Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

My camera's batteries have died again and we're in the works of buying some rechargeable ones so bear with me the next little while. I've been using my cell phone for the last couple of posts but when I went to mail the picture to the computer it decided not to work.
This was a really good meal and I did a couple of things to make it a little easier for me. I painted my office with my mom yesterday so I needed to have a simple meal. I'll include what I did for the instructions because to me, it is much easier. It wasn't your usual taco flavor so it was a nice change!

LIME CHICKEN SOFT TACOS
1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast meat, shredded
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 green onions, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
10 (6 inch) flour tortillas
1 tomato, diced
1/4 cup shredded lettuce
1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 cup salsa
1/4 cup sour cream

1. Put chicken in crockpot (I put them in frozen). Season with salt and pepper. Add water, chicken broth, or white wine to keep the chicken from burning. Cook for 5-6 hours on low.
2. Saute chicken in a medium saucepan over medium high heat for about 5 minutes. Add vinegar, lime juice, sugar, salt, pepper, green onion, garlic and oregano. Simmer for an extra 10 minutes.
3. Heat an iron skillet over medium heat. Place a tortilla in the pan, warm, and turn over to heat the other side. Repeat with remaining tortillas. Serve lime chicken mixture in warm tortillas topped with tomato, lettuce, cheese, salsa, and sour cream.

I served this with a recipe for Cafe Rio's Cilantro Lime rice. The two flavors combined so well!

CILANTRO-LIME RICE
1 c. uncooked rice (long-grain, white rice)
1 tsp. butter or margarine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 can (15 oz) chicken broth
1 cup water
1 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 tsp. sugar
3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro

In rice cooker combine rice, butter, garlic, 1 tsp. lime, chicken broth and water. Let the rice cooker do it's thing. :-D Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice and mix in as you fluff the rice.

Also! I received my second award the other day from Nett's Nook! Thank you SOOO much!!!

Along with the award came this little quote:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated."

It also says : "Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

I'd like to give this to:
Lauren at Mixing Bowls and Spatulas
Donna at My Tasty Treasures
Teresa at A Blog About Food
Eniko at It's all about FOOD!

Orange Chicken

I made this the other night when we had some friends over for dinner. It wasn't my favorite recipe that I have ever made, but it was pretty good. Maybe I just wasn't feeling the chinese cuisine that night. Definitely give it a try if you like orange chicken though! My biggest thing was that I REALLY wanted it to taste like Panda Express Orange Chicken, but it didn't. It probably would have if I had fried the chicken, but I'm trying to stay lean!

I tortured my guests and made them do a little "contest" to see who made the prettiest plate. It was pretty funny! Haha, I don't think I'd do that with anyone else though. :-D

Orange Chicken

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2" cubes
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 tablespoons oil or butter

1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1/3 cup rice vinegar
2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon orange zest
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon finely minced ginger
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons green onion
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup water

Heat oven to 350. In a shallow dish combine the flour, garlic powder and pepper. Dip each piece of chicken in flour mixture and coat evenly.

Pour oil (or melt butter and pour) in a shallow baking dish, large enough to accommodate chicken in a single layer. Arrange chicken in pan and bake uncovered for 30 minutes at 350 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan combine water, fresh orange juice, rice vinegar, soy sauce, orange zest and whisk over medium heat for a few minutes. Then stir in brown sugar, ginger, garlic, and green onion and let it come to a boil. Combine cornstarch with water and let it dissolve and add it to the sauce until thickened.

After chicken has baked the 30 minutes, turn each piece over and pour 1/2 sauce mixture evenly over chicken. Bake another 30 to 40 minutes basting frequently.

Serve chicken over rice with extra sauce on the side.

Sticky Coconut Chicken

Doesn't this look so good??? I will be letting this marinade for about 5 hours and then when Emi gets home he can show me how to turn on the BBQ! :-D Or I might just grill it on my George Foreman. Check out my review here.

I'm excited!

Sticky Coconut Chicken

6-8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 cup canned coconut milk
1 Tbsp. minced fresh ginger
1 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

Marinade chicken in coconut milk, ginger, pepper and red pepper flakes at least one hour. Grill on barbecue.

Glaze:
3/4 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. red pepper flakes

While the chicken is grilling, bring above ingredients to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until mixture is reduced and thickened, about 8-10 minutes. Be patient because it takes a little while. But once it starts getting really thick, immediately take it off the heat! Glaze both sides of chicken the last few minutes of grilling and serve chicken over rice.

Sidenote: My Kitchen Cafe suggests using the extra coconut milk left in the can as part of the liquid in the rice. It is very mildly sweet and pairs well with the chicken.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

This recipe was a big hit with my husband and my husband's co-workers. Definitely worth a try!

Sweet and Sour Chicken

CHICKEN:
3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
1 cup cornstarch
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil

Cut boneless chicken breasts into chunks. Season with salt and pepper. Dip chicken in cornstarch and then in egg. Fry in a little oil until brown but not cooked through. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Mix sauce ingredients (below) together and pour over chicken.

SAUCE:
¾ cup sugar
4 tablespoons ketchup
½ cup vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Bake for one hour at 325 degrees. Turn chicken every 15 minutes. If you like extra sauce, make another batch of sauce and bring it to a boil on the stovetop. Stir constantly and let cook over medium heat until thickened and reduced - about 6-8 minutes.

I got this here.