Honey Sriracha Madness

So this Honey Sriracha Madness is Marie's fault entirely. You see, Marie, Marc and Aiden were running in the grocery store as Joe and I were running to our car a few weeks ago. 

Marie mentioned she was making Honey Sriracha Chicken for dinner that night and I was intrigued. A quick check of Pinterest later that night gave lots of variations. All super simple and I never did go back to look at a recipe.

And since it's been way too long since Aiden has made an appearance on the blog I am sharing this photo our amazing Gabby took at his dedication last month. It's hard to believe he's going to be one in just under a month!

But back to food. So why am I giving you three? Because it was a great excuse to put up a pic of Aiden and because it's really good! I love to play around with a good recipe and make it my own varying ingredients to my family's tastes. You can adjust the honey and Sriracha to your taste to make it sweeter or milder or scorching hot! 

For the Honey Sriracha Chicken Bowls, I just let one and a half pounds cubed chicken simmer in a tablespoon of coconut oil. As the cubes were barely cooked through I added about 1/4 cup honey, about a tablespoon Sriracha and a dash of lime juice and garlic and simmered until the sauce was thick and caramelized but not dry.

Stop when you like the consistency - really saucy to drizzle over the rice - simmer a little less time. Super caramelized, go a little longer.

It was amazing over a bowl of steaming rice with some fresh herbs sprinkled on top. We used mint, cilantro and basil for a Thai-inspired flavor.

Our favorite vegetarian version is this delicious Honey Sriracha Mushroom Sauté.

It's super simple. Clean and quarter a pound of mushrooms. Sauté mushrooms in a medium skillet in one heaping tablespoon of honey and one heaping teaspoon of Sriracha. No oil is necessary. Leave the lid off and stir everything together. The mushrooms will release their juices and the sauce with start to thicken after a few minutes. We love this served over rice (fried rice in this pic) and with kimchee.








Honey Sriracha Beef Lettuce Wraps have to be the easiest lettuce wraps you can make and are amazingly flavorful. To make these simply brown one pound of organic, grass fed ground beef with about a half cup of minced onions. Stir in the same heaping tablespoon of honey and heaping teaspoon of Sriracha and sauté until the sauce is thickened.

I topped lettuce leaves with julienned red peppers and spiralized cucumber and added the beef and cilantro. Chris loved these even though our lettuce didn't "wrap" this time. 

Relax in the kitchen and be creative - it makes eating healthy much more fun.

Happily shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays!

GF White Chicken Chili with Green Salsa

Although warm spring weather came early this year yesterday and today were really cold and drizzy days. I wasn't sure what to make for tonight's dinner but wanted something warm and satisfying. In looking through the pantry this morning the first thing I noticed was a bag of white beans near a large jar of green salsa. There were chicken thighs and cilantro in the fridge and although I'd never made a white chili - one without tomatoes - it sounded quick to make and perfect for a cold day.

It was quick and easy to make and there was enough for a crowd. I was happy that it ended up being a big hit. I took the photos a couple of hours before we actually ate so I wouldn't lose the light but we actually topped our chili with big spoonfuls of chopped cilantro and had a fresh green salad with it.  Simple and colorful and really satisfying. One of the best parts of this meal was the wonderful aroma that filled the kitchen all afternoon.

Chicken Chili with Green Salsa
Six to Eight Generous Servings

1 lb. White Beans (Great Northern) dry, sorted and rinsed
2 quarts Organic Gluten Free Chicken Stock (homemade would be even better)
1 Cayenne Chili - dry (optional)
1 24 ounce jar Natural Gluten Free Green Salsa
3 cups of water (or more if you want a thinner chili)
1 lb chicken thighs, boneless and skinless
salt & pepper to taste
1 bunch Cilantro, washed and chopped

In a large stock pan or Dutch oven place sorted and rinsed beans and cover with the two quarts of chicken stock.  If using a whole dried Cayenne chili, place in pan now.  Bring almost to a boil and reduce heat to low.  Simmer until beans are soft - mine were very fast today - maybe three hours.

Once beans are nearly cooked heat a saute pan to cook the chicken.  Saute both sides until cooked through (I didn't use any oil to saute) and once cooked (15 minutes for me) chop into 1/2" pieces.

Add the salsa, water and chicken to the beans and stir gently but well.  Add salt and pepper to taste and let simmer.  It was delicious at that point but even better three hours later when we finally ate.

Add chopped cilantro to taste and stir it in. My bowl was bright green because I'm crazy for cilantro. The guys' bowls varied in color considerably but we were all happy.

Enjoy!

Fiesta Chicken & Rice Salad

Gratefully shared on Gluten Free Wednesdays!

Like a lot of the country we've been experiencing record heat. And while it is a few degrees cooler today it is still sticky hot.  Making dinner didn't sound too appealing tonight and I didn't want to turn on the oven. Something cool and refreshing but also flavorful and hearty was my goal. I found this recipe in an old file and knew this would be just the thing. I originally made it up for Marc's high school graduation party a few years ago. The beauty of a salad like this is you can put whatever you like in it and change proportions to suit yourself. Leave out the grilled chicken for a vegetarian salad if you prefer. I'm making enough for leftovers so I can avoid the kitchen later this week when we get back to 100 degrees.

The dressing is an adaptation of the Mexican Salad Dressing from Nourishing Traditions Cookbook by Sally Fallon.  She suggests using it on a green salad but I love it with this combination.  Just pour it all in a jar and set it aside while you prepare the salad.

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4  apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 - 4 drops stevia liquid - I like Sweet Leaf

dash of garlic powder

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teas0oon cayenne

Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large serving bowl add:

Several cups cooled basmati rice (or brown rice)

About 8 grilled chicken breast tenderloins, thinly sliced

One chopped organic orange and red peppers

One small chopped Vidalia onions

One bag of Trader Joe's fire roasted frozen corn

One can of black beans, rinsed well

1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Pour dressing over everything and stir lightly to mix.  


Add salt and pepper to taste and serve warm or chill for later. I love this as is but you can top it with salsa, guacamole, crumbled cojita cheese or even serve it on salad greens.

Enjoy!

Grilled Cilantro Chicken Burgers on GF Jalapeño Cheese Rolls

While today ended up being several degrees cooler than the last few gorgeous sunny days; it was still a nice enough evening to fire up the grill.  This is a recipe I created a few years ago and posted on a health board I used to frequent. I had long forgotten about it.  Happily I came across some old recipe notes recently and recreated the recipe.  Adding a shredded carrot to the original recipe gave the patties a bit more color and flavor.

If my Whole Foods carried raw ground chicken on a regular basis I would make these much more often.  As it is I find it every few visits.  I don't buy ground chicken anywhere else because every other store's ground chicken has something added to it.  Added flavors can mean gluten or artificial flavors or preservatives and are best avoided.  Ground chicken is great to cook with. It's lean and light I prefer it to ground turkey hands down.  When made into burgers there is  no need for any fillers to hold them together.  This recipe is full of veggies and flavor and is really great on freshly baked Jalapeño Cheese Rolls.

I topped mine with homemade salsa and avocado slices and loved every bite.  Other toppings available were sliced red onions, tomatoes and ketchup.  Every one of us dressed ours up slightly different and we were all quite happy.

Grilled Cilantro Chicken Burgers on GF Jalapeño Rolls

Makes 8 large chicken burgers

2 lbs Raw Ground Chicken Breast

1/2 cup Cilantro, finely chopped

1 large Jalapeño, finely chopped

1 medium Carrot, finely shredded

1/4 cup Red Onion, finely chopped

dash if Garlic Powder

dash of Black Pepper, freshly ground

1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt

Mix the raw chicken with all the rest of the ingredients.  Very clean hands are the fastest way to mix everything thoroughly. 

Shape into eight burgers and grill on medium heat until cooked through and lightly browned. These are just as easy and just as flavorful when cooked on my cast iron frying pan.  When I cook them this way I use a little bit of coconut oil on the pan because the chicken is so lean.

The best part of tonight's dinner are the leftovers for the week.  There are still four burgers and half a dozen rolls for fast meals when time is short - all I'll have to do is make a quick salad. Cooking in quantity is such a time saver.  It takes only moments longer to double most recipes and in doing so you can literally save hours per week. 

Hope you have a great week.