Note: I was sent two jars of Herb ‘n Zest Cooking Sauces in order to make this Pumpkin Curry Chicken with Potatoes and Peas. All opinions are mine alone.
As someone who works full-time, my biggest requirement for a dinner option is that it can be made in under 40 minutes. By the time I get home, I’m ready to eat! Although it’s not usually too much of a problem, I rarely get the chance to make dinners with the depth of flavor brought to food when it is simmered over a stove for a while.
A local Philadelphia company, Herb ‘n Zest, is changing that. Their innovative condiments and sauces allow home cooks to add quick flavor to meals in no time. All products are fully cooked and can just be added to dishes as sauces or dips.
I was sent a jar each of Herb ‘n Zest’s two most popular sauces: Chive Tomato Cooking Sauce and Curry Pumpkin Cooking Sauce. The Chive Tomato Cooking Sauce is made with Jersey Fresh tomatoes sauteed with chives and spices in olive oil. while the Curry Pumpkin Cooking Sauce is a savory pumpkin sauce seasoned mildly with curry and sunflower seeds. Both sauces are also vegan, soy-free, gluten-free, dairy-free and use non-GMO ingredients.
I love love love pumpkin, so I knew I had to try that one first! I decided to make a chicken and potato curry with the sauce and serve it over coconut rice, resulting in this recipe for Pumpkin Curry Chicken with Potatoes and Peas. To make vegetarian/vegan, omit the chicken.
Want to try the sauces for yourself? Herb ‘n Zest is offering a great discount through my blog: 25% off the Home Chef Starter Pack with the code get25icancook! Just click the photo of the jars below and enter the code at checkout!
You can also enter their summer giveaway worth $50. Just take a picture of yourself with a jar of Herb 'n Zest, upload it to Instagram & tag the image with #herbnzest. The summer giveaway draw will happen on August 15, 2016, so be sure to purchase your jars soon!
Ingredients:
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces
Happy New Year! Our unseasonably warm weather seems to have left with 2015, and colder temperatures are here to stay for a while. This recipe for Chicken Agrodolce with Creamy Polenta from Cooking Light’s December 2015 issue is great for cold nights — it’s comforting without being too heavy.
Agrodolce means “sweet and sour” in Italian. In this recipe, the golden raisins provide the sweetness while the red wine vinegar adds a touch of sour flavor to the sauce. The chicken thighs are simmered in the sauce and served with a creamy polenta to soak up the flavors.
This Slow Cooker Saucy Chicken Over Rice is one of my favorite go-to recipes, so I was really surprised to find that I hadn’t shared it on my blog yet!
My fiance is a runner, so I tend to make this recipe a few days before the race because it has a nice balance of carbs and protein with no dairy. (Note: every runner is different and has their own preferred menu on the days leading up to a race, this just happens to be one of my fiance’s favorites.)
This recipe from MyRecipes.com is a really simple slow cooker meal that involves about 15 minutes prep in the morning before popping everything into the slow cooker. The result is a yummy, tender, chicken recipe that freezes and reheats great as well! I’ve adapted the recipe slightly, but the general concept is still there. If you’d like to see the original, visit MyRecipes.com.
This cold weather just won’t let up, so my cravings for comfort foods keep on coming! This recipe for Braised Chicken Thighs with Wild Rice Pilaf comes from the March 2015 issue of Cooking Light. It takes a little longer to make (~1 hour) so it’s probably better for a weekend meal.
You brown the chicken thighs in the same pot that you make the rice in, so it adds a subtle roasted flavor to the rice as well. This Braised Chicken Thighs with Wild Rice Pilaf recipe is also a one pot meal, so less dishes! The pilaf is loaded with carrots, Brussels sprouts, and golden raisins and work surprisingly well together!
I am a huge fan of quick and easy meals, or “set it and forget it” meals — when I come home after work, I want to eat within 45 minutes of being home! But, on Sundays I have the time to experience the magic that is slow roasting — something beautiful and delicious happens when food cooks at a low temperature for a long period of time.
I originally thought I might change this into a slow cooker recipe so that I could once again, set and forget it. But the recipe called for basting the chicken over a period of time so I thought I should stick to the original method of cooking. (I have never basted anything before; how I managed to avoid this technique for almost three decades is beyond me.)
Past the basting part, this recipe really isn’t very labor-intensive. You do need to give yourself around 2 and a half hours to make it though, so this is definitely a weekend recipe. This recipe is in the latest issue of Cooking Light. And it’s worth the wait. This is one of the best chicken meals I’ve made in recent memory.
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup(~1 larger bulb) fennel bulb, cut into thin slices
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
1 (28-ounce) can whole plum tomatoes, drained
6 garlic cloves, smashed and torn into large pieces
I have been in full on grilling mode recently. I can’t seem to get enough of recipes made on the grill! So as the end of summer continues to creep closer, I am trying to get in all of the grilling I can. As much as I would love to grill in the colder months, I’m a wimp and know I just won’t stand out in the cold.
I’ve used indoor counter top grills in the past and really wasn’t thrilled with the cooking results — it didn’t seem to heat up enough to get proper grill marks, all of the juices would flow out of the grill making for a very dry protein, and I’d always under or overcook the meat.
Source: https://optigrill.t-falusa.com/
So when I was contacted to test out the T-fal OptiGrill as part of T-fal’s OptiGrill Blogger Bash, I had some reservations about if this grill would really live up to expectations. Well, I was really pleasantly surprised! What sets the OptiGrill apart is its Precision Grilling Technology that adjusts the cooking time and temperature depending on the type of protein and the thickness of whatever you’re cooking.
Source: https://optigrill.t-falusa.com/
The T-fal OptiGrill has a cooking level indicator with a color changing display that notifies you when your protein has reached rare, medium, or well-done. It also beeps when your food reaches each of the cooking stages. (Keep in mind that if you want your meat to rest before slicing, it continues to cook. So if you wanted a steak at medium rare and planned to let it rest for 5 minutes, you should probably take it out when the OptiGrill hits the “rare” notification.)
Source: https://optigrill.t-falusa.com/
The grill comes pre-programmed with 6 settings that adapt cooking temperature and times for different types of food: burger, poultry, sandwich, pork/sausage, red meat, and fish/seafood. There is also a frozen food function button so that you can cook your protein even when frozen; just push the snowflake button and then one of the 6 pre-programmed buttons. The grill will defrost and cook the protein in one easy step! When cooking fruits and veggies, just use the manual mode, which allows you to determine when the food is done cooking. The OptiGrill also takes into account the thickness of your food using an integrated thickness sensor so that the protein is fully cooked correctly.
The grill is made of brushed stainless steel with die-cast aluminum plates with a non-stick coating. The plates are removable for easy cleaning and are even dishwasher safe. The plates are angled so that drippings can flow into the removable drip tray, which surprisingly doesn’t leave the meat tough, dry, or chewy.
Want to see the grill in action? I decided to test it out with a yummy recipe from Cooking Light that uses both chicken thighs and chicken breasts. Chicken is so easy to overcook leaving a dry meal so I thought it would be a perfect way to test what this grill can really handle. This recipe also includes grilled pineapple so I was able to test out the manual setting as well. I made the marinade from this recipe for Jerk-style Chicken and the salsa from this recipe for Jerk Chicken with Grilled Pineapple Salsa.
I also am giving away one T-fal OptiGrill to one lucky reader, courtesy of T-fal OptiGrill! Details below the recipe.
Note: I was sent a T-fal OptiGrill to test for this review. T-fal is also offering one I Can Cook That reader the chance to win their own T-Fal OptiGrill. All opinions are my own.
Ingredients:
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
1/4 cup fresh lime juice plus 1 tablespoon, divided (about 3 limes)
1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon brown sugar (substitute 1 tablespoon molasses to make paleo)
When making dinner on weeknights, I am always looking for a recipe that I can have made in 30 minutes or less. But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to compromise on flavor! This Food and Wine recipe braises the chicken in a shallot and more sauce and then is topped off with some lemon juice. Serve it with steamed asparagus for a delicious spring-themed dinner!
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided (or olive oil to make paleo)
We (hopefully) just had our last snow of the season. This has been one crazy winter! I figured I should make just one more “comfort food” perfect for a cold winter day. This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Cacciatore from Cooking Light uses a slow cooker to make tender chicken thighs in a slightly spicy chunky tomato broth. (Cacciatore, or “hunter”, in Italian usually refers to a dish made with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and wine.)
You only have to cook the chicken in the slow cooker for 4 hours, so this recipe isn’t exactly good for a weeknight if you work during the day. It would make a great Saturday meal; prepare everything in the early afternoon to have dinner ready that night.
Tagine or Tajine dishes are Moroccan slow cooked dishes named after the pot they are cooked in. The dishes are typically a stew with a protein, spices, and fruit. Cooking Light had a version with chicken and chickpeas that sounds delicious. This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Chickpea Tagine combines both sweet and spicy elements to make a really flavor-filled dish.
This recipe takes a bit more prep time that my usual slow cooker recipes, so be prepared for that. This recipe is great for a Saturday: prepare everything in the morning, run whatever errands you have for the day, and come back to an amazing smelling kitchen and dinner mostly ready! I shredded my chicken and served it over couscous but you can keep the chicken whole and eat it as is.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large or two medium onions (about 2 1/2 cups), chopped
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, IMUSA and McCormick Spices have teamed up to sponsor a great giveaway for I Can Cook That Readers! Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 to October 15 and celebrates the culture and traditions of those who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking Nations of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
I will be giving away a Cuban/Caribbean-themed package which includes the following:
IMUSA’s Wood Mortar and Pestal, Caldero, and Tostonera
McCormick’s Black Pepper, Garlic Salt, Curry Powder, Paprika, Cinnamon, Oregano, Black Peppercorn Grinder, Chicken Bag n’ Season, and Black Beans and Rice Mix
Details on how to enter will be at the end of this post!
To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I also received a nifty little package myself which included an IMUSA Cloth Tortilla Warmer, IMUSA Multicolor Salsa Dishes, IMUSA Granite Molcajete, and McCormick’s Black Pepper, Cumin, Mexican Oregano, Chili Powder, Cilantro Leaves, Taco Recipe Mix, Enchilada Recipe Mix, and Tinga de Pollo Recipe Mix.
So what better time to whip out the slow cooker and make Chicken Taco Bowls topped with Fresh Guacamole?
I adapted this recipe from a Budget Bytes recipe; the recipe is perfect for large crowds so I tested it out on a group of friends who came to visit this weekend. It also makes for one delicious reheated lunch option during the week!
My CSA share this week came with the most beautiful carrots. I am not the biggest fan of carrots but I don’t mind them mixed into a dish. These were too pretty to not use! Cooking Light had a recipe in its latest issue that sounded really intriguing: Champagne-Browned Butter Chicken. The dish is pretty simple to make, although it takes a good hour and a half so this is not a weeknight meal. But the presentation is definitely snazzy enough for company!
I have no idea who decided that different foods should get taco-fied, but I am all for this movement. I love tacos, and Cooking Light comes up with the best taco recipes. These Kung Pao Chicken Tacos are everything I want in a meal: quick and easy to make, colorful, a hint of spice, and full of many ingredients I already had on hand.
Kung Pao chicken is a spicy stir-fry Chinese dish that includes peanuts, vegetables, chili peppers, and chicken. It is usually served over rice, but Cooking Light took some inspiration from Korean taco trucks and added the Kung Pao chicken to corn tortillas.
Ingredients:
6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce, divided (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
I know, I know. I really need to up my chicken recipes. Cooking Light must realize this too because they had a recipe for Spicy Moroccan Chicken Skewers that I couldn’t pass up. The original recipe suggested serving the skewers with Greek yogurt, so I made a quick raita to go with them. I also served it with a simple couscous. This recipe does involve marinating the chicken for 2 hours, so prepare accordingly. (I made this over a weekend, I think this might be tough to make on a weeknight.)
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh garlic
1 1/2 tablespoons chile paste (such as sambal oelek)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
5/8 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
4 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 30 pieces
Adding spices to your meal is a great way to add tons of flavor to a dish without adding calories. Because you need so little of the spice to enhance a dish, it’s a pretty cost-effective way to add flavor as well. (I try to buy my spices outside of supermarkets where they are really marked up. Spice Terminal in Reading Terminal was my favorite spot — I hope it’s coming back soon! update: The Head Nut is now open!) This dish in the latest Cooking Light for Tandoori Chicken Thighs incorporates traditional Indian spices which I absolutely love. I also made a quick saffron rice to go with the chicken.
