Balsamic & Honey Grilled Chicken

Jul 11, 2015

You just can’t go wrong with a well-grilled marinated chicken breast. It is endlessly versatile—eat it fresh off the grill, re-heat with some veggies, throw it in a stir fry, make chicken salad.

This marinade is one of perfect simplicity…the balsamic vinegar helps slightly break down the meat, allowing the spices and garlic to really soak in, and the honey to make it super moist. But none of it overwhelms.

These suckers are so juicy and flavorful, but can go with just about anything!

Risotto Primavera

May 3, 2015

This recipe is the perfect blend of hearty winter fare and bright spring veggies…

It’s kind of weird that I’ve never made a risotto primavera, given my love of risotto. But when I was home for Passover this year, we were trying to come up with a delicious side dish and my mom mentioned risotto. We thought about all the veggies we had, and all the fresh herbs, and I decided that it was the perfect idea.

I’ve said this a million times, but people always think risotto is so difficult. But it’s not! It just needs a little TLC…you can’t rush it, but 90% of risotto is in gently stirring. You get too rough with it, try to turn the heat way up to rush it, and that’s when things go south.

Plan for an hour. But it’s an hour of stirring, drinking wine, talking to guests—it’s the perfect dinner party dish.

Traditional Spanish Tortilla

Jun 27, 2014

See, I would have called this a frittata. And apparently I would have been wrong.

One of my co-workers is half Spanish, and one time he brought in a traditional Spanish tortilla for breakfast. While it looked exactly like the frittatas I’m so fond of, it just had a slightly different flair. The gold potatoes are delightfully tender and add a delicate base to the dish. Many also include onion, asparagus, chorizo, and other fillings. The recipe below called for tarragon, though I used fresh rosemary and oregano instead.

Spanish tortillas and frittatas are very similar, though there are a few differences. Tortillas are always egg- and potato-based, while frittatas only have to have eggs. Also, apparently the main difference is that you’re supposed to flip a Spanish tortilla on the stovetop at the end, versus finishing in the oven like a frittata. I’ll definitely be trying this method next time—I’m trying to wheedle my co-worker’s recipe out of him!

Mac & Cheese with Roasted Butternut Squash, Kale, & Chicken Sausage

Feb 23, 2014

As the whole country knows, Atlanta has had some winter weather troubles lately. A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough not to get stuck in the 24-hour city-wide traffic jam—only took me an hour and a half to get home. I hadn’t had the foresight to check the weather ahead of time, so I ended up being stuck at home for a few days with only the food I had stocked up in my pantry and fridge. (I did have wine this time…a few years ago I got snowed/iced in for five days without wine. #neveragain)

I started poking around to see what I could make. I was craving comfort food but knew I needed to eat somewhat healthy. Unfortunately I hadn’t bought many fruits and veggies, but I found a butternut squash in the fridge and had some wilted kale, so I figured I could make something work. This is a true McGyver meal, but I think it came out pretty darn good. It was creamy and warm, with the salty sausage and the kale adding different textures.

Can you tell I’ve been craving comfort food? Seriously, I could have chosen to make a quinoa casserole or something, but instead I ended up with a steamy, creamy mac & cheese.

Grilled Chicken with Fresh Herbs

Sep 8, 2013

It’s really starting to feel like I’m back!

I’ve spent the last two months being almost singularly-focused on my hip surgery. I had two weeks to get everything lined up for my out-of-state surgery and being out of work for a month and a half. Then after the procedure my world initially was a fairly regimented schedule of pills, injections, ice packs, braces, weird machines on and around me, and those absolutely terrible anti-blood clot stockings that were the bane of my existence. My mom and then my sister (and baby niece) came down to help take of me, and I worked a ton from home, but the scope of my world basically shrunk to my living room.

My mom and sister left three weeks after the surgery, when I was able to start driving again (I’m still driving left-footed out of fear for my right hip). Since then I’ve basically just been trying to do the bare minimum, getting up and down my condo stairs, starting to wean myself off crutches, getting all my physical therapy in, working from home, and then collapsing at the end of the day. I’ve re-watched two seasons each of Bones and Castle, and devoured three seasons of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix (Buffy + Angel 4EVER, amirite??).

I haven’t been making anything new lately (as you may have noticed), surviving on pre-made food and leftovers from when my sister was here. And cheese. But now, finally, I seem to have turned a corner.

Beyond throwing pasta with various fixings, this recipe was a first try at really cooking something (besides boiling up ravioli or baking a Kashi pizza). I knew it would need to be fast and easy, since I didn’t want to spend lots of time on my feet—I still tire really easily. And I’m still obsessed with my grill and want to use it as much as I can before it gets cold out. Plus, my mom planted me this awesome indoor herb garden while she was here.

Isn’t that the BEST?! The only places in my entire condo (including the patio) that get direct sunlight are the two bedroom windows, so we put this in the guest bedroom. She planted tons of basil (my favorite!), rosemary, oregano, sage, and thyme. I’ve been doing my darnedest to keep them alive since she left, though I think the sage has shuffled off this mortal coil. It wasn’t terribly hardy. It’s not my fault!

Mom, if you’re reading this, I promise I took care of it…the sage just had no will to live.

Man, fresh herbs are the best. I used a combination of the rosemary, thyme, oregano, and sage for this dish. I was worried the basil would be too overpowering, so I left it out.

Pasta with Peppers, Sausage, & Goat Cheese

May 13, 2013

My made-up pasta dishes seem to follow a certain theme—namely, chicken sausage, veggies, and deeeelicious cheese. This is definitely comfortably in that wheelhouse. But somehow I like it better than other recipes I’ve made, it had this great mellow flavor.

I think the key was forgoing red peppers in favor of their paler yellow and orange siblings, and using red onion instead of white. That, combined with roasting instead of sauteing, took this up a level.

Unleavened Treats: Cottage Cheese Rolls

Mar 31, 2013

Since I was such a tease with the leavened cake the other day, here’s a real unleavened treat. Though we’re close to the end of the Days of Unleavened Bread, there are still a couple days left to make this DOUB classic. I know some people already use this recipe (because I’ve seen them talk about it on Facebook), but if you haven’t then you must immediately!

This was my mom’s go-to recipe during this season. I never could understand why people would want to eat matzo, because it’s like eating cardboard. These, on the other hand, are moist and buttery and chewy and flavorful and FULL OF AWESOME.

This recipe is really versatile. You can make it as-is, substitute whole wheat flour for part, add savory or sweet flavors, make rolls or roll out flat. I mixed it up a lot this week, using some rosemary, some cinnamon-sugar, and some whole wheat flour.

Pioneer Woman’s Crash Hot Potatoes

Mar 18, 2013

You always need a couple of good potato side dish recipes around for when you’re not feeling super inspired. For some reason, I don’t default to potatoes, and I always have trouble coming up with starchy sides. I’ll gravitate to a kale, a brussels sprout dish, something along those lines, but lots of people probably hate me for that since the instinctive reaction is “blech!”. So I’m trying to build up an arsenal of “regular” sides.

I found this recipe on Pioneer Woman’s site, and like the idea because it seemed simple and easy. Things like mashed potatoes scare me, because there are too many steps, too much mess, and it takes quite a while. This dish was a great easy side with the balsamic beef we made Saturday night, easy to put together, and didn’t require us to find lots of work space in my tiny kitchen.

Rosemary Chicken Lasagna

Mar 10, 2013

When my mom was here a couple months ago, we got quite ambitious with dinner one night. We started with this rosemary chicken lasagna, which I’d been wanting to make for forever, and finished with white chocolate lemon lava cakes. And despite the work, we weren’t sorry—we WERE stuffed!

The flavor on this lasagna was so interesting! The rosemary added a nice depth to the bechamel, the chicken and mushrooms provide good protein, and the lemon zest was such a lovely counterpoint to the richness of the cheese and sauce.

It was nice to have the second set of hands when assembling everything and making the bechamel, but it’s a fairly easy recipe—just make sure to give yourself enough time so you’re not frantic trying to put it together. For me, being frantic takes the fun out of cooking.

This is definitely the most interesting chicken lasagna recipe I’ve seen, and I will definitely be making it again!

The Pinterest hit known as “Man Pleasing” Chicken

Feb 3, 2013

I am not a mustard person, which is why I had pinned this recipe quite some time ago but have been finding reasons to put off trying it. But I had company coming over and needed a quick, easy dinner I could throw together.

I was really worried that the three main ingredients—dijon mustard, maple syrup, and a sweeter vinegar—would just make this way too intense, all the flavors fighting each other. But I was pleasantly surprised by how the flavors actually kind of balanced each other out, making the end result sweet, tangy, and with just enough bite to keep your interested.

The other nice flavor component was the rosemary. If you don’t have it the recipe is still great, but the fresh rosemary just adds another great layer of flavor with the mustard-maple sauce.