Chicken Parmigiana

This is one of my hubby's favorites! I lighten it up by baking the chicken rather than pan frying. It comes out tender and crispy. This dinner takes alittle more than 30 minutes but it's worth it. You can use homemade Marinara sauce or choose your favorite store bought sauce. This recipe is enough for us to have plenty of left-overs, which makes it doubly worth it! Enjoy.

Recipe: (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup Egg Beater's (or 1 egg)
2 Tablespoons water
2/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
2 cups Marinara Sauce
1 1/2 cups part skim Mozzarella cheese, grated

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 500'F
2. Place chicken in resealable plastic bag or wrap in plastic wrap and pound with flat side of meat mallet until ~1/4 inch thick.
3. Mix Egg Beater's and water in a shallow dish.  In another shallow dish, mix bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese and Italian Seasoning. Dip chicken into egg mixture first, then coat with bread crumb mixture.
3. Place chicken on a baking sheet and bake for 10-14minutes, flipping halfway through. Watch closely, don't leave the kitchen. Breading should be golden brown but chicken may not be cooked through yet.
4. Turn oven down to 350'F.
5. Spread 1/2 cup of Marinara sauce in a baking dish. Place chicken breasts on sauce in baking dish, it's okay if the chicken breast overlap slightly. Spoon remaining sauce over chicken. Sprinkle evenly with remaining Parmesan cheese and the Mozzarella cheese. Bake ~20 minutes until sauce is bubbly and cheese is golden brown and chicken reaches internal temperature of 160'F. Serve immediately over whole wheat pasta! ...click here for the recipe!

Garden Fresh Marinara Sauce

Our garden is bursting with tomatoes, but you can only make salsa so many times... Tonight we made a 30-minute marinara sauce that we put over semolina pasta. It turned out fantastic!

The recipe was made up on the fly- and with the distractions of a 6 month old and 3 year old. So I hope my transcription of the recipe is correct enough; here we go:

Recipe: (serves 4)
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
1 small white onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of Crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 medium red bell pepper, diced
9 medium tomatoes diced and seeded (I used 4 Roma tomatoes and 5 early girls)
3 oz of organic tomato paste
1/4 cup of water
1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Heat a large wide sauce pan on med-high. Add olive oil, onion, garlic, mushrooms and bell pepper. Sauté for 5 minutes.

2. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, water, vinegar, salt and pepper to taste, Italian seasoning, garlic powder and red pepper flakes. Cook until tomatoes break down (~10 minutes) then cover and simmer on low for 10-15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Serve hot over pasta with some Parmesan cheese.

Enjoy!
- J (Dad) ...click here for the recipe!

Adding more recipes

 I have heard some feedback that you all want more recipes!  So as we revisit some of our favorites I've been going back and adding in some more specifics.  Tonight we enjoyed Grilled vegetable ciabatta sandwiches again so I went back and added the "recipe".  Check it out!  This is a great way to use all the wonderful summertime veggies. ...click here for the recipe!

Mexican Lasagna

We just got home from a mini-vacation and our pantry was pretty sparse.  We did have fresh cilantro and avocado so I decided to make a quick go-to dish...Mexican Lasagna.  It's an idea that I got from Rachael Ray.  You can make it with whole wheat tortillas too.  I often add diced zucchini, squash, red bell pepper or corn, whatever we have on hand.  Modify this recipe and make it your own.


Recipe: (serves 4-6)

Ingredients

1 -1 1/4 lbs ground turkey

1 small onion, chopped

2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

1 Tablespoon ground Cumin

1 (15oz) can diced tomatoes with their juice

1 cup taco sauce

1 (15oz) can black beans, drained & rinsed

6-8 tortillas

1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 425'F.  Cook turkey in skillet, breaking up until cooked through and no longer pink, drain excess fat.  Add diced onion, chili powder and cumin, stir to combine.  Once onion is cooked and translucent, add tomatoes, taco sauce and beans.  Heat mixture through about 2-3 minutes.  Season to taste if needed.

2. Tear tortillas in quarters.  Spread half of the turkey mixture into the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish, spread evenly.  Cover with tortilla triangles, covering meat mixture completely.  Spread remaining half of the meat mixture over the tortilla layer and cover that with remaining tortillas.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Bake 12-15 minutes until cheese is melted and tortillas are golden.  Top with cilantro and serve.

...click here for the recipe!

Baked Turkey "Party" Meatballs

I had some leftover ground turkey that I wanted to use up.  My hubby suggested mini-meatballs, great idea, so that's just what I made.  Our 3 year old son LOVED them.  I call them "Party" meatballs because they are fun to dip and eat and of course they would be great with a toothpick stuck in them for a party!  They were easy to make.  I did a quick online search and found someone who suggested using a mini muffin tin...brilliant!  It worked great!  We dipped them in Marinara sauce, but you could also try barbecue sauce or another favorite sauce.

And they are fun for kids!  Here is our son enjoying them, he had thirds. 

that's our nosy kitty in the background :)

Recipe:
Ingredients: (makes 24 mini meatballs)
-1/2 - 3/4 pound lean ground turkey
-1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
-1/8 cup Egg Beater's
-1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning
-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1/4 cup dry bread crumbs, plus more for tossing

Preheat oven to 400'F. Mix all ingredients very well in a large mixing bowl.  Use a #70 scoop (~1/2oz), scoop portions of the meat mixture and shape into balls. Place some of the extra bread crumbs in a small dish and roll the meatballs in the crumbs, one at a time, to coat well. Replenish the bread crumbs as needed.
 

Place the meatballs in a mini-muffin tin --- one per cup --- and bake for 14-15 minutes, until they reach an internal temperature of 165'F.  Jiggle the tin a couple of times or use the tip of a butter knife to turn the meatballs at least once 1/2 way through cooking. The meatballs should be golden and cooked through. 

TIPS: Double this recipe for a party, you can always use eggs (1/4cup Egg Beater's = 1 large egg).  These meatballs can be frozen in small batches so you can take them out as needed for pasta, sandwiches or a snack.

...click here for the recipe!

Balsamic Glazed Chicken

This is a tasty way to fix chicken. The sauce is seriously finger licking good. No really, I was dipping my finger in and wishing we had some more chicken just to eat more of the sauce!

Ingredients:
Equal parts brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, low sodium soy sauce and honey (~1/2 cup each)
fresh rosemary (~4-5 sprigs)
5 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
8-10 chicken breast tenders
toasted sesame seeds and chopped green onions for garnish

Directions:
1. Mix brown sugar, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, use a whisk to incorporate. Add honey, rosemary (leave sprigs whole so they are easy to fish out later), and garlic cloves. Pour marinade into a gallon-sized re-sealable plastic bag, add the chicken and place sealed bag in the fridge to marinate for about 2 hours.

2. Remove chicken, save the marinade, we'll cook it down into a delicious dipping sauce. Grill chicken about 2-3 minutes per side until internal temperature of 155'F. Or you can bake chicken in a 450'F oven for about 15-18 minutes flipping once, half-way through.

3. Place marinade in a saucepan, remove the garlic and rosemary. Since the marinade had raw chicken in to you want to bring it to a boil then quickly reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook 10-15 minutes until it's nice and thickened. Spread over your chicken, sprinkle with garnishes and serve hot with extra sauce at the table.
Seriously addictive! ...click here for the recipe!

Green Salad with Melon and Citrus Vinaigrette

This is a very refreshing and fresh tasting salad. We often add strawberries, apples and pears to our green salads so why not try melon? This was actually quite tasty. Dress it with a simple store-bought vinaigrette or try making your own. Either way this salad was tasty and a great compliment to the barbecued chicken we had! Try it with summer melon or watermelon too.

Recipe:
Citrus Vinaigrette
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1 Tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar or honey or Agave Nectar
olive oil (about 3 tablespoons, eyeball it)
salt & pepper

Whisk all ingredients except the olive oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl or shake in a salad dressing container until well combined. Slowly drizzle the olive oil in whisking constantly until well mixed and combined. Give it a taste and season as needed with salt & pepper to taste.

Our salad had
1/2 medium cantaloupe or other melon cut into cubes
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups of your favorite lettuce (arugula, romaine, butter, etc)
1/2 cup walnuts, toasted ...click here for the recipe!

Roasted Zucchini & Potatoes with Parmesan Cheese

We are still trying to find creative ways to eat all of the zucchini we are harvesting from the garden...tonight...roasted!  These make a great side dish to any meal.  The dusting of Parmesan gave them a tasty crunch.

Recipe:
Ingredients:
4-5 small red potatoes, quartered
2 medium zucchini, chucked
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves, chopped
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan Cheese (please don't use the green can kind)
2-3 Tablespoons olive oil
pepper

So because potatoes and zucchini have different cooking/roasting times I opted to par-boil the potatoes a bit to avoid overcooked zucchini with raw potatoes.  :)

Directions:
1. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add potatoes and cook until just tender 7-9 minutes. Preheat oven to 400'F.
2. In a large bowl combine zucchini chucks, potatoes, herbs, garlic, cheese, olive oil and pepper, toss to coat. Spray a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray and spread the veggies on it in a single layer. Sprinkle a tad bit more Parmesan cheese on top.  Bake at 400'F for ~15-20 minutes until golden brown, crispy and cooked through. ...click here for the recipe!