Crockpot Smokey Sesame Chicken

My husband loves this recipe for Sesame Chicken. However, though it is quite tasty it does take a little bit of time to make. Right now I'm usually more interested in easier, less labor intensive meals. So, the hunt was on to find an easier Sesame Chicken recipe. After browsing a variety of recipes I ended up modifying my original recipe for the crockpot with fantastic results.

Crockpot Smokey Sesame Chicken
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Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
1 pound chicken breast
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup chicken broth
~1 cup sugar
2 T vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
~1 T chili powder
~1 T garlic powder
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup water
sesame seeds
3 cups cooked rice

Directions:
   1.  Place whole chicken breasts and chopped onion in crockpot; top with chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili powder and garlic powder.
   2.  Cook on low for 2 hours. Remove chicken and cut into pieces; return to crockpot and cook two hours longer.
   3.  Forty five minutes before serving combine cornstarch and water in a small dish; stir into sauce. Add celery. Cook on high until slightly thickened. Serve over rice, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Breakfast Rice with Fruit

It just so happened that while I had Not Your Mother's Casseroles from the library I ran out of oatmeal (the typical breakfast for my daughter and me). Needing to try something else for breakfast turned out to be quite a pleasant happening because this Breakfast Rice is now part of our breakfast rotation. The dish turns out creamy, filling and comforting.
The original recipe recommends using short grain brown rice. All I have is long grain but by increasing the cooking time (as noted in the recipe) it is no longer an issue. I've used dried cranberries and dried apples and enjoyed both versions. With the dried apples I also added cinnamon, which I find is always a pleasing combination.

Breakfast Rice with Fruit
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
1/2 cup dried fruit
1 tsp cinnamon (if using apples)
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups water
1 cup milk
2 T butter
1/4 cup brown sugar

Directions:
   1.  Preheat oven to 375.
   2.  In a 2 qt baking dish stir together rice, fruit and salt.
   3.  In a medium saucepan bring water and milk to a boil. Pour over the rice.
   4.  Cover baking dish with a lid or tinfoil; bake for 1 hour 15 minutes.
   5.  Remove dish from oven; sprinkle brown sugar over top, stir to combine. let sit for 5 minutes before serving.
   -This also reheats well. I like to warm it up and then stir a splash of milk in.

Adapted from Not Your Mother's Casseroles.

This is linked to URS.

Pineapple Chicken Casserole

This dish has a lovely sweetness from the pineapple that contrasts well with the slight saltiness from the soy sauce. I love it just the way it is; my husband likes to add a little extra soy sauce to his serving.
This dish is fairly easy to put together, especially if you do some of the prep work (such as cooking the chicken and cutting the celery) beforehand. I like to reserve some chow mein noodles from the dish so that we can add some crispy noodles after we reheat the leftovers.

Pineapple Chicken Casserole
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Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked, diced chicken
1 can cream soup (I've been using this recipe instead with great results.)
1 can pineapple tidbits or chunks
2 celery ribs, chopped
1 T green onion, chopped (not pictured)
1 T soy sauce
2 cups chow mein noodles
2 cups cooked rice

Directions:
   1.  Combine chicken, cream soup, pineapple, celery, green onion and soy sauce. Fold in 1 cup chow mein noodles.
   2.  Spread mixture in 2 quart baking dish or 9x13 pan. Spread remaining noodles on top (reserve some for leftovers, if desired).
   3.  Bake uncovered at 350 for 20-25 minutes. Serve over rice.

Apple Pork (or Chicken)

This recipe is a little nostalgic for me because it's the first recipe I remember tweaking so extensively that it completely changed the dish. The original recipe looked good but for some reason or another I couldn't make it the way it was written. (If I'm remembering correctly I didn't have most of the ingredients.) I tried my own version of it and am glad I did because this is now one of my favorite recipes.
I've made it with chicken and pork but I think I prefer chicken. I often up the amount of apples and onions in the dish to stretch it a bit and it's still great.

Apple Pork (or Chicken)
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Yields: 4-6 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked rice (I like to add a little cinnamon and nutmeg to the rice as well.)
1 lb pork or chicken, cut into 1 in pieces
1 T olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 apples, diced
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 cups apple juice
2 T cornstarch

Directions:
   1.  In a large skillet, heat olive oil; add meat and cook until browned. Remove to a bowl.
   2.  In same skillet, add apples and onions and cook until softened. Return meat and any juices to pan. Sprinkle seasonings over mixture.
   3.  Add apple juice to pan. Sprinkle cornstarch and stir to combine. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer; simmer until sauce has thickened. Serve over rice.

This is linked to URS.

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

My favorite soup at Panera is Chicken and Wild Rice. Now, it's been a while since I've been there so I can't accurately speak to how close this came. No matter though, this was delicious anyway. It was creamy but thick, rich but refreshing--an absolute winner!
This soup contains some ingredients that can be prepped ahead of time, adding to the ease of assembling this. While the recipe only calls for 5-10 minutes of simmering at the end, it can withstand a longer time, as long as it is stirred occasionally.

Chicken and Wild Rice Soup
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Yields: 6 servings

Ingredients:
3 cups chicken broth
3 cups water
1 box wild rice (I used Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Wild Rice.)
6 T butter
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 3/4 cup whole milk
2 cups diced or shredded chicken
2 cups spinach, roughly chopped
1 cup carrots, diced and cooked crisp tender


Directions:
   1.  In a large pot, bring chicken broth, water and rice to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.
   2.  Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, melt butter. Add flour, salt, pepper and rice seasoning. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Whisk in milk; bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, stirring frequently.
   3.  Add sauce to rice; add chicken, spinach and carrots. Stir to combine; simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Adapted from: The Keune Home

This is linked to URS.

Toasted Sesame Chicken

This recipe came to our family thanks to my husband. He wanted to find a recipe for Sesame Chicken, one of his favorite Chinese foods. One day last spring he came home early from work, took over the kitchen and made this dish. We enjoyed it, tweaked it and now it's a regular for us.
It looks like there are a lot of ingredients for this recipe. However, many of them are listed twice because you use them at two different points in the recipe. Within the list of ingredients I separated it into Chicken Coating and Sauce. The original recipe calls for the sesame seeds to be added before serving but I don't care for as many seeds as my husband does so we each just add our own.

Toasted Sesame Chicken
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Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
Chicken Coating
2 T flour
2 T cornstarch
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 T soy sauce
1 T dry sherry
2 T water
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 dash sesame oil
1 lb chicken breast, cubed
Sauce
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup white sugar
2 T white vinegar
2 T soy sauce
2 T sesame oil
1 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
2 T sesame seeds

 Directions:
   1.  Cook rice: bring rice and water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Once boiling, stir once, cover and simmer for 35-45 minutes.
   2.  In a medium bowl combine flour, cornstarch, baking soda, baking powder. Add soy sauce, dry sherry, water, vegetable oil and sesame oil; stir until smooth. Stir in chicken until coated; refrigerate for 20 minutes.
   3.  After 10 minutes, bring chicken broth, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, chili powder and garlic powder to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Dissolve cornstarch in water and stir into boiling sauce. Simmer sauce until thickened. Reduce heat to low, stirring occasionally.
   4.  Once sauce is simmering, cook chicken in a lightly oiled skillet until no longer pink. Coat chicken with sauce and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Serve over rice.

This is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Good Cheap Eats.

Orange Chicken

My husband loves Asian food. The first time I made this recipe he liked it but missed the thick sauciness found in many Asian dishes he enjoys. Once I changed the recipe to produce that desired sauce he decided he approves of this dish.
I appreciate how easily this dish comes together. In an effort to make dinner time easier I typically mix the sauce and cook the chicken earlier in the day. With that done there is very little left to do besides putting things together. Sounds great to me!

Orange Chicken
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Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients:
1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 can mandarin oranges
1/2 cup chicken broth
3 T soy sauce
3 T teriyaki sauce
2 chicken breasts, cut in bite size pieces
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup celery, chopped
2 T cornstarch

 Directions:
   1.  In a medium sauce pan, bring water and rice to a boil. Cover and reduce to simmer 35-40 minutes.
   2.  In a small bowl, combine chicken broth, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and juice from oranges.
   3.  While rice is cooking, warm olive oil in a large skillet. Cook chicken until no longer pink.
   4.  Add sauce and celery to skillet. Cook for 5 minutes. Add cornstarch and bring to a boil; reduce to simmer until thickened. Add oranges; warm for 1-2 minutes. Serve over rice.

Adapted from: Taste of Home

This is linked to Ultimate Recipe Swap.