Chicken with Mushrooms & Artichokes.

This is an easy, no-fuss chicken recipe with great flavor. Serve with a side salad and pasta for a complete meal.

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 6 oz marinated artichoke hearts, quartered (reserve marinade)
• 6 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/4 cup Asiago cheese, shredded (more can be used)
• salt & pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9 x 13 baking pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle both sides of chicken breasts with salt & pepper and place in pan.  Spread artichoke hearts and mushrooms over chicken.  Pour reserved artichoke marinade over all ingredients in pan.  Bake for 45 minutes.  After 45 minutes, sprinkle tomatoes and cheese over chicken and bake for another 15 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before serving and enjoy!

Open Face Dumplings.

Package of potsticker wrappers in hand, I knew I needed to create something.  I wanted it to be simple, filling, and reasonably healthy.  This is what emerged. I aimed for a baked open face potsticker, with a common filling base that could be adjusted for individual preferences.  You can add just about anything to the filling, though it's important to have something that will bind your ingredients together (i.e. cheese, a creamy sauce) and to have ingredients that aren't too soupy, or your final product may be soggy.

Start by spraying a mini-muffin pan with cooking spray and gently pressing one potsticker or wonton wrapper in each cup.

Prepare your filling. Plan for about one to one and a half tablespoons of filling for each wrapper.  If you use wonton wrappers you could use a larger muffin tray and then will need at least twice the filling. When the wrappers are filled, bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them and remove from the oven when the wrappers are obviously baked and very lightly browned.

Four Fillings

Goat Cheese & Plum

• goat cheese (mine was flavored with honey, from my favorite cheese seller)
• 1 red plum, thinly sliced, with slices cut into thirds
• hazelnuts, chopped
• cinnamon
• agave nectar

Put about 2 tsp of goat cheese in the bottom of the wrapper.  Sprinkle with cinnamon. Place several plum slices on top of cheese, sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts, and drizzle with agave nectar.

Artichoke & Onion

• marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• Italian parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, shredded (choose a good quality cheese and shred it yourself for the best flavor)

Mix ingredients together in equal quantities and spoon into wrappers. Because I was making several varieties, I only wanted four of these, with a total filling need of 4 to 6 Tablespoons. Therefore, I mixed 1 heaping T of each ingredient to make this filling.

Artichoke & Onion. And Shrimp.

• marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• Italian parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, shredded (choose a good quality cheese and shred it yourself for the best flavor)
• shrimp, cooked, peeled, deveined, and chopped

Notice, this the same base as the last variety, but with shrimp added.  Mix the ingredients in the same ratio as above, but add more shrimp according to your taste.  I added twice as much shrimp as other ingredients because I wanted these to be a bit more filling.

Tapenade.

• marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
• green onions, chopped
• Italian parsley, chopped
• parmesan cheese, shredded (choose a good quality cheese and shred it yourself for the best flavor)
• mixed olives in oil, finely chopped

Again, the same artichoke-onion-parm base, this time with olives added.  I bought mixed olives with Italian herbs from the olive bar at my local store, and then chopped and mixed them in.  These I kept in a 1:1 ratio because the olive flavor was strong. You could adjust however you like.

That's it!  Easy to personalize, easy to prepare. My next batch will likely have a cilantro-lemon-goat cheese base...

Nectarine & Corn Salad.

Back in my own kitchen after too long away. Lots to share in the coming days. For now, here's a simple salad we enjoyed this evening.


1 white nectarine, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup red onion, finely chopped
3 T cilantro, chopped
2 ears of corn, cooked and cut from cob
2 tsp lime juice


Toss all ingredients in a bowl. Chill for 15 minutes before serving.  Serves 4 as a side salad.  Simple, fresh, tasty!

Chicken Caprese Pasta.

This recipe is one that is completely determined by individual tastes.  Mix and match your favorite ingredients for a fresh, filling pasta.  I recommend trying some new combinations. You never know what you'll learn to love!  Here's my version.

• fresh asparagus, cut into bite sized pieces
• cherry tomatoes, cut into quarters
• fresh mozzarella, cut into bite sized pieces
• sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, sliced into thin strips
• green onions, chopped
• fresh parmesan, grated
• basil leaves, torn

• chicken breast strips
• olive oil
• Italian seasoning
• lemon, cut into quarters

• fettucini

Cook asparagus in small amount of boiling water until just crisp. Plunge asparagus into ice water to stop the cooking. Set aside.

Heat oil in large pan. Cook chicken on high until one side is browned.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and turn over.  When both sides of chicken are browned, squeeze the juice of 1/4 lemon over it and sprinkle more seasoning on the chicken.  Turn heat to medium, cover, and continue until chicken is cooked through. (Add a small amount of water to pan if juices cook off before chicken is cooked through.)

While chicken is cooking, prepare tomatoes, green onions and cheeses.  Cook pasta.

To serve, toss pasta with chicken, asparagus, tomatoes, green onions, basil leaves, and cheese.  Squeeze lemon on top, if desired. Yum!

Mushrooms & Shrimp with Pesto on Pasta.

This may well be one of the best meals I've cooked all summer.  Pick any pasta shape you like. We decided on gemelli today.  Use store-bought pesto or make your own, as I did.  As sauteed mushrooms and sauteed shrimp. Toss it together with a bit of freshly grated parmesan on top and pair with a simple green salad.  Mmmm....


Pesto

• 2 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Mix all ingredients except olive oil in the bowl of a food processor.  Blend until well chopped.  Slowly drizzle in olive oil and continue to blend to a smooth consistency.

The Rest

• pasta to serve 4
• 3/4 pound peeled & deveined shrimp
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• olive oil
• salt & pepper

Cook pasta according to package instructions.  Saute mushrooms in 2 T olive oil.  When mushrooms are cooked, set aside in a bowl and add 1 T oil to pan.  Saute shrimp in oil.  Sprinkle with salt & pepper before turning. When shrimp are cooked through, remove from heat.  Toss shrimp and mushrooms with pasta.  Spoon pesto over pasta mixture and gently mix together.  Sprinkle parmesan on top and serve.

Twenty Minute Seafood Paella. Minus the Rice.

Love paella, but wanted something a little lighter. I left the rice out and added a few baby potatoes.  The result was a just right, light combination of seafood and veggies.

• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 leek, thinly sliced
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 2 T Italian Parsley, chopped
• 1 C frozen okra, cut
• 5 or 6 baby potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• sea salt & fresh ground pepper
• 3/4 pound Seafood: bay scallops, peeled & deveined shrimp, mussels

Saute leek slices in olive oil for 5 minutes. Add garlic, tomato, parsley, okra, & potatoes. Salt & pepper to taste.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 10 minutes.  Add seafood of your choice. Simmer until seafood is cooked through. Enjoy with some crusty bread!

Fizzy Raspberry Mint Lemonade.

Hot days call for cool refreshment.  Here's a twist on a time honored favorite! Recipe below makes a single tall glass. Adjust as needed.

• 1 T fresh mint leaves
• 12 fresh raspberries
• 1 T sugar
• 2 T lemon juice
• sparkling water
• ice cubes

Muddle the mint leaves & 6 raspberries using a mortar & pestle or the back of a spoon in a bowl.  Put mint & crushed berries in the bottom of a tall glass. Add sugar & lemon juice. Stir.  Fill glass with ice cubes. Pour sparkling water over ice and mix.  Top with remaining raspberries and enjoy!

Note: I am not a fan of sweet drinks, so I make my lemonade on the tart side. Adjust the sugar to taste.