Chicken Gyros

A few weeks ago I started my menu plan like I always do.  Asking Jason for his opinion.  95% of the time this gets me the same results.  Spaghetti, something on a sandwich.  Or in a pita bread.  Every.Single.Week.  This particular week, though, I was shocked to hear him say "gyros."  To which I had to (unfortunately) reply A) I don't like lamb and B) we have a freezer full of beef.  So, no.

I filed it away, though, thinking I would maybe try lamb again.  Instead, I came across this recipe for Chicken Gyros and knew it would be a winner.  This also came together pretty quickly, so that meets my weeknight meal requirement!

Greek Chicken Gyros adapted from The Way the Cookie Crumbles
Chicken:

• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 T olive oil
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 T red wine vinegar
• 1 t sugar
• 2 T fat free plain Greek yogurt
• salt & pepper
• 1 1/2 lbs chicken tenderloins

Whisk together the lemon juice, oil, garlic, vinegar, sugar, salt & pepper.  Reserve 2 tablespoons, and stir in the yogurt.  Toss the chicken into the mixture, cover and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Heat the grill to a medium heat and cook the chicken until well browned, tossing the leftover marinade.  Remove from the grill and cover with foil, set aside.

Tzatziki:

• 1/2 cucumber, unpeeled & shredded
• 1/2 t kosher salt
• 7oz fat free plain Greek yogurt
• 1 T lemon juice
• 1/2 t white wine vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• pepper

Place the shredded cucumber into a strainer set over a bowl.  Sprinkle with salt and set aside for 15 to 20 minutes to drain.  Place the cucumber into a towel and squeeze dry.  In a medium bowl, combine the cucumber & remaining ingredients.

For the topping, thinly slice 1/2 of an onion (yellow or red).  Toss with the 2 tablespoons of marinade and set aside to marinate for 10-15 minutes before serving.  For additional toppings, slice the remaining half of the cucumber, quarter 1 cup grape tomatoes, and crumble Feta cheese.  Serve the chicken, tzatziki & toppings with warm pita bread.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas

A few weeks ago I saw this recipe pop up on the weekly menu post on a message board I frequent.  I clicked over to the recipe and couldn't figure out why I missed it the first time it was posted!  I knew we would love this and it met all of my "weeknight" requirements.  I filed it away knowing it would come up on our rotation soon.  Sure enough, a short work week following vacation was the perfect time.

I used my lazy crockpot recipe for the chicken filling, since I wanted to have extra chicken for lunches and even used some on a Mexican pizza one night.  But the chicken isn't what makes this dish.  It is the sauce.  The sauce...was just fantastic.  I used light sour cream, so I didn't feel quite as bad about wanting to lick the spoon.  Fortunately, half of the sauce went into the freezer meaning I'll be making these again soon.

Baked Chicken Chimichangas with Creamy Tomatillo Sauce adapted from So Tasty, So Yummy

• 2 lbs chicken tenders
• 2 packages taco seasoning
• 2 cans Ro-Tel
• burrito size flour tortillas
• shredded Mexican style cheese (about 1/2 cup per serving needed)
• 1 28oz can tomatillos, drained
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 t cumin
• juice of 1 lime
• 2 T cliantro, chopped
• 1/2 jalapeno, seeded & diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t sugar
• 1 cup light sour cream

In a crockpot, combine the chicken, taco seasoning & Ro-Tel (you may need to add an additional can of water).  Cook for 4 hours on high or 6-8 on low.  Shred the chicken and stir until combined.

Spoon about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of chicken on to each tortilla.  Add 1/2 cup shredded cheese and roll up, burrito style.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, place the burrito on the sheet & spray with cooking spray.  Bake in a 425 degree oven, for about 20 minutes.

In a large Dutch oven, combine the tomatillos, broth, garlic, cliantro, jalapeno, lime juice & spices.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat & simmer for about 20 minutes.  Remove from the heat and use an immersion blender to puree the mixture.  Return to a low heat and stir in the sour cream.

Serve each chimichanga with about 1/3 cup of tomatillo sauce.

Crispy Chicken Taquitos

This recipe has been floating around the cooking board I frequent for a while, so we finally tried it out.  I was in love.  It really is a great recipe to keep on hand for nights we want something that tastes like it should be bad for you, but isn't.  And it can be manipulated a dozen ways!  I've got a laundry list of ideas...I should probably buy a few more packages of corn tortillas!

I adjusted the recipe to make it low fat, but since they are baked you're well off to begin with.  Jason & I were both pleased that they did get pretty crispy without the greasy fried taste.

Crispy Chicken Taquitos adapted from Pink Parsley

• 3oz fat free cream cheese
• 1/3 cup salsa verde
• juice of 1/2 lime
• 1 t chile powder
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• pinch cayenne pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 3 T fine chopped onion
• 2 cups cooked chicken, shredded (I used a rotisserie chicken to make things easier)
• 1/2 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup 2% shredded Mexican Blend cheese
• 12 6" corn tortillas
• salt & pepper
• cooking spray

Preheat the oven to 425 and spray a baking dish with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, salsa, lime juice & spices.  Mix well and stir in chicken & shredded cheeses.  Add additional salt & pepper if needed.

Warm the tortillas, a few at a time, in the microwave for about 30 seconds.  Spoon 2-3 tablespoons into each tortilla and roll tightly.  Place seam side-down on the baking sheet.  Spray each taquito with cooking spray, add a small sprinkle of salt & bake until they are crisp and golden-brown, about 15-20 minutes.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 3 points each, however when I added a serving of 3 it calculated 9 points.  They are very filling and a great low-point dinner if you add fat free sour cream.

Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Sweet Onions & Thyme

Chicken can get boring.  We've gotten in a rut of grilling chicken and just eating it on pita breads or salads.  And that gets a little boring.  Recently we just haven't been cooking much chicken, but it is low in points you can do quite a bit with it.  If you don't get boring!  I came across this Weight Watchers recipe last week and decided to try it out.  It wasn't a weeknight meal, by any means.  For us, weeknight meals need to be 30 minutes or less.  This took a bit longer, but ended up being a great weekend meal.

Oh, and bonus points - low WW points for a surprisingly flavorful meal.  And, it tasted great the second

Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar, Sweet Onions & Thyme from Weight Watchers

• 3 T flour
• salt & pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1lb total)
• 2 t olive oil
• 1 small vidalia onion, sliced thin
• 1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
• 2 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 T fresh chopped Thyme or 1/2 t dried
• 2 T butter

Combine the flour with salt and pepper in a shallow dish.  Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour.  Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.  Cook the chicken, flipping once, until browned - about 7 minutes.

Remove the chicken, covering to keep warm. Add the onion to the pan and cook until lightly browned.  Stir in the broth, vinegar, thyme and salt & pepper.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the onions are tender.  Remove the skillet from the heat and add in the butter to melt.

WW PointsPlus: 5 points for 1 chicken breast and about 1/4 cup sauce

Pizza Pizza!!

I found this recipe in one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks years ago.  We've made it any time we've had a bit of leftover something - chicken, taco meat, etc.  Quick and easy!  Plus - you can adjust the ingredients to fit your points for the evening.  Last night I used 5 points.

Mexican Pizza

Whole Wheat Tortilla - 1

2oz cooked chicken - 2

Shredded 2% Mexican Blend Cheese - 2

Salsa - 0

Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes.

We've also changed this up a bit with jarred pasta sauce and mozzarella.

Cluck cluck

Any day now I feel like I may sprout feathers and start clucking.  We're eating a LOT of chicken these days.  It's healthy, easy to prepare and can be used a hundred different ways.  I buy a huge package of chicken breasts or tenderloins each week and either use them in a recipe (like the previous post) or I grill the whole package for tacos, salads, sandwiches...you name it.  Plus, Cooper seems to be a huge fan of chicken.  Veggies...not so much these days.  But chicken...doesn't stand a chance.

This week I marinated some chicken and Jason threw it on the grill Sunday afternoon.  And OMG was it so freaking good!  You know those parties you get invited to and think "what the heck am I going to buy at this party?"  I always want to go.  I like getting to visit with friends, see the products, and of course the hostess usually has a wide variety of snacks.  I like snacks.

Earlier this year I went to a Homemade Gourmet party.  That was a first...but I like to cook.  Plus, I was given strict instructions to bring Cooper.  He was so tiny then!  And stationary...Anyway, I bought a few things - mostly dip mix type things.  But I also grabbed the Cilantro Citrus marinade.  I added the olive oil as directed and put the chicken in the fridge overnight.  The outside of the chicken charred a bit because of the oil, but we like it that way.

Since we've been cooking quite a bit of chicken I tend to try a mix it up a bit with the marinade - adding in a variety of flavors each time to see what I can come up with.  This was by far the best.  Just try it - trust me, you won't be sorry!

Swiss Enchiladas

Only they were not Swiss.  Last week Kelly and Eileen came over for the afternoon so that we could cook some dinners for the freezer.  I mean, if you're going to mess up your kitchen you may as well double the recipe and hang out with a friend at the same time.  I chose two recipes and we each went to the store for what we needed.

We also learned a valuable lesson.  This is not something that should be attempted when at home with two children and no husbands.  Especially if one child has boycotted his naps (ahem *Cooper* ahem) and is cranky.  It was like herding cats.  Or something.

In the end, we managed to get two recipes completed to put in our freezers.  This recipe had to be alterted a bit so that it was a little more Weight Watchers friendly.  I thawed it out Wednesday so that Jason and I could have dinner.  It was good the first night when I threw it in the oven, but the second night out of the microwave...it just didn't taste as good to me.  The sauce gets a little funky in the microwave.  Jason and I both decided that it was ok, but we'd rather have some other kind of enchiladas than try this again.

Swiss Enchiladas from Cooking Light

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 2 breasts)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 4.5oz cans diced green chiles, undrained
• 1 14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 6 8" whole wheat tortillas (low-fat)
• 2 cups shredded 2% milk Mexican blend cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil.  Add onion and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in chicken, garlic, chiles, and tomatoes. Reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Set aside.
Combine milk and flour in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in salt.
Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture and about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese down center of each tortilla; roll up. Arrange filled tortillas in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour milk mixture over tortillas, and top evenly with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven.

Serving size: one tortilla, 7pts per serving

Chicken & Spinach Pasta

When I joined WW last week I spent some time looking for easy recipes to cook and plugging the ingredients into WW to get a points value.  This was the first recipe I tried and all three of us loved it.  Yes, I gave Cooper a few bites both nights we had this for dinner.

Chicken & Spinach Pasta Bake adapted from MyRecipes.com

• 8oz uncooked whole wheat penne
• 1  T  olive oil
• 1  cup chopped onion
• 1  10oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 3  cups cubed cooked chicken
• 1  14.5oz can Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1  8oz container light chive-and-onion cream cheese
• 1/2  t salt
• 1/2  t  pepper
• 1 1/2 cups shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 375.  Cook pasta according to the package.  Saute onions in olive oil until tender.  I actually cooked the chicken & onions together.  Transfer chicken & onions to a bowl.  Drain spinach and add to chicken.  Stir in pasta, cream cheese, tomatoes, salt & pepper.  Stir well and spoon into a 9*13 baking dish sprayed with cooking spray.  Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese, cover and bake for 30 minutes.  Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes.

Next time I will make a point to spread the spinach out a little more.  Some bites were all spinach and others...not so much.  I think I could also add another can of tomatoes to add a little more veggies.

6 Servings, WW points: 7 UPDATED 3/2011 - 9 Weight Watchers PointsPlus