Recipe: Shredded Chicken Grilled Cheese

I've been on a grilled cheese bender.  When there is leftover meat or something in the house we sometimes put it on grilled cheese.  One of my favorites has been with shredded chicken.  This particular shredded chicken was cooked with salsa and taco seasoning, its pretty good.  Once I grilled the sandwich (tip: put cheese on both sides so as it melts it holds everything in the middle together), I pulled it apart and added some tomatoes (I like my tomatoes cold).  It was yummy.

Recipe: BBQ Chicken Pizza With Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Once upon a time (just a few months ago, really) I had some extra roasted red peppers laying around.  I'd blended some up and added them to some pesto for a pasta sauce which, by the way, was pretty darn good.  Then I saw something on Pinterest.  I just went to look for the pin so I could link to it but it looks like I didn't pin it to one of my boards.  Anyway, the pin I saw was for some calzones with roasted red peppers.  I didn't want to make calzones but I thought that I could make a pizza sauce with my leftover roasted red pepper.  And that is exactly what I did.  CJ and I liked it so much that I did it again today.

This is what I used:

• A pizza crust.  I made my own mostly whole wheat crust.  One of these days I'll get around to putting the recipe and directions for that on the blog.  One day.
• BBQ Sauce.
• Roasted red peppers.  These can usually be found near pickles in grocery stores.
• Feta cheese.
• Mozzarella cheese.
• BBQ chicken.  I just diced up some chicken and cooked it on the stove with some bbq sauce but leftover grilled bbq chicken or shredded bbq chicken would work well too.  If you are looking for a vegetarian pizza, you could leave off the chicken entirely and this pizza would still be good.

This is what I did:

1. Cook the crust without any toppings for about 5 minutes at 350 ish.  It isn't always necessary to do this but I've made a lot of pizza in my day and cooking the crust for just a few minutes before adding toppings really helps make the pizza just a little better.  I think it prevents too many juices from the toppings seeping into the crust, which helps the crust cook more evenly and thoroughly, especially if there are a lot of toppings.

2. Blend up the roasted red peppers until smooth.  If you like your pizza sauce on the runny side, even blend in the juices from the jar.

3. Add bbq sauce to blended peppers.  I actually added about twice as much as is in the picture above.  If you want more of a bbq flavor add more bbq sauce.  If you don't want much bbq flavor, only add a little.

4.  Add toppings.  The order probably doesn't matter too much but I did sauce (which I would assume would usually go on the bottom), mozzarella cheese, bbq chicken, feta cheese.

5. Bake somewhere between 350 and 375 for 10 to 15 minutes.

6. Eat.

Recipe: Honeyed-Orange Almond Chicken

Once upon time I read an article that spoke of all the great health benefits of honey. After reading the article I went to kraftrecipes.com and searched for recipes that included honey. Here is one that I found that I have loved - CJ likes it too.

The Recipe:

Honeyed-Orange Almond Chicken

2 Tbsp. honey

1/4 tsp. each salt and black pepper

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast halves

1/4 cup orange marmalade

1/2 cup Sliced Almonds

Preheat broiler. Mix honey, salt and pepper; brush evenly on chicken. Place on rack of broiler pan.
Broil chicken 4 to 6 inches from heat 5 to 7 min. on each side or until cooked through (170ºF). Brush chicken with marmalade; sprinkle with almonds. Broil an additional 1 to 2 min. or until almonds are lightly toasted.

My Tips:

1. Don't Broil! I found out the first time that broiling chicken that has honey on it will make any honey that has made its way off the chicken and onto the pan bubble and burn and it smells like the food is burning when it really isn't.
Instead of broiling, bake the chicken at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes on each side (side 1 for 10 minutes, side 2 for 10 minutes, side 1 for 5 minutes, side 2 for 5 minutes). However, I do support broiling for the last minute or so to brown the almonds.
2. Don't Mix Other Ingredients With Honey. I don't recommend this because it makes the chicken turn out badly but because it is hard to mix anything with sticky honey.
Instead of mixing these ingredients, just put salt and pepper on the chicken, then drizzle the honey on the chicken.
3. Filet the Chicken. This is another tip for ease. I found that if I just put a chicken breast on the pan and put honey on it, the honey finds its way off the sides of the chicken pretty quickly.
Instead of just placing whole chicken breasts on the pan, cut each breast in half width wise. This will create a flat surface on which to put the honey (flat side up on the pan).
4. Use Tin Foil. Even with baking the chicken instead of broiling, the honey will make a bit of a mess, I recommend placing tin foil on the pan you use before you place the chicken on it.
I really like the flavor of this chicken, it is sweet with just a little orange taste and crunchy almonds. It is simple and pretty fast to make. I like to eat broccoli or green beans on the side with brown rice.
Nutritional Information (4 servings per recipe above):