Category: Entrees

Another one that I forgot to take a photo of, but it was pretty good. This is from an old Southern Living cookbook that I had around. Every once in a while, I get bored of choosing recipes and planning menus and set the family loose in my cookbook collection and recipe files. This is one that Hubby picked out.
Southern Living Toasted Almond Chicken
(click the name above for the recipe)

This was pretty tasty, considering how easy it is. It is pretty high in fat, though, and isn’t GREAT for that amount of calories. The good thing about this recipe, though, is that it’s pretty innocuous and inoffensive. I can’t imagine that anyone would dislike this. I would probably spruce it up a little with some herbs (chopped fresh parsley maybe? or tarragon?) if I make it again. It’s pretty rich, so I would recommend a very light, simple side dish to go with it.

Crummy photo, but this was really good!

This recipe is from the South Beach Diet cookbook. Hubby and I have fallen “off the wagon” slightly and are clambering back on, once again. This recipe was actually pretty good. Hubby and I loved it and Girl liked it, but Boy wasn’t convinced. He ate it, but I could tell it wasn’t his favorite.

This recipe was pretty easy to cook, but the assembly was a little bit of a challenge. I pounded the chicken as thinly as I could get it without it falling apart, but it was still hard to wrap the chicken all the way around the frozen souffle slices. Worth the effort, though. Stick to only 2 Tbsp worth of oil when you fry it. I used a little bit more than what was called for, and then had too much when I went to make the sauce and my sauce didn’t really bind correctly. It was still tasty, though, and I am probably being too critical.

This will definitely be a do-over. It was good enough that I’ll want to make it again and I think I’ll be able to execute it a little better next time.

Inspired by last night’s leftover London Broil and this recipe from Cooking Light magazine, we cooked this up for lunch today:

Quality Kangaroo brand Greek style whole wheat pita flatbread
leftover steak, cut into bite-sized chunks
very thinly sliced pear
bite-sized pieces of romaine hearts
very thinly sliced red onion
crumbled blue cheese (Maytag or Gorgonzola)

drizzle with vinaigrette (below)

Whisk together:
1/4 cup vinegar (I used pear vinegar, but white balsamic would be good, too)
1/4 tsp salt
1 minced garlic clove
freshly ground pepper
then slowly pour in 1/2 cup olive oil, whisking briskly to blend

whisking briskly? there’s got to be a better (and less onomatopoetic?) way to say that…

These sandwiches were quite yummy and would be a great way to re-purpose just about any kind of leftovers…

I have combined 2 different recipes together (South Beach Chicken Pistachio Salad and Pistachio-Crusted Chicken from Epicurious) to make a dish that, I think, takes the best from each. I made this for Hubby and I for lunch on a day when the kiddos were both elsewhere and we both liked it a lot.

Here’s my version:

Pistachio-Crusted Chicken Salad

Serves 2 LARGE portions or 4 smaller ones
(perfect for 2 adults and 2 kids)

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup pistachio nuts, finely ground (in the food processor)
1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
salt and freshly ground pepper
about 3 Tbsp olive oil

generous amount of your choice of salad greens and ingredients
(we used romaine hearts, red onion, yellow bell pepper, radish, grape tomatoes, carrot and cucumber)

salad dressing of your choice
(we like Cilantro Ranch)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut each chicken breast into 2 equal-sized portions. Pound gently with a mallet to flatten each of the four pieces to a uniform thickness. Sprinkle each piece of gently lightly with salt and pepper. Brush each piece with a light layer of mustard, turning to coat each side. Sprinkle (turning to get both sides) with the fresh thyme. Pour the ground pistachoes into a shallow plate. Dredge each mustard-coated chicken piece through the nuts, turning and patting to lightly coat. Set the chicken aside on a plate.

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a wide, shallow skillet. Carefully add the chicken to the skillet and cook until the nuts are golden-toasted, turning to cook both sides. When nuts are cooked (but before they start to burn), remove the chicken pieces from the skillet and place them in a baking dish (or a broiler rack), being careful to not dislodge any of the nut coating. Bake the chicken for about 15 minutes, or until the juices run clear and a meat thermometer (inserted into the thickest portion) registers 160 degrees.

Set the chicken aside to cool slightly while you pile the salad greens onto the serving plates. You may either slice the chicken into medallions and place it on top of the salad, or you may leave the chicken breasts whole and serve them to the side of the salad – your choice. Top with dressing!

If you aren’t doing “South Beach” and would like to serve this over rice or pasta (instead of salad), you could add some finely chopped onion or shallots (and maybe a tiny bit of minced ginger?) to the saute pan (after removing the chicken) and cook them until they’re softened and then deglaze the pan with a little white wine and/or chicken stock to make a savory sauce to pour over the chicken (you could still serve a salad on the side).

When I made this dish in the photo shown below, I made it a little differently and used one whole breast for each portion. The breasts were too thick for the mustard-nut-thyme flavor to get all the way to the middle of the chicken and we’ve realized that one whole chicken breast is just too much for us to eat at one sitting.

This recipe comes together VERY quickly, since it uses jarred pasta sauce. Perfect for when you want something nice in a hurry. ..and it’s EASY PEASY, too.

Quick and Easy Spaghetti and Meatballs

Serves 8.

for the meatballs:
2 pounds ground beef
2 eggs
1/2 cup plain, dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup finely chopped white onion
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped or run through a garlic press
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
a sprinkle of finely chopped fresh Italian parsley (2 – 3 Tbsp?)
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

2 large (25.5 ounce) jars of your favorite pasta sauce
(I like Muir Glen or Rao’s or Lucini)

3/4 lb to 1 lb of your favorite pasta

additional Parmesan cheese, to go over top of the finished dish

Set a large stockpot of lightly salted water on to boil.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Set a cooling rack onto a baking sheet. Line the baking sheet with foil, for easier cleanup, if desired. Spray the rack lightly with cooking oil spray and set it aside.

Combine all meatball ingredients until well blended (clean hands work best for this). Gently pat and shape (don’t tightly pack; that will make the meatballs tough) the meat mixture into balls about the size of a ping pong ball. Set them gently on the rack.

Bake them until they are just browned around the outside. It’s OK if they are still a little underdone in the middle because they will finish cooking in the sauce. I don’t remember how long they took to cook, but start checking them at 5 minutes and keep a close eye on them. I frequently cook by smell: when something starts to smell like what it’s supposed to be, it’s usually starting to get done (in other words, when you smell meatballs…).

You can, of course, fry-cook the meatballs in a skillet, on the stove, if you’d rather, I just didn’t feel like dealing with all of the grease splatters that night.

While the meatballs are cooking, heat the jarred sauce to a gentle simmer in a large saucepan (make sure the pan is large enough for the meatballs to fit in later).

When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain THOROUGHLY when ready and set aside. Do not rinse.

When the meatballs are ready, add them to the sauce in the pan and continue to simmer until sauce is thoroughly heated through and meatballs and done (at least 10 more minutes?).

Spoon some of the sauce over the pasta and toss gently to coat. Serve the pasta with more sauce and a few meatballs on top. Top with cheese and dig in!

This is how Boy eats his spaghettI:

Boy isn’t a big fan of tomato sauce, so if he encountered any chunky bits of tomato in the sauce, he picked them out and set them on the sides of his pasta bowl. (We also had sauteed spinach with our spaghetti that night, so that’s what the green bits are.)