what's been cookin'

It's about time for a food update!  Here's what we've been stuffing down our gullets for the past two weeks...

Giada's Roman Chicken:

Get the recipe here!

A few weeks ago Austin and I were perusing the "healthy" section of foodnetwork.com and we came across this recipe from my homegirl, Giada.  Austin requested it for dinner, so I obliged--despite the bell peppers (I just scooped mine on his plate).  This chicken was fairly easy to make and has a really great Mediterranean/Italian flavor.  It's perfect over rice!

Tacos:

I know I know.  I've really outdone myself with this one.  Don't worry though...you too can make your own tacos!  Just buy one of those cool taco kits on the Mexican isle, and follow the instructions.  I like to top mine with tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, and cheese.  Hey, sometimes the easiest dinners are the most delicious! 

Lemon Garlic Chicken with Green Beans:

Recipe for the chicken here

I'm always looking for new ways to cook chicken.  This is a really simple/healthy recipe, and it's ready in a flash.  To make thinner, crispier chicken, I just cut the breasts in half and used panko instead of the bread crumbs that the original recipe calls for.

I found the recipe for the green beans here (looooove recipe girl).  What makes these beans more exciting than regular greenies is the addition of caramelized shallots.  The shallots give plain ol' green beans a great flavor.  Here's what my shallots looked like before I put them on top of my beans:

Grilled Salmon with Dijon Sauce over Steamed Spinach with Roasted Vegetables:

For Valentine's Day Austin and I have a tradition.  He cooks me dinner, and I eat it.  This year he made me this amazing salmon.  It was ready in about 10 minutes, and the sauce on top went with the fish very well. 

To steam the spinach he just used our rice cooker (that thing has so many uses!), and to make the veggies he used my usual method (toss vegetable medallions in olive oil, salt, pepper, & garlic salt, then roast at 400 degrees for 10-15 minutes).  He bought that garlic bread from the Kroger bakery.  My compliments to the chef!

Thank you Robert Flay for the recipe!

Chicken and White Bean Enchiladas: 

here's the handy dandy link...

These enchiladas were not the easiest things that I have ever made.  However, the end result was very popular around here.  It wasn't that the directions are super complicated, or that I was working with crazy ingredients, but by the time we were sitting down to eat, my kitchen looked like a bomb had gone off and there wasn't a clean dish anywhere to be found.  There are a lot of steps, and it is a little time consuming, but would I make these again?  Yeah buddy.  

I loved how these weren't like the enchiladas you can get at a Mexican restaurant.  Instead of using corn tortillas, a dark sauce and yellow cheese, here you use flour tortillas, chicken and white beans as the filling, a green chile/sour cream based sauce, and Monterey Jack cheese.  To me, all of that spells Y-U-M.  

I served up my high maintenance enchiladas with some Mexican rice... 

To make this rice I put 1 1/2 cups of uncooked rice, 3 cups of water, a drizzle of olive oil, 1 diced tomato, and a pack of Goya seasoning (can be found on the International isle) into my rice cooker.  Then I pressed start.  The next time I opened the lid, rice magic had happened.  

I don't know what the future holds for my kitchen, but whenever I figure it out you know I'll share!