Author Archives for Shannon

Cider-Glazed Chicken

Another reason why I love October? Apple cider! When I saw my grocery store had stocked the produce cooler with the autumn beverage, I had to scoop some up. I knew that this recipe for Cider-Glazed Chicken was tucked away in my recipe book somewhere and I’d been waiting for just the right time to pull it out. Chicken breasts are browned in butter until fully cooked and then tossed in a simple glaze of apple cider and dijon mustard. So easy and so quick! The glaze gave the boring chicken breasts a tasty flavor with the subtle hint of apple without overpowering it. Whether you want to make this recipe or not, pick up some apple cider somewhere along your travels and do some cooking with it. Enjoy the burst of apple while you can!

The ingredients:

Brown salt-and-peppered chicken breasts in butter.

Remove the fully cooked chicken from the pan and set aside. Pour apple cider and dijon mustard into the hot pan. Stir together until slightly thickened.

Add back the chicken breasts and coat in the cider-dijon glaze.

Top with fresh parsley and enjoy!

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs, and Ricotta

Pappardelle is a wide-ribbon pasta that I finally found at my local Trader Joe’s and is the main ingredient in Pappardelle with Baby Spinach, Herbs, and Ricotta. It’s basically a wider version of fettucine so if you can’t find pappardelle, fettucine can easily be substituted. This fairly light and herby pasta dish is made with baby spinach, fresh thyme, parsley, dill and ricotta. Once you’ve prepped all the herbs, the whole meal can be made in about 15 minutes. The ricotta is mixed with reserved pasta liquid so you can make it as thick or thin as you like. The heat of the pasta slightly wilts the spinach and brings out the fragrance of the fresh herbs. I left out the chives since my grocery store was out of it but I think the hint of onion would have been nice. If you like the flavor of fresh dill, this will be a good one to try.

The ingredients:

Cook the pappardelle according to package directions and drain, reserving the cooking liquid.

While the pasta cooks, remove any stems from the spinach and chop the fresh herbs.

In a blender or food processor, mix together ricotta cheese and reserved pasta water.

In a large bowl, combine cooked pasta, ricotta sauce, spinach, fresh herbs, olive oil, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Wrap around your fork (or forks if you have one in each hand!) and enjoy!

Additions: None

Omissions:

Chives

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: Like It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Kale, Bean, and Sausage Soup with Parmesan Cheese

The temperatures are dropping into the 40s this week which puts me in the mood for some warm soup! Kale, Bean, and Sausage Soup with Parmesan Cheese to be exact. The recipe actually calls for escarole but my grocery store didn’t have any so I used kale instead. Normally, the old me wouldn’t have even looked for escarole and would have automatically reached for spinach instead. But part of the point of this blog is to try new things and expand my palette so instead of taking the easy way out with spinach, I turned to kale, which I don’t think I’ve ever eaten before. A nutritious leafy green, kale wilts easily like spinach so it works well in soup like this. Mixed with sweet turkey sausage, fennel, and cannellini beans, this soup is satisfying and exactly what I want on a chilly evening.