Garlic Red Potatoes

Red potatoes were on sale at the grocery store the other week. I decided to make some garlic red potatoes to serve with some tilapia. These potatoes were so good!  The original recipe called for parmesan cheese but I omitted that. I had some fresh dill in my fridge that I added and I really could have added even more. I used about 3 potatoes per person.

Ingredients

• 1 pound red potatoes, quartered
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• fresh dill chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place potatoes in an 8x8 inch baking dish.
3. In a small bowl combine melted butter, garlic, salt, lemon juice, and dill; pour over potatoes and stir to coat.
4. Bake, covered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

Serves 2. Adapted from Allrecipes.com.

Shredded Chicken

Usually when a recipe calls for shredded chicken I'll either get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or just boil some chicken and shred it.  Rotisserie chicken is good but Matt and I prefer to only eat white meat.  Boiled chicken can be really bland and shredding the meat can be a pain. I found this recipe for shredded chicken. It was so easy and delicious!  This is how I'll be making shredded chicken from now on. The chicken just shreds on its own and I just drain the liquid.  You can always add other spices too depending on your dish.

Ingredients

• 1 lb Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1-2 cups chicken broth (or enough to cover the chicken)

Directions

1. Place chicken breasts in pan with broth. (Can use frozen or fresh- frozen adds to your cooking time) Bring to a boil.
2. Turn heat to medium, and let simmer covered for 15-20 minutes (around 10 minutes if yours are defrosted), turning occasionally.
3. Turn to medium low and let cook covered for another 60 min (or until shreds with a fork). You may need to add more broth during that hour if yours cooks down.
4. Let rest in pan for at least 10 minutes, or until you can shred the meat without burning yourself.
5. If you are saving the chicken for later, place it in a ziplock with the excess broth from the pan.
6. Enjoy in any recipe that calls for shredded chicken.

Source: Food.com

Chicken, Avocado and Grapefruit Salad

Ever since Christmas, it's been rough getting back into the swing of cooking and blogging again. I cook but I'll just throw together quick meals that don't need a recipe. Hopefully soon I'll start trying new things again. I did make a couple of things though. I had a ton of grapefruit so I decided to make a salad. I found a couple of different recipes online, one from Cooking Light and a salad dressing also from Cooking Light, that I combined. I should have used the salad dressing from the Roasted Chicken, Grapefruit, and Avocado salad because the other salad dressing wasn't my favorite. Maybe it would be better with just a little extra sugar. Matt liked the salad but I ended up just using the chicken and avocado with store bought ranch dressing.

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon Olive Oil
• 1 shallot, chopped
• 2 cups fresh squeezed Grapefruit Juice
• 2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 teaspoons Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 Large Grapefruit, sectioned
• 1 Avocado, sliced
• 6-8 cups fresh spinach
• 1 lb chicken, cooked and shredded

Directions

1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add shallots; cook 5 minutes or until golden brown. Stir in juice. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, and cook until reduced to 1 cup (about 6 minutes). Remove from heat; cool.
2. Place the grapefruit juice mixture, cilantro, sugar, and pepper in a blender; process until smooth. With blender on, slowly add 2 tablespoons oil; process until smooth.
3. Arrange spinach on each plate. Top each serving with grapefruit sections, chicken, and avocado wedges. Drizzle dressing over each serving.