Stuffed Chicken w/ Roasted Tomatoes

We were suppose to deliver cookies to my in-laws last night, but I really didn’t want to make the drive to their house (45 minutes).  We schemed up a plan and it worked… have them come to OUR house and we’ll feed them supper!  : ) 

Here is what I made them and it was delish!  I even bought fresh bread and had olive oil, balsamic, and fresh pepper for dipping.  That was a little too fancy for Jesse’s Dad, but he did try one piece and then wanted the butter.

Oh, and this meal could not have been easier!!  And not a lot of dishes… and I don’t have a dishwasher, so I am all about less dishes!

Chicken Breasts Stuffed w/ Spinach & Ricotta

• 4 bone-in chicken breasts  (I used 4 thighs and 2 breasts)
• 1pk (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach thawed
• 1/2 cup ricotta cheese
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• ground pepper
• salt

Preheat oven to 425.  Drain thawed spinach; transfer to a large bowl.  Add ricotta cheese, garlic, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; stir well to combine.  Stuff chicken with filling (under the skin); season chicken generously with salt and pepper.  (I drizzled olive oil to crisp and darken the skin.)  Place on a rimmed baking sheet; roast until chicken is cooked through, 25 to 30 minutes.

Roasted Plum Tomatoes

• 8 plum tomatoes (I used Roma)
• 1T olive oil
• 1/4t dried thyme
• 1/2t salt
• 1/4t pepper

Preheat oven to 425.  Halve each tomato lengthwise.  Transfer to a rimmed baking sheet; toss with olive oil, thyme, salt and pepper until coated.  Arrange in a single layer, cut sides up.  Bake until soft, about 30 minutes.

You can cook the tomatoes on the same pan as the chicken.  I did not because the thought of chicken juices running into my tomatoes kind of grossed me out. 

Everyday Food; Issue 18; December 2004

Chicken Parm Salad Subs

I love myself a mean sandwich!  We have this really cute little shop here in town (that I just tried about 2 months ago) and they make killer sandwiches!!  I actually had one of their sandwiches late last week and ever since I have been on a sandwich kick.

I made these sandwiches last night and they are so good!!  These will definitely be on the top of my sandwich list!

• 1/3 cup vegetable stock (I used chicken stock)
• 1 cup packed basil leaves
• A handful fresh flat-leaf parsley
• A handful fresh mint leaves (I didn’t use because I couldn’t find any)
• 1 large clove garlic, peeled
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 ripe plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
• 1 small red onion or 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 rotisserie chicken
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 sesame sub rolls, split

Combine vegetable stock with herbs in food processor.  Finely chop the garlic then mash into a paste with some salt using the flat side of your knife.  Add the paste to the herbs along with the Parmigiano-Reggiano.  Turn processor on and stream in the extra-virgin olive oil.  Transfer the basil dressing to a bowl and add the tomatoes and onions.  Remove the skin from the chicken and chop or shred into bite-size pieces to yield about 4 cups.  Add the chicken to the bowl and season with black pepper.  Toss the salad and adjust the seasonings.  Fill sub rolls with the chicken salad and serve!

FoodNetwork.com ~ 30 Minute Meals

Bruchetta

I modified this recipe from the Rachael Ray Show to my taste buds.  I tried it out on my in-laws and they gobbled them up in seconds!  This was actually one of the first times I was in the kitchen cooking since I had the baby!!

• 1 loaf French bread
• 3 ripe avocados
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 large clove garlic, mashed into paste
• 2 pints grape tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and Pepper

Slice up the French bread into slices.  Toast the slices in the oven until golden and crisp.

Mix together the tomatoes, red onion, basil, EVOO, and salt & pepper to taste.  Set aside.

In a food processor mix together the avocadoes, lemon juice, and garlic.  Process until smooth.

Top the toasted bread with the avocado mixture and then top the avocado with the tomato mixture!

Pesto-Presto Italian Flag Chicken

I have really been slacking on my cooking and this week I finally decided to get back into the swing of things and make real food this week.  I even went to the real grocery store!!  It was an exciting Sunday for me!

I have 2 new recipes to try this week and the first one was a mega hit!  It was so good that Jesse even said, this is one of your top meals!  A wife loves to hear that!  : )

The original recipe has you make your own pesto – but I cheated and bought the already made pesto which I found near the spaghetti sauce.  So here is my cheater version of the recipe…

Pesto-Presto Italian Flag Chicken

• 1 small jar of pre-made pesto (I used about 1/2 the jar)
• 1 block soft garlic and herb cheese (mine was actually goat cheese)
• Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese – grated, about a handful
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil – for drizzling
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 large tomatoes, thinly sliced

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

In a mixing bowl, combine the presto and the soft cheese until smooth and creamy.

Butterfly each of the chicken breasts and pound them out lightly in a plastic bag with a dash of water using a skillet or meat mallet.  Season both sides of the chicken and divide the herb-cheese mixture between the four breasts, placing a scoop on one half of each breasts.  Fold the flap over to enclose the cheese mixture.

Transfer the chicken pockets to a baking sheet and shingle 3 slices of tomato over each breast.  Season with some salt and pepper, drizzle with EVOO and sprinkle the Parmigiano Reggiano over top.

Bake the chicken pockets until cooked through and light golden brown, 20-25 minutes.

Rachael Ray Show

Pioneer Woman's Spreads

For the last couple weeks, possibly even months, I can't seem to get enough sugar/chocolate into my system. I could eat sweets non-stop!

The other day I asked Jesse to bring me home a Twix candy bar. I couldn't take it anymore - I just needed it! He brought me home a whole box of them!!! I was so excited and then thought... wait, this could be dangerous! I should set a rule that I can't eat all of these in one day! Well... they lasted a week! I felt good about that! : )

Now I am back to no more sweets in the house and going crazy again. I go to the grocery store and avoid the sweet isle (which is really hard with Valentines candy galore) because I am afraid my cart would heap with sugar and no real food. So I bought - fruit and yogurt instead. Ha! That lasted 2 days of fulfilling my sugar/sweet need. Although I did find this yogurt that was vanilla flavored and I got to mix in a crushed up Heath candy bar! Yum! You gotta try those!

I came up with this brainy idea to take a club cracker, smear creamy peanut butter on top of it, and then top it off with Hershey chocolate syrup. Oh my! That really worked!

Then I was reading this blog/website and came across these and just had to have them immediately!!! Problem!! I don't have brown sugar and I am at home without a vehicle! You want to know what I did... I made my own!! Yup! I did!! I took white sugar and a little molasses and mixed and wa-la brown sugar!!!!! I'm not even kidding! I was desperate!!! I swear that is all that brown sugar is... right?

Oh!! Then I was softening my margarine in the microwave... with the wrapper on it. All of sudden I hear a big zap and see a big light flash in the microwave. What the heck!?! I opened up the door and saw sizzle marks on the wrapper. Apparently it never crossed my mind that... um... the wrapper was aluminum!!! Sheesh! This is why I leave the baking to my mom and sister!!! It is a whole other language that apparently I don't speak!

These were the easiest bars to make and it is just like a chocolate chip cookie without all the work! And my homemade brown sugar... you can't even tell! At first I'll admit I tasted the batter and went, WOW that tastes a little too much like molasses. I tossed it into the oven anyways and said a little prayer that they would magically taste different when they were done. They did!!! Now I have a batch of bars/cookies to hold me over for a few days! So worth it!

If you want to see the recipe with lots of picture you can go here. Otherwise here is the basic breakdown...

Pioneer Woman's Spreads
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup margarine
1 egg
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
6 to 8 ounces chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

First mix together your brown sugar and margarine. Next, add egg and mix together. Now add flour, salt, and vanilla, and mix together well.

Spread the dough onto a cookie sheet to a thickness of 1/4 to 1/2-inch.

Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until slightly brown.

Sprinkle chocolate chips evenly over the top. Return to oven for 1 minute. Remove from the oven and spread the melted chips evenly over the top.

Finally, cut into squares.

thepioneerwoman.com

Taco Soup

I had a super bowl party at my house this year. I was feeling in the mood to cook a bunch of random stuff and eat until my heart was content. What better way to do that then to have a bunch of people over and have them eat with me! It worked! : )

A couple of the guys had a bowl of it and they were making the Hmmm sound and my Dad couldn't take it anymore he had to have his own bowl to see if it was worth all the Hmmms he was hearing. It was!

Oh and I made everything the day before and just let it simmer on the stove top and people could dish up when they wanted. Soup/Chili always taste better the next day anyways!

Taco Soup
2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 pounds ground beef sirloin
Salt and black pepper
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 cup hot sauce, any kind you like
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 quarts beef stock
4 scallions, chopped
2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
1/4 cup green olives with pimento, chopped (this sounded gross to me - so I left these out)
3 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 cup corn tortilla chips, crushed

Heat a medium soup pot over medium-high heat with EVOO. When oil is hot, add beef and season with salt, black pepper, chili powder and cumin.

Brown the meat for 5 minutes, breaking it up into small pieces with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the garlic, onion, peppers and the bay leaf, and cook for 7-8 minutes until tender. Add the hot sauce and tomato paste, and cook for another 3-4 mintues. Stir in stock, bring to a bubble, reduce heat and cook for 10-15 minutes.

In a medium-size mixing bowl, combine the scallions, cilatro, olives and tomatoes. Serve this mixture on top of the bowl of soup along with a handful of crushed tortilla chips.

Rachael Ray Show