Chicken & Bell Pepper Saute with Lemony Kale Quinoa

I can't really express how much I love cooking, especially when it comes to doing so for my family. There's just something about making a delicious, healthy dinner for my loved ones that makes me really happy.

More often than not, my husband will go out for eat for lunch during the work week; while there's nothing wrong with that (when I worked full-time, I needed that hour out of the office just to maintain my sanity, not even gonna lie about that), it's even more motivation for me to ensure that he has a home-cooked meal for dinner.

Tonight I'm giving you not one but two recipes, and I'm doing that because these two go SO darn well together. You certainly don't have to serve them that way, but I know you'll be happy if you do. We actually had this meal for dinner tonight, and I'm proud to tell you that, much like the Italian Turkey Orzo Soup I posted the other day, Zoey gobbled hers right up! She was a particularly big fan of the quinoa. That girl surprises me every day! 

These recipes both came from Cooking Light, though I've done a bit more "adapting" than normal just to suit our tastes. I hope you enjoy!

Chicken & Bell Pepper Saute

Adapted from Cooking Light, August 2014

 

1 tbs olive oil

1 lb chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup sliced orange bell pepper

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/4 cup low sodium chicken stock

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

 

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Season chicken with salt and pepper and add to skillet. Cook until done, about 7 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and add bell pepper, oregano and garlic. Saute for 2 minutes. Add chicken and stock and cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat and add olives. Stir. Transfer to serving bowl or onto plates and sprinkle with feta cheese.

 

 

Lemony Kale Quinoa

Adapted from Cooking Light, August 2014

 

1 cup of quinoa, rinsed and drained

1 1/4 cups water

2 tsp butter

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1 cup stemmed, chopped kale

2 tsp lemon juice

 

Add quinoa, water, butter and salt to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and cook for 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender. Combine quinoa, kale, and lemon juice in a medium bowl and toss to coat.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!

 



Slow Cooker Special: Broccoli Cheese Chicken

Alright, I'll admit it. I've been seriously slacking on the blog here lately. Truth be told, I've been otherwise engaged in another project of mine, a young adult fiction novel that I've been writing for the past year or so (want a sneak peak? you can check out a couple pages here). The end is finally in view, and I'm under a self-imposed deadline of November 3rd to finish the first draft...so I've pretty much been dedicating as much of my free time as possible to meeting that goal and getting it done! In the meantime, though, that unfortunately means that I haven't had as much time to spend here with you. I'm sorry for that, and I hope you'll understand and forgive me.

Today's recipe is one I threw together with pantry ingredients that I had lying around. With my nose constantly in my keyboard trying to wrap up all of loose ends for my novel, I've even slacked on my weekly menu-making and Sunday grocery store trip. But, a girl (and her husband)'s got to eat, so I did my best with what I had on hand. It worked out really well, and that's why I'm sharing it with you. Got a lot on your plate like I do (pun somewhat intended...;))? You'll love this recipe. It's another one of those super easy slow cooker meals that we ALL need in our recipe boxes. I served it with whole white potatoes and green beans, but you can use whatever side you want. Or, add some rice to the slow cooker during the last 30 minutes of cooking to make the main dish itself more filling and substantial. Have fun with it!

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

1 can broccoli cheese soup

1 can cream of onion soup

1 can milk (use one of the empty soup cans to measure)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Place chicken breasts in the slow cooker. In a separate bowl, mix remaining ingredients until well-blended. Pour over chicken breasts. Cook on high for 1 hour, then reduce heat to low and cook for 4-5 hours more.

This recipe will serve 4. I hope you enjoy :)

Until next time...

Cheers!