Spice Rubbed Chicken with Tropical Salsa and Rice

In third and fourth grade I had a friend named Emily. We would play all sorts of little girl games, but one of our favorites was "cooking." Emily had the most amazing TOY food, and I loved to play with it. Little did I know at that time, that I would be browsing her recipe blog eleven years later for amazing REAL food (especially since we had lost touch with the many times each of our families moved)! Her blog is one of my favorites for grabbing dinner ideas. I have never tried one of her recipes and not enjoyed it. She has excellent taste and uses a lot of fruits and vegetables...I'm fond of this. I doubt you will be able to look over her recipes without having to try at least one.
This recipe I'm about to share is hers. I LOVED this dish. As I mentioned before, with the weather changing I am definitely getting out of my soup kick. The colorful salsa in this recipe, along with the grilled chicken was shouting at my taste buds and matched the warming up weather perfectly. Try it. You will love it.

Side note: In Emily's recipe, she made coconut rice, but I just did regular rice.
Chicken Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. chicken breasts., pounded to 3/4" thickness


• 1/4 cup sugar


• 1/2 tsp. chili powder


• 1 1/2 tsp. paprika


• 1/8 tsp. garlic powder


• 1/8 tsp. onion powder


• 1/8 tsp. dry mustard

Salsa Ingredients:

• 5 roma tomatoes, diced


• 2 mangos, diced


• 1 avacado, diced


• juice of 2 limes


• 1/4 cup cilantro


• 4 scallions, diced


• 1 tsp. vinegar


• pinch salt and pepper


• 1 jalapeno, diced with seeds and ribs removed

Rice:

• 2 cups white rice, prepared according to package directions
  

Directions:

For chicken:

In a bowl, combine sugar, salt, and all spices. Rub mixture onto both sides of chicken breasts. Allow to rest 30 minutes to absorb flavors. Grill or pan-fry till done. Chicken will develop a crust from the rub. Let chicken rest 1-2 minutes to allow juices to redistribute, then slice into strips right before serving.

For Salsa:

Combine tomatoes, mango, avocado, cilantro, onion, jalapeno, lime juice, vinegar, salt and pepper. Serve chicken and salsa over the cooked rice.

Serves 8.

Untidy Josephs

I know what you're thinking...what the heck is an Untidy Joseph? Well, growing up my mom would add a can of Manwich to a pound of ground beef and slop it up onto a bun. Yes, you know this creation as the Sloppy Joe. While this is a functional meal, it just didn't cut it for me. I felt like it needed something more, so I went in search of more and found a recipe for Old Fashioned Sloppy Joes. The name worked, but there was nothing common enough in this recipe to have it be referred to as Joe. It's filled with vegetables and delish flavorings. It's much to sophisticated and intelliegent to go by "Joe," so I'd like to introduce you to Joseph. Despite his intelligence, he's still a little on the sloppy side...I'd like to think of it as organized chaos. So, without further ado, please PLEASE give it up for Untidy Joseph:

• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 medium onion, chopped


• 2 celery stalks, chopped


• 10-ounce package of mushrooms (button or baby bella), sliced thin


• 2 cloves garlic, minced


• 8 ounces tomato sauce


• 1/4 cup ketchup


• 1 Tablespoon cider vinegar


• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce


• 1 Tablespoon sugar


• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper


• 1 tsp salt


• 8 hamburger buns

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown the beef. Remove to paper towels and wipe the excess fat from the pan.
Still over medium-high heat, cook the onions in the beef fat until they are softened and translucent, about five minutes. Add the celery and mushrooms, and cook until the mushrooms have released all their moisture and turned golden brown in spots, about eight minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about thirty seconds.
Return the ground beef to the pan, and add the remaining ingredients.
Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning. If the sauce is too thin, simmer uncovered for another 5-10 minutes until the desired thickness is reached.Serve on hamburger buns.

Italian Bread Bowls

I've been on a bit of a soup kick this winter. It's been so obvious in fact that my husband started complaining about all the leftover soup in our fridge. That's unusual. My husband was called "the garbage disposal" by his family growing up because he ate all the leftovers and never complained about it. I feel like I'm able to move on from soup now that the weather is starting to warm up...I hope.
I like to make bread bowls to serve soup in every now and then. My favorite soup to put in them is Veggie Cheese Chowder.

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 2 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 Tbsp. oil
• 7 cups flour
  
• 1 tablespoon cornmeal
• 1 egg white
• 1 tablespoon water

1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.


2. Add salt, oil and 4 cups flour to the yeast mixture; beat well. Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, beating well with an electric mixer at medium speed after each addition.


3. When the dough has pulled together, turn it out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes. Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl and turn to coat with oil. Cover with a cloth and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 40 minutes.


4. Punch dough down, and divide into 8 equal portions. Shape each portion into a 4 inch round loaf. Place loaves on a lightly greased baking sheeting sprinkled with cornmeal. Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, until doubled in bulk, about 35 minutes.


5. Preheat oven 400 degrees F. In a small bowl, beat together egg white and 1 tablespoon water, lightly brush the loaves with half of this egg wash.


6. Bake in preheated over for 10-12 minutes. Brush with remaining egg mixture, and bake 10-12 minutes longer until golden brown. Cool on wire racks.


7. To make bowls: Cut a 1/2 inch think slice from top of each loaf; scoop out centers, leaving 3/4 inch thick shells. Fill bread bowls with hot soup and serve immediately.

Minestrone Soup

We ate this soup at a church activity and so I have to give tribute to Marina Rice for this recipe. I like to serve it with garlic breadsticks and salad.

• 3 chicken breasts (cooked in chicken broth) cubed
• 6 cups of chicken broth
• 1 lb. Italian sausage - cooked, drained
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 cup kidney beans, drained
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• 3 Tbsp. parsley
• 2 cups carrots, diced
• 3 stalks of celery, diced
• 4 small or 2 large cans crushed tomatoes
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp. basil
• 2 bay leaves
• 8 oz. pasta, cooked and added to soup as needed

Combine all ingredients and let simmer all day in crockpot on low heat.

This recipe makes a lot of soup. So much in fact, that it doesn't fit in my crockpot so I just do it in a big pot over the stove. It tastes just as good...I just make it in the early afternoon instead so it can simmer and blend the flavors until dinner.