Chicken roll-ups with Asparagus, prosciutto, basil and mozzarella

I got the inspiration for this dish when I found super-skinny asparagus in the store, and remembered that I fresh mozzarella leftover from another recipe. I had made a version of this before following a Rachael Ray recipe, but don't think I blogged about it (which probably had way more to do with the photo I took than how good the recipe was!).

This is an extremely easy, quick and tasty week night meal. My favorite part is that your veggies and protein are combined into one dish!

Chicken roll-ups with Asparagus, prosciutto, basil and mozzarella
Source: Adapted from Racheal Ray

Ingredients:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
12 skinny asparagus spears (about half if your spears are normal size - also if they are normal size I'd recommend blanching them first)
2 slices prosciutto
1/3 cup fresh mozzarella, shredded
6 fresh basil leaves
salt
pepper
olive oil
Italian seasoning

* Pound out the chicken breasts extremely thinly using a ziploc bag and mallet

* Heat up some olive oil (just enough to coat the pan) in a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.

* Lay out your two chicken breasts on a clean surface. On top of each one, layer one slice of prosciutto on each, followed by basil leaves, followed by the mozzarella, then finally place the asparagus spears in the middle.

* Roll up the chicken breasts around the asparagus

* Season the outside of the breasts with salt (go very lightly on this since the prosciutto is salty), pepper, and Italian seasonings.

* Place the roll-ups into the pan, seam side down. Let cook on each side (turning 4 times each) cooking about 5 minutes on each side. This should cook your breasts through, but depending on how thin you were able to get them - check for doneness. If not done, stick a lid on your pan and cook until done.

Spaghetti with Chicken, Grape Tomatoes, Basil and Parmesan

I found this recipe on a Weight Watchers blog that I just discovered. I don't actually do Weight Watchers, but am always looking for healthy delicious recipes. This blog is chock full of them.

This also looked like a great way to use up some of my basil plant, other than making pesto. Our tiny city balcony doubles as an herb garden in the summer and has been very good to us - especially the basil plant.


So sad to think that this same amount of basil will cost me $3.99 in the winter.



Onto the recipe though, this was such a light and refreshing summer time meal. Also, I didn't tell Joe until AFTER that it was a Weight Watchers recipe : )

I followed the recipe from Gina's blog closely, however it is a possibility that I added a tiny bit more olive oil than this called for ; )

Lemon Rosemary Chicken & Tomato, Basil and Mozeralla Risotto

This was a "clean plate club" kind of meal. Growing up with 4 siblings, we were always in a contest to be the first one to join the "clean plate club". Come to think of it, I'm not sure why we cared so much, since we rarely had dessert, I don't think there was any real incentive to clean our plates. I'm always amazed looking back at how my parents managed to keep all five of us in line.

But I digress...I had my brother over for dinner the other night, and this meal was soooo delicious, it was one of those where you literally leave no trace of the meal on your plate.

The inspiration for the chicken came from Annie's Eat's Lemon Thyme Chicken. I thought this looked soooo good, but decided to use rosemary instead, since we have a bunch of it growing on our tiny balcony urban herb garden.





While I used all the same ingredients from Annie's recipe, I didn't follow the exact process, since Joe was messing around with our internet connection while I was trying to make dinner, I couldn't access the recipe.

So here was my version (pretty much the same as Annie's, except I took the chicken out of the pan once cooked and kept warm while I made the sauce. I also added the rosemary to the flour. Oh and I used chicken stock. Never mind, more different than I thought):


Rosemary Chicken
Adapted from Annie's Eat's

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Salt and pepper
3/4 cup flour
1 tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
2/3 cup dry white wine
Juice of ½ a large lemon (or the juice of 1 whole lemon, if desired)
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 cup of chicken stock


* Heat up the oil in a pan

* Add the rosemary, salt and pepper to the flour. Dredge the chicken breasts in the flour and add to the pan.

* Cook the chicken until done, about 5 minutes on each side. Set aside to keep warm

* To the pan, add the garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.

* Add the wine & lemon juice and cook a few minutes till reduced. Add the chicken stock and let reduce and thicken. Add the butter to finish the sauce.

Tomato, Basil & Mozzarella Risotto

Basic Risotto recipe

Use white wine & chicken broth as liquids

Add halved cherry tomatoes, basil & mozerella about 5 minutes before the risotto is done.

That's it!



Clean plate club!

Chicken with Carmelized Onions and Gruyere Cheese

Sooo...I saw this on Mary Ellen's Cooking Creations a couple of months ago, and have been meaning to make it ever since.  I love Mary Ellen's blog because her cooking style is very similar to mind (LOTS of pasta and risotto, not a lot of baking).

OH. MY. GOD. This was so good.  If I had known how good it was, I would not have waited 2 months to make it!  

This is definitely a great meal for a cold night, good thing since we are having some especially cold weather in Chicago for the first week of April.

I followed Mary Ellen's recipe with a few modifications:

• I used sage instead of thyme (Not buying an $8 jar of dried thyme in this economy!) and dredged the chicken in flour and sage.
• No cheese on the inside of the chicken ( I was lazy)
• Again, had to add a carb.  Joe is quick to notice if one of the food groups in missing from the meal.  Actually the mashed potatoes I think really made the meal.

I whole-heartedly agree with Mary Ellen though; spinach, gruyere cheese and carmelized onions are a fantastic combination!

Ingredients

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts; trimmed and pounded out a bit
2 onions, sliced
Salt and pepper
Pinch of thyme
Pinch of sugar
Paprika
Approx 3 tbsp flour
Olive oil
1 tbsp butter
Approx 1/3 c white wine
6 slices Gruyere cheese
Fresh spinach
Directions

Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a large pan over medium heat

Add onions, pinch each of salt, pepper, sugar, and thyme. Let cook, stirring often, for approximately 30 minutes until the onions are brown and caramelized. Remove from pan.

Add another tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp butter to pan

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt, pepper, and paprika. Dredge in flour, shake off excess.
Place chicken in the pan; cook approximately 4 minutes on each side.

When the chicken is done, top each piece with 2 slices Gruyere cheese.

Place under the broiler in your oven for 5 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Top each chicken breast with some of the caramelized onions, and place under the broiler for another 2 minutes.

Serve over sauteed spinach (saute spinach in olive oil with salt and pepper for 3-4 minutes, until just wilted).

Cheesy Spinach Stuffed, Bacon-wrapped Chicken

If you've read this blog before, you know that Joe is a fan of anything stuffed with cheese or wrapped in bacon. When I can both of those things into one dish, its a no-brainer - and healthy too. I kid...I kid!

This was inspired by Racheal Rays Florentine Prosciutto wrapped chicken.

I didn't actually use the recipe though, I just remembered seeing it on TV, so I used what I had on hand, which was bacon, spinach and shredded mozeralla.

I just pounded out the chicken breasts, spread the spinach on, sprinkled with the cheese, rolled em up and wrapped them in bacon! Cooked at 350 for about 25 minutes. I turned on the broiler for the last few minutes to crisp up the bacon.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken Piccata

I was going through some cooking magazines to find recipe inspiration on Sunday, and came across this recipe from the March 08 issue of Every Day with Rachel Ray. I know there are some haters out there but as I've said before, I love her recipes for weeknight meals because, of course, they are so quick and easy!

Joe was so excited when he saw the picture in the magazine and realized that is what I was making (he has been known to gnaw on blocks of parmesan cheese). I think mine came out looking just as good as it did and the mag and tasted amazing.

I followed the recipe closely, only omitted capers (because Joe doesn't like them and I couldn't find the green olives I bought to substitute for the life of me!).

Tried and True Mushroom Pasta with Chicken (and my two cents on Rachael Ray)

This is one of my all time faves and Joe loves it too. The original recipe and inspiration came from Rachael Ray.

I know there are a lot of different opinions out there about dear old Ray Ray, but I for one, love her. No, she is not the most skilled chef on the Food Network, yes her hand motions and dialogue (especially in her earlier episodes) can be annoying at times, and yes, she does use "E.V.O.O.", even when its more appropriate to use canola, but I like her!

Her approach to cooking is so laid back, that when I first started cooking, she is the first cook on FN that I really followed. To this day, my style is very similar; I don't follow recipes exactly, I rarely measure anything and I hate to bake. While I've become more daring with the dishes I will take on, I still love my tried and true favorites of hers.

The recipe I follow is, of course, a little bit different, for no reason other than I don't reference the original recipe and make adaptations.

For her original dish, click here.






Ingredients:

(for 2 servings)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Any kind of pasta, enough for 2 people
7 or 8 little portabellas (3 or 4 if you have the big kind)
1 shallot (chopped)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1/2 cup white wine
fresh thyme
flour
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup milk or cream
olive oil
fresh chives

- Pan sear the chicken (seasoned with salt and pepper) with olive oil. Transfer to a baking sheet and finish off in the oven (only about 10 - 12 minutes at 350) until cooked thoroughly.

- Saute the shallots, garlic and mushrooms over medium heat in the same pan chicken was seared in with the olive oil and season with salt, pepper and fresh thyme

- Get your pot of boiling water going to cook the pasta in, everything else will wrap up quickly so this is a good time to add it.

- After the mushrooms soften (about 10 minutes), add about a couple of spoon shakes worth of flour until the mushrooms are well coated.

- Pour in the wine and let cook down and incorporate with the flour.

- Whisk in the chicken stock to make a gravy and let cook a few minutes until thickened.

- Mix in the milk or cream

- Finish the dish by layering the cooked and drained pasta, then the finished chicken breast and finally, the mushroom gravy, garnish with the fresh chives