11 posts tagged “sundried tomatoes”
I think those Yes We Can(dy) Cupcakes worked, y'all. Obama is our president-elect! I won't subject you to my political drivel on a food blog, though. But I did want to document my thoughts on the whole thing so if you are so inclined to read said drivel, you can do so here.
So yeah, smoking stinks, right? Right. UNLESS we are talking about cheeses. Because, holy crap, smoked cheeses are good. (Yes, Kate, they are!)
As you know, smoked gouda is my favorite cheese, but I have a special place in my heart for smoked mozzarella and fontina, too. I once had a smoked mozzarella risotto with wagyu at a restaurant and this is sort of a (cheaper) twist on that because I added some thinly sliced flank steak to the top.
This was meant to be a smoked mozzarella and roasted tomato risotto, but I ran into a bit of a snafu with that. I kinda sorta *maybe* completely forgot the tomatoes were roasting in the oven. And it's possible they burnt and stuck to the pan because they were so thinly sliced. Maybe.
Thankfully, I always have a jar of sundried tomatoes around, so I chopped a couple of those up and stirred them in at the end. Crisis averted. This is a simple but great twist on a classic risotto. The smoked mozzarella just adds so much goodness.
I know I've been a horrible blogger lately and I wish I could promise I'll get better, but I won't. At least not until the year is over. We have been out of town a lot, and will continue to be out of town through the holidays. On Monday, we are actually going to Las Vegas, which is really exciting because neither of us has been. Though, like any gastronome, I am looking more forward to eating well than anything else. :) But you can still wish me luck to win millions. Or hell, even hundreds.
I'm hoping to have one last blog entry before we leave for Vegas, but I make no promises. It's not that I don't have time to make the post, it's just that I worry about what I'm making actually turning out somewhat attractively. Here is a hint: it's pancakes. Oh, wait, I guess that's the answer, not a hint. But anyway, I notoriously suck at flipping things without them falling apart or sticking or what have you. But it's been a LONG time since I've made pancakes and my skills have improved, so I think we'll be good.
Of course now that I've given so much away you'll know that if this is indeed my last post before Vegas, I have failed miserably in my pancake adventures.
Smoked Mozzarella and Sundried Tomato Risotto
Serves 2 as a side
1 Tbsp. butter
1 shallot, diced, or about 1/4 cup diced onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup arborio rice
scant 1/4 cup dry white wine
3 cups chicken or vegetable broth, kept warm on the stove
1/3 cup chopped sundried tomatoes
2 oz. smoked mozzarella, shredded or cut into small pieces
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper
Heat the butter over medium heat until melted and then add the shallot and garlic. Cook until the shallot (or onion) is translucent.
Add the rice, and stir to coat it with the fat, and toast it a little. Add the wine and cook it off almost entirely.
Start adding the warm broth, a ladel at a time. Stir the risotto frequently, and once the broth is almost all absorbed, add another ladel. Continue doing this until the rice has cooked (it should still have bite to it, and should be a little runny, not like regular rice). Stir in the sundried tomatoes during your last broth addition.
Off the heat, add the mozzarella and the basil. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve immediately.
My few and far between updates lately have probably clued you into the fact that things around here have been pretty busy. I think we've spent half the month of July out of town and this will probably be my only post this week, too, because we have some dinner plans and also are going to Lollapalooza this weekend. Hopefully if I make it back (I'm getting too old and it's far too hot for me to be going to a 3-day outdoor festival), things will start picking up around here in August.
A torta Giada made inspired me to make this dish because I had all the ingredients on hand. Well, okay, that's not actually true. I discovered just as I was about to throw my spaghetti into the boiling water that I really only had 6 oz. of pasta. And then I realized I just had about 1/3 cup of sundried tomatoes. And I never have parmesan cheese - I always opt for more flavorful romano. And, well, you guessed it. I didn't have fontina, either.
But no matter. This torta or spaghetti frittata or pasta quiche or whatever you want to call it (my husband, who always comes up with really unappealing names for dishes regardless of them being good, has dubbed this "spaghetti frisbee") is a really basic, versatile dish that you can pretty much throw anything you want into.I decided to replace some of the egg with half and half because I needed to use it up before it spoiled. I also added some chicken sausage to bulk this up and add a little protein. And of course I added nutmeg because I personally do not think a white or egg sauce is complete without nutmeg. This was simple and good. A nice crispy outside with a creamy inside. I increased the sundried tomatoes in the recipe below because I do think mine needed a few more. I think some caramelized onions would also be a great addition to this.
Spaghetti Frisbee
Serves 4
6 oz. spaghetti, cooked and cooled
2 tsp. olive oil, divided
2 links (1/2 lb.) Italian chicken sausage, casings removed
1 oz. smoked gouda, grated or shredded
2 oz. pecorino romano, grated
pinch of nutmeg
1/3 cup half and half or cream
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
1/2 Tbsp. butter
salt and pepper (I actually used zero salt - odd for me - because of the cheese & sausage)
Heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a pan and then crumble the sausage into the pan, cooking until done. Set aside to cool.
Mix together the cheeses, nutmeg, half and half, eggs & some freshly ground pepper. Toss the mixture with the cooled pasta and then stir in the sausage and the sundried tomatoes.
Preheat the broiler. In a nonstick skillet (mine was 10"), heat the remaining tsp. of olive oil and the butter. Transfer the spaghetti mixture to the skillet, pressing to form an even layer. Cook until the bottom is golden, about 3 minutes. Transfer to the broiler to finish cooking and crisp up, about 5 more minutes. Allow to cool slighly before inverting onto a platter and slicing into wedges.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (with whole wheat pasta & Trader Joe's chicken sausage): Calories: 389 / Fat: 18.4g / Saturated: 6.5g / Carbs: 36g / Fiber: 5.7g / Protein: 24.1g
Does making a blog post on a Friday night totally give away the fact that I lead an incredibly lame life? Probably. Is getting really excited about the National Spelling Bee that's currently on ESPN even worse? I don't know, but I don't care. I absolutely love watching it every year. At any rate, here is a quick post from the ol' Macbook as I'm watching the spelling bee and cracking up that one of the spellers thought "numnah" was actually "numbnuts." Hilarity!
First, a quick reminder that the next deadline for Eat to the Beat is a month from today, June 30. This is the event that asks you to pair some type of food or drink with an artist, song, etc. We had some great entries last time, so I am hoping to get some great participation this time around too!
Second, this is the easiest appetizer you will ever make. It uses 4 ingredients and there's a good chance you have them all in your kitchen right now. Okay, I admit I don't usually have premade phyllo cups in the freezer. But, they are a nice staple to have because you never know when you will want to make a last-minute appetizer and not have time to run to the store. These were, in fact, a last minute appetizer for the barbecue we decided to have with a couple friends on Memorial Day.
I was so lazy with these that I didn't even chop the basil prettily and did a quick chiffonade instead. But hey, these tasted great anyway. You can't go wrong with warm cheese, can you?
Goat Cheese & Sundried Tomato Phyllo Cups
Let a log of goat cheese soften to room temperature.
Drain and chop some sundried tomatoes. Mix them in with the softened goat cheese and add a little fresh ground pepper.
Spoon the mixture into the phyllo cups and bake at 350 till the cheese is warm and the phyllo cups are crisp.
Sprinkle over some fresh chopped basil and serve.
As I mentioned, there are so many great blogging events going on right now and sadly, I haven't had the chance to participate in as many as I would like. Thankfully, though, Barbara at Winos and Foodies extended the deadline for this year's Taste of Yellow, so I was able to sneak a submission in tonight before going out of town tomorrow. If you haven't already participated in LiveSTRONG Taste of Yellow 2008, definitely try to!
I picked up some yellow squash the other day, and sort of decided what I was going to do with it about 5 minutes before cooking it. The filling consists of ingredients I always have around, and that I love in combination with one another. Plus, I think it makes for something quite pretty!
Taste of Yellow is to show your support of LiveSTRONG Day 2008, which is May 13. Cancer. It's one of those things that I feel affects nearly everyone in some way, unfortunately. It hit me the hardest as a freshman in high school when my grandfather was diagnosed with colon cancer.
I lived with my grandparents from when I was 3 years old until I was 10 years old. They were obviously like a second set of parents to me. My yiayia (grandma) and pappou (grandpa) took me on their biannual vacations, gave me my first job as a "hostess" at their restaurant, and, well, made me talk to anyone who called because they couldn't speak good English :) Speaking of poor English, one of my earliest memories is of my pappou yelling at my preschool teacher. See, when I started preschool I was armed with a very small set of English words as I spoke Greek to my whole family. I was also armed with quite a temper and stubbornness (some things never change). One day, we were supposed to be napping in cots. I was not used to taking naps in the afternoon and I tried to let my teacher know that. The teacher, increasingly frustrated with me, eventually dragged my cot (and me) out to the hallway and made me sit there for the rest of the afternoon. When my pappou came to pick me up and saw me crying in the hallway, he was absolutely furious. You can imagine the the screaming in incredibly broken English that ensued.
I was alway close with both my grandparents, but my pappou and I shared a special bond. I was the typical spoiled only grandchild, but it was so much more than that. We always had a good time together, and he loved me more than anyone. I'd stay up waiting for him to come home from the restaurant and practically every night, like clockwork, he would eat a steak and drink some ouzo. So now you know where I get my adoration for both steak and ouzo :)
When my pappou was diagnosed with cancer, it was obviously a scary thing for me but more than anything, I assumed he would pull through it. My grandpa was tough. He was a big guy. He came from Greece on a boat and became successful in the States. He raised me in addition to raising three of his own children. Cancer? He could beat cancer! Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. Watching someone you love so much get weaker, get thinner and just get sicker as the cancer spread is something I hope I never have to go through again. My pappou lost his battle with cancer in 1995. It was devastating. And, it's still devastating. I still think about him all of the time, and I often wish he were here to share so many things with me. On our wedding day, Tom and I wore the "stefana" (crowns prevalent during an Orthodox ceremony) that my yiayia and pappou wore on their wedding day in 1959. It was a way for him to be there with me on my special day, and I know that he is still "here" for me on other special days. Or maybe on a day that doesn't even seem that special...watching over me, wondering why I am eating chicken and drinking wine when I could be having a piece of steak with a shot of ouzo instead.
Mediterranean Squash Boats
2 yellow squash
a little olive oil
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted
1 large clove garlic, finely minced or pressed
2 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
fresh parsley or additional basil for topping (optional)
Preheat the oven to 375.
Wash and scrub the squash, and then cut lengthwise. Scoop out the "meat" of the squash, chop it, and put it in a bowl. To the bowl, add the sundried tomatoes, basil, pine nuts, garlic and salt and pepper to taste.
Brush the outside of the squash with a little olive oil (or spray with a Misto) and sprinkle the insides lightly with salt and pepper. Fill the zucchini with the mixture from the bowl. Drizzle each piece with a little balsamic vinegar. Top with the crumbled goat cheese. Bake for about 20 minutes or until zucchini is tender and cheese is warm.
Everyone falls into this trap at one point or another, don't they? You see something on sale and you buy it--because it's on sale. You probably don't need it, you may not even know what to do with it, but there it is with you in the checkout lane. Or so is the case with my package of ground chicken. It was on sale and I bought it. I had no idea what to do with it, so I stuck it in my freezer. When it eventually came out of the depths of my freezer, I had to figure out what I was going to make with this (frankly, extremely unappetizing looking) stuff that has never been in my fridge before.
We eat fairly healthily but if there is one thing I can't do, it's ground turkey. I don't know. I should probably try it again since there are so many great blogs with ground turkey recipes that actually look pretty good. But, what can I say? It's just not my thing. I'm a beef lover. Even at Thanksgiving, my dad and I often sulk over the lack of red meat. I don't eat red meat that often and when I eat it in ground form, I just make sure it's really lean and then I don't feel at all bad eating it. So really, why bother with the alternative? Well, to that point, why bother with the ground chicken!? I am telling you, it truly is because it was on sale! I am a SUCKER! Okay, that and I remembered seeing this chicken pesto burger Nikki made that looked pretty tasty. Originally, I was going to make the same burger since I have some pesto in my freezer from the last batch I made. But, I decided to go a different route (while still keeping the Mediterranean flair) and keep this Greek-inspired. I seasoned the burgers fairly simply and added some cheese (which, as you already know, makes everything better) and then topped them with a chunky tapenade of sorts made from kalamata olives and sundried tomatoes. The result was a juicy, flavorful burger. We liked it, we really liked it! Who knew?! I mean, okay, we obviously like chicken, but like I said, I am not normally one to use it where beef belongs :)
Mediterranean Chicken Burgers
Makes 4 burgers
1 lb. ground chicken (alright, alright...or turkey)
3 oz. feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1.5 tsp. dried oregano
12 kalamata olives, pitted
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil, drained and chopped
1 Tbsp. olive oil (or oil from the tomatoes)
1 clove garlic
salt and pepper
Mix the chicken, feta, parsley, oregano and salt and pepper to taste in a bowl. Shape into 4 patties. Lightly spray a grill/grill pan with oil and cook the burgers until done, about 5-6 minutes per side.
Meanwhile, make the tapenade by putting the olives, sundried tomatoes, garlic and a little ground pepper in a food processor, pulsing until combined. While pulsing, drizzle in the oil. Top the burgers with the tapenade.
Nutrition Information (this is just for the burgers and topping, not the bun as those will vary greatly): Calories: 212 / Fat: 12.3g / Carbs: 3.1g / Protein: 28g
As I was sticking this into the oven, I decided this would be something Giada would make. Doesn't she put sundried tomatoes and basil in pretty much anything? Of course, she would probably use mascarpone instead of the goat cheese. Not that I am knocking her, at all, because these are some fantastic ingredients and usually make things taste pretty darn good. Where Giada stocks her mascarpone, I stock my goat cheese. It's one of my favorite kinds of cheese and I think it goes well with pretty much anything. In fact, just today I had some on a salad for lunch, and then stuffed into a flank steak for dinner. Mmm, tangy, creamy goodness.
I have said it before and I will say it again: stuffed meats = delicious. Even when you are low on groceries you can inevitably find something to stuff into a chicken breast, pork tenderloin, flank steak, etc. that will give it a little extra oomph and some more elegance (although if you are trying to make it look elegant, I suggest slicing it a little prettier than I did today :)
To make sure we don't overeat, I usually package and freeze our meats into 2-person portions (or sometimes 4, making enough for lunch leftovers). I mention this because the piece of steak I used for this was roughly 8-10 oz big so if you are planning on using an entire flank steak, you will have to double or triple the amount of stuffing, as flanks tend to be around 1.5 lbs. each. We both LOVE this. It's one of our favorite stuffings for flank.
Here's a tip: it turns out that, even though the pan is sitting on the stovetop when you make the pan sauce, it's still hot as hell from being in a 400 degree oven. So, try not to grip the handle at this time. Not that I have any experience with that or anything...
My pictures didn't turn out too great, due in part to the not-so-pretty slices of flank steak pinwheels and also because I couldn't keep a steady hand tonight for some reason (I'd imagine it could have something to do with the 2nd degree burn to the left palm, if I were admitting I did in fact have a burned palm).
Flank Steak Stuffed with Sundried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Basil
Serves 2
10 oz. (ish) flank steak
2 oz. goat cheese, brought to room temperature to soften
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
salt and pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Optional pan sauce:
1 clove garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. white wine
Preheat the oven to 400.
Butterfly the flank steak, and then pound is to flatten it slightly. Sprinkle both sides of the steak with salt and pepper.
In a bowl, combine the softened goat cheese, sundried tomatoes, basil, a few grinds of pepper. Spread the mixture on top of the flank steak, and then roll it up to form a log. Secure the steak with kitchen twine or toothpicks.
Heat a large, ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. Add the flank steak and brown it on all sides. Place the flank steak in the oven to finish cooking to your desired level of doneness (about 12 minutes for me). Place the steak under a foil tent to rest for 5-10 minutes before slicing.
If you want to make a pan sauce, put the same pan you cooked the steak in over medium heat on your stovetop. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the wine and deglaze the pan, scraping up all the browned bits (and, whatever you do, don't touch the handle without an oven mitt). Reduce the sauce slightly and then season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary. Strain and serve over the flank steak.
Nutritional Information Per Serving: Calories: 340 / Fat: 21g / Carbs: 4.2g / Protein: 29.3
I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I hate mayo. Loathe it, really. Just looking at the way it jiggles in the cup when someone asks for it on the side of something at a restaurant makes me ill. Ick! So, as you may have gathered, I am not too big on most picnic type foods, like chicken/egg/potato/pasta salads, deviled eggs, etc. When I make potato and pasta salads, I always use a vinaigrette-based dressing. I must admit, though, that I've never made chicken salad. When I saw a recipe for chicken salad with asparagus and sundried tomato dressing from Cook's Illustrated, I knew I had to try it.
I served this over some swiss chard and also with crostini (with goat cheese spread on it). Overall, the flavor on this was good. I think it needs more dressing (at least when it's served over greens) but I admit I did reduce the amount of olive oil slightly to make it a little lighter, so that contributed to it being underdressed, no doubt.
While I liked the asparagus and sundried tomatoes in this chicken salad (and, of course, the goat cheese and pine nuts!), I think I prefer chicken salad I had at a local coffee shop, which has since closed. Their chicken salad had pesto and hearts of palm. So, at some point, I will try to make a copycat version of that. But, overall we did like this recipe.
Chicken Salad with Asparagus and Sundried Tomato Dressing
Cook's Illustrated
Serves 5-6
3.5 lb. whole chicken, seasoned with salt and pepper (I actually just used a roasted chicken I picked up at my grocery store)
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil, plus an additional tablespoon
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained, rinsed and chopped
1 small clove garlic, minced or pressed (I used 2)
1/2 lb. asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1" pieces
1 cup chopped fresh basil
3 ounces crumbled goat cheese (optional)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted (I probably used closer to 1/4 cup)
If you are roasting your own chicken, season it with salt and pepper and then roast it in the middle of a 375 degree oven until done. When cool, pull the meat from the bones and set aside 5 cups. If you have more, just save it for a different use.
Puree the oil, vinegar, sundried tomatoes, garlic and 1/4 tsp salt and 1/s tsp pepper in a food processor/blender until smooth. Transfer for a bowl.
Heat the remaining oil in a skillet and cook the asparagus (seasoned with salt and pepper) until almost tender, about 3 minutes. Let cool.
Add the cooled asparagus and the basil to the vinaigrette, stirring to combine. Add the chicken to combine and let stand at room temperature for 15 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with goat cheese and pine nuts, if you want.
I had a decent amount of fresh sage that I wanted to use up before we went out of town for the weekend. Rather than adding a leaf or two to a meal, I decided to go with a pesto so that I could use up more of the sage.
To put a slight twist on the traditional pesto, I made it with fontina and added sundried tomatoes. Then I stuffed it into chicken. We had this with some Kashi pilaf with mushrooms and peas. I really love the Kashi pilaf and recommend it. However, they claim it takes 25 minutes to cook, which makes no sense to me since brown rice is one of the grains in there, and it takes longer than 25 minutes. So, I tend to add a little more liquid (chicken broth in this case) and cook it for 10 or sometimes 15 minutes longer than directed.
I didn't really measure the pesto, but what's below is probably close. Obviously this doesn't make a whole lot, since I was only using it to stuff 2 chicken breasts. But it does use up a lot of sage if you have some around!
Sundried tomato and sage pesto
1 garlic clove
2 Tbsp toasted pine nuts
2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes
handful of fresh sage
3 Tbsp fontina cheese
EVOO (I used some regular EVOO and some oil from the sundried tomatoes; use as much as you want depending on the consistency you are going for)
salt and pepper to taste.
Stick everything in a food processor. Process and you're done :)
For the chicken, I stuffed it with the pesto and seasoned it simply with salt and pepper. I just pan fried it in a little olive oil to brown it and then finished cooking it in a 350 degree oven. Right before I put it in the oven (in the same pan I pan-fried it in), I added a few splashes of chicken broth to make more of a pan sauce, which I spooned over at the end.
Nutritional info for the chicken (using a 5 oz piece of chicken breast and .75 Tbsp EVOO per serving which could be cut down if you don't pan fry it): Calories: 389 / Fat: 23g / Carbs: 6.3g / Protein: 39g
I can't believe I am going to say this, but I had about half a log of goat cheese that I was scared would go bad soon. I had chicken out but didn't feel like my standard stuffed chicken so I decided to make a goat cheese sauce instead. It was delicious. Unfortunately I was messing around with the potatoes for a brief moment and my sauce reduced a bit too much, so this was a little more chunky than saucy :)
Chicken with Goat Cheese and Sundried Tomato Sauce
2 chicken breast halves, about 5 oz. each
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup white wine (I used Chardonnay)
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 Tbsp sundried tomatoes, chopped and drained, if they are oil-packed
2 ounces herbed goat cheese (this is what I had on hand; if you have plain you may want to saute a clove of garlic and add a fresh herb like basil to the sauce)
salt and pepper
Sprinkle chicken breast halves with salt and pepper.
Heat skillet over medium heat and add oil.
When oil is hot, add chicken breasts. Cook through, about 4-6 minutes per side depending on how thin they are. Set aside and keep warm. Drain the pan if there is a lot of excess oil.
In the same skillet, add wine and chicken broth. Increase heat to medium-high and cook liquids down until reduced by half, being sure to scrape up the browned bits from the chicken.
Add in sundried tomatoes and heat through. Take skillet off the heat and stir in goat cheese.
This weekend I went on a marathon (5+ hour!) grocery shopping spree. I know I am a complete dork, but grocery shopping is one of those things that makes me happy, even when the places are madhouses (as Trader Joe's was, of course). This was my first time shopping at Sam's Club/Costco. I think I got some great deals on meat so I am interested to see how this alters our grocery budget (which, as it stands, is pretty outrageous).
Anyway, tonight I made some healthy apple muffins. I have been playing around with mixtures to try to minimize calories/fat but not taste. Although these are not as sweet or quite as moist as your usual muffin, I still think they are great and they are packed with nutritional goodness. I don't want to make them sound bad--they are by no means dry. But since they have under 200 calories and are made partially with whole wheat flour, they are a little more dense than a 700 calorie Starbuck's muffin.
I have also made these with mashed banana instead of apple. I think the apple ones turn out slightly more moist because of all the moisture you get from grated apples. Both are good, though!
Thanks to the wonder of calorieking.com I have even figured out the nutritional value for these muffins which is as follows (per muffin):
Calories: 188
Fat: 3.8g
Carbs: 32g
Protein: 6g
Fiber: 3.3g
Sugar: 11g
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar (you can use a combo of brown & white if you'd like)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (almonds, walnuts, pecans...whatever you prefer)
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
dash or two of nutmeg
1 egg
3/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tsp vanilla or almond extract
1 cup grated apples (or mashed bananas)
Preheat oven to 400*
Using a whisk, combine all your dry ingredients in one bowl: whole wheat and AP flour, sugar, baking soda and powder, salt, nuts, spices).
Beat the egg lightly in a separate bowl. Whisk in milk, applesauce, vanilla to the eggs.
Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold apples in.
Divide the batter among a greased or paper-lined muffin tin.
Bake for about 18 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Hmm, let's see, what else? Yesterday we had chicken stuffed with sundried tomatoes, basil, and feta over some wild rice mixed with spinach, mushrooms, garlic & pine nuts.
I pounded the chicken breast fairly thin, added sundried tomatoes (oil packed), feta, dried oregano and basil (and salt and pepper of course). Rolled it up.
I then browned it in some garlic-infused EVOO for a bit before removing it to the oven to finish cooking.
Friday's creation was a 10 minute beef teriyaki type thing. I marinated some flank steak in teriyaki marinade in the morning (I use and LOVE Soy Vay Veri Veri Teriyaki marinade. It has no preservatives/ingredients you can't pronounce and tastes great).
When I got home, I cooked it in just a little vegetable oil with some onion, garlic, and a little crushed red pepper. I added peapods in right at the end. Meanwhile, in a bowl, I mixed about 2 tbsp beef broth, about a teasoon of corn starch, and a few dashes of Chinese 5 spice. I added the mixture toward the end, along with a squirt of honey and let it cook on low to thicken a bit.
I made (*gasp*) brown minute rice in the meantime. Hence the 10 minute meal!
