Chicken Cacciatore, Roasted Butternut Squash, Chipotle BBQ Chicken, and Warm Pineapple Slaw

Good morning! For lunch yesterday, we had leftover chicken cacciatore with roasted butternut squash and onions from the other night. This is the last dish I made before I started this blog, so, except for when I get creative with leftovers, this is the last week day lunch I'll post. I almost didn't make more pasta, but decided to not be lazy, lol! When I make dinner, I only make enough pasta for us to eat that night, so I tend to not feel like waiting for more to cook for lunch!

I've decided that when a recipe calls for chicken pieces, I'm going to stop buying the cut up chicken, and just break it down myself, now that I've mastered it. It's a little labor intensive, so if you don't have a lot of time after coming home from work, cut it up the night before, or when you bring it home from the store. You can always pop the pieces in a bag and freeze it. The advantage of doing it is that the chicken is always cheaper per pound when you buy it whole, and you get to have the neck, backbone, and keel bone for making stock with. It's hard to explain, but there are really good videos on YouTube about how to do it. Here's a good video to show you how to do it: http://http//www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Yo4wVaxLlE&feature=related Now, I'm not a fan of her method of holding the bird in the air when she cuts the legs and wings off after popping out the joint, it's not very safe, so when you get to that point, make sure you lay it out on your board and cut it that way. She does a lot of chatting before she starts, but she does a great job at explaining how to do it.

This is my son eating his cacciatore the night I made it for dinner! He even licked sauce off of his upper arm, he liked it so much!!

He doesn't like it when we try to clean him, he has to do it himself!

This takes about 55 minutes to prep and cook
This is what you want;
cooking spray
1 whole chicken, broken down into 8 pieces
salt and pepper to taste
herbes de Provence
2 yellow onions, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 (10 ounce) package button mushrooms, sliced
1 (25 oz) jar marinara sauce
1 cup chicken stock
cooked whole wheat linguine
extra virgin olive oil
freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons finely chopped oregano

Heat a large, wide bottomed pot over medium-high heat and spray with cooking spray. Season chicken with salt, pepper, and herbes de Provence and place, skin side down, in skillet. (The chicken should render off enough fat to not need to add any oil, but if it looks like there isn't enough fat, add in a tablespoon of oil.)Cook until the skin is golden brown, about 6 to 8 minutes, turn pieces over and cook 3 to 5 minutes more. Remove chicken from pot and set aside. (Chances are you're going to need to do this in batches. It took me 2 batches in my Dutch oven.)

Put onions, garlic and bell pepper in the pot, season with salt and pepper, and cook over medium heat until they soften, about 10 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chicken stock and scrape browned bits off of the bottom of the pot. Add in the marinara, stir to combine with the vegetables and stock, and add the chicken back in. Bring the liquid to a simmer, cover, and continue to simmer for 20 to 25 minutes, turning chicken halfway through cooking time. (Since the chicken is cooking in liquid, you're not going to need to worry about it drying out, so if you check it after 25 minutes and it still doesn't seem like it's cooked all the way through, keep simmering until it is done.)

When the chicken is fully cooked, juices run clear, remove the chicken from the pot and set aside, covered, while you allow the sauce to simmer, uncovered, for 5 to 10 minutes minutes until slightly thickened. If you wish, skim excess fat off the top.

Toss the cooked linguine with extra virgin olive oil, oregano, and parmesean. Top with cacciatore and garnish with additional parmesan and some chopped oregano. Serve with a whole wheat baguette, if desired.

This recipe serves 6 to 8

When making the roasted butternut squash and onions;
This recipe takes 35 minutes to prep and cook

1 medium butternut squash
2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons herbes de Provence, divided
2 medium onions
2 tablespoons chopped sage
4 tablespoons dried cranberries or cherries
freshly grated parmesean
oregano

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Peel squash and cut in half lengththwise. Scoop out seeds and discard. Cut into large bitesized chunks. Coat with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and season with salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon herbes de Provence, making sure to crush the herbs between your fingers as you add them. Add squash into a foil lined baking sheet in a single layer and roast for 30 minutes, until well caramelized.

As the squash is roasting, peel onions and cut into large chunks. Coat with remaining oil, herbes de Provence, and salt and pepper. Spread into a single layer on a second foil lined baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes or until well caramelized.

When the squash and onions are done roasting, toss together with squash and cranberries or cherries, and serve immediately. Garnish with parmesan cheese and a sprig of oregano.
This serves 4 to 6.

For dinner, I made chicken with a chipotle barbecue sauce and a hot pineapple slaw. It was super yummy!! The sauce is a little spicy, so if you like it more mild, cut back on the chipotle peppers. I served it with the leftover macaroni salad from the night before. (The recipe for that is in the blog for June 24th!)



For the chicken;
This takes about 35 minutes to prep and cook

1/4 cup chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
cooking spray
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar
3 tablespoons molasses
1 tablespoon Worchestershire sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 chicken breasts, halved
salt and pepper to taste
chili powder to taste

For the sauce, remove any stems from the peppers and place, along with the adobo sauce, in a blender or food precessor and blend until smooth.

Coat a cold medium saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium- high heat. Cook onion and garlic until tender. Stir in chipotle puree, ketchup, vinegar, molasses, and Worchestershire sauce. Bring to a boil, reduce heat. Simmer, uncovered, about 10 minutes until thickened.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add in oil. Season the chicken breast halves with salt, pepper, and chili powder on both sides. Add to skillet and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, until no longer pink, turning halfway through cooking. In the last 5 minutes of cooking, brush with sauce and flip over to caramelize the sauce. Brush the other side with sauce, turn again, and cook for aminute or two to caramelize the sauce on that side, as well. Remove chicken from heat and let rest for 5 minutes. Bring remaining sauce to a boil to re-heat it and pass with chicken.

This serves 6.

When making the yummy pineapple slaw;
This takes about 10 minutes to prep and cook.

cooking spray
1/4 cup green onion, thinly sliced on the bias (about 2 onions)
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, crushed
2 cups napa cabbage, shredded
1 cup pineapple, cut into bite-sized chunks
1/4 cup green bell pepper, thinly sliced (about half of a pepper)
1 teaspooon toasted sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan coates with cooking spray, cook onion and red pepper for 2 minutes. Stir in napa cabbage, pineapple, bell pepper, sesame oil, and salt and pepper, and saute until cabbage wilts, about 3 to 5 minutes.

This makes 3 cups of slaw, 3 to 4 servings.

I hope you find these recipes as yummy as we did!