Chickpea and Mint Crostini

Raw has been on a detox diet. While there's a big list of things she's allowed to eat, there's also a long list of things she can't. I'm hoping this recipe is full of things she can eat and she'll make it for me to try!

This is another recipe from the January 2008 Real Simple.

Chickpea and Mint Crostini

1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas
2 scallions (white and light green parts), chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds from 1 small pomegranate (optional)
1 16-ounce bag store-bought crostini

Drain, rinse, and coarsely chop chickpeas. In a medium bowl, combine them with scallions, mint, olive oil, salt, pepper, and pomegranate seeds. Serve with crostini.

Orange Chicken with Potatoes

Do you get the feeling that I might like chicken?

I found this recipe in a slow-cooker article in Real Simple. There were recipes for things from beer braised beef to lemon poppy seed cake. This recipe, though, was one I really would like to try.

Orange Chicken with Potatoes

8 skinless chicken thighs
Kosher salt and pepper
2 onions, quartered
1 pound small red potatoes
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
12 cloves garlic, peeled
1 orange, cut into 1/4-inch rings
2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon honey
8 sprigs thyme

Pat the chicken dry with paper towels and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In the bowl of a slow cooker, combine the chicken, onions, potatoes, squash, garlic, orange, broth, honey, and thyme. Set the slow cooker to high and cook, covered, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through, about 2 1/2 hours. Divide the chicken mixture into individual bowls.

If You Don't Have a Slow Cooker: Heat oven to 325° F. Follow the recipe above using a Dutch oven or large casserole. Bake, covered, until the vegetables are tender and the chicken is cooked through, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

Serves Six

Skillet Lasagne

I found this one in a Woman's Day magazine. I think it looks really easy and I love lasagne. But I have no idea where to find meat loaf mix.

Skillet Lasagna

1 lb meat loaf mix
8 curly lasagna noodles, broken into 2-in. pieces
1 jar (26 oz) marinara sauce
2 cups water
1 cup shredded Italian cheese blend
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta

1. Cook meat loaf mix in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often to break up meat, 4 to 5 minutes, or until browned. Drain off fat. Stir in noodles, sauce and water; bring to a boil. Cover; reduce heat and simmer, stirring often, 18 minutes or until noodles are tender.

2. Remove from heat; stir in 1/2 cup shredded cheese. Spoon ricotta on top; add remaining shredded cheese.Cover 3 minutes to melt cheese.

*Six Servings

Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes

I made this back in November while on a sweet potato kick.

I had a basic recipe from Martha Stewart's magazine, Everyday Food. I really just used it as a guide and added in some other secret ingredients, which I won't reveal.

Okay, I'll reveal one secret. I added apples to the mix!

I made it pretty spicy and it was delicious over couscous!

Moroccan Chicken Stew with Sweet Potatoes

* 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
* 4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1 1/2 pounds)
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 medium onion, diced
* 1 piece fresh ginger (2 inches long), peeled
* 1 cinnamon stick
* 1 can (14 1/2 ounces) reduced-sodium chicken broth
* 2 medium sweet potatoes (about 1 pound total), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
* Pinch of saffron (optional)
* 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
* 1 cup couscous
* Cilantro sprigs, for garnish (optional)

1. Place flour in a wide, shallow bowl. Season chicken with salt and pepper; dredge in flour, shaking off excess. In a 5-quart Dutch oven or heavy pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add chicken, and cook until browned, 4 to 6 minutes per side; transfer to a plate.

2. Add onion, ginger, and cinnamon to pot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Return chicken to pot. Add broth, sweet potatoes, and, if using, saffron. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer until chicken is cooked through and sweet potatoes are tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Discard ginger and cinnamon. Stir in lemon juice, and season stew with salt and pepper.

3. While stew is simmering, prepare couscous according to package instructions. Serve chicken stew with couscous, garnished with cilantro, if desired.

Chili Chicken

I found the recipe for Chili Chicken at My Feasts.

It looks yummy and I want someone to cook it for me!

Chili Chicken

3 chicken breasts - medium sized
14 dried chilies - cut into thirds
1 heaping Tb minced ginger
1 shallot - minced
1/2 tsp sugar
salt to taste
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp corn starch
2 Tb vegetable/ peanut oil
1/2 Tb light soy sauce
1/4 cup water

Wash and cut chicken breast into bite size. Season chicken with soy sauce, corn starch , salt, sugar and sesame oil. Break off or cut dried chili into thirds or halves and set aside ( the variety that I use are the ones typically used in Malaysia, it is skinny and long and I have a whole lot of them in my pantry!).

Heat oil in a heavy bottomed saute pan or a wok on medium high heat. Quickly fry the dried chili until it turn reddish brown ( 2 minutes) and remove it with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add seasoned and diced chicken to the wok or pan and stir fry it for 3 minutes. Add ginger and water and cook for another 7 minutes or until the chicken pieces are cooked. Stir occasionally. Adjust seasonings and add fried chilies to the chicken. Stir well and serve with steamed rice.

Momma Fed

Momma Fed has the largest private collection of cookbooks in the world.*

See her contributions by clicking here.

*unconfirmed

Michael

Michael grew up with Aunt Bee in small-town Kansas. Mr. Michael is a firm believer in the Triple Crown of mayo-sour cream-cream of mushroom soup. He'd also like to add ranch dressing to the trifecta of culinary goodness. If it's not a casserole or a salad or sandwich, chances are that Mr. Michael probably ain't puttin' it into his yapper.

He also is a firm believer in the booze.

Mr. Michael's first major culinary award came at the tender age of 11, when he won the Kansas State Fair's food championship for his strawberry pie. That included gelatin and 7-UP(R). Really.

He currently lives in the Foodie Capital of the World, the (in)famous City by the Bay and serves as Executive Chef of the Vulcan Stairway. When he's not stirring together various munchies, he's likely exploring San Francisco's plethora of imbibing establishments.

Contact Michael by email:
michael AT heartauntbee.com

Aunt Bee

Aunt Bee started the culinary adventure called life in a small town in the middle of America's heartland where any real cuisine includes at least one of three ingredients: mayonaise, sour cream, and/or cream of mushroom soup. Unless, of course, it's dessert, in which case it includes at least a stick of butter or a cup of sugar (both is better), Paula Deen style.

There should also be booze--lots of it--served alongside any good meal.

Today, Aunt Bee cooks up her culinary delights along the banks of the Arkansas River in the Aviation Capital of the World. When she's not creating decadent adventures for the tongue, she's helping to solve the world's banking crises, talking on her fancy-pants Sprint phone with Internet capabilities or surfing the 'net and sharing her world famous recipes with her legions of fans.

Aunt Bee is the founding contributor to this site and runs the rest of Heart, Aunt Bee. You can find her contributions to this site by clicking here.

You can also find Aunt Bee's reviews on Yelp!

Click here to contact Aunt Bee.