It was about time we switched things up at lunch. On most days, my kids get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or a quesadilla for lunch. They like it and I can pull it together and get it onto their Dora the Explorer sectioned plates before a meltdown erupts (that’s mainly my 20-month-old little guy – he doesn’t like to wait).

This Chicken Curry recipe, from a can of coconut milk, has been staring at me from the recipe clipboard I recently installed inside my pantry door. In particular, I was drawn to the words “30 minutes total time” at the top. It was going to be dinner one night this week but then I had a light bulb moment: why not make it for lunch instead? Chicken, vegetables and rice in a flavorful broth…that’s something my kids will definitely eat.

This turned out to be an excellent excuse to break from our PB&J and quesadilla lunch rut. It’s a mild-flavored curry, with gentle warmth but not overwhelming heat (of course, you have control over the spice level). Not only did I actually manage to prepare it in about thirty minutes, but I also was able to photograph it within a timeframe acceptable to him-of-little-patience.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2011. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/chicken-curry/

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We have what I consider to be a great system in our house. I create the week’s menu, buy the food and cook the meals…my husband does the dishes. It works out most of the time except for my occasional penchant for using nearly every dish in the kitchen to prepare a meal. As I eagerly describe the fabulous roast chicken with sautéed Swiss Chard and homemade rolls I’m planning to make on a Sunday afternoon, all my husband hears is “skillet, knives, cutting board, roasting pan [baked on juices!], bowls, measuring cups, measuring spoons, baking sheet…”

When I find a good one-pot dish it makes both of us happy. I found this Honey Lemon Chicken recipe on a bag of sushi-style rice. The chicken, rice and vegetables all simmer in a braising liquid of honey, lemon, soy sauce and chicken broth in the same pot. Not only did this save me from dirtying too many dishes, it also saved on time – I had dinner on the table in about 45 minutes. Most importantly, the sweet and savory flavors were wonderful. What’s more comforting than chicken and rice?

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© Cooking On the Side, 2011. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/honey-lemon-chicken/

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“Want French toast!”

Try as I might, I could not convince my two-and-a-half year old that the corn flake crumb-crusted baked chicken my husband and I were eating was not the Crispy French Toast we had the morning before. The chicken breast half on my daughter’s plate was cut up so it didn’t look anything like the crunchy, golden pieces she saw on our plate. As far as she could see, her father and I were enjoying more of that yummy donut-like French toast…and she wanted some.

Using my best toddler psychology, I asked my husband to put the other uncut half of her chicken breast on her plate. He got ready to cut it up but I stopped him. “Let her see it in a big piece with the crust on it,” I suggested. Sure enough, her big brown eyes lit up, she gripped the chicken breast and gleefully took bites. Then we cut it up for her and she willingly ate her “French toast”. Phew!

As I mentioned earlier this week, I had to overcome a bit of a personal bias against cereal-crusted foods in order to try this Crispy Baked Chicken recipe. I’m so glad I did as this was some terrific chicken. The aromas of the seasonings I mixed in with the corn flake crumbs taunted us for the full hour while the chicken was baking. A drizzle of melted butter on top made the crumbs extra crispy and savory. I wouldn’t have even know the crumbs were from corn flakes if it weren’t for the hint of sweetness that came through. This chicken will definitely be added to our dinner rotation.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2010. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/crispy-baked-chicken/

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I wasn’t looking for any kind of packaged spice mix when I went grocery shopping  for ingredients to make chicken fajitas. I usually prefer to just use what I have in my spice drawer at home (which is pretty robust, by the way – one day I’ll post about it!). But I noticed a McCormick display promoting a new product with unusual packaging (see left). It was called Recipe Inspirations and it had six little pre-measured seasoning compartments (let me stress that I’m not being paid in any way to blog about this product). Coincidentally, one of these packets was for a marinade for Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas.

On the back of the packet they provide a little recipe card and – unlike most spice blends – they actually give you the measurements for each spice. I’m guessing their hope is that you’ll want to make the fajitas again, and next time you’ll buy full bottles of the seasonings. The former marketer in me finds that kind of brilliant.

I didn’t need to buy pre-measured spices, but since the packets only cost a little over a buck I figured I’d pick one up and give their fajitas recipe a try. It was tasty! Fajitas are kind of a go-to weeknight meal in our house, we have them pretty often. I’m a fan of citrus-marinated chicken, so the lime and orange juices in this recipe really worked for me. I normally would have made fajitas with fresh garlic and cilantro, but the dried seasoning approach wasn’t bad either. And it definitely was a timesaver.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2010. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/garlic-lime-chicken-fajitas/

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I’ve done what I used to think was the impossible, a feat reserved for only the superhuman among us. With the exception of our regular Saturday night take0ut, as of tomorrow I will have cooked dinner at home every night for the past two weeks.

Between activities, errands, a second infant and witching hour (do all children receive the memo on this one during delivery??) I’d been cooking two to three nights a week at best. Meal planning never worked for me, as I struggled to decide what to make – just thinking through a menu takes a lot of time I usually don’t have. A few weeks ago I finally decided to try those weekly menus and shopping lists you see in some food and lifestyle magazines, like the Grocery Bag feature in Everyday Food and the Real Simple Recipe Shopping Lists. For once I’m glad to have the decisions made for me! I just buy all the ingredients and make all the dishes on the menu, even the ones I’m not sure I’ll totally like. The ingredients in both magazines’ menus are seasonal and take relatively little hands-on prep time; the Everyday Food ones, in particular, tend to be rather economical too. I save my “big fancy meals” and most baking for the weekend when I have more time and an extra set of hands (my husband’s) to watch the kids. I should have started this long ago.

In the spirit of getting mid-week dinner on the table, I wanted to share this incredibly quick, easy and tasty recipe for a Fiesta Chicken Soup that comes from a carton of chicken broth. I suppose it’s called “Fiesta” as it’s similar to a Mexican chicken tortilla soup, with the zing of lime juice in the broth along with the flavors of jalapeño, cilantro and avocado. The way I prepared this soup actually wasn’t so quick, as I made my own chicken stock and grilled some organic chicken. But for nearly as good results in under 20 minutes you could easily use a good quality ready-made stock and rotisserie chicken.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2010. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/quick-fiesta-chicken-soup/

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Ina Garten (aka, the Barefoot Contessa) roasts a chicken every Friday night for her husband Jeffrey when he makes the long drive out to their home in the Hamptons. How homey and inviting that sounds! Of course, Jeffrey is one lucky guy to be coming home to anything Ina makes, but a flavorful roast chicken is just one of those satisfying staples that always seems to please and is pretty easy to pull together. The Herb-Crusted Roast Chicken recipe I’m sharing today isn’t from Ina, but I’m quite sure Jeffrey would find it quite worth the drive home to “the island”.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/herb-crusted-roast-chicken/

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By the time my husband and daughter returned from their afternoon outing yesterday at the neighborhood playground our house was filled with the comforting aromas of garlic-roasted Cornish game hens. They knew they were in for a real treat.

Ever since I first spatchcocked Cornish game hens on my panini grill I’ve been a big fan of these little gals. They roast so quickly and are just as juicy and flavorful as their larger counterparts.  So when I found a recipe for what sounded like a zesty, flavorful garlic-lime chicken marinade on the side of a garlic powder bottle, I immediately nixed the boneless, skinless chicken breasts it called for in favor of hens. Instead of garlic powder, dried cilantro and lime juice I freshened things up a bit with fresh garlic and cilantro and lime zest.  These aromatics tucked under the skin gave the hens a real zing, while the cumin and cayenne pepper in the rub added a welcome touch of smoky heat.

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© Cooking On the Side, 2009. | Permalink: http://cookingontheside.com/garlic-lime-cornish-game-hens/

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