Baked Pork Chop Cacciatore

This recipe for Pork Chop Cacciatore took some tweaking. Originally the recipe didn't include any rice, but I wanted to make it a one-dish meal, so I made it twice in the last couple weeks, adjusting ingredients until it turned out delicious! I love meals like this where you throw it together and then pop it in the oven while you take care of other things.

Baked Pork Chop Cacciatore

Yield:  6 servings

1 cup uncooked rice
6 pork chops, about 3/4 inch thick
2 bell peppers, cut into rings
1 onion, cut into rings
1 can (28 ounce) diced tomatoes
1 can (19 ounce) tomato sauce
1 Tbs of any mixture of the following (1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp basil)
1 tsp parsley
1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 cloves, crushed)
salt and pepper (to taste)
1/2 tsp sugar
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Put rice in bottom of a lightly greased 9x11 baking dish.
2. Brown seasoned pork chops (season the chops first with salt & pepper - or last time I seasoned them with about a Tbs of onion soup mix instead of salt and they were awesome!) . Place chops on rice.
3. Top the chops with the pepper and onion rings. Drain the diced tomatoes, reserving the juice. Sprinkle the tomatoes evenly on top of everything.
4. In a large measuring cup or bowl, combine the reserved tomato juice with the tomato sauce, seasonings and water. Pour over everything.
5. Cover the dish with foil and bake at 360 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let sit for 10 minutes before removing foil and serving.

Gluten Free Chicken & Mango Spring Rolls

This is another recipe adapted from Kraft. These Chicken & Mango Spring Rolls are also known as summer rolls or salad rolls. The fresh ingredients are rolled in a Vietnamese rice paper wrapper and served with an Asian peanut dipping sauce. The original recipe called for cilantro but I left it out because I don't really care for it.

I cooked the chicken breast in chicken broth (bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, then turn off burner and let sit for 10 more minutes with lid on) before shredding or chopping the chicken. I took a picture so you can see (plus you can see my wine in the background which I NEVER cook without! :)  By the way I love red and white wine. Have I mentioned this before?

Shredded Chicken Breast

Gluten Free Chicken & Mango Spring Rolls

 


Chicken & Mango Spring Rolls

Yield:  12 spring rolls

(always check labels to make sure ingredients are gluten free!)

12 rice paper sheet 
1/2 lb cooked shredded chicken breast (I poached in chicken broth, then shredded)
1 cup red pepper, chopped

3 green onions, chopped

1 mango peeled and chopped

2 cups lettuce

2 cups cooked rice vermicelli noodles

1/2 cup Asian style salad dressing (I use a W.F. brand)

1/3 cup natural peanut butter

1 Tbs gluten free soy sauce

1 Tbs water

Directions:

1. Soak rice paper sheets, 1 at a time in warm water, following package instructions. My package said 5 seconds in the water, then 30 seconds on a flat surface before adding ingredients and wrapping.
2. Place chicken, mangoes, peppers, onions, noodles and lettuce on the bottom of each rice paper sheet and roll up, folding in sides and enclosing filling.
3. Mix remaining ingredients until blended and serve as a dipping sauce with spring rolls.

Baked Rice and Chicken Thighs

This recipe for Baked Rice and Chicken Thighs is so easy to throw together, you can literally have it in the oven in minutes. All you need is a veggie or salad to round out the meal. My kids and I were fighting over the last bit of rice in the pan after we finished eating this tonight because it was so good.

Before Baking

After Baking

Baked Chicken Thighs and Rice

Yield:  4 servings

1 cup uncooked white rice
8 boneless, skinless chicken thighs
1 package dry onion soup mix
2.5 cups water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Spread the rice evenly into the bottom of a Lightly greased 13x9 baking dish. Lay the chicken thighs on top of the rice and sprinkle the onion soup mix evenly over all.
3. Pour the water over everything (make sure you don't wash all the onion soup mix off the chicken). Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour.
4. Remove from the oven and let sit for a few minutes, then remove the foil and fluff the rice around the chicken a bit before serving.

Gluten Free Slow Baked Oven Ribs

I'm so mad at myself because I made these super tender, delicious ribs and forgot to take a picture! These gluten free, slow baked oven ribs are truly tender. The sauce glazes onto them during the final hour of baking, creating a sticky, BBQ-like glaze that is finger licking good!

OK, speaking of finger licking good, here's the funny thing... I have a major aversion to getting my fingers dirty so I actually eat my ribs (and wings and pizza, etc..!) with a knife and fork... ALWAYS. Ha! :) I've tried using my hands to eat things like this before, and without fail I always have to get up part way through eating to wash my hands. My mom says that this was even an issue when I was a baby, I would cry and insist on clean hands even back then!

Luckily these ribs turn out so tender that the meat easily comes off the bone with a knife and fork, so not an issue at all.

Oven Baked Ribs (slow cooked & tender!)

Yield:  4 servings

2 slabs of pork back ribs
salt & pepper (to taste)
1 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar (regular vinegar will also work fine)
1/4 cup honey
2 Tbs gluten free soy sauce
1 Tbs Franks hot sauce (or your fav hot sauce)
1 Tbs dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder (or 1 crushed garlic clove)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika

Directions:

1. Cut each rack of ribs in half to make a total of 4 half-slabs and place meaty side up on a rack in a 13x9 baking dish. Add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake at 300 degrees for 2 hours.
3. Meanwhile, prepare sauce by whisking the remaining ingredients together.
4. Either drain, remove racks and return ribs to the pan, or (as I did) put the ribs in a clean pan, lined with foil and pour sauce over ribs. Turn the oven up to 350 degrees. Return the ribs to the oven and bake uncovered for 1 hour. You may need to baste the ribs a couple of times to make sure that the sauce fully coats the ribs.