Chicken

One Pan Middle Eastern Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Bake

Middle Eastern Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Bake

Middle Eastern Roasted Chicken and Vegetables is one of my favorite comfort foods. Comfort food by definition is, ” food prepared in a traditional style having a usually nostalgic or sentimental appeal.” For most, that means lots of carbs and lots of sugar. For me, comfort food really does fit the Merriam Webster definition, that is, a traditional dish that brings back childhood memories. So what is it about One Pan Middle Eastern Roasted Chicken and Vegetable Bake that makes me nostalgic? I have so many childhood memories of being at my Tayta’s around dinner time. She’d whip up her chicken and vegetable bake. She always had a way of making even the hardest dish seem easy to pull together. It must be all her years of cooking for 8 children. Yes, eight. The apartment always smelled amazing. It was wafting with aromas from a mix of garlic, onion and Arabic spices that made me practically drool as I waited not-so-patiently in the family room watching TV. (more…)

Chicken Pot Pie Topped with Biscuits

Chicken Pot Pie

It’s that time, when the mornings and evenings get cooler, when we can’t figure out whether to wear a bulky sweater or a light jacket, when pumpkins are everywhere and people are happy because it’s early fall. Lucky me, I wake up for my day job before the sun comes up, which means I’m constantly debating whether or not I should be wearing a wool coat to work; only to realize that when I leave around 3:30pm that it’s a lovely 75 degrees and I’m overdressed for the heat. (more…)

Broccoli and Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Broccoli-and-Cheese-Stuffed-Chicken

Last week I overdid it on red meat. I had lamb chops, a burger, kubbeh, and steak (and probably more that I can’t really remember). I’m pretty sure I had red meat at least once everyday for the entire week.

Generally, for health and preventing high cholesterol reasons, I limit my red meat intake to twice a week – three times max. But last week was a little out of the ordinary meal-wise. While I’m all about free lunches at work, it’s hard to keep track of what I’m eating when I’m hovering outside of a conference room waiting for leftovers and will honestly be willing to awkwardly stand outside the door of a concluding meeting for leftover Roti –it’s that good. I’m thinking I might have had red meat for lunch and dinner on some days. (more…)

Skinny Chicken Salad

Skinny Chicken Salad_3

 

In general, I don’t go out of my way to make lunch unless I’m home around lunchtime on the weekend, or a three-day weekend. That’s because during the week in my morning rush,  I grab something on my way out the door or simply pick up lunch at work.

The nice thing about lunch is that it’s easy. Throw together a salad, or a sandwich and ta-da! Lunch is served. This weekend, I wanted to take a stab at making some better for your chicken salad. You can trade off some of the additions, but stick with the light mayo. Mine only has 20 calories per tablespoon, without compromising taste. A nice combination could be one tablespoon each of chopped walnuts and dried cranberries. Test it out, try it out and see what works for you. I like the crunch of celery and carrots but it’s your prerogative. (more…)

Chicken Broccoli and Rice Casserole

Broccoli Chicken Casserole_3

 

The last time I made rice, it took me exactly 1 minute and 30 seconds. I basically pulled the plastic wrap off of minute rice, stuck it in the microwave and waited impatiently for one minute while it cooked. Needless to say, rice is not my forte. Even more needless to say, I barely eat rice at home, unless it’s minute rice of course. Despite this, I still decided to try my luck with a healthy, lower-calorie version of a rice casserole. I wasn’t sure. I’ve had too many experiences where the rice was either over (mushy) or under cooked. Trust me, if I can do this, so can you. (more…)