Grilled Chicken Salad

I love the freshness of spring!! Veggies are in season, the farmer's market is full of people and the best of all... You can't wait to get home and make some fresh salad!!

Rice & Chicken (Oriz so Kokoska)

I've been loving this meal ever since I was past the baby food stage. No kidding! :-) There is a rice and chicken meal in almost every culture around the world, but since I grew up with the one that's common in Macedonia, it would have to be my favourite. My grandma makes it, my mum makes it, so that's why I make it now :-) And every time it brings back memories and puts me into my comfort zone :-)

Chicken Piccata

I love this recipe!! It's such a great way to use chicken breast. This is very similar to the Chicken franchise recipe but there are no eggs included.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 2 chicken breasts, thinly sliced
- 1tbs flour
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2tbs olive oil
- 1tbs butter
- 200g chicken broth
- 1/2 lemon
- 1tbs fresh marjoram or parsley

Process:

- Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Dredge in flour.
- Place the olive oil in a frying pan and set over medium heat.
- Place the chicken in the pan and fry for 3-4min on each side.
- Take the chicken out on a plate and set aside.
- Turn the heat to high, pour the chicken broth, butter and herbs in, squeeze the lemon, and bring to a boil.
- Turn the heat off, place the chicken back into the pan and let it warm up for about a minute.
- Serve with your favourite side dish and enjoy!

Perfect Crispy Baked Chicken

This is one of the best ways to cook your chicken thighs or drumsticks. They come out soooo crispy on the outside and juicy and delicious on the inside. The best part is: everything is baked, so no fatty frying and no oil is involved :)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 6 chicken thighs or drumsticks

- salt to taste

- 1/2tbs thyme (any other dried herbs would work)

Process:

- Preheat your oven to the highest setting it can go.

- Rub the salt and herbs all over the thighs and place them on a tray with a rack and foil below. This will help for the heat to circulate and make them crispy all over.

- Place the tray in the hot oven and bake for 5min.

- Then turn the temperature down to 180 C degrees and bake for another 35min.

- Serve with your favourite side dish and enjoy!

Creamy Chicken Pasta

This recipe came from having a bunch of leftovers in the fridge. I love putting them together and creating a tasty meal. The pasta was coated with the creamy tomato sauce and was a winner that night :)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 250g pasta of your choice
- 4 slices of chicken breast, diced
- 1/2 onion, diced
- 150g tomato sauce
- 180g double cream (heavy and whipping cream works, too)
- 1tbs olive oil
- salt and pepper to taste

Process:

- Cook the pasta according to the package instructions. Drain and set aside.
- In a skillet, heat the olive oil to a medium heat and saute the chicken and onion until golden brown.
- Add the tomato sauce, give it a stir and let it reduce for about 5-6min. Add the cream and let cook for about a minute. Check for seasoning and adjust to taste.
- Turn the heat off, add the cooked pasta and enjoy!

Honey soy baked chicken

As a big soy sauce lover, I had to share this recipe. It comes out great every time and goes with pretty much any side dish. Sooo, take it away :)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 4 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs
- 3tbs soy sauce
- 1tbs honey
- 1/4tsp ginger
- 1/4tsp garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste

Process:

- Mix all the ingredients in a bowl, place the chicken in and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.
- Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
- Place the chicken skin side up and bake for 25min.
- Turn the chicken skin side down and bake for 15min.
- Turn the chicken skin side up again and bake for additional 5min or until the chicken is crispy and dark (from the soy sauce).
- Serve with salad, rice or potatoes and enjoy!

Chicken and rice casserole

I've loved this dish ever since I was a kid. It is a great one pot dinner, we love easy clean up :)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken drumsticks or thighs
- 200g uncooked rice
- 400g water
- 2 chicken stock cubes
- salt and pepper to taste

Process:

- Preheat your oven to 220 degrees Celsius.
- Wash and dry the chicken. Season it with salt and pepper to taste.
- Dissolve the chicken stock in water. If you have leftover gravy you could use that instead.
- In a casserole dish place the rice, chicken and chicken stock mixture.
- Cover with a lid or aluminium foil and bake for 45min to an hour.
- Uncover for the last 10min so the chicken crisps up.
- Serve with salad and enjoy!

Chicken Francese / Francaise

This is a great recipe when using chicken breast because we all know that breast meat can be quite dry and boring :)

The egg batter makes the meat sooo juicy and enjoyable. I definitely think it's a go-to recipe every time you have some chicken breast in the fridge and don't know what to do with it :)

Serves 2

Ingredients:

- 4 chicken breast fillets, thinly sliced
- 2 tbs flour
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 tbs butter
- 1 egg
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 100ml water
- 50ml white wine (optional, you could add water instead)
- 3 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tbs fresh marjoram (any fresh herb would work)
- salt and pepper to taste

Process:

- In a skillet, put olive oil and set the heat to medium high.
- Put the fillets, flour and whisked egg on three different plates and season well with salt and pepper.
- Dredge the fillets in flour, dip them in egg and place them in the hot skillet.
- Fry each side for 3-4 minutes, depending on the fillet thickness.
- When finished, take the fillets out and put them on a plate.
- Turn the heat to high and put the water, wine, lemon juice, stock cube, any leftover flour from the dredging, fresh herbs and butter.
- Wait for a minute so the sauce thickens and place the fillets back in the skillet for a few minutes to absorb the sauce.
- Serve with potatoes, rice or salad and enjoy!