Instant Pot BBQ Chicken Nachos or Quesadillas

Prior to getting an Instant Pot, I used to make this in a Crock Pot (just add the chicken and BBQ sauce) and even in the oven. But IMO it's much tastier (and faster) in the Instant Pot.

The really nice thing about this super easy recipe is that it makes 2 meals for us. We usually do quesadillas the first night (not pictured) and then nachos with the leftover chicken mixture the next night.

Ingredients

~1.5 lbs chicken breast

~ 2 C shredded cheese (maybe more for nachos the next night)

-1 can black beans

~1 C BBQ sauce

~1 C frozen corn

-1 handful chopped cilantro

-Tortillas (for quesadillas)

-Chips (for nachos)

Optional toppings

-peppers, jalapenos, sour cream, salsa, etc.

Steps

1. If making chicken in Instant Pot: place seasoned chicken breasts (I seasoned with salt, pepper, oregano, garlic salt) in Instant Pot with 1/2 C broth. Use the "Poultry" setting (mine cooked for 15 minutes) and then do natural release for about 10-15 minutes. I follow these guidelines for Instant Pot chicken.

2. Shred or dice chicken and add to large bowl.

3. Mix in corn, beans, cheese, cilantro.

4. Then use the mixture either in tortillas for Quesadillas (I usually add a bit more cheese once I scoop the filling onto the tortilla) or nachos. For nachos, you'll also want to add more cheese. I cooked the nachos for about 12 minutes at 375.

Instant Pot Butter Chicken and Soy-Butter Broccoli

A post! After 2 long years! You may be asking, why now? Why this? In reality, it's most likely so I can procrastinate and take a break from working on a grant. However, some of the motivation stems from me realizing I can easily add photos from my phone, and even more of the motivation comes from my excitement about my new Instant Pot. Yes, I finally drank the Insta-Kool-Aid and it is good. In fact, this Instant Pot recipe was so good I wanted to share it with all 0 of my followers. This recipe is actually lifted from here. I followed it exactly, though I did use store bought Garam Masala. We served this over steamed rice and with a broccoli dish (recipe for that follows). 

Ingredients

-2 heads of broccoli, chopped

-4 T of butter

-2 T of soy sauce

Steps

-Place broccoli in a pan with 4 pats of butter. Cover with a lid and heat on med-high for about 5 minutes without stirring (this will allow some of the broccoli to char, which adds nice flavor). 

-After 5 minutes stir in 2 T of soy sauce. Remove from heat and serve.

Sausage, potato, and red pepper turnovers

I got the original recipe from Cooking Light, but I modified it a bit. Well, in all honesty I actually forgot to put in one of the key ingredients (spinach), but these still tasted awesome, and I ended up just making a little side salad with the spinach I forgot to add :). This recipe looks a little complicated (at least to me), but it was really pretty easy.

I'm sure you could easily make these vegetarian by using the fake meat crumbles instead of sausage, if you prefer.

Note: This recipe makes 8 turnovers..and you'll probably end up with a little extra stuffing--we plan to serve it over noodles with some marinara or add it to some beans and broth and make a soup.
Ingredients
-4 red potatoes, diced into smaller than bite size pieces
-1 red bell pepper, diced into smaller than bite size pieces
-1 yellow onion, diced into smaller than bite size pieces
-5 links hot Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
-3 T fresh basil or oregano, chopped
-1 package refrigerated pie dough (such as Pillsbury)
-1 egg, lightly beaten
-3 T Parm or Asiago
-salt, pepper, crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 400.
Steps
1. Heat a large skillet to medium-hot. Add sausages (with casings removed) and brown on both sides. Then, using a spatula, break the sausages up into small pieces.
2. Once you've broken up the sausage, add in the diced onion, potato, and red pepper. Saute for 3 minutes, then cover for about 3 minutes. Stir and cover everything again for about 3 minutes or until potato is soft.
3. Stir in basil/oregano, salt/pepper/crushed red pepper to taste, remove from heat. (This is where you were supposed to add the spinach, if you were so inclined.)

4. Flour a large working surface and a rolling pin (or if you're like me and don't own a rolling pin, flour a cylindrical object like a coffee thermos).
5. Cut your two rolls of pie dough into four equal pieces each. Ball each up and then press them out into a circle with your hands. Then roll them out into large circles, about 6 inches wide.

6. Spoon about 1/2 C sausage mixture on half of each circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border.

7. Fold dough over potato mixture and then bring bottom edge of dough over top edge; press with your fingers or crimp with a fork.  
Tip 1: the warm sausage mixture is going to make your dough gooey and start to tear easily, so don't overfill your turnovers. Also, try to work quickly. I ended up just pressing the edges together with my fingers because crimping with a fork was making the dough tear. If your dough does tear, don't worry unless it's a big tear, as a small tear will allow ventilation. If it's a big tear, borrow some dough from another turnover to patch with.
Tip 2: make your turnovers on the greased baking pan. I made the first one on my work surface and then it started to fall apart when I transferred it to the baking pan. So, I recommend making all your turnovers on the baking pan you're going to cook them on.
8. Brush your whisked egg over the top of each turnover.
9. Bake for about 15-18 minutes (on the TOP rack) or until turnovers are golden brown.
Tip 3: All ovens vary, but my turnovers started to burn on the bottom rack, so I transferred them to the top two racks. Then, I rotated the turnovers (switch the top and second to the top) half-way through so they got equally browned.
10. Grate some cheese on top of each turnover once you pull them out of the oven.

11. Enjoy, but be careful because they'll be very hot inside!

Low-fat chicken salad

I'm finally back in Tallahassee, and plan to get back to regular posting. However, I thought I'd start with a simple, easy post to get things going. My Aunt Nan made this delicious chicken salad for my shower. This comes together really quickly and is great for lunches.

Ingredients:
-2 boneless chicken breasts (about 1.5 lbs)
-1 8oz container of plain yogurt (Greek yogurt would also probably be good)
~2 big handfuls seedless red grapes, cut in half
~6 stalks of celery, chopped into small pieces
~1 handful of chopped pecans (or walnuts)
-salt and pepper to taste
-whatever bread you prefer

Steps:
1. Cook your chicken breasts (I usually season mine and then grill on my Foreman) and cut up into bit size pieces.
2. Combine with remaining ingredients.
3. Chill in refrigerator before serving.

Baked Polenta with Sausage and Tomato-Pepper Sauce

I know a recipe is a hit with my fiance when he takes one bite and says, "This is a repeater," meaning that he thinks this is a recipe we should add into our regular rotation. Well, according to him, this recipe is a "repeater" and I would have to agree. Also, it was super easy to make.

Ingredients
-2 tubes (16 or 17oz) polenta
-1 lb chicken sausage, removed from casing (I recommend spicy Italian flavor)
-1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
-1 medium red onion, julienned
-1 red pepper, julienned
-2 tsp minced garlic
~1.5 C shredded mozzarella
-1 T oregano
~2 T basil (optional)
-1 T balsamic vinegar
-1.5 T brown sugar
-salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
~4T EVOO

Steps
(Preheat broiler to hight)
1. Let tomatoes simmer on low-medium with 1 T EVOO, oregano, and some salt and pepper, balsamic vinegar, and brown sugar.
2. Heat large frying pan on medium, add 1 T EVOO and saute onion and pepper for about 5 minutes.
3. Add chicken sausage, breaking up into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and some salt and pepper and continue cooking until sausage is done.

5. Add tomato sauce to frying pan and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. While sauce is simmering, add 1.5 T EVOO to a 9X13 baking pan and tilt to coat bottom. Add polenta slices to pan and turn to coat with oil. Next, arrange slices lengthwise in 4 slightly overlapping rows. Broil polenta about 4 in from heating element in oven until golden brown and crispy, about 10-15 minutes.

7. Pour sauce over broiled polenta and top with mozzarella. Broil until cheese is melted and beginning to brown, about 2-3 minutes.
8. Top with fresh basil, and let cool a bit before serving.

Mom's Fried Chicken

I only make this a couple of times a year because it's not the healthiest recipe in the world, but it is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. Over the years my mom has perfected this recipe...I'm still working on it...but I'd like to think that my version is at least now in the same class as hers.

Ingredients
-4 chicken breasts
-2 C flour
-2 eggs
-1 C milk
-2 T cayenne pepper
-1 tsp salt and pepper
~1/4 C Canola oil
-1/2 tsp garlic salt
(you can add additional spices if you like, like season salt or poultry seasoning to the flour mixture)
(Note about the oil: The amount you use is going to depend on the size of your pan...you really don't need a lot. You want the height of the oil to be about half a centimeter. In other words, you don't want your chicken breasts to be submersed in oil, you just want the oil to reach half-way up the sides so that you're just browning one side at a time.)

Steps
1. In a small bowl, whisk milk, eggs, 1 tsp cayenne pepper, and 1/2 tsp pepper.
2. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, 1.5 T cayenne pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, garlic salt, and 1/2 tsp pepper.

3. Heat oil in large skillet at medium-hot.
4. Once oil is very hot (you can test it by tossing a little mixture into the oil) you can batter your chicken and add to frying pan. To batter your chicken, dunk in the milk mixture then dredge thoroughly through the flour mixture. I actually press the flour mixture into the chicken to make sure it gets well coated.
5. Once chicken is battered, carefully add it to the pan. Cook for about 6 minutes, or until golden brown, then turn carefully (I recommend tongs) and cook another 6 minutes. Turn heat down to medium, flip chicken again and cook for 3 minutes; flip again and cook for 3 minutes (the point of this is to get the batter a darker golden brown and nice and crispy).

6. Once chicken is done, sprinkle salt on both sides and pat with paper towels. We served it with slaw (click link for recipe).

Baked-Potato Eggs

I always forget that any kind of twice baked potato recipe is, like, 20 times harder than it sounds. When I read this recipe, I was tricked into thinking it would be easy because the recipe did not bill the potatoes as the twice baked kind (even though they totally are). So when I originally read the recipe I was like, "Oh, bake a potato, mix it with some other stuff, pop it back in the oven, and voila, delicious!" However, it did not work out like that...at least not for me. I ended up getting sweaty and cussing a lot as I broke my potato shells and ended up with more filler than potato shells. Despite all this, these were quite tasty, so if you have some time I still recommend them (and hopefully you won't make the same mistakes nor have the same easy baking expectations that I did).

Ingredients
-2 baking potatoes
-1/3 C milk
-3 T butter or margarine
-1/2 C grated Parmesan
-2 chicken sausages, casings removed
-4 eggs
-1 T EVOO
-salt and pepper to taste
-chives (optional)

Steps
(preheat oven to 400)
1. Wash your potatoes and then poke several holes in them with a fork. Rub your potatoes with EVOO and sprinkle with sea salt. Cook in oven for about 1 hour or until tender. (Flip your potatoes half way through).
2. While your potatoes are cooking, cook your sausages for about 7 minutes (or until browned) breaking it up into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon as you go.
3. Once potatoes are done, carefully cut them in half and scoop out the insides into a large bowl. I did not do this carefully (and I also didn't cook my potatoes long enough) and ripped most of my shells :(

4. Mash your potato insides with a masher. Add butter, milk, Parm, sausage, and salt & pepper to bowl and mix. Once mixed, fill your shells back up with the mixture.

5. Once you've filled your potato shells, make an indentation (with your finger) in the middle of the filled potatoes. Then crack an egg into each hole.

6. Bake your potatoes again for about another 20 minutes or until eggs are set.
7. Top with chives if you like.

(Note: I actually made 3 potatoes when I made this, and just added a little more of all the ingredients. However, I ended up with more filler than could fit in the potato skins, so I put some of the potato filler in small oven proof dishes and carried on from there.)

Blue Cheese-Stuffed Chicken with Buffalo Sauce

This recipe is from the March Cooking Light. Although I am not a big chicken fan (I think chicken is pretty tasteless), the addition of the blue cheese and sauce made for a really tasty dish. (Thanks, Julia, for reminding me to add panko to the ingredients!)

Ingredients:
Chicken
-1 cup Panko
-1/2 C crumbled blue cheese
-1.5 T reduced-fat sour cream
-1 T fresh lemon juice
-several dashes pepper
-4 chicken breast halves (I actually only made 2)
-1/4 C flour
-2 T milk
-1 beaten egg
-1T butter
Sauce 
-1.5 tsp butter
-6 T finely chopped drained bottled roasted red bell peppers
-2 T water
-1 T Worcestershire
-1 tsp mince garlic
-1 tsp hot sauce
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
-2 large potatoes, cubed
-2 T reduced fat sour cream
-2 T milk
-2 T butter
-2 tsp mined garlic
-salt and pepper to taste

Steps:

(Preheat oven to 350°)
1. Boil potatoes for about 25 minutes, or until soft.
2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Cut a horizontal slit through thickest portion of each chicken breast half to form a pocket. Stuff cheese mixture evenly into pockets.

3. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine milk and egg in a shallow dish, stirring well with a whisk. Place panko in a shallow dish. Working with 1 chicken breast half at a time, dredge chicken in flour, then dip in egg mixture; dredge in panko. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken breast.
4. Heat a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan; swirl until butter melts. Arrange chicken in pan; cook 4 minutes or until browned. Turn chicken over; place skillet in oven (I wasn't sure if my skillet was oven proof, so I transferred the chicken to a pan). Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until done.

5. While chicken bakes, combine remaining 1.5 tsp butter, bell peppers, water, Worcestershire, and garlic in a small saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a simmer; cook until butter melts. Remove from heat, and stir in hot sauce. Serve sauce with chicken.

6. Mash up potatoes and add butter, sour cream, milk, s&p.

Chicken Sausage, Fennel, Onion, and Gouda Pizza

This was overall really easy and tasty (and even better today for lunch!). I had never cooked with fennel bulb before, but the sweet onion + fennel combo was really nice and in my book, anything with Gouda is a win. Also, I bought 2 pre-made pizza crusts and doubled the ingredients so that we would have leftovers for lunch. (Note: the ingredients listed below are for 1 pizza.)

Ingredients:
-1 pre-made pizza crust, like Boboli
-2 links chicken sausage, removed from casing
-3/4 C Gouda, shredded
-1 C fennel bulb, finely diced

-1.5 C sweet onion, sliced into thin strips
-1 T oil
-T chives




 Steps:
(preheat oven at 450)
1. Saute chicken sausage until browned (~7 mins) and break it into small pieces as it cooks.
2. Transfer sausage to bowl.
3. Add the diced onion and fennel to the chicken sausage pan (I used the grease from the chicken sausage to add flavor), cover with a lid, and saute for about 15-20 minutes over medium heat until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. I had to add 1 T of EVOO to keep things from sticking.

4. Once onion mixture is done, spread it evenly on top of pizza. Add the sausage and cheese.
5. Cook at 450 for about 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.
6. Top with chives.

Chicken Sausage and Gnocchi Soup

This was really flavorful and came together SUPER fast (i.e., under 15 minutes). This is a great recipe for a night when you don't have much time to cook. Also, the original recipe (which I modified, but is from Cooking Light) called for turkey sausage, but at least at my grocery store the chicken sausage generally has a lot less fat, so that's what I use.

Ingredients:
-3 links chicken sausage, removed from casings (I recommend Hot Italian flavor, if you can find it)
-16 oz vacuum packed gnocchi
-2 cups H20
-1 can beef broth
-2 cans of diced Italian tomatoes
-1/2 diced onion
-1.5 tsp minced garlic
-salt and pepper to taste
-shredded Parmesan (optional)
-cooking spray

Steps:
1. Spray some Pam in a in a large dutch oven (or a big soup pot) and saute the onion and chicken sausage for about 9 minutes (or until sausage is browned), breaking up the chicken sausage with the back of a wooden spoon as you go.

2. Add 2 cups water, beef broth, tomatoes, and gnocchi, and garlic. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 4-5 minutes or until gnocchi float to the stop.

3. Season with salt and pepper, and top with shredded Parm.

Jalapeño, Sausage, Cheese, and Egg Bread Braid

This is another recipe I co-opted from Cooking Light. However, Cooking Light advertised this dish as a breakfast item, but I think it made for a hella awesome dinner. And most likely lunch (which I am eagerly awaiting). I highly recommend this recipe. It was just plain delicious, and really easy to make. Plus, it looks kinda fancy, but totally isn't.

Ingredients
-1 13.8 oz roll of refrigerated pizza crust
-4 eggs, divided
-1 cup shredded cheese (I used the Mexican-mix kind)
-3 links of chicken sausage (remove from casings)
-1 small onion, diced
-1 T (or more if you like it spicy) diced jalapenos
-splash of EVOO

Steps
1. Preheat oven to 425.
2. Roll out your pizza dough on a greased cookie sheet.
3. Heat your EVOO, and then saute sausage and onion for ~9 mins, or until sausage is done. While the sausage is cooking, break it into pieces with the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Next, add 3 slightly beaten eggs to sausage mixture and cook until eggs are set (about 2 minutes).

5. Add 1/2 C of cheese to pizza dough, leaving about a 2.5 inch border on all sides.

6. Pour sausage mixture over cheese.
7. Add remaining 1/2 C of cheese and sprinkle jalapenos over cheese.

8. Make 2-inch-long diagonal cuts about 1 inch apart on both sides of dough to within 1/2 inch of filling using sharp scissors. Arrange strips over filling, so that they meet in the middle. Press ends under (or to the sides) to seal.

9. Brush with remaining beaten egg (you can use just the egg white if you want) and bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Let set for 5 mins, and then cut into diagonal pieces.