Fall Salad

I celebrated October with a simple fall salad the other night.  It totally hit the spot.  nothing new, nothing major, but exactly what the season ordered. Have I told you about my love affair with goats cheese.  because i love goats cheese and fruit!

- baby spinach and leaf lettuce mix
- 1 apple, chopped
- 1 pear, chopped
- handful dried cranberries
- goats cheese
- strawberry balsamic dressing

I mixed the lettuce and fruits and topped with crumbled cheese before adding dressing, tossing and enjoying.  

Enchilladas... and a return to cooking

I would like to apologize for the dearth of posts lately, however you can really blame Uncle Sam.  I've spent most of the last two months out of town... which didn't lead to much cooking... only to lots of eating out.

This week I made some simple chicken enchilladas as part of my return to cooking

- 2 cups chopped/shredded chicken (i used rotisserie chicken)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican cheese, divided
- 1/2 cup Ranch Dressing
- 1/4 cup Sour Cream
- 2 tbl Diced Green Chiles, rinsed and drained
- 4 (9 to 10-inch) Flour tortillas, warmed

Combine the shredded chicken, 3/4 cup of cheese, ranch, sour cream, and chiles.  Mix well and split into quarters.  Take one quarter of mixture and place in each tortilla.  Roll up and place seam side down in baking pan.  Repeat with the remaining tortillas and chicken mixture.  Place remaining cheese on top of tortillas.  Bake for 20 min at 350F or until cheese is bubbly and melted.

Verdict:  I've made these before and enjoyed.  David approved pending removal of chiles.

Simple Pasta

Before heading out for vacation I had some produce to use so I threw together a simple tomato and pasta lunch.  It was light and simple and hit the spot.  Its not fine dining to report on, but it was just what I wanted!

Materials
olive oil
garlic
grape tomatoes
angel hair
coarse ground sea salt

Methods
I sliced up 2-3 cloves of garlic and sauteed them in some olive oil.  Meanwhile I boiled up some angel hair. After the garlic infused the oil, I chopped up the tomatoes and let them cook up for a few minutes.  I combined the tomatoes and angel hair with a generous sprinkling of sea salt and pepper.

Verdict
Like i said, absolutely nothing special, but it was just what I wanted!

Raspberry Glazed Chicken

Ok, 2 posts in 2 days -- I must be crazy!

Last night I decided to try a Raspberry Chicken.  I've seen a number of recipes for these types of things over the years, but never actually made one.  I thought it would be a safe bed since someone other than me likes raspberries.  I found this recipe for Raspberry Glazed Rosemary Chicken Breasts over at Debbi Does Dinner Healthy and decided to give it a whirl. I used her receipe with what I had on hand and modified slightly.  I also didn't measure anything, per norm for me :)

Materials
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
spice mix - 2:1 mix of rosemary and oregano
chicken broth
1/2 cup raspberry preserves
~1 tsp-1/2 tbl honey mustard

Methods
Preheat oven to 350.  Rub both sides of the chicken with the spice mix.  Place in shallow baking pan and add a little broth to prevent drying the chicken out while cooking.  Bake for about 20 minutes.

Mis the raspberry preserves and honey mustard.  Spread over the chicken and bake for another 10 minutes until cooked. 

Results
It turned out pretty well.  Rosemary was the dominant flavor, perhaps because i tend to use it abundantly, and the raspberry provided a little sweetness to follow up.  David was intrigued by the use of a jelly product on meat.  I enjoyed it and look forward to cosuming the final piece for dinner one night this week.

Some thoughts... I didn't really think it was glazed, the way I tend to think of glazed, which was a little disappointing.  It was more of rosemary chicken with a raspberry sauce.  I think to get that flavor/texture I would have put the preserves mixture on earlier.  I also didn't really taste the honey mustard much.  I would either use more or totally omit it.  Finally, it was a little dried out.  I would either cook this covered with foil to prevent drying the chicken out until the glaze/sauce was added or i would use chicken tenders rather than full chicken breasts.  Despite the reccomended changes, it was tasty, and it was nice to get back to trying new recipes.

Mexican Minestrone

I'm Back!  maybe not better, but I'm back at least.

Its been a bit of a hiatus.  After moving I discovered several excuses for not cooking.  Namely, i Hate my kitchen in my apartment.  The oven constantly sets of the smoke alarm when there is nothing smoking, and the burners aren't really fine tuned in terms of high-medium-low.  Over the past couple of months, I've ruined a few easy dishes, quit cooking, and returned to cooking.  Excuse number two:  It is hot in the kitchen.  I miss central air, and my kitchen is decidedly not well ventilated.  Final excuse:  my boyfriend is anti produce.  Something about vegetables bringing death at an earlier age or something?  If you recall my Lenten attempt at vegetarianism, this is a bit of an issue.  But, I've rallied the troops and we're back on track.  I'm starting off with something easy, out of my favorite kitchen gadget, the crockpot.  Its not full of fresh veggies from a farmers market, but its a step into the right direction.

Materials

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cans stewed Mexican tomatoes

1 can corn, rinsed and drained

1 cup salsa

1 can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 cup salsa

1 cup frozen green beans

2 medium potatoes, coarsely chopped

Methods

Combine all ingredients and cook on high in slow cooker for 7-9 hours and Enjoy!

Verdict

I cooked this overnight to eat for lunch this week.  I woke up at 3 AM and couldn't fall back to sleep because the smell was so enticing!  Despite being full of canned goodness, it didn't fail to delight.  It was about as yummy as it smelled and it was fully of yummy, fiber filled bean, tomato, and soupy goodness.  a recipe for happiness!  Plus,for the WW crowd it is about 4 points for a serving (recipe makes 6-8 servings). 

Stay tuned for more food updates.  I'm traveling a lot for work so it might be a little far and few between for the next few weeks, but I'm back to sauteing away!

Asparagus and Pancetta Hash

I'm back!  I've been cooking in the new place for a couple of weeks now.  I've been without internet so blogging has been less possible, and have tended towards the more simple lately as I've been focused on unpacking and eating tamer food after a month of eating out.

I saw this recipe on Smitten Kitchen a few weeks ago and thought about it pretty much from that point on.  I determined it was a must have sort of thing... so I made my way into the kitchen and gave it a try. 

Materials
1/2 lb pancetta, diced
1 tbl olive oil
1 lb yukon gold potatoes, scrubbed and diced
3 cloves garlic, smashed and minced
1 bunch asparagus, chopped

Methods
Heat up diced pancetta over medium heat.  Fry until well cooked and remove from pan.  Using pancetta renderings and 1 tbl olive oil, place potatoes in pan.  Salt and Pepper as desired (I like it heavy) and allow the potatoes to begin to brown.  flip periodically, allowing potatoes to cook and brown nicely.  Add in garlic towards the end of cooking the potatoes.  Once potatoes are about as brown as desired, add the asparagus and cover.  Allow the asparagus to saute in the renderings until cooked.  Return the pancetta tot eh pan, stir to reheat, and serve.

Results
Amazing!  It was fairly light, easy peasy, and yumm-ay!  I enjoyed the one dish aspect, which happens so rarely in my kitchen.  I also enjoyed the overall taste as well as the texture.  It was great reheated the next day for lunch too.  I will note, that I would recommend avoiding oversalting due to the giant amount of salt associated with the pancetta.  By the time I finished my leftover lunch I felt like I had consumed much of the great salt lake.  Still, a definite keeper and something to throw some changes to and repeat!  Also, I would add a yellow onion with the garlic, as suggested by the recipe; however, I had used all my onions earlier in the week.

On Hiatus

If you haven't noticed... on hiatus due to the move.  more kitchen fun coming once I have a kitchen again!! :)