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Lemon Pepper Chicken with Creamy Artichoke & Sun Dried Tomato Pasta

Well, that’s quite a long title for a dish. I don’t really know what else to call it though, this recipe was a result of me trying to make a meal with what I had on hand. I was send some chicken from Gold’n Plump, and one of the options was Lemon Pepper Seasoned Boneless Skinless Breast Fillets. I had some tarragon left over from my Salmon Croquettes and I thought the lemon pepper seasoning would go perfectly with that, along with some sun dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts.

Ingredients (this makes two servings):

2 lemon pepper seasoned boneless skinless breast fillets

1/2 box pasta of your choice (I used fusilli)

1 teaspoon olive oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 green onions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup cream

4 artichoke hearts, quartered

1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped

1 tablespoon chopped tarragon

salt and pepper, to taste

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

the juice of one lemon

Gold’n Plump’s chicken is individually packaged, which is awesome for people who live alone or do not have a family of four. I tend to not buy chicken because I never manage to finish the four fillets usually included in one package. The individual servings allow me to take what I need and freeze the rest for later use.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and set aside. While the pasta is cooking, add the olive oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and the green onions, and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the cream, sun dried tomatoes, tarragon, and artichoke hearts.

Cover and simmer on medium low for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. While the cream mixture is simmering, heat a grill pan (or a saute pan if you don’t have a grill pan) over medium high heat. Add the chicken and sear on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.

The chicken will not be fully cooked through. Slice into thin strips and add to the cream mixture. Cover and cook for 10 minutes, or until the chicken is fully cooked.

Add the pasta to the cream mixture and toss to coat.

Add the mozzarella cheese. Cook for another 1-3 minutes to allow the pasta to absorb some of the sauce, and to let the cheese melt.

Remove from heat and squeeze the lemon juice in to the dish. Mix and serve.

Despite the cream, the flavor of the chicken still shone through, it was really nice! I loved having such a nice amount of flavor from the chicken without having to remember to marinate it beforehand.

Artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, and tarragon work so well together.

You could have this dish without the pasta, but I like it to soak up all of that yummy sauce.

Note: Although the Lemon Pepper Chicken is available in some markets, it is not available in the Philadelphia area. However, Targets in the area do carry the following Gold’n Plump products:

All Natural Boneless Skinless Breasts
Extra Tender Boneless Skinless Breasts
90/10 Ground Chicken
All Natural Drumsticks
All Natural Whole Chicken
Extra Tender Tenders
All Natural Wings
All Natural Boneless Skinless Thighs

Oven-Roasted Halibut with Quinoa and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette

I’m still working through my tomatoes (no complaints here), and I am trying to experiment with different ways to use the tomatoes. I found this recipe for Oven-Roasted Sea Bass with Couscous and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette and used it as a base. I substituted halibut for the sea bass (Chilean sea bass is severely overfished, often illegally, and also has a high content of mercury. Try to buy Pacific halibut because Atlantic halibut is also overfished). I also used quinoa, which was already in my pantry, instead of couscous.

Ingredients:
1 scallion (green onion)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, divided
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
2 (6-ounce) halibut fillets
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
4 (1/4-inch-thick) slices lemon, halved

Preheat oven to 350°.

Cut scallion into 3-inch pieces, and those pieces into thin strips (see photo below).

Prepare your garlic, tomatoes, and lemons.

Heat oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic and cook for 30 seconds or until garlic begins to brown.

Add the tomato and scallions and reduce heat to medium, cooking for 1 minute.

Remove from heat; stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, vinegar, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Keep warm.

Combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and chicken broth in a medium saute pan and bring to a boil. Gradually stir in quinoa and chopped chives and cook for 15 minutes on low. heat Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes.

Fluff with a fork. Cover and keep warm.

Season fish with salt and pepper. Place fillets on a baking dish coated with cooking spray. Place 4 halved lemon slices on each fillet.

Bake at 350° for 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Serve over quinoa, and top with vinaigrette. Garnish with more chives, if desired.

These ingredients worked SO well together. The tomatoes added a slight sweetness to the vinaigrette, which brightened up the entire dish. The quinoa added a nice earthy flavor.

Be sure to top the halibut with a lot of the tomato vinaigrette. I actually went back for more for my serving.

Avocado-Corn Chowder with Rotisserie Chicken

I swear, every single recipe I’ve come across in the past week has included avocado. I am somewhat blaming one of my coworkers, who manages to consume at least 1/2 an avocado a day, every day. So this recipe choice is very much influenced by her avocado obsession. My CSA share’s inclusion of corn this week made this a must try. I adapted this from Cooking Light‘s August Issue.

Ingredients:

2 ripe avocados, divided

1 1/2 cups water

The juice of 1 lemon

The juice of 2 limes

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon kosher salt, divided

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

A pinch of ground red pepper

1/4 rotisserie chicken, shredded

Corn kernels from 3 ears of corn (or 1.5 cups of defrosted corn kernels)

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1/3 cup chopped scallions

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Peel and chop 1 avocado and put into a blender.

Add the water, lemon and lime juice, honey, 3/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and pinch of red pepper. (Add more red pepper if desired) Blend until smooth.

Place in the freezer for 15 minutes. During this time, chop your red bell pepper, scallions, and cilantro, and peel and dice your remaining avocado. Shred the chicken as finely as you choose.

Combine the diced avocado, bell pepper, corn and scallions and pour the avocado puree over the mixture. Mix to combine. Spoon into four bowls and top with chicken and cilantro.

This meal is too easy to not try. Using frozen corn kernels and rotisserie chicken makes this a 20 minute meal. I made this the night before in the hopes of having it for lunch the next day. I was a bit worried that it might oxidize overnight and turn an unappealing color, but the citrus from the lemon and lime kept that from happening. The original recipe uses orange juice instead, but that didn’t sound all that appealing to me. I also substituted rotisserie chicken for grilling my own chicken because I had bought 1/2 a rotisserie chicken to make another dish from Cooking Light also.

I loved that the citrus came through in the dish, but could have used a bit more red pepper flakes. This is a very chunky chowder, which makes it feel like a real meal versus a too smooth soup. My coworker even tried a bite, and she approved. I will be making this for lunch again in the near future!

Creamy Baked Penne and Chicken with Artichokes, Tarragon and Lemon

I have no idea why the concept of a food swap stresses me out so much. But trying to find a recipe for this month was so difficult! I finally found this recipe from a blog called The Bad Girl’s Kitchen; she has a whole section of freezer-friendly meals.

Ingredients (I was making 10 servings):

Salt

2 pounds penne

8 tablespoons olive oil

6 cans of artichoke hearts, rinsed and chopped

1 medium onion, minced

8 medium garlic cloves, minced (about 8 teaspoons)

Zest from 1 lemon

1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1 cup dry white wine

2 cups heavy cream

2 pounds chicken thighs

3 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups frozen peas

16 ounces shredded Italian cheese blend (about 2 cups)

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Ground black pepper

3 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon leaves

that’s quite a few ingredients

To cook the pasta, boil water in a pasta pot over high heat. Add a tablespoon of salt and the pasta and cook for 5 minutes (it will be very al dente– they will cook fully in the oven later). Drain pasta in a colander and toss with two tablespoons olive oil. Set aside.

Prep your artichokes, onion, and garlic.

In a large pot, heat 6 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Add the artichokes, onion, and 1 teaspoon salt. Cook until the artichokes are lightly browned (about 10 minutes).

Add the garlic and lemon zest and cook for about 30 seconds. Stir in the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the broth, wine, and cream.

Add the chicken and bay leaves and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes, or until the chicken registers 160 degrees.

Remove from heat and discard the bay leaves. Remove chicken and set aside to cool. When cooled, shred into bite-sized pieces. Stir the chicken back into the sauce, adding the pasta, peas, 2 cups cheese and lemon juice. Stir until combined and season with salt and pepper.

I transferred these into tupperware dishes. I included a freezer bag of cheese and put them in the freezer.

To cook, thaw the meal in the refrigerator (about 24 hours). Add to a casserole dish and top with the cheese.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Cover with aluminum foil sprayed with vegetable spray. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove foil and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle with tarragon and serve.

Whew. I heated up a tiny portion of this, just to make sure it was edible. Well, it was more than edible, it was really quite good! I was impressed with how much flavor was in the dish. Thanks for such a great recipe Bad Girl’s Kitchen!

Salad with Hoisin Vinaigrette and Crisp Panko Chicken

My fridge looks like a forest. I kid you not. I have two of my three shelves of my refrigerator filled with leafy greens. I didn’t want to have just a plain old boring salad, so I decided to try this recipe from Cooking Light (April 2006).

Ingredients for chicken:
1/2 cup panko
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound chicken breast tenders
Cooking spray

Ingredients for salad:
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon finely chopped peeled fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 1/2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 1/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 spring garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped green onions (scallions)
1/4 bunch of romaine lettuce
1/4 bunch of red leafy lettuce

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To cook chicken, add first 4 ingredients (panko through pepper) to a bowl.

Mix to combine. Add chicken one at a time, tossing to coat. Transfer the chicken to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

Bake for 15 minutes or until chicken is done and lightly browned.

To prepare salad, combine vinegar and next 7 ingredients (through minced garlic) in a bowl.

Prepare your lettuce by washing and rinsing the Romaine and red leafy lettuce. Tear with your hands and add to a bowl.

Add halved tomatoes and green onions.

Add vinegar mixture, tossing to coat. Transfer to individual plates and top with the chicken.

Wow. This dressing was fantastic. It has a bit of spice to it without any heat. The chicken was crispy on the outside but really tender on the inside. The original recipe used a clove of garlic instead of spring garlic, but I think the raw mature garlic would be too overpowering. It also called for white wine vinegar, but for some reason I had rice vinegar on hand instead. I will most certainly use this recipe in the future!

Cornmeal-Crusted Scallops with Mint Chimichurri

I’m still working through my mint and came across this recipe on My Recipes. Chimichurri is normally made with parsley and oregano and is used as a marinade on meat. However, this recipe incorporates mint, making the chimichurri seafood-friendly.

Ingredients:

3/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/3 cup sliced green onions (scallions)
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
1/2 teaspoon minced seeded serrano chili
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon green (spring) garlic
3 tablespoons yellow cornmeal
4 dry scallops
1 tablespoon olive oil

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