Onion Smothered Chicken w/ White Wine Braised Baby Bok Choy

Earlier today, one of my Twitter buds tweeted a photo of his caramelized onion steak. It really put me in the mood for something smothered in sweet, slow cooked onions.

I decided on chicken since I didn't have any steak; originally, I planned to use broccolini (baby broccoli) for this recipe but they were out, so I got baby bok choy instead and it came out great! It takes a long time to cook the onions down low and slow so they release they sugars and caramelize, but it's so worth it. If you don't have time, you can just saute the onion regularly over medium high-heat.

Onion Smothered Chicken w/ White Wine Braised Baby Bok Choy

Ingredients:

4 tsp vegetable oil
3 small onions, quartered and sliced thinkly
3 boneless chicken breasts
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp aleppo pepper (or red chili flakes)
1/4 cup white wine
4 baby bok choy, sliced in half length-wise

Directions:

1. Heat oil in a dutch oven or large skillet. Over medium-low heat, saute onions until soft and caramelized, 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Add chicken and cover with onion. Cook 1-2 minutes on each side to brown, sprinkle in salt and pepper and stir to coat, then add wine to deglaze pan. Raise heat until liquid is bubbling (you want to cook out some of the alcohol), turn down to a simmer, cover and cook 3-4 minutes more until chicken is no longer pink.

 

3. Remove chicken from pan and add baby bok choy, cut side down. Cover and cook 2-3 minutes, then turn over (cut-side up) and cook 1 minute more until core is soft and leaves are wilted but still very green.

 

The cost:
onion: 1.19
chicken: 6.72
baby bok choy: 2.49

Grand total: $10.40; serves 2 + leftovers (serve over rice or mashed potatoes)

Recipe 2-fer: Washington's Green Grocer Produce Box Adventure

I recently signed up to have a vegetable and fruit box delivered to me from local farms through Washington's Green Grocer. It doesn't cost too much more than I usually spend on produce in a given week, and it's local and organic!

I got my first box yesterday, and it had so many beautiful fruits and veggies including huckleberry potatoes (never even heard of them before--they are pink inside!), purple potatoes, purple top turnips (yikes don't usually cook with those), and kale.

Having never used turnips before in anything but chicken soup I was skeptical, but they were really flavorful, and in a good way! I peeled them after reading they have a tough and sometimes bitter skin, then roasted the turnips and potatoes simply with olive oil, salt, garlic powder and Aleppo pepper (you could substitute red pepper flakes).

For protein I decided on a stovetop chicken rubbed with a spice mix of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and mustard seed (gave a great crunchy texture!), and then did a quick braise on the kale in the leftover juices.

All in all delicious, and I'm so glad I decided to do this local farm produce delivery!

Roasted Purple-Top Turnips with Huckleberry & Purple Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 large turnips, peeled and cubed
6 huckleberry potatoes, cubed
6 purple potatoes, cubed
1 Tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Aleppo pepper

Directions:

1. Place veggies in a roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with spices, mixing to coat.
2. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes covered, 20-25 minutes uncovered or until veggies are tender.

Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Crusted Chicken w/ Braised Kale

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
6 scallions, chopped (or 1 onion, I just didn't have any)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
3 boneless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp vegetable stock
1 bunch of kale, cleaned

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large saute pan and saute scallions and garlic 4-5 minutes.
2. Combine paprika, mustard seeds, garlic powder & salt in a bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry, then dip into spice mixture, rubbing and massaging into chicken.
3. Add chicken to pan and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from pan.
4. Remove kale leaves from stalk and tear leaves into bite-sized pieces (discard stalk or save for making soup stock another time). Deglaze pan with soup stock and add kale, turning to coat in juices. Cook 1-2 minutes until tender but still very green.

The cost:
veggies: $9.00 (1/4 of box)
chicken: 6.17

Grand total: $15.17; serves 2 + lunch leftovers :)

Balsamic Glazed Chicken & Peppers

I took a trip to Penzey's spice store this past weekend and came away with a great haul of fresh spices including spicy-lemony Aleppo pepper. Its inaugural dish was last night's dinner, balsamic glazed chicken breasts with pepper in 4 ways--red, yellow, orange, and Aleppo :)

Balsamic Glazed Chicken & Peppers

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 onion, cut into quarters and sliced thinly
1 garlic cloves, sliced thinly
1 each red, orange and yellow bell peppers, cut into strips
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 chopped green onion (for garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large skillet and saute onion until soft, 4-5 minutes. Add garlic and peppers and cook 8-10 minutes more.
2. Sprinkle salt and pepper over both sides of chicken breasts. Add to skillet and cook 2-3 minutes on each side to brown. Add vinegar to deglaze pan, turning contents to coat. Cover and cook 3-4 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Garnish with chopped green onion.

Serve over rice or quinoa with this citrus-y fennel salad or this zesty cucumber salad.

The cost:
onion: .45
garlic: .5
bell peppers: 3.49
chicken: 5.99

Grand total: $9.98; serves 2 + lunch for tomorrow (well, for AK anyway :))