Oven Baked Quesadillas

½ thinly sliced sweet onion
½ thinly sliced yellow pepper
1 ½ to 2 cups shredded cheese
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
½ cup salsa
1-2 tablespoons taco seasoning
5-6 small, extra soft flour tortillas
2 T butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven the 425 degrees.
2. In a skillet with a bit of olive oil, sauté the onion and pepper until soft and lightly browned. Add 1-2 tablespoons of the taco seasoning to the vegetables while sauteing. Move the vegetables to a medium size mixing bowl.
3. Add to the vegetables in the mixing bowl, the shredded cheese, chicken, and salsa. Add more salsa if needed to hold the mixture together.
4. Lay the flour tortillas on a prepared baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Divide the cheese and chicken mixture between the tortillas keeping the mixture in the center.
5. Fold the quesadillas over and press the edges together. If you use soft flour tortillas, the edges stick together easily.
6. Brush with melted butter.
7. Bake 6-8 minutes. Flip the quesadillas over and butter the other side. Bake an additional 3-4 minutes until brown and the cheese is visibly melted.
8. Serve hot with salsa and sour cream.

Slow Cooker Mediterranean Chicken

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper to taste
½ cup chicken broth or ½ chicken bouillon cube dissolved in boiling water
3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
1 tsp lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ medium sweet onion, chopped
1 cup pitted kalamata olives
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
2 tablespoons capers

1. Line the slow cooker with a cooking bag for easy cleanup.
2. Salt and pepper the chicken thighs to taste. Place in the slow cooker.
3. Combine the chicken broth with the Italian seasoning, lemon juice and garlic. Set aside.
4. On top of the chicken, place the onion, olives, tomatoes and capers.
5. Pour the chicken broth mixture over the chicken lifting the chicken to evenly distribute.
6. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours.
7. After placing the chicken on a serving dish, pour the remaining juices from the slow cooker in a small pitcher. Serve with pasta or baked potatoes.

Red Lentil Soup

Healthy, easy, and delicious. Lentils are soft and cook quickly so this soup can be made at the last minute. The red lentils make for a very pretty soup.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 ½ cups dried red lentils
5 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoons lemon juice, or to taste
Fresh chopped cilantro or parsley, for serving

 Instructions

On the stovetop, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes.

Add the garlic and cumin and sauté for another minute, until the garlic becomes very fragrant.

Stir in the lentils, broth, and tomatoes.

Bring the liquid to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, and allow to continue simmering, uncovered, until lentils are soft, about 20 minutes. Thin the soup with some water if it becomes too thick while simmering.

Stir in the lemon juice. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste.

Ladle into bowls and top with parsley and/or cilantro.

Sweet and Easy Pulled Chicken

This slow-cooker pulled chicken caught my attention with a unique ingredient – Italian dressing. The flavor combination of the all the ingredients is outstanding.

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 ¼ cup Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce
½ cup Italian dressing – I used freshly made Good Seasons Italian
2 T Worcestershire sauce – I used Lea and Perrins
½ cup light brown sugar
1 T garlic powder
1 T onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients. Pour mixture over and under the chicken breasts placed in the slow cooker. For easy clean up, use slow cooker liners.

Cook on high for 2.5 to 3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours. The chicken will shred easily. Serve as a sandwich in a hamburger bun or spoon it over a baked potato.

Greek Yogurt Lemon Baked Chicken

How do you know when a dinner main dish is a success? When you take it to a covered dish dinner and several people ask for the recipe! My friend Nan found the recipe on www.krollskorner.com.

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts – if too large, cut in serving size pieces
1 tsp each salt and pepper
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup FAGE Plain Greek Yogurt
2 T lemon juice
2 T olive oil
¾ tsp thyme leaves – dried
½ tsp onion powder
3 T Panko breadcrumbs mixed with ½ tsp thyme leaves
Lemon sliced very thin – one slice for each chicken piece

1. In a large bowl, season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. In another bowl, mix yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, thyme and onion powder.
3. Add the yogurt mixture to the bowl with the chicken. Coat the chicken thoroughly with the yogurt mixture. Cover the bowl. Refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place the coated chicken pieces in a greased or non-stick foil lined baking dish. Discard the yogurt mixture left in the bowl.
5. Place a lemon slice on top of each chicken piece. Sprinkle with panko and thyme mixture.
6. Bake the chicken for about 40 minutes. Check that internal temperature reaches 165 degrees.