Arugula-Tomato Salad with Chicken

After having pasta for the past couple of nights - it was time for something a little different.  While browsing through a "Cooking Light" magazine I ran across this one. It ended up being a really hearty salad that had a great fresh taste.  I enjoyed making my own dressing - it was surprising simple.

Marinate 1 pound of chicken cutlets (thin strips of chicken breast) in 1 tablespoon olive oil, grated rind from one lemon, juice from half a lemon. I let this sit for about 5 minutes while I prepped the rest of the salad.  Cook in a pan for a few minutes on each side (only took about 6 minutes). The thin cuts of chicken are handy when in a rush.

Dressing:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon dried herbes de Provence (found in the spice aisle)
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon of minced garlic
• salt & pepper 

Just wisk together and pour over the greens

Salad:

• 5 oz of arugula (found in the salad aisle next to the spinach)
• 1 small package of cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 3 oz of kalamata olives (this is where the olive bar at Fred Meyer comes in handy)

Bread:
I found a mini loaf of bakery multi-grain bread and brushed on a mixture of olive oil & garlic and topped with some grated Parmesan and heated up in the oven @ 400 for a few minutes.  It gave it a great crunch and flavor.

Roasted Shrimp & Asparagus with Angel Hair Pasta

If I were to rank tonight's dinner, I'd rank it as a "Needs Improvement".  In theory, this dish had potential, but I just didn't pull it off well.

What it's supposed to be: Oven roasted shrimp with asparagus, tossed with butter & lemon juice & served with angel hair pasta. Seemed like it would be a nice simple dish with a good taste.  Simple it was - but I made one fatal flaw: I bought cheap shrimp.  Buying cheap ingredients gets me almost every time. I once again made the fatal flaw of not buying good enough quality ingredients when the meal only has a few.  I would definately make this again with a few modifications: buying better quality protein and adding a few herbs to add some more flavor.

As it was tonight:

1 1/2 lbs of 51-60 shrimp
1 lb angel hair pasta (I tried multigrain pasta)
1 bundle of asparagus
2 lemons, juiced & zested
4 tblsp of butter

Spread out shrimp & asparagus on a sheet pan & coat with a bit of olive oil, pepper & salt.  Roast in 400 degree oven for about 8 minutes.
Cook pasta per package - 8 min or so. Before I drained the pasta, I reserved 3/4 cup of the pasta water.
When the shrimp turned nice and pink & asparagus was tender, I put it in the pot of drained pasta with the butter, lemon juice & reserved pasta water and tossed to mix the flavors.

Next time: either more lemon or less pasta & add some red pepper flakes.

Ravioli with Tomato Sauce

Within the Vranizan household - we are a fan of quick, easy and tasteful meals.  Tonight's dinner was super easy with the taste of fresh ingredients.

• Start out with a tablespoon or two of olive oil in a pan, heat and then toss in a few slices of finely chopped salami with a tablespoon or so of minced garlic.  Cook til a bit crisp.  
• Drain a can of whole plum tomatoes, but reserve the juice. Crush the tomatoes in the pan and cook until they are almost on the dry side - this took about 5 minutes.  
• I then poured in the reserved sauce from the can of tomatoes, a few leaves of torn fresh basil, a pinch of sugar, pinch of salt and 3/4 cup of water. Simmer for about 5 minutes.

While I was making the sauce, I boiled up a pot of water and cooked 1 1/2 packages of cheese ravioli (we like the refrigerated kind, it tastes fresher).  We wanted to use spinach ravioli, but the store was sold out, but the cheese was a good flavor. I overcooked the pasta just a bit, so it got all stuck together, but other than that, it tasted ok.

Served up the ravioli with some garnish of more torn basil and lots of freshly graded Parmesan.  We had some leftover garlic bread, so this went well.  Overall a very simple meal, but using chunks of the crushed tomatoes and the fresh basil gave a great taste.

Pulled Pork Chipotle Burrito

Anyone who has spent a considerable amount of time with me has probably noticed that I love the McDonald's owned burrito place: Chipotle. For dinner tonight I attempted to mimic the pork-pulled burrito best I could.

For the pulled pork I bought 3lbs of pork loin. Chopped it up into two inch strips. Combined in the slow cooker with about 2 cups of water, a couple cans of diced jalapaneos, chilis, and whatever you fancy with your pork. Chipotle always has a lime taste to me so I dumped a bunch of lime juice in there too. Cranked it at low for 7 hours while I was at work. A great smell to come home to; mmmmm!

For the rice I think they use basmati. Rinsed a bunch because I didn't want it to be mushy. Combined in the rice cooker with water, lemon and fresh cilantro. I used a water to rice ratio of 1.5:1

Just heated up some canned black beans. I was going to use dried ones but I had no idea how long it took and didn't have time once I got home from work!

Dump a ridiculous amount of hot sauce on it, and you have yourself a delicious burrito. I think the last part I have to change is the tortilla. We used 'Mission' brand tortillas but I am pretty sure Chipotle uses better ones, and they have that nice steamer thing that I do not know how to mimic.

Chicken Yakisoba Noodles

Inspired by a recent trip to Benihani, eying a table companion's entree choice of yakisoba noodes, David & I decided we could replicate a restaurant cooked meal with 1/4 of the price and probably half the calories.

Yakisoba noodles: I bought 2 packages of the pre-steamed noodles, found in the fresh produce section of the store. They have a variety of flavors, but I opted for the traditional teriyaki flavor.

 Cooked 1 1/4 lbs of chicken with a bit of sesame oil in the wok.  I sprinkled in a bit of red pepper flakes to spice it up just a bit.  The packages of noodles then went in the wok, with the flavoring packets and 1 cup of water, along with the veggies.  I cooked it just long enough for the noodles to unclump and the cabbage to just get a bit soft - probably only 2-3 minutes.  This came out tasting very good - a great substitute to a meal out - and a fraction of the cost.  Considering both David & Rick basically licked the pan clean, I'll guess that this one is probably a repeat offender.

Pork Chops with Orzo & Edamame

Yup, we're back!  We have not been starving the past month, as our blog may indicate. We have been making meals - we have just failed to post.  There is never a dull moment in our household, so finding the motivation and time to post after a meal just hasn't happened.

Last nights dinner:

Total grocery bill: $7.35, servings 4 - probably one of the cheapest meals I've made, besides spaghetti.  I found some thin cut pork chops on sale and seized the opportunity.  The thin ones are just the right portion anyways.  I pan fried the pork chops with a little Mrs. Dash - only took a few minutes since they were so thin.

Orzo pasta: 

1 1/2 cups of chicken stock

2 cups of water

3/4 cups of orzo pasta (tiny little grains)

Combine chicken stock & water, throw in a tablespoon or so of minced garlic, and a pinch of red pepper flakes & bring to boil.  Throw in the pasta, turn down the heat to simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.  The theory is that the pasta will absorb all the liquid - which was not the instance in my case. Pasta was a little soupy when served, but what was left in the pan after dinner had absorbed more - so I guess it just needs a little time.

Edamame: I love these tasty little soybeans.  They look a bit like lima beans, but once you get past that, they are quite tasty.  I'm sure they are healthy of some sort - they are green right :)  I just boiled these little guys for 5 minutes, drained and tossed them in a little salt.

Quick meal to the table - the pasta took the longest, maybe 20 minutes total - and plenty leftover for lunch today!