Balsamic Chicken & Peppers

30 Minutes Start to Finish - and absolutely delish!

Balsamic Chicken & Peppers
Serves 4

4 Skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1 1/2 lb.)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
4 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 Yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 Yellow onion, large thinly sliced
3 Garlic cloves, minced
3 Tablespoons Balsamic vinegar
1/4 Fresh basil, minced
1 Tablespoon Fresh thyme, minced

1. Cook the Chicken
Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, warm 2 tablespoons of the oil. Add the chicken and cook, turning once, until golden brown, about 7 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.

2. Cook the Vegetables
Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil to the same pan over medium-high heat. Add the bell peppers and onion and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.

3. Finish the Chicken
Add the vinegar and half of each the basil and thyme and stir, scraping up the browned bits on the pan bottom. Return the chicken and any juices from the plate to the pan, spooning the peppers over the chicken. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until the chicken is opaque throughout, 2-3 minutes. Stir in the remaining basil and thyme and season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide among 4 plates.

Great side dish with this entreé:
Roasted potato wedges. Cut russet potatoes into wedges, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper and a little garlic salt. Roast in a 375* oven until tender, about 30 minutes

Bon Appétit!
-Katie

Pasta with Roasted Pepper Sauce

2 Bell Peppers (I like red and yellow but red and green are also good)
1 small yellow onion (sliced)
3 garlic cloves (chopped)
1 cup vegetable broth
1 handfull basil leaves
1 tbls italian seasoning
2 tbls tomato paste
salt and pepper
crushed red peppers optional

Lightly coat bell peppers with olive oil (keep peppers whole). Place in broiler and roast. Takes about 10-15 minutes, every couple minutes turn the pepper when you see that it has a nice charred outside. When the peppers are charred all over place them individually in ziplock plastic bags for ten minutes to steam. Meanwhile, chop onion and garlic- it doesnt need to be perfect because you are going to puree them after cooking. Sautee onions till soft, about 10 minutes, add tomato paste and garlic. Saute about 2 minutes then transfer to food processor or blender. When peppers are done steaming, remove the outer charred skin, you can do this by hand. Carefully cut the top off and remove seeds. Rough chop peppers and add to food processor. Puree for about 2 minutes until it starts to get smooth. Add vegetable broth slowly and puree again. Add basil and puree. Place the sauce in a sauce pan to heat and add italian seasoning. Add salt, I usually try to stay away from salt but since peppers tend to be a little bland the sauce will definetly need it. just taste as you go. At this point you can add crushed red peppers for some heat if you like spicy. Toss with your favorite pasta. I like to mix whole wheat and regular. I have found that if you use all whole wheat, the pasta taste masks the sauce since the sauce is subtle. This dish is great because its very low in calories! Enjoy!

Herbed New Potatoes

I made these babies as part of our Valentine's dinner. They were a huge hit - even the kiddos devoured them!!

8-10 red potatoes
4 Tbsp. melted butter
2 Tbsp. minced chives
2 Tbsp. minced green onions
soft "real" bacon bits

Peel 1/2 inch strip around the center of each potato and place immediately in pot of cold water. Add enough additional water to cover potatoes by a couple inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until potatoes are easily pierced with a fork (about 25 minutes). Do not overcook or you'll end up with mashed potatoes!!
Melt butter. Stir in minced chives and green onions. Pour mixture over new potatoes. Sprinkle with desired amount of bacon.

~From the kitchen of Ellen~

Great Website

This website has recipes but also has a selection of cookbooks to buy that you can actually look thru first online. You can also create your own COVER page and DEDICATION page and ADD your OWN recipes! I thought that was really great! Anyways- enjoy!

-Laina

Easy Fish Recipe

I know fish is a hard thing b/c a lot don't like it or whatnot but this fish recipe is seriously EASY, FAST, and YUMMY. There is NO fishy taste.

• Any white fish. I get swai or catfish. Both are really good. It's also really inexpensive. I can get a couple pcs for a few bucks.
• Parmesan cheese
• Any type of breadcrumbs (I usually get garlic and herb for any 'breadcrumb' recipe)
  
• Mayo (fat free if you want to keep it on the lighter side although in my opinion fat free mayo tastes way different)
• Garlic (I used minced in a big ol jar in my fridge- I'm OBSESSED WITH GARLIC)

In a pan lay down your fish. I use a glass pan and I don't spray any pam or anything. I just lay my fish in there b/c the juices from it will keep it from sticking.

In a bowl I put my mayo, parmesan cheese and garlic. I don't do any measuring. You can do equal parts cheese and mayo. The garlic is totally up to you. And its easy where if you need a tiny bit more you just pour more in the bowl. Mix it all up and spread it over your fish. Pour the breadcrumbs on top of the fish and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. (I usually start the oven and by the time its done my fish is ready to go in).

While my fish is cooking I make a quick salad and make a pot of brown rice. The fish goes good with the brown rice as a side. You can even eat the bites together.

And the fish is totally ok to cook a little longer if you want it more 'firm' or 'cooked' thru. I usually take it out between 20 and 25 min. Usually when the salad and rice are both done and on plates ready to go. It all really takes about 25 min from start to finish.

Enjoy!

-Laina

Welcome!!

Hey girls!

So excited to get this blog going! And even more excited to get some new recipes. Like I mentioned in the first e-mail, I would like to get recipe ideas that are somewhat healthy, semi quick, and easy. I know we are all busy during the week and it is really hard to plan and prepare meals. At least, that is how it is in my house. I thought with a 'recipe exchange' program, well we could all benefit.

I sent you all the information regarding the log in for our e-mail. That's what you need to log in to this. I figure we can all just post whenever we want. Just make sure you announce who you are when you are posting! Be sure to include all your ingredients (if they are a little uncommon mention what they are and/or where you can find them), maybe how long it takes to prepare and make and any sides you might use to complete your meal! Pictures are always a total bonus!!!

Hope this goes well and if you have any other ideas throw them out there!!

Now let's get kookin!!!!

Love,
Laina