Chicken Artichoke

Although I love chicken, It can get quite boring.  We try different spices and herbs, but sometimes it can still be bland.  This dish on the other hand gives bursts of flavor and really gets your mouth watering.  Quite easy to make and healthy too.
Be sure to prepare all your ingredients before your cooking starts.

4 thin skinless chicken breast
4 tbsp olive oil
1 cup marinated quartered artichokes
1/2 red onion sliced thin
1/2 white onion sliced thin
1/2 lemon juiced
1 cup dry white wine
2 cups fresh sliced bella mushrooms
4 cloves chopped garlic
1/4 cup chopped parsley
salt and fresh cracked pepper
3 sprigs thyme

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large sauce pan and begin sauteing your onions for 10 minutes.  Add mushrooms and continue to saute for another 5 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Heat your pan well again and add remaining olive oil. Gently add chicken breast and cover partially. Cook for 3 minutes on one side and turn only once. Now add salt and pepper, garlic, wine, lemon juice and artichokes. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes and the thyme and parsley. Cook for another 5 minutes to make sure flavors are incorporated. Serve hot and enjoy!

Champagne Shrimp Scampi with Red Sauce

One of my favorite foods is pasta, my favorite seafood is shrimp.  So Shrimp scampi defiantly has my vote. Especially since I also love garlic.  But I decided to get a little more creative with this meal. By adding a couple extra ingredients, I was totally impressed with the unique new flavor but still tastes like scampi.

It's a good idea to have all of your ingredients prepared before beginning to cook. This dish cooks rather quickly, so the better prepared the better the flavor.

This is what you need:

1 lbs extra large shrimp 26-32, peeled, deveined, and tails off
1 tbsp tomato paste
5 cloves minced garlic
1 1/2 cups champagne
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 chopped shallot
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 pinch sugar
salt and fresh cracked pepper
1/3 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup liquid reserved from boiling pasta water
1 lbs linguine

While boiling the pasta, heat butter and oil in a sauce pan. Do not use non stick. Add tomato paste stirring occasionally on medium heat. Once tomato paste starts to dissolve, toss in shallot and continue to stir add garlic and keep stirring until it becomes soft and fragrant. Slowly pour in the champagne and lemon juice. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes and then reduce heat. Add sugar, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Raise heat again and add the shrimp. Let the shrimp cook in the sauce for 1 minute and add the reserved pasta liquid. Continue to cook at medium to high heat for 2 more minutes or once the shrimp turns opaque.

Remove from heat and toss in the pasta coating well. Let it sit covered for 2 more minutes so the pasta absorbs the sauce.  Serve in deep dish and garnish with remaining chopped parsley.

Yields 4 serving

Prep time 20 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes



Juicy grilled Chicken tenders

This dish is so tasty you wont even realize how healthy it is.  I love skinless chicken breast tenders. They are extremely tender and juicy, and the portions are just right.  I first made this when I was short on time (as usual) and just used whatever I  had in my pantry.  Turned out great.  I then made it when my family came over for a BBQ one night and it was a hit.  Now, it has become a favorite with family. Even my picky little ones finish their plates. I love mine spicy like most of my food, so I add extra red pepper flakes

Enjoy...xoxoxo

You will need:

2 lbs fresh skinless chicken breast tenders

Marinade

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 tsp mustard
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
3 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1 lemon juiced
salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
1/8 cup Kraft ranch dressing (optional)
1 sprig thyme

Mix all above ingredients well and add chicken.  Marinade for at least 2 hours or overnight. Can also be put into freezer bags and frozen for later grilling.

Generously apply non stick spray on your grill and heat to 400 degrees.  Grill for 2 to 3 minutes each side turning only once. Each piece is rather small so watch carefully not to burn.  Transfer on top a bed of arugula and goat cheese crumbles and lightly drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Beef Bourguignon 2 (Beef Burgundy)

I love, love, love the French. Whether its perfume, shoes, or champagne, the French have contributed so much to our everyday lives.  And French food should be no exception. When in the mood for something hearty on a cool day and you've had your share of the usual chili or soup, Beef burgundy, or Beef Bourguignon, will fire up your taste buds. I have made this dish with many different red wines, and substitute different ingredients, but the most important ingredient that should stay consistent, I think, is burgundy wine that gives an aroma that makes this meal so appealing.  So here you go.

1 lbs stew beef (preferably chuck roast)
flour for dredging
3 tbsp butter
5 carrots chopped
1 medium onion chopped
3 cloves minced garlic
2 cups fingerling potatoes
1 cup fresh mushrooms quartered
2 sprigs thyme
2 bay leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
3 cups burgundy wine
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup pearl onions
salt and pepper

Start by adding 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper to flour and mix well. Dredge the beef chunks and shake off excess flour.  Melt 2 tbsp butter in non stick pan. Once pan has been heated well, sear 1/3 of the chucks at a time making sure to brown on each side and transfer into a dutch oven or 6qt pot.

Once all the beef has been browned and put into the dutch oven, melt 1 tbsp on butter in the same non stick pan. Saute the chopped onion, carrot and mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Next add the garlic for another minute. Pour wine over the vegetables and let boil for 2 to 3 minutes. Then transfer to the dutch oven with along with 1/2 cup water, thyme, parsley and bay leaves and simmer at low for 1 1/2 hours.

Now combine potatoes with mixture for another 30 minutes.  At this point you need to blanch the pearl onions. Peel them once cooled and saute with remaining tsp butter for 2 minutes in the same non-stick pan as the other vegetables and then add to the dutch oven.  Remove dutch oven from heat and let sauce thicken by partially opening the lid. Make sure to discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.

Serve over mashed potatoes or egg noodles. Bon Appétit!!!

Yield 4 servings

Potato Parsley egg rolls

This lent I have been trying to figure out what quick fixes I can come up with.  Something I can prepare and freeze so when later when I'm limited on time, I won't slave over the stove.  So, I came up with these potato parsley egg rolls. So easy to make and sooo satisfying:

Potato parsley egg rolls:

1 pack Egg roll wraps

1 lbs Idaho potato, boiled, peeled and diced into small pieces

1/2 cup fresh coarsely chopped parsley

1/4 tsp ground paprika

1 fresh squeezed lemon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Canola or vegetable oil for frying in a small sauce pan ( 2 qt )

In a 3 qt mixing bowl combine potato, live oil, lemon, paprika, parsley, fresh cracked pepper, and salt

and mix well.

Place spoon full of mixture on an egg roll sheet. Moisten edges of the egg roll sheet well with cold water using your fingers. Fold up bottom corner first, then sides and roll making sure the egg roll is completely sealed.  If you find the edges have come loose, just moisten again with water and make sure it's sealed well.  

Make sure you heat the frying oil very well and that you have enough to completely submerge each roll.
**MOST IMPORTANTLY**  use a deep sauce pan because oil expands and we don't want any hot oils spills or burns. 

Once each roll is fried, place on another flat plate lined with white plain towel paper to absorb excess oil.

These can be frozen after frying and can be re-heated in a toaster oven. They still taste great!!

Servings: 8
Prep time: 1 hour
Cook time: 5 minutes

Baba Ganoush (roasted eggplant dip)

Middle eastern cuisine incorporates a variety of different vegetables. One favorite is the regal eggplant. Weather roasted, grilled, fried, or baked; eggplants have a very unique and potent flavor that will get your mouth watering. It is also used as a main dish and not just as a side.

 Now here is my all time fave eggplant dish.

I love, love, love baba ganoush. It's fantastic with toasted Indian Na'an bread.  Sometimes I  even use in chicken shawarma sandwiches and as a spread on my pita or on artisan bread. I also use it in a crudities platter. To make my dish look even more creative, I take a red or yellow bell pepper, clean out the inside and use it as the bowl for the baba ganoush. Yumm!!

• 1 eggplant
• 2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 cup tahini (sesame seed paste)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley for garnish 
• 1/2 cup pomegranate seeds (optional for garnish)

- Place eggplant in the oven for 30 minutes at 250° F, turning occasionally.

- Peel the eggplant and mash in a bowl with a wooden spoon or potato masher. Add remaining ingredients (garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and tahini) and mix well and cool in fridge for about 1 hour.  Can be prepared no more than 2 days in advance for best flavor and freshness
Enjoy in good health...xoxo

Avocado Lime Salad

 A refreshing Avocado-lime salad.  You will need:

• 2 Hearts of romaine lettuce rinsed well and chopped
• 3-4 firm Roma tomatoes diced
• 2 ripe avocados cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 small to medium red onion sliced into thin long strips
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/8 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed twice
• 1 can whole kernel corn, drained and rinsed
• 1 can julienned beets (optional)

Make sure the salad is cooled in the fridge for at least 20 min after preparing.
Prep time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4


For the dressing:

• 1 small lime, juiced
• 1 small lemon, juiced
• Salt and pepper, to taste...I only use sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper for best flavor
• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, add more if you feel the need to after the salad and dressing are mixed

Let it sit a few minutes before serving so the flavors blend well and transfer to a beautiful salad bowl. This is always a winner, so save some for yourself on the side.


Enjoy it in good health..xoxoxo