Italian Chicken Sandwich

I am one of those people that takes their camera everywhere. It is always in my purse. So why can't I remember to take pictures! I decided to blog this yesterday - after we'd eaten and cleaned up - hence I only have one picture.

For some reason, this dinner reminded me of my dad. I don't think he's ever made it for me, but it just struck me as something that he *would* make. So I am officially claiming this is "Dad Inspired Cuisine."

Italian(ish) Chicken Sandwiches

- 1 pound of chicken breasts (you could make with less if you want to be more frugal)

- 1 zucchini, diced

- 1 red pepper, diced

- 1/2 medium onion, chopped

- 2 cloves garlic, minced

- 1 14 oz can of crushed tomatoes

- Dried basil and oregano

- Fennel seeds (these totally make the dish!)

- Rolls

- Parmesan or Romano cheese

In a skillet, saute the zucchini, red pepper, onion and garlic until everything is soft and the onion is translucent. Add a generous sprinkle of the fennel seeds and cook for a about a minute longer. Transfer to a plate. In the same skillet, add the chicken and saute until cooked through. Return the vegetables to the skillet, add the tomatoes and add a generous sprinkle of the basil and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and simmer until you've got all the rest of your dinner ready. Serve on the toasted buns topped with the cheese.

This dish is extremely customizable based on your dietary needs. As it stands, it is fairly low fat. For a low sodium version, use unsalted tomatoes, don't season with the salt and pepper, top with fresh mozzarella and serve over pasta cooked in plain water. If you aren't a fan of the veggies, swap them out with veggies you do like (eggplant would be great in this as would mushrooms.) And it is fast for a busy weeknight.

Anyway, thanks for the inspiration, Dad!

Back to Earth

Oh yeah, I have a blog!

Holy crap, I've been busy. Even for me...between two choirs and work, a week hasn't gone by since February where I haven't been out of the house. And now tonight, on a lovely rainy June Friday, I've had a chance to sit, veg out on the Internet and do nothing.

Okay, I will admit that I did do a deep cleaning of the Camelbacks (in preparation for hiking to start sometime SOON - weather, did you hear that?), made a homemade dinner, baked up a batch of granola and did some writing. BUT STILL. It was done all at home with Chris happily programming downstairs and the dog always within about 5 feet of me.

And I did veg out on the Internet. A highly enjoyable pastime if not a total waste of time. But that is why we love it, do we not?

And for lack of anything else more interesting to post about - as befitting this evening of relaxing - here is my "recipe" (technique, really) for my killer homemade granola. The best part of this recipe is that if you don't have one of these ingredients, just sub it out for something else. No butter? Use oil. No Grape Nuts? Use Cheerios. The only thing that stays the same for me is the oats.

Mighty Nom Granola

(Exact amounts are to taste)

- 3 cups regular rolled oats

- Grape Nuts (or the generic version that neither of us like and we're trying to use up)

- Roughly chopped mixed unsalted nuts (cashews, almonds, pecans, hazelnuts)

- Raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

- 2 tablespoons butter

- 1/3 cup applesauce

- 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup or combo

- 2 teaspoons cinnamon

- 1/4 teaspoon cardamom

- Pinch of salt

- 2 tablespoons brown sugar

- Cooking spray

- Dried fruit

- Toasted coconut

First, mix all the dry, raw ingredients together (oats through pepitas) in a big bowl. In a saucepan, melt the butter then add the applesauce, honey, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and brown sugar. Cook for just a minute. Pour over the oat mixture.

Spray a sheet pan with cooking spray and spread the mixture on the pan in an even layer. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 3 ten minute intervals, stirring at each break. When golden brown, take out of the oven and cool in the pan on a rack. Don't worry if everything seems soft. It will crisp as it cools.

Once cool, stir in the fruit and the coconut and try to stop eating it long enough to put in an airtight container. Use as a topping for yogurt or ice cream. Or just eat it as a snack.

Being Creative

Chris and I are currently in the middle of a week of creativity. Every day for a week, we are encouraging each other to do something creative - something outside our normal realm which means creatively reorganizing the storage closet at work doesn't count.

Today's creative endeavor was in the kitchen with a no-recipe dinner of an Asian chicken salad. My favorite guilty kitchen secret is prepared salad dressing. I love it as salad dressing, marinade, quick sauce and even for a flavorful cooking oil. Such an easy way to pump up flavor on a busy weeknight without feeling like I'm simply assembling processed foods.

So, it's a super easy salad. First, take a few boneless chicken breasts and marinade them in an Asian salad dressing. I used Kraft's Light Toasted Sesame or somesuch. After they sat for an hour or so in the fridge, I had Chris fired up our grill. While it was heating, I took some diced yellow peppers and quickly sauteed them with some minced ginger and shallots. I don't care for raw peppers but didn't want them cooked so I only heated them enough to be slightly toothsome and to bloom out the ginger.

I spread that on a cooking board and got the chicken grilling. To distract me from continually poking the chicken, I tore, rinsed and dried enough red leaf lettuce for two salads. I threw that into a bowl and added the cooled pepper mixture, some diced dried apricots, sliced almonds and some ginger-garlic wonton strips I found in the salad section of the store.

I tossed the salad with some of the dressing then plated it into our favorite salad bowls. The chicken was done then sliced and put on top. We added more dressing to taste and dug in.

Mmm. My creative cooking in the kitchen was delicious. Every bite was gingery and juicy with the peppers. The chicken was moist and thanks to the beauty of the prepared dressing, all the flavors melded quickly and superbly.

An admirable creative effort if I do say so myself!

Go To Meal - Thai Soup with Sauteed Tilapia

Argh. It's been too long since I've posted! So here goes with another type of post. I had no particular agenda when starting this blog other than, perhaps, a secret desire to practice writing about the various subjects that interest me - like cooking. So without further ado, my stab at a cooking/food related post!

I think everyone should have a set of "Go To" meals - you know, the ones with the easy ingredients that you always have on hand. I found this one about a year ago when I ran out of reading material at cardiac rehab (hi Denise!) and had to read one of their boring cookbooks. I painstakingly copied it by hand - THE HORROR - while working out on the treadmill. I've made a few changes and I like to mix it up, but hey, that's how I roll. Plus it's delicious. So let's get on with the cookin'.

Thai Soup with Sauteed Tilapia

The first thing to do is start some rice cooking. My new favorite is brown basmati rice made in my splendid new rice cooker. Just throw it in, add the water and get that baby going.

Then, I trundle off to put together my mise en place; I chop some celery, carrots, onion, two cloves of garlic and a tomato. Real garlic is best - I can't say if the recipe will taste the same with garlic powder. I also throw in a couple handfuls of frozen pepper strips. The green stuff there is about 1 1/2 teaspoons of Thai green curry paste/powder. Use as much or as little as you want since it can be searing hot.

Once I have all that together, I throw some sesame oil and canola in my wok and start it heating. The veggies go in until the onions are translucent then the tomatoes and the curry powder. By this point, its a fragrant mess of color and Thai goodness. All of this takes about 7 minutes or so.

I guess I should mention at this point that while fast, this recipe has quite a few steps. Rachael Ray fans should probably quietly excuse themselves here. Yummo, yes. Simple-o? Not so much.

Okay, so while the mirepoix mixture is doing its thang, get two cups of fish stock (or veggie stock - I use a cup of each), about 1 1/2 tablespoons stanky fish sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of brown sugar and some minced ginger (optional). Add this mixture to the veggies/curry and bring to a boil. Let it simmer while you prep and cook the fish. And yes, I realize that is bottled lime juice, but seriously, people, even though I hand mince my garlic, who has time to juice their own limes. Or keep them in the fridge all the time.

So, I like to use the vacuum sealed bags of tilapia for my fish. They are easy and thawed under cold running water in the time it took me to get this far in the recipe. I patted them dry and then sprinkled a bit of grill seasoning on them so they wouldn't look quite so pasty in the picture, but that's optional. In a separate pan, heat up some sesame and canola oil and saute the fish until it is opaque.

At this point, add a tablespoon or so of lime juice to the soup (or to taste), adjust the salt/fish sauce and if you are feeling crazy, throw in a handful of frozen edamame. If you are feeling really crazy, a half pound or so of fresh pineapple is outstanding but you have to be able to fully embrace your sweet/savory side to enjoy.

Hopefully by this time, all is done - soup is simmered and rice is steamed. Assembly is easy - scoop of rice, ladle of soup and topped with a piece of fish.

Then serve to your hungry crew to rave reviews.