Chicken Club Salad

8 slices bacon
4 chicken breasts
3 small tomatoes, seeded (I especially like cherry)
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, plus leaves
1/2 cup mayo
1 T. white wine vinegar
lettuce

Preheat oven to 400˚. Line baking sheet with foil and arrange bacon. Bake about 10 minutes. Turn over and slide over to one side of the pan. Season chicken w/ salt & pepper and place on other half of pan. Bake 15 - 20 minutes.
While that is baking, combine tomatoes, onion, celery, leaves, mayo and vinegar in a bowl.

Transfer bacon to a paper plate and crumble. Let chicken cool. Cut chicken into chunks & add to bowl. Season with salt & pepper and toss to coat. Serve over lettuce and sprinkle bacon on top.

Tip: The celery leaves are a must have. Use all the leaves in the bunch, not just leaves on the two stalks. They have so much flavor packed in and - just trust me - you want them in there.

Lettuce Wraps

3 tablespoons oil
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup water chestnuts
2/3 cup mushrooms
3 tablespoons chopped onions
1 teaspoon minced garlic
iceberg lettuce leaves

Special Sauce:
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon hot mustard
2 teaspoons water
(1-2 teaspoon garlic and red chile paste)

Stir Fry Sauce:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

Make the special sauce; dissolving the sugar & water in a bowl. Add soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ketchup, lemon juice and sesame oil. Mix well and refrigerate this sauce until you're ready to serve. Combine the hot water with the hot mustard and set this aside as well. At the table you can add your desired measurement of mustard and garlic chili sauce to the special sauce mixture to pour over the wraps.

Bring oil to high heat in a wok or large frying pan. Saute chicken breasts for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done. Remove chicken from the pan and cool. Keep oil in the pan, keep hot. As chicken cools mince water chestnuts and mushrooms to about the size of small peas. Prepare the stir fry sauce by mixing the soy sauce, brown sugar, and rice vinegar together in a small bowl. When chicken is cool, mince it as the mushrooms and water chestnuts are. With the pan still on high heat, add another Tbsp of vegetable oil. Add chicken, garlic, onions, water chestnuts and mushrooms to the pan. Add the stir fry sauce to the pan and sauté the mixture for a couple minutes then serve it in the lettuce cups. Top with special sauce.

Orange BBQ Chicken Cornbread Skillet

olive oil
5 cloves garlic
1 red onion
salt & pepper
3 T. tomato paste
1 1/2 T. paprika
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
4 T. Frank's hot sauce
1/4 c. brown sugar
juice of 2 oranges
1 1/2 c. chicken stock
3 chicken breasts

1 1/2 c. flour
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 c. corn meal
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 c. milk
2 eggs
1/2 c. melted butter

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place a medium-size sauce pot over medium-high heat with a little olive oil. Add the garlic and onion to the pan, and cook until tender, 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the tomato paste and paprika. Cook the tomato paste until caramelized, 1-2 minutes. Add Worcestershire, hot sauce, brown sugar, orange juice and chicken stock to the pan. Bring everything up to a bubble then reduce the heat to medium and simmer until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
While the sauce is simmering, place a large, cast iron skillet over medium-high heat with about 2 tablespoons olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and cook until golden brown on all sides, 5-6 minutes. When the chicken is golden brown, pour the thickened barbecue sauce into the skillet.
Combine flour, sugar, corn meal, baking powder and salt and then mix in milk, eggs and melted butter. Pour on top the the chicken and bake until set in the middle.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

1 cup uncooked wild rice
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chicken broth
5 cubed peeled red potatoes
3 cups milk
10 slices Cheddar Kraft singles
2 chicken breasts
1/2 t freshly ground black pepper
1/4 t salt

Boil 3 cups water. Add rice and bring back to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until cooked.

Heat oven to 425. Coat chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast about 9 minutes on each side. Let rest.

Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add a little olive oil or butter, onion and garlic; sauté 3 minutes. Add broth and potato; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes or until potato is tender. Combine milk and flour, stirring well with a whisk. Add the milk mixture to potato mixture; cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts. Stir in rice, chicken, pepper, and salt.

I topped mine with crushed Ritz crackers.

Chicken Soup with Parsley Dumplings

1 teaspoon vegetable or olive oil
2 cups chopped onion
2 cups sliced carrots
2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen peas
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tablespoon softened butter

Saute carrots and onion in a dutch oven over medium high heat for a couple of minutes. Add chicken and cook until it begins to turn white on all sides. Add the mushrooms, peas, and salt; stir. Add chicken broth, turn heat to high and allow soup to boil; simmer about 10 minutes. In the meantime, combine all your dry ingredients for the dumplings, then add the wet. You can mix with a fork but I use my hands. Drop tablespoon size dumplings in to the soup once boiling. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes. The steam is what cooks them through so leave the lid on.

Tip#1 Don't overcook your chicken. It will have time to cook in the boiling broth and if you overcook, it will turn out tough and nobody likes tough chicken.

Tip #2 If you have leftovers, throw out the dumplings and make more when you re-heat the
soup.

Creamy Chicken & Dumplings

3 T. flour
3 chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
2 T. butter
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
1 onion
2 c. chicken broth
1 can cream chicken soup with herbs
pepper
1 package (6) refrigerated buttermilk biscuits
1 cup frozen peas

Coat chicken with flour. In large saucepan cook chicken, celery, carrot, and onion in butter about 2-3 minutes. Stir in broth, soup and pepper. Bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer covered about 20 minutes or until veggies are tender. Meanwhile, separate biscuits and cut into quarters. Stir peas into chicken mixture, return to boiling. Place biscuit pieces on top of chicken mixture. Simmer covered over med-high heat about 10-15 minutes.

Chicken Pot Pie

1 cup flour
1/2 t. salt
1 stick cold butter
2 T. ice water
1 egg yolk

2 chicken breast halves (bone in are awesome if you can get them)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 carrots, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups low-fat (1%) milk
1 package (10 ounces) frozen peas, thawed
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

First thing, cube your butter and place it in the freezer while you assemble ingredients. Combine flour and salt in bowl of food processor. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles course meal. Add egg yolk and water. Mix until dough forms. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place chicken on a rimmed baking sheet; season with salt and pepper. Roast 25 to 30 minutes. Let cool slightly; shred meat, and set aside.

While chicken is roasting, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large saucepan over medium. Add carrots, onion, and thyme; season with salt and pepper, and cook until carrots are crisp-tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Add flour, and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Gradually add milk, stirring until smooth. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a simmer and thickens. Remove from heat; stir in peas, lemon juice, and chicken, and season with salt and pepper. Pour filling into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate.

Roll dough out about 1/2" more than the diameter of your pie plate. Place back in fridge 10 minutes. Place dough on top of filling. Bake until golden and bubbling, about 25 minutes.

Tip: Put a baking sheet or foil under the pie pan to catch anything that may bubble over.

Chicken Tetrazzini

This recipe is way good but I can't bear to type out all the ingredients and directions. Do you ever notice that when you watch someone make something on a cooking show a recipe that you would have most definately flipped by in a book looks good? Well, I watched Giada make this on Everyday Italian.

You can get the recipe here.

Chicken Cigars

I have not perfected the art that is Phyllo dough. Not even close. I'm still not giving up on this recipe though.

1 1/2 pounds ground chicken breast
2 teaspoons cumin
2 teaspoons paprika
2 teaspoons poultry seasoning
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons grill seasoning
2 tablespoons fresh parsley (fresh makes a huge difference)
Phyllo dough

Combine all and cook in a skillet over medium high heat. Let cool and roll in phyllo dough and butter. Bake in a 425 oven 12-15 minutes.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas

I don't make very many recipes using condensed soup but someone recommended this one and now Russell loves it.

2 1/2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 can condensed cream of chicken soup
1 cup sour cream
8 ounces of cheese (I use whatever I have, usually Cheddar)
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
12 tortillas

Mix chicken, soup, 1/2 the sour cream, 1 cup cheese, and 3 tablespoons cilantro. Spoon 1/4 cup of the mixture into each tortilla. Roll up and place seam side down in a 9x13 pan. Top with cheese and cover. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle with remaining cilantro. Serve with remaining sour cream.

Chicken and Olive Empanadas

8 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped tomato
1/4 cup water
2 tablespoons raisins
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chopped pimento stuffed green olives
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons dry breadcrumbs
36 potsticker wrappers
1 large beaten egg
2 cups oil

Combine first 11 ingredients in a heavy skillet. Transfer to food processor - add breadcrumbs. Add one teaspoon of the mixture to a wrapper and seal with egg. Fry until golden brown.

Orange Chicken

This one is a lot of work but it is really yummy.

Sauce:
1 1/2 cups water
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
1 teaspoon green onion
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
5 teaspoons corn starch
2 teaspoons arrowroot
3 teaspoons water

Chicken:
4 chicken breast fillets
1 cup ice water
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour

First make the sauce. Combine all ingredients except cornstarch, arrowroot and water. Bring up to a boil, remove from heat and let cool completely. Recipe suggests cutting chicken into chunks and marinading it in half the sauce mixture (but I never have time). Once sauce cools, combine cornstarch, arrowroot and water and add to mixture. Heat on high and stir constantly. Sauce will thicken very rapidly. Remove from heat and set aside to let cool. Mix together ingredients for batter - water, egg, baking soda, salt and flour - until just combined. Coat each piece of chicken with the batter and fry until chicken is cooked through.