Kitchen Sink Pasta

Kitchen Sink Pasta... Despite the title this was a Dahlicious dish, full of lots of fresh ingredients. I stocked up on groceries this week thinking I'd be doing a lot of cooking, but it is not turning out that way. Tonight I will be baking a Chicken Pot Pie, that is not my own. We picked it up from an awesome shop in Wisconsin a few weeks back along with an Apple Pie and other fall goodies. This place makes Pot Pies and sweet pies and freezes them so that you can take them home and bake them off at your convenience. So that's tonight. Then tomorrow we are eating out to celebrate a few recent birthdays. Any who,  I have all these fresh veggies that need to be used and so came last nights dinner for one - plus lunch today!

On the Menu:
Linguini with Onion, Yellow Bell Pepper, Broccolini & Baby Yellow Tomatoes (and Chicken!)

The Dish:
In a large sauce pan I sauteed chopped onion and garlic in olive oil. Once they started to get a nice opaqueness going I added the chopped yellow bell pepper and the chopped broccolini. I added a bit more olive oil as well as salt, pepper, crushed dried oregano, and the juice from half of a lime. I let this saute for a few minutes alone. Next I added an entire little carton of baby yellow tomatoes. I let these saute until they were ready to be squished. Once that time came and they were oozing with Dahlicious juiciness I let the whole mixture rest on low heat until ready to serve. Add salt and pepper to taste. ALSO: While my linguini was boiling I added a table spoon or two of the starchy pasta water to my veggie sauce and gave it a good mix.

In a separate smaller sauce pan I placed 3 raw chicken tenders ( I happened to buy a whole thing of these guys thinking I was going to have time to try this baked chicken tender recipe using Greek yogurt for a marinade and crushed corn flakes for a crusty fried effect...anyways that might happen next week). So in went the three tenders, I filled the pan up with water so that they were just covered, then put it over high heat with a lid until it came to a boil. Turn the temp down to medium low and let them cook all the way through. Once they were done I chopped/shredded them and added the pieces to my "veggie sauce". When the pasta was perfectly al dente I scooped it out (allowing some of the water to still cling to the pasta) and tossed it right in my veggie/chicken saute pan. After a nice toss, ensuring all of my lovely pasta strands were coated in that olive oily, tomatoey, garlicy goodness, I served up a nice little mound in a cream soup bowl.

Sauteed Veggies

Squished tomatoes

Dinna time!

Veggies in every bite!

It was an easy dinner and was a good use of lots of fresh ingredients that needed to be eaten. This idea could be tweaked in so many ways to accommodate whatever you have in the fridge  Any veggies would have worked, you could have used canned tomatoes instead of fresh ones, or added fresh chopped herbs if you had them on hand. Not to mention you could have subbed tofu or shrimp or any other protein for the chicken.

Hope this inspires at least one of you to take a look in your fridge and be a little creative on how you can use all of your ingredients (perhaps minus the kitchen sink!) in one meal to avoid tossing your precious groceries!

Paprika Lime Salmon & Sweet Potatoes

Paprika Lime Salmon & Sweet Potatoes... Do you ever have one of those days where everything goes wrong?? Well I think I'm tossing yesterday in that pile. Got home from a slightly stressful day at my office and was in no mood for things to not go smoothly at home. I was on edge you could say. I decided to prepare salmon, snap peas, and a sweet potato. Pretty standard - I've made this meal before. Here is how the evening unfolded...

On the Menu:
Paprika Lime Salmon with sauteed Snap Peas and a baked Sweet Potato


The Salmon:
I put the salmon fillets in a pyrex baking dish and drizzled them with olive oil. Next I squeezed the juice from one VERY juice lime (tip: before slicing the lime or lemon give it a good firm roll on the counter pressing down with your palm, this gets the juices flowin!). So on went the lime, along with a few liberal dashes of red wine vinegar (which I should remember to use more often), some salt, and a few shakes of paprika for a little heat. I popped this in the fridge to marinate about 20 minutes while I got my oven up to 450 degrees. In went the salmon to cook away for approximately 15 minutes.

The Snap Peas:
Olive oil, salt, pepper - light saute over medium heat. Done in 5 minutes.

The Potato:
Here is where my night took a turn. I was doing the above cooking, which wasn't so much cooking as assembling, while on the phone (admittedly venting to my mom about my day) so this is partly why I do not have any photos of this meal. Normally I wash the potatoes (2 of them), cut off the ends/poke a couple holes then place them on the damp paper towel that I dried them with and put them in the microwave. Usually I let them go on the pre-set potato button. For two potatoes I do two rounds.

Well last night I let them go once and when I pulled them out they weren't up to par. So I set them for a second round. A minute or so in I opened the microwave and pulled one out - I was pretty hungry and in no mood to wait. Plus I was the only one chowing down so if it wasn't cooked perfectly I wasn't going to complain to myself. I got my plate ready and sat down, leaving the second potato to finish off cooking. Well within a minute smoke started rising before my eyes, I turned around to my kitchen (mouth full of salmon) and there were FLAMES through the microwave door!!!! I can only imagine what a fly on the wall saw next... me jumping up and down yelling inaudible craziness running to the sink and filling two glasses of water and dousing the inside of the dreaded cooking machine. Of course more smoke ensued. I live in a cold and WINDY city, where we are experiencing gustier than normal winds thanks to Sandy. So after cleaning up my charred mess I attempted to air the place out with my windows open. This of course made everything fly around and smack my doors shut. So I opted to just keep one a little open and deal with it in the morning. I also had to sleep with my head under the sheets to avoid too much of the horrendous smell.

In Summation:
My meal was actually tasty, however I only managed down a few bites - I was a bit shaken up thinking I was going to be swallowed by flames. The mess wasn't so bad, nothing paper towels and soap couldn't handle. I still don't know what caused the combustion since I've done this many times before, and I am not sure how I am going to plan all my meals around avoiding the microwave from here on out. But I do know this much, I am going to have to start telling people that I am trying a new perfume that's supposed to smell like s'mores because my closet smells like a campfire!

Hopefully tonight's dinner of who-knows-what won't explode!

Balsamic Chicken Breasts w/Kale & Caprese

Balsamic Chicken Breasts w/Kale & Caprese.. Another easy meal for one. Or two! I actually made enough for two, because sometimes that's easier, and brought the leftovers for lunch. I think that is the very definition of killing two birds with one stone. Not only was I pleased with that shortcut, but I also had time, whilst my chickies marinated, to get tomorrow's lunch ready last night as well! I know, I know - I'm a tad bit of a planning freak so if you aren't the same way don't worry that you won't be able to accomplish making dinners & lunches. You can do it even if you aren't a planner. You just have to have some good go to's. For instance, cooking extra chicken breasts and veggies is a good go to for me in terms of creating lunch while creating dinner. Or making sure you always have diced veggies on hand for salads. Or better yet buy a couple of TJ's premade soups near the chilled pasta section and bring one of those for lunch.

Now that my lunch rant is over, let's get back to dinner. This meal took all of 16 minutes. Minus the marinating of the chicken which I let go for about 30 minutes, but you could do it the night before, the morning before etc. It was healthful, simple, and totally satisfying.

The Chicken:
I marinated the breast in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, crushed dried oregano for about 30 minutes. Then I placed them on a baking sheet lined with foil and popped them in the preheated oven on broil for approximately 8 minutes on each side. Voila!

The Kale:
I just did a simple saute with crushed garlic, olive oil, salt and pep! So simple, so Dahlicious.

The Caprese:
Large slices of perfectly ripe tomato alternating with equally as large slices of fresh mozz, drizzled with olive oil and a bit of balsamic - perfection. Add some fresh basil if you've got it!

Enjoy your week of eating, and remember, it helps to plan but if you just have some basics and some fresh ingredients on hand it's not that hard to make a nice well rounded meal for yourself - and perhaps even for lunch too!

Pesto Tofu Stir Fry

Pesto Tofu Stir Fry... As I think I have mentioned before, I consider any meal where the protein and veggies are in bite sized pieces all mixed together in a sauce over some sort of starch to be a "stir fry". In last night's case it was a pesto themed vegetarian stir fry. I can't say that it was particularly innovative or that it took any skill, but it was satisfying and healthful and there were plenty of leftovers to bring for lunch - what more could a girl need??

On the Menu:
Tofu, Onion, Asparagus Pesto Stir Fry over Balsamic Brown Rice

The Stir Fry:
Alls I did was chop up my onion and asparagus into bite sized pieces before sauteing for about 10 minutes on medium heat with a liberal pour of olive oil. Once the veggies were slightly caramelized I added a big spoonful of TJ's pesto. Side Note: My dad makes an insanely Dahlicious homemade pesto, and while I know it's easy unfortunately my food processor seems to have died and thus without a replacement yet I am confined to the jarred stuff - TJ's version is pretty good though. I gave the veggies and pesto a nice mix so that each little morsel was coated in the tangy sauce. In another pan I sauteed a ton of chopped tofu, also smaller bite sized pieces. Once they were slightly crisped on the outside I tossed them in with the veggies along with another spoonful of the pesto and gave the whole thing a toss. I let it sit on low heat for another 5 minutes while I fixed up my rice.

The Rice:

The same pre-cooked brown rice I always use. I love this stuff. Once it was steamed and ready to serve I simply put a little pile on my plate and drizzled it with balsamic vinegar. This added a night tartness and acidity to the rice, an extra layer of flavor if you will.

I covered the rice with a heaping portion of my tofu & veggies and dinner was served! Again I know this isn't my most exciting meal here on Dahlicious, but let's face it not every Tuesday night will include an extravagant meal. My goal here is to put out doable recipe's - some more complex than others. But the true nature of this blog is to inspire those of you just embarking on your journey into cooking, or for those of you who have already started on your way, to feel like most nights can be a "homemade meal" kind of night, and not always with a whole lot of hassle.

Happy Wednesday!

Healthy Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Brown Rice

Healthy Teriyaki Chicken & Fried Brown Rice... Trader Joe's Soyaki Teriyaki Sauce is a staple in my kitchen. I've got at least 3 bottles sitting around at any given time. It's lighter than your usual teriyaki sauce, not so thick and sweet. It's got a bit of a tang and its full of sesame seeds for texture. I just love it. My mom used it growing up, and I would say it is definitely a taste that reminds me of my childhood (as odd as that might sound). I had been thinking of doing a regular ole stir fry, but decided to change it up a bit. Instead of sauteing the chicken already sliced, I opted for a baking/broiling technique after marinating it in Soyaki. Instead of simply sauteing veggies in more of the sauce and serving OVER rice, I decided to saute the veggies in soy sauce and add scrambled egg & brown rice to create a sort of "fried rice". I've done a faux fried rice before on Dahlicious, but this one was different because this time I added egg. Which not only created a more realistic, restaurant style flavor & texture, but it added protein to a dish that otherwise was comprised mainly of veggies and carbs. I also stuck with brown rice, as I always do, and used just a few dashes of soy sauce and some fresh garlic to season the dish. Simple and healthful.

On the Menu:
Soyaki Marinated Chicken Breasts w/Veggie Fried Rice

The Chicken:
I marinated two chicken breasts in a Ziploc bag with plenty of the soyaki sauce for about 30-45 minutes. Marinate longer if you can, I didn't decide on this meal until I was home from work so I only had a little bit of time before my stomach started growling undeniably. I set my oven to broil and let it get hot while the chicken marinated and while I chopped and started sauteing my veggies. I placed the breasts on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and popped them in the oven on the top rack for 8 minutes on each side.
I took the chicken out and let it rest for just a minute before slicing and serving. I am telling you I will never go back to the days before broiling my chicken breast. It is so insanely easy and keeps the chicken so moist inside, yet I can always count on it being fully cooked after the 8/9 minutes on each side. Love the technique!

Marinated Chicken Pre Broil

The Veggie Fried Rice:
I happen to be going out of town this weekend, and eating out tonight, so last night I was in need of using up all the veggies in my fridge. I ended up having TONS extra to bring as leftovers to work which I am excited to dig into when the clock strikes 12!

I started by dicing 1 yellow onion, 1 red bell pepper, 1 yellow bell pepper, 1 bunch of broccolini, and a small bowl full of kale (I removed the ribs and shredded the big pieces by hand into bite size leaves). I sauteed in some olive oil over medium heat with 3 cloves of pressed garlic. Once the veggies became a little wilted and opaque I added in a handful of chopped mushrooms and a few dashes of soy sauce for flavor and to help deglaze just a bit. Once the veggies were cooked to my desired state, fully cooked but still with some integrity in the center because I like a little crunch in my fried rice veggies, I pushed the contents of the pan to the edges and created a hole in the center. I whisked 2 eggs in a bowl, just as you would with scrambled eggs and poured it in the hole. I used a fork to scramble the eggs right in the center of the veggies, and once the egg was forming nice scrambly chunks I started giving the whole pan a toss. A few more dashes of soy sauce along with the TJ's steamed brown rice, and voila!

Sauteing the crunchy veggies

Adding the kale

Making the egg hole

Scrambling the eggs

Adding the rice & soy sauce

Finished product

Dinner is served!

This was a super easy dish, but involved a lot of fresh ingredients. I felt like I got all the veggies and protein I could possibly pack into a meal, while keeping it Dahlicious, not to mention I've got lots of leftovers!

Weeknight Staple: Tuna & Veggies

Weeknight Staple: Tuna & Veggies.. I'd say at least once a week I make some sort of seared or broiled tuna with veggies. It's quick and healthy & it's definitely one of my go to's. This week my tuna/veggie night happened on Monday and it was even simpler than usual. I had a few things on hand that needed to be used up and so, my simple little meal was born.

On the Menu:
Lemon Broiled Tuna Steaks w/sauteed kale & mushrooms

The Tuna:
Last night I broiled the tuna, mostly because I wasn't in the mood to clean the grill pan (when I broil it I just place the tuna on aluminum foil which I use to cover a cookie sheet - so the clean up is simply throwing out the foil!). I drizzled olive oil over both sides of the tuna steaks, along with a few big squeezes of lemon as well as salt & pepper. I popped it in the oven on the top rack, and let it broil for 4 minutes on each side. This cooked my tuna almost all the way through, with a slightly pink/raw center. Cook for 5/6 minutes on each side if you want it well done, and 3 minutes on each side for a rare center. It was flavorful and healthy and easy as can be.

Kale & 'shrooms:
In a large saute pan I simply sauteed the mushrooms in garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper. I let that go on medium/low heat for a few minutes and then added my kale. I let it all saute on medium heat while my tuna was in the oven and voila! Dinner was ready in approximately 15 minutes. Super easy meal. Very little prep besides slicing the mushrooms and dressing the tuna.

Sorry there aren't more pics, but it was that simple!!!

Hope everyone had a Dahlicious Monday night dinner to start their week off right!

Spinach Egg Toast (Breakfast/Snack)

Spinach Egg Toast (Breakfast/Snack)... Last Friday I came home from work in the late afternoon and was feeling pretty hungry. I had eaten an early lunch and had plans for a late dinner. I had just enough time in between that I knew it would be necessary to whip up a snack with a few things in the fridge.

What I ended up making was of course Dahlicious and healthy and filling, but I realized it would also make a swell breakfast if you have a few minutes in the morning to make a warm little plate of eggs and veggies.

What I had:
Fresh spinach
Eggs
Whole Wheat Ezekiel Bread

How To:
1) Toast your bread
2) Saute a few handfuls of spinach in a little olive oil, salt and pepper.
3) Make two fried, scrambled, poached, sunny side up etc eggs
4) Stack the spinach on the toast and the eggs on top of that
5) Finish it off with a little more salt, pepper, or perhaps some shredded Parmesan cheese if you've got it on hand!

So Simple. So Dahlicious. So Filling. Pretty Healthy. Enjoy!

Veggie Tofu Stack

Veggie Tofu Stack... Last night was one of those Thursdays where I wanted to use up all of the perishables I had left in my fridge. I ended up creating a stacked meal, full of steamed veggies, tender lentils  baked tofu, and sauteed onions. Random? Yes. Healthful? Yes. Dahlicious? Yes. Not sure if I will ever recreate this particular dish, as it really centered around the things I had left to use up, but in a pinch I always like feeling good about the meals I create from odd tid bits.

What I had:
1 yellow onion
A few cloves of garlic
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
Asparagus
Tofu
TJ's pre-cooked lentils
Leftover puttanesa sauce

How To:

Tofu: Usually I chop tofu into small bite sized cubes and crisp up the sides with olive oil in a saute pan, but last night I decided to try a baking method. I cut the large block in half and let it sit wrapped in some paper towels for about 20 minutes to dry it out a bit. Then I let the tofu "filets" marinate in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and crushed dried oregano for another 20-30 minutes. Then in the oven at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. Voila! Easy to make, easy to clean, easy to serve.

Tofu marinating

Onion: I was really in the mood for caramelized onions, so I took the low and slow approach. I sliced the onion into very thin half moons and sauteed them with a touch of salt, a liberal pour of olive oil, and 2 cloves of fresh pressed garlic. I put the onions and oil in the pan before it got hot, and then raised it to medium/high heat for just a few minutes. Then I brought the temp back to medium/low heat and continually stirred the onions for the next 30-40 minutes.

Slice into half moons

Low & Slow

Asparagus & Peppers: Super simple, I just cut them into bite sized pieces (~1.5 inches in length) and let them steam on the stove top. I figured I was getting plenty of olive oil in the onion so might as well go light with these veggies.

Gotta love colorful fresh veggies

Lentils: I've used them a million times, just heat and fluff and you've got a great starchy (yet healthful) base to your meal.

The Stacking:

Bed of lentils

Baked Tofu Filet

Caramelized Onions

Moat of steamed veggies

Optional sauce if you're in a saucy mood

The Stack

Happy Friday everyone - have a Dahlicious weekend!!!

Canadian Thanksgiving

Canadian Thanksgiving... I know you all might be  musing over this title wondering, "Was yesterday really Canadian Thanksgiving??", "Is Victoria Canadian??", "Is Canadian Thanksgiving like REGULAR Thanksgiving??". The answer to the first two is NO. The answer is the third is YES.

I'd like to start by saying that Monday of this week was technically Canadian Thanksgiving, but due to the nature of the crowd that came together last night, Wednesday was a much more "do-able" night for the feast this week. To answer the second question, I am not in fact Canadian however my sister-in-law is and this party happened to be held by her younger sister (whom we have decided to refer to as also my sister-in-law..."my sister-in-law's sister" is just too much). Anywho, Whitney - the host- decided that in honor of her Canadian roots she would hold a get together to celebrate this day of saying thanks for Dahlicious fall food, for her friends and family in Chicago. Not to mention we learned a bit about some of her family's traditions around the holiday season (I know, I know, most of us wouldn't consider it the "holiday season" yet, but I ate turkey and stuffing last night so I'm gonna go ahead and say that the "season" has commenced.)

Whitney is a nurse, so luckily she had the entire day off yesterday to slave away in the kitchen making a long list of tasty classics with her own family's spin - and I must admit I am in awe of her skills and her effortless attitude of being calm and collected!

On the Menu:

• The Bird - which weighed something like 23lbs.. this was for 9 people and was MORE than enough. Everyone was sent home with leftovers.
• Stuffing - this is a family recipe but the "secret ingredients" here are sausage and butter
• Mashed Potatoes - also a fam recipe but the trick to it's creaminess is LOTS of cream cheese
• Green Beans - simple and buttery
• Waldorf Salad - a Dahlicious rendition with apples, celery, grapes, bananas and raisins 
• Yorkshire Pudding - I can't believe I forgot to take a pic of this but just imagine a popover.. and if you've never had a popover then imagine the most incredibly buttery, fluffy, heavenly pastry you've ever experienced (oh and go try a popover)
• Pumpkin Cheesecake - at Thanksgiving I am more of a pecan pie girl because I often think that punkin pie (yes that's how I prefer to say and spell it, just let it be) is too pungent, so this was right up my alley. All the goodness of that punkin flavor without the intensity - not to mention an insanely Dahlicious crust.

I will be putting up some of these recipe's in separate posts for easier organizing/sorting! So be on the lookout in case you're interested in adding some new & improved twists to your holiday meals!

The Main Event - Lots of juicy dark meat on that guy!... and white too if you're one of those people...

Penny's Sausage Stuffing

Waldorf Salad

These aren't Whitney's (theyre from google) but you get the idea of what Yorkshire Pudding is

Cranberry Sauce

Buttery Green beans

Cream Cheesy Mashed Potatoes

Could this plate be any cuter or more Dahlish???

Punkin Cheesecake Heaven

It was really fun to get together with extended family (Whitney and her boyfriend Ryan) and their friends/family here in Chicago. Still considering myself new to the Windy City I sure appreciate these dinner parties where I get to meet new crowds. You start to realize that when you get older and continue migrating your life from city to city that you end up with a hodge podge of friends, which is just the way I like it! Not to mention, as a food lover (perhaps obsessor) I can definitely say that partaking in eating events such as last night is a joy for me and my belly! Thanks Whitney for a Dahlicious night!

Italian Broiled Chicken Breast & Saucy Veggies

Italian Broiled Chicken Breast & Saucy Veggies... "That's blasphemy!!" 'What else is there to eat???". These were the text message responses from my grandma last night after telling her what I made for dinner and prefacing the recipe with something along the lines of "I don't usually like chicken breasts...".

You see, I've never been a fan of chicken breasts, with all that dry white meat and no skin or bone - how boring. So over the course of my almost 24 years on this Earth I have come to loath plain grilled chicken breasts, despite how easy of a "go to" they might be, or how low in calorie compared to other protein options we have... I just can't get into them. I do however like dark meat, I love legs and thighs, and I do appreciate a nicely roasted breast if its still on the bone and I can crisp up the skin. Yep, I'm OK with roast chicken, but the problem is it takes a while (see how I've perfected the temp & timing in my other post about roasting chicken). So lucky for me, a girlfriend of mine recently told me about a technique she used and I can now say that I've tried it twice and am ready to share the tip: Use the broiler!!

On the Menu:
Marinated Broiled Chicken Breasts with sauteed broccolini & spaghetti squash with TJ's Puttanesca Sauce

The Chicken:
One of  my college roommates had a staple meal she made for her and her boyfriend that I ended up adopting myself. I have to say that I haven't made it in some time, but it's one of those dishes I'd never experienced growing up but is surprisingly easy and totally Dahlicious in a pinch. It might sound funny but bear with me... she would saute sliced chicken with chopped onions, peppers, & broccoli then add a bottle (or most of a bottle) of zesty Italian dressing (Kraft, Wishbone, etc) then let it all simmer and reduce and serve over rice or pasta. SO I decided to use the flavor profile of the dish in a new way - as a marinade! I know, not the most inventive thing in the world, salad dressing as marinade, but I hadn't done it in a while and I was quite pleased that it popped in my head.

So I marinated the chicken breasts in the Italian dressing for about an hour, then put them on a baking sheet and added a little salt and pepper to both sides, and a drizzle of olive oil. I had the oven on Broil and I put the chicken on the top rack for approximately 8 minutes on each side. So in 16 minutes total I had these two chicken breasts that were evenly cooked throughout and extremely moist! (The other time that I tried this broiling technique I marinated the breasts in olive oil, grainy mustard and a few dashes of Worcestershire sauce which created a nice little crust).

The chicken won't be crispy on the outside the way it would be if it was roasted with skin on, but again it is evenly cooked and total moist and tender. Now my girlfriend who suggested the technique said she broiled for 7 minutes on each side, and the first time I did it it took about 9 minutes on each side. I'd suggest going with 8 on the first side, then try 6 on the second side - pull it out and cut into it to judge if it needs another minute or so.

Zesty Italian

Let it marinate

Pop in the oven on Broil!

The Veggies:

All I did was give the broccolini a quick saute in olive oil and salt and pepper, then a dash of water and a lid at the end to let it steam through.

I had an extra spaghetti squash leftover from last week (Bolognese & Spaghetti Squash) and seeing as I am trying to be low carb this week (which will go out the window tonight when we celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving with a group in Chi) I figured I'd just use this as my pasta fake out  So I used the same technique of cutting the squash in half long ways, drizzling with olive oil and pepper, then turning upside down and roasting in the oven at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. I added a heaping spoonful of TJ's tangy olivey Puttanesca sauce and voila! Dinner was served.

Bare Skins after Roasting and shredding

The "Spaghetti" which I kept warm on low heat in a pot on the stove

Bon Appetit!

Side Note: While the chicken was marinating and the squash was roasting I whipped up the lunch I brought to work today.. Kale salad with avocado, beets and baby heirloom tomatoes - look at those colors!!

Who doesn't love colorful food??

Have a Dahlicious Wednesday!