Italian Chicken

This is AMAZING and easy.

(Can be halved easily for smaller families, but the leftovers are delicious for days and days!)

5 - 6 chicken breasts - (I cut them in half so they cook through faster and so it's easier to dish out correct portions to my little ones)

4 - 5 roma tomatoes chopped up

2 cloves of garlic minced

Jar of artichoke hearts drained (no need to buy marinated ones - I just got the metal can of quartered hearts in the vegetable aisle)  

1 C mozzarella cheese grated

salt and pepper

2 T olive oil

2 T flour

fresh basil if desired - chopped up

Cut up chicken, arrange in bottom of 9 x 13 pan and season with salt and pepper.

Chop up tomatoes and artichoke hearts.  Mix with minced garlic, olive oil, flour and some salt and pepper.

Arrange tomato / artichoke mixture around the chicken in the pan.  (Looks so pretty!) 

Bake at 350 until chicken is done (start checking after about 1/2 hour).

Place basil and melt mozzarella on top before removing from oven.

Serve over pasta (like angel hair or whatever!) Be sure to scoop up some of the delicious sauce from the bottom of the pan.

Stuffed Peppers

I needed to clean out my fridge today, so I decided to create my own version of stuffed peppers with what I had on hand. I think it worked out great! Here's what I used:

2 Green Peppers
1lb Ground Beef
1 Small Zucchini
1 Small Yellow Squash
1 Portabella Mushroom
A Chunk of Tofu
About 1 Serving of White Rice
1/4 Jar of Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce
Olive Oil

Brown and drain the ground beef, add chopped/diced zucchini, squash, and mushroom (I chopped them pretty small), and stir in pasta sauce. Cover and let the veggies cook for a few minutes before adding tofu (again, cut small), and rice.

Cut off tops of peppers and clean out seeds. Stuff with filling and place in a glass pan drizzled with olive oil. Bake at 350•F until green peppers have softened.

I ended up with enough filling to stuff 2-3 more peppers, but I think it's yummy by itself too.

Poor man's fluffy rice & chicken

I was craving rice tonight and came up with this little gem.

2 cups rice - cook in rice cooker
1 can cream of mushroom soup + 1 soup can milk
1 can chicken chunks

Heat the soup and milk together - stir in drained chicken chunks.
Serve hot over rice.

Enjoy!

A quick way to enjoy that taste we all love w/o all the waiting.

Tomato and Olive Penne

Original Recipe:

Salt and Pepper
1 lb Penne or other short pasta
1/4 Cup olive oil
2 Garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2/3 lb cherry tomatoes (2 cups), halved or quartered
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
1/4 Cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving

1) In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the penne according to package instructions until al dente, about 13 minutes. Drain

2) Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, until just golden, about 1 minute. Add the cherry tomatoes, oregano, crushed red pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Reduce the heat to low, and cook, stirring, until tomato juices run, about 3 minutes.

3) Add the penne, olives, parsley, and 1/4 cup Parmesan to the skillet and toss to combine. Serve with more cheese if desired.

For kids:
If you're cooking for children who don't like black olives, toss the olives in for the adults after you've served the kids.

Serves 4


Melissa's Version:

Use any kind of tomatoes (smaller ones are tastier, but anything works), slice larger ones into wedges, or half-wedges.
No red pepper, olives, or parsley.

Follow directions as noted; I typically add more salt then the recipe calls for - just to taste.

Tempura

 Batter:

1 egg

1 C ice water

1 C flour

Beat egg in a bowl.  Add ice water in the bowl.  Be sure to use very cold water.  Add flour in the bowl and mix lightly.  Be careful not to over-mix the batter; it will be lumpy.

Items to fry

Choose any of the following:

*Sweet potato

*Broccoli florettes

*Carrots

*Zucchini

*Onion

*Green Beans

*Mushrooms

*Shrimp

Cut vegetables up into thick slices or chunks.  Dip the "wet" items into plain flour before dipping into batter so that the batter will stick.  Dip items just before placing in the hot oil.

Heat vegetable oil in a deep pan - around medium high heat (whatever temp you think that might be - 350ish?).  Drop dipped items into batter and let fry, turning over at least once, until veggies are tender.  Remove with slotted spoon and put on a cooling rack over paper towels to catch oil.

Dipping Sauce:

Plain soy sauce will do, but this is yummy!

2 T rice wine vinegar

1/2 C soy sauce

1 T ginger, grated

Mix together.  Ta da!

Serve all with a plate full of hot rice.

Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas

1 small onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 lb. cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, shredded

1 C salsa, divided

4 oz. cream cheese, cubed

1 T chopped cilantro

1 t. ground cumin

1 C shredded cheese (Cheddar & Monterey Jack is yummy)

8 flour tortillas

1)  Heat oven to 350

2) Heat large skillet sprayed with cooking spray on medium heat.  Add onions and garlic; cook and stir 2 min.  Add chicken, 1/4 C salsa, cream cheese, cilantro and cumin; mix well.  Cook 5 min. or until heated through, stirring occasionally.  Add 1/2 C shredded cheese; mix well.

3) Spoon about 1/3 C chicken mixture down center of each tortilla; roll up.  Place seam-sides down in 9x13 pan sprayed with cooking spray; top with remaining shredded cheese and salsa.

4) Bake 15 to 20 min or until heated through.