Chicken and Sausage Quinoa Jambalaya

A few weeks ago we went to visit our friends who had recently had a baby. :) I browsed recipes quite a bit beforehand, trying to decide what to make for the dinner we were planning on bringing over and eating together. I have no idea why, but some notion got into my head to make jambalaya (I've never made it before). But as I read recipes and saw that most all of them called for rice, I wasn't too excited about making it with rice and began to wonder if anyone had ever made jambalaya with quinoa (I've been on a quinoa kick for quite some time). Such a silly thing to wonder; of course someone has made a quinoa jambalaya before! I had no trouble finding a delicious looking recipe on the web.

The recipe I loosely followed was this one for shrimp, sausage and quinoa jambalaya, from Relish, which is pictured here.

(photo source)

The ingredients I used to make this dish differed slightly, however, and are written below. All in all, this was very easy! And it was sooo good. We all loved it. In fact, we ate the whole dish! There were no leftovers to be had once the four of us got through with this. :) And I think it makes 8 servings... Guess we were all hungry!

In addition to just being plain yummy, the other great thing about this recipe is that it's quite versatile! You could make this completely vegetarian and add a larger assortment of veggies and maybe even some tofu? You could also add different meats or seafood (e.g., shrimp, of course!). And you can certainly kick it up a notch and add more heat/spice to this dish too, if that's your preference!

Ingredients:

-4 and 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth, divided

-2 cups quinoa (I used white; you could use red)

-3/4 to 1 pound cooked sausage or kielbasa (it's your choice really as to what exact kind of meat!), cut into bite-sized pieces

-3/4 to 1 pound cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces (you could roast, grill, saute, etc. the chicken - again, totally up to you)

-1 large onion, chopped

-1 medium to large green pepper, chopped

-1 medium to large red pepper, chopped

-4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

-1 15-oz. can diced tomatoes (the brand I used were "spiced" diced tomatoes)

-1/2 to 3/4 tsp. chili powder

Instructions:

Cook the 2 cups of quinoa with 4 cups of broth according to the quinoa package's instructions until it's done; set aside. Heat 2 to 3 tsp. of olive oil over medium heat in a large pot, and add the onion, peppers, and garlic to it. Saute about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add the remaining 1/2 cup of broth, can of diced tomatoes, and chili powder, and bring the mixture to a simmer. Add the cooked quinoa and the cooked meats, and mix everything together well. Heat a few more minutes, if necessary, until all ingredients are heated through.

Serve and enjoy!

As you can see, I don't have any pictures of this delicious dish to share with you. :( I was kind of in a rush when I was making it at home and I guess I wasn't thinking about taking pictures (which is really rare when it comes to me being in the kitchen; I am always taking pictures of what I make!). And I also didn't think to take pictures while we were eating. I blame the fact that I was distracted by the cute baby who was nearby... But, this dish was totally blog worthy, so I do wish I had snapped a few photos for you to see it. Oh well!

Instead, I'll show you a couple baby pictures. I definitely think that baby pictures are much more fun to look at than food pictures anyway! ;)

I can't stand the cuteness! Love being around little ones. :)

Mike's first time ever holding a baby this young and his first time feeding a baby! He looks like a natural, wouldn't you say?! 

Homemade Calzones

As you may know if you're a regular follower of the blog, I'm a big fan of homemade pizza. It's definitely one of my all-time favorite homemade meals to make. It's so versatile and soooo yummy!! 

I've posted a few times about pizza in the past, including:

Savory Pumpkin Pizza Dough

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Onions, and Rosemary

Root Vegetable Pizza with Sweet Potato, Onion, Rutabaga, and Acorn Squash (pictured below)

And I've even posted about a Breakfast Pizza, as well as a dessert style Candy Pizza!

So, I think you get the gist. I love pizza. ;)

Last week, however, I wanted to change it up. I was craving those typical flavors, but I didn't feel like doing the "same old" thing and make traditional pizza. So, of course, making calzones was the next best alternative! I've never actually made homemade calzones before, but I assumed it would be somewhat easy, and I didn't really follow a recipe for this...

I used a Stop n' Shop brand whole wheat pizza dough, divided it into two halves, and rolled each half out like I would if I were making pizza.

I baked a couple chicken breasts in the oven, one with bbq sauce and one with a plain tomato sauce.

Next, I sauteed an assortment of veggies, pictured here below (red peppers, onions, broccoli, and mushrooms). I believe I sauteed them in olive oil, and seasoned them with salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Next, Mike and I each built our own calzone. In mine, on one half of the dough, I first layered some of the already fully-cooked chicken breast, and I topped it with some more tomato sauce. I decided to cook both the chicken and veggies ahead of time because I wasn't sure how well they'd cook inside the dough.

Then I threw in some veggies; I just used the peppers, onions, and mushrooms in mine. Oh, and I added some chopped tomato too (which I did not saute ahead of time).

What's next? Cheese of course! I sprinkled some shredded mozzarella and grated parmesan on mine. When my fillings were all ready to go, I simply folded the other half of the dough over top of them.

(that looks like a lot of cheese, but it's not, I promise)

My and Mike's calzone's were a bit different in size. Oops! But who needs perfection when you're making calzones? Not me!

To seal the calzones, I just pressed the outside edges together with a fork.

How cute is my handsome fiance? ♥

I baked the calzones on my awesome pizza stone at 425 degrees for about 12 - 15 minutes, until they were lightly browned.

Apparently the dough of Mike's calzone was a bit thinner? That's my guess why his was more browned after baking.

Here's an inside shot of Mike's calzone. So good! In his, he put the bbq chicken, extra bbq sauce, all the different veggies, and an assortment of three cheeses (mozzarella, parm, and pepper jack!!).

And this was mine. Loved them both! We shared. I ate about 1/3 of mine and 1/3 of Mike's. I had intended to serve these with a side salad, but on this particular weekday I had already been busy in the kitchen for 2 hours before starting on the calzones, and to be honest, I just got too lazy and tired to prep all the veggies for a salad too. But that would have been the perfect accompaniment to these calzones!

The only thing I wish had happened was that the dough had risen more and was a bit thicker. It remained pretty thin, but that's ultimately okay. I'm not sure if I rolled it out too thin or if it maybe had something to do with the fact that this dough had been frozen and I had thawed it before using it? Not sure.

Either way, bottom line = I'd totally make calzones like this again! I'd also be excited to make an entirely veggie calzone without meat. Looove my veggies!

Barbecue Chicken Pizza with Roasted Sweet Potatoes, Peppers, Onions, and Rosemary on Multigrain Dough

Homemade pizza is probably in my top three dinners of all time. I love its versatility and the opportunity it provides to have a fairly healthy meal that's also a comfort food. :) I've written previously about some of my favorite combinations of toppings, and I've also shared an awesome savory pumpkin pizza dough recipe on the blog. Today I'm sharing a "recipe" for a most delicious pizza that Mike and I made last week - barbecue chicken pizza with roasted sweet potatoes, peppers, and onions on multigrain dough. YUM!

I used the multigrain pizza dough from Whole Foods when we made this pizza. Oh my goodness. This dough is the best! A Whole Foods very recently opened where I live, and I am sooo excited about it. Last week I picked up the last bag of multigrain dough that was on the shelves at the time, and I think it was meant to be. WF multigrain dough + me = a match made in heaven. Try not to be too jealous, fiance Mike. ;)

Now, this recipe doesn't really have exact measurements, per se. When making pizza, I just eyeball everything. So I apologize for not having measurements, but you'll get the idea!

Ingredients:

-pizza dough of your choice (you can make your own, of course!)

-barbecue sauce (I used a honey bbq sauce)

-cooked chicken, shredded or cut into bite-sized pieces (I baked a medium sized chicken breast with bbq sauce and then cut it into bite-sized pieces)

-roasted sweet potatoes (about 3/4 cup or so; I used leftovers I had roasted a couple nights prior, and at that time they were seasoned with salt, pepper, and rosemary)

-pepper (any color!), sliced

-onion, diced

-dried rosemary or other herbs of your choice

-shredded cheese of your choice (I used a store bought "Italian" blend of cheeses)

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. If using a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven (to prevent it from cracking). Saute your onion and pepper in olive oil, over medium heat on the stove, for 6 or 8 minutes until they start to get soft (they will cook more in the oven). Spread out your dough until it's as thick or thin as you'd like. Evenly spread a few tablespoons (or so!) of bbq sauce across the dough. Place the rest of your toppings (cooked chicken and veggies) evenly on top of the bbq sauce, and then sprinkle with your preferred flavor(s) and amount of cheese. I typically don't like my pizza too cheesy, as I don't want the cheese to overpower the taste of all the other delicious toppings! And it's healthier with less cheese too. ;) We chose to sprinkle some dried rosemary over top of our pizza before baking it. Feel free to add whatever herbs you might like!

(Terrible lighting there; sorry! But this is the dough with the bbq sauce spread on it.)

If you preheated a pizza stone, transfer the pizza to the stone and bake for 10 - 12 minutes (that's how long my pizzas take anyway!) or until the outer crust edges start to turn a light golden brown. I have preheated my pizza stone before, and I also haven't... It's turned out fine every time, but I guess you should probably do whatever your pizza stone's instructions tell you to do! I have an awesome Pampered Chef stone that my mom gave me. Love it!

Let your pizza sit for a couple minutes before slicing it. Then, ENJOY and try to hold back from eating the entire thing in one sitting. ;)

Below you'll see a slice of the bbq chicken pizza, but what's that on the left, you wonder? Well, it's the other pizza we made the same night! The second pizza was a tasty broccoli, tomato, and goat cheese pizza on Whole Foods white dough. Also super delicious! However, the bbq chicken and sweet potato pizza really stole the show, which is why I decided to share that one with you.

What toppings and flavor combinations do you like best on your own homemade pizza?!

Hope everyone is having a great week so far! :)

Baked Apricot Maple Chicken with Sauteed Apples and Roasted Butternut Squash

Is it just me or does the name of this recipe scream fall? Yay for autumn! It's officially just two days away. Come Friday, we'll be into my favorite season... Woohoo!

I made this dish last night to bring to a small dinner party with six people. It was the perfect amount for everyone! A few people had second helpings, and by the end, the entire dish was gone.... So, I guess it was yummy?! :)

I receive several cooking magazines and I love reading them. However, I will admit that I'm guilty of not making recipes from my magazines very often. :( I am making an effort to use recipes from my magazines more often, and this dish is an example of that effort! Of course, though, I did change the recipe... It's actually originally a recipe for pork, but I chose to use chicken instead because it was on sale at the grocery store! Pork was not on sale this week. I like to save money whenever I can; what can I say?

The dish is from the September 2011 issue of Cooking Light, and in there it's the recipe for "roasted pork tenderloin and maple-glazed apples" (for any of you Cooking Light subscribers!). I'll share the recipe as I made it though. Most of the measurements are approximate...I didn't really measure. Sorry! This is so not how I bake. I'm much more precise in that area. ;-) Oh, and I chose to just add the squash as a little extra since it went so well with all the other flavors.

Ingredients:

For chicken:

-approximately 2.5 - 3 lbs. chicken breasts

-approx. 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

-approx. 1 - 2 Tbsp. white wine vinegar

-approx. 3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

-approx. 3 Tbsp. apricot jam (or another jam of your choice!)

-salt and pepper

-fresh rosemary, thyme, and/or other herbs

For apples:
-3 or 4 medium apples (I used macintosh)

-1 small yellow onion

-1 Tbsp. butter or margarine

-3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

-1 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

-salt and pepper

-cinnamon

For squash:

-1 lb. butternut or winter squash (I used a combination of these two types), peeled and chopped into 1/2 - 1" cubes

-extra virgin olive oil

-salt and pepper

-fresh rosemary

Instructions:

Prepare your chicken and squash first so they can be roasting while you're cooking the apples on the stovetop. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. For the chicken, I cut the breasts into 1/3 - 1/2 lb. pieces and put them in a 13 x 9 glass baking dish (I had sprayed it with cooking spray first). In a small dish, combine the olive oil, vinegar, maple syrup, jam, salt, and pepper (use your judgment with how much). Once the liquid mixture is combined thoroughly, spread it evenly with a spoon over top the chicken breasts. Sprinkle fresh rosemary and thyme (or other herbs!) on top of that. I probably used a couple teaspoons of each of those two herbs. Bake the chicken for about 20 - 25 minutes or until cooked thoroughly and not pink in the middle. Cooking time will vary depending on the size of the breasts you prepare. Just be careful not to overcook so the chicken doesn't become dry! 

For the squash, place it in a baking dish and sprinkle with olive oil and your chosen spices. Bake for at least 30 minutes - maybe up to 45 minutes. The cooking time will vary here depending on the size of the squash pieces you cut. Check the squash's doneness by sticking a fork in it; if it goes through easily, it's done! Oh, and by the way, quick tip on peeling a squash such as this one pictured below... These things are so darn annoying and difficult to peel! It can be made easier if you microwave the squash first. Pierce it with a knife in a few places, and for a smaller squash like this one, just microwave it for 2 or 3 minutes, let it cool for a bit, and then use your knife to carefully cut off the outside peel. It will be soooo much easier if you microwave it than not. I promise!

While those two items are baking, prepare your apples. I kept the skins on my apples, but if you'd like, you can remove the skins. Cut each apple into 8 or 10 slices. Chop your onion into small pieces. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt the butter or margarine and saute the onion for 7 or 8 minutes until it starts to soften. Once the onion is getting lightly browned, add the apples to the pan. After a minute or so, drizzle the maple syrup over top, along with the lemon juice, salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Continue to cook the apples over low to medium heat for 6 - 8 more minutes, or until they're softened to your liking.

When everything has cooked, serve it however you'd like! I ended up combining the squash and apples into one dish when we actually sat down to eat. We enjoyed this meal with some When Pigs Fly harvest bread and a delicious side dish of quinoa, sweet potatoes, and dried cranberries made by the lovely Jenn. What a perfect fall meal!!

Quick and Delicious Chicken Noodle Soup

Looking for a traditional soup recipe that's both easy and healthy? Craving a tasty comfort food when you're not feeling well? Wanting a hot meal to warm you up on a cold winter's night? Well, here's your recipe. This quick, low-calorie, delicious chicken noodle soup will satisfy each of the aforementioned needs. :)

This recipe was very easy and if I do say so myself, quite delicious. I actually made it for one of the typical purposes people make chicken soup...to help someone feel better! My brother had been sick with a bug of some sort for a few days, so I decided to make chicken soup to bring to him. I obviously didn't give him the whole batch though since I also tried it! Mike tried some too, and he liked it as well. An ironic note about this soup, by the way... I was already thinking of making soup to bring to Patrick and then my "Dinner Tonight" recipe from the MyRecipes.com e-newsletter that same day was this very recipe for Quick Chicken Noodle Soup!! How's that for irony? I took that as a sign and tried it out, and I am glad I did.

The nice thing about this particular recipe is that it calls for a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken that you can buy in the grocery store. So you save a lot of time not having to cook the chicken yourself! I followed the recipe almost as it is written. To the onion, carrot, and celery mixture (the "holy trinity"!), I also added some chopped fresh zucchini since I had some on hand. I added some minced garlic as the trinity cooked too. Oh, and I used a different pasta; I added rotini whereas the recipe calls for fusilli. Any pasta will do, I'm sure!

Oh, and I actually omitted the salt from the recipe... I think that soups are often inherently salty, and people's preferences for saltiness can vary quite a bit. I figured that if people wanted a saltier soup, they could just add their own at the end. Personally, I thought it was adequately salted just as I made it without adding more, but that's just me!

The next time you or someone you love is feeling under the weather, or the next time you're just in a mood for a comfort food, try this easy, healthy recipe! I would have loved to make some homemade rolls like my grandmother makes to go with this soup, but I didn't have the luxury of time at the time! Maybe next time around! By the way, do the oyster crackers in this picture below look familiar?! ;-)