Risotto with Chicken & Asparagus

Awhile back, I was looking for some great "put-together-and-freeze" meals---much like they make at Let's Dish.  My idea was to have a bunch of mommy friends over and we'd all put together meals for our families.  I ended up finding this blog that is written by a mom with the same ideas as myself.  I ended up printing a few recipes from her site but this is the first that I've tried.  I decided to post this to my blog, too, because I did this a little differently---I didn't freeze it ahead of time.  I just made it fresh.  Okay, here's the recipe that I used: 

(If you want the freezer version, please check out the other blog.)

3 cups cooked chicken breast, cubed
1 cup instant rice (uncooked)
3 T. chicken base (found by the broths in your local store)
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 black pepper
2 tsp. olive oil
1 cup fresh asparagus, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
1 cup bacon, cooked and crumbled
4 ounces cream cheese


Combine chicken, rice, chicken base, garlic, pepper and olive oil in large skillet.  Add two cups of water to the skillet, cook on low-to-medium heat for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is cooked.  Stir cream cheese, asparagus, red bell pepper and Parmesan into the rice mixture.  Cook for 5 minutes, or until the cream cheese is melted and the vegetables are crisp tender.  Sprinkle with bacon before serving.

Trying to stick with my resolution of using things I already had in my cupboard, I used frozen asparagus that I already had and the only things I had to buy were red pepper and chicken base (which I have never used before).  I feel like I used a million pans while making this dish, just because I had to cook the bacon beforehand (I was out of the fully-cooked kind that I normally like to use for things like this) and I cooked the chicken in the crock pot during the day to save time.  When everything was cooking, it smelled SO AMAZING.  I couldn't resist taking a little taste test before I put the veggies in the skillet and everything tasted so good.  HOWEVER, the end product was very salty to me.  I have never had a Let's Dish meal before, so I'm not sure if they lean on the salty side of the pallet but this specific dish was quite salty.  So, I suggest cutting the chicken base and the Parmesan by a third, therefore using only 2 T. of chicken base and 1/2 cup of Parmesan.  I hope this makes it less salty so the flavor of the dish stands out  more.  All in all, I'd like to make this again because it has everything in it that I love.  Enjoy!!

Santa Fe Chicken Enchilada Soup

Last week, I decided that I wanted to make something with the can of black beans from my pantry so I went on allrecipes.com and found this recipe.  It was submitted by Philadelphia (the cream cheese company) and called for a container of one of their new "cooking cremes", which I have been meaning to try.  Besides the cooking creme, I already had everything in the recipe...

I also had to run out and get some cilantro, which was totally worth it.  (We love love love cilantro!)  Okay, enough chatter---here's the recipe:

4 (6 inch) corn tortillas, cut into strips
1 teaspoon oil
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 (10 ounce) tub of Philadelphia Santa Fe Blend Cooking Creme
1 cup milk
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed
1 (11 ounce) can corn with red and green bell peppers, drained (aka "Mexicorn")
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1/4 cup chopped cilantro


Directions:
- Heat oven to 400*
-Toss tortilla strips in oil; spread into a single layer on baking sheet.  Bake for 10-12 minutes or until crisp, stirring occasionally.
-Meanwhile, cook chicken in large nonstick saucepan sprayed with cooking spray on medium-high heat until chicken is done (about 8-10 minutes), stirring frequently.  Stir in cooking creme, milk, beans, corn and tomatoes.  Simmer on medium-low heat for 6-8 minutes or until heated through, stirring frequently.
-Serve soup topped with tortilla strips and cilantro.

So...of course I did a few things differently, as I usually do.  :)

First, I already had a bag of white corn tortilla chips that we are trying to eat up, so I did not make the tortilla strips like the recipe calls for.  I have, however, made them in the past and they are super easy and super delicious so I do recommend making them if you don't have tortilla chips on hand.  Secondly, I cooked the chicken in the crock pot for this one and then just transferred it over to a smaller pot on the stove when it was closer to dinner time.  A couple reasons why I did this:

1. In soups like this, I love when the chicken is more pulled/shredded than chunky.  Probably just me, so go ahead and cook it like the instructions tell you to if you want.

2. It's so easy to cook chicken in a crock pot!  I put the whole chicken breast in there with some water and chicken bullion and let it cook for about four hours on low.  By then, all I had to do was break it up a little bit and it was ready to go!  Once the chicken was transferred to the stove, it seriously took about 10 minutes to get the soup ready.  Talk about awesome!! 

Here's a little peek at the end result.  I put cheese on mine, and didn't add any chips. 

By the way, the soup wasn't spicy so even my toddler had two helpings of it.  And don't skimp on the cilantro!  It really does add a delicious flavor so it's well worth making a trip to the store if you don't already have some.  Enjoy!!

Stuffed Artichoke Bottoms

***This recipe was found in Taste of Home magazine, submitted by Sandi Vanthoff of Henderson, NV***

Prep: 15 minutes
Bake: 25 minutes
Yield: 1-1/2 dozen

2 cans (14 oz. each) artichoke bottoms, drained
2 pkg. (one 8 oz., one 3 oz.) cream cheese, softened
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. minced chives
1 tsp. minced fresh oregano OR 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 C. grated Parmesan cheese

Cut a thin slice from bottoms of artichokes to level, if necessary. Place in a greased 15x10x1-inch baking pan.

In a small bowl, combine the cream cheese, garlic, chives, and oregano. Spoon into artichokes; sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Bake at 350* for 22-26 minutes or until cheese is golden brown.

I didn't make this for any special occasion but I did make it when I knew more than just my husband and I would be around to eat these. (My kids aren't big on artichokes or cream cheese.) I used fat free cream cheese to lessen the guilt-factor and just knowing that part of this is fat free made it taste so good! I love anything with artichoke and found canned bottoms at only one store near my house (after looking at three others). Note to cook: you'll probably find the artichoke bottoms at a higher-end grocery store. My husband commented that this is a fancy enough appetizer that you'd find it at a real restaurant, and I commented that they're so easy to make, I'll be making them all the time now! Gotta love something so easy, so yummy and so artichoke-y!

Family Chef's Grade: A

Smokin'-Filled Chicken Breasts

Prep: 30 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
Yield: 4 servings

1 pkg. cream cheese, softened (8 oz)
1/2 C. finely chopped fully cooked smoked ham
2 green onions, chopped
1 T. minced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz. each)
1/3 C. flour
1 egg, beaten
1 C. panko bread crumbs
1/4 C. canola oil

Family Chef's substitutions: I could not find "chipotle pepper in adobo sauce" so I used Chalula chipotle hot sauce instead.

In a small bowl, combine the first six ingredients; set aside. Cut a pocket in the thickest part of the chicken breast; fill with cream cheese mixture. Secure with toothpicks.

Place the flour, egg and bread crumbs in three separate shallow bowls. Coat chicken with flour, then dip in the egg mixture, and coat with crumbs.

In a large skillet, brown chicken in oil; transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400* for 20-25 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170*. Discard toothpicks before serving.

Isn't everything better with cream cheese?! I certainly think so. This was SUPER tasty and my family loved it---even the kiddos. My daughter exclaimed that there were "pink things" in her chicken but was happy to find out that the "pink things" were little chunks of ham. (Dinnertime humor at our house!) This was a hit for us. My husband commented that we could really add anything to this recipe, which is exactly what he said when I made stuffed chicken a couple months ago for a different recipe. Just goes to show, I don't play around enough with these yummy ideas! :)

Family Chef's Grade: A-