Chicken with Orzo, Spinach and Lemon

For me, there is a thrill that comes from cooking when I can open my pantry and my refrigerator and realize that I have the ingredients to make something truly delicious. Today's dinner was inspired by a box of orzo and some frozen spinach. Things started to get interesting when I realized I also had capers and chicken breasts. Bam! We have Chicken with Orzo, Spinach and Lemon, ladies and gentlemen.

I loosely based my meal on a recipe I found on Ciao Italia with Mary Anne Esposito, with some some slight changes. Enjoy!

Chicken with Orzo, Spinach and Lemon
Serves 4
30 minutes prep and cook time

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups orzo cooked according to package directions
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
One 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well squeezed
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Grinding coarse black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional - I like some heat!)
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons minced onion
2 tablespoons capers in salt, well rinsed and minced
1/2 cup white wine or sparkling apple cider
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons lemon zest
4 tablespoons fresh minced parsley (optional)
2/3 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (I used mozzarella but would have preferred parmigiano)

Directions

1. Combine the orzo with 1/4 cup of the olive oil. Stir in 1/4 cup of the lemon juice. Salt to taste. Stir in the chopped spinach and 1/2 cup of cheese. Cover, set aside and keep warm. Or make ahead and reheat in the microwave when ready to serve.

2. Meanwhile, place each piece of chicken between two sheets of wax paper and use a meat pounder to thin them to about 1/4 inch thickness. Mix the flour, salt and pepper together in a bag and place each breast into the flour mixture, coating well on both sides and shaking off the excess. Set aside.

3. Heat the remaining olive oil in a large non stick skillet and brown the chicken, adding more olive oil as needed. Transfer them to a dish as they brown, and set aside. However, do not stack the breasts on top of each other, as they get soggy.

4. Add the butter to the pan and stir in the onion; cook until the onion wilts down, about 3 minutes. Add the capers and cook 1 minute. Stir in the wine or cider, raise the heat to high and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in lemon juice and zest and cook over medium heat until the sauce thickens slightly.

5. Return the chicken cutlets to the pan and heat gently until hot. Make a bed of the orzo mixture on a serving platter. Place the chicken breasts over the orzoand pour the sauce over the top. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and parsley, and serve.

Curry Chicken Pot Pie

Oh the weather outside is frightful,

But the fire is so delightful,

And since we've no place to go,

Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!

The blizzard outside today was a perfect excuse to try a new comfort food recipe - chicken pot pie. I just finished my second helping and it was EXACTLY what the doctor ordered. Creamy, spicy, flaky, and delicious all around. My recipe is based on the one I found here, with some tweaks:

Curry Chicken Pot Pie

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30-40 minutes

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Crust

1 box Pillsbury® refrigerated pie crusts, softened as directed on box

Filling

1/3 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 lbs chicken breast, cut into small chunks

2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (corn, chopped carrots, and peas, and whatever else you'd like!)

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 teaspoon red curry powder

1 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 3/4 cups vegetable or chicken broth

1/2 cup milk

Instructions:

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Make pie crusts as directed on box for Two-Crust Pie using 9-inch ungreased pie pan.

2. In a boiling pan, add frozen veggies and chicken and allow to cook until chicken is no longer pink, about 5-8 minutes. You can shred the chicken if you'd like, or keep cubed.

3. Meanwhile, a medium-sized saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and garlic; cook 2 minutes, stirring frequently, until tender. Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and all other spices until well blended. Gradually whisk in broth and milk, cooking and stirring until bubbly and thickened.

4. Drain chicken and mixed vegetables and add into saucepan. Remove from heat. Spoon chicken mixture into crust-lined pan. Top with second crust; seal edge and flute. Cut slits in several places in top crust.

5. Bake 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Enjoy!

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Healthy Chicken Pesto Pasta - Creamy and Rich!

I remember when I first started cooking I was sooo particular about following the directions to a "T". However, after experimenting and discovering some great and exciting combinations of food, it's fun to open my pantry and refrigerator and dream up a new concoction. Especially when it actually tastes GOOD!

Tonight I had a hankerin' for pesto chicken, but didn't want to go too crazy on the calories and fat intake. I used yoghurt to give it a cre

amy texture and used minimal amounts of oil without sacrificing taste at all.

Healthy Chicken Pesto Pasta

Serves: 2 (can be easily doubled)

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 oz chicken breast - cut into strips or chunks, seasoned with salt, pepper, and Adobe seasoning (if available)
• 1/2 serving of whole wheat pasta (penne or linguine works well, I used egg noodles that I had handy)
• 2-3 tablespoons pesto (jar is fine)
• half an onion
• 1 cup mushrooms
• 1 cup yoghurt
• 1 tsp lemon juice
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• olive oil
• red pepper flakes
• grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta as directed. Be sure to check the pasta before draining - whole wheat tends to take an extra minute to fully cook.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the pesto and lemon juice with yoghurt and mix well. Set aside.

3. In a nonstick pan set to medium high, add 1 tsp. of olive oil, the mushrooms and onions. Saute until onions are caramelized and mushrooms soften - about 5 minutes. When this is close to being cooked, add the garlic and allow to simmer for 1 minute. Remove from pan and combine with the bowl of pesto.

4. Using the same pan, add in chicken to cook until no longer pink. More olive oil can also be added if needed.

5. Once cooked, take chicken off heat and add pasta and pesto mix. Combine well, top with salt & pepper to taste. Top with red pepper flakes and parmesan cheese and voila! Dinner is served :)

Annnnd, we're back!

I've decided to have Christmas in May. Mostly because I couldn't find my camera cord anywhere, and it's taken me this long to upload my photos. ahem...anyways, first up is a post on a fabulous new tradition we’ve started - Christmas gift swap and dinner.

The ladies and I decided to keep our get together low key and personal. Meghan C. kindly offered to host the event, and it was a GREAT success. Check out our festivities:

I volunteered to make the main dish - my first ever chicken roast. I used a Jamie Oliver recipe "Roast Chicken Recipe with Lemon and Rosemary Potatoes" mostly because he used the words ‘chuffed’ and 'some lovely fat'. I just couldn’t resist - I love anything British!

Jamie’s recipes always seem simplistic, but are flavorful and delicious. The technique of boiling the lemon with the potatoes and then transferring it into the cavity of the chicken really tenderized the meat and gave the potatoes a lemony hint that meshed well with the chicken. Some photos below.

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

• 1 x 2kg/4½lb free-range organic chicken
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2kg/4½lb potatoes, peeled
• 1 large, preferably unwaxed, lemon
• 1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
• a handful of fresh thyme
• olive oil
• a handful of fresh rosemary sprigs, leaves picked
• optional: 8 rashers of smoked streaky bacon

Directions:

Rub the chicken inside and out with a generous amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper. Do this in the morning if possible, then cover the chicken and leave in the fridge until you're ready to start cooking it for lunch or dinner. By doing this, you'll make the meat really tasty when cooked. Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Cut the potatoes into golf-ball-sized pieces, put them into the water with the whole lemon and the garlic cloves, and cook for 12 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for 1 minute (this will give you crispier potatoes), then remove the lemon and garlic. Toss the potatoes in the pan while still hot so their outsides get chuffed up and fluffy – this will make them lovely and crispy when they roast.

While the lemon is still hot, carefully stab it about 10 times. Take the chicken out of the fridge, pat it with kitchen paper and rub it all over with olive oil. Push the garlic cloves, the whole lemon and the thyme into the cavity, then put the chicken into a roasting tray and cook in the preheated oven for around 45 minutes. Remove the chicken to a plate. Some lovely fat should have cooked out of it into the roasting tray, so toss the potatoes into this with the rosemary leaves. Shake the tray around, then make a gap in the centre of the potatoes and put the chicken back in. If using the bacon, lay the rashers over the chicken breast and cook for a further 45 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked and the potatoes are nice and golden. (You can tell the chicken is cooked when the thigh meat pulls easily away from the bone and the juices run clear.)