Pesto Chicken with Tomatoes and Asparagus

I was looking for healthier, high protein recipes and came across this gem on Pinterest: One Pan Pesto Chicken and Veggies. I added the garlic to the original recipe, and I also recommend using the sundries tomato oil to cook the chicken for added flavor. In checking the recipe ingredients, 6 oz of chicken and veggies has 329 calories, 31.6 g protein, 17.1 g fat, and 15 g carbs. If you are sparing with the pesto, you should be able to lower the fat and carbs. No matter what, everyone who has tried this dish has loved it. It also reheats pretty well when I take it to work for lunch, which I count as a win! There is so much flavor in the dinner, and it is pretty easy to make, two more wins in my book. You're going to want to try this recipe.

2 Tbsp olive oil
1-1.25 pound chicken thigh or breast meat, boneless and skinless, sliced into strips
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes drained of oil, chopped
1 pound asparagus ends trimmed, cut in half, if large
1/4 cup basil pesto
1 cup cherry tomatoes yellow and red, halved

4-6 cloves of garlic, minced (or use jarred minced garlic)

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice tomatoes in half; cut ends off of asparagus; and chop sun dried tomatoes.

Slice chicken into large pieces.

Salt and pepper generously to taste.

Heat large skillet on medium-high heat, add 2 tablespoons olive oil (you can use some of the oil from the sun-dried tomatoes for additional flavor). Add chicken and add half of chopped sun-dried tomatoes.

Cook everything 5-10 minutes, flipping chicken a couple of times, until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Remove the chicken and sun-dried from the skillet, leaving oil in.

Add asparagus, seasoned generously with salt and remaining half of sun-dried tomatoes.  

Reduce heat to medium and cook about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook several more minutes until the asparagus is cooked through. I cook just until the asparagus is fork tender.

Remove asparagus to serving plate. Add chicken back to the skillet, add pesto, stir to coat on low-medium heat until chicken is reheated, 1 or 2 minutes, and pesto is dispersed. 

Add tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes; remove skillet from heat.

Serve chicken, tomatoes, and asparagus, and watch your family gobble it up!

Hungarian Goulash

A big pot of something warm simmering on a cold day lifts my soul and makes everything better. I make some soups and beans, but I didn't have a huge amount of recipes for cold day meals, so when I came across this Slow-Cooker Hungarian Beef Goulash recipe on Pinterest, I knew it was one I needed to try. The final product reminded me of the Hungarian Goulash that I remember from my childhood in Germany. It was rich and thick and aromatic, and warmed the body and the soul. Add a nice warm slice of the Rustic No-Knead Bread that I just blogged and is pictured above and you have an amazing meal!

2 lbs beef stew meat, trimmed and cubed
2 tsp caraway seeds
2 Tbsp sweet or hot paprika (or a mixture of the two)
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1 large onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes
2 cups reduced sodium beef broth
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp water
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Dice beef into bite size pieces, and place beef in a 4-quart slow cooker.

Crush caraway seeds with a mortar and pestle (or you can use the bottom of a saucepan or meat tenderizer). Add paprika, salt and pepper, and stir to combine.

 

 Sprinkle the beef with the spice mixture and toss to coat well.  

Add onion, bell pepper, tomatoes, broth, Worcestershire sauce and garlic to slow cooker. 

Place bay leaves on top. Cover and cook until the beef is very tender, 4-1/2 to 5 hours on high or 7 to 7-1/2 hours on low.

Discard the bay leaves. Add the cornstarch mixture to the stew and cook on high, stirring 2 or 3 times, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle fresh diced parsley over goulash before serving.

Rigatoni Pasta Bake

Rich, hearty meat sauce... stringy gooey mozzarella... perfect pasta... I mean, really, what's not to love? I found this recipe for Rigatoni Pasta Bake on Pinterest, and because it looked so yummy, I decided to give it a try. I would like a bit more sauce to pasta ratio, but all-in-all, it turned out very good.

12 oz Rigatoni pasta
1 lb ground beef
1 lb Italian sausage
2 (15 oz cans) tomato sauce
28 oz can crushed tomatoes (I didn't use this)
1.5 Tbsp tomato paste
1.5 cups Mozzarella cheese
½ cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
1 Tbsp garlic powder
2 Tbsps Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp sugar

In a large pot of boiling water, cook pasta according to package directions, until al dente.

In a large saucepan, brown ground beef and sausage until crumbly and cooked through. Stir in crushed tomatoes (if using), tomato sauce, and tomato paste.

Stir in garlic powder, Italian seasoning, sugar, salt and pepper. Allow to simmer 3-5 minutes, allowing the flavors to combine. Gently stir pasta into sauce.

Grease a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with cooking spray. Add half the pasta and sauce mixture to the baking dish. Sprinkle half the mozzarella and parmesan over the pasta. Repeat with a second layer.

Bake in preheated 325 oven, covered with foil, for 20-25 minutes. Uncover and bake an additional 15-20 minutes, until hot and bubbly.

Cheese Dip

I love cheese... hot melted yummy cheese, but not so much cold cheese. I've never liked cubed cold cheese, and there's only one sandwich that I can eat cold cheese on - pastrami with provolone. But I digress... Cheese dip is a gift from god. I love all kinds of cheese dip... yellow, white, with meat, without. So, this is the recipe, sort of, that my dad made when I was growing up. I have altered it just a bit from his recipe, but not much. What makes this dip so amazing is not using can "Rotel" but instead using fresh diced onion, tomato and peppers. The flavor explosion you get with the fresh vegetables is incomparable. In the summer, when a wider variety of peppers are available, I will use several different ones, but in the winter months, I usually use just jalapeños because they are easier to get. When I make this just for me, it is not for the faint of heart. When making it for a large group, I will try to use less peppers and crushed peppers, but it will still have a little heat. So dial it up, or down, as suits your taste.

1 lb Mexican Velveeta

1/2 to 1 lb regular Velveeta

1-2 large tomatoes (0r 3-5 small or Roma tomatoes)

1 medium onion

2-4 peppers (jalapeño, Anaheim, cowhorn, cayenne)

Milk

Season all salt

Crushed pepper

Cube the Velveeta and place in a large pot or crock pot. Dice tomatoes, onion and peppers and place in pot. You can reduce the heat of the peppers a little by knocking out some of the seeds. This will preserve the flavor of the peppers and give you the amount of heat you want. 

Add a little milk to achieve the consistency you prefer - I usually use about 1/2-1 cup because I like my cheese dip a little thinner. Add about 1-2 tsp of season all salt and crushed peppers to taste. Warm slowly, stirring frequently until melted. 

Serve and enjoy!

Fried Green Tomatoes

Southerners are all about frying food... meats, vegetables, desserts. Nothing is sacred when it comes to Southerners and frying. And what could be more Southern than fried green tomatoes? I don't much like tomatoes actually. They're soft and full of seeds, and they kind of gross me out. I love all sorts of tomato products though - salsa, marinara, ketchup. A fried green tomato though is pure genius. So much flavor. I've talked to people who used flour. Some use only cornmeal. I've played with mine over the years and this is how I decided was best to make them.

Green tomatoes
salt
pepper
milk
eggs
flour
cornmeal

Slice the tomatoes thinly. Lightly salt and pepper both sides of the tomato slices. Prepare an egg bath. I used three eggs and a dash of milk (probably a tablespoon or two). Whisk until blended.

Put your bowls in order of dipping toward the skillet - flour, egg wash, cornmeal.

Take each slice and dredge both sides through the flour; submerge the tomato slice in the egg wash; then liberally coat it with the cornmeal on both sides.

I fry my tomato slices in olive oil. Cook until golden on both sides.