Balsamic Glazed Chicken

Oh yum!!  I love chicken, it's so versatile!  This recipe is easy and yummy!  The balsamic vinegar mixture becomes a thick, gooey sauce (if you are patient!) and coats the chicken breasts perfectly.  We served this with buttered brown rice, and the extra sauce mixed in with the rice was delicious!  This was great!


Balsamic Glazed Chicken
Serves 2
Source: Kylee Cooks



4 thin-sliced boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp vegetable oil
salt and black pepper
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken broth
2/3 cup balsamic vinegar (trust me)
1 tbsp honey
green onions, chopped, for garnish


1. In large stainless steel pan, heat oil over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, and add to pan, cook about 10 minutes (turning once) or until slightly brown.

2. Remove chicken from pan and drain off any excess oil on paper towels. Add garlic to pan; saute over medium heat for 2 minutes.


3. Stir in tomato paste and slowly add chicken stock, scraping to dissolve any bits clinging to bottom of pan. Increase heat to medium-high; add vinegar and honey and rapidly boil for 3 minutes to reduce liquid to one cup.


4. Return chicken to pan; reduce heat to medium. Cook, turning, about 15 minutes or until liquid thickens and becomes a dark, thick glaze and chicken is done.  Sprinkle with chopped green onions and serve.


Enjoy!

My favorite muffin!

I'm a biiiiig fan of muffins!  Today, I made a batch of my hands-down favorite recipe!  I ate about 4, and the rest are for mom for Mother's Day!  This recipe is outstanding - the addition of ricotta makes the muffins SO moist and so flavorful that you don't even need butter (but you KNOW I put a little butter on them, right? haha)

Fresh blueberries are perfect at this time of year, especially in the blueberry state (New Jersey).  They are delicious, good for you, and beautiful when baked into a muffin.  The original recipe, here, calls for streusel topping.  As big of a streusel fan as I am, I don't think this recipe needs it.  It's perfect without it.  But feel free to add a sprinkle of sugar or streusel on top if you wish!

ENJOY! 



Blueberry and Ricotta Muffins Recipe
Adapted from Ciao Florentina
( makes 16 )

Dry Ingredients:
1 1/2 c flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking powder

Wet ingredients:
1/3 c canola oil
5 Tbs milk (use whatever you have, I used 1%)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 c part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tsp lemon zest
1 c fresh blueberries

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F) and grease a muffin pan with cooking spray.

2.  Mix the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients in two separate mixing bowls, then using a spatula, stir the two together until incorporated. Don’t over mix.  Batter will be a little dry.

3. Fold in the blueberries then fill muffin cups 3/4 of the way full.   Bake @ 375 deg. for 20 min or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  They will be nice and brown around the edges.

4. Cool in the muffin cups on a wire rack for 10 min.  Remove from muffin cups and finish cooling on a wire rack.  I dare you to eat only one :)

Athenian Orzo with Shrimp

Today was a hectic day at work, and I was in the mood for something new, different, and filling, but also EASY!  I stopped at my local seafood market to pick up shrimp, and I really had all of the other ingredients in the house.  Start to finish, this whole meal took about 40 minutes (including prep) and we loved it!!!!!  Give this one a try soon, trust me!

Athenian Orzo with Shrimp
Original recipe from Prevention RD
(I halved the recipe, and it was still a generous serving for two)

1 1/2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/8 cup dry white wine (and pour yourself a glass, while you are at it!)
2 small vine tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley, divided
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Crushed red pepper (to taste, I like spice, so I have a heavy hand with the red pepper!)
1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
3/4 cup orzo
1/4 c crumbled feta cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 F. Coat a 3-quart baking dish or 9 X 13 with cooking spray.

In a medium saucepan, bring salted water to a boil. Cook orzo in the boiling water until tender but still firm, 8 to 10 minutes. Drain and hold in strainer, and wipe out saucepan.

Heat oil in a the same saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add wine and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes, half of the parsley, oregano, basil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper; cook for 5 minutes. Drop in shrimp and cover.  Cook until shrimp are just turning pink, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.

Put the orzo into the tomato-shrimp sauce and stir to combine. Sprinkle with feta and the remaining parsley. Bake, uncovered, until the feta is bubbly, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.
Yield: 2 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each).

Gone Bananas!

I often find myself with more bananas than I know what to do with!  They start to get brown so fast, and I hate throwing them out.  I'd rather turn them into something yummy!  We are big fans of banana bread, but I was looking for something just a little different than my usual recipe.


I'm a sucker for streusel.  My mom and I once made streusel "by accident" one day when I was a girl, and once I discovered what streusel was, I never wanted to live without it again!  This recipe combines a soft and delicious banana bread, with a hint of nutmeg and cinnamon, streusel topping and chocolate chunks in the middle.  Oh yes.  Try this one soon!

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chunks and Streusel Topping
adapted from Simple Gourmet Cooking

2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 4-5 medium)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup chocolate chunks

Streusel:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat oven to 350° F. Grease a 9x5 pan (I used cooking spray)

In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients (flour through nutmeg).
Make a well in the middle of the bowl for the wet ingredients and set aside.

In another medium bowl, whisk 2 eggs, then add wet ingredients (banana through oil) and mix well.
Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir well until just incorporated. Batter will be lumpy.
Pour half of batter into prepared pan. Sprinkle chocolate chunks down the middle.  Pour rest of batter over chocolate.

To make the streusel topping, combine the brown sugar and flour in a small bowl. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut in the cold butter until mixture resembles course crumbs. Sprinkle mixture over the top of the batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing (um, I didn't wait, I had it warm.  Oh well!)

Enjoy!

Allison

Holy Moly Minestrone!

Even though it's spring, the weather has been a little wacky here in NJ.  Some days have been very hot, some have been damp and chilly.  I am not embarrassed to admit that I check the weather report when planning my menu for the week (I'm sure I'm not alone, right??).  A damp chilly drizzly spring night just calls for soup.  I love minestrone.  It's infinitely adaptable, good for you,
and delicious.

One of my favorite recipes for minestrone was adapted from Weight Watchers, and it's about 245 calories per 1 1/2 cup serving (more or less, depending on variations).  Top it with some grated cheese and pepper, and serve with a warm roll or crusty bread and you are all set. Plus, it makes a TON of soup, so you will have plenty leftover for the freezer!


Minestrone
Servings: about 8

2 tsp olive oil
2 leeks, cleaned and sliced into thin strips
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, chopped
5 cups of vegetable broth
14.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
1/2 whole wheat elbow macaroni (or your choice of small macaroni, ditalini is also a favorite)
1 large white pototo, peeled and diced
3 medium carrots, diced
1 cup frozen green beans
19 oz can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen green peas
2 tbsp parsley, chopped
2 tsp dried basil
salt and pepper to taste
shredded parmesan cheese for topping



Heat the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add leek, onion, garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden (about 10 mins)

Add broth, tomatoes, macaroni, carrots, and potato.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until veggies and macaroni are tender (about 30-40 minutes...potatoes should be fork tender)

Stir in beans, frozen green beans and peas, parsley, basil, salt and pepper (I tend not to add much salt, due to the salt from the broth and beans already.  Make sure you taste before adding additional salt).   Simmer about 5 minutes.

Serve with cheese and enjoy!

Allison