My Own 30 Minute Meal

While she can sometimes get a little annoying, I have to say Rachel Ray really has a good idea going with the 30 minute meal. After a long day at the office, I really am not up for an intricate menu with page long recipes full of too many steps. I enjoy cooking though and it is a good way for me to wind down, so I have really tried to focus on building up a collection of recipes I know I can pull together quickly during the week. 

Tonight I made one of my favorites, Chicken Parmesan, and a new Orzo recipe so thought I would share! Neither recipe is super precise, but who really wants to be looking at the recipe every 2 minutes. Feel free to improvise!

Chicken Parmesan

(serves 2)

1 large chicken breast (cut into 2 thin cutlets then pounded thin)

salt and pepper

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated parmesan

1 egg lightly beaten

EVOO

1 cup marinara sauce

2 handfuls of shredded mozzerella

Preheat the oven to broil. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper. Combine the bread crumbs and parmesan in a shallow dish. Dip the chicken in the egg wash then coat both sides in the bread crumb, parmesan mixture. Heat a TBL or so of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once the skillet is warm (the oil pops), add the chicken. Cook until golden brown, a minute or 2 per side. Meanwhile, pour the marinara in the bottom of a 8x8 dish. Place the chicken on top of the sauce then top with the cheese. Broil until the cheese bubbles (I like mine brown as you can see above) for 5-8 minutes.

 

Spinach Orzo

(serves 2)

2/3 cup orzo

2 large handfuls of chopped spinach

1/4 cup crumbled feta

1/4 cup chopped basil

1-2 TBL fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 TBL EVOO

salt and pepper

Cook orzo according to the package directions, adding the spinach in the last 30 seconds to wilt. Drain the spinach and orzo. Toss the spinach and orzo with the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl. 

See, how easy is that?

Doesn't it look like it should take more than 30 minutes??

Happy 30th Anniversary!

Today my parents celebrate their 30th wedding anniversary!

Thanks for the great example of marriage you share with us! 

We can't wait to celebrate with you in person in a few weeks!

A Laid-back Weekend at Home

One of the benefits of tax season (at least in my mind - Andy may say there are no benefits to tax season), is that we are in Birmingham for a few weekends straight. It is good to slow down and catch up on errands and such around town.

Friday night, we had a great last minute surprise opportunity to eat dinner with my parents and Xan. They had planned to go to Chattanooga for the weekend, but the threat of rain and severe weather kept them closer to home. So we went to Ruth's Chris and had an early celebration of Xan's birthday and my parents anniversary (more to come on that in a later post). While the service was a little "unpolished," we still had a great meal and enjoyed being together.

They brought Xan a piece of cake that was over 6 inches tall! Sorry for the poor quality of the picture - I was trying to be quick, but he managed to blow out the candle before the cake even hit the table. So I didn't have time to move all the glasses or anything, oh well...

Then Xan would oblige for just one more picture - unfortunately I didn't get the eyes open. He's saying cheese though!

Saturday night, we had the pleasure of eating dinner at Russ and Natalie's house. Russ cooked some great wild turkey and brussel sprouts on the Green Egg. (Dad, can we convince you to try brussel sprouts if they come off of the Green Egg?? They are so good!) We brought the appetizer, so I took the opportunity to try a new Baked Spinach Dip. It seemed to be a hit last night, so I thought I would share the recipe in case you want to give it a try. 

Spinach Dip

8 oz cream cheese

8 oz monterey jack cheese, cut into cubes

10 oz can Rotel

10 oz package of frozen spinach, thawed and well drained

1/3 cup shredded (or grated) parmesan cheese

1/4 cup diced onion

2 TBL can chopped jalapenos

Preheat the oven to 350. Heat the cream cheese and monterey jack in a saucepan over low heat until melted and smooth, stirring constantly. Add the tomatoes (including juice), spinach, parmesan cheese, onion, and jalapenos and mix well. Pour into a 8x8 baking pan and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with pita chips. 

(Recipe adapted from Entertaining with Friends Cookbook supporting Vanderbilt Children's Hospital)

Russ and Natalie were especially kind to have us over because she had spent all day getting ready for today's "Walk for Water", which was a 5k to benefit Neverthirst. Natalie works for Neverthirst, which raises money to help drill water wells in Africa, and she came up with the idea for the race and organized the whole thing! 

The walk was at Railroad Park this afternoon, and it was a great turnout! 5k represents the average distance that women in Africa have to walk to get fresh water, so it was a neat tie in to the cause. Great job Natalie! 

A Few Great Costco Finds and a New Recipe

I've come across a couple of items at Costco lately that are just too good not to share. As a household of 2, most quantities at Costco are way too large for us to use before they go bad, but they are definitely still some deals to be had that we take advantage of (besides the beer and wine!). Here are 2 of my newest favorites, which I hope you will enjoy too should you choose to try them:

Up first - Butter Lettuce. This lovely package of 2 heads of lettuce was around $3.50 (which is about the same as a bag of lettuce at the grocery store). The package made a total of 8 servings for me, and the lettuce was really good and fresh!

Up next - baby bell peppers. This huge bag was only $4.29!! It has lasted me a week and a half already (you can see how much is still left!), and I've used them in everything from salads to fajitas to pizzas.

And last but not least, I had to share these awesome baby heirloom tomatoes! These came from the Pig though....Piggly Wiggly never ceases to amaze me with their random assortment of local, fresh produce.

The new recipe came compliments of the most recent issue of Real Simple. It is a simple risotto recipe that actually bakes in the oven rather than requiring constant stirring and attention as many do. I followed the recipe exactly with the exception of adding the last little bit of shredded smoked chicken I had on hand. I would definitely recommend adding the chicken! I guess I also cheated by using chicken stock rather than chicken broth, which lead to the darker color of mine. Overall, we really enjoyed and it was less than 15 minutes of hands on time which is always nice after a long day at work!

Baked Spinach and Pea Risotto (4 small servings)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 shallot, chopped
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3 cups low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 cup Arborio rice
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 4 ounces flat-leaf spinach, roughly chopped (about 2 cups)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan (1 ounce), plus more for serving
• 
  

Directions

1. Heat oven to 425° F. Heat the butter in a medium Dutch oven or ovenproof pot over medium-high heat. Add the shallot, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper and cook, stirring often, until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the wine and cook, stirring, until almost evaporated, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the broth and rice and bring to a boil.
2. Cover the pot and transfer to oven. Cook until the rice is tender and creamy, 20 to 25 minutes.
3. Add the peas, spinach, Parmesan, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper to the pot and stir to combine. If the risotto is too thick, stir in up to ¼ cup hot water. Sprinkle with additional Parmesan before serving.

Recipe compliments of Real Simple. 

A Few Random Pictures from my iPhone

After having my iPhone for over 6 months now (yikes!) I finally got around to actually plugging it into the computer. Andy has been trying to get me to do it for a LONG time, but he finally convinced me it was worth the effort with this new system update that allows the iPhone to be a hotspot for up to 3? other devices. (In other words, if we are somewhere with 3g but no wifi, we could get internet for our laptops or his iPad from my phone. Pretty cool - now I just have to figure out how to do it!)

Anyways, plugging the phone into the computer allowed me an excuse to get the pictures off of it so I thought I would share a random assortment taken over the last year....

Yes those would be "Goats on the Roof"....literally a gas station/convenience store on the way to Highlands, NC. I have to admit it is pretty good marketing, and it got me to stop! Who comes up with this stuff though?

Andy's Blackened Tilapia on top of Red Beans and Rice...

A storage cube/stool that I wanted (ok would still love to have) in Atlanta. You pop the cushion top off and can throw all your magazines in there to clean up before company arrives!

Two of Andy's cute cousins, Lucy and Annie, who we hope we will be seeing a lot more of soon!

Tailgating before the tragic Bama loss to USC....

Xan as Batman for Halloween!

A couch we thought about getting...note the sign says 50% off but sadly we just didn't have a spot for it.

An idea for the kitchen redo....we did end up with the slots for sheet pans, but ours just doesn't slide out like this. 

The lovely piece of termite infested wood from our kitchen...yikes!

Andy making fun of the overuse of pillows at this table...there wasn't even room to sit!

A book I thought looked good...I didn't buy it so can't give a real opinion. Maybe I should download it to my Kindle though...

A chair and a sham cover I would love to have. The chair keeps gradually being marked down, so maybe one day it will finally be in my price range!

Happy weekend and hope you are enjoying this beautiful spring weather!

The Bounty of the Green Egg

As I mentioned on Sunday, Andy was kind enough to take a break from his busy work schedule to fire up the Green Egg to smoke a rack of ribs and a chicken. 

I'm pretty sure the neighbors were a little jealous when they started smelling the smoke....

He warned me not to tell the "family secret" seasoning and rub. (I'm pretty sure we should call that Andy's secret seasoning though because I have no idea how he gets it to taste so good, and I certainly am no expert on the Green Egg.)

Excuse the sweat as we had just gotten back from a run, but check out the smoke!

Sunday night we had the ribs, and here is Andy's sampling of sauces to taste with them. They really didn't even need sauce though. The Bear Claw sauce was compliments of Big Phil from Jackson Hole last year - it's tag line - "It will burn the fur off your pooper!" ha

We pulled all the meat off of the chicken, and it has been such a timesaver for me this week cooking! Monday night we made soft tacos with it, and tonight I made pizza...

Smoked chicken, roasted bell peppers, caramelized onions, pancetta, and cilantro with a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheese. 

The good news is that there is still plenty of chicken left for sandwiches along with a few ribs (which is awesome since I head to Des Moines, IA tomorrow). Sounds like an exciting spot, huh? At least I will be able to mark it off my list of states! 

Cobia

After a few busy weekends on the road, we were really excited to enjoy a laid back one at home! Friday we enjoyed a casual dinner with Zack and Laura Jane at Rojo then Saturday we spent the afternoon catching up on errands. Neither of us really enjoy trekking out into the masses on Saturday at Target, Costco, etc so hopefully we stocked up enough to not have to do it again for a while! (Yes, I'll buy 200 rolls of toilet paper if it means I can just forget about it for a while...)

On our way back from errands, we stopped by Snapper Grabbers and picked up some fresh cobia from the Gulf to cook for dinner. It was a beautiful afternoon/evening though, so first we enjoyed some drinks on the porch....

I came across a few drink recipes in Cooking Light while I was working out this week that sounded tasty, so this idea was based off of one of those.

Pink Grapefruit Margarita

(makes 4)

juice of 1.5 to 2 pink grapefruits

1/4 cup tequila

1/8 cup cointreau 

salt

lime to garnish

Mix the juice and liquor in a shaker with a few cubes of ice. Salt the rims of the glasses, then fill with ice. Pour the drink in and garnish with a lime. 

I also came up with a new appetizer based on a few things I had in the fridge....

These were basically just wonton wrappers that I stuffed into a mini muffin pan to create a little basket then filled with caramelized onions, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and basil. It was a fun impromptu snack, and Andy and I had fun thinking about what other combinations of things might be good inside. 

Finally the cobia - the fish was so fresh that I don't think we really could have done anything to mess it up. We got a good sear though and then topped it with a lime butter sauce. (We used a little trick to get the sear, but Andy told me not to give all our secrets away. If you ask nicely though, maybe I'll share...)

I made roasted potatoes as a side, which I realized as I was putting the food on the plate made for a pretty uniform color pattern. Oops. I threw in a little basil on top for something green at least! 

And now, I'm sitting outside on the porch trying not to drool because Andy has ribs and a chicken smoking on the Green Egg! Mmmm...Happy Sunday!

2 New Recipes

So I celebrated my full week at home with 2 new recipes...I figured Andy deserved some good food after me being on the road so much! Both recipes were again from the Peace Meals cookbook. Molly asked me a few weeks ago how I pick cookbooks and recipes to try out. I wish I had a consistent methodology to share, but I really don't. I guess I do go through spurts of using 1 particular cookbook as I try to find my favorites in it. I have a few recipes that I like to cook over and over, but for the most part I like testing out new ones. I get some bizarre excitement out of seeing how all of the ingredients come together.

Anyway, up first was Garlic Chicken Pasta with Prosciutto (except I used Pancetta because I like it better...)

Hard to go wrong with these ingredients - garlic, roasted red pepper, tomatoes, pancetta, basil, and of course lots of cheese! Definitely one that I would make again, but also pretty easy to experiment with whatever you happen to have on hand.

Then tonight, I had the grand plan of making the Avocado Tomatillo Salsa (which my mom has been raving about!) and Cilantro Lime Shrimp. So I put my avocados in a paper bag hoping and praying they would ripen up for me, but no such luck. So the salsa will have to wait for another day....I went on with the Cilantro Lime Shrimp though, and they were tasty but SPICY (of course that meant Andy loved them). Triple dose of spice with jalapeno, cayenne pepper, and crushed red pepper!  Of course the lime juice, garlic, cilantro, brown sugar, and worcestershire sauce helped to balance it out a little.

I served the shrimp over rice, which was great for sopping up all of the delicious sauce.

Happy Tuesday! 

A Few Random Favorites

Once again, I must apologize for my lack of posting as I was traveling most of the week. Unfortunately, that also meant no cooking for me (but we did have an AMAZING dinner at Jinsei on Friday night which I'm sure far exceeded anything that would ever come out of my kitchen). I'm in town this week though, and I planned my menu for the week today so stay tuned for some better posts this week.

In the meantime, I thought I would share a few of my favorite random ingredients in the kitchen...

1. Benton's Bacon

Photo compliments of the Benton's website.

I really should let Andy write this description, but I will give it my best shot in attempt to do it justice. My dad came across Benton's in reading an article about a year ago and of course went online and bought like 10 pounds. While we may have all thought that a little instinctive, it turned out to be an amazing discovery. We have since noticed "Benton's Bacon" on menus everywhere from Birmingham to New York to Atlanta!

You can smell the smokiness as soon as you open the package. In my opinion the bacon is really better as a garnish (on top of a salad, vegetable succotash, risotto, etc) as opposed to eating it by the slice for breakfast because the flavor is so strong. A little goes a long way! And apparently, I am not the only one who is a fan because the website says to expect a 3 week wait after you order. 

2. Maldon Sea Salt

I first discovered this favorite a year or 2 ago when my mom gave it to me as a gift (which I have to admit I thought was a little odd at first). After using it once though, it quickly became a part of almost every meal I cook! The flakes of salt are HUGE compared to table salt or even just regular coarse sea salt. They add a great crunch and lots of flavor. I sprinkle it on top of roasted veggies, steak, and even add it to salad dressing. I got a few new salts (who knew there were so many types??) for my birthday that I can't wait to try out too!

3. Alecia's Tomato Chutney (sorry I couldn't find a link anywhere online for this one, but if you live in Birmingham you can buy it at Piggly Wiggly locally - it's made in Leeds, AL)

I will be the first to admit that I totally turned my nose up the first time I heard about this stuff. It just sounded horrible to me, but I was at a friend's house and she was offering it to top pork tenderloin and I felt like I should say yes to be polite. Turns out I'm really glad I said yes! We now break it out every time we have pork tenderloin and have also found it is good on a grilled cheese and bacon sandwich. I keep meaning to get more adventurous with it - the jar recommends trying it in a salad dressing so I'm thinking that will be my next attempt.

If you decide to give any of these a try, hopefully they will become one of your favorites too!