Good Eats This Week

  First off, the salmon dish I posted about a few days ago was absolutely delicious! The quinoa was quite good as well. It resembled a rice but with a somewhat nutty flavor. 

Moroccan Salmon with Quinoa and Carrots

My spinach has FINALLY grown big enough to where I felt comfortable picking the leaves for spinach salads. We ate the spinach this week for the first time! Yum!

 

This was Southern Living's Chili Cheese Hash Brown Bake. It was a easy and fast dinner. I used ground turkey instead of beef, as always, and probably would have added a can of kidney beans to the mix if I did it again. Cole really liked it (He promised he just wasn't saying so!!), but I thought it was just ok.

My mom gets total credit for this one. It is hands down the best chicken dish I have had in a long time! It is HEALTHY and EASY! Basically, lightly salt and pepper chicken breasts and cook chicken in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil. Transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Using the same pan, add 1/2 cup good quality balsamic vinegar and 1/4 cup pine nuts. (I used slivered almonds, as pine nuts are WAY outside of my grocery budget these days.) Cook on medium heat for about 30sec-1min to reduce (or until about 1/2 of the liquid remains). Add 2 tablespoons of raspberry honey mustard and mix well to make a smooth glaze. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat each side with the glaze. Cook for another minute or until chicken is done completely. 

Balsamic Chicken

I roasted squash to serve with the chicken. I mixed olive oil, minced garlic, and a dab of water and coated the squash.  Then, I broiled them on high for about 10 minutes on each side and added salt and pepper to taste. I can't wait for summer veggies!

I use a "silpat" to go over my cookie sheets (if you are wondering why it looks funny). NOTHING sticks to it so it makes for a very easy cleanup. Here is the link: http://silpat.com/

Roasted Squash

This recipe was a great one to use my "Special Balsamic Vinegar" from Oil&Vinegar (see previous post about this awesome place!). 

Balsamic Vinegar and Raspberry Honey Mustard

One last recipe to share! Tonight, I cooked Cooking Light's Herb-Crusted Chicken and Parsley Orzo and Southern Living's Scalloped Sweet Potato Stacks. Cole said this goes in his top 10 favorite meals. I have to admit, it was tasty!

I got to use both my parsley and thyme.

The chicken is seasoned with some spices that I had gotten as a gift from Paige.  I also added in some carrots, onions, and garlic to the orzo to give it an extra zest. 

This is what the picture in Southern Living looked liked for the stacks. Come on, I thought, they will never slip perfectly out of the muffin pans and look like that!

I tried anyway. It is best to go ahead and assume yours won't look as good, so then when it flops you are not disappointed and if it happens to turn out ok you feel like you did great! (The beauty of creating your own recipe is that there are no expectations!)

Scalloping the potatoes and shredding the fresh mozarella

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised! 

I think I could get in to food photography :)

I have been thankful for small amounts of time to cook this week despite exams. I do love it! I am learning a lot and often call Mom to ask any number of questions I have. Tonight's question was "Can I use whipping cream instead of heavy cream?" (The sweet potato recipe calls for a little bit and whipping cream was all that I had). She said yes since I was just baking it. Thanks Mom!