Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken and Coconut Lime Rice

Mr. Z and I eat a lot of chicken...and I do mean a lot! We eat chicken probably five times a week, which means if I am not constantly on the lookout for new chicken recipes, we get bored very quickly. I usually lean toward something buffalo style or something I've at least heard of before. But, lately I've tried to get out of that comfort zone, and I've ended up finding so many new things that I like! Not that you can really tell by my blog, but I am a very picky eater, so this is a big feat for me!

This meal was excellent. I was pretty nervous about using fish sauce, because I've only used it once before. In fact, when Mr. Z walked in the door from work as a was starting the chicken, he said, "What is that smell!?" It smelled like fish sauce and nothing else for the first little while, so that made me even more nervous, but I am glad I finished cooking it and tried it, because it was delicious! I served this with Coconut Lime Rice after seeing a comment on the recipe on Joelen's blog.

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken with Coconut Lime Rice
chicken recipe from Joelen's Culinary Adventures, written as I made it
rice recipe from MyRecipes.com, written as I made it

Vietnamese Style Caramel Chicken
Ingredients:
1/4 c. dark brown sugar
1/2 c. water, separated
2 tbsp. fish sauce
1 tbsp. grated ginger
1 clove of garlic, minced
pinch of cayenne pepper
1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces

Heat brown sugar and 1/4 c. water in a large pan over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until mixture is bubbling.

Stir in the remaining 1/4 c. water, fish sauce, ginger, garlic, and cayenne pepper and stir well. Add chicken. Cook until chicken is cooked through and sauce starts to thicken. Turn heat up to medium-high and cook until sauce gets very thick and sticky.

Coconut Lime Rice
Ingredients:
1 c. light coconut milk
1 1/4 c. water
1 tsp. lime zest
1 tbsp. lime juice
1 c. instant rice

Bring coconut milk and water to a boil. Add rice and cook according to package instructions. In the last minute of cooking, add lime zest and lime juice.

Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmesan

When it comes to side dishes to go with my meals, I am terrible. It's always the same thing. Potatoes or rice and some sort of green vegetables (usually green beans or broccoli). Bor-ing. So, when my grocery store had pasta buy-one-get-one-free last week, I stocked up on regular spaghetti and pasta, but also things I don't normally buy like pastina and orzo, in hopes of making some different side dishes.

I've always wanted to try orzo, but never have. So, I did what I always do when I'm searching for a random recipe...searched through my Google Reader. When I searched for orzo recipes and saw this one, I knew it'd be a winner because, well, everything on Joelen's blog is a winner! This recipe was really good, and I'll definitely make it again, along with some variations of it, because as of now, I'm a big fan of orzo!

Toasted Orzo with Peas and Parmesan
from Joelen's Culinary Adventures, written as I made it

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
1/4 c. chopped onions (I used frozen)
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 lb. orzo
4 c. chicken broth
10 oz. frozen peas
1 c. grated parmesan cheese
pepper, to taste

Melt the butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and salt and cook until onions get soft and start to brown. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Pour orzo in the pan; stir to coat well with butter. Toast for about 5 minutes, or until orzo starts to turn golden brown.

Add chicken broth to pan. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until liquid has been absorbed and orzo is tender. Stir in peas, parmesan cheese, and pepper and heat until peas are hot.

Crispy Cauliflower with Parmesan Dip

Last night I was feeling lazy and did not get home until almost 8pm. When I'm feeling lazy or I don't feel like making dinner, the go-to dinner is a meal completely made up of appetizer type foods. Last night was no exception.

Any vegetables roasted in the oven are a-okay with me, but I had never tried cauliflower. I've had this recipe saved since the day it popped up on my Google Reader, but for some reason, had not made it until last night. Well, that was a mistake! I loved this recipe. I will most definitely be making both the cauliflower and the dip again, maybe together, maybe separately. The dip, as Jessica suggests, would be great with bread, crackers, other vegetables, and probably a lot of other things. And the cauliflower is delicious on its own too.

Crispy Cauliflower with Parmesan Dip
from How Sweet It Is, written as I made it

Crispy Cauliflower
Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
1 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Chop cauliflower into small florets. Place on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes or until brown.

Parmesan Dip
Ingredients:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt
1/3 c. parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth. Divide mixture between two ramekins. Bake for 10 minutes or until top starts to brown.