herbed chicken cutlet

This chicken was moist and delicious, which I attribute mostly to the salt scrub. The herb salad really kicked up the flavor. I love herbs! I doubled the herb salad and added the extra to the wild/brown rice I was cooking to serve with the chicken. Unfortunately, I over-cooked the rice and it was barely edible. But the cutlets were stellar and roasted broccoli was a nice complement (thanks to my personal trainer guru friend, Meg).

adapted from Gwyneth Paltrow's Chicken Milanese with Many Herb Salad & Dried Cranberries:

serves 4 (or however many cutlets are prepared)

4 skinless, free-range, organic boneless chicken cutlets, washed and dried^

1 free-range, organic egg, whisked

2 cups plain bread crumbs mixed with 1 tsp. fresh ground pepper and 1 tsp. sea salt

coconut oil

to make your cutlets:

*dip the chicken into the egg & bread both sides

*heat coconut oil on medium high heat

*cook chicken for 4 minutes on each side

*plate and top with prepared herb salad (below)

herb salad with cranberries:

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh chives

1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro

2 Tbsp. roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 Tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint

2 Tbsp. dried cranberries

juice of 1/2 lemon

pinch of coarse salt

*combine all ingredients in small bowl

^salt scrub for poultry:

*wet poultry and scrub with a handful of kosher/rock salt.

*rinse and pat completely dry with paper towels

spicy spaghetti

i love this spicy spaghetti! add some chopped tomatoes from the garden; this is a great way to use home-grown produce. quick and easy, this dish went from chopping to serving in just 30 minutes. i'm looking forward to the leftovers!

also, this meal is very inexpensive. if you grow your own peppers and basil as i have, each serving of this dish costs about $1.00. for the money, this meal was satisfying, healthful, and tasty!

adapted from Jamie Oliver’s recipe

serves 4-6
2 cloves garlic
1 pound dried spaghetti (i used Capellini)
1 fresh red chile
olive oil
small bunch of fresh basil
14 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 cup fresh spinach, stems removed
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
4 oz. fresh grated parmesan cheese

to make your pasta:
*peel and finely slice the garlic
*finely slice the chile
*pick the basil leaves off the stalk and put to one side
*finely chop stalks
*bring large pan of salted water to a boil, add spaghetti, cook according to package
*put dutch oven on medium heat, add 2 lugs of olive oil
*add garlic, chile, and basil stalks, stir
*when the garlic browns, add most of the basil leaves and canned tomatoes
*turn the heat up to high for one minute
*season with salt and pepper
*drain spaghetti in colander, transfer to the dutch oven, add spinach and stir

serving suggestion:
serve in bowls topped with torn remaining basil leaves and parmesan cheese.
Chianti works well with this meal.

red, white, & blue cobbler

this quick and easy dessert is perfect for July 4th weekend; add a little ice cream and it’s red, white, and blue! personally, i think cobbler makes a great breakfast too.

adapted from Allrecipes.com

serves 6
4 Tbsp. butter
¾ cup all-purpose flour
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. baking pwder
1/3 tsp. salt
¾ cup milk (I used 2%)
3 cups sliced fresh berries (I used strawberries and blueberries)
1 Tbsp. sugar

to make your cobbler:
*adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and preheat to 350 degress
*put butter in your dutch oven (or at least 2-quart pan), set in oven to melt butter and then remove
*whisk flour, ¾ cup sugar, baking pawder, and salt in a small bowl. Add milk; whisk to form a smooth batter.
*pour batter into the dutch oven (with butter), then scatter fruit over batter, and sprinkle with 1 Tbsp. sugar
*bake until batter browns and fruit bubbles (50-60 minutes)

serving suggestion:
serve warm or at room temperature with ice cream or whipped cream

cheesy baked pasta with spinach & artichoke

this simple, healthful recipe was quick to prepare and yielded a wonderfully cheesy result. any opportunity to grate fresh parmesan is a welcome one, and i think it adds so much more flavor to any dish over the store-bought pre-grated variety.

i thought the meal was hardy enough as a main course, but this recipe could easily be a side item as well. next time, i will try using some lemon pepper and/or lemon thyme in this dish as i love the combination of lemon and artichokes.

adapted from Real Simple’s recipe

serves 4
8oz. whole grain mini penne (or other short pasta)
14oz. can artichoke hearts, rinsed and quartered
9oz. package frozen creamed spinach, thawed
¼ cup fresh grated parmesan
2 cups grated mozzarella, divided
Fresh ground black pepper

to make your pasta:
*cook pasta according to directions, drain, and return to pot
*add artichoke hearts, spinach, parmesan, 1 cup mozzarella & ¼ tsp. pepper, stirring to combine
*heat broiler
*sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the top of the pasta and broil until cheese is browned in spots, about 2-3 minutes

serving suggestion:
with a crisp salad

(twice) baked beans

We’ve had such mild weather lately that we’ve been able to grill out in the middle of February! I love baked beans, and this recipe doesn’t disappoint. We had these beans as a side to really delicious burgers on the grill. And while a dutch oven is not necessary, as with all things, it only makes it better!

My boyfriend thought it was comical that one of the ingredients in this recipe was in fact canned baked beans. Come to find out Whit himself passed off canned baked beans in a Crockpot as a homemade side dish for a holiday party years ago. If he had just had this easy recipe, he could have truthfully claimed this fabulous side dish as his own.

If chili sauce is unknown to you, you are in good company. I had no idea what it was before I made these beans. I found it between the cocktail sauce and ketchup in the condiment aisle at my Kroger. It's not hot (spicy), but more of a sweet ketchup. This sauce is tasty and will be a condiment staple in my fridge from now on.

This recipe is adapted from ‘Life After Ramen’ by Ann Thatcher and Randy MacDonald, who are Knoxville natives! I've truly enjoyed their cookbook in the years since I received it as a gift. The recipes have short ingredients lists and do not require a lot of skill or equipment to pull off.

In the future, I'll try to make baked beans from scratch. But in the meantime, I'm happy to have this time saving and absolutely delicious recipe for a summer favorite on hand.

serves 4-6
28 oz. canned original style baked beans
¼ cup diced onion
¼ cup diced green pepper
6 oz. chili sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 strip bacon

to make your beans:
*preheat oven to 350
*mix all ingredients and add to the dutch oven
*top with bacon strip
*cover and cook for 15 minutes
*uncover and cook for another 15 minutes

serving suggestion:
this side dish is delish hot or cold!

Chicken Parmesan

this is a really simple and fast chicken Parmesan recipe. it will serve approximately 4 people. we have started buying the thinly sliced chicken breasts, which cook even faster. also, i usually want to add more spaghetti sauce than recommended.

one advantage of using the dutch oven is that you can saute and bake the chicken in the same dish. the last time i made this, i fried pieces of bacon in a little olive oil before adding the chicken and it was quite tasty.

ingredients:
1/2 cup milk
1 egg
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 package mozzarella cheese slices
1 jar spaghetti sauce
desired noodles (i prefer angel hair)
olive oil
salt & pepper

directions:
*preheat oven to 350 degrees
*mix breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, and red pepper together
*dredge chicken through milk, then eggs, than breadcrumb mixture
*lightly brown chicken in skillet with olive oil (about 3-4 minutes each side) and lightly salt and pepper
*pour 1/2 sauce over the chicken breasts
*add a slice of mozzarella on top of each breast
*bake, covered, for 25-30 minutes
*prepare noodles
*serve chicken on top of a bed of noodles and cover with remaining sauce

serving suggestion:
i like to eat this meal with a crisp salad and garlic bread.

Pan-Fried Glazed Pork Chops

these chops had a great flavor, despite the fact that i probably over-cooked them slightly. my crackling wasn't entirely successful, since the chops i found were very lean. we had them with a salad, baked potato, and rolls; looking back i probably would have served them with a sweet potatoes instead. this was a really quick dinner, and one i plan to make again.

adapted from Jamie Oliver's 'Food Revolution'

serves 2
2 x 8-ounce pork chops
olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
4 sprigs of fresh sage
mango chutney
honey

to prepare your pork:*trim the skin off the edges of each chop to turn into crackling
*cut each strip of skin lengthwise into 2 strips, ending up with 4
*make cuts every 1/4" along the fat remaining on the chops
*rub both sides of the chops (and strips of skin) with olive oil and season well with salt and pepper
*pick the sage leaves off their stalks and toss gently in olive oil, set aside

to cook your pork:
*put a frying pan over a high heat and add strips of skin
*move them about the pan and remove when golden , crisp, crackling
*lay both chops flat in the pan and give them 4-5 minutes on each side, turning every minute
*when they're golden, add a few sage leaves to the pan
*let them crisp up and cook for about 30 seconds, then remove them to a plate
*spoon a large tablespoon of mango chutney mixed with honey over each chop
*keep turning the chops over so they get nicely coated
*remove the chops to a plate and let them rest for a minute or two

to serve your pork:
*serve your chops on a plate, with the crackling and the crispy sage leaves