Free Recipe Wednesday! (White Chicken Chili)

Hello again food lovers! It's hump day! That also means it's time for another round of (insert dramatic game show host voice here) Free Recipe Wednesday! Today's recipe I found on Facebook somewhere and it appears to be a variation of the recipe found on the Land O Lakes website. The only difference that I can see is this recipe adds green chilies and adds sour cream as a garnish. On a side note, it's interesting the amount of a recipes that you can find on websites of companies that make food products. A co-worker of mine makes a version of this chili that's almost identical to this but she adds 1 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream at the very end to make it super creamy and awesome. She also uses Great Northern Beans instead of Cannellini Beans but really you can use whatever beans you want as long as they're a white bean. Anyway, I hope you give this recipe a try. I know it's not chili weather but it just looked so good that I had to share and I promise you won't be disappointed. As always, feel free to leave comments below.

White Chicken Chili

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 pound Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 teaspoons Ground Cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
• 1 can (4 ounces) Chopped Green Chilies
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1/2 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 large Onion, chopped
• 1 medium Red Bell Pepper, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Finely Chopped Fresh Garlic
• 4 cups Chicken Broth
• 3 (15-ounce) cans Cannellini Beans, drained
• 1 (11-ounce) can Whole Kernel Corn with Red and Green Peppers
• 1 cup White Cheddar Cheese, grated

Garnish:

• 3 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Cilantro
• Sour Cream
• 1 Lime, cut into wedges

1. Heat oil in a 6-quart saucepan over medium heat. 

2. Add chicken, cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, canned chilies, salt and pepper.

3. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5-7 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink; remove from pan and set aside.

4. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic to pan; cook over medium heat 3-4 minutes or until softened. 

5. Return the chicken to the pan.

6. Stir in chicken broth, beans and corn; cook until mixture comes to a boil. 

7. Reduce heat to low; cover and cook over low heat for 15 minutes. 

8. Add cheese; stir until melted.

9. Garnish each serving with cilantro, sour cream, and lime wedge.

Free Recipe Wednesday! (Lemon Pasta Salad with Tomato and Feta Cheese)

Hello once again everyone and welcome to this week's Free Recipe Wednesday.  I hope everyone had a safe 4th of July holiday.  I'm sure there was plenty of delicious food out there, I know we had lots of good stuff.  Today's recipe was actually a 4th of July dish that I found on one of the many blogs that I read.  This recipe is an adaptation of a recipe on Epicurious.  Just click the link if you want to see the original recipe.  The reviews were mostly good on the original recipe but not great so I figured I would just use someone's adaptation.  It's definitely something my wife and I are going to try, albeit with gluten-free pasta instead.  If you are new to gluten-free cooking or just decide you want to try it with a healthier gluten-free pasta (you can get brown rice or quinoa pasta) keep in mind that the texture of the pasta becomes more firm when you refrigerate it.  If you're not a fan of pasta with a "bite" to it then you might want to avoid making this too far in advance as well as having leftovers.  Please enjoy this recipe and as always post comments below if you have opinions, ideas, etc.

Lemon Pasta Salad With Tomato and Feta Cheese

• 7 Tablespoons Extra-Virgin Olive Oil
• 2 teaspoons Grated Lemon Peel
• 1/4 cup Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1 Garlic Clove, minced
• 3 Tablespoons Whole Grain Mustard
• 12 oz Pasta
• 2 cups Cherry Tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup Fresh Basil, chopped
• 1 Yellow Pepper, diced
• 1 cup Crumbled Feta
• 1 cup Green Onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup Black Olives (or Kalamata), halved
• 3 Tablespoons Capers
• Sea Salt and Pepper

1. Whisk together olive oil, lemon peel, lemon juice, garlic, and mustard; add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cook pasta of choice in boiling salted water until tender but firm; drain and rinse with cold water.
3. Transfer pasta to a large bowl; add tomatoes, basil, yellow pepper, feta, green onion, olives and capers.
4. Pour dressing on top and mix well.
5. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Free Recipe Wednesday! (Creamy Ranch Chicken Enchiladas)

Hello again food friends.  Welcome to this week's Free Recipe Wednesday.  As usual, this recipe comes from one of the many sites I visit.  I just bookmark what looks good and then share them with you.  Of course ideally I would like to try these recipes before I post them but that doesn't always seem to be possible.  On that note,  it's that time of year again to bring out the smoker so hopefully I'll have some pictures (ribs, brisket, pulled pork), rub recipes, techniques, things like that to post in the near future. Until then I'll keep posting delicious looking recipes like the one we have this week.  I'm not a huge fan of red enchilada sauce so this recipe intrigued me with the sour cream and ranch dressing.  It sounds amazing and I can't wait to try it.  Enjoy and let me know what you think if you try them yourself.

Have a Safe 4th of July!

Creamy Ranch Chicken Enchiladas

• 4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 8 oz Reduced Fat Sour Cream
• 8 oz Ranch Salad Dressing
• 4-6 Large Flour Tortillas
• 2 Tablespoons Chopped Green Chilies
• 1 Roma Tomato, diced
• 1-2 cups Shredded Mexican Cheese Blend
• Salt & Pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees; spray a 9"x13" pan with non-stick cooking spray.
2. Cut the chicken into bite size chunks or strips; sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Cook the chicken in a saute pan for about 5-8 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink the in middle; set aside to cool.
4. While the chicken is cooking, mix the sour cream and Ranch dressing together; pour half of the sauce mixture into a small bowl and add the chopped green chilies.
5. Add the chicken to the the other bowl of sour cream and ranch mixture; stir to combine.
6. Take one tortilla and place some of the chicken mixture into the center of it. Roll up the tortilla and place, seam side down, in the prepared baking dish. Repeat until all the chicken mixture is gone.
7. Pour the remaining sauce mixture over all the tortillas. Sprinkle with shredded cheese and tomatoes.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes; allow to cool a few minutes before serving.

Free Recipe Wednesday! (Baked Sour Cream Parmesan Fish)

Welcome again everyone to my blog and another edition of Free Recipe Wednesday. Per my mother's request, today's recipe is a somewhat healthy recipe. Baked fish with a creamy crunchy coating that uses reduced fat sour cream and panko bread crumbs sure sounds healthy to me. This recipe came from one of the many food sites I visit and is an adaptation of a recipe from the October 2001 edition of Southern Living. Personally, I don't eat a lot of fish because my wife isn't a huge fan but this actually sounds pretty good and I bet she'd like it to. I guess I'll have to find out. Enjoy this recipe and as always post comments letting me know what you think about this dish if you make it.

Baked Sour Cream Parmesan Fish

• 4 Tilapia Fillets
• 1/4 cup Reduced Fat Sour Cream
• 3 Tablespoons Shredded Parmesan Cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon Paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/8 teaspoon Pepper
• 1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• 1 Tablespoon Panko Bread Crumbs

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. 
2. Rinse the fillets and pat dry; place fillets in prepared baking dish.
3. In a small bowl, mix together sour cream, parmesan, paprika, salt, and pepper until well blended. 
4. Spread the mixture evenly over each piece of fish. 
5. In another bowl, combine the two bread crumbs and sprinkle them evenly over each piece of fish.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

Free Recipe Wednesday! (Avocado Fritters with Avocado-Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce)

Hello again food lovers!  Welcome to this week's Free Recipe Wednesday.  I can't quite remember where I found this recipe since I'm always looking at websites, magazines, and anything else food related that I can get my hands on.  I do remember though that when I first saw this recipe it immediately reminded me of the corn fritters that my mom used to make when I was younger and still lived at home.  Sorry mom but these avocado fritters look way tastier though.  That's not to say that my mom's corn fritters were bad because they weren't, they were freaking amazing, but the ingredients in this recipe just add so much depth to the flavor profile that I just can't imagine them not being even more amazing in their own way.  I personally can't wait to try these.  As always, feel free to post comments below.

Avocado Fritters with Avocado-Cilantro Cream Dipping Sauce

For the fritters:

• 2 cups Self-Rising Flour
• 1¾ cup Cornmeal
• 2 Tbsp Baking Powder
• 2 tsp Salt
• 4 Eggs
• 1 cup Milk
• 6 oz Cheddar Cheese, diced
• 1 cup Roasted Corn Kernels
• ½ cup Red Bell Pepper, diced
• ½ cup Sweet Onion, diced
• 2 Jalapeno Peppers, seeded and diced (more or less to taste)
• 4 Tbsp Cilantro, chopped (more or less to taste)
• 2 Avocados, diced

For the dipping sauce:

• 2 Avocados, mashed
• ½ cup Sour Cream
• ¼ cup Milk
• 1 Tbsp Cilantro, chopped
• Salt and Pepper to taste

1.  Pour 2″ of vegetable oil into a deep fryer or a heavy skillet and heat to 350º.
2.  In a large bowl combine flour, cornmeal, baking powder and salt; stir to combine. 
3.  Add eggs, milk, cheese, corn, onion, peppers and cilantro; stir to incorporate. 
4.  Gently fold in avocados.
5.  Scoop batter into heaping teaspoons and gently drop into oil. They are done cooking when golden brown. Drain on paper towels and keep warm in a 200º oven.
6.  Prepare dipping sauce by mixing all ingredients in a bowl. If you want a smooth consistency, process in a blender or food processor for a couple minutes.

Free Recipe Wednesday! (Spinach & Black Bean Egg Rolls)

Welcome everyone to a new edition of Free Recipe Wednesday.  I found today's recipe on the Taste of Home website and it looked so delicious that I had to share.  This recipe is an award winning recipe and was originally featured in the April/May 2009 edition of Healthy Cooking magazine.  This actually looks like a fairly healthy recipe, especially if you bake them according to the directions instead of frying them.  Also if you're concerned about gluten you could most likely make these with spring roll wrappers instead of egg roll wrappers.  I plan to give them a try that way when I make them so I'll try to report back about how they turned out with the spring roll wrappers. As always, please feel free to post comments regarding your opinions and/or variations of this dish.

Spinach & Black Bean Egg Rolls

• 2 cups Frozen Corn, thawed
• 1 can (15 oz) Black Beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 pkg (10 oz) Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 cup (4 oz) Shredded Reduced-Fat Mexican Cheese Blend
• 1 can (4 oz) Chopped Green Chilies, drained
• 4 Green Onions, chopped
• 1 tsp Ground Cumin
• 1/2 tsp Chili Powder
• 1/2 tsp Pepper
• 20 Egg Roll Wrappers
• Cooking Spray
• Salsa and Reduced-Fat Ranch Salad Dressing, for dipping

1.  In a large bowl, combine the first nine ingredients. 
2.  Place 1/4 cup mixture in the center of one egg roll wrapper. (Keep remaining wrappers covered with a damp paper towel until ready to use.) 
3.  Fold bottom corner over filling. Fold sides toward center over filling. Moisten remaining corner with water; roll up tightly to seal. Repeat with remaining egg roll wrappers. 
4.  Place seam side down on baking sheets coated with cooking spray. Spray tops of egg rolls with cooking spray. 
5.  Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes or until lightly browned. 
6.  Serve warm with salsa and dressing if desired. Refrigerate leftovers. 

Yield: 20 egg rolls.

Nutritional Facts:
1 egg roll (calculated without salsa and dressing) equals 147 calories, 2 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 7 mg cholesterol, 298 mg sodium, 26 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 7 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 starch, 1 lean meat.

Free Recipe Wednesday! (Pizza Dogs)

Welcome again everyone to another Free Recipe Wednesday.  Today's recipe comes from my friend Nate.  Every Tuesday night we have video game night (yes I'm a bit of a gamer) at his place and last night he made these Pizza Dogs for all of us and they were so delicious I had to feature them on my blog this week.  Nate said that he used to get something similar to this from Orange Julius but apparently they are no longer available, at least not at our Orange Julius, so he decided to make up his own.  There are 2 things I really like about these Pizza Dogs.  First, the balance of hot dog to pizza sauce to pepperoni was spot on.  No one flavor took over and I think that was really what made them so good.  Second, baking them in the oven for 5 minutes really finishes these off nicely.  The cheese melts obviously but also the buns get slightly toasted and it even makes them easier to pick up and eat like you would a regular hot dog.  This is definitely something that I will be having again.  Give them a try and see if you agree about how good they are.  As always, please leave comments below.

Pizza Dogs

• 2 pkgs (8 count) Hot Dogs
• 1 pkg Mini Pepperoni
• 1 pkg Shredded Cheese (Mozzarella or your favorite kind)
• 2 small jars (or cans) of Pizza Sauce
• 2 pkgs Hot Dog Buns

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Boil hot dogs in a large saucepan for 2 minutes.
3. Place the hot dogs in their buns and set them on a cookie sheet side by side (you may need more than 1 cookie sheet).
4. Spoon 1-2 tablespoons of pizza sauce onto each hot dog.
5. Place mini pepperonis across the top of each sauce covered hot dog.
6. Top hot dogs with shredded cheese. (Use as much or as little as desired.)
7. Place cookie sheet(s) in the oven and bake for 5 minutes at 400 degrees.