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Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Outback Alice Springs Chicken Makeover with Sandwich Option

Is there anyone out there who has NOT had the Alice Springs Chicken at Outback Steakhouse?  Whoa.....that is some very serious yumminess...I mean bacon, chicken, honey mustard...that is a magic combo where I am concerned!
Believe it or not, this makeover is super easy!  It's very similar to their, but it's my take with some healthier ingredients!  The kids like it in sandwich form, so pop it onto a gluten free bun and it's a winner that way too!

*You can use breasts or thighs for this, but I REALLY like the boneless/skinless thighs for the sandwich option because they are the perfect portion size for the sandwich.  They are a little fattier cut of meat, but when cooked they average about 3-4oz., which is a perfect portion.  So I used all thighs this!  For breasts just cook them a little longer.

***You can always cook the chicken ahead and reserve in the fridge for super fast dinner prep!!!!  In fact, we like to cook up a dozen thighs and half dozen breasts just like this on Sundays for dinner and salads all week long!  Saves time and maximizes that yummy marinade...I PROMISE this marinade is the BEST.***


What you need....
1 package of boneless/skinless chicken thighs or breasts (6-10 thighs or 4 breasts)
1 package of Applegate Good Morning Bacon
1 pint of baby bella mushrooms, washed and sliced
6-10 slices of swiss cheese or cheddar (the OB recipe uses cheddar but I LOVE Swiss)
Honey Mustard Sauce (below)
Balsamic Marinade (below)
Gluten Free Buns (optional) - I like Udi's Hamburger Buns (HT carries these w/ the frozen bread in the deli)

Place the chicken into a shallow dish and pour marinade over.  Place in the fridge for 4+ hours.
In the meantime, prepare your mushrooms and honey mustard sauce.  I also prepare the sweet potato fries and baked onion as our side (below).  I like to bake the mushrooms, sweet potato fries, onion and bacon while the chicken is grilling, to save time!

Preheat oven to 400F.  Line a baking sheet with 2 sheets of foil, bending them up at the sides to form a border.  You can always use 2 pans, but I find that this is just as easy!  Add sliced mushrooms to one side and bacon slices to the other side.  Bake for 15 minutes, then remove mushrooms and fold up the foil to keep them warm.  Flip the bacon and cook 15 minutes longer.

Heat the grill to high heat and allow to burn off for a few minutes.  Clean grill.  Add chicken to hot grill and turn down to low.  Cook for 15 minutes, flip and cook for 15 minutes longer, or until internal temperature of 165F is reached.  Remove from grill.  Add chicken to a foil lined pan, spacing them out.  I like to bunch 2 together when they are not going onto a sandwich or for a little larger serving.  Top each piece of chicken with a few mushrooms, about 1/2 slice of torn bacon and a small spoonful of the honey mustard sauce.  Then top with 1/2 slices of cheddar or swiss cheese.  Bake in preheated 400F oven for about 5 minutes, just until cheese is melty.  Serve alone or on a bun with additional honey mustard.

This pairs wonderfully with oven baked sweet potato fries and balsamic baked blooming onion - below!!

Balsamic Marinade
1/4 cup honey
1/2 balsamic vinegar
3/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup olive oil

Combine in a bowl or jar and mix well.

Honey Mustard Sauce
1/4 cup Dijon
1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup honey

Combine in a jar and shake!

My kids would drink this stuff.  We keep a batch of it in the fridge almost all the time!


What you need...
Preheat oven to 400F, line a pan with foil, add the mushrooms and lie out the bacon.

It's easy to cook them at the same time as sweet potato fries!
Bake 15 minutes, then remove mushrooms and flip bacon, cook 15 minutes longer.
Heat grill to high heat, clean grill.  Add chicken at high heat and immediately reduce to low, cook 15 minutes, flip cook 15 more.
Remove bacon to drain on paper towel.
Get ready to assemble...
Add grilled chicken to foil lined pan...
Top each with 1/2 a bacon slice...
Add 1 spoonful of honey mustard sauce, then top with 1/2 slice of cheese....
Return to oven for 5 minutes, just long enough to melt cheese...

Serve on a bun with MORE honey mustard, or double your chicken and leave off the bun!

Baked Onions and Sweet Potato Fries

What you need...
2 sweet potatoes
1 sweet onion
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
olive oil
salt
pepper
foil

Preheat oven to 400F.  Peel sweet potatoes and slice them into small planks for fries.  Add them to a container with a lid.  Drizzle with olive oil, 1/3 tsp salt, a heavy dash of pepper.  Add the lid and shake to coat.  *I usually prepare them to this point and put in to the fridge until ready!  Add an oven safe cooling rack to a pan or use a broiler pan, place the fries spaced out on the pan.  They can be close together but don't let them touch or they will steam each other and not get crunchy!  Bake at 400F for 40 minutes.

Slice the top and bottom off of the onion, just enough to remove the root, so that it sits flat.  Peel the outer layer off the onion.  Use a spoon to scoop out about 1" deep in the center of the onion (see pics).  Using a knife, slice from the center out, about every 1.5" around the onion (see pics), GENTLY pull onion apart from the center creating the bloom.  Place it onto a sheet of foil.  Pour about 1 tsp olive oil into the center and add balsamic vinegar.  Pull the corners of the foil up and twist to secure.  Bake onion with fries for 40 minutes!  Slice the foil open over a bowl and serve!





















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