Italian-Seasoned Chicken Breasts with Hearty Tomato Blend

This meal came from Southern Living. Normally, I stay away from Southern Living, not because its recipes aren't delicious (they are) but because those recipes are typically highly fattening. This one seems relatively harmless, with just one tbsp. vegetable oil in the whole deal.

ITALIAN SEASONED CHICKEN BREASTS WITH HEARTY TOMATO BLEND

Recipe Notes

Recipe for Hearty Tomato Blend follows. In my skillet, the cooking time on the chicken was more like 5-7 minutes per side to get it cooked all the way through.

Ingredients

• 1 c. uncooked extra long grain rice
• 1/3 c. chopped celery
• 4 skinned and boned chicken breast cutlets (3/4-1 lb.)
• 1/2 tsp. salt, divided
• 1/8 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 c. Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 2 c. Hearty Tomato Blend (below)
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Prepare rice according to package directions, adding celery with rice.

2. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.

3. Combine breadcrumbs with 1/4 tsp. salt in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in egg; dredge in breadcrumb mixture.

4. Cook chicken in hot oil in a 10-inch nonstick skillet (medium-high heat) 3-4 minutes per side or until lightly browned and done. Remove from skillet and drain well on paper towels. Keep warm.

5. Heat 2 c. Hearty Tomato Blend in a small saucepan over medium heat for 5-6 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

6. Toss hot cooked rice with parsley and place on a serving plate. Top with chicken. Spoon Hearty Tomato Blend over the chicken and rice. Garnish if desired.

HEARTY TOMATO BLEND

Recipe Notes

Sorry about the ugly jar in the picture - I like to reuse old jelly jars when I can, and I haven't quite gotten the label off of this one yet. This recipe makes WAY too much for just Corey and me, so I personally halved the recipe. For the sweet onions, I used sweet yellow onions.

Ingredients

• Three 28-oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained
• Four 8-oz. cans tomato sauce
• 2 medium sweet onions, diced (about 2 cups)
• 1 large green bell pepper, diced
• 1 large red bell pepper, diced
• 1 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. ground red pepper
• 1/2 tsp. dried crushed red pepper

Instructions

1. Stir together all ingredients in a large bowl. Use immediately or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to seven days.

Mediterranean Chicken Packets

Yet another Mediterranean-type chicken dish. I served this last night with Orzo with Herbs, salad, and Texas toast. These packets take about 30 minutes start to finish and have less than 350 calories. It's also quite convenient because it generally incorporates canned or preprepared ingredients.

MEDITERRANEAN CHICKEN PACKETS

Recipe Notes

In order to avoid undercooking y0ur chicken, I would recommend the longer end of the cooking time (22 minutes) or perhaps even longer. Also, you can use either parchment or aluminum foil for this dish. This is an old Martha Stewart Everyday Food recipe that we've had several times.

Nutritional Information (per packet - serves 4)
344 calories - 14.1 g. fat - 44.1 g. protein - 1.8 g. fiber

Ingredients

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (6 oz. each)
• Coarse salt and black pepper
• 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes, drained
• 4 canned artichoke hearts, quartered
• 12 pitted Kalamata olives, halved
• 4 tsp. capers
• 1/2 c. crumbled Feta cheese (2 oz)
• 1/2 tsp. Italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp. olive oil

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Place four, 12-inch squares of parchment paper or heavy-duty foil on a work surface. Place a chicken breast on one half of each square, leaving a 2 inch border. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Top with tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, capers, and feta. Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and olive oil. Fold parchment or foil over ingredients and crimp to seal.

4. Place packets on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until chicken is opaque throughout, 20-22 minutes (or maybe longer).

Easy Feta Chicken Bake

My mom got this recipe off the back of a feta cheese container many moons ago, and I make this a few times a year when I need an easy, colorful dinner. I serve this with roasted potatoes, a nice big green salad, and bread. There is no added oil, butter, or other fats in this recipe, so it is pretty healthy!

EASY FETA CHICKEN BAKE

Recipe Notes

If you can't find the feta with basil & tomato, you can use regular feta no problem. I've also used light feta before and it worked out fine too. This recipe, which serves 6, is easily cut in half.

Ingredients

• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves (about 2 lb.)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice, divided
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• 1 package crumbled feta with basil and tomato
• 1/4 c. finely-chopped red bell pepper
• 1/4 c. finely-chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Drizzle chicken breasts with 1 tbsp. lemon juice. Season with salt and black pepper. Top with feta cheese and then drizzle with remaining 1 tbsp. lemon juice.

3. Bake 35-40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Sprinkle with red pepper and parsley.

Goat Cheese & Sun Dried Tomato Bread Bites

I found these on the Pillsbury website (a GREAT resource for appetizers and pick-up party foods that start with yummy Pillsbury breadsticks, pizza crusts, and crescent rolls) to take to a dinner party last night. I thought they were tasty with a good tang to them from the goat cheese. And only 60 calories per appetizer!

GOAT CHEESE & SUN DRIED TOMATO BREAD BITES

Recipe Notes

I would recommend planning on the shorter cooking time if you have a hot oven like mine. These only took about 13-14 minutes.

Nutritional Information (per appetizer - makes 24)

60 calories - 2 g. fat - 2 g. protein - 0 g. fiber

Ingredients

• 11 oz. can Pillsbury refrigerated breadsticks
• 4 oz. goat cheese (plain or with basil and garlic), softened
• 1/2 c. oil-packed sun dried tomatoes, drained and minced (I used bottled minced tomatoes)
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. water
• Coarse salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spray cookie sheet with nonstick cooking spray or cover with foil. Unroll dough and separate into breadsticks, then divide each breadstick in half. Press each breadstick until 1-1/2 inches wide.

3. Place 1 rounded tsp. goat cheese in the center of a breadstick. Top with 1 tsp. tomatoes. Roll up jelly-roll fashion and place seam-side down on the cookie sheet. Repeat for each breadstick.

4. In a small bowl, combine egg and water well to make an egg wash.

5. Lightly brush egg wash over the top of each appetizer. Sprinkle each with salt.

6. Bake at 375 for 12-17 minutes or until tops are light golden brown. Best served warm.

Baked Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cheese

This Cooking Light baked pasta is a great weeknight meal that serves a HUGE crowd on command. It is also a good way to help clean up and clean out your pantry - as you will notice in the photo, there are several different sizes of tube-shaped pasta there. I had three almost-empty boxes of rigatoni, penne, and mezze penne, so I just combined the three to get my required 1 lb. of pasta for the recipe.

BAKED PASTA WITH SAUSAGE, TOMATOES, AND CHEESE

Recipe Notes

I add a step and drain the sausage and onion mixture after it has finished cooking to drain off a little additional fat. I also add a little extra tomato paste for extra flavor.

Nutritional Information (per serving - serves 8)
413 calories - 11.8 g. fat - 24.1 g. protein - 4.5 g. fiber

Ingredients

• 1 lb. package uncooked ziti or other tube-shaped pasta
• 1 lb. hot Italian turkey sausage
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper
• Two 14.5-oz. cans petite diced tomatoes in juice, undrained
• 1/4 c. fresh chopped basil
• 1 c. shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 1 c. grated fresh Parmesan cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain pasta and set aside.

2. Remove sausage from casings. Cook sausage, onion, and garlic over medium heat until browned, stirring to crumble sausage.

3. If desired, drain and return to skillet. Add tomato paste, tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer 10 minutes.

4. Combine cooked pasta, sausage and tomato mixture, and basil.

5. Layer half of the pasta mixture into a four-quart glass casserole dish (coated with cooking spray).

6. Sprinkle 1/2 c. mozzarella and 1/2 c. Parmesan over pasta.

7. Layer with remaining pasta mixture and top with remaining cheeses.

8. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25 minutes or until bubbly.

Sadie's Corner - Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Ok, these brownies from the Betty Crocker Website are a great ideain theory, using boxed mixes and canned frosting for speed of preparation, plus a healthy dose of chocolate. The flavor was truly awesome; however, these still went very very wrong.

I think that the problem lies in the fact that the treat combines two cookie types that require very different individual cooking times: the brownies (for which I tried Ghiradelli - love them!) typically take 30-35 minutes to cook in my oven, while the ready-mix chocolate chip cookies take 12. By the time that my brownie/cookies were 30 minutes in, the chocolate chip cookie portion was getting burned on top, and the top of the brownies looked done, so I assumed we were safe.

However, I found out the next day, when I went to go cut them, that all but the perimeter brownies were basically inedible because they were so undercooked (basically raw). So what's the happy medium? Char the tops of your brownie/cookies so that the whole pan is useable, or leave the center a molten pile of goo and only have the edges to work with? As I mentioned, the flavor was great, but the final product was a big bust.

Sorry little doggie....these are chocolate, and therefore you are not allowed to chow down!

Goat Cheese, Sun-Dried Tomato, & Pesto Torte

I am not able to make this appetizer nearly as pretty as the cookbook photo, but this is a delicious appetizer for any size gathering. This recipe is from the Bride and Groom First & Forever Cookbook, which is one of my favorites. The cookbook is great because many of the recipes are designed to serve two (instead of four or six or even eight, like most recipes). Serve this with toasted baguette or crackers of just about any variety.

GOAT CHEESE, SUN-DRIED TOMATO, & PESTO TORTE

Recipe Notes

This appetizer may be made up to two days ahead and refrigerated. If you have any left over, toss with pasta for a light dinner, top on a baked potato, or spread onto focaccia bread and top with grilled vegetables for a second appetizer. I've tried this the day after with pasta and some shrimp, and it was delicious.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. goat cheese (one small log) at room temperature
• 8 oz. package cream cheese (I use light) at room temperature
• Coarse salt & black pepper
• 3/4 c. oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
• 3 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 c. homemade or bottled pesto
  

Instructions

1. Stir together goat cheese and cream cheese in a medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Combine 1/4 c. cheese mixture with the sun-dried tomatoes, tomato paste, and vinegar in a separate bowl. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

3. Line a two-cup ramekin or small bowl with plastic wrap. Extend plastic over the sides of the container. Spray plastic wrap with cooking spray.

4. Layer 1/2 goat cheese mixture in the bottom of the container, followed by pesto, then tomato-cheese mixture. Top with the remaining goat cheese mixture.

5. Fold plastic wrap over the final cheese layer and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1.5 hours.

6. Invert onto a platter and peel off plastic wrap. Garnish with basil leaves if desired. Serve with crackers and/or toasted baguette.