Cheeze Chicken Pasta Casserole

1 pkg. (8 oz.) pasta noodles (of your choice)
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
1 can (10.75 oz.) Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 soup can of milk
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. Grill Mates Montreal Steak seasoning (more or less to taste)
1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded

French Fried Onions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cook the noodles according to the packaging.  Drain.  In that same pot, mix in the chicken, mushroom soup, milk, Ricotta and Mozzarella cheeses. Add Steak seasoning to taste.  Transfer mixture to a 3 qt. baking dish sprayed with non-stick. Bake covered for 45 minutes.  Remove cover, sprinkle with 1/4 cup Mozzarella and French Fried Onions, enough to lightly cover dish.   Bake for another 5-10 minutes or until cheese has melted.

Martha:  This has to be one of the best chicken pasta dishes I've ever made.  I used the gluten free pasta which to me has a little firmer texture.  The chicken I baked in my toaster oven until done.  From there on I decided to "Think With My Taste Buds" to come up with the rest of the dish, tasting as I went along.  The real winning addition was the Montreal Steak seasoning and the French fried onions on top.  It's full of flavor and far from being bland like so many chicken pasta dishes.  This is also a dish you can play with.  You might try adding black olives, mushrooms, and/or some almond slivers.  My Food Testers sure loved this one.

Cheese Nip Chicken Strips

1/2  lb. chicken tenderloins or breasts cut into strips (1" wide)

1/2 stick butter or margarine, melted

1 cup Cheese Nips

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1/2 tsp. pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Spray a baking dish large enough to hold all strips without them touching.  Crush the Cheese Nips.  Blend in the garlic salt and pepper.  Melt the butter and pour over the chicken, tossing to coat.  Add the Cheese Nips and mix to coat.  Place the chicken strips in the baking dish, sprinkle with any leftover Cheese Nip crumbs.  Bake 15-20 minutes depending upon the size of the strips, until done and the crumbs are crispy.  Serves 2-4 depending upon how hungry you might be.

Martha:  I found a recipe for a dish that used Ritz Crackers crushed and a couple of herbs added to the crumbs.  When I went to get my Ritz from the pantry I spotted a box of Cheese Nips and decided to give them a try instead of the Ritz.  After crushing the Nips in my processor I decided I wanted the cheese taste so I used the pepper and added the garlic salt and eliminated any other herbs.  I also poured the crumbs over the chicken instead of dipping them in them.  Make sure you add the crumbs while the butter is still melted or the coldness of the chicken will firm it back up.  If you're a cheese lover, this is a recipe you must try.  The kids will go wild over this.  

Chicken Spaghetti Casserole

1 (10 3/4 oz.) can condensed cream of chicken soup

1 (8 oz.) can sliced water chestnuts

1 (8 oz.) container sour cream

1/2 cup milk

2 1/2 cups shredded cooked chicken breast

1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped

1 box (1 lb.) spaghetti

1 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
French Fried Onions, crushed

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook spaghetti according to directions, drain and set aside.  Spray 13x9-inch (3-quart) glass baking dish with cooking spray. In large bowl, mix soup, water chestnuts,  sour cream and milk until blended. Stir in chicken, cheese and bell pepper.   Bake 30-40 minutes or until bubbly in the center.  Sprinkle with French Fried onions and bake another 5-10 minutes allowing the onions to brown slightly.  Serve on top of spaghetti.  Sprinkle with a little cheese (optional).

Martha:  This dish was originally a recipe for a Chicken Tortillas Casserole but as I started putting it together I decided to make a couple changes.  I added the chestnuts for their texture.  The chicken breasts were sprinkled with Greek seasoning to give added flavor and baked.  I actually decreased the cheese to 1 cup instead of 1 1/2 (yeah, can you believe I did that!).  Instead of using broken tortillas I decided to use spaghetti.  I was afraid the tortillas would become soggy.  And last I added the crushed French Fried onions.  I've heard so many raves on those who had the joy of trying this one.  It is simply delicious!  The only change I can think of would be to add celery.  It's actually perfect the way it is.

Food Tester Carol:  Hi Martha, that was one delicious dish you made!  We had it last night and yummed our way through it! It was light and fresh tasting, I'm sure, partly because of the water-chestnuts, tender, moist chicken and sauce.

Ritzy Chicken Casserole

3 small sleeves Ritz Everything crackers
1/2 cup French fried onions, crushed

1 can Cream of Chicken or Mushroom soup

1 cup sour cream

¾ cup chicken broth

Chopped chicken

4 oz melted butter

1 cup cooked rice

Crumble one sleeve of Ritz crackers in the bottom of a 2 ½ quart casserole dish.  Drizzle half of the melted butter over crackers.  Mix chicken with soup, sour cream, broth and rice.  Pour over crackers.  Crush the other sleeve of crackers over mixture.  Drizzle with remaining butter.  Bake at 300 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Martha:  This is a remake of a recipe that's been around for a while.  I made a couple of changes, of course.  The original called for 2 sleeves of Ritz crackers, I used the Ritz 'Everything' crackers which have onion, poppy seeds, garlic and sea salt but used only 3 of the short sleeves.  I also added the French fried onions to the Ritz.  That was it.  No more changes but the 2 that I did make gave this dish a taste that is so good!  My food testers all loved and raved about it.  This will feed 6-8.  You can make a few of your own changes if you want.  You could make this into a 'pot pie' by adding a few cooked carrots and English peas.  That too would be good additions.

Parmesan Chicken Breast Tenders

1/2 cup gluten free flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, finely chopped
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 large egg, lightly beaten
10-12 chicken breast tenders (about 1 1/2 lbs.)
1/4 cup canola oil
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine flour, cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper and salt in a medium shallow dish.  Combine buttermilk and egg in another shallow dish.  Warm oil in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.  Dip chicken tenders in buttermilk mixture and then dredge in flour mix.  Add chicken pieces to the oil and cook about 3 minutes on each side or until brown.  Don't allow them to touch while cooking.  Spray a large baking dish, cookie sheet with edges works great, with non-stick spray.  Add browned chicken pieces not allowing them to touch.  Bake about 5 minutes or until chicken is done.

Martha:  Finally I've found a recipe for fried chicken that is actually crispy and delicious.  And it has so many possibilities for changes in flavor.  You can add seasonings like oregano for a totally different taste.  This chicken is well worth making!

Mediterranean Chicken & Potatoes

4-5 medium potatoes, cubed
2 chicken breasts, cubed

1 head broccoli, cut into large chunks

2 Tbsp. olive oil - divided

2 Tbsp. butter, melted - divided

2 Tbsp. Greek seasoning - divided
1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice

Dash garlic seasoning

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large bowl toss potatoes with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 Tbsp. butter, melted, and 1 Tbsp. Greek seasoning.  Pour into a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray and bake 30 minutes turn occasionally.  In the same bowl toss together chicken breast and broccoli with 1 Tbsp. olive oil, 1 Tbsp. butter, melted, and 1 Tbsp. Greek seasoning.  Add this to the potatoes and bake another 20-25 minutes or until potatoes and chicken are done and slightly browned, tossing occasionally.  While all is still hot, sprinkle with cheese and toss to mix.  Serves 6.

Martha:  I found a recipe for the potatoes but decided to give this dish a try adding chicken and broccoli.  This turned out really good.  The cooking time will vary depending on how large you cut up your potatoes and chicken.  I used an Italian blend cheese which worked deliciously.  I also topped mine with a little sour cream.

Chicken Spinach Casserole

8 ounces pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 portabella tops, sliced

1 med onion, sliced

1 cup orange and/or yellow bell peppers, sliced

10 ounces leafy frozen spinach, thawed

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

¹⁄₄ teaspoon pepper

16 ounces cottage cheese

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese, plus 1/2 cup for topping

¹⁄₂ cup milk

1 (10 1/2 ounce) can cream of mushroom soup

salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook pasta according to package, drain and set aside.  Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Cook mushrooms, onion and bell pepper until tender.  Cut spinach into 1/4's and add to pan along with oregano, and pepper.  Mix well.  Remove from heat.  In a large bowl combine pasta, chicken, spinach mushroom mixture, soup, milk, 1 cup cheddar cheese, cottage cheese and mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.  Coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.  Pour chicken pasta mixture into baking dish. Cover with foil and bake 25-30 minutes or until bubbly.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Martha:  I found a recipe for this dish in BH&G online but made a few changes.  I had 1/4 a box of shells and 1/4 box of twists and used them for my pasta giving me about 8 oz.  I changed the mushrooms to portabellas simply because I had some in the freezer that needed to be used.  Yes I freeze them when I find them on sale.  I sliced my onions and peppers instead of chopping and decided to use orange and yellow peppers instead of green to give color and a milder flavor.  Using the leafy spinach and cutting it into 1/4's made it blend better than chopped, at least to me.  I increased the amount of chicken as well as the cheddar cheese.  Now... the recipe directions didn't include when the cottage cheese was to be added.  I don't know if it was a misprint including it as an ingredient or if it was a mistake by not telling when to add so I just added it along with everything else.  Believe me, if it is a misprint and was not supposed to be an ingredient you'll want to add it.  This dish ended up feeding 8 people and I've gotten nothing but raves about it being one of the best.  It may have a long list of ingredients but it's worth every bite.

Chicken Shangri-La With a Twist

2 cups chopped, cooked chicken
2 cans (10 3/4 oz.) condensed cream of mushroom soup
1 can (4 oz.) mushrooms, drained
1 can (6 oz.) water chestnuts, sliced
2 cans Chinese noodles (or 2 cups cooked egg noodles)
1 cup sliced celery
1 cup sliced onions
1 small can cashew nuts (or 1/2 cup almond slivers)
Butter
Crushed potato chips

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Combine first 8 ingredients.  Spoon into a large (9 x 12 x 2 approx.) baking dish sprayed with non-stick.  Dot the top with butter then sprinkle with crushed potato chips, as desired.  Bake uncovered for 1 hr.

Martha:  This sounded like a really good dish and decided on an impulse to give it a try.  I thought I had all of the ingredients - not.  So I decided to 'Think With My Taste Buds' and see what I could use in place of what I didn't have.  The chicken came from 2 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves that I baked.  I had the soup, mushrooms and chestnuts but when it came to the Chinese noodles I found that I only had 1 can but I had plenty of egg noodles so I cooked up what ended up being about 2 cups.  The celery I cut down to 2 stalks and the onion I cut down to 1 medium and instead of slicing, I chopped.  Then came the cashews.  I had about a handful.  I always keep almond slivers in the refrigerator so decided to use them instead.  For the butter it took about 1/2 a stick and I used about 3/4 cup of crushed to cover the dish well.  Now for cooking.  Since I used egg noodles I knew those exposed to the heat would become 'crispy' when cooked so I took a piece of foil and laid it on top of the dish, removing it the last 10 minutes to allow the chips to brown.  This dish turned out simply delicious!  So see - if you Think With Your Taste Buds you can usually come up with something to add in place of what you don't have or don't like.

The original recipe came from a cookbook titled Seasonal Sampling from the American Cancer Society in Michigan, dating 1981.  Bringing back the old dishes is fun and tasty!

Carol:  Your Chicken Shangri-La With a Twist is delicious.  Noodles and chicken are always good together but paired with the water chestnuts and other cruncy bits (haven't figured that out) it is a very appealing meal.  I know you  will say this is easy to put together but I guess it will be because you have done the hard work of thinking through such a good combination!

Chicken Spinach Lasagna

9 lasagna noodles
1 pkg (10 oz.) chopped spinach, thawed and very well drained (I squeeze mine between paper towels)
3 cups chopped, cooked chicken
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup finely chopped onions
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 can (10 3/4 oz.) cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. carton sour cream
1 can (4-6 oz.) sliced mushrooms, drained
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup almond slivers

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish with non-stick spray.  In a large bowl combine the spinach, chicken, 2 cups cheddar, onions, nutmeg, cornstarch, salt, pepper, soy sauce, soup, sour cream, mushrooms, and mayonnaise.  Mix until well blended.  Place 3 lasagna noodles in the bottom of the baking dish.  Top with 1/2 of the chicken mixture.  Top with 3 more lasagna noodles and then the remaining chicken mix.  Top with the last 3 noodles.  Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and almond slivers.  Bake 40-45 minutes or until hot and bubbly.  Serves 6-8

Martha:  I found this recipe in a community cookbook put out by one of the real estate companies here in Charlotte.  The only changes I made was to increase the noodles from 6 to 9 and I also added the almond slivers.  My chicken came from 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I baked.  The original recipe called for 2 cups, this gave me about 3 cups.  I did cut my chicken into pieces but then pulled the pieces apart virtually making it shredded more so than chopped.  The addition of the almonds added another texture making it even more appealing to the mouth.  I served this dish to 6 of my food testers and I've received nothing but comments like 'is there any more?'  'when will you be making this again?'  'this is going to be one of my favorites!'  and of course 'this was simply the best yet!'  It may look like a lot of ingredients but each one adds just a touch of flavor which when combined become something so good you'll want more.

Carol:  First of all, I'm writing about the chicken lasagna.  Frances and I thought it was one of the best recipes you have developed!  We loved the filling you put in the lasagna, the topping of cheese and almonds, and that special something that makes it all so flavorful!  It is definitely our favorite "Martha" recipe to date!!!!!  I don't know whether all of that flavor is because of the pinch of nutmeg, but whatever it is, it's all delicious!

Chicken & Potato Casserole

4 med. potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 med. onion, sliced
6 slices cheese
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 soup can milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a baking dish (9 x 13 x 2) with non-stick spray.  place potato slices in dish.  Top with onions.  Top onions with cheese.  Cut chicken into thin strips.  In a large frying pan heat 2 Tbsp. olive oil.  Brown chicken on both sides.  Place on top of cheese.  Add soup and milk to the frying pan.  Whisk together and heat.  Pour over chicken.  Cover with foil.  Bake 45 minutes or until potatoes are done.  Remove foil and bake another 15-20 minutes to brown top.  Serves 4 - 6.

Martha:  I found a version of this recipe in a 1983 cookbook.  It actually called for pork chops, not chicken but when I decided to Think With My Taste Buds I knew the switch would work, and it did.  The original called for American cheese, I used cheddar.  I also increased the oven temp from 325 to 350 and increased the cooking time from 1/2 hr. to 45 minutes.  When I checked my potatoes after 1/2 hr. they weren't quite done so I added the additional 15 minutes.  This dish is delicious and you can, of course, change it back to pork chops.  This would also be good made with ground beef.

Chicken Broccoli Rollups

1 stalk fresh broccoli
6 slices deli ham (1/8" thick, approx.)
6 slices cheese
6 strips leftover cooked chicken (1/2 x 1/2 x 4 long approx.)
horseradish sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cut broccoli florets off the stalk.  Boil in water for about 5 minutes.  You want them about half way done.  Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray.  Roll 2-3 broccoli florets and 1 piece of chicken in the cheese, then roll everything in the ham.  Place seam side down in baking dish.  After all six slices have been rolled, bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese has melted and the dish is hot.  Top with just a slight coating of horseradish sauce.  Serves 2 - 3

Martha:  I found the basic recipe for this in a 1974 cookbook.  The original called for broccoli, ham and Swiss cheese.  I made mine 4 different ways.  2 had Swiss cheese, 2 had cheddar cheese, 1 had Swiss cheese with chicken and 1 had cheddar cheese with chicken.  The original didn't call for the horseradish sauce but I thought it would be a great addition and believe me it was!  This is an easy, quick dish to make.  It's something you can whip up in no time and have not only a tasty dish but a healthy one too.  Now for changes - try covering the dish with Alfredo sauce when baking.

Chicken Hash

3 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. grated onion

1 1/2 Tbsp. flour

1 cup Chicken stock or broth

1/2 cup cream

2 to 3 cups chopped, cooked chicken

Salt and pepper, to taste

2 beaten eggs

1/2 cup grated cheese

Dash of Paprika

Heat the butter, add onion and cook over low heat until soft but not browned.  Add flour and stir until blended; slowly add the stock and stir until thickened and smooth.  Add cream and chicken, season to taste. 

Slowly add a little of the hot sauce to the beaten eggs; add to remaining chicken mixture, stirring constantly. 

Turn into a shallow baking dish, sprayed with non-stick spray, and sprinkle with cheese and a dash of Paprika.  Heat under the broiler until lightly browned and bubbly.  

Serves 6

Lillian:  This is a dish from the early 1940'S and is still a great family or pot luck dish.  You can add some buttered bread crumbs or buttery crackers, crushed, if you like a crumb topping.  You can divide it into smaller casseroles and freeze some for a later meal.  This is just good plain cooking and eating.

Martha:  Lillian is right.  This is just good, plain cooking and eating!  The flavors blend together creating a comforting feeling with each bite.  This recipe is so simple, yet so good that I really believe it would be delicious made with pork or beef.  And I like the idea of adding the buttery crackers or better yet some cheezy crackers crumbled over the top.  Everytime I make a dish from the past I can't help but wonder why we quit cooking like our mothers and grandmothers did.  When did we lose this simple but beautiful art of cooking?  I'm ready to bring it back.

Southwestern Quinoa Black Bean Chicken Soup

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg. (4 oz.) Urbane Grain Quinoa Southwest Black Bean
2 qts. of water

Boil the two chicken breasts in the 2 qts. of water until done.  Remove chicken, allow to cool and shred.  Strain the chicken water/broth.  Return to the water/broth to the pot.  Bring to a boil and add the Quinoa Southwest Black Bean and chicken.  Cook until quiona is done, about 35-40 minutes.  Serves 6-8.

Martha:  When I worked up this dish I had no idea how it would come out.  I did as I always do and that is to Think With My Taste Buds.  Well, I'm here to tell you that this soup is delicious!  And it's healthy too.  Since I'm trying to eat gluten free, which the  Urban Quinoa Blends are, this dish worked perfectly into my diet.  I enjoyed it with my gluten free pretzels and had a perfectly delicious, healthy, filling meal.   This is a dish I'll be making often.

Carol:  Thanks so much for a sample of your new soup.  You know that we are always looking for delicious "white" dishes and this was superb because we love the Southwest seasonings, the healthiness of the quinoa and the lightness of the "white" chicken dish.  Using these ingredients in a soup is perfect for us because we tend to like the delicious flavors together with the ease of preparation and digestion and nutrients offered in this dish.  It tastes like some very trendy soups now found on restaurant menus and we like to think of ourselves as being right up to date.  This Southwest soup hits the spot!!!!

Sharon:  I wish I had been lucky enough to have a second bowl of this delicious dish!

One Pot Chicken and Rice

1 1/2 cups raw rice
1 cup water
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of celery soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 cup melted oleo (margarine or butter)
1/4 cup water
2 Tbsp. dry onion soup mix
8 - 10 pieces of chicken
1/2 cup slivered almonds (optional)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Lightly grease a shallow 3 qt. baking dish.  Sprinkle rice and 1 cup of water over the bottom.  Combine soups, oleo, 1/4 cup water and dry soup mix.  Pour half soup mixture on top of rice.  Place chicken in one layer, skin side up on top of rice.  Pour remaining soup mixture over chicken.  Sprinkle with almonds.  Cover and bake 2 1/2 hrs.  To brown chicken, uncover last 20 minutes and bake at 400 degrees.  Yield: 6 - 8 servings.

Martha:  This recipe came from a cookbook with no name.  It's a spiral paperback that is very poorly put together and there is a hand written date of Jan. 1983 on the top of the 1st page.  It may be in poor condition but the recipes inside aren't.  I made very little change in making this dish.  I used a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray and instead of white rice I used a wild rice blend that I find at Harris Teeter and love dearly.  I also used 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts which I cut down the center creating 6 pieces.  And of course I used butter instead of the oleo (not sure you can even find that anymore).  I must say that this dish is one of the best I've had, especially the rice combined with the soup.  I could make this and completely leave out the chicken!  It's that good.  Or you could cook the chicken, chunk it up and just mix it in with the soups creating a casserole.  No matter how you make this, I really feel that you'll love it as much as I do.  The rice blend has a nutty taste and the almonds give it a slight crunch.  Sooooo good!

Chicken Steak & Gravy

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1/2 pkg. dry onion soup mix
1/2 cup flour for dredge
1 tsp. dried onions
1/2 cup milk
Olive oil

Heat olive oil on med. heat.  In a shallow bowl mix flour and dried onions.  Pour milk into another shallow bowl.  Slice chicken through the thickness creating 2 thin 'steaks.'  Dip chicken in milk and then into flour/onions.  Fry slowly, browning on both sides, until done.  Remove from pan and keep warm.  If needed, pour off any olive oil left in pan after chicken has cooked.  Add dried onion soup mix and mushroom soup.  Stir until blended to make a gravy.  If it becomes too thick, add enough milk to create the thickness you want. If it's too thin, mix a Tbsp. of flour with 1/4 cup water and add to gravy.  Serve over chicken. Serves 3-4

Martha:  While looking through one of the vintage cookbooks my beautiful sister Lillian sent to me.  I ran across a recipe for Cubed Steak which, of course, used cubed steak.  I'm not much of a beef eater anymore but the recipe did sound good as well as simple.  So, I decided to Think With My Taste Buds and decided this would be good using chicken too.  And it is!  The flavor of the gravy was so good that I could have eaten it by the spoonfuls.  I did use my rice flour for battering the chicken but I can't call this one gluten free because the mushroom soup does have wheat flour as an ingredient.  This is a must try dish for chicken or beef or even beef.

Rice Flour Fried Chicken

6 Thin Sliced Chicken Breasts (1/2 - 3/4" thick)
1/2 cup Rice Flour
1/4 cup French Fried Onions, crushed
1 Tbsp. McCormick Roasted Garlic Montreal Chicken Seasoning
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup milk
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 small can mushrooms, drained
1 cup Mozzarella & Provolone Blend Shredded Cheese


Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a shallow bowl combine flour, crushed onions, seasoning and pepper.  Pour milk into a 2nd shallow bowl.  Heat oil in a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Dip chicken in milk, then into flour mixture.  Place chicken in hot oil.  Cook on one side until slightly browned, turn and cook other side.  Place browned chicken in a 9 x 13 x 2 baking dish sprayed with non-stick spray.  Bake in oven until completely done.  Evenly top with mushrooms.  Evenly sprinkle cheese over mushrooms.  Bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Martha:  I kind of started making this dish up as I went alone.  I'm still trying to go gluten free so I bought the rice flour and decided to give it a try for making fried chicken.  While looking in the pantry I noticed I had about 1/4 cup of French Fried Onions that needed to be used so I added them to the rice flour.  I took a good 'smell' of the McCormick Roasted Garlic seasoning and knew it would be a great addition.  The mushrooms sounded good too and of course the cheese blend.  I served this with slaw and a delicious wild rice making my meal complete.  Now, as much as I would like to I couldn't eat all 6 slices so I shared with some of my food testers.  They all had the same comment... "This is the best chicken I've ever eaten!"  And it is.  This dish was a total Think With Your Taste Buds dish.

The rice flour... I totally recommend it for frying.  It makes a beautiful, crisp crust.  Try it, I bet you'll like it too.  Now I want to find other uses for this newest find.

Think With Your Taste Buds Chicken Pasta

This dish idea came to me while trying to cook everything in my kitchen that wasn't gluten free.  I had 1/2 box of the bow tie pasta in my pantry that I thought I would put together with some leftover chicken that I had cooked the night before.  But what do I add to it to make it a little different yet special?  I decided to 'clean out my refrigerator' in search of ingredients that would work.  Here is what I combined.

Bow Tie pasta, cooked of course
Chicken, cut into chunks
Sliced Black Olives
Chopped Green Onion
Chopped Dill Pickle
Pimientos
Chopped Celery
Almond Slivers
Sliced Green Olives
Cucumber Ranch Dressing
Mayonnaise

There are no measurements for this dish.  Just add all the ingredients together and taste.  The Cucumber Ranch Dressing was a perfect touch but don't add too much due to its flavor.  And the addition of the mayonnaise was just enough to help everything mix together.  This is one dish that I made using my motto "Think With Your Taste Buds."

No I didn't eat this dish.  I did taste just a 'little' as I was making for taste blends but my lucky food testers all raved about how good this was.  They all agreed that you could taste each of the ingredients as well as a blend of the ingredients taste.

Smothered Chicken with Spinach and Mushrooms

3 cups fresh baby spinach
1 3/4 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
3 green onions, sliced
2 Tbsp. chopped pecans
1 1/2 tsp. olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp. rotisserie chicken seasoning
2 slices reduced-fat provolone cheese, halved

In a large skillet, saute the spinach, mushrooms, onions and pecans in oil until mushrooms are tender. Set aside and keep warm.  Sprinkle chicken with seasoning. Using long-handled tongs, moisten a paper towel with cooking oil and lightly coat the grill rack. Grill chicken, covered, over medium heat or broil 4 in. from the heat for 4-5 minutes on each side or until a meat thermometer reads 170°.  Top with cheese. Cover and grill 2-3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. To serve, top each chicken breast with reserved spinach mixture. Yield: 4 servings.

Martha:  I did make a few technique changes to this that I feel didn't change the flavor.  The main thing was that I didn't grill my chicken, I baked it in a 400 degree oven on a rack until done.  I also rubbed it with a little olive oil and added a chicken rub to all sides.  The spinach calls for 3 cups of fresh.  That is what I bought but I think I would have liked just a little more.  My spinach, mushrooms, onions and pecans were sauted in a large frying pan with lid.  I topped this with my chicken and instead of adding 1/2 slice of provolone I added 1 slice to each piece, placed the lid on the pan and let the cheese melt allowing it to run down into the veggies.  This dish is worth making and it actually requires very little work giving you a gourmet looking dish.  Where did I find this recipe?  On Pinterest via Taste of Home.  Give this one a try.  You won't regret it.