One Pan Lemon Chicken with Green Beans

This was a double adaptation.  So it was adapted from my recipe for Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Mushrooms that was reworked from an old recipe that I had, that in turn was adapted from a great one from "Quick After-Work Italian Cooking" by Hilaire Walden; Fisher Books, 1995.  This is a really nice one pan dish that can be served over rice or noodles.

Ingredients
2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tsp Chopped garlic (or 2 cloves)
3 Chicken breasts, flattened and cut in half
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (adjust to to taste)
1/4 tsp Black pepper (adjust to to taste)
1 tbsp + 1 tsp Lemon juice
1 cup Chicken broth (low-sodium)
8 oz White mushrooms, stems removed and cut in half
8 oz Green beans, trimmed
1 tbsp dried Parsley
2 tsp dried Rosemary

Directions
1. Heat olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and saute for 1 minutes.
2. Season the chicken with kosher salt and pepper. Add chicken breasts to the pan and cook until lightly browned, around 4-5 minutes per side.
3. Add lemon juice, chicken broth, mushrooms, green beans, dried parsley, and dried rosemary to the pan. Mix gently.
4. Cover and cook for 13-15 more minutes (turning chicken from time to time).
5. Serve with juices over rice or pasta.

Enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus

This is a really nice side dish that is great for family dinner.  We all love asparagus and having lots of it for family meals is really needed.  So I love this because we can make a lot at one time.  This was adapted from the Cooking Light recipe for Roasted Asparagus with Balsamic Browned Butter.  We made this for Easter a LONG time ago and I am only getting it posted now.  Oh well - it is a great side and one will make again when we are entertaining.

Ingredients (around 6-8 servings)
2  bunches Asparagus, cut to around 4" from the tip.
Cooking spray
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (adjust to taste)
1/4 tsp Black pepper
3 tbsp Butter
3 tsp Soy sauce (Lower-sodium if you have it)
1 tsp Balsamic vinegar

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Coat baking sheet with cooking spray.  Arrange asparagus in a single layer on baking sheet.  Sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Bake at 400° for 12-14 minutes or until tender.
3. In a small skillet, melt the butter over medium heat.  Cook for 3 minutes, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in soy sauce and balsamic vinegar. Drizzle over asparagus, tossing well to coat. Serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Oven Baked Chicken and Green Beans

I had some fun with the recipe for Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas and made something that goes great with two of my favorite vegetables, green beans and mushrooms.  We made this the other day and loved the way it came out.  I served this over rice and it was a really nice one dish meal.  It is very easy - and something that I will definitely make again.

Ingredients (serves 4)
1 1/2 tsp Chili powder, divided (adjust to taste)
1 1/2 tsp Cumin
1 tsp Parsley, dried
1/2 tsp Coriander
1/2 tsp Garlic powder
1/2 tsp Oregano, dried
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
1/4 tsp Black pepper
Cooking spray (or olive oil spray)
3 Chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes
1 lbs Green beans, trimmed
12 oz Mushrooms, stems removed and sliced in half

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, combine chili powder, cumin, parsley, coriander, garlic powder, oregano, kosher salt, and black pepper.  Set aside.
3. Spray cooking spray or olive oil on the bottom of a 13×9 baking dish.
4. Place the chicken on the bottom of the pan and drizzle the olive oil on top.  Sprinkle all but 1 tsp of the spice mix atop the chicken.
4. Add the tomatoes (with liquid), green beans and mushrooms to the baking dish and stir to combine.  Sprinkle the remaining 1 tsp of spice mixture on top of the baking dish.
5. Bake uncovered for 32-35 minutes or until chicken is cooked through

Enjoy!

Spinach Quiche

We have been having this dish a great deal over the summer as I discovered this great quiche recipe.  The one listed below is a slight variation from one that I posted earlier (Spinach and Mushroom Quiche). This one has a little more dense, which we really like.  I have played with this a bit and I think this variant is the one we are going to to more often.  It still has lots of mushrooms - but I had to change the name a bit - don't I?

We have always had this for dinner - but it would be great anytime, especially for brunch.

Ingredients (serves 4-5)
1 Frozen deep dish pie crust
1 tbsp Olive oil
12 oz Mushrooms, sliced
2/3 cup Skim milk
5 Large eggs
10oz. package Frozen chopped spinach, thawed
2 whole Roasted red pepper (around 6-8 oz), diced
3/4 cups Swiss cheese (around 6 oz)
¼ tsp Black pepper (adjust to taste)
¾ tsp Kosher salt (adjust to taste)

Directions
1. Bake pie crust per directions.  Then change the temperature to 400°F for the quiche.
2. In non-stick skillet over medium-high heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil and cook mushrooms for around 5-7 minutes.  Remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix sautéed mushrooms with skim milk, eggs, spinach, roasted red peppers, cheese, black pepper and salt until well blended.
4. Place the pie crust on a Jelly Roll pan.  Pour vegetable mixture into deep dish pie crust.  Bake quiche 55-60 minutes until filling and crust are golden and knife inserted in center comes out clean.  Let sit 5 minutes and then serve.

Enjoy!

Chicken Marsala

I have long been a big fan of Chicken Marsala.  But my wife never really loved it that much, so we never made it at home.  But we wanted to give it another shot and see if we can make a version that my wife would like.  Sure enough, we did!  There are 100s of recipes of Chicken Marsala.  The key ingredients are chicken (shocking), mushrooms and Marsala wine (or cooking wine).  After that - it is a bit of mixing and matching to get your dish right.  I looked a few recipes, but nothing looked like what we wanted to do - so I mixed it up and created something mostly from scratch.  We loved the way this turned out - and as per usual, amped up the mushrooms!  We will definitely make this again.  We had company over, so the picture shows about a double batch.

Ingredients (Serves 3-4)
13 oz box Pasta (thin spaghetti)
4 Chicken breasts, skinless, cut in half to a thickness of 1/4"
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp flour, divided
1/2 tsp Kosher salt
1/2 tsp Sage, dried
1/4 tsp Black pepper
4 tbsp Olive oil, divided
12 oz Mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp Shallots, finely chopped
2 tbsp Butter
3/4 cup Marsala wine (or cooking wine)
1 cup Chicken broth (low sodium if possible)
1 tbsp Parsley, dried

Directions
1. Prepare pasta as directed.
2. Combine 1/2 cup of flour with kosher salt, sage and black pepper.  Coat the cut chicken with the flour mixture.
3. Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Working in batches (if needed), cook the chicken for 3 minutes on both sides.  Add additional oil if needed.  When chicken is done, set on a plate under foil to keep warm.
4. Add the remaining 2 tbsp oil to the pan.  Add mushrooms and shallots.  Cook 5 minutes.
5. Add the remaining 1 tbsp flour, butter, Marsala, chicken broth and dried parsley to the pan and cook for 3 minutes.
6. Return the chicken to the pan and cook for 3 more minutes.
7. Serve over pasta.

Enjoy!