Barbecue Chicken Pita Pockets

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with Sweet Baby Ray’s but all opinions expressed are my own. Thank you for supporting the brands that support The Daley Plate!

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Sometimes the best kind of food isn’t complicated, doesn’t require too much time in the kitchen, and makes use of items we probably all have in our pantry and crisper drawer. I like to say on Instagram, that sometimes you just need a good sandwich, and it’s true. These barbecue chicken pita pockets are so filled with a delicious mix of crunchy vegetables, creamy feta cheese and succulent grilled chicken basted with Sweet Baby Ray’s Original barbecue sauce…How can you go wrong?

When I moved here eight years ago my husbands family welcomed me with a traditional Southern feast of barbecue ribs, collards, potato salad and grilled chicken - I learned then that Sweet Baby Ray’s is a crucial element in many of the foods prepared by his family, and many other families that I’ve come to know since then. Visit the Sweet Baby Ray’s website to check out Sweet Baby Ray’s sauces and discover more delicious ways to use them. I hope that you enjoy this easy recipe that’s so perfect for a satisfying weeknight meal, Summer cookout or quick lunch. The great thing about it is that you can use what you have available and it’s also delicious when substituting lettuce for spinach or cheddar cheese for feta. If I’m entertaining, I love to place individual elements on a large platter for people to make their own pita pockets and kids absolutely love that part! A little bowl of Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce on the side for to serve is always special, who doesn’t love a little extra?

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Barbecue Chicken Pita Pockets

Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes Serves: 4 

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs (1lb)
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce, plus more for serving
2-4 cups fresh baby spinach
2 cups sliced salad cucumber
1 1/2 cups sliced cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup cubed feta cheese 
1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 whole wheat pita breads, cut in half

Guidelines:

Season chicken thighs evenly with salt, black pepper and paprika then drizzle with olive oil. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a griddle pan or grill to medium-high and sear chicken for 4-6 minutes per side. Use a basting brush to coat chicken with Sweet Baby Ray’s Original Barbecue Sauce and continue to cook for 1-2 minutes or until chicken registers 165F internal temperature. Remove from griddle pan and slice or chop into cubes. 

Carefully open each pita half and place equal amounts of vegetables and grilled barbecue chicken in each. Serve immediately with extra Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce for dipping.

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Herby Pork and Zucchini Patties

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with the National Pork Board, showcasing cooking with pork to create nutritious meals as part of a balanced lifestyle. All opinions are my own.

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If you’re stuck in a rut and looking for something a little different that doesn’t take too much time to make, I highly recommend giving these pork and zucchini patties a try! They are excellent for meal prep if you prefer to cook 1-2 days ahead of time during those busy weeks like I do. Though I do enjoy cooking, I find that taking this approach to free up time when it may be limited leads to better productivity and overall happiness in the long run. It’s all about self-care and being aware of these little changes that make a huge impact over time. 

Pork is versatile, delicious and takes on the flavor of anything you add to it. There are various lean cuts available on the market that could fit into any well-balanced meal plan easily. Have a look at the National Pork Board website for lots of recipes, information and inspiration! If this recipe sounds appealing to you then you’ll probably also enjoy these Mediterranean Pork Chops.

In my recipe, I’ve used ground pork and added freshly grated zucchini which cooked up beautifully and delivered a nice texture. It would probably be a great way to hide extra vegetables from your kids as well :) Some creamy feta crumbles add a great salty kick, lemon zest makes the flavors pop and finely chopped Thai chili brings a little spice to keep you coming back for more. Serve it with a fresh Greek salad and my feta sauce and I promise it’ll be amazing!

Helpful Tips:
To get the most accurate temperature reading, I suggest using a digital meat thermometer. Ground pork and sausage should always be cooked to an internal temperature of 160F and a meat thermometer will help you nail that temp!

Prepping all of the ingredients ahead of time will make your life easier. Pick up some ground pork during your next grocery run to store in the freezer until ready to use. Have all other ingredients ready to go before starting. Slice and chop ingredients for a salad 1-2 days ahead of time and assemble as needed. I usually have what we call our “fridge favorites” on hand and this includes sliced mini cucumbers, washed baby spinach, rinsed cherry tomatoes plus a variety of olives. When you have a protein like pork cooked and ready, it’s easy to just grab these prepped items from the fridge to enjoy on the side - the quantity is up to you.

If you’re following a diet that’s lower in carbs, grinding up some pork rinds to use instead of bread crumbs is a great way to bind these patties! 

Herby Pork and Zucchini Patties
Prep Time: 10 minutes | Cook Time: 12-15 minutes | Makes eight 2 ounce patties

Ingredients:
1.5 lb ground pork (80/20 blend)
1 cup grated zucchini
1 extra large egg
½ cup panko crumbs or finely crushed pork rinds
2-3 cloves finely minced garlic
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon lemon pepper OR Greek seasoning 
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon fresh chopped sage
¼ cup fresh chopped parsley
¼ cup feta crumbles
zest of a medium lemon
Optional: 1 small red chili 

For the feta sauce:
¼ cup feta crumbles
½ cup plain greek yogurt
1-2 tablespoons fresh or dried herbs like dill, parsley, oregano, chives
The juice of your zested lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

To Serve: Freshly sliced cucumber, cherry tomatoes, olives, baby spinach and red onion

Guidelines:
Combine all ingredients for the pork patties in a large bowl. Gently combine using a fork, then divide into eight equal portions and form into 1 -inch thick patties by using your hands. 

Add a tablespoon of neutral oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Sear patties for 6 minutes per side, or until the internal temperature registers 160F on a meat thermometer. 

Blend ingredients for feta sauce in a food processor and season to taste. Serve pork patties with prepared salad ingredients and feta sauce!

The patties can be stored in an airtight container for up to two days and should be consumed within that time. I’ve found that reheating them in the air fryer or oven is best.

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Poutine with Savory Lamb Gravy

This recipe is brought to you in partnership with the American Lamb Board. I am proud to serve delicious American Lamb to my family, supporting American shepherds and their families in sustaining working farmland and farm communities.

What’s better than sharing a plate of crispy fries with a special friend, partner or relative? Fries covered with melted cheddar cheese curds and a delicious savory American lamb gravy! I’ve been thinking about the Canadian classic for months now, wondering how I could recreate it at home for a special date night dinner. Before moving to America I had never heard of this dish, but increasingly started to notice it on social media and cooking shows. What is poutine? According to Wikipedia, Poutine is a dish of french fries and cheese curds topped with a brown gravy. It emerged in Quebec, Canada, in the late 1950s in the Centre-du-Québec region, though its origins are uncertain and there are several competing claims of having invented the dish. 

Though any brown gravy is acceptable, I do prefer the taste of American lamb and had some shanks in the freezer which I thought would make the perfect brown gravy. Lamb shanks come in both foreshanks and hind shanks. Lamb shanks practically melt off the bone when they are slow cooked, and are perfect for dishes like lamb stock which is needed to make the gravy in this recipe.  You want this bone-in cut of lamb to extract maximum flavor when making the stock, so check availability with your local butcher or supermarket beforehand. Check out AmericanLamb.com for useful guides, including this one on how to buy and store American lamb.  I’m not sure that it’s traditional to have meat in a poutine, but the tender lamb shank meat in this recipe gets pulled off the bone and added back into the gravy for a heartier meal. How can you go wrong with this moreish combination?  

Did you know February is Lamb Lover’s Month? To celebrate, the American Lamb Board is hosting a fun giveaway on both their Facebook and Instagram page. Tag a friend and comment on the giveaway posts to be entered to win great prizes! There are quality cast iron dutch ovens and wool blankets up for grabs. Find more information on the American Lamb website or click the image below to visit the first giveaway post!

Tips before you start:

Though I also make my own fries for this recipe, the goal isn’t to spend a lot of time in the kitchen if you’re not able to. It is definitely easier to purchase your favorite frozen fries and bake or air fry them right before serving. A little truffle salt elevates the fries whether you choose to make your own or go the short route - I made both last week and it was amazing.

The gravy can be made ahead of time and portioned out into four servings, then frozen for up to 3 months in a sealed container. Take it out and defrost overnight, then heat it up over low heat when you’re ready for your next poutine fix! This is meal prep that I can get behind!

A cheese curd is a young cheddar that hasn’t been aged or put into a wheel when the curds are separated from the whey during the cheesemaking process. Fresh curds melt easily but are hard to find here unless you have a special connection with your cheesemonger here, or you live in Canada. The curds sold in stores do not melt as easily as fresh curds from Quebec when pouring hot gravy onto them, so in my opinion, fresh mozzarella (or fresh feta) is also a good alternative. Tear a ball into pieces and place it around the hot fries before ladling the lamb gravy over.

Poutine with Savory Lamb Gravy
4 Servings | Preparation Time: 20 minutes | Cook time: 45 minutes

For the gravy:
2 American Lamb shanks (about 1 and a half pounds)
1 cup sliced leeks (white parts only)
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
6 cloves garlic, sliced
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 bay leaf
1 tablespoon porcini mushroom seasoning
1 ½ cups sliced portobello mushrooms
4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable or chicken stock
2 teaspoons worcestershire sauce
1-2  each fresh sprigs of rosemary, sage and thyme
1 heaped tablespoon cornstarch
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar to brighten things up
½ cup fresh cheddar cheese curds or torn fresh mozzarella cheese
Salt, black pepper and fresh thyme to taste

For the fries if making your own:
2 medium russet potatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt (I highly recommend truffle salt)
1 teaspoon cracked black pepper

In a large heavy bottomed pot over medium heat, brown lamb shanks for 5 minutes per side. Add leeks, celery, carrot, garlic, salt, bay leaf and seasoning then cook for 5 minutes stirring once or twice. Add mushrooms, stock and worcestershire sauce and herbs then place a lid on and simmer for 2 ½ to 3 hours until the lamb is very tender. If the liquid evaporates too much during cooking, top it up with some stock or water.

Remove lamb shanks from the pot, pull all meat from the bone and set aside. Strain the broth (will make a lighter gravy that you’ll need to season to taste), OR remove the bay leaf, then puree everything using an immersion blender for a richer broth that’s like a stew. Make a slurry with the cornstarch and water, whisk into the pot and stir until thickened. Add the pulled lamb back into the gravy, add apple cider vinegar and season to taste. Set aside until ready to assemble.

Cut the potatoes into fries and soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Strain and drain on a clean kitchen towel, patting dry. Add fries to a bowl or sheet pan and toss with olive oil and salt then air fry for 15-20 minutes at 375F depending on thickness.

To bake: Preheat your oven to 375F and spread the fries evenly in a single layer on the sheet pan. Cook for 20 minutes, turn the heat to 425F and continue baking until crisp (about 10-20 minutes). The time will depend on the thickness of your fries, so watch it halfway through and test for doneness.

To assemble: Place fries on a plate, add cheese curds and spoon a few ladles of lamb gravy over. Finish with fresh herbs and pepper. Serve immediately.

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Peppered Beef Prime Rib Roast with Horseradish Cream Sauce

This post is a collaboration with Beef. It’s What’s for Dinner. on behalf of the Beef Checkoff. I received compensation, but all opinions are my own.

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This year definitely looks a little different, but one thing a lot of us can say is that we tried new things and learned to improve the skills we had (example: everybody and their sourdough 2020 haha). Now that the year is almost ending, let’s continue that spirit and learn how to perfectly cook a Prime Rib Roast! This traditional holiday roast has generous marbling, great beef flavor and can feed a crowd. At the store, Prime Rib can go by different names including Standing Rib Roast, Holiday Roast, Rib Roast or Ribeye Roast. It can be found in the meat case with both boneless and bone-in options. The Rib/Ribeye Roast comes from the rib primal which gives it the rich, beefy flavor everyone loves. It is savory, finely textured and typically has generous marbling. Many people are intimidated by larger cuts but I hope this guide helps you! Our gatherings will definitely be smaller this year, but cooking a delicious Beef Prime Rib Roast is a family tradition and feels very special to us. If you’re on a tighter budget this year, get creative and stretch one meal into multiple other meals that’ll feed your family for an extra day. I’ll list a few leftover ideas at the end of the recipe! For more holiday inspiration, head over to BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com/Holidays, along with shoppable recipes so you can find and buy ingredients for your perfect beef holiday meal online and have it delivered directly to your door. Their website really has all the information you need to cook any cut of beef to perfection.

This recipe is very simple, and inspired by one that I recently saw Chef Jet Tila make during a Zoom event a few weeks ago. He suggested that roasting a Prime Rib low and slow was the way to go. I tried it and sure enough...perfection. If you take this approach you can feel confident that your meal will be incredible. Here are some steps to follow for my recipe:

PREP & PREHEAT
Season a larger cut of beef like this generously, cover and refrigerate for 1-2 days for the flavors to concentrate. This will also help form a beautiful crust. I season with salt, pepper, fresh thyme and a thin layer of Dijon mustard which really helps the crust form and gives amazing flavor. When ready to cook the Prime Rib Roast, preheat your oven to 325F.

ARE WE DONE YET?
Place the beef fat-side-up in a roasting pan — preferably with a rack, which improves air circulation and promotes more even cooking. Insert an ovenproof meat thermometer with the tip positioned in the center of the cut. A meat thermometer is one of the best investments I’ve made for my kitchen, it really does take the guesswork out of cooking. An ovenproof thermometer that stays in the roast is preferable to instant-read ones, because you don’t open the oven multiple times or poke multiple holes that might cause too many juices to run out. If using an instant-read thermometer, insert toward the end of cooking time for about 15 seconds, remove and continue to cook if needed. Here are some cooking temperatures to help guide you based on the size of your Prime Rib Roast. Remember not to overshoot your target temp because it will continue to rise after pulling the roast from the oven (Usually 10-15 degrees more as it rests). My 5lb Boneless Ribeye Roast took about 2 ½ hours (with resting time) to reach a perfect medium rare which is how we like it.

GIVE IT A REST
Transfer the roast to a carving tray or cutting board, then cover it loosely with aluminum foil and let it rest awhile. Larger roasts need more time to rest, often up to 15–20 minutes. I pulled mine at 130F and the temperature rose to 145F after a 20 minute rest. Those few extra minutes are a great opportunity to make the sauce or prepare any sides.

CARVE & SERVE
The most important tool for properly carving your roast is a sharp knife — be safe! If you’re using a meat fork, don’t pierce the roast to hold it in place. Use the back of the fork instead (tongs work great, too). Always cut across the grain for maximum tenderness.

You’ll need a boneless roast for my recipe, it’s always a good idea to call your butcher or meat counter ahead of time to order the cuts you need.

I prepared some roasted vegetables that I had in the house to go with my Prime Rib Roast, along with a horseradish cream sauce that can be made ahead of time. If you prefer a gravy, use the pan drippings by adding some beef stock and cornstarch then whisking over medium-low heat until thickened.

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Peppered Beef Prime Rib Roast
1 (5lb [2.3kg]) beef Prime Rib Roast
3-4 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3-4 tablespoons ground black pepper
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
Horseradish Cream Sauce
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons grated horseradish
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper

To Serve: Roasted vegetables - I had a combination of golden beets, delicata squash, romanesco, acorn squash, red onion and purple potato. Steamed green beans and peppery fresh arugula are also great.
Special Equipment: Meat thermometer, deep roasting tray or sheet pan, wire rack, sharp knife, cutting board, aluminum foil.

Guidelines:
Season your Prime Rib Roast with the salt, rubbing generously over all surfaces. Spread the Dijon mustard all over the beef using the back of a spoon or silicone pastry brush, then evenly sprinkle the pepper and thyme onto the roast. The Dijon mustard will help the pepper and herbs stick. Place fat side up on a wire rack within a deep baking sheet or roasting dish, cover with foil and refrigerate for 1-2 days for the flavors to concentrate.

When ready to cook your Prime Rib Roast, preheat the oven to 325F (160C). Uncover the roast, insert your ovenproof thermometer if using, and place the roasting dish on the center oven rack. Cook for 2 hours or until the internal temperature is between around 130F, the temperature will continue to rise 15 degrees as it rests to reach a perfect 145F for medium rare. The crust should be a nice golden brown thanks to the Dijon mustard. Remove from the oven, tent loosely with foil and allow to rest for 20 minutes before carving.

To make the sauce: Combine ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

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Chef Tila recommends about 1lb of Prime Rib Roast per person, because this will ensure enough for leftovers. For me, that’s the best part. Here are some leftover ideas including a quick Beef Noodle Soup recipe!

Philly Cheesesteak Eggs! - Sauté ½ sliced white onion and green bell pepper in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup roughly chopped leftover Prime Rib Roast, create hollows and crack in one egg per person. Sprinkle over some provolone or cheddar cheese then place a lid on to cook until eggs are set. Season with salt and pepper then serve! The cheese will caramelize a little, it’s delicious.

Open Faced Mediterranean Beef Sandwiches! - Toast some whole-wheat bread and spread each slice with some sun-dried tomato pesto. Add some crumbled feta, chopped olives and thinly sliced leftover Prime Rib Roast. Drizzle with olive oil and scatter with fresh herbs (basil or oregano).

Beef Noodle Soup! - Bring 32 ounces of beef broth to a simmer. Slice in some fresh ginger and 1 thinly sliced scallion to flavor the broth even more. Add two bundles (180g) dried udon noodles and cook for 4 minutes until tender. Add some fresh bok choy, sliced mushrooms and simmer for 2 minutes then divide soup into bowls. Top with thinly sliced Prime Rib Roast and more chopped scallion. Serve with sriracha or pepper flakes to taste (Serves 2)

Do you know about the Beef Drool Log? The original ‘Beef Drool Log’ was introduced in 2019 and on average, it made people drool and watch for nearly 10 minutes. This year, Beef. It’s What’s For Dinner. is taking the ‘Beef Drool Log’ a step further by introducing three new versions of the ‘Beef Drool Log’, including:

A 27-minute video of the Drool Log slowly cooking that narrates ideas of all the recipes you can make with beef courtesy of BeefItsWhatsForDinner.com.
A 30-second video of the Drool Log called Meatitation that encourages people to take deep breathes and relaxxxx around the Drool Log.
A 15-second video of the Drool Log that reminds people if they’re missing the movie-theater blockbusters, then Drool Log is the feature-length film for them.

Hilarious. I hope you enjoy your holiday meal, no matter how you celebrate :-) If you do decide to try this method and cook a Prime Rib Roast, I’d love to see! If you plan on sharing, please tag me #thedaleyplate @thedaleplate and #BeefItsWhatsForDinner @BeefItsWhatsForDinner on Instagram or Facebook. Thank you!