Winger's Sticky Fingers

I have a problem with going to restaurants: I love the food and I begin to crave it. It especially becomes a problem when I move across the country and no longer have specific restaurants available to me such as Cafe Rio, Rumbi or Winger's. So I have made it a goal to find copy-cat recipes of some of my favorite foods. This particular recipe is a copy-cat of Winger's infamous sticky fingers. I crave their amazing sauce and I often find my mouth watering just thinking about it. Lucky for me, I stumbled across a recipe that tastes almost exactly like Winger's original sticky fingers! It's extremely easy to throw together with only 3 common ingredients. I also made my own chicken fingers rather than buying them and baked them in the oven for a healthier dish. (Picture and recipe courtesy of Favorite Family Recipes.)

Ingredients:

Sauce Recipe:

• 3 Tbsp. Frank's Hot Sauce
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. water

Chicken Recipe:

• 1 lb. chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tsp. garlic powder

Preset oven to 375 degrees. Pour milk in a small bowl. Mix bread crumbs, flour and garlic powder in a separate small bowl. Coat chicken breasts in milk and then in bread crumb mixture. Lay chicken pieces flat on a baking sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes or until cooked through. While cooking, mix together the hot sauce, brown sugar and water in a small saucepan over medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Toss cooked chicken strips in sauce until coated. Serve with a side of ranch dressing for dipping.

Southwest Chicken Quesadillas

These are definitely my go-to meal when it comes to a quick, easy and delicious dinner. These quesadillas have a perfectly crunchy shell and are stuffed with chicken, rice, black beans, tomatoes, onions, cheese, cilantro and a creamy sour cream sauce that holds everything together. They are also very healthy so I don't feel quite as guilty when I eat 2 or 3.. okay, so maybe 4 - but only on bad days! (Picture and recipe adapted from Mel's Kitchen Cafe)




Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked rice (I usually cook my rice in chicken broth rather than water to give it more flavor)
• 1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 medium tomato, chopped
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 2 tsp. hot sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 4 burrito-size flour tortillas

Mix together the sour cream, mayonnaise, hot sauce, chili powder, cumin and garlic powder in a small bowl. Spread in a thin layer over tortillas. Arrange the chicken, rice, beans, onion, tomato, and cilantro on half of the tortilla. Sprinkle with the cheese. Fold tortillas in half and spray each side with cooking spray. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat for 1-minute. Cook each quesadilla 2-3 minutes per side until golden brown and crisp. Be careful not to over-cook or over-heat as tortillas will burn quickly.

Mexican Chicken Casserole

This meal definitely falls into the "comfort food" category. It is a one-pot-wonder meal that is quick to throw together and very filling. It's also very healthy which is a huge bonus when it comes to comfort foods. The chicken is seared in taco seasoning and combined with onions, green peppers, tomatoes, black beans and salsa. Then it's layered with cheese and tortillas and baked to perfection. Honestly, it is simply delicious and deliciously simple. (Picture and recipe courtesty of Kraft Foods)

Ingredients:

• 3/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 Tbsp. taco seasoning (about 1/2 of a taco-seasoning packet)
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 cup medium-spicy salsa (medium gives it a lot more flavor)
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tomato, diced
• 2 tortillas (6-inch)
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Cook and stir chicken, cumin, taco seasoning and water in a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray. Add peppers and onions, stirring for 2 minutes. Stir in salsa, beans and tomato and stir until all ingredients are coated in salsa. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with cooking spray and spoon 1/3 of the chicken mixture onto the bottom of the pan. Cover with one tortilla and half of the remaining chicken mixture. Top with the remaining tortilla and chicken mixture and sprinkle the cheese on top. Cover and bake 20 minutes, or until heated through. Serve warm with extra salsa, cilantro and sour cream.