BBQ chicken

Here's an easy one for those busy weeknights. We've probably all made this easy crock-pot barbecue chicken. But I found these few more ingredients took it just past normal, to quite tasty.You'll need:
Chicken breasts-fresh or frozen (I used 3 so we would have plenty of leftovers. You'll want leftovers of this.)
barbecue sauce
liquid smoke
Worcestershire sauce
chili sauce
red onion-chopped roughly in large peices
garlic cloves-minced

Here's the fun part of crock-pot cooking. Just dump it all in. I didn't put any measurements because it all depends on how much chicken you use and how much you like each thing. I probably just put a whole bottle of bbq sauce couple shakes of each other sauce, 1/2 an onion, and a couple cloves of garlic. Liquid smoke really adds to the robust flavor.

Let is cook on high for 4-6 hours. Shred the chicken and it's ready to devour. We ate this as sandwiches, on a pizza, over rice, and there are probably a lot more ways than that to enjoy this. I've also made it with a pork loin for pulled pork sandwiches. Doesn't it just smell like summer now?

Turkey Fajita Burgers

This burger came about because I wanted to have burgers one weekend, but didn't have the traditional fixings-lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles. But I did have some peppers, cilantro and salsa, so I thought, why not. The result was pretty rewarding. Two of the things I crave mixed into one.For the burgers: (This recipe makes 6-8 burgers depending on how big you like them. We grilled up two and froze the rest for later.)

20 oz. package of ground turkey
1 small onion, chopped finely
1/2 c bread crumbs
1 egg
1/2 salsa
a handful of cilantro, chopped
a squeeze of lime juice
1/2 t cumin
1/2 t chili powder
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Mix all of that together with your hands and form into patties of your desired size. Place on a hot grill or skillet until they are completely cooked through (no medium burgers with poultry, folks). I use a meat thermometer and when it reads 165, I know they are good and cooked.

Toast your buns if you'd like. For the toppings, just use whatever you'd put on a fajita. I sauteed some red and green peppers with some onion, a little salt and pepper, and a little cumin and chili powder. Then I spread some salsa, and sour cream (with taco seasoning mixed in for fun) onto the bun with some cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. We had ours with some sweet potato fries (I know, not really with the Mexican theme, but I had to use them up) and there you have it. We have decided to make this often. It helps to satisfy my obsession of Mexican food with out eating nachos every time I crave it. We went out to get an avocado just for this meal that night, but were disappointed to find that none of them were even close to ripe. The next time we ate them we did have a ripe one, and it was great, of course. You could also sprinkle on a little cheese, though we didn't this time.

This burger could easily be made vegetarian by replacing the turkey meat with mashed up black beans and rice in the burger recipe. Not that I'm vegetarian or anything, but that sounds good to me, just because it would complete the fajita flavors. Try it out.

Chicken Cordon Bleu-wiches

These were DELICIOUS. I used sour dough bread, rotissserie chicken, thin shaved ham, and aged white cheddar. That cheese is to die for. It is from Costco and I totally recommend it. I put the open face sandwiches under the broiler for a few minutes until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown. Man, I want one of those right now.

Sandwiches

Sandwiches are so good an often times under rated. The possibilities are endless. I love a good juicy sandwich.

Turkey cherry sandwich: I had this for lunch everyday for a week, I liked it so much. It was cream cheese, spicy brown mustard, cherry preserves, turkey, spinach and cheese, on an onion bagel, broiled until the cheese was melted. I only had it this way this one time. The other times, I had it cold without the cheese on top. Delicious both ways. Whew, long explanation.


BLT: I think I used pepper jack in this one which added a whole new element to this classic.
Egg salad: Ah.... I love a good egg salad. Curly fries make it even more delicious. Except, I usually would choose salt and vinegar chips as my side dish.
Turkey Burgers with baked sweet and russet potatoes: I researched on how to make these potatoes just like The Outback. They were nice a crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
Turkey mushroom burger: Similar to the above but tons of mushrooms in these bad boys. KC loooooooooooooves mushrooms.
Bagel breakfast sandwich and roasted potatoes: This was our humble "first Valentines day together" meal. Great memory. I wrote about it here.
Bagel and eggs: I suppose this is a sandwich. An open faced one. It looks like spinach and turkey eggs on a toasted and buttered bagel. We love breakfast for dinner.