Smothered Italian Chicken

When I see something on Stephanie's blog, I know I will enjoy it; when she raves about something, I know I will as well.  This is no exception.  I've made this before, but wanted to highlight it again since I found a way to not waste the rest of the Philly Cooking Creme, again thanks to Stephanie...  see my next post to see how I used it up with amazing results.

This dinner also inspired my husband to make this into a sandwich.  I made more than enough chicken cutlets, which he topped with the leftover sauce, tomato, lettuce, and bacon on a whole grain ciabatta roll to rave results.

Yum!

Smothered Italian Chicken Source:  Stephanie Cooks

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts, butterflied
1 egg
3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
Olive oil
2 roma tomatoes, sliced
1.5 cups baby spinach
1/3-1/2 tub Philadelphia Italian Cooking Creme
Salt and pepper

Directions:
1- Preheat the oven to 350.
2- Slice the tomato and place in a small baking dish. Season with salt and pepper. Bake covered for 15 minutes or until soft.
3- Meanwhile, dip the chicken in egg, then bread crumbs, until coated. Heat oil and fry chicken until crisp and cooked through. Remove from the heat and keep warm.
4- Add the spinach and cooking creme to the tomatoes. Cover with foil and bake for another 10 minutes or so, stirring well.
5- Spoon the sauce mixture over the hot chicken. Serve immediately.

Cilantro lime shrimp

I wasn't thinking when I made this shrimp dish, and served it over plain brown rice.  While it was certainly delicious, I should have served it over Cilantro Lime Rice.  Not only would I have made a side dish that better complimented the dinner, but I also would have used up some of the extra ingredients I bought to make the shrimp dish.

And the shrimp dish was lovely.  I brought it in for lunches for a few days after, and while the shrimp definitely get rubbery in the microwave, I still enjoyed this the second time around.

Cilantro Lime Shrimp Source:  Skinnytaste, via He and She Eat Clean

Ingredients:

2 lbs shrimp, shelled & deviened

2 tsp olive oil

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1 lime

salt (to taste)

pepper (to taste)

Directions:

1. Heat a large frying pan on medium-high heat.

2. Add oil to the pan & once the pan is hot add shrimp.

3. Season with salt & pepper.

4. When the shrimp is cooked on one side (about 2 minutes), turn over & add garlic.

5. Saute another minute or two until shrimp is cooked, careful not to overcook.

6. Remove from heat.

7. Squeeze lime over shrimp & toss with cilantro.

8. Serve & enjoy!

Makes 4 servings (each serving is 6 oz)

Stir Fried Pork and Snow Peas with Sweet and Sour Sauce

I've blogged this one before, but the photo wasn't great and it's been quite awhile so here we go.

That time, I tried doing the whole stir fry by myself, only to discover I kept burning stuff after following the instructions to multitask.  This time, I got wise and asked my husband to man the stove while I did some of the other prep work.  As a result, this turned out perfect!

It was super sweet; next time, I will probably cut the sugar in the sauce by half.  Because it was sweet, though, my sons seemed to really enjoy it.  So, we'll mark it as a kid pleaser!

Stir Fried Pork and Snow Peas with Sweet and Sour SauceSource:  The Best 30 Minute Recipe Cook's Illustrated, viaSearchable Recipe Database

1 pound	Pork tenderloin, cut into thin strips
2 teaspoons	soy sauce
2 tablespoons	vegetable oil
1 recipe	Sweet-and Sour Sauce (see below)
1	red onion, sliced thin
6 ounces	snow peas, strings removed
1 20-ounce can	diced pineapple, drained
3 cloves	garlic, minced
1 tablespoon	fresh ginger, grated

Making the minutes Count:

Prepare the suce while the pork cooks. Mince the garlic and grate the ginger while the vegetables cook.

Stir-fry Pork and prepare sauce: Toss pork with soy sauce. Heat 2 teaspoons of oil in 12 inch nonstick skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add pork and cook, stirring occasionally and breaking up clumps, until lightly browned, about 3minutes. (While pork cooks, prrepare sauce.) Transfer pork to clean bowl

Stir-Fry Vegetables and Pineapple. Add 1 more tablespoon of oil to pan and return to high heat until shimmering. Add onion and snow peas and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 3 minutes. Add pineapple and cook until warmed through

Combine and Simmer: Clear center of pan and add remainineg 1 teaspoon oil, garlic, and gingner. Cook, mashing garlic mixture into pan with bakck of spatula, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in cooked pork. Whisk sauce to recombine, add it to pan, and bring to simmer. Cook until sauce thickens, 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately.


Sweet and Sour Sauce 
6T red wine vinegar
6T orange juice
6T sugar
3T ketchup
1t cornstarch
1/2t salt

Using a medium bowl, mix all ingredients.
  

Summer Spaghetti

Our CSA has been overloading us with squash--summer squash, zucchini, 8 ball squash, Patty Pan squash (on which I cannot comment, being that my husband passed this to his father)--and my dad passed us what I think is a Rolet squash, which means we are swimming in squash around here!  Add this to the fact that my husband does not eat anything anywhere near the squash family, and this is a big problem.

So when I was assigned The Boys Made me Do It in this week's recipe swap, I was thrilled to see this recipe, which uses a few types of squash as well as other ingredients my husband does eat.  Even better, it's fast and keeps the kitchen sort of cool and we have a winner!

I did not use broccoli as Cara suggested and really wish I had.  It would have added more heft to my husband's squash-less plate.  The trick is that you can use any fresh veg you have on hand!  Hoping to add a little more flavor, I added a splash of Pinot Grigio (ok, maybe a glug) when adding the pasta water.  I think this was a great addition and brought even more sweetness to this dish.  I used a summer squash and an 8 ball squash here.

Summer Spaghetti  Source: Better Homes and Garden Magazine, June 2012 via The Boys Made me Do It
    8 oz. spaghetti noodles
    Dry white wine
    1/4 cup olive oil
    3 cloves garlic, pressed
    Pinch of crushed red pepper
    1 1/2 cups grilled zucchini and/or other summer veggies
    1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved at the equator
    Small handful fresh basil, torn
    Salt and pepper, to taste
    1/4 cup parmesan cheese

Prepare spaghetti to al dente in a large pot of boiling water (about 9-10 minutes boiling time). Drain, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid.

In a large saute' pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper and cook until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the zucchini, tomatoes, and torn basil. Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to low. Add as much wine as you'd like with reserved pasta water to make 1/2c of liquid; add liquid and spaghetti to skillet. 

Heat thoroughly, about 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan.


 Transfer to large serving bowl and garnish with chopped basil.