Couple Tasty Dishes

Hi Girls, here are a couple tasty recipes from the Pampered Chef. Roger's schedule is crazy this week, so I'm not cooking too much. But here are a couple yummy recipes that I don't think I've posted. Enjoy!

Italian Chicken Pasta Toss
6 oz uncooked bow tie pasta (about 2 1/2 cups)
2 plum tomatoes
1 small onion
1 medium zucchini
1 small yellow or red bell pepper (I used orange because that's what I like)
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, pressed
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 tsp Italian Seasoning Mix (italian seasoning)
1 tsp salt
Grated fresh parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, dice tomatoes and chop onion. Slice zucchini into 1/2 inch thick pieces (I also cut them in half, so they were half moon shaped). Cut bell peppers into thin strips, and chicken crosswise into 1/2 inch strips.
2. Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Press garlic into skillet. Add chicken. Cook and stir 4-5 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Add onion, zucchini, bell pepper, peas, seasoning mix and salt. Cook 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 1-2 minutes, stirring gently until heated through. Remove skillet from heat and stir in pasta. Serve with Parmesan cheese, if desired.

6 servings

Valerie: from what I calculated, the Italian Chicken Pasta Toss is 2 points per serving and my servings were a little more than a cup each. I guess it would vary slightly by how you measure and chop your vegtables.

Also, I thought it was a little heavy on the onion. I personally didn't like it diced up. I would probably next time do about half the onion in long slices, and maybe a red onion instead of white or yellow.
*****

Tamale Verde Skillet (Not as healthy, but very yummy!)
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 can (15.25 ounces) corn
1 medium onion
1 medium red bell pepper (I never add this because I'm not a huge fan of red peppers)
12 (6-inch) corn tortillas
4 ounces chorizo sausage
3 cups shredded cooked chicken
1 can (19 ounces) green enchilda sauce (I buy mild)
1 1/2 cups (6 ounces) shredded monterey jack cheese
snipped fresh cilantro (optional)

1. Add oil to skillet; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Meanwhile, drain corn; pat dry with paper towels. Add corn to skillet in a single layer. Cook without stirring 5 minutes or until caramelized on one side. Remove skillet from heat and remove corn to a separate bowl.
2. Meanwhile, dice onion and bell pepper; set aside 1/4 cup of the bell pepper for later use. Cut tortillas into 1-inch squares.Add chorizo sausage to skillet; cook over medium-high heat 3-4 minutes, breaking sausage into crumbles. Add onion and remaining bell pepper; cook an additional 3-5 minutes or until vegtables are tender crisp. Add half of the tortilla squares, chicken and enchilada sauce to skillet. Bring to a simmer; cook 2 minutes or until tortillas are softened and mixture is hot. Remove skillet from heat.
3. Top chicken mixture with remaining tortilla squares, cheese, corn and reserved bell pepper. Cover skillet; let stand 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. If desired, snip cilantro and sprinkle over top. Serve immediately. Yield 6 servings.

Coconut Panko Chicken

Coconut Panko Chicken
2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup panko bread crumbs
2 eggs
1 tbs butter
salt
pepper

I served this with brown rice, so before I got started on the chicken, I started the pot of brown rice.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and cut chicken breast in to strips. Melt butter and let cool a bit. Mix eggs in a bowl & combine with buter. Mix coconut and panko in another bowl. Dip chicken into egg mixture and then coat with coconut/panko mixure. Place each strip onto pan (I line my pan with foil and spray with Pam). Cook for 25 minutes, flip chicken, and cook for 20-25 minutes more.

Sauce - well, I have no exact measurements because I always forget about it until the chicken is almost done. Initially, I wasn't sure if I liked the sauce, a little potent on it's own. However, it blended well with the sweetness of the chicken. I started with a few tablespoons of hoisin sauce then added low sodium soy sauce, about a fourth of a cup. Next I added about a 1/2 teaspoon of chopped garlic and then about 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. It needed a little sweetness so I added about a 1/2 tsp of brown sugar and stirred well. Usually I add orange zest and orange juice, but I was out.

I also like to serve this with sauteed bell peppers and onions. I love the frozen grilled bell peppers from HEB, I keep a bag in my freezer and can just pull out however much I need whenever I need them.