Cranberry-Apple Chutney

This sucker's so simple, it'll make you smack ya mama!

I made this on the fly on Easter. I grilled chicken breasts and pork tenderloins outside even though it was cold. I decided that I wanted to offer something else to go along with the pork since I'd only dry rubbed it. I came up with this.

• 1 medium sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 3 Tbl butter
• 1/2 C white vinegar
  1 to 1 1/2 C dried cranberries (fresh or frozen can also be used. I had dried on hand.)
• 1 - 2 apples - peeled and sliced. I used about 1 cup of DRIED apples from last year's harvest since I didn't have any fresh ones available, and the recipe was GREAT!)
  2 large navel oranges, JUICED- throw away everything else although you could throw in some of the zest if you're a real citrus-loving person.
• 1 C white grape juice
• Dash of cinnamon or nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. Melt one tablespoon of butter in a pan and add the onions. Saute over medium heat until softened and translucent. Don't brown them.
2. Add the vinegar to the pan and stir for 2 minutes.
3. Add the cranberries and apples.
4. Pour in the orange and grape juices and stir well. Lower the heat and allow the mixture to simmer. The apples and cranberries will plump up while absorbing the liquid. (About 10 minutes)
5. Add the cinnamon and cayenne pepper.
6. Let the mixture simmer for about another 5-10 minutes and add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter to the chutney. Mix well. The butter will provide a nice gloss to the sauce.
7. Serve along with grilled meat or fish. I served it with grilled pork tenderloin which had a simple dry rub of sea salt, cracked black pepper, and rosemary.

Creamy Chicken Casserole

Here's one for the "from the cupboard" people. I made this on a night when I didn't want to cook and couldn't be bothered to eat. However, I KNEW I would have a ravenous husband whose mood would worsen exponentially if his blood sugar dropped. Hence, I looked in the butler's pantry to see what was what.

People who say they NEVER cook using canned goods, especially cream soups are lying, eating some super-dee-dooper high fat creamy meals, or noshing on the Raw Diet.

Whatever works for 'em, I guess.

Creamy Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 LARGE can of cream of mushroom soup (I used Campbell's 98% fat free)
1/2 C low-fat sour cream
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
2 C shredded cheddar cheese, divided
2-3 C prepared egg noodles (The ones I used were left over from a meal earlier in the week. They were screaming to be used. And hell, they were the No Yolks.)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Spray a 9X13 pan (or whatever , I'm not a pan whore. Just use what you have.) with a non-stick spray.
3. In a large bowl, combine the soup, sour cream, salt, and pepper. Do NOT add water or milk. Just use the soup straight from the can.
4. Add the chicken (raw) to the soup mixture and combine.
5. Add half of the shredded cheese and the egg noodles, mix, and transfer to the baking pan.
6. Top the casserole with the remaining shredded cheese.
7. Bake for approximately 45 minutes, COVERED with foil.
8. Turn on the broiler, remove the foil, and broil for approximately 5 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

Variations:

• Ok. So this is completely lacking in vegetables. So be it.
• Add some veggies - the usual suspect would be broccoli, but I'm thinking peas and mushrooms would also be good.
• Use whatever pasta and shape that suits you. I'll try this with rice another time.

Feedback:

My kid eyed this with trepidation and refused to eat it. He takes a gander at ANY casserole with suspect and doesn't like "mixing" his food. I'd prepared some Morning Star Farms "chicken" nuggets and slices of apple with a little fat free caramel dip for him.
The husband? Don't you know he balked at the serving I placed in front of him as if I'd given him WAY too much. He finished it lickity-split and then had seconds and thirds. When he want back for the trois feeding at the trough, I said, "Ahhhhh. I see. You thought it was going to SUCK and didn't want to have to eat the first plate, huh? It IS good, isn't it?"

He admitted his guilt and added, "It's summer. All I could think was 'hot food'!"

Doesn't matter. He was digging it. Try this easy one; you may like it too!

Lemon and Garlic Chicken with Pasta

I made this at my sister's place when we were at the beach. I think this whole challenge to eat in more than out started there. I guess it's just EASIER to eat out when you work full-time, have a preschooler and husband, deal with a chocolate lab, and are trying to maintain an even keel when you haven't seen such a thing in years.

I finally concluded that unless I challenged myself to eat better, take advantage of my ability to challenge my cooking habits and repertoire, and take better care of my health and that of my family, I'd be that proverbial hamster on that damn spinning wheel. As I loathe vermin and rodents of any kind, I am taking myself to task.

While I'd like to do the whole 365 commitment many bloggers have taken on with great zeal of late, I know that once I return to work in the fall, there will be evening commitments which will require that either I or my husband and son eat out. I know I'll be at open houses, PTA meetings, conferences, etc.

So.

What's the big deal about my -ish bloggy? I'm making a commitment to increase my percentage of time eating IN exponentially. You people who have much better health habits than me would likely keel over from a stroke if you realized how much my family eats out. And it's a damn waste. A damn, damn waste.

Onto the recipe that started this little brainchild.


Chicken with Lemon-Garlic Sauce and Pasta

1lb whole wheat spaghetti (Don’t like spaghetti? Hell, use whatever you like. Me? I love me some whole wheat pasta.)
1lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1lb zucchini, diced into bite-sized pieces
1lb yellow summer squash, diced into bite-sized pieces
1 medium onion, diced into bite-sized pieces
¼ C olive oil and a small amount more for vegetables
1 Tbs Smart Balance
6 cloves of garlic, smashed
3 Lemons, juiced
1Tbs Lemon zest (use the lemons from above)
½ C to 1C white wine (I used a tasty Pinot Grigio)
Grill Seasoning (I used McCormick’s Montreal Steak Seasoning)

Cook pasta according to box directions. Do this near the end of the grilling process. If you do it any earlier, you’ll end up with mushy, congealed pasta or pasta you’ve coated in oil which will not only add unnecessary calories but also make it virtually impossible for your lemon-garlic sauce to adhere to the strands.

Heat a small saucepan and melt the Smart Balance. Pour in the olive oil. Once they’re heated through, add the smashed garlic. After two minutes, add the lemon juice and zest as well as the wine. At no time should you boil this mixture. Just keep it at a medium simmer.

Preheat your grill to medium.

Wash and dry the chicken breasts and coat each liberally with the grill seasoning. I am a fan of grilling meat that’s not fridge-cold.

In a large bowl, combine the vegetables, enough olive oil to lightly coat, 2 tsp of grill seasoning. Transfer the veggies to a grill basket.

Make your way outside and put then grill basket and chicken breasts on to cook. You want to have a nice char to the veggies and make certain that the chicken is cooked through without drying it out. Don’t be shy. Slice into one of the breasts if you think it’s done. You’re going to chop these lovely babies. No one will know you cheated!

Once the pasta, veggies, and chicken are done, let’s get this dish together.
Slice the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Toss the chicken, veggies, and sauce together. Add the pasta and toss using tongs.

I served this in deep plates with high sides. I’ll double the sauce next time and allow it to pool at the bottom of each plate. This time around, we were fighting for more sauce and used a fresh baguette to soak up the garlic goodness.

Variations:
Don’t like my veggies? Hell. Go your own way. I wanted to use portabellos in this one, but there were too tweens who would have made dinner a living hell had I done that, so I omitted that idea. While I love me some tomatoes, I can’t stand cooked SKINS of tomatoes. There’s no way that I’d blanch and peel tomatoes for one measly meal unless I had a maid who was cleaning my home for free. Needless to say, I’ll not be using them any time soon.

Go for grilled shrimp if you don’t like the idea of chicken or are just plain tired of the white meat.

Feedback:
My brother-in-law is a hard-charging fireman who doesn’t like “funny food.” He ate this with a vengeance and brought more to work the next day for his lunch. My four-year-old ate it after I separated the chicken, veggies, and pasta. He didn’t want them “mixed.” The tweens? They ate it. Lots of it. Good times!