Mixing Bowl

I bought a new magazine the other day on our way home from Maine called Mixing Bowl from Better Homes and Gardens. It's the magazine for the web site mixingbowl.com. Who knew about this site already? I didn't but it's a pretty cool premise. You can use the site and join groups based on your food preferences so you can share and swap recipes that fit your needs. Pretty cool, huh!? I think I might just browse through the Guiltless Desserts, Live Healthy America, Nutrition Unplugged, Calling All Canners!, and Fast & Fab Chicken Recipes groups.

We tried one recipe from the magazine/site last night for dinner and it turned out great. Here it is for you:

Caribbean Fajitas

Servings: 4 servings

Ingredients:

8 6-inch flour tortillas
4 1-inch slices peeled fresh pineapple (about half of a medium pineapple)
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
2 small red or orange sweet peppers, seeded and cut in strips
2 teaspoons Jamaican jerk seasoning*
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
fresh cilantro and lime wedges

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Wrap tortillas in foil and heat in oven. Meanwhile, coat a 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high. Add pineapple slices; cook 4 to 6 minutes or until browned, turning once. Remove from skillet.

Cut chicken in strips; toss with sweet peppers, jerk seasoning, and pepper. Heat oil in skillet; add chicken and peppers. Cook and stir over medium-high heat 4 to 6 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink. Core and chop pineapple. Serve with chicken, tortillas, cilantro and lime.

*We used McCormick Caribbean seasoning from the regular spice aisle. It wasn't nearly as spicy as real jerk seasoning (like the real stuff that Jan brought back from her cruise that could have burned the taste buds right off of your tongue, yeah this isn't as spicy) but it does have some kick so use according to your children's tolerance. You could sprinkle extra on your individual fajitas if you want more than they can handle.

Chicken with Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

This recipe is also from Real Simple, February 2009
(You can tell which magazine I was using for our grocery list)

Yield: Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

* 2 sweet potatoes (about 1 pound), peeled and cut into thin wedges
* 1 red onion, thinly sliced
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* Kosher salt and black pepper
* 4 6-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breasts
* 1 bunch spinach, thick stems removed (about 4 cups)
* 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Preparation

Heat oven to 425° F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the potatoes, onion, 2 tablespoons of the oil, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Roast until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook until browned and cooked through, 5 to 6 minutes per side.

In a large bowl, toss the warm potato mixture with the spinach, lime juice, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Serve with the chicken.

Substitutions: Tossing warm roasted vegetables with fresh spinach gently wilts and tenderizes the greens. In place of sweet potatoes, try butternut squash, rutabaga, carrots, or parsnips.

We really liked this recipe - the lime juice in the sweet potato salad was delicious. Eliza ate all of this meal including the onions!