Mustard Chicken- Sheet Pan Super

I made this dinner a few weeks ago and it was fantastic for so many different reasons- one it tasted great, which is always helpful. It was also wonderful because everything came out of the over at the same time- your starch, protein, and veggie all in the oven together and ready together to eat immediately. Can't get better than that...

Ingredients:
1.5 pounds sweet potatoes (2 medium)
2 teaspoons chopped thyme leaves, plus a small bunch of thyme sprigs
1/4 C whole-grain mustard
4 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, softened
2 teaspoons dijon mustard
3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs or drumsticks (or a mix), patted dry
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
2/3 cup plain dried bread crumbs
2 tablespoons of EVOO, more for drizzling
1 pound broccoli rabe, trimmed
pinch of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

Preparation:
1. Prepare the sweet potatoes: Heat over to 425 degrees. Cut potatoes into 1-in thick slices. Reassemble the slices so the look like intact potatoes, inserting a sprig of thyme between each slice. Wrap each potato in 2 layers of foil and place on a pie tin or directly on over rack. Back until very tender, 60-75 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, make the mustard butter for the chicken. In a small bowl combine the whole-grain mustard and chopped thyme leaves. Mince 2 garlic cloves and stir into bowl. Remove 1 tablespoon of mixture and set aside for future use. Add the butter and dijon mustard to remaining mixture in bowl and stir to combine.

3. Prepare the chicken- season the chicken with 2 teaspoons of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper. Then rub the mustard butter all over the chicken. Place the bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Coat the chicken evenly with bread crumbs. Transfer to a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil.

4. Once the potatoes have baked for a half-hour, add the pan with chicken to the over and bake until the chicken is golden and no longer pink, 35-40 minutes.

5. As the chicken cooks, prepare the broccoli rabe. Toss the rabe with olive oil, remaining salt and red pepper flakes. Smash remaining garlic cloves and toss into rabe. Spread onto a sheet pan. Add to the over with the potatoes and chicken for the last 10 minutes of cooking time. The rabe is cooked when the stems are tender and the leaves are crisp at the edge. All items (chicken, sweet potatoes, and rabe) should come out of the oven around the same time.

6. To serve combine the reserved tablespoon of the mustard mixture with the sour cream or greek yogurt. Serve chicken with broccoli rabe and sweet potatoes on the side, dolloping the potatoes with the sour cream-mustard mixture.

Enjoy!

The Easiest, Most Delicious Pasta Sauce- ever.

This is really, in all honesty, one of the easiest things I've ever made- it's simple and really tasty. Let's just say I made it twice in one week because we all enjoyed it so much.

Ingredients:
4 cloves garlic, minced
15 roma tomatoes, diced
4 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste, i used about 1 tsp each
fresh basil, chopped, to garnish (or stir in)
your favorite pasta

Directions:
1. chop tomatoes

2. heat oil in pan over medium heat, add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.

3. add tomatoes and any leftover juice to pot. Bring to a simmer and simmer covered for 10 minutes.

4. remove cover and simmer for an additional 15 minutes.

5. using an immersion blender or carefully transferring to a blender/food processor, blend sauce until smooth.

6. add salt and pepper, chopped basil and then toss with cooked pasta.

bada-bing, bada-bomb. easy as that. enjoy!!

Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken

I made this chicken last week at work and oh my yum.. slash it's been a while since I've shared any recipes around these parts and this one is definitely worth it. Because who doesn't love good food?

Sweet and Spicy Roast Chicken:
The dish has a lot of ingredients but was quite easy to make and I savored every bite. I used only chicken thighs, and cooked them for about 35 minutes. 30 minutes on the second rack, and 5 minutes on the top to help crisp up the skin just a tiny bit more. We didn't use pistachios either- just because the munchkins are allergic/

Ingredients:

• 1 lemon, plus 3 tbsps of lemon juice (fresh is possible)
• 2.5 tsp of kosher salt, plus more for pot
• 3 tbsp orange juice (fresh is possible)
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 tbsp whole grain mustard
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 bay leaf
• .5-1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 1 4-pound chicken, cut into 8 pieces
• 3 cups slice carrots (1/4 thick)
• 1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 2/3 cup sliced dates
• 1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 c chopped cilantro or parsley, for garnish
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced, for garnish
• 1/4 c chopped toasted pistachio nut, for garnish

Preparation:
1. Quarter the lemon lengthwise, removing any seeds. Thinly slice crosswise into small wedges and add to small pot of boiling, salted water. Blanch for 2 minutes and drain. Reserve slices.

2. In a saucepan, whisk together lemon juice, orange juice, oil, mustard, honey, salt, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, and black pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Let cool.

3. Put chicken in a bowl and add honey mixture. Add carrots, onion, dates, thyme, and lemon slices. Turn mixture several times to coat. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes at room temperature, but preferably overnight in the fridge.

 I also marinated my mixture for the day- I had meant to do it the night before but kids were home sick, things were crazy- whatever, either way it was still ah-mazing!

4. Heat oven to 425 degrees. Transfer all ingredients, including marinade, to a sheet pan with rim. Chicken should be skin side up. Roast until the chicken is browned and cooked through, about 20-30 minutes for breasts and 30-40 minutes for legs and wings (remove pieces as they are done cooking.) When the chicken is done, give the carrot mixutre in the pan a stir; if the pan looks dry add 2-3 tbsp of water. Continue roasting until the carrots are tender, about 7-12 minutes longer.

5. Spoon carrots over chicken and top with cilantro, scallions and pistachio nuts.

no pistachio, the monkeys are allergic!

I served with dish with roasted sweet potatoes- a great fall meal, that everyone enjoyed!

And linking up for Recipe Swap Tuesday!

Chocolate Banana Nut Shake

 Smoothies and shakes are excellent snacks or meals that you can eat all year round. They work so well because you can add just about anything to them- and freeze a lot of your fruits and vegetables beforehand. I'm super excited to introduce Lindsay, from Lindsay Living Vegan, to you today. 

I actually met Lindsay, via google hangout, when we both signed up for Erin, over at Living in Yellow's, new blogger happy hour. After handing out advice to one another for an hour +,  I knew she was a blogger I wanted to stay in touch with for a while. She writes fantastic posts about the most delicious looking food (all vegan!)- including spectacular smoothies (I've tried a few, they are dynamite!) 

Thankfully I have her stopping by today to help keep you all company while I play work overseas. 

Check out this mouthwatering shake... definitely will be trying this when I'm back stateside!!

---

I may be vegan but that doesn't mean that I don't eat my sweets! I am a huge chocolate lover and I need to have something chocolatey everyday or else I am miss crabby pants! So instead of going crazy, I like to take yummy recipes and veganism them. Guaranteed you won't even tell that the recipes I make are vegan!
 

Last night after eating 2 (yes 2!) bean and rice burritos I was not fully satisfied. Side note - my boyfriend, Jordan, thinks I'm absolutely crazy and that I eat like a teenage boy. I usually just roll my eyes at him or get in crazy mode and try explain to him that the foods I eat are at least healthy. I also just want to point out that I was a vegetarian since I was 4 so I don't even know what meat tastes like and just became vegan last spring. I am the only one in my family and out of my friends who is vegan so I am not one of those vegans who goes around hating and criticizing all the non-vegans out there! I just annoy Jordan :)

Now back to last night... Before I broke out my laptop to see what time Sprinkles closes so that I can run out to get a vegan cupcake, I checked the kitchen thoroughly. I found just enough ingredients to make this chocolatey deliciousness and I am pretty sure you probably have these ingredients as well. If not, they are easy to find!

To make this Chocolate Banana Nut Shake you will need...

• 1 cup of chocolate almond milk
• 1 tablespoon almond butter
• 1 fresh banana
• 1 frozen banana
• Handful of ice
• Optional - shredded coconut

I only had 1 frozen banana in my freezer and that is why this recipe calls for 1 frozen and 1 fresh. Frozen bananas blend very creamy and that is how you get that shake/malt texture. I bet if you used 2 frozen bananas then this would taste even better!

Blend all ingredients until smooth

Pour into a glass or mason jar for cuteness and sprinkle on top some coconut flakes!

How easy is that? I almost made another batch of it because Jordan drank half of mine! This is a boyfriend non-vegan approved treat that is full of healthy nutritional ingredients! I hope you enjoy it and please let me know what your favorite treats and desserts are. I would love to veganize it!! :)

Be sure to check Lindsay out via facebook, twitter, and instagram! 

pulled pork w/ homemade bbq sauce and coleslaw

This might be one of the longer dishes that I make, but it is definitely one of the best. Now I make it with pork, because that is what the recipe calls for, but I'm not really sure why it couldn't be adapted to chicken or beef. Talk to your butcher about it though, I know nothing when it comes to meats.Either way you could just make the sauce and dip life into it.


For the Pork:
1 1/2 tsp of ground coriander seed
1 1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp of pepper
2 1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 1/2 tsp dry mustard powder
3 tbsp of dark brown sugar
3.5 pds of boneless pork shoulder (sometimes called pork butt)
Hamburger or brioche buns, for serving






For the bbq sauce:
1 1/2 cups of ketchup
1/4 cup of packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp of molasses
2 garlic cloves, minced or grated
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
2 tsps of sweet or hot paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp of dry mustard powder
pinch of cayenne pepper
dash of hot sauce, more to taste

left mayo out of the picture- whoops!

For the coleslaw:
1 small head green cabbage, outer leaves removed, shredded (about 1.5 pds)
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1 large jalepeno, seeded if desire, thinly sliced (I left this out bc my peeps don't like hot things- jeez)
3/4 cup of mayonnaise
2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar.
2 tsp of EVOO
1 tsp of kosher salt
black pepper to taste






 whew- okay, let's get this party started. 

Preparation!
1. Mix all your spices for your pork in a bowl. Mix it real good. Now if your roast is tied up, untie it- we don't need no strings. Then you take that spice mix and you massage your roast generously- get the spice mix all over it, push it in and let it absorb the goodness. Let your roast then sit for at least an hour or two at room temperature, but for best results wrap it up and stick in the fridge overnight.

2. Now that 24 hours have passed you may take your meat out of the fridge. Pre-heat the over to 300 degrees. Place your pork in a baking pan and roast it for 3-4 hours, or until the meat is pull-apart tender and the internal temp reads 200 degrees on a meat thermometer. Be prepared for delicious scents all over your place- yes your mouth will water. Once the meat is done, let is cool for at least 30 minutes before pulling it apart and shredding it with your hands or two forks.

3. While your meat is cooling, let's get started on this yummy bbq sauce. Add all of the ingredients into a medium pot. Stir well. Simmer over medium-low heat for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has deepened in color. Season with more hot-sauce if you would like.

4. Once your meat has cooled and been pulled apart add about two-thirds of the sauce to the meat and toss to coat, adding more if you need it. Any extra sauce will keep in your fridge for about two weeks.

 5.  And last but not least make your coleslaw. Add the cabbage, onion and jalapeno to a large bow. In a small bowl, whisk together the mayo, vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper. Add dressing to the cabbage mixture and toss well.

6. Then slam all of these amazing concoctions together on a bun and prepare to go to food heaven. It's real I tell you.

Enjoy!!

Linking up with Kate and Emily for :

  And Mary for :

And don't forget to check out my survey! All the responses have been super helpful- can't wait to see some more!!