Baked Risotto with Chicken and Veggies

 Typically, Risotto is a labor of love, involving regular stirring as it simmers on the stovetop. It's one of favorites, and I'm always playing around with what I add and how I season it.  This yummy baked risotto recipe is perfect for a meal when you don't have as much time to spare at the stove. You'll want to use a large pan with lid that can go from the stovetop to oven for this recipe. Enjoy! 

A fun way to serve the baked chicken risotto.

A nice all-in-one dish with chicken and vegetables and risotto rice - just stirring in the parmesan before serving. Yum!

Baked Risotto with Chicken and Vegetables

Cook the following recipe in a large pan with lid, that can be used both on the stovetop and in the oven.  I have one nice large dutch oven-type dish that I like to use for recipes that go from stovetop to oven. 

Over medium heat, cook the following 4-5 minutes: 

1/4 cup butter

1/2 onion, diced

1 cup mushroom, sliced

1/2 fennel bulb, diced/sliced

Veggies just starting to soften - ready to add the chicken to cook.

Add and cook, stirring occasionally until chicken is cooked: 

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced into small bite-size pieces

Add and cook 1 minute: 

2 cups arborio risotto rice (I like to give mine a rinse before using)

Add into the pan: 

6 cups chicken broth/stock (homemade or GF bouillon and water)

2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 - 2 tsp freeze-dried thyme or 1-2 tsp fresh thyme

1 - 2 tsp freeze-dried parsley or 1 Tbsp fresh parsley

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 - 1 tsp salt (if your broth is salt-free, otherwise, you can wait and season later)

1 tsp pepper

Cover with the heavy lid and bake at 300 F for 30 minutes, stirring halfway through baking.  

Stirring halfway through baking.

Remove from oven and stir in: 

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt & pepper, to taste

Adding parmesan cheese!

Ready to eat!

Serve and enjoy!  Leftovers can be put into the refrigerator and reheated to enjoy later. 

Baked Risotto with Chicken and Vegetables Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

 This recipe was inspired by the delicious poule au pot recipe.  It has nice, delicate flavors.  It's easy to whip up for a quick, comforting dinner.  I love the taste of fennel, but I recognize the slight anise-flavor may not be to everyone's liking.  However, my kids don't like black licorice flavor, but they do love fennel cooked into soups, frittatas, and meals like this easy fennel & chicken over rice.  Enjoy!

A tasty meal of fennel & chicken over rice. 

Fennel & Chicken over Rice

Cook 2 cups of the rice of your choice (basmati or jasmine are two of my go-to varieties). 

In a large high-sided saucepan, sauté over medium heat: 

2 Tbsp oil

3-4 Tbsp butter

1/2 onion, diced or sliced

1 large or 2 small fennel bulbs, sliced/diced with part of the fronds included

3 chicken breasts, cubed (Or you can add cooked chicken later in the recipe - I often will use leftover roast chicken for a recipe like this. You could even used canned chicken, which stores well so is nice when you can't make it to the store for fresh.)

Once chicken is cooked, add and cook 1 minute: 

2 tsp minced garlic 

Add: 

5 cups chicken broth (5 cups water plus 5 tsp GF chicken bouillon paste or 5 tsp Asian mushroom seasoning)

1/2 - 3/4 tsp dried thyme 

1 Tbsp freeze-dried parsley

1/2 tsp rosemary (dried, or 1-2 tsp fresh, minced)

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp salt

Simmer for 20-30 minutes.   Mix together in a small bowl, then add to thicken, stirring constantly until nice and bubbly: 

3/4 cup milk

1/4 - 1/3 cup cornstarch

If using pre-cooked chicken, add: 

2 cups cooked, diced chicken

Serve over your choice of rice.  Enjoy! 

Cooked and ready to serve!

Gluten Free Fennel & Chicken over Rice Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

Pho-inspired Chicken Noodle Soup (Faux Chicken Pho)

 My family love getting GF Pho and other yummy dishes at Vietnamese restaurants.  Quite often, they have several GF options for us, which is great.  I think you'll love the flavors and the ease of whipping together something like this Pho-inspired chicken soup.  Once the garlic starts to simmer, it smells delicious! Enjoy!

A bowl of Pho-inspired Chicken Noodle Soup, garnished with fresh green onions

Pho-Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup

Over medium to medium-high heat, sauté 5-7 minutes: 

2 Tbsp butter

1 Tbsp oil

2 large carrots, thinly sliced

1/2 large onion, sliced into thin strips

dash salt & pepper

Add: 

8 cups chicken broth (If I don't have fresh chicken broth/stock, I'll use water plus GF chicken boullion paste or water plus Asian mushroom seasoning) 

5 slices fresh ginger

1/2 - 1 tsp dried red chili flakes

2 Tbsp oyster sauce (or fish sauce)

Bring to a boil over high heat, then lower heat and simmer ~15 minutes.  

Soup simmering, almost ready to add the cooked chicken.

Add and cook another 5 minutes: 

1 cup cooked chicken, shredded

While your soup is simmering, cook and drain in cold water, then toss with 1-2 Tbsp oil to keep from sticking: 

GF ramen noodles or GF rice vermicelli noodles or pho noodles

GF ramen noodles - I can regularly find them at Costco, but any GF ramen or thin rice noodle of your choice will work. 

To serve: 

Place your GF noodles in a bowl.  Spoon broth over your noodles (you can remove the ginger slices - or just don't serve them).  Garnish with: 

green onions, sliced

fresh mint leaves, optional

fresh thai basil, optional

fresh bean sprouts, optional

Pho Inspired Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free! 

This comforting creamy chicken & vegetable soup recipe is pretty versatile.   If you don't want to make your own rice, you can add a bag of pre-cooked microwaved rice (microwave it before adding it in).  You can use a drained can of cooked chicken instead of diced, roasted chicken.  You can use a bag of riced broccoli in place of the sliced/diced head of broccoli.  All sorts of variations to make life easier for those busy nights!  Enjoy! 

A yummy bowl of vegetable filled creamy soup with some salad on the side. 

Creamy Vegetable & Chicken Soup

In a large pot over medium-heat, sauté 3 - 5 minutes:

1 - 2 Tbsp butter

1 - 2 Tbsp oil 

1/2 - 1 onion, finely diced

1 - 2 carrots, finely diced

1 - 2 stalks celery, finely diced

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 - 1 tsp freeze-dried or dried parsley

1/4 tsp dried sage or 1 - 2 tsp fresh sage, minced (optional)

1/4 tsp dried rosemary or 1 - 2 tsp fresh rosemary, minced (optional) 

*This recipe also works well with a holiday blend of vegetables (finely diced sweet potato, butternut squash, onion, celery, carrot with the sage and rosemary addition)*

Add and cook an additional 3-4 minutes: 

1 large head broccoli, sliced and diced

Add: 

1 can GF cream of chicken soup *see comment at end if you can't find this*

2 cups water

3/4 cup milk

2 tsp GF chicken bouillon paste

Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  

Add the following, returning briefly to a boil before serving: 

1 - 2 cups cooked white Jasmine rice (make sure your rice is cooked!)

1 cup roast chicken, diced (Canned, drained chicken will work well in this recipe, too)

This is a nice all-in-one meal, but you can serve it with a side of GF crackers or GF garlic bread, whatever you're in the mood for!  Enjoy! 

A pot of soup, ready to eat!

*** If you cannot find a can of Gluten-Free cream of chicken soup, then this is my recommendation (and yes, I've done this)

Add an extra cup of chicken broth before you simmer your soup.  

After the 10-15 minutes of simmering, whisk the following together in a small bowl:

1/3 cup cold milk

1/4 - 1/3 cup cornstarch

Add to your soup and stir, bringing to a boil just to let it thicken a bit. 

And that'll be your work around! 

Creamy Vegetable & Chicken Soup Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!

A quicker way to get the same delicious French flavor in this dish.  Many thanks to my brother for the inspiration and guidance in this recipe - based on what he enjoyed eating during his two recent years spent in France.  The more traditional method is to boil a whole chicken on the bone in a broth first, before adding the vegetables, then serving with the bechamel sauce over rice.  This method is faster, and tastes very similar, since the same spices are used in the broth.  Yum. 

A delicious meal - vegetables, chicken over rice with the tasty bechamel sauce on top. 

Poule au Pot

In a large pot, place the following: 

3 carrots, peeled & coarsely chopped

1 parsnip, peeled & coarsely chopped

1 lb. red, thin-skinned potatoes, coarsely diced (if small, just slice each in half)

1 celery root & stalks, peel bulb, dice (I prefer to use only 1/2 the tops/stalks/leaves)

1 onion, coarsely diced with 3 whole cloves pressed into the onion

2 tsp freeze-dried diced garlic, diced OR 2 cloves garlic, each sliced in half

2 bay leaves

1 tsp dried ground thyme

1 Tbsp freeze dried parsley OR 2 tsp dried parsley

1 tsp dried rosemary

~10 whole peppercorns

Cover with water, about 1" above all the ingredients.  Heat over medium-high heat to a boil.  Lower heat and simmer for ~90 minutes.  

Add and simmer for the last 15 minutes of cooking: 

1-2 cups roast chicken, coarsely diced

While the vegetables are simmering, cook rice of your choice to serve.  I love a nice brown jasmine rice.  The long simmer time in this recipe makes it easy to make a brown rice which requires ~45 minutes to simmer and 15 minutes to rest before serving.  

Whip together an easy bechamel sauce after you add the chicken.  This will be served over the vegetables and chicken. 

Bechamel sauce:

In a medium saucepan over medium heat melt: 

3-4 Tbsp butter

Add: 

1 cup broth from vegetables above

3/4 cup milk

pinch salt

pinch fresh ground pepper

In a separate bowl, mix together: 

1-2 Tbsp cornstarch

1/4 cup cold milk

Once broth/milk is bubbling, add the cornstarch mixture, whisking/stirring constantly until mixture thickens slightly and bubbles for a minute.  Adjust salt and pepper, to taste.  Remove from heat. 

To serve your poule au pot: 

In a wide, low-sided bowl place a scoop of cooked rice.  Use a slotted spoon to serve a mixture of vegetables and chicken from your large pot.  Remove any bay leaves or cloves that end up in the bowl.  Top with a spoonful of Bechamel sauce.  Enjoy! 

Each bowl looks beautiful - and different. 

BBQ Teriyaki Chicken

This is a favorite of my family, although we usually have made it with very thinly sliced beef.  You can use this same marinade sauce with beef, if you prefer.  But I absolutely love it made with chicken.  It's easy to whip together, and because the chicken is nice and thin, it cooks up quickly on the BBQ.  It's delicious served alongside brown jasmine rice, cooking instructions below, too.  Enjoy!

Marinade sauce, ready for meat! 

BBQ Teriyaki Chicken, fresh off the barbecue! 

BBQ Teriyaki Chicken

2 - 3 lbs chicken, thinly sliced or pounded flat
(The best is if you can find scallopini-style, very thinly sliced breasts)

In a large bowl, mix together marinade:
3/4 cup Bragg's soy seasoning sauce (substitute for soy sauce, which is not GF)
3/4 - 1 cup water
1/4 cup sugar
2 Tbsp honey
1 - 1 1/2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
4 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 green onions, chopped into 4" pieces

Marinate chicken for 2-3 hours, stirring/rotating pieces once or twice.

BBQ chicken pieces over medium heat, about 5 minutes per side, or until they are cooked through in the thickest parts of your chicken pieces.

This BBQ Teriyaki chicken is fabulous served with brown jasmine rice, cooking instructions below or another rice of your choice. Enjoy!

Brown Jasmine Rice
For about 3 cups cooked rice, thoroughly rinse:
1 cup jasmine rice

In a pot with a tight lid, place:
1 cup rinsed jasmine rice
2 cups water
1-2 tsp oil

Heat, uncovered over high heat until boiling.  Lower heat to low, cover, and simmer 45 minutes.  Remove from heat and let rest 10-15 minutes before serving.

Easy Herb & Garlic Chicken - perfect over pasta

A tasty, easy chicken recipe that my whole family has enjoyed.  The kids are happy I serve it with pasta, and the adults are happy because it's packed with basil, chives and garlic.   The drippings get tossed into the pasta, with or without the chicken, depending on your preference.  A nice, easy meal, that makes you feel like you're eating something fancy despite it's simplicity.  Enjoy!

Herb and garlic covered chicken, ready to pop into the oven! 

Herb & Garlic Chicken - perfect over pasta
Makes 5 chicken breasts

Preheat oven to 425 F.

In a bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup olive oil 
5-6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 small onion, minced finely
3-4 Tbsp minced fresh chives
4-5 Tbsp fresh basil, sliced
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Drizzle a little of the mixture on the bottom of a 9 x 13 pan.   Place chicken breasts in pan, slicing thick areas, if needed, so all the chicken is at a similar height/thickness in the pan.  Spread the olive oil/garlic/herb mixture evenly over all the chicken breasts.

Bake at 425 F for ~25 minutes, until the chicken measures ~170 F at the thickest spot.

Fresh from the oven - ready to dice and toss with pasta - or collect drippings and toss and serve the chicken over-top! 

The chicken can be served directly over GF pasta*, using the olive oil and drippings to toss with your GF noodles.

OR

You can dice/slice up the chicken and toss the chicken and olive oil drippings with GF pasta to serve.

* My favorite GF noodles are the ones made from a mixture of brown rice, white rice, quinoa, and corn.   My ultimate favorite noodles are homemade gluten-free pasta, but these do take a bit more effort and mess, though not too much overall time because the boiling time for fresh noodles is so short. 

Chicken Saag Pizza!

Leftover homemade chicken saag is wonderful on homemade pizza crusts (GF or otherwise), topped with a little mozzarella, goat cheese & fresh sliced shallots.  The saag is rich, so you can use just a light sprinkling of toppings and cheese.  Not only do you get to have chicken saag again (yum!), but you'll turn an ordinary pizza into an extraordinary one!  Enjoy!

GF Chicken Saag Pizza, topped and ready for the oven! 

I've found that for GF pizzas, it's often best to bake toppings on partially or fully baked GF pizza crusts to avoid any sogginess and to end up with a nice browned, crispy crust.

Our current favorite crust has been to use GF homemade naan bread as our crust.  Just make and bake as instructed, removing the naan bread/pizza crusts from the pan and parchment paper to cool once it comes out of the oven.  When you're ready to top the pizza, then return the naan bread to the parchment-lined baking pan and top with the following:

Chicken Saag, warmed a bit and used as the pizza sauce
fresh mozzarella, sliced
shallots, thinly sliced
green scallions, thinly sliced
crumbled feta cheese
thin tomato slices, optional (the ones pictured here were tiny yellow tomatoes)
green bell pepper, optional
red cayenne pepper flakes, optional

Once you're pizzas are topped, bake in the oven at 450 F for ~7 minutes, until toppings are hot and cheese is just beginning to brown.   (Some GF crusts require baking directly on the rack, others, like the GF naan bread, can be baked on a parchment-lined pan - follow the instructions of your crust).

A yummy chicken saag pizza, fresh out of the oven and ready to eat! 

Slice pizza and place immediately on a cooling rack to keep the bottom nice and crispy. Enjoy!  

Homemade Butter Chicken

This easy gluten-free butter chicken recipe is wonderful!  Despite the name, there's very little butter in it, but it's nice and creamy and not too spicy, being a family-friendly Indian dish.  I've made several renditions of butter chicken over the years, but never been satisfied until now.  Make sure you start a day ahead, so you can marinate your chicken overnight, allowing the flavors to have ample time to sink into the meat.  None of the steps in this recipe are tricky, but it doesn't require quite a bit of simmering time, so make sure to read through the recipe ahead of time.   This was a perfect dish for my brother's birthday dinner, served alongside chicken saag, in which we used paneer in place of chicken (wonderful) and fresh, homemade GF naan bread.  Enjoy!

A delicious meal of butter chicken and paneer saag (made with diced paneer in place of chicken) over rice 

Homemade Butter Chicken
based off a NYTimes recipe
Serves ~8, about 1 hr 15 minutes cooking time (most of it simmering time)

In a large tupperware, mix together the night before you want to make this dish to marinate chicken thighs: (aka, ~24 in advance)
1 1/2 cup plain yogurt (lactose-free works great)
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 Tbsp garam masala
2 Tbsp ground cumin
1 1/2 Tbsp ground tumeric
3 lbs boneless chicken thighs

In a large pan over medium heat, melt butter, then cook 2-3 minutes:
1/4 cup butter
1-2 Tbsp oil
1 large onion

Add to onions and cook an additional 3-4 minutes, until onions are just starting to brown:
2 Tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 Tbsp cumin seeds

Add to the pan, and cook about 10 minutes, lowering heat to just below medium heat:
16 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 jalapeno, minced OR 1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 cinnamon stick
1 tsp salt

Add to pan and cook 5 minutes:
Chicken, marinated plus marinade sauce

Add to pot and cook, simmering over medium-low heat for 30 minutes:
3/4 cup GF chicken stock (or 3/4 cup water + 1 tsp Asian mushroom seasoning)

After simmering, add and simmer an additional 15 minutes to thicken:
1 - 1 1/2 cups coconut cream (OR thick part of canned coconut milk if you can't find canned coconut cream)

Serve over fresh basmati rice.  If desired, you can sprinkle with fresh cilantro before serving.  Absolutely wonderful served alongside homemade gluten-free naan bread, too!  Enjoy!

A delicious meal of butter chicken and paneer saag (made with diced paneer in place of chicken) over rice with GF key lime cookies and key lime curd (recipe to be posted soon) on the side! 

Update!  Another option for your butter chicken meal!  Add some fresh spinach during the last five minutes of simmering.  Top your dish with thinly sliced oven roasted carrots and potatoes.  It was a hit at my house! To make your roasted veggies, thinly slice carrots and potatoes. Toss in a drizzle of olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, spread out evenly and roast on a cookie sheet at 425F until just browning.  My kids especially loved this addition to our butter chicken.  Enjoy! 

Butter chicken with spinach added, topped with roasted carrots and potatoes. Yum!

Curry Chicken Salad

Curried chicken salad has grown on me over the years, although (sorry mom), I still despise ones with grapes in them.  I find this version hits the spot with a nice mix of spicy, sweet, crunchy and smooth.  Funny story: We have all enjoyed this salad so much, I thought I'd whip some up for dinner when we had a couple guests.  After all, it is a favorite.  In my hurry to prepare things, I mistook the metal canister of Old Bay Seasoning for Curry Powder, using half Old Bay with half of another container of curry powder (Do Not make this mistake).  Oops!  It was so ridiculously salty with the added Old Bay.  Thankfully, we all had a good laugh.   If you make it properly, using curry powder (which should have no added salt), you'll be good to go!  Enjoy!

Delicious curry chicken salad - great on sandwiches, on top of salads, or with easy to make homemade focaccia bread.

Curry Chicken Salad

Mix together:
1/3 - 1/2 cup dill pickles, diced (fermented dill pickles are wonderful, if you can find them)
1/4 - 1/3 cup green onions, sliced
1 apple, diced
2-3 cups cooked chicken, diced
1/4 - 1/3 cup mayonnaise
~4 tsp curry powder (add 1 tsp at a time, to taste)
~3/4 tsp ground pepper, more/less to taste

Serve the tasty curry chicken salad with toast or crackers, homemade bread, homemade focaccia bread and/or a side salad.  Enjoy!

Tasty Chicken Saag

We just love Indian food around here.  I love that it's always packed with vegetables, and leftovers are fun to use on top of things like pizza or in sandwiches.  We get creative.  This dish has several steps, though many are short and easy.  I've written it out so directions and ingredients are interspersed.  All ingredients are in bold, making it easy to skim through and make sure you have all you need to prepare this tasty dish.  Every time I've whipped this together, I get cheers - which I find entertaining coming from a 2, 5 and 10 year old (plus my husband).  I'll be posting a fun pizza recipe to make with leftovers soon, too.  Enjoy!

GF Chicken Saag served with basmati rice!  

Tasty Chicken Saag
Based off a recipe from "Best Ever Indian" by Baljekar, Fernandeze, Husain & Kanani 
Serves 4-6

Mix together in a small bowl, set aside:
250 g/8 oz frozen spinach, thawed (OR fresh spinach,  diced and wilted in a pot with lid w/ no extra water)
2 tsp grated ginger
2 tsp minced or grated garlic
1 finely minced chili OR dried, finely chopped chili ~1 tsp

In a large, low side frying pan with lid cook over medium to medium-high heat for 2 minutes:
1 Tbsp oil (olive oil or similar will work)
1/4 tsp peppercorns
1-2 bay leaves (REMOVE before serving, but leave in while cooking)

Add and cook 5 minutes:
1 onion, diced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced (optional)

Nicely sauteed, just browning mushrooms and onions

Add and cook 2 minutes:
2 cups diced canned tomatoes
2-4 tsp curry powder (this adjusts the spice level, depending on your curry powder)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder

Stir in spinach mixture from above, lower heat to medium-low and simmer 5 minutes.

Ready to add yogurt, milk and broth

Add the following and continue simmering, covered for 15 minutes:
3 Tbsp plain yogurt
3 Tbsp milk or cream
1/2 - 3/4 cup GF chicken broth or stock OR water + 2 tsp Asian Mushroom seasoning

Add the following and then simmer an additional 5 minutes, uncovered if you'd like to thicken it up a bit:
1 - 2 cups cooked, diced chicken
OR
1-2 cups diced paneer (an Indian cheese)

Fresh Chicken Saag, ready to eat! 

Serve the tasty chicken saag over fresh brown or white basmati rice.   Enjoy!

Delicious chicken saag, served with basmati and a lentil, potato, rice dish I'd whipped up, too.

Our Favorite Fried Noodles with Vegetables (and shrimp or chicken)

This is a dish I experimented with many times until I came up with a version I was really happy with.   You can use white or brown rice vermicelli noodles (although the white noodles tend to hold together better during frying).  We always loved getting fried noodles at the farmer's market, but I wanted a way to make them gluten-free and with more vegetables.  You can throw in any sort of meat you like, but I tend to use either shrimp or chicken when I whip this up.  The fried noodles have gotten rave reviews (and requests) since I first served them up.  It's a great summer dish when a wide variety of fresh vegetables are in season.  Enjoy!

Fried Noodles with Veggies - you can serve as-is or add shrimp or chicken! 

Fried Noodles with Vegetables (and Shrimp)

Bring water to a boil in a large pot.
Add:
1/2 - 1 package white or brown rice vermicelli noodles (depending on how many you want to serve. I make 1/2 package to serve ~4)
Let noodles boil for 1 minute at a rolling boil.  Remove from heat.  Drain and rinse well with water to remove starch.

Place noodles in a large bowl and mix with:
4 Tbsp avocado oil (or similar oil good for high-heat cooking)
4 Tbsp GF soy sauce (liquid Bragg's soy seasoning)

Set noodles aside while you cook the vegetables.

In a wok or similar large frying pan, saute over medium-high to high heat for 2-3 minutes:
2-3 Tbsp avocado oil (or similar oil good for high-heat cooking)
1/2 - 1 onion, sliced
1-2 carrots, thinly sliced

Add, and saute an additional 2-3 minutes:
1/2 celery root, thinly sliced & chopped to bite size pieces
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 - 1 cup mushrooms, finely diced

Add and cook 1 minute:
1 cup broccoli, chopped to bite-sized pieces.

Place vegetables in a large serving dish.

In small batches, fry noodles in additional oil 2-3 minutes.  Once fried, place noodles on top of hot vegetables.

Once all noodles are fried, in pan heat 1-2 minutes:
1 Tbsp oil
1-2 Tbsp GF soy sauce
1-2 cups cooked chicken, diced 
OR
1-2 cups cooked shrimp (thawed, deveined, no shell)

Put shrimp or chicken on top of noodles.  Toss together.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy!!!

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings with Oven-Roasted Carrot & Potato Fries

This is a great and tasty meal.  You can easily spice it up more, if you like by adding additional cayenne pepper, or a dash of tabasco.  This is a nice mild version the whole family can enjoy.   Give yourself time for the wings to marinate at least an hour.  Other than that, the great thing is that you can cook your carrot & potato fries and wings all at the same time!  I love when meals easily come together so everything ready at the same time.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Honey Garlic Chicken Wings - great served with oven-roasted carrot & potato fries, recipe below

Honey Garlic Chicken Wings & Baked Carrot & Potato Fries
based on a recipe from Barnyard Organics - our local PEI chicken growers. Thanks! 

Mix together the following sauce to marinate chicken:
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup Bragg's Soy Seasoning (GF soy sauce)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Marinate in sauce for at least 1 hour:
2-3 lbs. organic chicken wings

Preheat oven to 400 F.
While oven is heating, prepare the Carrot & Potato Fries below. 

Spread marinated wings on a cookie sheet.  Cook 35-40 minutes, basting 2 times after 10 and then 20 minutes with extra marinade sauce.

Roasted carrot and potato fries: 
Toss together:
6 small potatoes, wedged
3 carrots, sliced into long slices
2-3 Tbsp olive oil infused with chipotle (or add pinch of chili powder)
salt & pepper

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 F ~40 minutes.   I put the fries and chicken into the oven at the same time.  The chicken gets removed twice for basting, so the total cooking times seem to work out appropriately with both chicken wings and fries being done at the same time! 

Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Cold, snowy winter days are a nice time for a hot bowl of soup.  A hearty homemade chicken noodle soup is wonderful in wintertime.   In order to be able to whip this together, I always try to have cooked chicken available. When I roast chicken (or turkey), I freeze leftovers so I have chicken available in order to whip together this tasty soup.  My kids all love it, veggies included!   We eat it on it's own, or with fresh bread, toasted.  Enjoy!

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup, ready to eat! 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Serves ~6

Saute about 7 minutes over medium-high heat, until carrots are softening (you want to make sure your carrots are diced very finely because they will be the last vegetable to soften, if they're nice and small they'll be mostly cooked during the saute and then finish up during the boiling):
2-3 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 carrots, diced very small
1/2 - 1 onion, diced very small
2-3 gloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup small turnips, diced very small (I had mini ones that I finely diced - leave them out if you don't have any on hand)
~2-3 stalks celery, diced (I used a handful of very thin purple celery stalks)

Add and bring to a boil:
~7 cups homemade chicken broth/stock (or GF chicken bouillon)
1-2 Tbsp fresh parsley, diced
1-2 Tbsp fresh dill, diced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
dash turmeric

Add and boil soup 13-15 minutes, until pasta is cooked:
1 1/2 cups diced or shredded cooked chicken
1/2 package GoGo Quinoa vegetable noodles (they're tiny and circular, perfect for this soup, or you can use small GF noodles of your choice)

Adjust salt & pepper, as desired.  Serve and enjoy!

A hot bowl of delicious homemade GF chicken noodle soup

Chicken & Rice Soup

I came up with this yummy soup quite by accident.  We had family visiting and I needed something that could be eaten late at night when they arrived.  It turned out so flavorful and delicious, everyone loved it!  My kids both wanted seconds!  This is a great recipe if you have leftover roast chicken (or even turkey).  The only thing I realized is that it's next to impossible to take a nice picture of soup - but it's packed full of chicken, veggies and rice, and a nice, quick meal.  And, the only one I remembered to get a picture of is when I was being lazy and threw in a bag of grated carrots I had purchased on a whim instead of dicing the carrots.  They look a little funky, but the taste was still great.  Enjoy!

A picture at last!  Only it looks a little odd made with grated carrots. Sometimes it's just good to use what is available in the refrigerator. :) 

Chicken & Rice Soup

Serves 8-10

Put in a large pot:

3 ½ - 4 quarts chicken broth (or water + GF bouillon. Use ~ 1 tsp/cup water *see note below)

½ - 1 tsp ground turmeric

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley (OR 1 Tbsp freeze dried or dried)

1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill (OR 1/2 - 3/4 Tbsp freeze dried or dried)

Salt & pepper (use sparingly now - season more towards end)

2-3 cups mix medley of diced veggies (carrot, onion, celery, potato, turnip, celery root, fennel bulb & greens)
2-3 Tbsp olive oil 

Bring to boil over high heat. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and cook 10 minutes, uncovered.  (* If you would like, you can saute the vegetables in olive oil for 5 minutes before adding chicken broth and spices, then bring to a boil and simmer an additional 5 minutes.  Either method of cooking will work well!!! *)

Add:

1 – 1 ½ cups basmati rice (rinse the rice & make sure it’s the cook in 15-20 minutes kind)

Simmer (uncovered) ~ 20 minutes, until rice is tender. 

Add:

2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded

Season with additional salt/pepper, to taste.

Serve with chopped fresh parsley (optional).

Enjoy!

*Note: There is an Asian mushroom seasoning that is gluten-free, MSG-free, and absolutely delicious to use as a substitute for chicken bouillon. It’s my absolute favorite.  I find it adds a depth of flavor, but doesn’t add a ‘mushroom’ flavor.  It was recommended by our Vietnamese friend (and absolutely fabulous cook), Nam. I love it!

Another lovely picture of my strange looking soup made with grated carrots.  For a more normal looking soup, just slice or dice them. ;) 

Chicken and Rice Soup by Successfully Gluten Free!

Thin-cut Pan-fried Herb Chicken with Mushrooms

Delicious and gorgeous meals can be made in one large frying pan in a tiny kitchen!  This was a delicious dish I whipped together while visiting Rome recently with my family (hence the gorgeous plates and platters - I don't think the pictures do them justice).  I used fresh mushrooms and shallots from the local market and fresh thinly sliced chicken.  The great thing about this dish is the chicken cooks up quickly because it's so thinly sliced!  It's flavorful and delicious while using a minimum number of ingredients - important while travelling.  You can serve it alongside salad, rice, or GF bread.  It's also a great dish for summer when you don't want to stand for long over a hot stove. Enjoy!

Ready to eat, with mushrooms spread across the tops of the chicken.  A delicious meal in Rome after a day of sight-seeing.  We served it alongside leftover risotto and salad, and some pizza from around the corner for those without gluten-allergies.

Pan-fried Herb Chicken with Mushrooms
Serves 4

Ask butcher to slice two chicken breasts 1/4" thick.  You can do it by hand, but I find it's hard to get it evenly thin everywhere.

Mix together marinade in a large platter: (you can adjust the amounts of each ingredients, the measurements give a place to start)
4-5 Tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tbsp vinegar (apple cider or white wine)
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 - 1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 - 1 tsp dried basil

Place thinly sliced chicken breast in marinade, turning to coat all sides.  Let rest 10-15 minutes while you prep and cook the mushrooms.

Chicken in marinade on left and after cooking on right.

Saute in 1 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil:
1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
1-2 shallots, sliced or diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

After cooking mushrooms, remove them from the pan and set them aside while you quickly pan-fry the chicken.

Using just enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the frying pan.  Fry each slice of chicken on both sides until the chicken is fully cooked.  The thinner the chicken, the faster it cooks.  If your slices of chicken are too thick, you can let it sear on each side and remove to a baking pan. Then bake 15 minutes at 375F until your chicken is fully cooked.  

Mushrooms set aside, with chicken frying in the pan.

Serve on a platter with the mushrooms and shallots drizzled overtop.  Enjoy!!! 

Delicious Oven-Roasted Chicken, Roast Vegetables & Gravy

This really is a wonderfully tasty and easy roasted chicken to whip together.  It turns out looking gorgeous, as well, which is a plus! I based this recipe off the wonderful Ina Garten - her 'perfect roast chicken' recipe, to be precise.  I tweaked a few things around, but the basic prep, cooking time, and resting time are all thanks to her expertise.  You'll end up with a nicely roasted chicken and veggies to serve alongside, plus drippings that can be used to whisk together a quick and flavorful gravy, if desired.  Enjoy!

Gluten-Free Roast Chicken, Veggies and Gravy!  What a beautiful bird! Fresh from the oven.

Surrounded by roasted vegetables, and ready to slice and eat!

Delicious Oven-Roasted Chicken, Veggies & Gravy
Based off Ina Garten's Perfect Roasted Chicken recipe
Makes one 5 - 6 lb chicken - serves 4-6, cooks about 1.5 hrs, rests 20 minutes before serving.

Preheat oven to 425F.

In a medium to large baking dish (I used a ceramic one that was slightly smaller than a 9x13 pan) place the following:
4 small potatoes, coarsely chopped
3 carrots, sliced in 2" pieces
1 onion, sliced

Sprinkle over vegetables, and then mix with hands to evenly coat:
salt & pepper
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground thyme
4 Tbsp olive oil

In a small bowl, have the following mixed together to place inside the chicken:
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp ground thyme
1 tsp minced garlic
1 orange (or lemon), sliced in half (don't mix this with the herbs/salt/pepper - just have it ready to place in the bird)

Rinse the 5 - 6 lb. chicken and pat the outside dry with a few paper towels.   Rub the inside of the chicken with the salt/pepper/thyme/garlic.  Then place the orange halves inside the chicken.

Set the chicken on top of the prepared vegetables.  Tuck the wings under the body, as best you can.  Use some kitchen twine to tie the ends of the legs together securely.

Brush the top of the chicken with the following:
2-3 Tbsp butter, melted
Then sprinkle the chicken with additional salt and pepper.

Cook chicken in the oven 1 hr 15 minutes - 1 hr 30 minutes.  Test a meaty area (like thigh) to ensure the chicken has reached the appropriate temperature of 185 F.

Once the chicken has cooked, remove the chicken and vegetables to a serving dish.  Cover with an aluminum foil tent and let the chicken rest for 20 minutes.   Slice and serve!

This has two purposes - it lets the chicken meat rest and you have time to use the drippings from the main pan to whip up a quick and tasty gravy, if desired.

Gravy from drippings (optional, but I love it)
This is a general recipe, which you can tweak as desired - use water for a lighter gravy and milk for a thicker gravy, or some of both for somewhere in between.  I usually use water with a little milk when I add the cornstarch.

Pour the drippings from the cooking pan into a small frying pan over medium heat.   Add:
1 cup water (or milk, or some of each)
1 tsp mushroom seasoning or GF chicken boullion
pinch paprika

Once mixture boils, whisk together and then pour into gravy:
2-3 tsp cornstarch (If you have a lot of drippings, you may find you need more like 1-2 Tbsp cornstarch to thicken your gravy.  Always mix with a little cold milk before adding to the simmering gravy.)
1/4 cup milk

Let mixture thicken for a minute or two.  Season to taste with salt & pepper.  Serve over chicken and veggies! We enjoyed extra chicken with rice and gravy, too. Enjoy!

Fried Rice with Vegetables and Chicken

This fried rice recipe has become a great favorite with everyone around here.  There's a few things I find that really have helped make this work for me -- 1. using white jasmine rice - not wet, or your stir-fried rice will stick together a bit; 2. Have all items prepared in bowls beforehand, since cooking time is quick; 3. Don't stir too much, since you want things to cook at the high heat before you rotate ingredients in the pan; 4. I really prefer using a can of green chilies instead of fresh red or green pepper in my stir-fry - I find the taste is less overwhelming and blends nicely with the other ingredients.  I started with a recipe from a kids cookbook, "Around the World" by Abigail Dodge, and found it worked really well if I used canned chilies instead of fresh ones.  However, the recipe didn't make quite enough for our family of 4 (counting little girls as 1 adult), so I tweaked it, also discovering that I needed to make sure the rice was properly cooked and then dried out a bit in order to get the right texture.  I also found that using the avocado oil for frying worked wonderfully.

Gluten Free Fried Rice - Freshly cooked chicken and vegetable fried rice! 

Fried Rice with Vegetables and Chicken
Serves 4

Make 1 cup white jasmine rice (or rice of your choice) - this yields about 3 cups.  If you're making it fresh, let it cook a few minutes longer than normal and sit with the lid cracked after cooking so it dries out a bit.  Or, you can use day-old rice so it's a bit more dried out.

In a large frying pan or wok over medium-high to high heat, heat up:
3 Tbsp avocado oil (or another oil with a high smoke point, good for stir-frying)

Cook the following for 3 minutes:
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1 can (4 oz/127 g) green chilies

Cook onions, garlic and chilies for 3 minutes.

Add and cook 4 minutes:
3 cups cooked white jasmine rice (or another cooked rice)
1/2 - 1 cup frozen peas
1 carrot, peeled and shredded

Add rice, peas and shredded carrots and cook 4 minutes.

Push everything to the edge of the wok/pan.
Add, and then scramble:
1 Tbsp avocado oil
2-3 eggs, whisked

Cooking quickly, I missed getting a picture of all the rice at the edge and egg in the middle - but here is after it's all scrambled and mixed together.

Mix everything together and add, cooking 1-2 minutes:
4 Tbsp GF soy sauce (I used Bragg's Liquid Soy Sauce)
1 cup finely diced cooked chicken (optional)

Serve hot!  Enjoy!

Add the GF soy sauce and chicken and let cook one more minute before serving.  Enjoy! 

I think it's important to intersperse some practical recipes amongst the plethora of dessert recipes I've been (and will continue) posting from my brother's wedding reception.  Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite meals of all-time.  But I like the chicken in thin or small pieces, lightly breaded, and lightly fried prior to baking.  One of the worst things is a highly greasy piece of Chicken Parmesan. A travesty!  This recipe requires the use of several bowls and pans, but the result is most definitely worth the effort.  If you're not familiar with Chicken Parmesan - it's one of those odd recipes that has no Parmesan cheese in it, despite the name.  It's sometimes called Chicken Parmigiana, or Chicken Parm.  There's a variety of dishes that may be the official origin of this dish - but I love this version with chicken.  Another favorite, if you're not wanting meat is my Eggplant Parmesan.  Yum! Enjoy!

Lightly fried chicken strips with sauce and fresh mozzarella on top. Oven-ready!

These are one of my family's favorite dinners.  It takes a bit of extra prep and clean-up, but it's well worth the effort! Yum!  If you don't want the cheese to melt so much, you can add it the last five minutes of baking. 

Chicken Parmesan

Serves 4

Slice into strips*:
2-3 chicken breasts
*You can also cut the chicken breasts so you have larger, thin pieces. Or you can hammer your chicken so it's nice and thin, but I just can't bring myself to go through the effort when I can slice it easily.

In three low bowls, prepare the following to dip the chicken:
Bowl 1:
brown rice flour
Bowl 2: 
2 eggs, beaten
Bowl 3:
3/4 cup GF rice breadcrumbs or panko

1/2 - 3/4 cup Kristin's Gluten-Free Flour mix OR brown or white rice flour (optional, since you can do all breadcrumbs/panko, but it makes for a slightly lighter coating, which is nice)
1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 - 1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 - 1/2 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375F. Line a cookie sheet with foil.
In a frying pan, cover the bottom of the pan with oil (avocado oil, olive oil, etc) and heat over medium-high heat.  (I also start boiling water at this point to cook some gluten-free pasta to accompany the meal)

While the oil is heating, dip the chicken strips bowls 1, 2 and 3, in that order. Be sure to cover the meat thoroughly in each bowl.   You can set dipped strips on a plate until the oil is hot.

Fry each chicken piece for 2-3 minutes per side, until nicely golden.   Place cooked pieces onto prepare foil-lined sheet.  Continue until all pieces have been browned.

On top of each piece of chicken place:
high-quality spaghetti sauce (homemade is great)
fresh mozzarella, sliced

Bake at 375F for 15-20 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and cheese is nicely melted and bubbly.

Chicken Parmesan is great served with gluten-free pasta and a side salad.  Enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan is great served with a side of pasta (gluten-free here) and salad. 

Chicken Parmesan Recipe by Successfully Gluten Free!