I loved cooking long before I really started actually cooking and that was when I got married. Before that I used to cook every once in a while but nothing serious. My mom hated to see me in the kitchen because I used to make a mess while I’m cooking or baking something. I used to cut recipes from magazines and glue them to a notebook that I still have. This is one of the recipes that I kept for a long time, the original recipe calls for beans in the rice pilaf I omitted that because I’m not into beans that much, but you can sure add beans to your recipe. It is really delicious and you can eat with some Middle Eastern or Greek Yogurt on the side.

Ingredients:

Serves 4-5

For the Chicken:

2 large skinless boneless chicken breast ( about 1.

½ tsp. salt

3 tbsp. finely diced onions

3 tbsp. ground paprika

½ tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. chili powder or more

3 tbsp. vegetable, canola or corn oil

For the Rice Pilaf:

1 tbsp.  Olive oil

½ medium onion diced

2 garlic cloves minced

1 green pepper diced finely

1 cup frozen corn kernels

1 ½ cups white long grain rice (use 1 cup of rice if you like the vegetables and spices to be more noticeable)

¼ tsp. chili or more

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

2 tbsp. lemon juice

3 cups water or chicken broth

1 tbsp. olive oil

½ tsp. salt

Directions:

To make Chicken:

Preheat oven to 400°.

Mix paprika, chili, onions, salt, black pepper, and oil.

Rub the mixture on the chicken breasts and put chicken on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

To make The Rice Pilaf:

In a pot, heat olive oil on a medium heat, sauté onions, garlic, corn, green pepper and spices for 3 minutes until fragrant.

Add rice, lemon juice and water or chicken broth. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to medium low and cook for about 20 minutes until all water is absorbed and rice is cooked and tender.

To serve slice chicken  breasts and lay over rice pilaf.

This dish is inspired from a dish we had at a local restaurant in Tuscaloosa,Alabama. They served it with sauteed green beans and crispy fried shallots. I served it with green salad since I’m not a fan of green beans.  I used chicken breasts,but you can choose a different cut of chicken

Ingredients:

Serves 3

For Chicken:

3 Chicken Breasts bones in

1 cup Greek Yogurt

Grated Zest of 1 lemon

½ tsp salt

½ tsp black pepper

¼ cup vegetable oil

For Shitake Mushroom Sauce:

7 oz. shitake mushroom diced

½ cup diced onions

2 tbsp. butter

1 tbsp. vegetable oil

3 tbsp. sherry

1 1/4 cup chicken broth divided

¾ cup heavy cream

¼ tsp. Salt

1/8 tsp. black pepper

1/8 tsp. Thyme

Directions:

Over medium high heat, add butter and oil to stainless steel pot.

Sauté onions for 2 minutes then reduce heat to medium and mushrooms.

Sauté mushrooms for 5 minutes, then add sherry. Wait few seconds until all sherry is almost done.

Add 1 cup chicken broth, bring to boil cover and reduce heat to medium and continue cooking for 5 minutes.

Turn heat off, add heavy cream and ¼ cup remaining chicken broth, put in blender and blend till smooth.

Keep sauce warm until ready to be served.

Whisk yogurt with black pepper, salt, lemon zest and oil. Rub chicken with marinade and let them marinade for at least 1 hour.

Shake excess marinade of chicken.

You can grill chicken directly on grill, but I like to put it in grill basket and press chicken.

Grill chicken over medium heat about 12-15 minutes on each side.

To serve put some mushroom sauce on the plate and place chicken over sauce.

I’m crazy about spices, I have a whole cabinet  full of spices. So when I saw this recipe I had to try it.  I used skinless chicken breasts, but chicken breast with skin on is really a good choice too. I served this on a a bed of grilled zucchini.  I sliced the zucchini lengthwise  brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and black pepper and grilled it on both sides until charred.

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon cayenne

1 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

salt

2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

4 (8-ounce) boneless chicken breasts

1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil

Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce (recipe follows)

Directions:

Heat Grill

Coat chicken with oil. Salt the Chicken.

Mix all other spices together. Rub about 1 Tbsp. of the spice mixture on each breast.

Grill Chicken breast about  5-6 minutes on each side until  browned and slightly charred.

Drizzle Black vinegar sauce on the grilled chicken.

Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce:

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Combine the vinegar, oil, mustard, honey, salt and pepper in a blender and blend until smooth. The sauce can be made 1 day in advance, covered and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before serving.

Adapted from:  Bobby Flay’s Grill It