Pulled Chicken Sandwiches

Is there anyone who doesn’t love good barbecue? I know I do. There's something about a finger lickin' good rack of ribs or perfectly spiced pulled pork. But I struggle with wanting it to be healthy as well. Here's a pulled chicken recipe that is both delicious and healthy.

I know that original pulled meat sandwiches include Coleslaw. I will post separately about the coleslaw that I tried, along with a couple of recipes for you to try with your pulled chicken.

Ingredients:

3 Small or 2 Large Whole Chickens

1 (15 oz) can Tomato Sauce

1 (18 oz) bottle Hickory Smoked BBQ Sauce

1 (18 oz) Bottle Bills Johnson's Hot & Spice  Sauce

1 Sweet Red or Yellow Bell Pepper

1 Green Bell Pepper

1 Tbsp Garlic

1 Tbsp Paprika

1 Tbsp Celery Salt

1 tsp Cumin

2 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes

1/4 Cup Honey or Agave

Technique:

Boil chickens until tender. (Boiling chickens are never pretty, are they?)

Cool and remove meat from bones, discarding skin and fat. (Just boiled chickens are not pretty either!!) On this day I boiled 3 large chickens and used 2 for pulled chicken and 1 for a pot of chicken soup.

"Pull" chicken with two forks or your fingers.

While the chicken is cooling enough to handle it, put the sauce together.

Turn  the crock pot on high.

Mix all sauce ingredients together in crock pot.

Add pulled chicken to sauce.

Cook on high 2-3 hours or turn the crock pot to low and let simmer 4-6 hours.

(Simma down now, simma down! Sorry, I digress...) 

Serve with buns...

Add coleslaw if you like...

And accidentally figure out that the pulled chicken is fabulous on spicy nacho chips!! 

Okay, I think this was my favorite way to eat it. On the bun was great. But I'm a fan of spicy and the chips added a little spice and a little crunch...perfect! This recipe as I've written it has really great flavor, but is not spicy. You could add a little heat by increasing the crushed red pepper flakes. 

Printable Recipe

What favorite food would you like to find a healthier version of?

To leave a comment Click Here.

Juicy Gossip: Gazpacho

Sometimes I want sweet juice and sometimes I want savory juice. This Gazpacho Juice is one of my favorites because it actually tastes like Gazpacho Soup. It is definitely savory. I leave the seed in the jalapeno when I juice it. If you know that you have a HOT jalapeno you may want to remove the seeds before juicing it.

So here it is, quick and easy today, a great recipe. (And I'm quite excited to have figured out how to provide a link for a printable version down below!)

This juice has a great variety of veggies...

Here's a tip for cutting the lime....

Love when the jalapeno's come from the garden...

And here is the finished product...

Gazpacho Juice

2 Lg Tomatoes (or 4 small)

1 Lg Cucumber

1 Lime or Lemon

1 Jalapeno

1 Red Bell Pepper

Chunk of Purple Onion (about 1/4 of a small onion)

1 Small Bunch Cilantro

2 Stalks Celery

Tip: Feed the soft and wet things through your juicer first. They will mush and leave a lot of juice in the chamber. The crunchy veggies will come in behind them and pull all the juice through.

Printable Recipe

Homemade Pasta Sauce

Last week we talked about how to roast tomatoes and garlic. "What do I do with 16 roasted tomatoes?", you might ask yourself. Roasted tomatoes and garlic are the secret ingredients to my fabulous (yes, it really is!) Homemade Pasta Sauce (Try it, you won't want sauce out of a jar ever again). I will roast 15-16 tomatoes on a baking sheet and then use them all to make a huge pot of pasta sauce. It freezes well in any size container. At the beginning of the week I will move a container from the freezer to the fridge where it is ready to heat up to put over pasta or spaghetti squash for dinner any night of the week. 

I don't have a written recipe for my pasta sauce, so I'll just tell you how I do it and try to give you amounts. Like I said, I typically make a huge pot with 15-16 roasted tomatoes, so keep that in mind if you are making a smaller batch with only a few tomatoes.

Ingredients:
Olive Oil

1 Med-Large Onion (white or yellow), chopped

Garlic - 1 Whole Head, roasted (click here for technique)

15-16 Roasted Tomatoes (click here for technique)

1 Large Green Pepper (or red or orange), chopped

1 -2 Carrots, chopped

1-2 Stalks Celery, chopped

Handful Basil Leaves, chopped
1 Tbsp Oregano

Sea Salt, to taste

Black Pepper, to taste

Red Pepper Flakes

NOTE: Regarding the peppers, carrots & celery...if I have them, I use them. If I only have one of them, I use it. This recipe is not dependent on having all three. They add great nutrition and robustness to the sauce, but are not necessary for a great sauce. Also, everything can be chopped very roughly because it will be blended in the end.

ANOTHER NOTE: Because this sauce is homemade from fresh ingredients, it turns out more orange than red. We are so used to the red sauce we get from a jar or can (coloring added) that it may seem strange at first to see the light red or orange color of fresh homemade sauce. The flavor is so wonderful that you will soon forget that the color is different.

Technique:

Pour a couple tablespoons of olive oil into a large pan or pot and turn on medium high heat. Add chopped onion, pepper, carrots and celery. Saute for a few minutes until onions are clear. Add tomatoes (just pick them up whole off the tray and put them in the pot) and garlic (the whole roasted head, that you squeezed out). Add a couple of pinches each of sea salt and black pepper and 1 tsp of red pepper flakes. (add more as it cooks if you like a bigger kick).


With your wooden spoon, break up the tomatoes; they are soft and roasted and will smash easily. Add a handful of roughly chopped basil, (if using dried basil add about 1 Tbsp) and 1 Tbsp of oregano. Break everything up and mix together. Turn stove on low and simmer 15-30 minutes.


If I have time, I let it simmer longer...just makes for better flavor. When done simmering, turn off the stove and let it sit there. The flavors will continue to meld and intensify as the heat dissipates.


When it has cooled down, scoop it up into the blender. I don't really worry about exactly how much of everything gets into each batch I blend because I pour it into a giant bowl after blending. Continue to mix one blender full at a time until the pot is empty and the sauce is now completely blended and poured into the giant bowl. Then I can mix it up with my wooden spoon, making sure that the seasoning is fully mixed in. Once it's mixed up, I scoop it into containers for the freezer.


This pic is one that was in my freezer. My hard drive crashed and I lost a lot of pictures (Yeah, I know, I should have had them backed up!) so I am now short of pics for posts that I had planned. If I wait until I make another batch of homemade pasta sauce in order to get pictures of the pot, blender and bowl of sauce, it might be a while til you get this recipe. I promised the recipe, so will make do with the pics I have.


I absolutely love this pasta sauce and I'm confident you will too. Doug and I like it a little spicy, so I add more red pepper flakes. It is so good over spaghetti squash or angel hair pasta. Sprinkle some fresh parmesan or parmigiano reggiano on top for true Italian flavored homemade pasta sauce. Mangia!


What is your favorite thing to do with pasta sauce?

Healthy Habits: Roasted Garlic & Tomatoes

If you haven't tried a tomato plant in your container garden because you don't know what to do with that many tomatoes, here ya go. If you have an opportunity to purchase a case inexpensively from a local Farmers Market or they go on sale at the grocery store...stock up! Roasting them is easy, and fresh roasted tomatoes add incredible flavor to everything. A case of tomatoes does not last very long if you take a few to make fun, personal caprese salad, a few for homemade stewed tomatoes, a sheet of roasted tomato halves with basil and mozzarella cheese, and a sheet of roasted tomatoes for homemade pasta sauce. Oh yeah, don't forget to hold out a few for a couple different homemade salsas.


How to roast tomatoes...

What you need:

Tomatoes

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Technique:

Core the tomatoes with a paring knife

Set them on baking tray (it's ok if they're touching)

If any is so lopsided that it won't sit straight, cut a very thin slice off the bottom (I rarely have to do this)

Drizzle olive oil over the tomatoes (it's ok if it collects in the holes)

Sprinkle with salt and pepper

Place in 400 degree (F) oven for 30-45 min. (depending on size of tomatoes and intensity of your oven)

Tomatoes will be very soft, slightly wilted and slightly browned on top when done.

Now, you're ready to cook with roasted tomatoes. Check back for homemade pasta sauce with your roasted tomatoes.

Many savory recipes start with garlic and onions. Using roasted garlic adds the kick of flavor that you can't put your finger on. It is the difference in taste of a typical homemade recipe and the same thing from a gourmet restaurant. And if you like garlic bread, you will flip when you have it homemade with your own roasted garlic.

Roasted Garlic...
What you need:
Whole Garlic Heads
Oilve Oil
Aluminum Foil


Technique:
With a sharp knife, cut the top off each head of garlic, leaving it sitting on the root end.
Set the garlic on a piece of foil. (I usually roast 4-6 at a time)
Drizzle a little olive oil over the garlic.

Wrap foil up around garlic, pinching tightly at the top.
Put it in a 400* (F) oven for 30-45 minutes. (You can set it on the tray with tomatoes if you are doing them at the same time. 

This is what it looks like after roasting it...soft and smelling like garlic heaven!

Pick up a whole head. Grab it at the base and gently (but firmly) squeeze the cloves out.

Keep squeezing until you get all the garlic out. Oh, it smells so good!!

It is now ready to use.
For Homemade Garlic Bread, just mush this up with a fork and then spread with a knife on your french bread (over the butter you have spread on the bread first).
For cooking, just add it to your recipe just like you would raw garlic.
I typically roast 4-6 heads at a time, depending on what I plan to cook over the next week. If I use one head that day, I wrap the rest of them back into the foil and just keep it in the fridge to use each day.


What recipe have you tried that you just can't seem to get to taste the same as it does at the restaurant?

Healthy Habits: Homemade Stewed Tomatoes

Now, why would you stew tomatoes yourself when you can buy them quite inexpensively at any supermarket? One taste, and you'll see that there is just nothing like homemade. If you've got a big tomato harvest or picked up a basket at the farmers market or your local food co-op, you'll love this recipe.

I'll just apologize right now for not having a picture. I'm still trying to get in the habit of remembering to take pictures of everything I make (seems to be a difficult habit for me to form, but I'm trying). I had these stewed tomatoes cooked and stored away in the fridge before I even realized I had not taken a single picture. Instead, you get pictures of hearts and tomatoes (that I found on google images), because I like hearts and I like tomatoes. I console myself with knowing that if you like stewed tomatoes you already know what they look like.

These stewed tomatoes are made in a pressure cooker. Remember your mom's pressure cooker...an unstable pot that looked, and sounded, like it could blow at any second?! That was my memory and impression of a pressure cooker until a couple of years ago. I came across a bunch of recipes for a pressure cooker that all sounded really good. I wondered why anyone in this day and age would use one of those horrible pots. I remember watching the little steam valve jiggle around, looking like it was going to jump off the top of the pot, while the steam was spraying into the air, looking and sounding like a small steam engine. As a kid, it was kind of a scary contraption.

So I began to research pressure cookers. I was completely surprised to find out how much they have evolved in the last two decades. The latest generation of pressure cookers operate with a spring loaded valve (often hidden from view), do not release any steam vapor when in use, and often have two or more settings. With the use of current technology, pressure cookers have become lighter, quieter, safer and much easier to use. (There's even an electric pressure cooker available).

So...I bought one. Let me just say...Chicken Cacciatore in 20 minutes, (INCLUDING prep time) that tastes amazing, is AWESOME!! Now I'll have to make Chicken Cacciatore so I can take a picture and post that recipe. It alone made it worth the purchase.

But back to tomatoes. I am a HUGE fan of stewed tomatoes. I love heating up a can and eating it like a bowl of soup. I guess it kind of is soup, isn't it? But homemade anything always tastes so much better and doesn't have preservatives (or anything else my body doesn't need) in it. Especially when it only takes 5 minutes prep time and 5 minutes cook time.

So here's the fabulous Stewed Tomato Recipe...

What you need:

3 Cups Quartered Fresh Tomatoes

3/4 Cup Finely Chopped Celery

1/4 Cup Finely Chopped Onion

1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Parsley or 1 tsp Dried Parsley Flakes

1/4 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp Black Pepper

Technique:

Spray a pressure cooker container with cooking spray. (Butter flavored cooking spray is good here). In prepared container, combine tomatoes, celery, and onion. Add parsley, salt and pepper. Mix well to combine. Place cover on cover and bring to LOW pressure over medium heat. Lower heat to stabilize pressure and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat, wait for pressure to be released, remove cover, and stir.

Makes 4 (3/4 cup) servings.

32 calories per serving.

What kitchen tool do you own that has evolved a great deal since the time you first saw your mom use one?

Healthy Habits: Roasted Tomato Halves w/Basil & Mozzarella

I grew up on a buffalo ranch. Most of my uncles were farmers. While they grew a variety of crops, I always looked forward to the bushels of fresh, ripe, sweet tomatoes from Uncle Willis. As a kid, I would pick a perfect tomato from the basket and sit down outside and eat it like an apple. So sweet, so good!

I live in Phoenix now. Most of my "city friends" have never tasted tomatoes fresh from the vine, picked when ripe. The tomatoes we purchase in the stores are picked green so they can ripen in transit and not be rotten by the time they have been delivered, stocked, and let to sit for several days or a week, before they are purchased. Even then, they are quite often still green and hard when we purchase them. They are typically quite bland; not a lot of flavor.

The difference in the flavor of a tomato picked green (and set on the counter to ripen) and a tomato that ripens on the vine and is picked when red and juicy and ready to eat is, well, like two different fruits! (Yes, the tomato is a fruit.) Night and day. It's like taking a drink from a nice, cool glass of lemonade and finding it tastes like water. That's the reason you will find at least two tomato plants in our garden at any given time. 

Last week I got a case of tomatoes from Bountiful Baskets Produce Co-op. They were beautiful, large, ripe tomatoes. I get asked what in the world I'm gonna do with a case of tomatoes. (When I picked them up and saw the size of the case I wished I had ordered two).

Today I am sharing Roasted Tomato Halves with Basil & Mozzarella (otherwise known as Warm Caprese Salad). You might also like this recipe for Cold Caprese Salad. Both of these are a play on the traditional Caprese; a new twist on an old favorite is always well received. Check back early next week for Homemade Pasta Sauce with fresh roasted tomatoes as well as Homemade Stewed Tomatoes and Fresh Homemade Tomato Soup.

What you need:                                                    

Tomatoes - large round ones work best

Salt & Pepper

Fresh Basil Leaves

Mozzarella Cheese (slices or shredded

Technique:

With a paring knife, cut the core out of the top of the tomatoes.

Cut a very thin slice off the bottom, just enough that it sits flat.

Turn each tomato on it's side and cut in half.

Lay the two halves out with the cut side up on baking sheet.

Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper.

Put in a 400* (F) oven for approximately 20 minutes. (keep an eye on them, they may need a few minutes more or less depending on their size.

When tomatoes are warm, soft and bubbly, remove from oven.

Place fresh basil leaves on top of tomatoes, tearing them if needed to fit.

Lay a slice of mozzarella cheese on top of basil (or a small stack of shredded cheese).

Put the tomatoes back in the oven and turn it up to broil.

It will only take a couple of minutes for the cheese to get melty (is that a word?), bubbly and brown.

I bake a whole tray at one time and put some in the fridge for lunches.

Here's a picture of some I did with Feta cheese, just for fun. They tasted great, however, Feta does have a distinctly tangy flavor. When serving them to others, I am always safe using mozzarella.

This makes a great salad course when you are serving a multi-course meal. It also makes a great veggie dish along side roasted chicken or a steak.

If you like tomatoes as much as I do, or if you want to like tomatoes but just haven't really known what to do with them, check back for more tomato ideas.

Question: Have you had the opportunity to eat tomatoes fresh from the vine? Do you have a farmers market near you where you might purchase a tomato to taste the difference?

FUN Caprese Salad!

Okay, I've had enough of Christmas treats...I need something healthy!!
While I love to cook, I do have one criteria...it must be simple! I get impatient if a recipe is too lengthy or confusing.


Caprese Salad is always good, but this is a fun way to jazz it up a little. Anyone can make a fabulous Caprese Salad whether they consider themselves a great cook or not!


A fanned Tomato, Fresh Mozzarella, Fresh Basil, Olive Oil and S & P. So easy, so good! I originally saw this idea on The Party Dress. I'll include variations that we like as well.

What you need:

Tomatoes (one for each person)

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

Fresh Basil Leaves

Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar

S & P

How to do it:

Set the Tomato on it's side and cut slices about 1/4 inch apart, being careful not to cut all the way through. You can use any type of Tomato and any size. Just to prove it, I used Roma Tomatoes here.

Cut thin slices of Fresh Mozzarella Cheese. Put a fresh Basil leaf and a slice of Mozzarella together and slide into the cuts. When using smaller tomatoes like Roma, I use smaller Basil leaves or break large ones in half. It is easiest to slide them in together.

Sprinkle on a little Sea Salt and top with a couple grinds of Fresh Black Pepper.

These can be prepared ahead of time. When serving, drizzle a little Olive Oil & Balsamic over them.

Variations: My family loved them with a little Olive Garden Salad Dressing Knock Off drizzled, instead of Olive Oil.

Warm Variation: We also enjoyed them warm (and a little melty). Stuff the cut tomato with cheese ONLY, and put in a 350* oven for about 10 minutes. Watch it closely and take out as the tomato gets warm and the cheese is melty (not sure that's a word, but it works for me). After removing from oven, stick the Fresh Basil Leaves in with the melty cheese. Drizzle a little Olive Oil & Balsamic or Olive Garden Dressing over it and serve.

NOTE: If you put the Fresh Basil in the oven it will get black and wilty and does not look (or taste) very good). Adding it after melting retains the Fresh Basil flavor.


Here's another variation of Warm Caprese Salad.

Super fast, super easy salad to serve with any meal. Enjoy!