Chipotle Chicken Mac and Cheese

 Pandemic lock down and work from home ruined so many things. With work from home you do not get to out for lunch with people and try different things. But eating home cooked meals every. dingle. day for lunch and dinner gets boring at times. So...what does one do? One gets frozen food. And one of my fav frozen food is Evol's Chipotle chicken Mac and cheese.

I have been thinking of replicating that recipe at home and finally I got it. I cut some corners and used some store bough ingredients instead of making everything from scratch. Turned out great. I will be making it often from now on.

Chipotle Chicken Mac and Cheese

Chipotle Chicken Mac and Cheese

Chipotle Chicken Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

1. Chipotle in Adobo sauce (Used 1/2 of the chillies in the container and chopped them up)
2. 1 chicken breast grilled chopped into 1 inch cubes (about 2-3 cups)
3. Salsa con queso cheese dip (15 oz jar )
4. 3 cups ditalini pasta cooked according to package directions with generous amount of salt.
5. 3 tablespoons butter melted
6. 1-2 cups panco breadcrumbs
7. 1 cup grated mild cheddar cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees

Mix the cheese sauce, chopped chipotle , cheese and chicken. Drain the pasta and mix it in. 

Mix the melted butter with the breadcrumbs
Add the pasta mixture to an 8x8 baking dish and top it with the breadcrumbs.

Bake for 15 minutes.
Enjoy

Buffalo chicken Quinoa

 Since we are trying to not each as much rice as possible for various reasons, Quinoa has become my go to grain for many dishes.

This is a new recipe I made up and it turned out pretty good.

Buffalo chicken Quinoa (Quinoa with buffalo sauce chicken)

Buffalo Chicken Quinoa

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup Quinoa cooked according to package directions. Do not add any salt.
2. 1 8 oz canned chicken breast or 1 chicken breast cut into small bite size pieces
3. 1 tablespoon oil
4. 1/2 tablespoon  butter
5. 2-3 tablespoons red hot buffalo sauce (depending on how spicy you can handle)
6. 1 medium clove garlic chopped fine
7. 1 teaspoon dry ranch dressing (optional)
8. 1-11/2 cups cauliflower cut into 1 inch or smaller florets
9. Carrots and Ranch to serve on the side

In a pan heat the oil and cook the chicken if using raw chicken with a pinch of salt and pepper (7-10 minutes) Drain and set aside.

In the same pan add the butter and the cauliflower and cover and cook for 7-8 minutes until tender on medium low heat. Add garlic and stir to combine. add the canned chicken (drained) or the previously cooked chicken and fry for 2 minutes on medium high. Add the Quinoa and dry ranch dressing (if using) and hot sauce and combine. Stir well.

Serve with Ranch and Carrots on the side and enjoy!!!

Bulgur Falafel

  I have never ever ordered a Falafel dish ever in my life. We have the "masala Chana Wada" in South India which is very similar to Falafel and it was not my favorite growing up. But The Falafel I made is super delicious especially if I make it into a sandwich with Tahini yogurt sauce. Here you go...the most delicious Falafel you would ever eat

Bulgur Falafel (Bulgar wheat and Chickpea fritters)

Bulgar Falafel

Bulgur Falafel Pita Sandwich

Ingredients:

1. 1/2 cup Bulgar wheat cooked according to package directions (I up the flavor a bit more, I cooked it in chicken broth)
   
2. 1 can chick peas mashed using a potato masher (so that I don't make them into a cream in a blender. We want it to have some texture)
3. 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin, ground coriander, salt, paprika
4. 1/2 cup frozen spinach thawed and squeezed out of water.
5. 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
6. 1 egg lightly beaten
7. 2 tablespoons all purpose flour, parsley (optional)
8. Oil for shallow frying

Cook the bulgar and let it cool completely. Mix all the ingredients together except egg. Add the egg and mix well and set aside for 10-15 minutes. Add some oil to a pan. Divide the chickpea mixture into 12-15 parts. Squeeze each part between the palms of your hands and make it into semi flat "balls". Fry 3 minutes and flip and fry 3 more minutes. Enjoy as is or as a pita sandwich with Tahini Yogurt sauce and onions and Plum tomatoes

Tahini Yogurt sauce

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup plain yogurt
2. 2 tablespoons sesame seeds toasted and ground to powder
3. 1/2-3/4 teaspoon salt
4. 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh mint
5. 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
6. 1 large or 2 medium cloves of garlic grated

Mix all the ingredients together and drizzle on for a yummy saucy sandwich

Lemon Dill Chicken Soup

 This is the most delicious chicken soup yet. And its so easy to make.

Lemon Dill Chicken Soup

Lemon Dill Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

1. 1 Canned chicken breast 7 oz
2. 2 eggs lightly beaten
3. Juice from one 1 lemon (Use fresh)
4. Lemon jest
5. 1 tablespoon dried dill or a handful of fresh dill
6. 1/2-3/4 cup each of onion, carrots celery chopped small
7. 1-2 garlic pods chopped fine
8. 1 carton chicken broth
9. Sale to taste (adjust according to the salt content of the chicken broth)
10. 1/2 teaspoon fresh grond pepper
11. 1/2 cup orzo pasta (optional)
12. 1 tablespoon olive oil

In a pot heat the oil and add the onions, carrots and celery and cook for 3 minutes. Add garlic and stir and cook for 30 more seconds. Add chicken and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Add lemon zest. Add orzo and boil for as long as the instructions say. Otherwise. Let boil for 5 minutes. Give it a good stir and add the beaten egg (to make like egg drop soup) . Add lemon juice, dill, salt and pepper and serve as is or with some crusty bread. 

Vegetable corn fritters

 Fritters of any kind are my favorite. I usually make them into waffles which are super delicious for dinner. But today I shallow fried them with little bit of oil cause I got my newest non stick pan and is working super awesome.

Vegetable corn fritters

Vegetable corn fritters

Ingredients:

1. 1 medium small zucchini grated 
2. 1 medium small carrot grated
3. 1-1.5 cups corn kernels
4. 1/3 cup corn meal
5. 1/2-3/4 cup all purpose flour
6. 1/2 cup Mexican cheese blend (optional)
7. 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
8. 1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro
9. 1 egg lightly beaten
10. 3/4 teaspoon salt
11. 1/2 teaspoon pepper
12. 1 tablespoon chopped pickled jalapeños (optional)
13. Oil for shallow frying

Squeeze as much water as possible from the grated zucchini and carrot. Add all the ingredients except egg and mix them well. Add the egg and mix well.

Heat a griddle or non stick pan and add a little bit of oil and spread it. Take 2-2.5 tablespoons of the mix and make them into 1 cm thick patties and fry 3 minutes per site. Serve with salsa and sour cream

Quinoa Upma

Growing up Upma was not my favorite by any means. But I have grown to like it because I am the "boss of the house" now and I cook things the way I like it 😎😎

And Quinoa is something which I make and eat but not in the top 10 of my favs. But this dish definitely pushed Quinoa into the top 10 spot. Its super delicious and healthier than a regular upma.

So certainly give it a try.

Quinoa Upma (Quinoa stir fried Indian style)

Potato Quinoa Upma

Ingredients

1. 1 cup quinoa washed well and cooked according to package direction
2. 1-2 tablespoons peanuts
3. 1 tablespoon oil, fresh lemon juice
4. 1 teaspoon each of chana dal, ural dal
5. 1/2 teaspoon each of mustard seeds, cumin, salt, turmeric
6. 1/2 cup sliced onions
7. couple of dried red chillies
8. cilantro for garnishing
9. 1 medium small potato cubed small (optional)

Cook the Quinoa according to package directions with 1/2 teaspoon salt

If using potatoes, peel it and cube it to 1 cm cubes and microwave covered for 2 minutes (just to cook it faster)

In a pan heat the oil and add the peanuts and fry for a minute. Add the mustard seeds and cover the pan and let them splutter. Add cumin, urad dal, chana dal and the dried red chillies broken into 2-4 pieces and fry for a minute. Add potatoes if using and fry all of them for 5 minutes. Add onions and mix well and fry for 3-4 minutes. Add cooked quinoa along with salt and turmeric and mix well. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and cilantro and stir to combine and enjoy

Salmon with Gnocchi foil packet

 This is one of the fancy looking foil packets dinners which comes together super fast and taste great and clean is minimal if any.

Salmon with Gnocchi foil packet (salmon and gnocchi baked in a foil with other vegetables)

Salmon and gnocchi foil packet dinner

Ingredients 

1. Shelf stable gnocchi packet
2. 4 salmon fillets (I had salmon with skin on, you can use the skinless salmon fillets also)
3. Cherry tomatoes cut in half breadthwise divided
4. Asparagus7-8 per packet, trimmed
5. 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice divided 
6. 1-1.5 teaspoons salt, lemon pepper divided

Pre heat oven to 375 degrees.

Dab the salmon dry and sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay this side down in the middle of a silver foil.  Add gnocchi, tomatoes and asparagus to the sides of the salmon. Sprinkle with the rest of the oil, salt and pepper. Close the foils tightly like a packet. No air vents.

Put all the packets on a baking tray and bake for 25

Minutes. Carefully open the packets ( be careful of the steam). Fold the foil down wards. Broil the salmon and gnocchi for 5 minutes.

Serve with a wedge of lemon or lime

Note: make the packets directly on a baking sheet so that the chance of them getting ripped is nil