Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Sheet Pan Supper: Lemon Pepper Chicken Thighs, Potatoes & Brussels Sprouts


For this Sheet Pan Supper, I chose skinless chicken thighs. Chicken thighs are much more flavorful and are less expensive than breasts. It's always fun for me to decide which flavor I'll use for these sheet pan meals. Tonight I used lemon pepper along with Limonato Olive Oil. The chicken was moist and full of flavor. You can use any vegetables you'd like, but trust me when I tell you the combination of red potatoes and Brussels sprouts was delicious.

2 T. lemon pepper seasoning
5 - 6 bone-in, skinless chicken thighs
4 - 5 red potatoes, chopped
2 - 3 cups of Brussels Sprouts, halved
Salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl, whisk together the olive oil and lemon pepper seasoning.

Coat each chicken thigh with the olive oil mixture and place on a rimmed baking sheet.

Toss vegetables in olive oil mixture and place in a single layer on the baking sheet spreading evenly around the chicken.

Bake for 35 - 45 minutes until the chicken reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees F. and the vegetables are tender.

Place under the broiler for a few minutes to brown the chicken. Serve immediately.


Easy Beef Fajitas


On busy weeknights, it's great to have an easy meal ready to prepare. I found Angus Beef Fajita strips at Sam's Club and wanted to give them a try. 
Here's the link for more information.  These were super easy to heat in the same skillet that I cooked onions, peppers, jalapeno, and garlic. We enjoyed the flavor and texture. I would buy these again!

To start the flavor off right, I cooked the peppers and onions in Cilantro and Roasted Onion Olive Oil. Needless to say, these fajitas were full of great flavor and were so easy to make! This recipe made enough filling for four fajitas. It could easily be doubled.

2 T. Cilantro and Roasted Onion Olive Oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced lengthwise
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, diced
1 T. minced garlic
1/2 package Angus Beef Strips
Tortillas
Sour cream, shredded cheese, salsa or taco sauce, etc.

In a large, cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over high heat. Add onions and peppers and lower heat to medium high. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables begin to brown, 3 - 4 minutes. Add jalapeno and garlic and cook and additional minute or so. 

Increase the heat back to high and add the Angus Beef Strips. Cook, stirring constantly, until beef has heated through, about 4 minutes.


Remove from heat and prepare the tortillas according to package directions.

Fill the tortillas with all your favorite toppings.  Enjoy!


Sunday, February 25, 2018

Slow Cooker Beef Stew


Our pre-Spring weather of the last few days vanished overnight. Today has been chilly, damp, and rainy. What better than to warm us up than a lovely nourishing pot of beef stew? With LOTS to do today with errands and such, the slow cooker comes to the rescue once again.

2 quarts water
1 T. Better Than Bouillon (beef flavor)
1 1/2 lbs. beef stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 medium yellow onions, chopped
3 ribs celery, chopped (include some leaves!)
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 envelope McCormick Beef Stew seasoning packet
1 heaping T. chopped garlic
1 T. dried parsley
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
a few grinds black pepper

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover, and cook on high 6 hours or low 8 hours.

Taste before serving and add additional salt and/or pepper, if desired.

Wednesday, February 7, 2018

Cheese Night!


Oh, my, y'all know my love of cheese! I'll try any and all. Here's a true international variety. BTW, the Belgian Fontina was most definitely my favorite. Fontina is an Italian's cow's milk cheese. Mild and creamy, this was SO good with these crunchy whole-grain crackers.   

Some nights, especially after you've had a large lunch, a light supper is perfect.  A choice of different flavors and textures of crackers is a nice touch. Add a few varieties of olives and your light meal is elevated to another level.  

Instead of my usual prosciutto and/or salami selection, this time I chose a Bresaola. Bresaola is air-dried salted beef that has been aged two or three months until it becomes hard and turns a dark red, almost purple color. It is made from top inside round beef and is lean and tender.  It originated in Northern Italy's Lombardy region.  Try it drizzled with a little olive oil and topped with freshly cracked black pepper or shaved Parmesan.


Tuesday, February 6, 2018

Sheet Pan Supper: Chicken Parmesan with Broccoli



If you're looking for a recipe that helps to cut fat and calories from your Chicken Parmesan, give this one a try. The chicken is lightly coated with crunchy Panko breadcrumbs then baked. You won't miss the heavy breading or the time spent pan frying at all with this version. A nice side dish of roasted broccoli cooks right on the same pan.  A few minutes prep time, 20 minutes or so to bake, and dinner is ready!

1 large egg
1/2 cup panko (Japanese) breadcrumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
1 t. granulated garlic
1 t. dried Italian Seasoning
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz. each)
Olive oil flavored non-stick spray
4 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
1 cup marinara sauce
1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
Chopped parsley and a little more Parmesan cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil flavored non-stick spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg. In a separate shallow bowl, stir together the next six ingredients. Dip chicken breast in egg; allow excess mixture to drip off.

Then dip chicken into breadcrumb mixture, patting to help coating adhere to the chicken. Repeat with remaining pieces of chicken.

Place chicken on the baking sheet. Lightly spray with cooking spray.

Bake 10 minutes.

While chicken bakes, toss broccoli with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Remove chicken from oven.

Spread broccoli in a single layer along both sides of sheet pain. If using frozen broccoli, break pieces apart. Return to oven; bake another 10 minutes. Remove from oven.

Preheat broiler. Spread marinara sauce over the chicken; top with mozzarella cheese. Broil 3 - 4 inches from the heating element until cheese is golden brown and vegetables are tender, 3 - 5 minutes.

If desired, sprinkle with the parsley and extra Parmesan.


Sunday, February 4, 2018

Sheet Pan Supper: Italian Sausage with Onions and Peppers


Time for another easy and convenient Sheet Pan Supper. The potential here for a variety of meals is wonderful! You can make sandwiches (which is what I did), toss with buttered noodles, or even enjoy it as is right off the sheet pan.

You can use your choice of sweet, mild, or hot Italian Sausage. I chose the mild version and served the filling on a toasted hoagie roll with melted Provolone Cheese.  Simply delicious.

1 lb. uncooked Italian Sausage links, roughly chopped
3 medium bell peppers, seeded and thinly sliced
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
1 - 2 T. olive oil
Hoagie Rolls
Provolone Cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Place sausage pieces on a rimmed baking sheet. Arrange onions and peppers around the sausage. Drizzle olive oil over sausage and vegetables and place in oven. Let bake 15 minutes and stir.

Return to oven for another 15 minutes until sausage is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, 20 minutes or so longer.

During the last five minutes of baking, arrange rolls on a baking sheet and lightly brush with olive oil. Top one (or both) sides of the roll with sliced Provolone cheese. Bake until rolls are browned and cheese is melted.

Spoon sausage and vegetable mixture onto bottom of roll and top with the melty cheese top portion.


Doesn't that look delicious!?!

Serve immediately.



Adapted from Taste of Home Magazine