Week 11: Chicken Pasta with Creamy Basil Sauce

A new use for yogurt. I would not have thought to use yogurt as a sauce, but it turned out good.  Next time I would probably add a few more spices as the dish was a little too mellow for my taste.

 

Ingredients:

3 cups Bow-tie pasta

2 cups broccoli florets

1 pound boneless chicken breast

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1cupchicken broth

1 teaspoon sugar

1 red pepper

4-5 mushrooms

¾ cup plain yogurt

3 – 4 tablespoons chopped basil

 

Directions:

1.          Cook pasta according to directions.  Add broccoli during the last 4 minutes of cooking. Drain.

2.          Sprinkle chicken with garlic powder and pepper, and cook to no longer pink.

3.         In bowl mix cornstarch, sugar and broth.  Add broth mixture, mushrooms and red peppers to skillet:  cook 4 minutes until sauce has thickened. 

4.         Stir in pasta, broccoli, yogurt and basil. Heat over low heat until just hot (do not boil)

 

 

 

Until next week:  COOK ON!

Week 10 - Pita Pizzas

While it is my goal to try and cook a new recipe each week, I thought it would be fun to include the whole family this week with Pita Pizzas. This turned out to be a very fun meal.  My 3 year old loved making and the eating his own pizza, and the size was perfect for him. From spreading the sauce to levering on the pineapple and cheese, he thought it was about the best thing.

 

Ingredients

6” Pitas

Spaghetti sauce

Mozzarella cheese –shredded

Pine apple

Onion

Roasted green chilies

Cream Cheese

 

Directions

1.  Preheat oven to 450° degrees

2.  Layer pitas with sauce, toppings of your choosing, and of course cheese

3.  Cook for 12-15 minutes

 

 

While my wife and son played it safe with just cheese and pineapple.  I decided to go with my favorite cream cheese (trust me it’s really good), roasted green chilies (from the farmer’s market this fall), onion and pineapple.  They all turned out great.  The crust on the first batch was a little softer than we liked, so for round two we increased the cooking by 2 minutes.  This was a quick and easy dinner that will be guaranteed to take its way back to the dinner table time and time again.

Until next time COOK ON!!

 

Week 9 - Honey-Mustart Pork Roast

Not much beats the smell of a roast cooking away all day in your house while you are working on a project. Today was spent finishing the flooring the bathroom and I knew I was not going to want to cook later in the day. The answer to this problem... The crockpot. I was able to prepare the roast while I still had energy this morning and let it cook all day long. The aromas wetted my appetite as we finished our flooring project (Yea, we are all done with the floor now.. But what's next??)

 
I have made a few roasts in my life, mostly beef though. My pork roast have amounted to not much more than pouring in a bottle of my favortie BBQ sauce for pulled pork sandwiches.  Today’s roast, Honey-Mustard Pork, required just a little more preparation, but still not enough to really be a fuss.

 
Ingredients:

·         1 onion, chopped

·         4 cloves garlic, minced

·         1/4 cup honey

·         1/4 Dijon mustard

·         1 tsp. salt

·         1/4 tsp. pepper

·         1 (3 lb.) rolled boneless pork roast

·         1/4 cup chicken broth

·         1 Tbsp. cornstarch

·         1/4 cup water

Directions

1.      Place onions and garlic in crockpot..

2.      Season pork roast with salt and pepper,

3.      Mix honey and mustard together and spread over both sides of pork roast

4.      Put roast on top of onions and garlic

5.      Add chicken broth.

6.      Cook on low for 7-8 hours.

7.      Remove roast and cover with foil to keep warm while making sauce.

8.       Combine cornstarch and water in a saucepan and blend with wire whisk.

9.       Add juices and cooked onions and garlic from crockpot to saucepan and cook over medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, stirring frequently.

 
The honey mustard gave the roast a great flavor. The long cook time did not dampen the flavor as must as I thought it would, which made me happy I served the roast with mashed potatoes and cornbread stuffing

 

Until next time COOK ON!

 

 

Week 8- Chicken Sausage. Pepper and Tomatoes

It has been a bust 2 weeks at the old homestead.  We have been putting in a new floor in our family room, and I have gotten behind on my weekly entry.  That does not mean that I have been slacking. Week’s 8 new dinner was Chicken Sausage. Pepper and Tomatoes served over fettuccine. I have never had chicken sausage before, so I went with a trusted brand; Johnsville, Chicken and Apple (pre-cooked sausage).

 

I was very happy with the results.  The grated parmesan cheese gave it a nice flavor.  I really enjoyed having the pasta without the traditional red sauce. It felt like a lot lighter dish tis way.

 

Ingredients

1 pkg. (12 oz.) chicken sausage links, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices

3 bell peppers (assorted colors), chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup KRAFT Grated Parmesan Cheese,

1/2 lb. feticunni., uncooked

 

 

Directions

1.      Cook sausage in non-stick pan on medium-high heat until almost cooked through (or heated up if using precooked), then add peppers. Continue to cook peppers until desired crispness.

2.      Mix in tomaotes and cook over low heat until tomatoes have softened.

3.      Add in Parmesan cheese.

4.      Serve over feticunni.

 

 

Until next time COOK ON!