Favorites: Mrs. Mingle Recommends a Couple of Chicken Recipes

Since I've been home I've been cooking more these days and thought I'd take a moment to share a couple of our easy favorite recipes for those who might be looking for a little inspiration to their normal menu.    I'm always going out to the internet to seek out ideas and there have been hits and misses.  These are a couple of hits.

I did not make up these recipes from scratch - Iso to give credit where credit is due, I pulled both of these off of mealplanning101.com.  I found this site over a year ago and thought I found a gold mine because the author would provide a whole week's worth of meals, as well as the shopping list.  We were pleased with most of the recipes we tried.   But, alas, shortly after I found it, the author seemed to stop maintaining it.  I keep going back for my favorites, but it's not constantly being updated with more.

Recipe #1: Chicken Oreganato (Kid-friendly)
Link to Chicken Oreganato Recipe
The hardest part about this recipe is remembering how to spell "Oreganato" so that it comes up in my search efforts.  Yeah, yeah... I could print it out, or I could bookmark it for future use, but that would take all the fun out of my hunt and peck efforts everytime I want to make this.  At least now I can come back to my blog for it.     This is kid-friendly, and simple.   It works with boneless, skinless chicken too, but bone-in, skin-on chicken really is the most flavorful (and cheapest).  We often pick up a pack of rice pilaf or cous cous to accompany it, and make a simple veggie on the side too.  It's one of the few meals that BOTH my kids will eat, as they seem to like the opposite types of foods.

The recipe:

8 bone-in chicken thighs
2 teaspoons dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 lemon, juiced
Zest of lemon
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Rinse the chicken thighs and then pat dry. Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper and place skin side down in a greased 9x13 baking dish. In a resealable glass jar or container [or just mix real well in a small bowl], add the olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice, close tightly and shake well. Pour half the lemon oil over the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken thighs with 1 tsp of oregano and place in the oven.
Once they have baked for 15 minutes, flip the chicken over, drizzle with the remaining lemon oil and sprinkle on the remaining tsp of oregano. Place back in the oven for 15-20 minutes. To get a nice golden color on the skin, broil for a couple minutes (if it needs it) at the end of the baking time [I've never had to do this - the skin is always golden color by the time it's finished].
Serve with wedges of lemon to squeeze more delicious lemony goodness on them at the table.

Recipe #2: Chicken Tikka Masala (Spicy)
A year or so ago, for a special occasion, I wanted to make Mr. Mingle homemade Chicken Tikka Masala, which is one of our favorite dishes when we go out to eat Indian Food.   I found a recipe that looked tasty online, again with mealplanning101.com, and marinated the meat the night before as suggested.   The next day, I was beginning to realize that I did not have the time nor stamina to make my own tikka masala sauce from scratch so I called up a friend and asked how she usually made it.  She turned me onto "Sukhi's Gourmet Indian Foods" pre-made "Tikka Masala Curry Sauce" which can be found at Whole Foods or Molly Stones near us.  This curry sauce combined with the marinade I got from the website was the perfect EASY combo.   If you are craving Indian, here's a simple recipe.  The kids don't like it as they don't like spicy or Indian curry, but sometimes it's worth the effort of making this for the grown-ups and something else (simple) for the kids so we get our spicy fix.  We often pair it with eggplant cooked really simply, and rice.  The best store-bought naan (per Mingle opinion) is the frozen naan that you can get at Trader Joe's.  Also, some plain greek yogurt on the side is a perfect match to cool this down a little.

The recipe:

Marinade (per MealPlanning101 Chicken Tikka Recipe):

1 cup plain yogurt
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp cumin
1/4-1 tsp cayenne (depending on how spicy you like it)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

6-8 chicken thighs (skin on, bone-in)

Stir all ingredients except chicken into the bottom of a large plastic container. Add the chicken and coat the chicken completely with the marinade, cover and place in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight.


Then, when you are ready to make dinner, follow the recipe on the Sukhi packet to make the rest of the curry.  

RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Makes 5 Servings
1 packet Sukhi’s Tikka Masala Curry Sauce
1¼ lbs. skinless chicken, meat or seafood
¼ cup whipping cream
1 cup water

To make a vegetarian curry, substitute chicken with 1¼ lbs. of boiled and cubed red potatoes, sliced bell peppers, green beans, and firm tofu or Paneer (Indian cheese).


METHOD:
In a saucepan, add chicken, Sukhi’s Tikka Masala Curry Sauce, and water. Mix ingredients together well, and simmer on medium high heat. When chicken is cooked, stir in cream. Bring to boil. Serve with Sukhi’s Naan or over rice with Sukhi’s Chutney.

I don't usually put in all of the leftover marinade when I cook the chicken, but I will keep whatever is stuck to the chicken, meaning I don't rinse the yogurt mixture off when I toss it in the pan.


Eggplant Side-Dish (per Mingle easy steps):
Mince up 1 or 2 garlic cloves (optional)
Slice up the eggplant and lay out the slices on a plate. Sprinkle generously with salt and set aside (the longer the better, but I am a poor planner in the kitchen, so it's usually a half hour at the most).
Using a generous amount of olive oil saute the garlic until it begins to smell wonderful
Add all of the eggplant into the frying pan, stirring occasionally until it is all soft.  Usually takes about 20 minutes.

Don't forget the rice, naan and yogurt!

I hope that you find one or both of these recipes enjoyable!