Baked Chicken and Vegetables
July 14, 2010 at 12:54 pm | Posted in Dinner, Sides | Leave a commentIt was a little chaotic in the kitchen last night so I never got to take a picture, but this is a great way to get rid of vegetables you may have that will go bad soon. It’s like a one-pot recipe, but in a baking dish.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Any soft vegetables you have (i.e. peppers, onions, zucchini, etc)
Chicken pieces (bone-in or out is fine)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2-Cut up the veggies into chunks. Place in glass baking dish
3-Season with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, mix so that both vegetables and bottom of dish are coated
4-Place chicken pieces on top of vegetables (if bone-in, may want to brown on a skillet for a minute, if boneless, you can put as-is in dish)
5-Cook for about 25-30 minutes (depending on size of chicken, you may want to cook longer, check chicken before deciding if it’s finished or not)
6-Enjoy!
Baked Sliced-Almond Chicken and Steamed Kabocha Squash
June 23, 2010 at 4:25 pm | Posted in Dinner, Sides | Leave a commentTags: almond chicken, kabocha squash
Last night’s adventure involved a new squash! The Kabocha Squash. According to wikipedia, it has a pumpkin-meets-sweet-potato taste to it, so I figured steaming it would be the best bet. The sliced almonds for the chicken was a spin-off attempt of another recipe that I have yet to post.
Ingredients:
Chicken (however you want it…breast, thigh, leg…it is difficult to get the almonds to hold on bone-in chicken, but in our case, it was workable)
Egg (beaten for the attempted coating)
1 bag of sliced almonds
1 Kabocha squash
Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
2- Peel the skin off your chicken. Coat in egg.
3- Dip into bowl of sliced almonds (they may not all stick, so you can also lay it in the baking sheet and pile on some extra almonds to coat it)
4- Put chicken into oven for 30 minutes.
While the chicken is cooking:
1- Cut the squash in half, trying to cut it as evenly sided as possible
2- Scoop out the seeds, and wash it with water (you can eat the skin, but that is optional)
3- Place, shell side down, in large, microwaveable bowl (or tupperware) and fill about a half inch high with water
4- Place saran wrap on top of the squash, poking a few air-holes in each.
5- Microwave about 12-18 minutes. (Check for softness. If some are a little al dente, then you can heat for longer)
6- When done, pick up carefully and slice them
(NOTE: Next time I try this, I am going to consider removing the skin and mashing them like actual mashed sweet potatoes)
Enjoy!
Spaghetti Squash with Tomato-Garlic-Herb Topping
April 26, 2010 at 7:58 pm | Posted in Gluten Free, Sides | Leave a commentIn my quest to try different Squashes, this time was Spaghetti squash. I didn’t realize that all squashes are NOT created equally…texture-wise. Spaghetti squash it turns out, has an actual noodle consistency. Hence “Spaghetti” squash. Nevertheless, I googled some version and then just eyeballed the amount of everything myself.
Ingredients:
1 Spaghetti Squash
1-2 cans of diced tomatos, drained (Double check if it’s gluten free for you GF folks)
Garlic, minced
Olive oil
Italian Seasoning
Dry Basil herbs
Directions:
1-Cut the squash in half horizontally (Shortways) and scoop out the seeds.
2-You could steam it a number of ways, but we put it in a large tupperware with some water in it. Wrap the tops with clear wrap and microwaved it for about 7-10 minutes.
3-While it’s microwaving, you can dice up some garlic (or if already diced), fry the garlic in olive oil for a little while to let the flavor come out. Dump in the diced tomatos and then sprinkle some of the herbs into it. (Just enough for your personal taste level). Let simmer for a while.
4-After the squashes are steamed, scoop out the meat (Seems easier to do with a fork since they are a noodle-y texture). Scoop your desired amount onto a plate. Top it off with some of your diced tomato mix. Enjoy!
Here is how it looked as a side dish to our chicken:
Top, Left Corner - Spaghetti Squash with Dice Tomato Topping
Maple Acorn Squash
January 27, 2010 at 8:45 pm | Posted in Gluten Free, Sides | 1 CommentTags: maple acorn squash
I got this recipe off a recipe listed via the Relish Relish service.
Ingredients:
1 Acorn Squash
1/2 a green apple, cored and cut in chunks
1 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1 and 1/2 Tbsp Butter, melted
Directions:
1-Cut the Acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds
2-Microwave both halves in the microwave for 5 minutes
3-Mix butter, syrup, and apples together, and place in the halves of the squash
4-Microwave the squash for another 5 minutes
(Combined with my gluten free breaded chicken and mashed potatoes, I give you dinner!)
Baked breaded chicken, Mashed Potatoes and Maple Acorn Squash
Mushroom Caps with Bacon Bits and Cream Cheese
January 6, 2010 at 11:32 pm | Posted in Other, Sides, Snacks | Leave a commentTags: bacon bits, cream cheese, mushroom
Hey Scott, thanks for letting me nag you so I could post your recipe you left on my Facebook on my blog! 
“ok here is a really easy one. get some small mushrooms and pull out the steams so they are just mushroom caps. fill the caps with bacon bits add a spoon of cream cheese on top then throw them in the oven at 350 until the tops look done. SOOO GOOD!”
I’ll let the public assume the amount they need.
Bacon (or Prosciutto) Wrapped Asparagus
December 27, 2009 at 1:34 pm | Posted in Sides | Leave a commentTags: bacon, prosciutto, wrapped asparagus
I was at Shawn’s parent’s house and for dinner, we were told that there’d be bacon-wrapped-asparagus. It looked and tasted AWESOME. Here is what it looked like prepped. (I don’t have a final picture, we were too busy scarfing it down).
THEN, I come home and tell my mom about it and she is laughing because she has plans to make Prosciutto-wrapped asparagus for dinner too! Perhaps great minds think alike!
Ingredients:
1-Baby Asparagus (however many you want, keep in mind that 3 will be wrapped in the meat)
2-One package of bacon or prosciutto
3-Olive oil
4-For prosciutto recipe, you also need lemon juice (just enough to squeeze onto everything)
Directions (For bacon):
1-Wash the asparagus and cut off the ends
2-Wrap 3 asparagus spears with one slice of bacon until it has all been wrapped
3-Heat a pan with oil at low to medium-low to give enough time for both the bacon and the asparagus to cook without overcooking either. Once the bacon is cooked and the asparagus is tender, then remove and put on a plate.
Directions (For prosciutto…courtesy of Rachel Ray):
For asparagus, snap off tough ends of spears where they naturally give when bent. Place spears into 1-inch of boiling water. Cover the pan and cook asparagus for 3 or 4 minutes, until spears are just tender but remain bright green in color, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Drain and cold shock the spears in a colander under cool water. Return cooked asparagus to skillet and coat with lemon juice and a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
Remove bundles of several spears at a time from the pan and wrap with sliced prosciutto. Pile assembled bundles on a serving plate.
Oh man, it was so good too! Who could possibly decide which is better??
Vodka Sauce
July 23, 2009 at 7:41 am | Posted in Sauce, Sides | Leave a commentTags: Sauce
Another from Arlene. Thank you!
(OMG Vodka? I hope you’re 21 when you make this!)
Arlene’s Vodka Sauce
1/4 Cup real Butter
2 Cloves pressed Garlic
2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
1 and 1/2 Cups Vodka
1 teaspoon dried Italian Seasoning
1/2 Cup Half & Half
1/4 Grated Kraft Parmesan Cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
Melt butter in a sauce pan add garlic and tomato paste, sauté 1 minute. Add Italian seasoning and Vodka, simmer 3 to 4 minutes, add Half & Half and Parmesan Cheese, simmer additional 5 to 6 minutes. Serve over Angle Hair Pasta.
Arlene’s Note: This makes a rich sauce and is better as a side dish. I think it goes well with grilled veggies such as squash, red and green peppers, strips of eggplant or portabella mushroom, etc. A nice piece of white fish goes well also, like Northern Fresh Halibut.
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