1 can garbanzo beans
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 small can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (chop peppers, reserve sauce)
1 packet of McCormicks chili seasoning mix
avocado spray
salt / pepper to taste
Cilantro and cheese to garnish (I also add some cilantro to the pot of chili at the end of cooking)
- Rough chop the onion
- Spray pan with avocado oil and add onion, garlic and cumin. Cook until onions are translucent.
- Add whole chicken breasts – cook until browned on both sides (locks in the moisture!)
- Add all tomoatoes, beans and (chopped) chipotle pepper (with sauce) to pot.
- Stir through to combine all ingredients
- Add seasoning mix, salt and pepper – stir and bring to boil.
- Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 min – 1 hour.
- Remove chicken breasts from pot, shred and return to pot.
- Add cilantro, stir and serve.
- Top with more cilantro and cheese for garnish (** would also be good topped with sour cream, jalapenos, corn chips, etc.)
Football Saturday = Meals for 1! Salmon, potatoes and green beans = Delicious!!
During football season, I regularly find myself cooking for one, as everyone scatters into a million different directions. Today was no exception.
Luckily, yesterday, I cleaned out my freezer and found some still perfectly good salmon ‘burgers’ from Trader Joe’s. These things are delicious, easy to cook and individually wrapped so they last a while in the freezer. Then I just needed some veggies.
I decided to cook everything in a cast iron skillet (I do love using one pan / pot!) and I started with the vegetables (the salmon only takes a few minutes on each side, if you allow it to thaw prior to cooking). I sliced my red potatoes thin and trimmed my fresh green beans and cut to bit size. I added a little bit of avocado oil spray and a pat of butter in the pan and added garlic, potatoes and green beans. I cooked until they had nice color and were almost done – then added 1 tsp of soy sauce and tossed the veggies.
Then I made room in the center of the pan, added a small pat of butter – and add the salmon burger.
I just cooked the salmon for 2-3 minutes, turned it over and cooked for another 2-3 minutes. I squeezed the juice of 1/2 a lemon over top, tossed the veggies and removed from the pan and served. Delicious and easy!
Salmon and Veggies for 1
1 Trader Joe’s salmon burger (or salmon fillet of your choice)
2 red potatoes, sliced
1 handful fresh green beans, trimmed
1 tsp garlic, minced
avocado oil spray
1 pat of butter, divided
1 tsp soy sauce
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
salt and pepper to taste
- Trim veggies (slice potatoes and trip green beans).
- Spray avocado oil in cast iron skillet and raise temp to med – high. Once pan is warm, add 1/2 of the butter.
- Add garlic, potatoes and green beans to pan. Cook until vegetables have a nice color and are almost done.
- Add soy sauce, salt and pepper and toss vegetables.
- Push vegetables to the edges of the pan and make room for the salmon in the center.
- Add remaining butter to center of pan
- Add salmon over butter – cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes (this is assuming you’ve thawed your salmon – if cooking from frozen, cook 7-8 minutes per side).
- Once done, add the lemon juice in pan – toss veggies, remove and serve!
Vegetable Pasta for One (and change)
I love the days that I work from home, because it means that I can have something fresh cooked for lunch. I do love my leftovers, but it is nice to get my lunch out of a pan or a pot, rather than the microwave, when I can.
Today was a work from home day! Enter a delicious pasta meal for one (if you’re REALLY hungry) or two moderately hungry people. Having skipped breakfast, I was REALLY hungry!
I decided on some simple ingredients: pasta, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, garlic, lemon, store bought pesto sauce and seasonings.
I started by boiling my pasta and chopping up some artichoke hearts and slicing some cherry tomatoes (I love both of these foods, so much). They would be good added, as is, but I wanted to cook them up just a little bit in a pan to heighten the flavors.
The vegetables were added to a pan, after spraying a little bit of avocado spray and cooking some minced garlic a bit.
After the vegetables cooked for a while, I added the liquids (cream and lemon juice) to create a light sauce.
The next step was just to toss the cooked pasta in the skillet and mix it all together.
Finally, the pasta was topped with parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Easy, quick and delicious lunch for one!
Vegetable Pasta for one (and change)
1 serving of pasta (I used spaghetti)
10-15 cherry tomatoes (halved)
2-3 artichoke hearts (from jar)
1 tbsp pesto sauce
cooking spray / oil (I use avocado spray oil)
1/2 tbsp minced garlic
juice of 1/2 – 1 lemon (depending on how much you like – I used a whole lemon)
2 tbsp heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese
Fresh basil
- Boil pasta as directed, until al dente
- Spray skillet with a small amount of cooking
- Put a small amount of cooking spray / oil in pan
- Add garlic and cook for a few minutes
- Add tomatoes and artichokes to pan and cook about 5 min
- Add salt and pepper (just a pinch of each, or to taste)
- Add cream and warm through
- Add lemon juice and allow to cook 2 – 3 min
- Toss in pasta
- Top with parmesan cheese and basil and serve
Spinach, Strawberry and Prosciutto Salad
Another busy night, which means not much time for cooking. Boiled eggs are the only thing I ‘cooked’. Even still, I did have a meal that I really enjoyed! Spinach, strawberry and prosciutto salad.
It couldn’t be easier – just baby spinach, strawberries, boiled egg, prosciutto, walnuts and Paul Newman’s white balsamic vinaigrette.
Then I added a bit of crumbled goat cheese. Delicious!!
If you have boiled eggs already (I made mine before volleyball tonight – peeled and had them ready to go, in the refrigerator), it’s a very easy salad to throw together!
Chicken Fried Rice
No recipe from dinner last night – but I did want to share what we had. I needed to do something quick, that I could do ahead of time – as we had activities last night. Chicken fried rice was just the thing!
The ingredients were: chicken (only 1 large chicken breast!), jasmine rice, frozen mixed veggies, butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sriracha, egg, green onions and sesame seeds
Easy, quick meal that could wait in the fridge and still be delicious!
Who Is Michelle?
I’m a mother of two teenage daughters, who loves to cook and loves to go to Disney World. We also enjoy time at the beach.
I started this blog as a place to write down my recipes – I often throw things together and, far too often, forget what I did – and can never recreate the dish I made. This blog will help with that! And, hopefully, others will try my recipes and love them too!
If you try one of my recipes – I would love to hear what you think!!
