Linguine with Chicken, Spinach and Feta Cheese

Going from cooking for three, plus needing leftovers for lunches, to cooking for one has been a difficult journey for me. I really enjoyed cooking for my guys and have to admit miss it immensely. When I first moved to Corpus Christi, I knew that I didn't want to become one of those women who ate standing over the kitchen sink or gained weight due to eating out for every meal. However, I found myself doing exactly that my first two months down here and knew that it needed to stop. At first, I did the making a meal that served four to six and stashing leftovers in my freezer. That didn't last long. I live in an apartment and the freezer space is limited.

My way to do this accomplish this was to return to what I did best in Illinois. I returned to meal planning. I took it a step further and started researching cookbooks for two and converting some of my favorite Allrecipes recipes into two servings and developing a recipe binder specifically for one to two serving dishes. I already have six binders on all kinds of recipes, so what was one more binder!  Allrecipes also has a nice selection of Cooking for One or Two recipes that became part of my recipe box on the site.

Next, I did an Amazon search for cookbooks specifically for smaller servings. I was amazed at what I found after ordering a couple of them, I saw the cookbook One Pan, Two Plates: More Than 70 Complete Weeknight Meals for Two by Carla Snyder. The book was $1.99 for the ebook, so I grabbed it. It was less than a latte that I get, so what the hell? Plus, I could return it if it stunk really bad. I have to say that it was the best $1.99 I have spent. I had only wished I had purchased the paperback copy because I don't take my tablet into my kitchen.

This was one of the recipes from the book. If I had changed anything about the recipe, I would have added more spinach. Now, I am a spinach fiend and just thought this didn't have enough. I also thought that I would have liked it if I would have thrown in some zucchini, I think this recipe could have pulled it off. As I am trying to cut down significantly my meat intake, I only used one chicken breast and thought it was fine. One of my regrets is that I also decreased the amount of lemon and wish I would have used the full amount called for in the recipe.

Let me throw in that I had the leftovers for breakfast the next day and double yum! The flavors melded together beautifully. This will definitely be a repeater!

So, here we go!:

Ingredients:

10 oz FRESH linguine
2 T. Olive Oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast, chunked
Coarse ground pepper
5 oz bag baby spinach
1 cup Feta cheese
1/3 cup FRESH SQUEEZED lemon juice (none of that concentration garbage)
Red Pepper flakes (optional, I didn't use them)

Directions:

1) In a 12 inch pot that can double as a frying pan, add water, salt (as indicated on package) and olive oil. Add linguine when water is boiling. Cook as directed on package. Prior to draining it, grab 1/2 cup of the boiling water and set aside. Drain and do a quick rinse with cool...not cold water. This is to stop the cooking process, but not cool off the pasta.

2) In the pan, heat the olive oil to shimmering and add the onion. Cook for about 2 minutes or until almost cooked. Add the chicken and 1/2 t. of salt and a dash of the pepper. Sauté the chicken until almost cooked through about 2 minutes. Add some of the reserved water to scrap up the bits. Add the spinach to the pan by handfuls and cook until wilted.

3) Return the pasta to the pan and add the feta cheese and lemon juice. Toss until well blended. If desired, add the red pepper for some heat. Divide onto plates and serve with garlic bread and salad.

This is a really simple, quick to throw together recipe that most people have the ingredients already in their freezer.

Enjoy! Let me know what you think.

Quick Pork Soulvaki

Adapted from Recipes.com

I love this recipe! I love the simplicity in it. I love the taste of it. I love the versatility of this dish.  I really love the authenticity of the taste to the real deal. On that note, this is not authentic soulvaki, but a really close off shoot that is perfect for nights I don't feel like grilling...like in winter!

The main key to this dish is the timing. Every aspect to it requires some kind of sitting/marinading time. I frequently start this in the morning and wrap it up in the evening. The meat requires marinading and I have found the longer it marinades, the better I like the turnout. The Tzatziki sauce requires two steps of extended prep. First, I have found that allowing the cucumber to sit with salt on it removes the better chunk of the water from the cucumber. This leads to a less watery sauce that is just better all around. One last note on the salt. I have used both Greek yogurt and regular yogurt. I find both work well. I just use the Greek yogurt if I am in the mood for a thicker sauce.

I have said that I love this meal due to its versatility. I have used this meal as a heavier meal with a side of couscous and Greek style veggies or as a sandwich done gyros style with a side of chips or fries. Both have worked well. It is whatever floats your boat. 

So, here we go!:

Ingredients:

Meat:

1.5 lb Pork Tenderloin, chopped into medium sized chunks

1 onion, cut into 8 wedges

1/4 cup Olive Oil

3 T. FRESH lemon juice

2 T. FRESH oregano, chopped

1 t. jarred garlic

1 t. kosher salt

1/2 t. pepper

Tzatziki Sauce:

1 cucumber, seeded and finely chopped

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 t. jarred garlic

1 t. FRESH lemon juice

2 T mint leaves, chopped

salt/pepper to taste

4 Pita Bread, warmed

sliced onions (optional)

sliced tomatoes (optional)

Directions:

1) In a strainer that has been place over a bowl, add cucumber. Sprinkle with salt. Let sit for no less than 30 minutes. This step removes the excess water from the cucumber that can often water down your Tzatziki sauce.

2) While cucumber is sitting, combine all ingredients for meat and let sit for no less than 30 minutes. I have often done this in the morning and finish up the cooking in the evening.

3) In a cast iron skillet sprayed with cooking spray, add 3 T. additional olive oil. Heat until very hot and add meat mixture including marinade. Fry until cooked through. Mine is usually done in 10 minutes. Place in warmed oven while finishing Tzatziki sauce.

4) For Tzatziki sauce, drain off cucumber water and add cucumber to bowl. Add rest of ingredients and stir until combined. Add in a bit extra salt and pepper to taste.

5) Serve over warmed pita bread with tomatoes and additional onion slices, if desired.

Winger's Restaurant Copycat Chicken Fingers (Recipe Review)

Adapted: Six Sisters
Link: http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2011/12/wingers-sticky-fingers-copycat-recipe.html

My family loves chicken strips. However, you can only have them "buffalo~ized" so many times, so when I came across this on the Sisters' website, I wanted to try it. I have been cooking alot lately and gearing up for March Madness and, as a good Irish Catholic girl, can't forget St. Patrick's Day, on The Pub and Grub Forum, with researching, so I wanted to go really light tonight in my cooking. These were perfect!

My opinion, the girls have struck again. These strips were sweet and spicy. The sauce thickened up nicely. The other thing that I liked about this recipe is that it halved very easily when I made the initial batch. Finally, all the strips went and I made 2 bags worth of strips!

So, here we go!:

1 pkg. frozen breaded chicken strips (We use Tyson brand)

6 TB. Frank's Hot Sauce (It has to be Franks Hot Sauce, no other sauce will taste as good)

4 TB. water

1 1/2 c. brown sugar

 

Directions:

 

1) Prepare the chicken strips as directed on the back of the package.

 

While the strips bake,

2) Heat hot sauce, water and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until sugar is dissolved.

 

3) Once the strips are done baking, place them in a large bowl and pour the sauce over them!!

 

Enjoy!

A Grown-up's Grilled Cheese~Recipe Review

Adapted: Care's Kitchen
Link: http://www.careskitchen.com/2012/02/grilled-cheese-with-roast-beef-and.html

One guess where I came across this recipe! If you guessed Pinterest, you are right! There was something that was reminscent to me of a patty melt, so I knew I had to make it. This is made with deli roast beef though..so it is a tad easier to make. As written, I had 4 whole sandwiches come out of this. These are really filling sandwiches though, so it is realistic that one could get 8 servings from them.

So, here we go:

Ingredients:

8 slices of a really hearty bread. I used an Italian bread

1 lb Roast Beef

12 slices of cheese. I used American Cheese

1 sweet onion thinly sliced

1 T. butter

1/2 t. balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1) Liberally butter slices of bread

2) Liberally spray non-stick frying pan with cooking spray.

3) Place butter and onion in pan. Allow to soften. This should take appr. 10 minutes. Remove from pan and place in bowl near frying pan. Clean pan.

3) Liberally spray with cooking spray. Allow pan to reheat. Place one slice of bread in frying pan and top with cheese. Give it some time to "bubble up" and top with 6 slices of roast beef and 2 Tablespoons of onions. Place second piece of bread on top of onions, buttered side up.

I know it isn't the best picture, but really wanted to give a shot of what it should look like
and my camera wouldn't cooperate!

4) VERY CAREFULLY, flip sandwich and allow side to brown. Trust me, they like to give a hard time!

5) Remove from pan and place in a 170 degree oven while preparing other sandwiches and the rest of the meal. This allows the sandwiches to heat through if anything was missed.

6) Cut and Serve! I served mine with Beer Soaked Fries and Baked Potato Chips (I had to get the healthiness in somewhere!)

My thoughts:

My family really enjoyed these but, even with the balsamic onions, felt they were lacking something. However, we decided that they would be "beefed up" (really, no pun intended) by smearing unbuttered side of bread with a french onion spread or even a chive cream cheese thinned with a tiny bit of milk. I will definitely do this next time I make these...and there will be a next time.

The other thing that stood out with this sandwich is that it would be very easy to play with the deli meat and cheeses they were made with. For example, a ham and swiss cheese sandwich or, how about a turkey, bacon and provalone. 

Boudreaux's Zydeco Stomp Gumbo

Look at 'dem shrimp and Andouille! Yummers!!

Top View

Adapted: Allrecipes.com (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/boudreauxs-zydeco-stomp-gumbo/detail.aspx)

In my 12 hour cooking marathon on Fat Tuesday, I inadvertently omitted the best recipe I had made of the day.  This gumbo was probably the best one I have ever made!The boys went nuts and ate two bowls Tuesday night alone. It was even better the next day with friends chowing it down.

This is definitely a recipe that will stick around. I ended up adding additional meat, though, as I thought the meat measurements in the original recipe was kind of lean! Also, the recipe, as written, was a bit too thin. I decreased the amount of "liquid" going into the recipe.

So, here we go~

Ingredients:

2 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - chopped

4 Andouille sausage, cut into chunks

1 cup olive oil

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2-3 quarts chicken broth

1 (12 fluid ounce) AMBER beer. I used Leinenkugel's Amber

6 stalks celery, diced

1 can canned diced tomatoes

1 sweet onion, sliced

1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, with liquid, such as rotel

1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup Cajun seasoning

1 pound RAW shrimp, peeled and deveined

Directions

1) Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat, and cook chicken until no longer pink and juices run clear. Stir in sausage, and cook until evenly browned. Set aside.

2) In a large, heavy saucepan over medium heat, blend olive oil and flour to create a roux. Stir constantly until browned and bubbly. PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR ROUX. IT SHOULD BE THE COLOR OF PEANUT BUTTER...DON'T SCRIMP ON IT!

 3) Mix in garlic into roux, and cook about 1 minute. 

4) Gradually stir chicken broth and beer into the roux mixture. Bring to a boil, and mix in celery, tomatoes, sweet onion, diced tomatoes with green chile peppers, parsley, and Cajun seasoning. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 40 minutes, stirring often. 

5) Mix chicken, sausage, and shrimp into the broth mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, about 20 minutes.

6) Serve over hot, white rice!

Serve with Frank's hot sauce, cold beer and corn bread!!

Lasagna Rolls

Adapted: My Kitchen Apron

I love lasagna, but let's face it, it can be a really time consuming dish to make, if it is made well. So, in order to get my lasagna in a really quick way, I have really grown fond of lasagna rolls, so if I see a simple one that looks delicious, I am all over it! My original lasagna roll recipe contains no meat and spinach. While that is fine with me, the boys tend to grimace and grumble. So, during a digging around Pinterest session, I found another recipe that uses ground sausage which is my favorite meat to use in lasagna. I knew it was calling me to try it!

Ingredients:

1 lb Italian Sausage
1 small onion
5 garlic cloves, minced
10 Lasagna Noodles
3 cups mozzarella cheese, divided

Sauce:
1 Can 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes
1 T. Oregano
1/2 T. Paula Deen House Seasoning (see blog 02/17/2012)

Filling:
1 Container Ricotta Cheese
1 Egg
1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese (keep separate)

Instructions:

1) Prepare sauce by mixing all sauce ingredients in a sauce pan and let simmer for 1/2 an hour
2) Brown sausage with onion and garlic. Drain. Mix into sauce.

3) In very large pot with salted water, cook lasagna noodle for 12-14 minutes. Drain and lay out on cutting board
4) Prepare a 9x13 inch pan by spraying liberally with non-stick spray (you knew it was coming!) and then 1.5 cups of the sauce mix.
5) Mix ingredients for filling, except mozzerella cheese.
6) Spread 1/4 cup of filling down noodle and sprinkle with mozzerella cheese. Roll as tightly as possible. Continue with all 10 lasagna noodles.

7) Place all rolls in the pan and top with the remainder of the sauce.

8) Place in a 350 degree oven and bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and top with remaining 2 cups of cheese and bake for another 15 minutes.


9) Remove from oven and let sit for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

On a final note: I vary on how saucy I like my lasagna rolls. Sometimes I like it oozing sauce and sometimes I like it a bit on the dry side. This recipe was a bit on the dry side. If you like it saucier, simply increase the sauce ingredients by one half or double them.