This post is sponsored by Zatarain's.

It's National Rice Month ????????, did you know that? I'm so excited to be working with Zatarain's and bringing you this recipe for a one pot soy glazed chicken with cilantro lime rice. It's so easy to make because I use Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice and because I make it all in one pan!

Growing up as a Vietnamese American here in the U.S., my Mom cooked a lot of rice. We ate rice at least five to six times a week. As an adult, I love cooking Asian rice as well as other kinds of rice. From Zatarain's Spanish Rice Mix to their Jamabalaya Rice Mix and even to Zatarain's Yellow Rice, I love it all!

As you can tell, rice has always been a staple in our house when I was a kid and now as an adult. I consider it an essential part of a meal. We have rice several times a week! And the beauty of Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice is that reheats nicely too. This entire meal reheats and work great as leftovers too!

Of course when I started working with Zatarain's, I knew I wanted to share with you an Asian-inspired dish and the cilantro lime rice is a perfect part of this dish!

First, mince the garlic.

Use a grater to zest a lime.

And then juice the lime. I do it right into the bag I'm going to marinate the chicken in.

Add the spices.

The sesame oil.

And the low sodium soy sauce.

Seal the bag and place it in the refrigerate to marinate. You only need to marinate it for 10 minutes!

Add the chicken to a nonstick skillet.

All we're trying to do is sear the chicken. It's going to cook the rest of the way in the oven.

I wiped the pan clean and then boiled some water. Then, added Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice to the pan.

Cover it, lower the heat so it's a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

It's sooo good! But it's not cooked all the way yet.

Add the chicken on top of the rice and then cover with foil. Place it in the oven to cook the rest of the way.

I love love that I can make a meal in just one pot! It's easy for clean up and it's less stress for a week night meal!

The rice is so flavorful and the chicken is tender and has the perfect balance with the soy sauce along with lime juice! It's a new favorite in our house! You definitely need to try this recipe as soon as possible! I have a feeling you'll be very popular after you do! ????

I'm currently obsessed with Zatarain's Cilantro Lime Rice and can't wait to cook with it in other recipes like this recipe for Cheesy Chicken Salsa Rice!

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One Pot Soy-Glazed Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice Recipe

Prep Time 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes minutes

Total Time 1 hour hour

Servings 3 to 4

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds boneless or bone-in skinless chicken thighs
• 4 garlic cloves peeled and minced
• zest of one lime
• juice of one lime
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon grape seed oil
• 1 package of Zatarain’s Cilantro Lime Rice
• another lime cut into wedges optional

Instructions

• Heat your oven to 425 degrees F.
• Add minced garlic, lime zest, lime juice, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, sesame oil, soy sauce and to a zippered plastic bag. Add chicken and seal the bag. Place bag on a clean plate or inside a casserole dish and place in the refrigerator. Marinate the chicken for at least 10 minutes (no need to do it more than 20 minutes).
• Now we're going to sear the chicken. Add grape seed oil to an oven-safe nonstick skillet pan and turn heat on medium high. Heat the pan for 3 minutes.
• Remove chicken from plastic bag, pat the chicken with a paper towel (see notes below).
• Then, add chicken to the pan and cook on each side for 3 to 4 minutes (if using bone-in, 4 to 6 minutes per side). Remove the chicken from the skillet, place on a clean plate and set aside.
• Wipe the pan clean with paper towels and place back on the range.
• Add 2 cups water and 1 tablespoon butter to the pan. Bring the water to a boil. Add rice and cook for 15 minutes.
• Place chicken on top of the rice, carefully cover the pan with foil and place in the oven to cook the rest of the way. About 10 to 15 minutes (if you’re using bone-in chicken, it will take about 24 to 25 minutes), or until chicken is fully cooked.
• Cook the CIlantro Lime Rice
• Remove the skillet carefully from the oven and allow the chicken to rest for 5 to 6 minutes before cutting into it to check for doneness. Serve the chicken with Zatarain’s Cilantro Lime Rice with your favorite vegetable.
• Optional:  Squeeze lime wedges on top of the chicken before serving.

Notes

Notes: You’re not patting the chicken completely dry. But enough so that you’re not boiling the chicken in the marinade when you place it in the pan.

from The Little Kitchen

Disclosure:  This post is sponsored by Zatarain's. I only work with brands that I love and always share with you my personal opinions.

The post One Pot Soy-Glazed Chicken with Cilantro Lime Rice appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

I’m excited to once again partner with Tuttorosso Tomatoes to bring you this post and recipe.

Can you believe I have never made salsa at home before? I never bothered trying to make it at home and now that I have, I LOVE it.

I'm going to show you how to make salsa and it's so easy. Takes less than ten minutes and super easy with Tuttorosso canned tomatoes!

Our favorite tomatoes, Tuttorosso cares so much about quality ingredients.

I open the can and then start prepping the other ingredients.

Add the lime juice, garlic, onion, jalapeno and green pepper to a food processor.

And pulse for a few seconds. Right about now, you will be smelling all of the goodness!

Pour in the tomatoes!

They are red and gorgeous…don't they look amazing!

Pulse for a few seconds…

And you get this goodness! But wait, you need to refrigerate so all of the flavors can combine.

For an amazing salsa! It's so easy! It lasts for a few days in the fridge.

And the amazing aroma of this salsa…you will want to put this on everything! See, how to make salsa, was so easy, right?

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Homemade Salsa Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 5 cups approx.

Ingredients

• 1 lime juiced
• 2 large garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
• 1/2 medium onion roughly chopped
• 1 jalapeno roughly chopped (ribs removed)
• 1/4 green pepper roughly chopped
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
• 28 ounce can Tuttorosso diced tomatoes

Instructions

• Add lime juice, garlic, onion, jalapeno and green pepper to the a food processor. Pulse for a few seconds.
• Add salt and Tuttorosso diced tomatoes to the food processor. Pulse until chopped and blended to your preference. Taste and add more salt if necessary.
• Pour salsa into an airtight container and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. You can make this ahead of time for a party or get together!

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Tuttorosso. I only share with you brands and products that I love and always only share with you my own opinions. Thank you for supporting the brands that I work with so I can keep doing what I love here on The Little Kitchen!

The post How to Make Salsa appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

First, it's Friday so it's the perfect day for a margarita and since I'm still holding on tight to summer, we can still be friends if I make it a watermelon one right?

Seriously, you guys this is ONE AMAZING watermelon margarita. I had it in Albuquerque, New Mexico a few months back and was so happy when the restaurant shared the recipe with me!

Let's talk Albuquerque before we get into the recipe…it's gorgeous, peaceful, beyond beautiful, the people are amazing and the food beyond amazing. I had a great time and I really hope I get to return with Curtis (he was pretty jealous that I visited without him).

We stayed at Los Poblanos Historic Inn & Organic Farm. This is the entrance to the Inn…this place was unreal.

It was built in the 1920s and is an actual working farm, they have 32 acres of lavender fields. The architecture is quintessential New Mexico and the Inn is on the National Registry of Historic Places!

They grow their own lavender, have an amazing restaurant on-site with an award-winning chef (Chef Jonathan Perno) and the rooms…they were so fun!

My room even had a sitting room with a fireplace.

My bedroom had a fireplace too…I felt totally spoiled with two fireplaces you guys!

That bed was so comfy!

PS I made sure to start a fire every night I stayed there!

Can we also talk lavender margaritas? It's a thing and it's amazing. I have to make it soon and share the recipe with you guys! I bought some of the lavender from the farm shop at the inn…so I could do this!

The farm shop…is amazing. They even have a farm cat (named Calvin) that loves to chill out in the shop.

I totally bought some lavender salve and a mist spray!

And that's Albert the peacock, I think they have about five peacocks on property.

My friend, Rachelle and I arrived one day early and dined at the restaurant…it was amazing. Get the cheese platter, that's all I'm saying!

And breakfast at the Inn is included and NOT TO BE MISSED. They serve a little piece of bundt cake with each breakfast, every day it's different and every day it was divine. I would love to come back and just bake bundt cakes with their pastry chef! (Ha! can we make that happen?)

We visited so many great places, trying to share most of them with you.

A can't miss place when you travel to AVQ is the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center. They have a restaurant  at the cultural center…these blue corn onion rings you guys! We also made Indian fry bread…amazing.

We learned so much at the cultural center and I'm grateful we visited. We learned about Indian boarding schools (please look it up and educated yourself) and so much about the tribes in ABQ and New Mexico. I'm ashamed that we didn't learn about these boarding schools in school here in Florida and firmly believe we are doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past if we don't even KNOW about our past.

That's why I love to travel, to connect with people and to learn.

We visited Golden Crown Panaderia and met these two great guys, a father and son team who run this bakery.

Yes to the coffee milkshake…it was amazing.

Their empanadas…

And their New Mexico Green Chile Bread…I still dream about this bread! I brought a loaf home with me and snacked on it until it was gone!

To say that we ate a lot of great food was an understatement.

The chef's tasting menu at Más was magnificent! That's where I had the watermelon margaritas recipe that I'm sharing with you today!

and Sopapillas at Sadie's…a New Mexican institution. Order recommendation: get the fried green chiles (so addicting) and the coconut margaritas (are you sensing a theme here?).

We traveled out to the Hyatt Regency Tamaya Resort & Spa and had the most amazing Pueblo oven bread (wow!) and had a wonderful lunch at the Corn Maiden (you can't miss that place).

We had a great time, Chef Eric Stumpf was humble, hilarious and obviously very talented. We all enjoyed every last bite of that tasting menu we had!

And we visited the stables at the Hyatt Regency…they have rescue horses! I captured this beautiful moment. The smaller horse was going to up to a few of the taller horses and doing this thing, it seemed like he was saying hi, what's going on? How are you doing? Checking up on his horse buddies.

I told you ABQ is so pretty!

This falafel burger and fries were on point at Flying Star Cafe. I wish I had room to try their amazing desserts!

So so much good food in Albuquerque, I can't wait to go back.

Now to this recipe…it's sooo easy to make.

Cut up some watermelon.

And blend it up. Zest and squeeze a lime. Add tequila, triple sec and agave nectar or simple syrup.

Salt a couple of watermelon wedges and you're done. The salted watermelon is so genius!! It takes this drink over the edge!

Enjoy!

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Watermelon Margaritas

Ingredients

watermelon juice

• 1/2 Tablespoon fresh squeezed lime juice
• 2 cups chopped watermelon
• 1 1/2 ounces tequila 3 Tablespoons
• 3/4 ounce Triple Sec 1 1/2 Tablespoons
• 3/4 ounce lime juice 1 1/2 Tablespoons
• 1/2 ounce agave nectar 1 Tablespoon
• small watermelon wedges for garnish
• Kosher salt

Instructions

• Make the watermelon juice. Add watermelon and lime juice to a blender and blend until smooth. (Makes about 1 1/2 cups juice.)
• Salt watermelon wedges with Kosher salt. Add tequila, triple sec, remaining lime juice and agave nectar to the watermelon juice. Stir and then pour into glasses and garnish with watermelon wedges.

Notes

Thanks to Más for sharing this recipe!

Disclosure: Thank you to Visit Albuquerque for hosting me on my trip. All opinions are my own and I wasn't required to write this post.

The post Watermelon Margaritas + Albuquerque, NM appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

As I mentioned before, I’m excited to be working with The National Shrimp Council this year and creating recipes with shrimp to share with you!

I love grilled shrimp and it's perfect for the summer AND al fresco dining. This recipe is so easy…it will take you no time to prepare it!

I prep the shrimp by deveining them and peeling it but leaving the tails on. That's my preference to leave the tails on, it's completely up to you!

Mix the butter and sriracha chili sauce.

Slice one and a half limes into thin slices, like you see above.

Line a baking sheet with Reynolds® Wrap Aluminum Foil. I really like using aluminum foil when I'm grilling because it makes cleaning up so simple!

Then, place shrimp on the skewers, with lime slices folded in half.

You'll have skewers that look like this!

Then, brush the shrimp skewers with sriracha butter.

Now, these are all set for the grill.

You can grill them on a grill or inside on a grill pan, totally up to you!

They cook really fast, you only really need to cook them 1 to 3 minutes on each side.

Be sure to put a new piece of aluminum foil on the baking sheet before putting the grilled shrimp skewers on.

You can serve these with rice or noodles…or they make a great appetizer. So easy to make and only four ingredients!

For more great recipes, be sure to follow the Shrimp Council on facebook and/or pinterest!

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Sriracha Lime Grilled Shrimp

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Total Time 20 minutes minutes

Servings 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound shrimp deveined and peeled except for the tails
• 3 Tablespoons spreadable butter
• 1 Tablespoon sriracha chili sauce
• 2 limes

Instructions

• Line a baking sheet with Reynolds® Wrap Aluminum Foil and set aside.
• Prep the shrimp and place on a paper towel-lined plate. Pat the shrimp dry.
• Turn on gas grill to high heat and allow to heat for 5 to 10 minutes. Or if you're using a grill pan inside, heat the grill pan on medium high heat for 5 to 6 minutes.
• In a small bowl, mix together butter and sriracha.
• Prep the limes. Cut the limes in half. Cut one and a half limes into slices. Cut the remaining half into wedges for serving.
• Place shrimp on skewers alternating with lime slices. Brush the sriracha butter on both sides of the shrimp. Place the skewered shrimp on the foil-lined baking sheet.
• Reduce the heat on the grill to medium high heat or heat for the grill pan to medium heat. Place skewered shrimp on the grill and cook for 1 to 3 minutes on each side. (Throw away the foil and reline the baking sheet with a new piece of foil.)
• Remove skewered shrimp from the grill and place on the newly lined baking sheet. Squeeze a couple of lime wedges over the shrimp before serving with rice or noodles.

Notes

Note: If you would like your shrimp spicier, you can brush on more sriracha butter while it's on the grill. Just be sure to put some of the sriracha butter in a separate bowl before brushing it on the raw shrimp.

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by The National Shrimp Council. Reynolds did provide product for the purpose of this post. I always share with you my own opinions and only work with brands that I love. Thank you for supporting the brands that I work with so I can continue to share with you recipes like these!

The post Sriracha Lime Grilled Shrimp appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

You guys, it's spring!! Time for picnics and just plain enjoying the outdoors! For spring, I love love pasta salads.

So when Hidden Valley® Ranch and Walmart reached out to work together, I knew I wanted to make a pasta salad with Hidden Valley's new Sriracha Ranch dressing…so perfect, right?

I bought all of my ingredients at Walmart, it's a great place to get ingredients to make delicious meals.

First, grill two ears of corn. I love grilled corn in pasta salad!

Cut up your red pepper.

Dice it up for the salad.

Love love, grape tomatoes…quarter these up for the salad.

Dice up half of a cucumber.

After the corn is grilled, cut off the kernels for the salad.

Set up all of your ingredients.

Including the Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing, one of their new dressings they just launched. It tastes like the ranch dressing you know and love and at the end, you get a kick with the sriracha!

Check out their other new Ranch dressings: Buffalo, Honey BBQ and Cilantro Lime, all available at Walmart!

Combine the corn, red pepper, onion and cucumber in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the pasta too.

Then, add the Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing.

Mix it together, add the tomatoes and mix again. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. After refrigerating, remove the pasta and mix it again. You might need to add more dressing at this point.

Serve the pasta salad with sliced green onions, sesame seeds and lime wedges. This is the perfect salad for a picnic, a potluck or a great side for a weekend meal. You will LOVE it, I just know it!

To try this sriracha dressing and Hidden Valley Ranch's other new dressings: buffalo, honey BBQ and cilantro lime…be sure to check out this coupon (psst! it's a coupon for $0.75 off any 12 oz or 16 oz bottle of Hidden Valley Ranch)!

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Sriracha Ranch Pasta Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 12- ounce package tri-color rotini pasta cooked according to package instructions
• 2 ears of fresh corn uncooked
• 1 red pepper chopped
• 1/4 red onion diced (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cucumber chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1/2 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing plus additional for serving
• 1 lime cut into wedges
• 8 ounces grape tomatoes quartered
• 3 green onions sliced
• 1 Tablespoon sesame seeds

Instructions

• Bring a pot of water to boil. Follow instructions on package to cook the pasta. After the pasta cooks, set it aside and allow it to cool.
• While the water is boiling, heat a grill pan on medium hight for 5 to 7 minutes. Cook corn for 4 to 5 minutes on each side, about 10 to 12 minutes. (Being careful not to burn the corn.) Allow to cool on a plate and then cut the kernels off.
• Prep your other vegetables.
• In a large mixing bowl, add corn, red pepper, onion and cucumber. Mix together well with a rubber spatula. Add pasta and mix together. Add Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing and mix together. Squeeze a couple of lime wedges into the bowl with the pasta salad.
• Add to the bowl with the pasta salad, grape tomatoes and mix well. Refrigerate the pasta salad covered for at least 30 minutes.
• Before serving, mix the pasta salad and add more Hidden Valley Ranch Sriracha dressing if necessary. Serve the pasta salad with green onions, sesame seeds and lime wedges.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Hidden Valley Ranch. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Sriracha Ranch Pasta Salad appeared first on The Little Kitchen.

Hello, smoked salmon. I love you. Usually, I'm eating it on a bagel with cream cheese. But this…this takes it to another level.

breakfast earlier with @nicolechismar avocado toast with smoked salmon, kale, shredded carrot and shaved fennel from @lepainquotidien #nyc #thisisnewyorkcity @nycgo #nyceats

A photo posted by Julie Deily (@thelittlekitchn) on Jun 30, 2015 at 10:16am PDT

I went to New York City recently and met my friend, Nicole, for breakfast/lunch…brunch and she suggested we go to Le Pain Quotidien…great choice! I copied her order of an avocado toast and ADDING the smoked salmon. I love that they included kale too!

Other places that I went to while in NYC…Shake Shack…yesssss.

Rex Coffee…the coffee was spectacular so were the breakfast sandwiches (the bacon was to die for) and the scones!! Order it all!

And then we went shopping to at Anthropologie and I fell in love with this purse. My favorite color is yellow…isn't it perfect? I didn't buy it though…

Oh gosh, it's a food blog and it's a fitting room selfie…this top, I'm obsessed with it. I bought it and then proceeded to leave it in the bag on a NYC subway. ::(

Aren't these bags from Pamela Barsky awesome? I love this one!!! They are all handmade and screenprinted in NYC. I bought this one but also left it on the subway with the Anthro top…I think someone else probably had a really good day when they found that bag!

My sister and I had an amazing dinner at Ippudo…ramen foreva…seriously…epic meal. They are on my hit list every time I visit now!

And yes…I bought cronuts…and didn't wait in line. Because I preordered them! Every Monday at 11am ET, the dates that are up for preorder are for one week…the week that's up for preorder is two weeks away so plan accordingly! Put it in your calendar, set reminders and be there or be square.

Right at 11am, it didn't work really well for me but I was persistent and my order finally went through at 11:32am. Remember, some people aren't able to submit their order and it takes a few minutes for the inventory to be released. Some people give up and go away so even if you don't get your preorder done right at 11am, there's still a chance!

And now for this wonderful toast that I have enjoyed at home several times now!

Cut the stems from the kale.

See that? You don't need that.

Massage the kale.

I always feel like the kale looks even more vibrant green when it's massaged.

I used this everything bagel shake and added it to the kale…

Thanks to the folks at hatchery for sending me some fun stuff to try, I bought the bagel shake blend myself!

along with olive oil.

Slice and dice up three quarters of one avocado, add lime juice and mix and mash.

The last quarter of the avocado, just slice it up. Squeeze lime over these slices.

Toast the bread and spread butter on the bread.

Spread the mashed avocado over the slices.

Then, add the smoked salmon, sliced avocado and then top with the kale!

Umm yeah…no words, I'm really lame but I have no words. The buttery avocado and the BUTTERY salmon…hits the spot. I'm obsessed and I salute and thank my friend Nicole for introducing me to this wonderful concoction. I hope you thank me too when you make this!

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Avocado Toast with Smoked Salmon and Kale Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Total Time 10 minutes minutes

Servings 3 to 4 pieces of toast

Ingredients

• 2 kale stems washed
• olive oil
• bagel shake optional
• 1 avocado washed
• 3 to 4 slices of really good quality bread I used a multigrain bread from my local grocery store’s bakery
• freshly squeezed lime juice
• salt
• spreadable butter
• smoked salmon
• lime wedges for serving optional

Instructions

• Remove the stems from the kale and chop into big pieces. Massage with your fingers to soften up the kale leaves. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons olive oil and mix together with your hands. Add a sprinkle of bagel shake or salt and pepper and mix again.
• Prep the avocado, while you’re prepping the avocado, toast the bread. Cut avocado in half and remove the seed carefully. Using a knife, on one half of the avocado, slide up and down and then side to side. Scoop the avocado pieces out into a small bowl. With the other half, only cut half of it and place into the bowl. The other half (or the last quarter of the avocado), you’ll remove and place on a cutting board and slice to top the toast with. Add some lime juice to the slices of avocado.
• Mash the avocado with the back of a fork, add lime juice and salt to taste and mix. Spread butter on the slices of toast and then spread the mashed avocado on top. Add slices of smoke salmon and then top with the avocado slices. Top with kale and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Optionally, drizzle olive oil and lemon juice on top. Serve immediately.

Notes

Inspired by a dish I had at Le Pain Quotidien

Just sayin' this isn't a sponsored post. The hatchery folks were nice enough to send me some fun products to try out and I bought some items myself, including the bagel shake.

The post Avocado Toast with Smoked Salmon & Kale appeared first on The Little Kitchen.