Chicken Piccata with Pasta and Arugula Salad

When I was trying to decide what to call this blog, the first thing that came to my mind was "The Lazy Chef."  This is because I am constantly looking for short cuts, taking the most simple recipes and making them even simpler.  Sometime I find easier ways of doing things that don't compromise the end result, and sometimes I decide a little compromising in the end result is worth the savings in time, money, or effort.  This meal is a combination of both!

The first part was inspired by my sister-in-law, who made a delicious chicken picatta meal for a large group a few weeks back.  Despite the fact that she was in the kitchen for ages, she promised me that making chicken picatta for a few people was actually really simple.  Only problem is that most picatta recipes have a good deal of butter in them, so I searched for a lighter recipe and found one at Recipezaar.  Here's where my laziness came in: I immediately decided that I didn't need to include the fresh parsley because I really don't love the taste and I hate buying a big bunch of fresh herbs only to throw out most of it.  Then, as I sat down to review the recipe before starting to cook, I realized that we didn't have any white wine on hand that's suitable for cooking, so chicken stock had to fill in!

The salad was inspired by our recent vacation to Turks & Caicos.  On the last night, we went to an Italian restaurant that served an arugula salad tossed with olive oil, garnished with some shaved parmesan and a lemon wedge.  It was so simple and so delicious!  Hubby hasn't stopped talking about it since our trip and I thought it would tie in perfectly with our lemony entree, so I added it to this menu.  Talk about lazy - this salad didn't even require cutting vegetables or mixing up a vinaigrette!

So did my compromises work out?  I would consider this a very successful weeknight meal.  The chicken was good - not as yummy as my sister-in-law's, but really tasty and, in my opinion, well worth fewer ingredients and less butter.  Wine probably would have added a nice complexity to the sauce, but the lemon and capers added good zing and it still reduced nicely.  And the salad was as delicious as the one we had on vacation - in this case I don't think the simplicity is a compromise at all, and I would happily serve this to company.

Chicken Piccata
adapted from Recipezaar

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon olive oil
*2 teaspoons butter, divided
*1 1/2 cups chicken stock (or white wine)
*4 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (approximately 1 lemon)
*2 tablespoons capers
Cooked pasta for serving (optional; I used whole wheat spaghetti)

Place chicken breasts, one at a time, in a zip-top bag or between two sheets of plastic wrap/parchment paper/wax paper.  Pound to 1/4-1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet, rolling pin, heavy skillet, etc.  Remove from the bag and dredge with flour mixed with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 teaspoon each of oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Sautee chicken breasts for about 3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown and cooked through.  Depending on the size of your pan, you may need to do this in two batches.  If so, use half of the oil and butter for the first batch and add the rest for the second.  I also got the first piece sauteeing and pounded/dredged the second piece while the first was cooking to save time.  Once cooked, remove the chicken pieces to a plate.
Add the chicken stock, lemon juice, and capers to the pan, scraping up the brown bits.  Cook for about 5 minutes or until thickened.  Add all of the chicken back to the pan, turning to coat with the sauce, and simmer for an additional 2 minutes.  Remove the chicken to a plate and stir one teaspoon of butter into the sauce.  Pour sauce over chicken.  Serve chicken with pasta or any other side you prefer.
 
Serves up to 4
 
*There was just enough sauce for the chicken.  If you'd like enough to toss with pasta (or if you just like a lot of sauce), I'd recommend doubling or even tripling the sauce ingredients.



Arugula Salad
adapted from Bella Luna restaurant in Grace Bay, Turks & Caicos
 
Ok, this isn't really a recipe because I have no idea how much of each ingredient I used.  But here is the basic idea in case you'd like to try on your own!
 
Arugula
Olive oil
Salt
Lemon wedges
Chunk of romano or parmigiano-reggiano
 
Place enough arugula in a bowl for the number of people you are serving.  Season with salt and toss with just enough olive oil to lightly coat the leaves.  Serve with a lemon wedge and a few shavings or a thin slice of romano.

Spinach Ricotta Dumplings

One of the earliest recipes I found on Weelicious was for "Spinach Gnocch-wee", which, aside from having such a cute name, looked irresistably adorable in the picture.  I read the recipe and filed it away until my recent effort to compile links to all of the recipes I want to try, when I came across it again.  And now, with my ongoing attempts to get more vegetables and dairy into the munchkin, I realized that this recipe could be perfect.

So I set out to give them a try and found the mixture (dough?  batter?) came together really easily - you really can't beat instructions to throw all of the ingredients into the food processor.  But when it came time to make those perfect little balls I was inspired by, well, I have absolutely no idea how she did it.  I tried flouring my hands, but they were so sticky there was no way I was going to be able to make them round!  Enter plan B - take a cookie scoop (most useful kitchen tool ever!) and dump them directly into the boiling water to cook.

And the result?  Delicious - even the munchkin gobbled them up! - but not nearly as pretty as the ones in the picture.  Oh, well...not everything needs to be perfect!  Also, another change I made was to the name...I couldn't really figure out how these related to gnocchi (the shape maybe?  or soft texture?), so I decided to just call them dumplings.  But whatever you call them, these are definitely a keeper in my house!

See?  Not the most elegant, but they sure tasted good!

Spinach Ricotta Dumplings
adapted from Weelicious

10 oz box frozen chopped spinach
1 cup whole milk ricotta cheese
2/3 cup romano cheese, plus extra for serving
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp flour

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.

Defrost the frozen spinach (I did this in the microwave).  Squeeze all of the water out of the spinach by dumping it in a clean kitchen towel, making a pouch, and twisting until you can't get any more liquid out (don't worry, the green comes out in the wash!).

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until smooth and thoroughly combined

Using a cookie scoop (you could probably also use 2 spoons), take approximately 1-2 teaspoons at a time and dump directly into the boiling water.  Do not overcrowd the pot - you'll probably need to do 2-3 batches.  Cook the dumplings for about 5 minutes (the last ones in probably cooked a little less than that).  Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon.  They will be very soft when they first come out but firm up a bit as they cool.

Serve sprinkled with additional romano cheese.

Makes approximately 6 servings

Oatmeal Bars

Hi everyone, I'm back!  Sorry for the hiatus; attempting to sell my apartment and a week long vacation have kept me very busy the last two weeks, but I'm finally back in the kitchen and excited to share what I've been up to :)

As you probably can guess, I am always on the lookout for easy snacks to have around.  I have tried my fair share of bars and other packaged snacks, but they tend to be expensive and even the organic ones don't quite live up to my ingredient standards.  That's why I'm so obsessed with muffins, and why I was excited to see a new recipe on Weelicious for Oatmeal On-The-Go Bars.  The ingredient list is great - whole grains, minimal sugar, and the opportunity for wholesome add-ins.  Plus, they looked super easy to make - similar to muffins, but without the extra step of getting batter into muffin tins (and then having to clean said muffin tins!).

I ended up keeping them really simple - I skipped the add-ins because I wasn't sure what I'd enjoy and just wanted to test the recipe in its basic form.  The results were great - dense, chewy oatmeal that you can eat with your hands!  The muchkin was a huge fan, too - ate every last bite of her bar at snack time.  I think they have just the right amount of cinammon and sweetness to make them enjoyable but not dessert-like, but I also think they would taste delicious with a drizzle of maple syrup if you were so inclined.  Feel free to have fun with add-ins, depending on how you like your oatmeal (and feel free to leave comments if you find a great combo!).  I've included the suggested amounts below, but as I mentioned the recipe worked perfectly with no extras at all!

Oatmeal Bars
adapted from Weelicious

2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/2 cup milk (any kind you like)
3 tablespoons agave
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup dried fruit (optional)
1/2 cup nuts or seeds (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Spray an 8x8 inch baking dish with oil or grease with butter.

Mix oats, flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.  In a larger bowl, whisk together milk, agave, applesauce, egg, and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir to combine.  Stir in any add-ins you're using.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and bake for 30 minutes, until starting to brown (mine was just a little brown around the edges and seemed to be cooked perfectly inside).

Cool, cut into squares, and store in fridge for up to 5 days or longer in the freezer.
 
Makes 16 squares

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

Mmmm...that's all I have to say after tasting these muffins right out of the oven.  They are so yummy, I can't wait to serve them to company tomorrow!

But before I tell you more about the muffins, I really want to thank all of you who are out there reading my ramblings and letting me inspire you to cook - I have gotten more notes than I ever expected from people who are actually interested in what I have to say!  And for those of you who don't know me in real life, I'd love to hear from you, too - feel free to comment on the blog or write to me at my new e-mail address, alissa@simplywholesomekitchen.com.  I want to know how my recipes turned out for you, if you made any changes that worked (or didn't work!), other recipes you think I might like, or just general thoughts :)

The reason now seemed like the right time to mention my wonderful readers is that not one, but two of you thought of me when you saw this muffin recipe, and I am so appreciative!  Mark Bittman wrote an article in the NY Times about how to make whole wheat muffins actually taste good instead of heavy and chewy.  Upon close inspection, this recipe is admittedly not as healthy as most of my muffin recipes - there's a little extra sugar and a half cup (one whole stick!) of butter.  But they do include 100% whole wheat flour instead of a refined flour mix, and have fruit or veggies in them, and butter is a wholesome ingredient that really isn't evil in moderation, so I thought they were worth a try.  Plus, I actually worry that my munchkin eats a diet that's too low in fat, so this is a good recipe for her.

The beauty of this recipe is that it's flexible - you can use the base for whatever kind of whole wheat muffins you want - read Bittman's article for more ideas!  I chose to make an apple version, and they are amazing.  As it turns out, there's a reason people who make yummy food use lots of butter - there is no taste quite like it!  These muffins are moist, light, and leave a hint of butter in your mouth, but are not greasy like so many of the muffins you'll buy.  And just like other muffins, they freeze and defrost beautifully, so they're perfect to have onhand.  I would be interested in reducing the butter and/or sugar a bit, though, so I may experiment in the future - please let me know if you have any ideas on the best way to make modifications!

I think hubby's getting a little bored of taking pictures of muffins!!

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
adapted from the NY Times

2 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup sugar (you may need more if using a veggie that's not sweet)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 rounded teaspoon cinnamon (optional, or replace with another spice if using another fruit/veggie)
1/2 cup (1 stick) melted unsalted butter
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce (or whatever fruit or vegetable you want)
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk or yogurt (I always have plain whole milk yogurt around, so that's what I used, but low fat should work, too!)
1/2 cup apple, peeled and diced into 1/4-1/2 inch pieces (I think I may have been closer to 2/3 cup and that was still ok; use whatever add-in you want)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare 12 regular or 24 mini-muffin cups by spraying with oil or lining with muffin cups.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk together the melted butter, apple sauce, egg and yogurt.  Pour wet mixture into dry mixture and fold together; add apple pieces and stir until just combined. 

Fill muffin tins or liners with batter.  Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes for regular muffins (18-20 minutes for mini-muffins) or until muffins are puffed and turning golden brown on top.  Serve warm if possible, or freeze once cool and warm in microwave just before serving.

Makes 12 regular or 24 mini-muffins

Lentil Salad with Grapes

A few weeks ago I made Avocado Lentil Salad, and promised another favorite Lentil Salad recipe.  Well, I finally had a chance to make it last night!  This recipe is adapted from Giada De Laurentiis on the Food Network and is delicious.  The two recipes are very similar - both have grape tomatoes, pistachios, and a lemon dressing, but this one has grapes instead of the avocado.  There are also some cucumbers and scallions for added crunch and flavor.  I don't know what it is about the combination, but the grapes in a lemon dressing mixed with all of the other ingredients is really great.  In my mind the lentils are kind of irrelevant - just some extra nutrients added to a really yummy combination of fruit, veggies, and nuts - how can you go wrong?

I made some changes from Giada's original recipe - she includes red bell peppers, which hubby and I don't love, so I subbed tomatoes.  Also, she uses hazelnuts, but the first time I made this I didn't have any around and ended up using pistachios instead - I loved the results so I haven't tried it the original way.  But I'm sure you could include whatever veggies and nuts appeal to you if you don't like my substitutions!

We ate this salad for dinner with some whole wheat bread, but it would also make a great side dish for a party or barbeque, especially if you have vegetarians in your crowd who will appreciate something hardy.

Lentil Salad with Grapes
adapted from Food Network

1 pound cooked lentils
2 scallions, chopped
2 cups seedless grapes, cut in half (red, green, or a combination of both)
1/2 English cucumber, diced
1 cup grape tomatoes, cut in half
1/2 cup coarsely chopped pistachios (I use roasted and salted)
2 teaspoons lemon zest (from about 2 lemons)

Dressing
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (from about 1 1/2 lemons)
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine dressing ingredients and whisk well.  Pour over salad and toss until all ingredients and dressing are well distributed.  Serve, or refrigerate for later - this is one of those salads that gets better with a little time.

Makes approximately 4-6 main course servings

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Dill Sauce

I am always trying to eat more salmon, so when I saw canned wild Alaskan salmon at Trader Joe's, I bought a few cans to give it a try.  Problem was I wasn't quite sure what to do with it.  In the back of my mind, I thought I'd heard of salmon cakes, something I'd assumed would be similar to a crab cake.  But when I started searching for recipes, I wasn't having a lot of luck finding one that got good reviews, was simple to make, used canned salmon, and wasn't fried.  I thought those were reasonable criteria but I guess I was asking a lot!

I finally came across a recipe in Eating Well called Easy Salmon Cakes that got 3.7 stars out of 5.  Not quite the raving endorsement I'd hoped for, but they seemed to meet the other criteria.  Unfortunately, the comments muddied the waters quite a bit - it sounded like most of the people who rated them highly made some significant changes, so I wasn't going to be able to just follow the recipe.  Plus, these "easy" cakes were not so easy at all!  They called for sauteeing veggies, making breadcrumbs, and both sauteeing AND baking the salmon cakes.  So after reading the comments and trying to figure out what the general themes were, I made some adjustments to both the ingredients and the process and gave them a try.  Major changes were to cut down on the amount of breadcrumbs, add carrots for more moisture and flavor, keep the veggies raw, and just bake in the oven instead of sauteeing first.  Somehow I managed to get lucky on my first try and they came out great!

The website recommends serving them with Creamy Dill Sauce, which sounds good.  But I still had some Lemon Yogurt Sauce in my fridge from when I made Garbanzo Burgers, so I just added a spoonful of mayo and some chopped fresh dill and it worked great!  (Update: since this post, I have made a variation of the creamy dill sauce sauce a number of times, so I've added my version below!)

Salmon Cakes with Lemon Dill Sauce

adapted from Eating Well

1 small onion, cut into chunks

1 stalk celery, cut into chunks
1/2 cup carrots, cut into chunks
12 ounces (2 small cans) canned wild salmon (skinless and boneless), drained well
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 heaping teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 + 1/4 cups plain breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Pinch of salt

Lemon Dill Sauce
1/4 cup plain yogurt (I have had success with both whole and 1%)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tablespoon (or a good squeeze) of lemon
1 teaspoon dried dill (1 tablespoon fresh would also be great if you have some on hand)

Preheat the oven to 450.  Cover a baking sheet with foil and generously spray with oil.

Place veggies in a food processor and pulse until very finely chopped.  Pour into a mixing bowl and add salmon, egg, mustard, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, and ground pepper.  You may need to break up the salmon with a fork, and then mix until all ingredients are well combined.

Put 1/4 cup breadcrumbs in a small bowl and mix in a pinch of salt.  Use the side of your hand to score the salmon mixture into 8 equal portions (cakes will have about 1/4 cup of mixture each).  Form cakes by shaping with your hands, carefully coating with breadcrumbs, and placing on prepared baking sheet.  They will be a little prone to falling apart at this stage, so just gently place on the breadcrumbs and turn over, trying to keep them together as best as possible, and push them back together if a piece breaks off (I have actually found it's easier to make a ball from the mixture, roll it in the breadcrumbs, and then flatten into a patty on the baking sheet!).   

Generously spray the tops of the salmon cakes with oil.  Bake for 10-12 minutes (or until bottoms are golden brown), flip cakes, and bake for another 5 minutes to brown the other side.  While the salmon cakes are cooking, whisk together ingredients for dipping sauce.  Serve with a side salad or vegetable, or as a starter to a larger meal.

Do ahead: Prepare salmon mixture earlier in the day (while your kids nap, are in school, etc.!) and store covered in the fridge until you are ready to make your salmon cakes.
Serves 4

Beef Stew

Beef stew is one of my favorite winter meals.  Every year I make it once or twice when I'm in the mood for something really comforting, and so in preparation for this craving I ordered grass-fed stew beef the last time I was stocking up on meat from my CSA.  Last week, as I was looking through my freezer trying to figure out what I could make with what I had at home, I came across my stew meat and got excited - this is the perfect time of year!  I dug up the Irish Beef Stew recipe that I had adapted ages ago and got to work on Saturday night when hubby was home so that I could start dinner before the munchkin went to sleep.

I think this recipe is pretty classic - no fancy flavors, just wholesome ingredients that cook together for a long time and become really yummy.  In the years that I've been making it, I've probably never made it exactly the same way twice.  So while I can't promise you that I have ever actually made it exactly as the recipe states below, I can promise you that every single time I've made it the results have been delicious, so I've basically decided that you can't go wrong!  Feel free to be creative with the veggies, for example...I'd bet any root vegetable that can stand up to cooking for a long time would work.  I was thinking the next time I might throw in some sweet potato to mix things up - why not?

Apologies for the photo...turns out it's really hard to make stew look good! 

Beef Stew
adapted from Epicurious

2 tablespoons (approx) olive or vegetable oil
1/4 cup flour seasoned with black pepper
1 1/2 pounds stew beef, cut into 1-inch pieces
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup dark beer or red wine
3 cups chicken or beef stock (homemade or the best quality low sodium you can find)
1 small can tomato paste (use about 3/4 of the can)
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon dried thyme
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 bay leaves or 2 sprigs fresh rosemary

2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter or oil
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (I do not peel my potatoes, but the skin does fall off the potato in the cooking process, so if you don't think you'll enjoy that feel free to peel!)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups carrots, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups celery, cut into 3/4 inch pieces

1 cups frozen peas (optional)

2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (for garnish, optional)

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil (or enough to thinly coat the bottom of the pot) in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Toss beef in flour seasoned with black pepper. Add beef to pan and sauté until brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.  The beef really should be able to fit in one layer; otherwise it just steams and does not brown.  1 1/2 lbs just fit in my pot, so if you're increasing the amount at all you may need to do 2 batches or use 2 pans.

Add garlic and sauté 1 minute. Add beer or wine and scrape up the bits stuck to the bottom of the pan while it cooks for a few minutes. Add stock, tomato paste, sugar, thyme, Worcestershire sauce and bay leaves. Stir to combine. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, then cover and simmer, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, melt butter or additional oil in another large pot over medium heat. Add potatoes, onion, carrots, and celery. Sauté vegetables until golden, about 20 minutes. Add vegetables to beef stew.* 

Simmer uncovered until vegetables and beef are very tender, about 1 hour from the time you added the liquid to the beef. Add more broth or keep covered if the stew is getting too thick.  Discard bay leaves. Tilt pan and spoon off fat (if necessary; my grass-fed beef is so lean that there was no fat to skim).

Can be prepared several hours and up to 2 days ahead. Cool slightly. Refrigerate uncovered until cold, then cover and refrigerate. Bring to simmer and add peas just before serving. Garnish with parsley if desired and serve with crusty bread.

Serves 6

*Theoretically this is an important step because getting color on the veggies should add flavor to the stew. I'm not convinced. If you overcrowd the pan at this stage (which I have in the past) the veggies just get soft, not golden, so this time I did them in batches to get good color and my stew did not taste noticeably better. The next time I'm going to try just adding the veggies directly to the broth and letting them cook in there to see what happens!  If it still tastes good I'd be very happy to make this a one pot dish :)