Healthy Tortellini Vegetable Soup

Hello friends!

I know, I know, it's been so long. I haven't been experimenting in the kitchen as much as I'd like. I've been making more meals from Skinnytaste or simple sandwiches and salads - nothing fun!

However, I recently attended an Autumn Soups cooking class at the Boston Center of Adult Education (BCAE) and am falling back in love with soups. They're just so easy, delicious, and filling - especially wonderful on cooler Fall days!

I was inspired this weekend to create a tortellini soup, with a mission of finding something flavorful but also chockful of garden vegetables. Be sure to prep your veggies, as this soup comes together pretty quickly and easily. I could also easily see myself adding other favorite vegetables, such as mushrooms and spinach to this dish, so have fun with it!

Healthy Tortellini Vegetable Soup
Serves: 3-4
Prep: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 15 minutes

Healthy Tortellini Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
3 carrots, thinly sliced
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1-2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced  4 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. dried oregano
1 (14.5 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with juices
6 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (or chicken broth)
9 oz. tortellini, any variety (fresh or frozen...pictured above is fresh spinach)
Salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions:
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions, carrots, zucchini, and celery to the pan and cook until beginning to soften, about 5-6 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, just until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Mix in the oregano and diced tomatoes.  Add the broth to the pot.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Add the tortellini to the pot and cook according to the package directions.  Remove from the heat.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm with grated Parmesan as desired. Enjoy!

Healthy Grilled Chicken Pesto with Fettuccine

I know we've all been there - long day at work, and the last thing you want to do is cook something. You use some shortcuts and boil some packaged pasta and throw some canned sauce into the mix and call it a day.

Below is a new recipe I created that challenges you to take one or two extra steps but I promise you - it's totally worth it! On a most basic level, it's just grilled chicken, pasta and a pesto sauce. By using fresh ingredients and making my own pesto sauce, the dish was elevated to a whole new level. I also got to use my basil plant I recently planted in my backyard - much cheaper in the long run. Hands down one of my easiest, healthiest, and yummiest recipes to date!

Grilled Chicken Pesto with Fettuccine 

Serves: 4-6

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
    1 cup basil
    1 clove garlic
    1/4 cup grated parmesan
    salt & pepper to taste
    2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

    2 lbs grilled chicken breast

    1/2 teaspoon adobo seasoning

    1 lb FRESH fettuccine (see if your local grocer has this - it makes such a difference!)

1. Start with making the pesto. I removed pine nuts or walnuts from this version (stolen from Skinnytaste) to lower the fat content, and I promise you don't even notice.

Ingredients:
    1 cup basil
    1 clove garlic
    1/4 cup grated parmesan
    salt & pepper to taste
    2 1/2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
In a food processor pulse basil, garlic, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper until smooth. Slowly add the olive oil while pulsing. Store in a sealed container and refrigerate until ready to use or you can freeze this in ziplocks bags to use at a later date.

2. After this, start a pot of hot water for your pasta and allow it to get to a rolling boil. Generally, I like to add salt and olive oil to the water, but I would omit the salt this time. The pesto already has this flavor and this can easily get too salty.

3. Next, you can get started on your grilled chicken breast. I used a skillet, and left the chicken there to cook on medium high until no longer pink. Make sure to not move the chicken around too much, so it gets those nice grill marks. 

3. Once your water is ready, add the fresh fettuccine. Mine took less than three minutes to cook, so don't leave this unattended! If you are using boxed, just follow the directions they provide. 

4. Cut chicken into bite size chunks, mix with fettuccine and the pesto. Add more olive oil as necessary and top with more grated parmesan. Enjoy!

Skinnytaste = my new favorite website

You guys, I’m in love with this website: www.skinnytaste.com

In my eternal goal to lose weight and eat healthier, I stumbled upon this website and have been hooked ever since. It’s the first food website that consistently has DELICIOUS food that you would never guess is healthy for you.

My personal favorites:

Cajun Chicken Pasta – the Cajun seasoning is phenomenal, and you don’t even taste the difference from using cream cheese. All the summer veggies used make it a colorful medley of food and it’s perfect for dinner. I even have my mother hooked on this! 

Grilled Chicken Bruschetta – omg, I just want to sop up every last bit of this sauce. So bright and fresh, perfect for a summer meal. Plus it took just minutes to make!

Lentil and Chicken Soup – You know how they’re always telling us to eat more legumes and lean protein to stay full? Yeah, usually I tune that out as well. Luckily I found this recipe and let me tell you, I think these experts are onto something. This is one of the easiest soups I’ve ever made, and is starting to have a cult following with family. My sister called me recently to ask for the recipe, since her in-laws couldn’t stop raving about it! Perfect for the winter, or as a quick lunch meal for the work week.

Southwestern Black Bean Salad – I have a weird aversion to salads that I’m trying to overcome, so this salad was a happy compromise. I used frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe’s and added grilled chicken breast to make this a full meal. Yum! 

I know I haven’t had a chance to update this blog in a while. I’ve been still cooking, but so many of my recipes come from this website that I don’t feel right taking ownership. But! Stay tuned, I have some blog ideas coming that I think you’ll like.

Some other updates:

• I purchased a mandolin and this funky manual food chopper from Pampered Chef and I am now a changed woman. My food comes out so much more uniform and beautiful, the OCD in me loves it. 
• My friends and I are eating our way through New York City next weekend, and on the agenda is a fabulous dinner at Blue Ribbon Brassiere and an afternoon at Dylan's Candy Bar. :)
• I’m going on The Great Boston Cupcake Crawl in August and can’t wait to blog about it!

xoxox
Nil

Chicken Picatta Pasta Toss

I can't believe I've never posted this recipe. It's one of my first meals that I successfully cooked, and has become quite a popular dish requested by friends and family.

This recipe is based on Rachel Ray, but I hesitate to say that this truly takes a half hour to make. The cooking part - yes, but there is a lot of prep time involved. My suggestion is to prep all of the food before getting started to make this stress-free.

Chicken Picatta Pasta Toss



Source: Food Network.com

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
Adobo seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
8 cloves garlic, chopped
4 shallots, chopped
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white wine (substitution: Sparkling Apple Cider)
1 lemon, juiced, skin grated
1 cup chicken broth or stock (substitution: vegetable broth)
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 pound penne rigate pasta, cooked to al dente

Directions
1. Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the chicken to the pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper and Adobo. Brown chicken until lightly golden all over, about 5 to 6 minutes.
2. Remove chicken from pan and return the skillet to the heat. Reduce heat to medium. 3. Add another tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter, the garlic and shallots to the skillet. Saute garlic and shallots 3 minutes.
4. Add flour and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in wine or cider and reduce liquid 1 minute.
5. Whisk lemon juice and broth into sauce. Stir in capers and parsley.
6. When the liquid comes to a bubble (about 5-8 minutes later), add remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to the sauce to give it a little shine.
7. Add chicken back to the pan and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes.
8. Toss hot pasta with chicken and sauce and serve. Adjust salt and pepper, to your taste.
Serves 4.

PS. Garlic bread works incredibly well with this dish! YUM!

Holiday Cookies 2011, Part 2

Here's my holiday gift to you, my wonderful readers: Peanut Butter Blossom Cookies. I can't describe to you how much I love peanut butter, and of course chocolate! I've had these at holiday parties for years, and never realized how easy this was to make.

Also, I made these with traditional milk chocolate Hershey Kisses. However, there are some fun holiday versions - peppermint, white chocolate, candy cane flavored - these could easily be changed up!

Peanut Butter Blossoms (adapted from Bakergirl)
(makes about 32 cookies)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Hershey kisses
1/4 cup granulated sugar to roll cookies in
Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a bowl with a mixer, beat butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar, and peanut butter. Then beat in egg and vanilla.
3. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture and beat until well blended.
4. Shape dough into 3/4-inch balls and roll in 1/4 cup granulated sugar. Set ball 1 1/2-inches apart on a greased baking sheet.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until slightly darker brown.
6. Place 1 chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie; expect dough to crack. Return to oven and continue to bake until chocolate is shiny and soft, about three more minutes. Cool and then serve.

Holiday Cookies 2011, Part 1

I'll fully admit it - baking is not always my favorite thing. The exactness of the measurements, the mess I make in the kitchen, the fear of leaving the food in the oven for too long and burning - it gives me some serious anxiety!

Luckily, I've realized that practice makes perfect, especially when it comes to baking cookies. Below is my favorite holiday cookie I made as presents for friends and family. It was a great, personalized touch and I'm happy I made the effort to embrace baking more! Hopefully in 2012, you will see some sweeter options in the blog. In the meantime, enjoy!

Mint M&M Cookies (adapted from Treasures from Brenda)
(makes about 40 cookies)

Ingredients

1 cup of soft butter (it is critical that it be soft)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups regular all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
9-ounce package of mint M&Ms (found at most supermarkets during the holidays)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease cookie sheets
2. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and the sugars until light and fluffy.
3. Beat in the egg and the vanilla.
4. In another bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix.
5. Stir in M&Ms
6. Using a small spoon, drop cookies of about one heaping teaspoon onto your cookie sheets, making them about two inches apart.
7. Bake for 10 to 13 minutes (mine were perfectly cooked in 11 minutes). Be sure to remove before they become too brown - they can burn quickly!
8. Cool on cooling racks and then enjoy!

Remember to always:

via littlebitsoflovely