(sort of) Skinny Chicken Broccoli Ziti

There is something about cold days and longer, darker nights that make salads and "healthy" dinners sound so unappealing. I am always trying to think of ways to health-ify dishes that are originally not so healthy, but oh so good. The other night, I attempted to whip up some chicken broccoli ziti, that didn't involve heavy cream and loads of butter. It turned out pretty good, and while it could have used some more salt and maybe a tad more flavoring, I'd say this is a recipe to turn to when you are craving some comfort food.. without the comfort calories. Try it this week and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 3 crowns broccoli
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 cup skim or 1% milk
• 4 tbsp. flour
• 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 5-6 cloves garlic, freshly minced (I use my food processor)
• 2 cups whole wheat ziti
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions: 

1. Add water to two pots and boil - one for pasta, one for broccoli.
2. Chop up broccoli and add to boiling water for 4-5 min (or until desired firmness. I like my broccoli cooked well, but be careful not to over-cook or broccoli will fall apart when you add to pasta). Set aside when done.
3. Add 2 cups ziti to second pot and cook pasta as directed. Drain and set aside in same pot.
4. Cut up chicken breasts into cubes and place in ziploc bag
5. Add 2 tbsp. of flour and a few pinches of salt and pepper to ziploc bag and shake so that chicken is coated evenly with flour.
6. In a small saute pan, heat 2 tbsp. olive oil and add 2 tbsp. of the minced garlic. Heat on med-low for 1 min.
7. Add chicken and cover. Let chicken cook on med-low for appox. 5 min. Stir to allow for even cooking, then cover and cook for another 5 minutes or so. When chicken is cooked through, remove from heat and set aside. Chicken should be browned on the outside.
8. While chicken is cooking, heat 1/4 cup olive oil, remaining garlic (about 1-2 tbsp.), 1/2 cup milk, and 1 tbsp. flour. Bring to boil and whisk continuously. Add remaining 1/2 cup of milk and remaining 1 tbsp. flour.
9. Lower heat to med/med-high and gradually add in Parmesan cheese. Continue whisking. Sauce should turn creamy and thicken.
10. Add salt and pepper to sauce, to taste. I also added a bit of fresh squeeze lemon juice to sauce.
11. Once sauce is done, pour half over pasta and stir. Add chicken, broccoli and remaining sauce and mix all together.
12. Serve and top fresh squeezed lemon juice and sprinkle a bit of Parmesan cheese (the extra parm. cheese can be skipped, but I highly recommend adding the lemon juice, as it gives the dish a lot more flavor).

Serve. Enjoy. Love.

 

 

Brown Rice with Black Beans & Salsa

 

If you follow my blog at all, you may know that I've been trying to incorporate some "meatless meals" 1-2 nights a week. This is one that I love! It's packed with protein, iron, folate, fiber, vitamin B, antioxidants and the "good fat" that avocados provide. I also love how it looks so festive! I know they say don't judge a book by its cover, but that rule doesn't apply here. This one tastes just as good as it looks!

 

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans or approx. 1 cup of dried black beans
  (NOTE: Be careful when buying black beans. Not all are treated equal! If you are going to use canned, make sure to check the ingredients and nutrition label. Look for no added salt and as little ingredients as possible. I like Eden's Organic Black Beans. I've also tried using dry, but they require a bit of planning as they need to be soaked in water overnight.)
• 1/2 cup brown rice
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 2-3 tomatoes, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh salsa
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1 avocado
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. canola oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Prepare 1/2 cup brown rice, as directed on package.
2. Halfway through rice being cooked (approx. 15 minutes after starting rice), heat pan with 1 tsp. canola oil over medium heat.
3. Add black beans, 1 tsp. paprika and 1 tsp. cumin to pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, add tomatoes, corn, salsa, cilantro, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. cumin, salt and pepper to bowl and mix together.
5. Add to pan with black beans and let simmer for 10 minutes.
6. When rice is done, combine with black bean/tomato mixture and heat on low for 1-2 minutes or until ready to serve.
7. Top with avocado slices and savor every bite!

Almond Crusted Chicken with Sweet Potato Fries & Asparagus

Is there anything better than a 30 minute, 5(ish) ingredient, delicious meal?!? Nope. I didn't think so. I threw this meal together a few weeks ago when I was too lazy to go to the grocery store. You'd be amazed what you can come up with if you just look in your pantry. :)  

Try it for yourself!! I promise you'll be glad you did.

Ingredients:

• 2 organic boneless chicken breasts
• 1/2-3/4 cups whole, raw almonds, chopped
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1 bundle asparagus
• 1 large sweet potato
• Supplemental Ingredients: cornstarch, garlic powder, salt/pepper, olive oil
 

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cut chicken breasts in halves (vertically) so they are a bit thinner, similar to cutlets (this will cut cooking time). Set aside in a glass 9"x13" pan.
3. Toss the raw almonds in a food processor and pulse a few times until almonds are chopped up (some bigger chunks are OK).
4. Brush both sides of chicken breasts with Dijon mustard and coat both sides with sliced almonds.
5. Slice sweet potato into "fries" and toss with 2 tablespoons of corn starch until all fries are coated. Place on a baking sheet and set aside.
6. Spread asparagus on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. Place Chicken, sweet potato fries and asparagus in oven for 20 minutes (or until chicken is cooked through).

And if you want to make this meal even easier, skip the sweet potato fries and just slice the sweet potato in 1/4"-1/2" rounds and bake. Sweet potatoes have such a great, natural taste to begin with - really, no additional seasoning is needed. My husband and I both loved this meal and the leftovers are great to take for lunch over a salad as well! (See my "What's For Lunch" post here) 

Seriously. easiest. meal. EVER!

Turkey Florentine Meatballs

When I moved into my first apartment right after college, my mom gave me this recipe binder cookbook. She filled it with a bunch of her recipes that she knew I loved and she also left room for me to add recipes of my own as I started to learn and appreciate the art of cooking. At the time, the extent of my cooking skills were pretty limited to boxed macaroni and cheese, pasta with jarred tomato sauce and stove-top grilled chicken. However, as I've grown in the kitchen, this has become one of my most prized posessions and one of the many, many things I appreciate so much about my mother. She was so thoughtful like this. I know she would be happy that I've started to find as much joy in cooking as she always did.
 
One of the recipes my mom included in the book was Turkey Florentine Meatballs. (I believe she got this from watching Rachael Ray on the Food Network, but I still like to consider it one of her own!) Raising 3 kids who were involved in a million activities, she loved finding recipes she could prepare ahead of time, freeze, and use as a go-to when she was short on time, but still wanted to feed us a homecooked meal. This is exactly one of those recipes. Try it and let me know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 1-1.5 lbs. ground turkey breast (1 package)
• 1 box frozen spinach
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup milk
• 3/4 cups breadcrumbs
• 1/2 cup parmigian cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil (to drizzle)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Defrost spinach and squeeze out liquid.
3. Place turkey in bowl, make well in middle.
4. Add spinach, onion (except 3 tbsp. and set aside), garlic, egg, milk, bread crumbs, grated parmigian cheese, and salt/pepper. Mix well.
5. Form into approx. 1" meatballs, place on cookie sheet and drizzle with EVOO.
6. Bake for 20 minutes in 400 degree heated oven.

I served with pasta and tomato sauce, but my mom (and Rachael Ray) suggest serving with a cream sauce as follows...

Cream Sauce:

• 2 tbsp. EVOO
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 2 tbsp. all purpose flour
• 3 tbsp. onion, chopped
• 1 cup organic chicken stock
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 package (10 oz.) of provolone or italian blend cheese, shredded
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Heat saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add EVOO, butter, onion, and whisk in flour. Cook 1 minute.
3. Add milk and chicken stock. Bring to a boil.
4. Add shredded provolone/italian blend cheese.
5. Garnish meatballs with sauce and parsley.

Enjoy!!

Haddock Bruschetta

At the end of the summer, we had an abundance of tomatoes and zucchini from our garden so I had been been brainstorming on how I could incorporate both into a delicious summer meal. I came up with what I call Haddock Bruschetta... yum! I typically browse recipes for some inspiration and either follow one exactly or alter/combine a few together. This one, however, I actually made it up as I went, and I was surprisingly impressed.


Haddock:

• 2 1/4-1/2 lb. haddock fillets
• 1-2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/4-1/2 cup of bread crumbs
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Bruschetta Mixture:

• 2 tomatoes from our garden, diced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tbsp. fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper

Sauteed Zucchini:

• 1 zucchini from our garden, quartered
• a little olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Drizzle olive oil over haddock fillets (both sides)
3. Combine bread crumbs, garlic powder, salt and pepper
4. Sprinkle bread crumb mixture over haddock fillets (both sides)
5. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes
6. In the meantime, combine bruschetta ingredients and mix in separate bowl
7. After the fish bakes for 15 minutes, remove from oven and top with bruschetta mixture
8. Bake for 10 more minutes
9. Saute zucchini on medium heat for approx. 10-15 minutes
10. Serve and Enjoy!

*** I used zucchini just because I was trying to use it up, but this meal would also be great with some cooked quinoa/brown rice or a small side of garlic bread. ***

 

Salmon with Avocado Lime Salsa

I am pretty much obsessed with anything that includes avocados, so when I came across this recipe on a fellow Merrimack College alumni's blog, I had to give it a try! The flavors of the avocado, lime and spices come together so well and are a perfect accompaniment to a fresh piece of salmon. For real, I could have eaten this for days.

Ingredients 

* Recipe makes enough for 2 people. *

SALMON:

• 1 lb. salmon cut into 2 portions
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. black pepper

SALSA:

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 cup diced red onion
• Zest of 1 lime
• Juice of 1 1/2 limes
• 1 diced jalapeno pepper
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

1)  Mix the salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion, and black pepper together.
2) Rub the salmon with the olive oil and the spice mix. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
3) Chop the avocado, onion, jalapeno and cilantro and combine in food processor. Pulse a few times until blended (but not completely smooth).
4) In a separate bowl, add lime juice, lime zest, salt/pepper and avocado mixture. Chill until ready to serve.
5)  Bake the salmon at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
6)  Serve the salmon topped with the chilled avocado salsa (I also served with brown rice).

Seriously, soooo GOOD. Make sure you check out Kelly's blog at www.kellycraves.com for some more delicious recipes and restaurant reviews!

Chicken Parm Calzone

Well, football season is back!! Which on top of cheering on your favorite team, means lazy Sundays, good food and Shipyard Pumpkinhead (in my household at least!). To kickoff the season, I decided to make a chicken parm calzone. Calzones are one of my favorite go-to's because not only are they ridiculously easy to make, but you can be creative and switch up the ingredients to satisfy your cravings - chicken parm, BBQ chicken, buffalo chicken, chicken and broccoli, meatball, steak & cheese... the possibilities are endless!

Ingredients:

• 1 ball of pizza dough (or make your own)
• 1 pkg. chicken (I used tenders)
• 2 eggs (in two separate bowls- 1 bowl with 1 egg-white and 1 bowl with remaining yolk from egg white and 1 whole egg )
• 1/2 - 1 cup flour
• 1/2 - 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese (shredded)
• 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce of your choice (I used Classico Tomato & Basil, but sometimes make my own)
• Cornmeal
• Olive oil
• Salt, pepper, garlic powder

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2) Sprinkle a little cornmeal onto your pizza stone
3) Roll out dough into a semi-rectangular shape (make sure dough is room temperature before you start rolling)
4) Once dough is rolled, leave about 4 inches in the center and cut approx. 1/2-1 inch strips on each side (see picture below)
5) In the meantime, heat approx. 2 tbsp. olive oil in a frying pan
6) Set up breading station
7) Bread chicken (dip in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs) and place in frying pan (NOTE: For breading, use the egg bowl that has 1 whole egg + 1 yolk. The egg white from one of the eggs will be used later)
8) Cook on med-high heat for approx. 5 min each side (or until browned and chicken is cooked through)
9) Set aside and let cool
10) Once chicken is cooled down, cut into pieces (approx. 1" cubes)
11) Place into bowl and add 1 cup tomato sauce
12) Add salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste and mix together
13) Spread approx. 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese on dough
14) Add chicken mixture and spread evenly
15) Top with remainder of mozzarella cheese.
16) Close calzone by criss-crossing the cut strips of the dough (see picture below).
17) Brush egg white on enclosed calzone (this helps to brown up the crust)
18) Bake for 25-30 minutes

  

   

 

 

GO PATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!