Balsamic Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Spinach

One of the biggest issues I run into when cooking dinners is usually a lack of time.  Most recipes say that they take a certain amount of prep time, and somehow I end up taking about 5 times as long to get the meal done.  9:00 is the usual dinner time in my home, even when I make super fast meals.  So I've been trying to choose meals that say that they take 30 min or less, knowing that if it takes me an hour, so be it.  This one from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals ended up in that category.  I'm sure I could have used pre-chopped garlic or other shortcuts, but I'd rather take the few minutes and chop the clove myself.  One time-saver was that I used my mandolin slicer for the onions.

It felt like a complete meal in one dish and even let me be a little fancy with the presentation; though I will admit I added a little more chicken to the plate after taking the picture.  I wanted to serve a complete chicken breast, not just the half that looked pretty :o)

In all, it took almost an hour, but I was also puttering around at the beginning since I had forgotten to buy chicken stock and had to send my husband to the store while I got started.  I waited til he returned to actually start cooking, so this probably would have taken less than 45 min in total otherwise.

Balsamic Chicken with White Beans and Wilted Spinach (from Rachael Ray's Express Lane Meals)

4 servings

Ingredients

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp grill seasoning (I used McCormick's Montreal Chicken seasoning)
4 boneless chicken breasts
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
4 large garlic cloves, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and black pepper
1 bay leaf
3/4 cup white wine
2 cups chicken stock
14 oz can cannellini beans
12 oz sack baby spinach
1 cup flat-leaf parsley
juice of 1 lemon


Directions

- In a shallow dish, combine the balsamic vinegar, about 2 tbsp of the extra virgin olive oil, and the grill seasoning.  Coat the chicken breasts in the mixture and set aside to marinate while you start the white beans and wilted spinach.

- Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat with the remaining 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, twice around the pan.  Add the onions, garlic, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt, pepper, and bay leaf.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the onions are a little brown, 3 to 4 minutes.  Add the white wine and chicken stock, bring up to a bubble, and cook for 5 minutes.

- Heat another large skillet over medium-high heat.  When it is hot, add the chicken breasts and cook for 5 to 6 minutes on each side.  Remove the chicken to a plate, cover loosely with foil, and let rest a few minutes.

- Add the cannellini beans to the skillet with the onions and stir to combine.  Cook for about 2 minutes or until the beans are heated through.  Turn off the heat and discard bay leaf.  Stir in the spinach, parsley, and lemon juice.  Toss and stir until the spinach wilts.

- To serve, place a portion of the white beans and wilted spinach on each serving plate.  Thickly slice each chicken breast on an angle and arrange over the bean and spinach.

Pesto Chicken Rolls

My husband came home from the store the other day with thin-sliced chicken breasts.  In the past I've sliced them up and cooked them with a little ground ginger and teriyaki sauce, but I wanted to do something different.  As I was on my way home last night thinking of what to make for dinner, the chicken entered my mind and I thought 'what if I put something on it, like maybe pesto, and rolled it up?!'  So I did a little googling and came across some recipes.  Of course, most pesto has parmesan cheese in it, so I knew I had to improvise to make this a kosher meal.  A little more googling of 'dairy-free pesto' followed, I made a stop at the store for some basil and pine nuts, and I had the makings of a delicious dinner!

This recipe even allowed me to use my immersion blender for the first time, which I've been meaning to use since we received it last fall.  The pesto was super easy to make (put ingredients into blending cup, blend, add garlic, blend, add oil while blending, done!).  The prep time ended up being about 40 minutes, which included unpacking my blender, so next time it will probably take me less than 30.

I put the rolls on top of pasta, which I had mixed with a little oil and salt for a bit of flavor and a delicious dinner was served!!

Dairy-Free Pesto (from Adventures of a Gluten Free Mom)

Ingredients
 
2 cups Fresh Basil Leaves, packed
1/3 cup Pine Nuts
3 medium Garlic Cloves, minced
1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 and 1/2 tsp. fresh squeezed Lemon Juice (more or less, to taste)
1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

Directions

In a food processor or blender, combine the basil leaves with the nuts, lemon juice and sea salt.  Pulse a few times until mixture is reduced in volume and the mixture is well incorporated.

Add the garlic and pulse a few times more.

Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the blender or food processor is running, stop to scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula.

Taste.  Add more lemon juice and/or salt if needed.

Chicken Pesto Rolls (slightly adapted from Taste of Home Cooking)

Directions  

Spread each thin sliced chicken breast with a scoop of pesto to within 1/2 in. of the edges. Roll up jelly-roll style, starting with a short side; secure with a toothpick or small metal skewer.  

Place chicken in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 375° for 30-35 minutes or meat is no longer pink.

Remove toothpicks or skewers. Serve warm as a main course.

Spanish Chicken and Veggie Kugel

It's Passover once again.  Growing up, Passover was the time of year when you order a ton of candy from the catalog I brought home from Hebrew school, and then spent the rest of the week eating things out of a box marked Manischewitz that probably tasted like cardboard.  In recent years, though Manischewitz foods and mixes have gotten a bit better, I've also realized that I can still eat like a normal person with minimal adjustments (if any) to my recipes.  This week I will be blogging several of my family's recipes that have become a staple of our Passover diets for years in addition to a few new recipes.

When my husband and I sat down and looked at this year's calendar and figured out our holiday schedule, we decided to spend the first seder up in Massachusetts with my mom's family and the second night at his parents' home.  We wanted to spend some time this holiday with my father's parents, so we invited them over to our apartment for lunch.  I looked over my recipes and aside from making my grandmother's gefilte fish (recipe to be posted later this week) for an appetizer  I chose to make as our main course veggie kugel and Spanish chicken.

The veggie kugel recipe is from my friend (and bridesmaid) Jamie.  She sent it to me a few months back and mentioned as an aside that if you swap matzah meal for the flour, you can make it for Passover.  It includes potato, carrots, zucchini (which I admit I had never tried prior to making this the first time!), onion and a few binders, then it cooks for an hour.  So simple!

The Spanish chicken is a recipe that my sister-in-law (and also a bridesmaid) gave me at my shower in the recipe book they put together for me.  It seemed pretty easy and the flavors seemed to be something that most people would enjoy (chicken stock, white wine, garlic...what's not to like?!).  It came out super moist.  I ended up doubling the recipe and cooking it in two separate roasting pans so I didn't have to layer everything, so I added about 10 min to the cooking time and an extra 5 to the broiling time.  Below is the single batch recipe.

I literally spent all day yesterday cooking, so I intend to share lots of recipes over the next few days.  Whether or not you celebrate Passover, you'll be able to add at least a few of these to your cooking repertoire.

SPANISH CHICKEN (original source unknown)

Ingredients
3lbs chicken (I used leg quarters and drumsticks)

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 tsp salt

5 cloves garlic

8oz white wine (I used Kedem white cooking wine, which was kosher for Passover)

8oz chicken broth

Directions

Rub Chicken with oil

Place 4oz wine in food processor.  Add garlic and whirl until blended together.  Add 4oz chicken broth in processor and whirl together.  Add salt to taste.

Pour mixture over chicken (add the other 4oz of wine and broth if the mixture does not cover the chicken) and marinate overnight.  In morning, flip pieces to marinate both sides.

Place chicken and marinade in baking dish (if you already had it in a roasting pan, just flip chicken right-side up and use same pan).  Cover with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 15 min.

Remove foil, baste chicken and continue to bake, uncovered, for 45 min.

Baste chicken (and remove excess liquid if chicken is too covered but don't remove it all) and broil for 5 minutes to darken the chicken.

VEGGIE KUGEL from Jamie at Skinny Apple, Fat Appetite

Ingredients
2 lg carrots, grated

2 med zucchini, grated

2 med potatoes, grated

1/2 cup onion 

4 eggs

1/2 cup oil                                        

3/4 cup flour (or matzo meal during Passover)

S/P to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a food processor grate carrots, zucchini, potatoes, and onion (If you want a good arm workout feel free to use a hand grater).
In a large bowl use a whisk to combine eggs and oil.
Add all remaining ingredients except for the flour and stir.
Add in flour (or matzo meal)
 Pour ingredients into a greased 9 x 13 pan, bake at 350 degree for one hour or until toothpick comes out clean.