Cowboy Beef and Been Skillet

I found this recipe in Kraft's Food & Family magazine and I thought it sounded really good, but my wife wasn't to hip on trying it so I fixed it ahead of time and split it up for lunches. It's a very hardy dish and I think it would be great to spice it up like a chili this fall. The only thing that makes me shy away from making this recipe again is that 1 cup is 450 calories, and that's pretty well all the calories you need in one meal. But it will fill you up and keep you full, so that helps.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb. beef sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
2 slices Oscar Mayer bacon, chopped (I used Turkey Bacon so it may cut down on a few calories)
1 onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 can (16 oz) pinto beans, rinsed
3/4 cup Kraft original BBQ sauce

Directions
Cook steak strips in deep large nonstick skillet or dutch oven on medium-high heat 3 min. or just until no longer pink in centers. Remove to plate
Add bacon to skillet; cook on medium heat 1 min. Add onions and peppers; mix well. Cook 6 min. or until bacon is done and vegetables are crisp-tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in beans and barbecue sauce; simmer on medium-low heat 5 min.
Return steak and any juices from plate to skillet; cook 1 to 2 min. or until steak strips are done, stirring occasionally.

"The Works" Baked Potato Salad

Well here it is, the potato salad I tweeted about a few weeks ago. I first tasted this dish when I was doing chicken thighs for the guys at work, and I really liked it. It's not the traditional creamy mustard potato salad and was a great change up to the normal potato salad. In fact there were several guys on duty that night that really don't like traditional potato salad and the loved this. So I decided to make it home for the family and they really enjoyed it, our little girl ate some of it but wasn't crazy about it because she's not into baked potatoes. I mean what 2 year old is?

Recipe form The Pampered Chef website
Ingredients:
6 medium baking potatoes (about 2 pounds)
3/4 cup sour cream
3/4 cup mayonnaise
8 slices bacon, crisply cooked, drained and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
Thinly sliced green onions with tops (optional)
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Scrub potatoes thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. Spray potatoes with vegetable oil using kitchen spritzer. Prick potatoes with Hold'N Slice. Bake 50-60 minutes or until tender.
2. Meanwhile, combine sour cream and mayonnaise in small colander Bowl. Chop bacon, red onion and celery using Food Chopper; add to sour cream mixture. Stir in salt and black pepper; cove with small lid. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
3. Remove potatoes from oven; cool completely. If you don't like the skins simply scrape them off with a fork. Coarsely cop potatoes into 1/2 inch pieces. Place in large Colander Bowl; fold in sour cream mixture. Cover with large Lid. Refrigerate 4-6 hours or overnight. Garnish with sliced green onions and cheddar cheese, if desired.
Yields 12 servings.

Pan Seared Airline Breast

I'm always on the look out for a new recipe involving chicken, esspecially if I think I can substitute in boneless skinless chicken breast. I found this recipe on an episode of Guy's Big Bite and knew I wanted to try it. It's loaded with flavor and the chicken came out juicy and tender with plenty of spice coming from the black pepper, so be prepared to scale it back if your not a big fan of the pepper.

Ingredients
4 full chicken breasts, (ribs removed and wing intact)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup julienned yellow onion
1 cup trimmed julienned leeks
2 tablespoons roughly chopped garlic
1 cup jarred pitted Spanish olives, plus 1 tablespoon olive juice
1/2 cup white wine
Pinch freshly chopped thyme leaves
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Rinse and pat dry the chicken. Preheat a heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. combine paprika, granulated garlic, salt and pepper, in a small bowl. Rub seasoning mix all over the chicken. When skillet is hot, add oil and sear chicken, skin side first, turn over and sear other side. Remove to a sheet ray and put into the preheated oven to cook through, about 15 minutes.

To the pan you used to sear the chicken, add in to the onions and leeks. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes or until lightly caramelized. Add garlic and olives and olive juice. Saute for 2 minutes more, then deglaze the pan with white wine. Reduce wine by half. Finish sauce by stirring in thyme and butter. Adjust seasoning, if necessary, and keep warm.

When chicken is done. remove from oven, place on serving platter, and pour any juices into vegetable mixture. Pour over chicken and serve immediately.

Fajita's

This has to be one of my favorite dishes to do on the grill. Their quick, easy, and really simple making it a great dish when time is short. I start with boneless skinless chicken breast, you can replace or pair it with steak if you like, and season it with some Fajita seasoning that you can buy at any grocery store. I use the seasoning like a rub and sprinkle it all over the meat. Next I cut up bell peppers by removing the core with the seeds and slicing it into four large strips. I don't know if there is any rule of thumb on the color of bell peppers you use, but I use what ever is on sale at the time making this a very colorful dish.  I then slice up in onion, like you would for onion rings but leaving the slices together. Once all the vegetables are sliced your ready for the grill, you will be grilling these direct over a hot fire. I like to put the vegetables on first because they always seem to cook a little slower then the chicken and you can always move the vegetables to the warming rack on your grill or to a warm spot if you have one. With the veggies on the grill you can put the chicken on the grill and cook through.  While your those are cooking you can gather up your tortillas and have them ready to warm up on the grill, or if you have enough grill space you can warm them up a few minutes before you think the rest of the stuff is ready to come off the grill. When grilling any type of bread, especially thin breads, you have to keep a close eye on them because they will burn very quickly, remember were just warming these up. With the chicken, peppers, and onion finished cooking it's time to slice them up. I like to slice them into thin manageable strips and serve them with sour cream, salsa, lettuce, tomato, and shredded cheese. So there you have it, a quick and healthy week night dinner.