Crunchy Garlic Chicken

I crack jokes about it now, but when I was a kid, I actually liked Shake 'N Bake.  Now I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole, as I'm sure it is loaded with hydrogenated oils and whatnot.  Along came Jamie Oliver to teach me that you can make a home-made version that tastes absolutely fantastic!

Jamie's new TV show and book are all over the place right now, and his message is something I also feel passionate about.  He is all about teaching people the value of real, whole foods that are not processed and messed about with.  On top of that, he is teaching people that eating real food is actually easy and inexpensive, contrary to popular belief.  This recipe is a great example.  I made a few changes to make it healthier, but even Jamie's slightly naughtier version is still much better than pre-prepared chicken strips you might buy in the freezer section, or boxed bread crumb coatings that are loaded with junk.

This is a simple and incredibly flavorful recipe that will make your kids or picky husbands or wives very happy.  I made a simple potato-asparagus salad (simply boiled the potatoes, added the asparagus for the last minute of cooking, drained it all and tossed it with a simple vinaigrette) to go alongside and it was a wonderful meal.

Crunchy Garlic Chicken

adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution

serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

1 clove garlic, peeled

zest of 1 small lemon

6 plain whole wheat crackers

1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

leaves from 5 sprigs of fresh thyme

salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons flour

1 large egg, beaten

2 skinless chicken breast cutlets, pounded to 1/4 inch thickness

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Combine the garlic, lemon zest, crackers, olive oil, thyme, and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor.  Process until very fine.  Transfer to a bowl.

2.  Preheat oven or toaster oven to 450.  Sprinkle flour onto a small plate.   Dredge the chicken cutlets in the flour to coat completely, then dip them into the beaten egg to coat completely.  Finally dredge them in the cracker mixture until thoroughly coated (you may have to help out a bit with your hands).

3.  Place the chicken cutlets on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes, flipping over about halfway through.  If the crumb mixture starts burning reduce heat slightly.  Serve hot.

Enjoy!

Leek and Potato Soup

I'm back!! And just in time for the new year. 

We had a lovely vacation earlier this week, which is why I haven't been posting at all.  I do have to say that I missed cooking, mostly because I missed eating home-cooked food.  Having three meals out at restaurants in a day is not such a treat as it may seem.  I don't know how people who don't cook can take it. 

The bad news is that we both caught colds on our vacation, so our happy new year meal, and my re-entry to the land of cooking, is a simple and healthy soup.  You can practically feel the vitamins seeping into you with each bite.  And of course, it's delicious. 

This is a very simple version of potato-leek soup; not as fancy as the version I posted about here, but tasty in its own right.  It's I-want-to-be-done-good-to soup.  And it gets the job done.

Leek and Potato Soup

adapted from Jamie Oliver (Jamie's Food Revolution)

serves 4

INGREDIENTS:

3 cups low sodium vegetable broth

2 leeks, white and light green parts only, cleaned and chopped

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 large carrot, chopped

1 large celery stalk, leafy tops included, chopped

1 garlic clove, minced or pressed

3/4 pound baby Yukon gold potatoes, cubed

freshly ground black pepper and sea salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1.  Bring the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan.  Reduce heat to low and keep warm.

2.  In a medium Dutch oven or heavy soup pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add leeks, carrot, celery, and garlic.  Cover the pot partially and cook for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender.

3.  Add the broth and potato and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to simmer and cover partially.  Let simmer for 10 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.  Serve the soup chunky, or puree if you like.

Enjoy!

Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Spinach

Well hello, flavor. Nice to see you again.

Tonight's meal more than makes up for last night's comparatively bland product. This is another Italian dish, from a British chef, with a tomato-based sauce. But it is a world apart from yesterday's fare. Yesterday wasn't all bad, but this one is incredibly spicy and flavorful. It's also incredibly easy to put together, and you can have it on the table in about twenty minutes.

One can never have too many tomato sauce recipes. This is definitely one to add the collection. And feel free to use the pasta of your choice, but make sure it's a tough one that can stand up to a chunky tomato sauce. No delicate angel hair here, people.

Pasta with Spicy Tomato Sauce and Spinach
adapted from Jamie Oliver's The Naked Chef Takes Off
serves 2

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon EVOO
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 14-oz can whole plum tomatoes
red wine vinegar, to taste
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 oz. whole wheat pasta of your choice
2 handfuls fresh baby spinach
4 oz. bocconcini (fresh mozzarella balls)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat the EVOO in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and cook for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, leaving whole, and cook for about 5 minutes. Carefully crush the tomatoes with a potato masher or fork, and reduce to simmer. When sauce is thick and chunky, after about 5 more minutes, remove from heat and season to taste with red wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

2. Cook the pasta in a medium pot of boiling salted water until al dente. When the pasta still has about 2-3 minutes to go, place a colander over the pot with the spinach in it to steam it. If you like your spinach less wilted, only do this for about 1 minute.

3. Drain pasta and stir into the sauce. Serve topped with spinach and mozzarella.

Keep a glass of water handy, as this is one spicy dish. Enjoy!

beautiful balsamic dressing

Wednesday night has recently been established in the Mullin household as "date night." Tonight, however, it is raining, I am getting over a cold, and my husband is stuck in traffic on his way back from Burbank. So instead, we will be having leftover soup (not home-made, I'm sorry to say) and a quickly-thrown-together green salad. I decided to make at least a smidgen of effort, and turned to Jamie Oliver for some salad dressing inspiration. Here is what Jamie and I came up with.

Does it count as a recipe? I'll let you decide. This is the kind of dressing that will keep you from ever wandering down the bottled salad dressing aisle again.


Beautiful Balsamic Dressing
serves 2 people for a dinner salad, or 4 for side salads

INGREDIENTS:

2 tablespoons of good quality balsamic vinegar
5 tablespoons EVOO
4-5 basil leaves, chopped
handful of pine nuts, toasted and then chopped
salt
pepper

DIRECTIONS:

Whisk all the ingredients together in a bowl.

That's it! Bottled dressings be damned. I would also vote that this would be excellent drizzled over fresh mozzarella, as a dip for fresh crusty bread, or even as a marinade for steak (or tofu for our vegetarian friends). Yum!