Pesto Stuffed Baked Chicken Breast

This is a wonderful dish to include in your chicken repertoure. It doesn't have to be boring, but can be elegant enough to serve for a company or a regular night diner.

Usual Pesto sauce is made with basil, I changed it up to arugula as it has a wonderful bite to it that I love.

You will need a bad of prewahsed arugula, garlic, parmesan cheese and 4-6 small organic chicken breast. Also I make breading with gourmet bread crumbs to give it a crusty top.

To start make pesto sauce. In you food processor place one bag of arugula, two cloves of garlic and mix it gradually adding olive oil. Next add a hand full of Parmesan crumbles and mix it all together.

Next wash chicken breast and pat dry using bounty towel. Place breast on the cutting board. Using a small paring knife slit one side of breast of from one side only do not cut completely through making a pocket.

Stuff it with a few spoons of pesto sauce add salt and pepper. Finish all breasts at once.

Next set up a breading station. One plate with two beated eggs, one plate with gourmet breadcrumbs. Take one breast at the time and dip it in eggs then breadcrumbs. Finish all.

Preheat a large saute pan with olive oil and butter. Once it is hot place chicken breast into it and saute until golden brown on both sides. Remove it onto a baking sheet.

Preheat your oven to 375 degree and place it in the oven for 35 minutes. Enjoy!!!

Pasta with Roasted Tomatoes and Vodka Sauce

I was watching food network one day ( which I do on many occasions:)) and they had a guest chef from Nick and Tony's the famous Hampton restaurant that has been hard to get into for the last 22 years. The chef prepared this dish and said that owners brought this recipe from Italy and they are serving it from the day they opened this restaurant. Well, with this kind of introduction how can I pass by this recipe?!?! Sure enough I'm making it tonight.

To start preheat you large saute pan (oven Prof) and start it with chopped onion and garlic, sweat for a few minutes then add dry oregano and few crushed red pepper flakes. Heat of the olive oil will release a lot of aroma in dry spices. Then add two rounds of vodka around the pan and cook for few minutes.

Next take two 28 oz. cans of whole tomatoes. I always use whole tomatoes when making a tomato sauce from scratch because they are premium quality and everything less then that gets crushed and chopped and then put in the can. Squeeze it in the pan just tomatoes drain the juice with you hand (wear an apron because it will splash!!!) then mix it all together in the pan cover with lid.

Place in in the 375 degrees preheated oven for 0ne hour and a half. Once it will be ready remove from the oven open lid and cool down to room temperature.

Next place you tomato mixture into blender or food processor and blend it completely to a smooth consistency. When are you ready to serve diner cook a pound of you favourite pasta according to package direction to Al dente (firm to the bite) . Reheat you sauce in a deep sauce pan and add a smal box and a half of half and half and mix it together.

Cook for another 5-10 minutes on low then add pasta to it and sprinkle some grated Parmesan cheese to the sauce in the pan.

Place in a big plate and sprinkle some more cheese on top and if you have fresh oregano available add a few spring to it. ENJOY!

Roasted Eggplant Spread (addictive!!!)

In many cultures eggplants are widely used in a variety of dishes. Most Mediterranean countries have various methods of cooking it and throughout our travels I discovered that they are very similar. This dish was created as a result of testing many different recipes using various accompany vegges to eggplant and I found this one is the best way to cook it.

Both of my kids agree and LOVE to eat it! They eat it on the toast as a afternoon snack or just a spoon full. If you need to send cold lunch to school with you kids this is a perfect thing for it. I fill a small Tupperware for my daughter and she dips stone ground wheat crackers in it. Yummm!

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pill 3 medium eggplants partially leaving some of the skin strips on. Cut it in a small cubes and place it on the baking non stick tray.
Cut red and yellow bell peppers one each and 2 tomatoes in a similar manner. Cut one big red onion and mix all veggies together, toss with lots of extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly grounded black pepper.

Place it in the oven for one hour. During this hour check periodically and stir to make sure nothing sticks to the tray. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Once it is completely cooled transfer vegetables to your food processor and PULSE it a few times, not too much. Then add half of bunch of cilantro (leaves only discard the steams) and pulse one more time. I like for it to be a little chunky. If you prefer to have a completely smooth consistency pulse it few more times. Enjoy!

Classic Egg Salad Revised

This is one of the items that people either Love or hate with passion. A lot of times just the appearance of the yellow mushed egg can look very unappetizing to one's eye. I myself on the other hand feel very strongly that it can be a very good breakfast of lunch item that takes only minutes to make.

To have a very good egg salad you need to start with a good quality eggs of course plus cook it to perfection.

Once I saw this method on TV that I use exclusively to cook egg. Place you eggs (I always use organic) into you boiling pot to cover with cold water. Once it comes to a full boil turn off the heat and cover with lid. Leave it on the stove with heat off the 7 minutes. Then plunge in the cold water and then pill. You will end up with he most beautiful yellow color yolk that will still be moist and cooked to perfection.

Once eggs are cooled and you are ready to assemble your salad get other ingredients ready. I like to have some crunch in my salad and for that I add a couple of ribs of celery stalk. Also I don't mush eggs, but rather chop it in small pieces. Make sure to have similar size pieces for eggs and celery. Next add chopped scallions if you like or chopped red onion. Add salt and pepper and a good quality organic mayo and mix it all together.

To serve it I always toast wholewheat or rye bread. Then line the toasted bread with a leave of you favorite green (romaine or red leave) salad place egg salad on the top and ENJOY!!!

Roasted asparagus

Asparagus is a member of the Lily family. Asparagus is a nutrient-dense food which in high in Folic Acid and is a good source of potassium, fiber, vitamin B6, vitamins A and C, and thiamin.
Asparagus has No Fat, contains No Cholesterol and is low in Sodium.

With all the greatness of it nutritionally it taste great and takes minutes to make. When trying to buy asparagus at the market look for thin, bright green spears. It can serve as a perfect side dish to any roasted meats, mixed with risotto or just served with shavings of Parmesan cheese.

To start clean the spears under cold running water and snap the ends. Ends of the spears tend to be very taught to chew and not suggested for consumption. Placed all the spears on the baking sheet sprinkle with sea salt and pepper and toss with extra virgin olive oil.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and place you tray there for 15 minutes. That's it-ready to enjoy it! Place it on the plate and sprinkle some Parmesan cheese on top. Enjoy!

Pasta with pancetta, sweet peas and zucchinni

This is a fast and nutritional recipe you can wipe up any night of the week given you have ingredients on hand. You will need, a bag of frozen peas, 2-3 small zucchinis, one bag of pasta and one piece of pancetta about half pound. Pancetta is a very good ingredient to have in your freezer. It is cured pork meat Italian style just like beacon, but not smoked instead just cured with spices.

To start this dish take a large skillet and preheat it. Cube you pancetta and place it on the hot pan, render the fat and brown the pieces for about 6-10 minutes. Once it is done remove pancetta slices with slided spoon leaving the rendered fat in the pan.

Next add one chopped onion and sliced zucchinis and sweat it for a 5 minutes. Then add a bag of frozen peas to it and cook for a few more minutes till defrosted and cooked, but not mushy.

Meanwhile start you pasta pot and bring it to a full boil. Drop you pasta and cook according to the package direction. Once the pasta is ready drain it completely. Then add it to the pan with your vegetables and mix it together.

There are few different way how you can finish off this pasta dish. If you would like a creamy texture you can add a few spoons of goat cheese or Italian marscapone cheese. Just make sure you add it to the pasta pan once the pasta is drained so it can melt it with the heat of the pan. If you prefer a sharp tasting cheese just add a few crumbles of feta cheese or shredded Parmesan. When ready to serve place it in the plate and top it with crunchy pancetta pieces. Enjoy!

Corn bread

Corn bread is loved by many us included!

It is one of the items that comes out great out of the box and takes only 30 minutes to bake.

Some nights when we have a light diner I make it to accompany the salad or vegetables. I tried many different brands of it in the past most came out very good, just make sure to check ingredient list on the box to minimize harmful additives consumption.

Today's bread I purchased at Fairways from the company that apparently has a very long standing in organic ingredients and also has gluten and wheat free items.

I just followed the box direction. In a mixing bowl crack one egg, add 2 table spoons of olive oil and 8 oz. of whole milk. Next add box ingredients slowly whisking it.

Once all incorporated transfer to a non stick cake pan previously sprayed with olive oil spray.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes and ENJOY!