Garlic-Roasted Chicken Breasts + Happy New Year!

Um, what? When did we go through a whole 'nother year???

And two-thousand fourteen... doesn't that just seem so far in the future? Not like it is the end of today's date... yet it is. Weren't we just all stocking up on extra supplies just in case the Y2K bug destroyed life as we knew it?

However we got here, Happy New Year! I am glad we all made it through another year -- and hopefully thrived. 

I, for one, had a ridiculously busy and crazy (crazy-good) year. Work, travel, extra responsibilities that take extra time, precious moments spent with loved ones...

You may have noticed blog posts dwindling over time... it was not because I didn't care to keep up with it. Rather, it was because I was juggling many balls at a time, and sometimes you just have to let a ball drop here or there. It happens. But I miss blogging. My hope is that I will be able to pick that ball up more, but if it means another ball must drop, I cannot let that happen. We shall what this year has in store!

I hope you are looking forward to wonderful things ahead of you, and that you were able to leave 2013 behind with a smile. Here's to new adventures waiting for us... CHEERS!

GARLIC-ROASTED CHICKEN BREASTS

WITH LEMONY BROCCOLI & PINE NUTS

Recipe slightly adapted from Everyday Food, September 2003

SERVES 6  •  PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES  •  TOTAL TIME: 1 HOUR 10 MINUTES

ingredients:

• 4 heads garlic
• 8 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 4 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, rinsed and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1 large head of broccoli, stalk removed
• Juice from ½ lemon
• 1/3 cup pine nuts

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the tops from garlic heads, reserving the bottoms; arrange the tops, cut sides down, in the center of an 11-by-17-inch roasting pan. Place 1 sprig of the rosemary over each garlic top, and arrange the chicken breasts over the garlic.
2. Place the reserved garlic bottoms, cut sides up, next to the chicken in the pan. Drizzle the chicken and garlic bottoms with the olive oil. Season the chicken with salt and pepper; place the remaining 4 sprigs of rosemary on top.
3. Roast the chicken for 30 minutes; turn the garlic bottoms cut sides down, and rotate the pan. Continue roasting the chicken until the skin is browned, the juices run clear, and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the meat registers 165 degrees, about 30 minutes more.
4. While chicken is roasting, prepare broccoli: heat a large skillet over medium-high heat and add 1-2 tablespoons olive oil. Add broccoli and pin nuts. Squeeze juice from lemon. Add salt. Cook until tender and remove from heat.
5. Pour the pan juices into a measuring cup; skim the fat from the top. Serve the juices with chicken and roasted garlic.

The roasted garlic makes an excellent topping for toast. Just squeeze cooked garlic cloves out of paper skin and use a fork to mash on top of sourdough or other rustic bread. Sprinkle lightly with salt.

COST: $14.42      COST PER SERVING (6): $2.40

Unprocessed    //    Gluten Free    //   Dairy Free

Broccoli & Pecorino Tart (Grown-up Trees with Cheese)

Broccoli.  It's one of those things I don't love.  I don't hate it, either.  In fact, I'm on solid neutral-status with it.

Except when my mom would make 'Trees with Cheese'.  Oh man, broccoli with melted Velveeta on top?  Yeah, it was six-year-old-veggie-Heaven.

But now I am all grown up and have no kids of my own, so it would be a little odd to make 'Trees with Cheese', or would it be?  How about a grown up version of it?  Now that would be great, not odd!

Broccoli, cheese, olive oil, lots of garlic (remember this blog title???), shredded Pecorino Romano, and some salt.  Mix it, spread it on thawed out puff pastry, and bake at 400F.  Simple.  And then we can all enjoy Trees with Cheese.. but this time it can be twenty-something-veggie-Heaven.

Yesssss.

Recipe slightly altered from Everyday Food, September 2012

INGREDIENTS:

• two small heads broccoli, cut up
• 4 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Pecorino Romano cheese
• thawed puff pastry, stretched out slightly

DIRECTIONS:

1. Mix broccoli, garlic, olive oil, and salt in mixing bowl.
2. Spread puff pastry out on top of foil lined baking sheet.  Using a butter knife (or scoring knife if you are fancy like that), make a slight border around the edges.  
3. Spread broccoli mix over pastry.  Bake at 400F for 17 - 19 minutes, until puff pastry is lightly golden. Remove and let cool.  Serve at room temperature.

COST: $4.19    Cost per serving (4):$1.05

Need To Do vs. Want To Do... (Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage)

I woke up this morning with the birds singing and the sun shining in.  Literally.  The sunshine I enjoyed, but I wanted to throw a shoe at the birds.  I guess I am not related to Cinderella.  But it was all good because it is Spring Forward Day.  Oh how I love today!  Yes, I may "lose an hour" (which I will gain back in nine eight months, so it really isn't losing so much as postponing it...), but know the sun will be up until later tonight.

7:19 to be exact.

Woot-woot!

I was all ambitious this morning.  I had a list of things I needed to accomplish and another I wanted to accomplish.  My "want to-do" list included things like read The Mockingjay, make another batch of what I made yesterday and take beautiful pictures, watch some CSI.

None of those things happened.

Instead, I conquered my "need to-do" list, or at least most of it.  I am still in the process of doing so.  But I have checked off "wash the dishes", "clean the stove", "run errands", "sweep and mop the floor", and "write a card to my grandpa" (although that one belonged on both lists, really).  There are still more things to be done however.  I guess this is one of those days that I will chalk up to "productive" rather than "fun". 

At least I will have a clean kitchen to show for my day.

But we all know how long that lasts...

But I did get to enjoy some of that tasty dish above.  Last night we had it and it was OK.  Well, truth be told I didn't really like but my husband did.  He really really liked it.  So much so that when I said, "Good, I am glad you like it because I have so much leftover you get it for lunch for the next three days," he replied, "Excellent!"  Now, if you know him you would find this odd because the only thing he can eat three days in a row with out complaining about it is either beans and rice or bananas.  Shoot -- he likes to eat beans and rice with bananas.  Another one of those weird things I just mentally mark a tally under "cultural differences".

Leftovers was the lunch plan for today and so I figured I would just eat it again.  Good thing!  This time it had more flavor.  Like a lot more flavor.  I liked it this time around, a lot.  Now I want to include in our "Meals We Want to Eat Again" list.  I will just make it a day or two before we plan on having it. 

Completely off the topic, <insert brilliant segue here> I bought radishes for the first time in my life.  I don't really like radishes, but they were just too pretty to pass up.

See what I mean?  Besides, I am sure they are very healthy for me and blah blah blah... Truthfully though, I believe that.  So I got them.  I have been slicing them very thinly and putting them into our salads.  My husband doesn't like them either so I am getting practice at being a mom --> sneaking in the healthy stuff so that they don't know they are eating it.  Ha!

The time has come for me to get back to my to-do list...

Whatever, I am totally going to catch up on some CSI.

Recipe from Everyday Food by Martha Stewart, March 2012

Rigatoni with Broccoli and Sausage

Yield: 6 Servings          Total Time: 25 minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1 pound rigatoni
• 2 heads broccoli, cut into florets (about 4 cups)
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest, plus the juice of one lemon
• 1 pound sweet Italian sausage (I used chicken sausage... tastes GREAT)
• Parmesan, grated, for serving

 DIRECTIONS:

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions.  In last 2 minutes of cooking, add broccoli and cook until bright green and crisp-tender.  Reserve 1 cup pasta water; drain pasta and broccoli.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Add to pasta after pasta is drained, adding pasta water as needed until it forms a light sauce.
3. In separate pan, cook sausage over medium heat until browned and cooked through (about 8 to 10 minutes).  Remove from heat and add to pasta.  Toss well and serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Cost: $10.69                   Cost Per Serving (6) $1.79

Include a small salad on the side, and your meal is just a little over $2.00

A Week of New Recipes -- Day 1: Herb-Crusted Chicken

I have been so busy these past few weeks.  SO BUSY.  Like I-flew-12,000-miles-in-two-weeks kind of busy and cram-10-quarter-hours-of-Master's-level-classes-into-five-weeks kind of busy.  Being so, I have not had the chance to cook recently.  But this week I am making up for it!  Flipping through the April 2011 issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray, I found the weekly meal planner and decided that it was time to cook again. 

Look at my ingredients for the week.  I am so excited... there is so much freshness here! 

That, my friends, is one week's supply of food for my husband and I.  These veggies, fruit, and other ingredients will provide our dinners and our lunches -- the leftovers from dinner. 

Last night I started on the first recipe.  It was supposed to be Herb-Crusted Pork Chops, but I really usually don't eat pork, so I decided to change up the recipe a little to make it how I wanted it: with chicken.  I switched out a few more things, so I will be posting my version of the recipe below.  If you would like to see the original recipe, CLICK HERE.  Otherwise, enjoy!

Starting with a few ingredients that are fresh, delicious,

and you might already have on hand...

Guess what I did? I made breadcrumbs. From scratch!

(And I must say, they put the store-bought ones to shame.)

Almost there...

And the end result?

Success! 

Both of us gave it a ten, and not many meals make it quite that high.  Tasted great and left you feeling light afterwards even though you were full.

INGREDIENTS     (My changes are in italics)

1 1/2 cups (about 3 ounces) fresh Country White breadcrumbs

3 Tablespoons olive oil    

3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley

2 tablespoons grated Asiago cheese    

Pack of boneless, skinless chicken breast tenders    

3 tablespoons grainy mustard    

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced    

1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets    

Salt and pepper

DIRECTIONS 

1. Preheat the oven to 425°. Grease a large glass baking dish.  In a large nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the breadcrumbs and toast, stirring, for 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool; stir in the parsley and cheese.
2. Brush the chicken with the mustard and coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Arrange in baking dish and bake until cooked through but still juicy, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a clean skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 3 minutes. Add the broccoli, season with salt and pepper and toss. Add 1/2 cup water, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Serve with the chops.

COST = $11.65       PER SERVING (3) = $3.88

Recipe adapted from RachaelRay.com