Sinful Carrots

I really do not want to study for my microeconomics exam tomorrow so I decided to do a short post about one of my favorite dishes since I was a child.

It's a very "naughty" dish - brown sugar glazed carrots. Sugary deliciousness - that's hard not to love. But since it is a little bit on the unhealthy side, I rarely make it.

When I was a kid, my mom used to make them all the time. I think back then, putting carrots in sugar might have been one of the only ways to make us eat our vegetables. Well I obviously loved the dish back then and now even have a greater appreciation for its' deliciousness since I rarely eat this dish.

Ingredients:
Brown sugar
Butter
Carrots

To start, I cut up the carrots into somewhat small pieces. I like to use the pre-peeled baby carrots.

After the carrots are cut, I put them in a pan with some water to steam for about 5 minutes (cutting the carrots into smaller pieces cuts down on the time it takes to steam them.



After they are steamed, I put a little olive oil in the pan to brown them a little bit.

Then I add brown sugar and butter at same time. The quantity of brown sugar and butter is up to you but I like it to be kinda thick so I add some butter and lots of brown sugar.

This dish is so yummy - my mouth is watering as I write this and honestly if it wasn't already 11 PM at night already I might have made a bowl for myself.

The carrots could also be substituted for sweet potatoes but I would cook the sweet potatoes in the oven instead of a pan. This is what my family makes on thanksgiving with marshmallows - a holiday requirement in my house.

NOTE*** when making this dish I ALWAYS underestimate how many carrots I actually need so go big!

Panko Crusted Chicken

I don't know about you guys but I am huge fan of the Food Network. Iron Chef America, Chopped, Beat Bobby Flay, Cutthroat Kitchen - I love them all!

Sometimes when it comes time to cook dinner I feel like I find myself in my own episode of Chopped. Trying to figure out what I have in my kitchen that I can use to make something that I would actually like to eat.


These days I have been so lazy and can barely make it to the grocery store once a week but I looked into my depressingly empty and pantry and refrigerator to see that I had some frozen chicken  in the freezer and panko bread crumbs in the pantry. This led me to the idea of crusting the chicken.

Ingredients:
Chicken
Panko bread crumbs
Italian seasoning (to go into the panko bread crumbs)
Flour
Garlic powder (to go into the flour)
Paprika (to go into the flour)

I started out by trimming the chicken and cutting into slices.



After cutting the chicken, I created a breading station with flour (I also added paprika and garlic powder), egg, and panko bread crumbs with italian herbs mixed in as well. So I dipped the chicken in flour first, then egg, and then panko.



After breading the chicken, I preheated the oven and put a pan on the stove. I started out by searing the chicken in a pan on medium heat. This makes gives the chicken a nice crunchy crust by crisping up the crust.



After I brown the chicken, I put into the oven. The chicken comes out being moist and crispy and delicious.




** Sorry the picture quality isn't great

Spinach and Ricotta Cheese Stuffed Chicken

Chicken can sometimes be so bland. I am always trying to find ways to make chicken more "interesting." Which this definitely is! I made it for my roommate and her boyfriend and they really enjoyed it.

To be honest, I was craving some kind of lasagna/manicotti dish but I decided to make a somewhat healthier version. So I decided to stuff chicken with ricotta cheese and spinach. 

First, I flattened out the chicken. I didn't have a meat tenderizer so I just put the chicken in between two pieces of plastic wrap and beat the chicken with a pan. 

Next, I washed some spinach and cut it up into small pieces. I just kind of eye-balled how much spinach I thought I would need and then mixed it with some ricotta cheese. 

Then I put the spinach-ricotta cheese mixture inside the chicken and rolled it up. 

After the chicken was rolled up, I dusted the chicken in a flour mixture with garlic powder and paprika before putting the chicken in an egg wash and panko bread crumbs. 

I started cooking the chicken in a pan on high heat just to get some color on the chicken and then I finished it in the oven. 

I made this dish for my roommate and her boyfriend. It was my first time making this dish as well as my first time cooking for them but this dish was a hit! The crust was crunchy and the cheese on the inside kept the chicken moist.  My only regret was not adding more spinach!!!

Recipe (depends on how many you are making for but I made 3 chicken breasts):

Filling: 

Spinach (a few handfuls)

Ricotta cheese  (about 1 cup)

Crust: 

Flour with paprika and garlic powder 

1 egg 

Panic bread crumbs  (1 1/2 cups)