Aggie's Kitchen

I stumbled onto this wing recipe on A New York Foodie right before Super Bowl Sunday.  Wings were on the menu, but I hadn’t decided how I wanted to cook them yet.  I loved the flavorful list of ingredients that went into the marinade.  Don’t be intimidated by the length of the list…what’s great about marinades is you do most of the work ahead of time, then the marinade does rest of the work while you go on with your day.  I let the wings sit in the marinade in the fridge for about 8 hours.  They baked up nicely and we enjoyed them alongside some crunchy veggies for dinner.

Caribbean Chicken Wings
Recipe from Sunny Anderson, Food Network

1 habanero, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoon sugar
2 teaspoons fennel seed
2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
2 teaspoons allspice
2 teaspoons dried thyme
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup orange juice
7 pounds chicken wings

In a food processor, blend together all the ingredients but the chicken until smooth. Reserve 1 cup of marinade. Place chicken wings into a large resealable plastic bag and pour remaining marinade over them. Seal and marinate in the refrigerator 4 to 6 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 2 sheet trays with parchment. Remove chicken from bag and place on the baking sheets. Bake 20 minutes. Meanwhile, in a small saucepan bring reserved marinade to a boil. Reduce by 1/3 until it thickens slightly, about 10 minutes. After 20 minutes, remove chicken from oven. Brush chicken with the glaze. Raise the heat to 400 degrees F and cook chicken until cooked through, another 20 minutes.

Lately, I’ve been trying to have more “veggie” meals for dinner.  You will not miss the meat in this burrito.  The flavor is awesome…smoky sweetness from the roasted sweet potatoes and vegetables combined with a nice kick from the jalapenos.  The black beans bulk it up, the cilantro keeps it fresh…and the melted cheese puts it over the top.  It might seem like an odd combination, but trust me, it works.

To make things easier for myself at dinner time, I chopped and roasted the veggies earlier in the day.  I stored them and the black beans in the fridge until I was ready to roll up the burritos later on.  I chopped the veggies fairly small, a little less than 1″ in size…the smaller the cut of the vegetables the quicker they roast up.  And keeping them cut small and uniform helps while stuffing the tortilla wrap.

I can’t begin to tell you how healthy and yummy these guys were…I ate leftovers for lunch all week.

Roasted Veggie and Black Bean Baked Burritos
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed (small)
1 red pepper, cubed (small)
1 red onion cubed (small)
2 jalapenos, diced (if you want less heat sub another red pepper)
1tsp cumin
1tsp chili powder
salt and pepper
2 tsp olive oil

can black beans, rinsed
handful chopped cilantro
squeeze lime
shredded cheddar

Whole Wheat Tortillas or Wraps  (burrito size – I used Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Tortillas)
nonstick olive oil spray

In a bowl, toss veggies in olive oil and season with spices.  Place in large baking dish and roast in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, tossing around halfway in between.

Let cool.  Add to a bowl of rinsed black beans.  Add cilantro and squirt of lime juice.  Combine gently.  At this point, mixture can be stored for later use.  Warm wraps in microwave according to directions on package. Add two heaping tablespoons of vegetable and bean mixture to center of wrap.  Top with shredded cheese.  Fold over, fold in sides and continue to roll.  Place on baking dish, seam side down and spray with nonstick spray or olive oil spray.  Bake in 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Baking this way will make tortilla wrap crisp. For a softer burrito, spray burrito with nonstick spray, then wrap in aluminum foil and bake for same amount of time.

Makes about 6 burritos.

Tip: Premake your burritos and wrap in aluminum foil. Keep in refrigerator for 3-4 days for a quick lunch or dinner!

I debated posting this recipe, since it’s such a simple one…but it’s one of those recipes that is so good that I had to share “just in case” any of you have never tried roasted broccoli.  Since I did get a couple of emails asking how to roast broccoli, I decided that it was definitely a “blog-worthy” recipe.  So simple…so good.  If you are trying to make things a little more exciting in the veggie department, please try this one.

And I have to add that this recipe is definitely kid friendly…my kids gobble up their broccoli when I make it for them like this.

I would highly recommend using a course salt and fresh ground pepper with this recipe.  Enjoy!

Roasted Broccoli
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

(Printable Recipe)

1 head broccoli, cut in florets
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
sea salt or kosher salt
fresh ground pepper
1-2 garlic cloves, minced (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)

Toss broccoli florets with a little olive oil, salt and pepper (and some chopped garlic or red pepper flakes if you like). Roast in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until slightly crisped and browned.

I can’t believe it’s February already!  January whizzed by…and with the not so mild weather all of us have been having (some more than others!), the closer we get to spring the better, as far as I’m concerned.  I can’t wait to see some color in the grass and hit the beach again.  This Florida girl needs some sun.

Since it’s February, it’s time for another Virtual Cooking Club get together.  This month we cooked for the theme “Healthy Italian”…which is my kind of cooking.  Italian is really so easy to healthy up…you don’t need a lot of heavy cheese and bread to make a great and healthy Italian meal.  This Shrimp Arrabbiata is a perfect example of how simple Italian cooking can really be…and simple is good in my opinion.  Especially if you are trying to put something delicious and healthy on the table…quick.

(served with some Roasted Broccoli…my favorite side)

I followed the recipe to a T (how exactly do you spell T anyway?) for the most part…the only major thing I did differently is add an extra can of diced tomatoes.  I thought one can would not make it saucy enough for my liking.  I used one can of regular diced tomatoes and one can of Italian diced tomatoes for the additional seasoning.  I served it over whole wheat angel hair pasta.  I was a little disappointed in the amount of heat (spice) in the sauce, but that may have been my fault, I should have added more red pepper to compensate for the extra can of tomatoes, and also, I like things spicy.  My husband and nephew said they were good with the spice…but I could have used some more.  You’ll have to decide on that one.

Here is what the rest of the Virtual Supper Club girls brought to the table:

For a printable copy of Shrimp Arrabbiata or other Healthy Italian recipe visit CookingLight.com.

Join the club!  If you’d like to become an honorary member of the Virtual Supper Club, blog a recipe that fits the theme, leave a comment on the Test Kitchen Secrets – Cooking Light blog and leave a comment with a link to your post!

Apparently I’ve been on a salad kick lately…at least from looking at my last few posts.

This one was another spontaneous creation.  I was trying to throw together something quick to take to the park for lunch…a few moms and our kids were meeting up for an afternoon at the playground, and while the kids were eating their PB&Js, we ate this salad.

If you haven’t tried couscous yet, you must try it soon.  It is so unbelievably quick to cook up, so that in itself is a huge reason why.  Plus, if you are into whole grains, the whole wheat couscous is packed with protein and fiber…all good for you.  I combined the cooked couscous with a bag of pre-shredded coleslaw, some additional shredded carrots, sliced green onion and sliced toasted almonds…then tossed with a homemade tangy vinaigrette made easily with pantry ingredients.  The pictures shown are missing the almonds though…I forgot to add them until after the “photo shoot”!  I probably could have gone back and retaken the pics but then in all reality who knows when this recipe would have actually been posted…

Enjoy!

Asian Couscous Salad
Recipe from Aggie’s Kitchen

(Printable Recipe)

1 cup uncooked whole wheat couscous
1 1/4 cup water
3/4 of 16 oz bag of pre-shredded coleslaw mix
2 carrots, shredded
3-4 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup sliced and toasted almonds
1/3 cup crunchy chow mein noodles (optional)
1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil (or oil of your preference)
1 TB hoisin sauce
1 TB honey
1-2 cloves minced or pressed garlic
salt and pepper to taste

In small bowl, whisk together rice wine vinegar, oil, hoisin, honey, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Bring 1 1/4 cups water to boil. Add 1 cup uncooked whole wheat couscous. Take off heat and set aside for 5 minutes. Once couscous has absorbed water, fluff with a fork and let cool.

In large bowl combine shredded coleslaw mix, carrots, green onion and almonds (and crunchy noodles if adding). Add cooled couscous to mixture and gently combine. Add dressing to salad and toss. Taste for additional salt and pepper. Can be served immediately at room temperature or refrigerate for 1 hour before serving.