Chicken Thighs with Lemon Mushroom Rice

This is a super simple, easy, delicious one-pot meal which makes clean up a breeze. 

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1Tbsp dried oregano
• 4 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp salt 
• 4 bone-in chicken thighs 
• 2 Tbsp EVOO, divided
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 1/2 c mushrooms, sliced
• 1 c Jasmine rice 
• 1 1/2 c chicken stock 
• 1 lemon; zested, sliced and seeded
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley

Directions:

• Marinade the chicken thighs with the first four ingredients. Marinade for 20 minutes or up to overnight. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and heat 1 T EVOO in a cast iron skillet over high heat on the stove. 
• When skillet is heated, add the chicken skin down to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes then flip and cook for another 2 minutes. Reserve the marinade. After chicken is cooked, remove and set aside. 
• Using paper towel, soak up the fat from the skillet. After, add other 1 Tbsp of EVOO and add the mushrooms and onion. Cook until onions are translucent and mushrooms are golden. 
• Add the reserved marinade, chicken stock and rice; mix thoroughly and bring to a simmer. 
• Add the chicken, skin up, back to the skillet, add sliced lemon on top of the chicken and cover the skillet. 
• Bake in oven for 30 minutes, remove cover and cook for 10 minutes. 
• Remove skillet and let rest for 5 minutes. 

To serve scoop out one thigh with rice and top with parsley and lemon zest. 

Flat Iron Steak Tacos with Guacamole

 

My boyfriend and I love Mexican food and when I say we love it, I mean we really freakin’ LOVE it. I’m always trying to find new variations instead of just the plain old burrito or taco and these tacos definitely hit the spot. This recipe makes about eight tacos total, so depending on how hungry you are it’ll feed four people or maybe just a big meal for one.

Ingredients:

• 1 1lb flat iron steak
• Cumin
• Salt
• Pepper
• Juice of ½ lime
• 1 tsp. garlic
• 1 small package pre-shredded red cabbage
• 2 cups shredded cheese
• 2 cups guacamole (recipe below)
• Green salsa (I just used store bought to save time)
• 8 corn tortillas

Directions:

• Set oven to broil with rack 4 inches below the broiler.
• Mix cabbage, lime juice, and garlic in a medium bowl then season with salt and pepper. Let marinate for at least 10 minutes.
• Season flat iron steak with salt, pepper and cumin. Place under broiler for 7-8 minutes for medium rare, remove from oven and cover loosely with foil to rest.
• Heat corn tortillas in a damp paper towel in the microwave for about 1 minute until hot. 
• After steak has rested about 10 minutes, cut into strips and then bite sized pieces.
• To assemble place steak then guacamole then cabbage mix then cheese, top with green salsa. 

Guacamole

Ingredients: 

• 1 ripe avocado
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• ¼ cup red onion, diced
• 1 small jalapeno, seeded and minced
• ¼ cup cilantro, chopped
• Salt
• 1 tsp. garlic, minced

Directions: 

• Take lime juice, salt and garlic and combine in a small bowl. 
• Cut avocado in half and take out the pit. Remove the flesh in pieces and add to bowl. Smash with fork until smooth. 
• Add remaining ingredients and mix.



Miso Soup

 

Well since I've been on a Ramen/Asian deliciousness food kick, I figured I should try my hand at some miso soup :)

 

I added a tad more tofu, seaweed and green onion in mine than the normal person and I used a dashi miso soy bean paste. You can find the dashi miso soy bean paste at just about an Asian food mart and the dried seaweed can be found at any general grocery store. I also used extra firm tofu compared to the silken, but that is just a personal preference of mine for texture.

 

This makes 2 servings, perfect for lunch at work.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbsp Dashi Miso Paste
• 4 c water
• 3 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 container extra firm tofu, cubed (sizing is up to you)
• 1/2 c dried seaweed, chopped (I cut them into about 1 inch squares)

Directions:

• Heat the 4 cups of water until boiling, add dashi miso paste and combine until dissolved.
• Turn off heat, add green onions, tofu and seaweed.

See, easy peasy! Enjoy :)

Drunken Italian Noodles

I made this for my four guy friends and I thought I would have leftovers, but that was definitely not the case. This amount would normally feed about eight people, but for this group, only five… barely.

Ingredients:

• 1 ½lbs Hot Italian Sausage
• 1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 large white onion, thinly sliced (pole to pole)
• 1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 Tbsp. Basil
• 1 Tsp. Parsley
• 1 28oz can and 1 15oz can diced tomatoes
• ½ Tsp. Salt
• 1 Tsp. Pepper
• ½ Tsp. Crushed Red Pepper (If you want it extra spicy)
• 5 Tbsp. EVOO
• Wide noodles (If you want to make your own like I did, recipe is below)

Directions:

• In a large heavy bottom pan over medium high heat, add EVOO. Once hot, add Italian Sausage in large crumbles. Cook until brown then remove from pan with a slotted spoon and set aside.
• Add onions to the pan. Cook for about 5 minutes, constantly stirring until onions begin to caramelize.
• Add salt, Italian seasoning, pepper and crushed red pepper (if desired); stir to combine.
• Add bell peppers and sauté for 2-3 minutes. 
• Add diced tomatoes and their juices.
• Return sausage to the pan and simmer. 
• Add Basil, Parsley and 3 Tbsp. EVOO. Stir until incorporated and leave on low.
• Finish noodles, and cook. Fresh pasta only needs about 4 minutes in boiling water.
• After drained, add noodles into sausage mixture and gently mix with tongs.
• Serve with extra basil on top.

Wide Noodles

Ingredients:

• 3 ½ to 4 cups flour
• 4 extra-large eggs
• 1 Tbsp. EVOO

Directions:

• Mound 3 ½ cups of the flour on clean countertop or large enough wooden cutting board. Make a well in the middle of the flour and add the eggs and olive oil. Beat together the eggs and oil and begin to incorporate the flour, starting with the inner rim of the well. As you expand the well, keep pushing the flour up from the base of the mound to retain the well shape.
• The dough will come together when half of the flour is incorporated. At this point, start kneading the dough with both hands, using the palms of your hands.
• Once there is a cohesive mass, remove the dough and discard any leftover bits. Lightly re-flour your area and continue kneading for 6 more minutes. The dough should be elastic and a little sticky.
• Wrap the dough in plastic and allow to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.
• Separate dough into fourths then using a stand mixer attachment, or any pasta rolling attachment, roll out sections. I go to level 6 of my Kitchaid Mixer.
• Lightly flour both sides on countertop and hand cut pasta into ¼ inch wide pieces.

 

Lasagna Rolls and Jalapeno Poppers

So, we’re going to this deck party tonight and I was thinking… hmmmm what kind of appetizer could I bring and what’s something different that I haven’t made before. So I found this idea of bite sized lasagna roll-ups and then I figured why not some of my jalapeno poppers too because they’re usually a big hit :) 

Lasagna Spinach Roll-ups

Ingredients:

• 1 box lasagna noodles
• ½ frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
• 1 8oz ricotta cheese (I used the low fat)
• 4oz sliced mushrooms (minced)
• 1 small white onion (chopped finely)
• ½ cup finely shredding mozzarella cheese
• 1 Tbsp. minced garlic
• Salt and pepper to taste 
• Dried or fresh parsley
• 1 jar pasta sauce (I used Barilla Roasted Garlic)

Directions:

• Bring pot of water to boil.
• Sauté mushrooms until cooked and slightly crispy, season with salt and pepper, then add to bowl.
• Sauté onion until cooked and slightly browned, add garlic and cook until fragrant, season with salt and pepper then add to bowl.
• While cooking mushrooms and onions, drain and squeeze spinach then add to bowl, add pasta into bowling water, cook for 8 minutes.
• Add ricotta cheese into bowl and mix thoroughly. 
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Drain and lay lasagna noodles flat when done cooking.
• Cut lasagna noodles in half.
• Take 1 Tbsp. of the spinach mixture and place on the half noodle. Be sure to leave the one end without the mixture so when you roll up the noodle it sticks. 
• Repeat for all noodles. This will make about 36 roll ups. 
• After all noodles are rolled, slice each one in half. 
• Place on a baking sheet with cooking spray. Place ribbon end out.
• Dollop a little pasta sauce on each and then top with a little mozzarella cheese.
• Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.
• Use toothpick skewers for each, sprinkle with parsley and serve with remaining pasta sauce for dipping.

Jalapeno Poppers

Ingredients:

• 15 Medium to large jalapenos
• 1 8oz block of cream cheese, brought to room temperature
• 1 cup shredded cheese
• ½ cup bacon bits (I used those real bacon bacon bits)
• ¼ cup chopped cilantro
• ½ cup chopped red onion

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix the cheeses, bacon, cilantro and red onion together until incorporated.
• Slice each jalapeno in half, making sure to leave the stem intact.
• Core each jalapeno (tip… you might want to wear gloves so your hands don’t burn from dealing with the jalapenos) make sure you get all the seeds out and the membrane. Basically try to get rid of all of the white. This is what makes the pepper hot, take that out and it loses the extreme heat.
• Take cheese mixture and fill each jalapeno half. Not too much, but just overflowing.
• Place on a baking sheet with cooking spray. 
• Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes until cheese is bubbly and peppers are roasted.

Fingers crossed these are a hit for the party tonight… and that I made enough!