Chicken and Asparagus with Penne Pasta

In June I posted my first recipe from the Mayo Clinic web site: Baked Chicken with Wild Rice, Onion and Tarragon. It was an A+. Today I offer my second from the same web site: Chicken with Asparagus and Penne Pasta.  Another A+.

This was a super quick meal after a long day at work; pasta is the quintessential comfort food in our house. Can you believe that this amount equals 4 portions???? That’s crazy!! I guess when you cut out fat and calories, you can beef up the serving amount. Try this; you’ll be impressed by how flavorful and satisfying it is.

I followed the recipe to the letter, except for two changes. One: I added hot pepper flakes when browning the chicken. Two: I used 1 T of olive oil instead of spraying the pan (I don’t like to spray my cast iron skillet) Oh, and a third change: I used Feta instead of goat cheese.

Here’s what you need for four huge portions:

3 C penne pasta (I used wheat pasta)

2 C chopped asparagus

12 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

4 cloves garlic ( I used lots more)

Hot pepper flakes to taste (we like lots…. Maybe 1 teaspoon)

2 cans (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes including juice

2 ounces Feta cheese - crumbled

2 T Parmesan for serving

Here’s what you do:

Cook pasta according to package. Set aside. Cut asparagus into 1 inch pieces and steam just until fork tender. Set aside. 

Heat 1 T olive oil (I measured my oil so I didn’t go overboard) in a skillet, add garlic, hot pepper flakes and chicken. Cook until chicken is tender, but not dried out.

Add the tomatoes and continue to cook for a few minutes more.

In a large bowl combine the pasta, asparagus, tomato and chicken mixture and the 2 ounces of Feta. Mix well.  I also added about ¼ C of the pasta water, but it really didn’t need it. Serve with a few tablespoons of Parmesan cheese.  Great leftovers for lunch.

Cardamom Shortbread Cookies

One of the many hats I wear is 8^th grade American History teacher at a small Lutheran school. This role came to me late in my teaching career, and at first, I was intimidated at the depth and breadth of the topic. So, in my usual fashion, I determined to do the best I could; I took many, many history classes, read everything that came my way, upped my teaching certification, and voila! I now teach 8^th grade American History! Not only do I teach it, I LOVE it! Just ask my students.

Organizing and chaperoning a biennial (“happening every two years”… had to look that one up in the dictionary….) trip to Washington DC is a highlight of the job. To get there, we need money, so another hat I sometimes wear is Fund Raiser.

My annual Cookie Walk is an excellent way to earn funds – it’s pure profit. Click here to see last year’s event. To make it successful, I need lots and lots and lots of cookies. Today I share my first batch: Cardamom Shortbread Cookies, now all tucked away in my freezer for the big day.

Here’s what you need for the cookie:

1/3 C sugar

1 C butter – no substitutions here

1 t vanilla

¼ t almond

2 ¼ C flour

2 t cardamom

 Here’s what you need for the glaze:

1 C powdered sugar

½ t vanilla

1/8 t almond

1-3 T milk

Here’s what you do:

Cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and almond flavors. Mix together the dry ingredients and incorporate them into the butter mixture. Line two 9-inch pans with foil and spray the daylights out of them. Make sure the foil is hanging over the tops because you will need to be able to grab on to it in order to lift the cookies from the pan.

As you can see, the dough was dry and crumbly, but it seemed OK. Use your hands to press the dough into the two pans. Bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Cool for 10 minutes. Lift gently from pans with the foil ‘handles.’ Cut them into 16 wedges while still warm.

When completely cool, drizzle glaze over them and CAREFULLY separate. There were some broken ones, but they went quickly into my mouth.

Delicate. Spicy. Buttery. 

Eggplant Parmesan - Lite

Don’t let the word ‘eggplant’ turn you off- after all, it’s just a vegetable.  Don’t let the word ‘lite’ turn you off – there is no frying involved here, and taste is not compromised at all.

Straight from my favorite cookbook, Moosewood Cookbook, New Revised Edition, I present a classic. Only better. 

Follow the directions exactly and you will have the most impressive (and easy) and I predict your

 'new favorite way' to serve eggplant - ever. 

(I think my star, check mark, smiley face, and gross smudge speak volumes.... don't you?)

Gather all the goodies. 

Be sure your bread crumbs are highly seasoned. Bake the eggplant till it's nice and soft and toasty on both sides. Sometimes, I flip it over to brown it. You could always give it the broiler treatment. 

Also make sure your tomato sauce is highly seasoned. I sauteed garlic in olive oil, added a large can of tomato puree, seasoned with basil, oregano, thyme and red pepper flakes. 

Sauce. Eggplant. Cheese. Repeat. 

"Heaven!" she sang. 

One Year Ago:  Pimento Cheese - a classic and always a hit
                          Sunshine Chicken - great for a quick and low cal/ low fat dinner idea. Great leftovers for lunch also. Tangy. Sweet. Sticky. 

Spice Rack Challenge: Mace -- Scalloped Potatoes Au Gratin – the best of both worlds

Traditionally, scalloped potatoes have tons of butter and cream and no cheese at all. It’s Au Gratin potatoes that are cooked in a cheese sauce. I decided to combine the two recipes and I came up with the absolute BEST potato casserole I have ever had!!! Truly, The Best of Both Worlds.  And the bonus part – mine are made with NO butter, NO cream and very little cheese! Believe me, you will not miss them. And the mace? A perfect, perfect spice – warm, unexpected and totally great with the gruyere…. But I am getting ahead of myself…. Follow along…..

Slice 3 pounds of Yukon Gold potatoes ¼ inch and simmer them for about 8 minutes or until they are tender. Whisk ¼ C flour into 3 Cups low-fat milk (2%) over low heat. Weird, I know.

While the potatoes are simmering away, bring the milk to a slow boil, stir a lot and believe it or not, it gets nice and thick….Add lots of black pepper, salt to taste and ¼ t mace (the Spice Rack Challenge of the month). Also add 1 C of grated Gruyere cheese.

Arrange about ½ of the potatoes in a greased 9 X 13 casserole; pour over ½ of the beautiful sauce. Make another layer of potatoes and sauce.

Sprinkle with another ¾ C gruyere. Bake at 350 degrees for about 40 minutes. Broil for a few minutes to get a nice crispy top. Let all that delicious sauce absorb into the potatoes...  SO GOOD! SO GOOD!

I literally ate my way through this entire casserole…. with no guilt because it’s not very high in fat/calories.

(printable recipe)

One Year Ago: Brisket ( I wish I gave this one a better name.... like BEST Brisket)
                        Cannoli Ice Cream Cake (Super easy and super impressive. I make it for company.)

The colors of my world - I love October

Oatmeal Honey Cookies

These cookies might get away with the name Oatmeal Honey Breakfast Cookie – I am eating two as I write this. It’s very early Saturday morning and I am having my first cup of coffee.

It’s my favorite part of the week actually.  Sitting in my favorite chair, the house is quiet, the dog is in his favorite spot right near my feet, the sun is rising outside my window. The sky is honey colored and the trees are golden. There is frost on the lawn and mist is rising from the lake. Autumn at its finest. The day is full of possibilities.

If you like oatmeal, you will like these cookies and if you like honey, you will love them.

Here’s what you need:

1 ½ C sugar (I think you could get away with 1 C)

¾ C butter

2/3 C honey

3 egg whites

4 C oats

2 C all-purpose flour

1 t baking soda

Here’s what you do:

Mix the sugar and butter. Add the honey and egg whites. Add the oatmeal and mix well. Add remaining ingredients.

You can see I made some small cookies and some giant cookies. The small ones were 1 level tablespoonful baked for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees. The giant ones were ¼ cupful, pressed down a bit before baking, baked for about 15-17 minutes at 350 degrees.  They never got completely brown on the bottom and I did not over bake them – just left them a tiny bit soft in the middle. Excellent. Chewy. Sweet. Golden. 

One Year Ago: Eggplant and Wild Rice (one of my favorite ways to eat eggplant)
                        Four Ingredient Peanut Butter Cookies
     Pumpkin Butterscotch Chip Bundt Cake (you might already know how much I like my Bundt cakes!!)

Duchess Potatoes

My girlfriend totally impressed me the other day by casually mentioning that she had made Duchess Potatoes for her family for dinner. “What,” I asked, “are those??? And why don’t I know what they are??? And how can you pull that off on a work night???”

Not one to be outdone, I set out to make Duchess Potatoes that very week! Here’s how I did it….all thanks to my 26 year old Betty Crocker Cookbook. (and my competitive spirit….)

Boil some potatoes.

Mash them with 2 egg yolks and just a bit of milk, cream, buttermilk or half and half. Salt and pepper if desired.

Plop them in decorative (or not so decorative) mounds on a greased baking sheet. (Speaking of Betty Crocker, you, of course, could use a pastry bag and a star tip – none of which is owned by me…) Drizzle melted butter over the mounds of potatoes....  Dust with paprika… or not.

Bake at high heat (450 degrees) for about 10 minutes. Broil for a few minutes for a nice fancy finish.

Serve to your admiring family… on a work night… when they are expecting regular old mashed potatoes. 

(Yeah… I made Jello too…. Betty Crocker here….)

Apple Lemon Bread

I get tired of making banana bread…… all those frozen bananas waiting in the freezer…… you know the ones. I am not a huge fan of zucchini bread....click here to see one I tried. Pumpkin bread? .....don't love it…..I also have little bags of leftover frozen pumpkin lurking in the freezer in the obligatory 1 C measures.

So I was very surprised how much I liked this Apple Lemon Bread. Tender. Light. Not too sweet. Lemony.  It was good as is, and even better toasted with butter.

Here’s what you need:

¼ c butter

½ C sugar

2 eggs, beaten

2 C flour

1 t baking powder

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

2 tart apples, peeled and grated (about 2 cups worth)

Zest from 2 lemons

Here’s what you do:

Grease a loaf pan and preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugar.  Beat in eggs. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing well.

Bake for about 50 minutes. Cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Early the next morning..... where's the coffee?

I pulled this bread out of the oven late in the afternoon and then had to rush off to choir practice before I could get a photo of the finished loaf. My husband volunteered to finish up my shots. I hope you have fun seeing his creative props. Remember that old Sesame Street song... "One of these things is not like the other" ? I think these photos will will give you an glimpse into what my kitchen often looks like when I am preparing my blog photos..... no, I am not talking about the nice Yahtzee game in the background. 

(printable recipe)

One Year Ago: Cheesy Green Enchiladas (from Vegetarian Times Magazine. I really need to dig deeper into       that magazine - they have some great stuff)

                        Giant Brickle Chip Cookies (one of the best cookie recipes I have ever used)

Salmon Fish Cakes - Food Revolution

It was pretty hilarious. The day that I made these for dinner, I had the TV on and I was listening to an old Julia Child program on the DVR. She was making a classic fish chowder…. of course, just for fun she pronounced it ‘cha-dah.’  (like about 100 times) She actually made the fish broth using about 10 different types of fish – the bones, skin, heads, fins…… she recommended leaving the eyeballs in for extra flavor….. ugh.

If you have seen this episode, then you know she chops this fish in two with the BIGGEST knife on Earth! She had such gusto!  (Have you seen the episode when she cuts up a chicken with a sword? Classic.)

The funniest part of the show is when Julia says, “If you have good relations with your fish monger you can have him prepare the fish for you.” Good relations? Am I the only person who thinks that is hilarious? 

These Salmon Fish Cakes are excellent.  See Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution website here for the recipe.  


Here's basically what you do:

Gather potatoes, salmon, parsley, and and egg. I used fresh salmon, with the skin and bones carefully removed. 

Follow Jamie Oliver's advice and steam the salmon in a colander over a pot where you are gently boiling the potatoes. I thought it was very strange, but it worked perfectly. 

See how beautiful the salmon is? Since you will be frying the patties later, it does not need to be overly cooked at this point.

Mash the potatoes. Add the salmon, egg and parsley.

Form the mixture into a round and divide into serving size patties. I doubled the recipe from what was suggested. 

Dust the patties with flour. Fry in a bit of oil until nicely golden and crisp on both sides. 

These were excellent! 

(no printable recipe today, simple click here to see the original recipe on the Food Revolution site)

One Year Ago: Mom's Minestrone (easy and perfect for a quick meal)