baked chicken with onions, potatoes, garlic, and thyme

(Apologies in advance for crappy pics)
And so who would've thought I've actually been cooking and not blogging? Well, admittedly, I didn't cook this one, I just supervised. But this dish is easy enough to throw together (literally, you just throw it all in the roasting pan) for your kitchen illiterate husband to make. And based on your meal standards, this may or may not be a complete meal. I would round it out with a nice green salad to make it complete. But again, easy. It's a set it and forget it kind of meal.

Hubs was actually the one to notice this recipe in my Everyday Food magazine from October. I often find myself flipping quickly through this magazine, but hubs found a bunch of recipes he wanted to try to make himself. This was the first one he tackled. After thoroughly enjoying this meal, here is our version adapted to our liking.

BAKED CHICKEN WITH ONIONS, POTATOES, GARLIC, AND THYME
Source: Adapted from Everyday Food, October 2009

2-4 bone-in chicken breasts (1 per person)
1-1 1/2 lb new potatoes, halved (quartered if large)
1 red onion, cut into eighths
1 head garlic, cloves separated but left unpeeled
6 sprigs thyme
2 lemons, quartered
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
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1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Throw chicken, potatoes, onion, garlic, thyme and lemons in roasting pan.
3. Whisk together olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
4. Drizzle the olive oil mixture over chicken and vegetables. Toss to combine.
5. Turn chicken skin side up.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Pop into oven and roast until chicken is browned and cooked through, about 50 minutes.

To serve, we squeeze those roasted lemons on top of our chicken. To die for. Enjoy!

Cajun Chicken & Rice Stuffed Peppers

Why is it that cooking healthy dinners is so much easier when you're unemployed? I think the answer to the question is obvious. In any event, I'm enjoying my unemployment while I can. One of the first things I did after being laid off was I scoured the internet for some new healthy recipes. One of my go-to websites for such recipes is myrecipes.com. I like to search for Cooking Light recipes.

Well, when I found this recipe I knew I wanted to give it a try when the hubs would be on night work. "Why?" you ask? Well that's because he's Picky Peter and doesn't like peppers. I, for one, love stuffed peppers but just haven't found a recipe I liked that was easy enough. This recipe turned out to be just the ticket.

I made a few modifications based on ingredients I typically have on hand and I couldn't have asked for a more delicious dinner tonight. I highly recommend this dish. I'll definitely be making it again, and again and suggest you try it soon!

CAJUN CHICKEN & RICE STUFFED PEPPERS
Source: adapted from Cooking Light

2 portion sized chicken breasts, or 1 large chicken breast, diced
2 green peppers, sliced in half lengthwise, seeds and membranes discarded
1 1/4 tsp cajun seasoning
2 tsp EVOO, divided
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/4 cups fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup minute rice
2 pinches of salt

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1. Place pepper halves in a shallow dish. Cover with saran wrap and microwave 4-5 minutes. Remove from microwave and drain off liquid.

2. Heat 1 tsp oil in skillet. Add chicken and season with cajun seasoning. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove chicken to a clean bowl and set aside.

3. Heat remaining 1 tsp oil in skillet. Add onion and garlic. Saute 1 minute.

4. Add chicken broth, rice and salt. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce heat. Simmer 15 minutes. (This is a good time to get your dishes done)

5. Return chicken to skillet and continue cooking until rice is done and broth is absorbed, about another 3 minutes.

6. Divide chicken and rice filling and stuff pepper halves equally.

Sausage, Pepper & Onion Sandwiches

One meal I like but tend not to make often is sausage, pepper and onion sandwiches. I don't know why I don't make it more often (honestly, I just don't cook that often anymore). Anyway, I used to make it by just browning the sausage, doing a quick saute of the peppers and onions, adding beef broth, seasoning with salt and pepper, and simmering away until the onions and peppers were cooked to my liking. I always knew it was sort of bland, so one day I was reading the cooking board and realized there were actual recipes people use to make these sandwiches.

I bookmarked this recipe and it's been saved in my email ever since November. That's not half as long as I usually save recipes before trying them, so I guess that's an improvement.

This recipe, with a few modifications, was actually really great, not bland in the least! I'm happy to have found this recipe and will definitely be making it again in the future, and probably more often than usual :)

SAUSAGE, PEPPER & ONION SANDWICHES
Source: adapted from Food Network

1 package sweet Italian sausage
1 Tbsp EVOO
1 large sweet onion, sliced into 1/4 inch slices
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 large green bell pepper, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
3 large garlic cloves, minced
about 1/4 cup chicken broth
about 1/4 cup cooking sherry
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
salt & pepper to taste
3 6-inch italian rolls
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1. Remove casing from sausage and cut into 3 inch links. Cut links in half and flatten so both sides will cook evenly (I'm weird about making sure my sausage is thoroughly cooked and not pink in the middle and this has been my solution to ensuring that doesn't happen). Cook in skillet until browned on both sides (about 8-10 minutes). Remove sausage from pan and set aside.

2. Add EVOO and onions. Saute about 10 minutes, stirring, until golden.

3. Add tomato paste and cook about 1 minute.

4. Add peppers, chicken broth and sherry. Season with salt and pepper. Cook about 5 minutes until peppers are softened.

5. Return sausage to pan and cook until peppers are cooked to your liking (I don't like a lot of crunch to my peppers so I tend to cook them longer).

6. Stir in balsamic vinegar and add just a few more splashes of chicken broth to take the edge off of the vinegar.

7. Serve in fresh italian rolls and top with cheese if you like.

Pasta e Fagioli, revisited

I've already made this soup and blogged about it, but back then my picture taking skills weren't all that great, and also the recipe was by weight and I wanted to nail down the ingredients better. So for the first chilly weekend of Fall here I knew I wanted to make it again in my new dutch oven. It was definitely not as much of a chore to make since I wasn't so focused on getting exact weights of the ingredients. This recipe is scaled down to make 4.5 quarts, but I definitely needed my 7 quart pot to cook it in.

PASTA e FAGIOLI (copy cat Olive Garden)

Source: adapted from cdkitchen

a drizzle of olive oil

1 lb. ground beef

1 small onion, diced

1/2 of a small 1 lb. bag of baby carrots, chopped

5 stalks of celery, diced

2 (14.5 oz.) cans of diced tomatoes

1 can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can white kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 (32 oz.) carton + 1 (14.5 oz.) can of beef broth

1 1/2 tsp oregano

1 1/4 tsp pepper

2 1/2 tsp fresh parsley, chopped (I used dry)

3/4 tsp tabasco sauce

1 jar (1 lb. 10 oz.) spaghetti sauce (I use Ragu)

1 cup dry small pasta (such as ditalini or elbow macaroni)

salt to taste

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1. Brown ground beef in oil. Drain if necessary.

2. Add onion, carrot, celery and diced tomatoes. Simmer 10 minutes.

3. Add beans, beef broth, oregano, pepper, parsley, tabasco sauce and spaghetti sauce.

4. Simmer soup on low for about 30-45 minutes until carrots are almost tender.

5. Add pasta to pot and simmer on low for about 15-30 minutes until pasta is just shy of al dente. As the soup cools, the pasta will absorb the broth. You can cook the pasta separate and add it to the soup after the soup has cooled.

Crustless Ham, Cheese and Spinach Quiche

I subscribe to Cooking Light magazine. Usually I have trouble finding something that interests me because I have such simple tastes. But this month page 160 just jumped out at me, so before I recycled my magazine, I tore this page out and set it aside. This golden nugget is for a Crustless Smoked Turkey and Spinach Quiche - of course, I had to adapt this recipe because I've never before seen smoked turkey ham as the recipe calls for, and the swiss cheese I had in my house seemed to have gone past its expiration date.

But after coming up with a mix of cheeses that I did have in the fridge - 4 cheese mexican blend, american cheese, and keeping with the reduced fat cheddar - this turned out FANTASTIC. I was so happy with the results as it was my first quiche ever. So if I'm ever craving a quiche again, this will definitely be my go-to recipe!

Crustless Ham, Cheese and Spinach Quiche

Adapted from Cooking Light, June 2008

3/4 cup cubed ham

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites

3/4 cup shredded mexican cheese blend, separated in 1/4 cup and 1/2 cup

1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar cheese

1 slice of american cheese chopped up

3/4 cup fat-free cottage cheese

1/2 cup evaporated fat-free milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 cup baby spinach leaves

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1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add ham, onion and pepper to pan and saute 4 minutes until ham is lightly browned.

3. Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Sprinkle 1/4 cup mexican blend cheese in pie plate. Top with ham mixture.

4. In a large mixing bowl, gently whisk together the eggs, remaining cheeses, cottage cheese, and evaporated milk.

5. In a small bowl, stir together the flour and baking powder. Add flour to egg mixture and gently stir in.

6. Add spinach to egg mixture and gently mix in.

7. Pour the egg mixture over ham mixture in pie plate.
8. Bake for about 45 minutes until a knife inserted in center comes out clean.

Wilted Spinach Salad with Feta

For Christmas, my girlfriends and I all got together to exchange gifts, and my friend Jess's fiance cooked us a fabulous dinner that I'll never forget. He was so secretive when he was cooking and he wouldn't let us know what anything was until it was served. First up... wilted spinach salad with feta - OH MY GOODNESS, this salad (albeit not very healthy) was so freaking good!

Now here we are, 2 months later, and my other friend, Dana, mentioned having a dinner party and she didn't know what to make. This amazing salad was the first thing that popped into my head because as easy as it is, it's definitely an impressive dish. Then, of course, I started craving it, so I made it for dinner last night!

WILTED SPINACH SALAD WITH FETA

Source: Epicurious

1 9-ounce bag fresh spinach leaves

5 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 medium red onion, halved, cut into 1/3-inch thick wedges with some core attached

1 7-ounce package feta cheese, coarsely crumbled

2 tablespoons Sherry wine vinegar (I used red wine vinegar)

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Place spinach in large bowl.

Heat 2 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat.

Add onion; sauté until brown and softened, about 7 minutes.

Transfer to bowl with spinach; remove skillet from heat.

Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil and cheese to skillet.

Stir to melt cheese slightly, about 1 minute. Stir in vinegar.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour over spinach; toss to coat and wilt slightly.

Serves 4 - see source link for nutritional info.

This photo doesn't really do it justice, but TRUST ME, it's beautiful and delicious and you will love this!!