Sheet Tray Salmon

Bae Rating: 3/5. It's healthy and easy to clean up. 

Vibes: Bikini season is around the corner, but you refuse to eat air, dreams or flat tummy tea.

Ingredients

• ~1.5 lb Salmon Filets, Skin On
• 4 baby Bok Choy, halved
• 4 cups Snap Peas (not snow peas) 
• 1 small Red Onion, halved and sliced 
• 1 small Red Chile pepper, sliced 
• 2-3 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 1 TSP Ginger Root, grated 
• 1 TBSP sliced scallions, plus more for garnish
• 1/2 Cup of Soy Sauce 
• 2 TBSP of toasted sesame oil 
• 2 TBSP cup of mirin
• 1 TSP Kosher Salt
• 1 TBSP White Pepper
• 1 TSP Ground Ginger
• 1 TBSP Garlic Powder
• 1 TSP chili powder 
• 1 TBSP Onion Powder
• sesame seeds for garnish 

For the Sauce:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 
2. Mix soy sauce, sesame oil, mirin, sliced chiles, minced garlic, grated ginger and scallions in a small bowl. 
   1. Tip: Fresh ginger is easiest to peel with a spoon! The skin is super thin, and using a vegetable peeler will sacrifice too much ginger. We also use a hand grater for our ginger, but a box grater on a super fine setting will work too!

For the Veggies:

1. Arrange snap peas, bok choy and sliced onions in a single layer on a sheet pan. Drizzle with the sauce (reserve two tablespoons) and place in the oven for 15 minutes. 
   1. Make sure you slice your onions thinly and evenly; about 1/4 of an inch is fine! If you have a mandoline, this would be the time to use it. 
   2. We rinsed our baby bok choy, sliced the ends off and separated the leaves. We gave them one more rinse before patting them dry, just to make sure no dirt or debris was deep down in the layers. 
2. Remove your veggies from the oven, and set aside. 

For the Salmon: 

1. Combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, onion and garlic powder and sprinkle over the salmon.
2. Pat the salmon dry, and season to taste with the spice blend. 
3. Place the salmon on the sheet pan among but NOT on top of the vegetables
4. Cook until the salmon is cooked through to your desired doneness. Our salmon was thin, so it took just under 10 minutes. 
5. Drizzle the reserved sauce over the salmon, and broil for 1 minute minute to crisp the salmon a little more, then remove from the oven. 
   1. We leave the oven door open while we broil. Broiling tends to turn to burning in a heartbeat, so watch closely.
6. Garnish with sesame seeds and sliced scallions, and serve hot!

Smoked Paprika Chicken Thighs with Tomato Caper Rice

Bae Rating: 2.5. Simply because this dish is literally chicken and rice. This is an "I had a long day at work so I need to cook for my husband of 25 years and our 5 kids" kind of dish. Still bomb though :). 

Ingredients 

1 1/2 LB Chicken Thighs (about 4)

1 1/2 tbs of smoked paprika

1 tbs of garlic powder

1 tbs of onion powder

1/2 tbs of dried oregano

Sea salt and black pepper (to taste)

1 cup of Tomato-Caper sauce

2 cups of chicken stock (plus extra)

1 cup of white rice (we used Uncle Ben’s)

2 tbs of vegetable oil

Instructions

1. Pat dry your chicken thighs, and trim any extra fat. Season them liberally on both sides with the spice mixture, and set aside
2. In a medium oven-safe skillet, heat the vegetable oil on medium-high, then add the chicken thighs skin-side down
3. Sear the chicken thighs until they are crisp and have a beautiful deep brown color, roughly 1-2 minutes depending on how hot your stovetop gets. Don’t worry about cooking them through, they’ll finish in the oven!
4. Remove the chicken thighs, and add the white rice. Coat the rice in all the chickeny, crusty goodness, and stir for about a minute
5. Add the chicken stock and tomato caper sauce and stir.
6. Place the chicken thighs on top, and bake at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Check the chicken at about 20 minutes, they should be done. If so, remove them, stir the rice, and let it continue to cook. If it looks a little dry, add a little more chicken stock, stir, and continue to bake it for another 5 minutes.
7. Serve the chicken and rice hot!

Slow Cooker Chipotle Chicken

Bae Rating: 2/5. Unless bae loves the simple things in life--aka chicken in a crockpot, this isn't the meal to impress someone. Perfect meal for a girls #TacoTuesday doe, turn up! 

Vibes: Honestly, every time we make quesadillas from the chipotle chicken it ends up being a lit night and these make for the perfect pregame and post-club recovery meal. Throw this chicken over grits for an even more fire hangover breakfast. Here's a turn up song.

Ingredients 

• 1.5 LBs of boneless skinless chicken thighs
• 1 cup of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (~ 1 7.5 oz can)
• 1 cup of crushed tomatoes
• 2 large cloves of garlic
• 1 TBS of honey
• 1/2 TBS of dried oregano
• 1/2 TBS of cumin
• 1/2 TBS of chili powder
• 1/2 TBS of garlic powder
• 1/2 TBS of onion powder
• 1/2 TBS of black pepper
• 1/4 TBS of sea salt
• 1 large bay leaf

Instructions

1. In a blender or food processor, puree the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, crushed tomatoes, garlic and honey until the mixture is smooth
2. Mix together all of the dry seasoning except the bay leaf, and sprinkle it evenly on both sides of the chicken.
3. Place the chicken in the crock pot, and pour the chipotle/ tomato mixture over the top
4. Add the bay leaf on top, and close the lid. Duh.
5. You can either cook the chicken for 2-3 hours on high, or 4-6 hours on low (depending on the power of your slow cooker). After the chicken is done, remove the bay leaf and shred the chicken to pieces. It should take no effort, because it’s been simmering in deliciousness.
   1. This is the perfect way to have dinner Olivia Pope handled before you leave for work!

We served our slow chipotle chicken in a cheesy quesadilla, with shredded colby jack and pepper jack cheese!