Chicken Pasta with Buttery Lemon Sauce

I tend to like slightly tart food more than really spicy food (although I will NEVER turn down good Mexican food...) but I wasn't sure about this recipe at first. I was wrong. This is really good, and better than that, really fast. Original recipe here, but I've made several changes.

Ingredients:
1 chicken breast
1 cup whole wheat rotini pasta
1/3-1/2 lb asparagus, 1.5" lengths
1 cup frozen peas
1 Tlbs butter
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
1.25 cups chicken broth
2 tsp cornstarch
3/4 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
juice of half a lemon (1-2 Tlbs)
dash of salt
1/4-1/2 tsp ground pepper
dash of red pepper flakes

Saute the chicken in a skillet (or grill it if you are lucky enough to have one of those), then set it aside. Meanwhile, boil the pasta. During the last two minutes, toss in the asparagus and the peas, then drain and set it aside. When the chicken is done, put the butter in the pan and saute the garlic for a minute or so. Mix the chicken broth and cornstarch together, then add it to the pan. Bring it to a boil, then let it thicken, stirring constantly, for 1-2 minutes. Take the mixture off the heat, and mix the yogurt, lemon, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes together. Add the yogurt mixture to the garlic/broth mixture, and stir to combine. Pour the sauce over the pasta, peas and asparagus. Top with grated parmesan and serve with chicken (this makes two servings).

This was really good and definitely kicky. Also, it is ridiculously fast. Including grilling the chicken, it took me about 20 minutes from prep to serve....just the kind of meal I like after a day of school and meetings. Changes I made were to change the heavy cream to Greek yogurt, increase the amount of sauce and decrease the amount of pasta, increased the amount of pepper and decreased the amount of lemon and salt, and dramatically increased the amount of garlic (although I did have small cloves...there was probably 1 Tlbs chopped).

Rating - 4.5/5
Why? Despite all the changes (I made this on Saturday night with a friend too), I still think it is a little too lemony (I reduced the amount of lemon above). However I do love that it is sooooo fast and easy, relatively healthy, and very filling.

Decadent Chocolate& Peanut Butter Cupcakes

This is is no way a healthy recipe, in any way, shape or form, but oh well. I started with this recipe from pinterest, but did make some changes to it, and will probably continue to modify it.

Cupcake Ingredients:
1 package Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
2 Tlbs powdered cocoa
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 1/3 cup water
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups dark chocolate chips
1 package Reese's peanut butter cups

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients but the chocolate chips and peanut butter cups together until there are no lumps. Fold in the chocolate chips. In a muffin tin, put in the cupcake liners, then spray the liners with evoo. Put one of the peanut butter cups in the bottom of each cupcake liner, then top with the chocolate mix. Fill the cupcakes liners completely to the top and bake for 20 minutes*. Let cupcakes cool for 5 minutes in pan before removing, and let them cool completely before frosting. I was able to make 24 cupcakes with this recipe.

* Original recipe says 15-17 minutes, but mine were raw in the middle with that time.

Frosting:
1/2 cup of butter - room temperature
1/2 cup shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup milk (more or less)*
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 cup Nutella**

Put all ingredients into a bowl and whip on high speed until smooth, then ice cupcakes.

* I used closer to 3/4-1 cup of milk....the frosting needs to be smooth
** I used dark chocolate hazelnut spread I got at World Market. It was excellent. Regular Nutella would also be quite good, I am thinking. The original recipe called for peanut butter, which I'm sure would also be very good.

These were really good, but very sweet. I think I would make the following changes the next time I made these:
1. I would NOT use cake mix. I did not grow up on cake mix, so I don't care for the texture of it. I would probably use this recipe, modified to include peanut butter. It is more moist and less crumbly and not as sweet....and I recognize all the ingredients.
2. I would put a 1/4" layer of batter down before putting in the peanut butter cup. These turned out a little crunchy on the bottom.

Rating - 3.5/5
Why? The reasons above.

Roasted Red Pepper Penne

I may have mentioned my love of basil here before, but seriously, I LOVE basil. I don't have much planting space - just a little balcony - but I am planning on planting only basil this year. Otherwise, I spend $4 a week on a 6 oz box of organic basil at Safeway, and I use all of it each week. So this recipe has become an instant favorite, as it incorporates a full cup of basil as well as another favorite, red peppers. Original recipe from here (via pinterest, of course), but I have changed it a bit to make it a little healthier.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups penne pasta
1/8 cup olive oil
4 whole garlic cloves
1/3 cup pine nuts
2-3 chopped roma tomatoes
1/3 cup grated parmesan
1 jar roasted red bell peppers, drained
1 cup fresh basil leaves
salt and pepper
1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1/4-1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup cooked shredded chicken

Cook the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the oil and garlic over medium heat for 3-4 minutes, then add the pine nuts and heat for another 1-2 minutes. Put the oil, garlic, and pine nuts into a food processor, then toss the tomatoes into the warm pan and let them break down just slightly (1-2 minutes, tops). Back at the food processor, pulse the warm oil mixture. Then add the parmesan and pulse again, then add the bell peppers, basil, salt and pepper and pulse until smooth. I like mine a little creamy, so I add a little Greek yogurt and milk, then pour it over the cooked and drained pasta. Stir it all together, then stir in the chicken and tomatoes. Top with chopped basil and parmesan cheese and serve.

Seriously, this stuff is awesome. And if your chicken is already cooked, it comes together in about 20 minutes. I love how much basil is in this (of course) and since I use whole wheat pasta, it is really filling. In the original recipe, she used cream instead of Greek yogurt and milk, and used 1/3 cup of oil, but I hate oily pesto and so I cut it down significantly. I also sometimes throw in a dash of hazelnut oil just for kicks, but that isn't really necessary.

Rating? 5/5
Why? It's simple, delicious, and filling.

Chicken Paprikash

This is my second time to make this dish, and I have modified the original recipe (from Clean Eating) quite a lot. I am not sure what Chicken Paprikash is supposed to taste like, but I do like whatever it is that I created. =)

Ingredients:
3-4 red potatoes (1 lb)
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 sweet onion, thinly sliced
1 chicken breast, trimmed and cut into chunks
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tlbs paprika
1 tsp sugar*
1 cup plain nonfat Greek yogurt
fresh ground black pepper

Directions:
Heat the oven to 425. Slice the potatoes into 8 wedges. Place them on a cookie sheet that has been covered with a sheet of tin foil** and sprayed thoroughly with olive oil. Bake the potato wedges for 12 minutes, then spray the top side with olive oil, flip each wedge over and bake another 12-13 minutes. Meanwhile, saute the garlic and onion over medium heat for 5 minutes or so, then add the tomato sauce, chicken, paprika, and sugar. Turn the heat down to medium low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until chicken is cooked thoroughly and the sauce is thickened slightly. Take the pan off the heat, then stir in the yogurt and add black pepper to taste. Serve over the potatoes.

* the recipe called for sweet paprika, which I couldn't find. When I made it the first time I used plain paprika and it just wasn't right. I looked online and found that you can simulate sweet paprika by adding a little sugar so that's what I did here. If you have sweet paprika, leave out the sugar.

** the recipe said to use parchment paper, but I don't have any of that, so I used tin foil instead. If you use tinfoil, it is really important to oil it really well, because the potatoes stick to the tinfoil.

I made several important changes to this recipe; the original recipe called for sun-dried tomatoes soaked in hot water, there was 1/4 cup of water in the tomato mixture, and the potatoes were supposed to bake for 40 minutes. I have tried several recipes with sun-dried tomatoes and simply do not like them, although it might be where I get them from, and had to add over of a cup of water to the tomato mixture to get something that vaguely resembled sauce. I used a can of tomato soup, but I think that a can or 1.5 cups of chopped tomatoes would also work well, especially if you let it simmer for 30 minutes or so. In addition, at least in my oven, 40 minutes burned the potatoes to a black crisp, so I shortened it to 25 minutes and they turned out perfectly.

Rating 4.5/5
Why? This is a really good recipe and I definitely licked the bowl clean.

Three Cheese Stuffed "Shells"

Today it was supposed to snow, but didn't, but it will be Snowmageddon tomorrow, or something...anyway, it's cold and what was on the menu for tonight didn't sound appetizing, so I made something more cheesy. I had to modify several things, but the original recipe is from Clean Eating. Sorry for the crappy picture.

Sauce Ingredients:
3 cups chopped tomatoes
12 oz roasted red bell peppers, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp dried red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup packed whole parsley, roughly chopped

Shell Ingredients:
2 cups of corn, divided
9 whole wheat lasagna noodles*
1.5 cups low-fat ricotta cheese
4 oz goat cheese**
2 Tlbs chopped fresh parsley
1 large egg
fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated mozzarella

Directions:
Mix all the sauce ingredients except the parsley in a saucepan over medium heat and bring it to a simmer. Let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, then toss it into the food processor and puree it. Spoon one cup or so into the bottom of a 9x9 pan, then set the rest aside. Meanwhile, boil the noodles until al dente, then set them aside as well. Mix 1.5 cups of corn, the ricotta cheese, goat cheese, parsley, egg, and black pepper in a bowl. Lay out a noodle, and spoon about 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture on it. Roll it up, then put it in the pan. Repeat until you have 9 rolled packets. Spoon the rest of the sauce over the top, then the rest of the corn, and top with the mozzarella. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let it sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

*This is supposed to be stuffed shells, but whole wheat shells are impossible to find, even here in Seattle. The only place I could find them was on amazon.

**I accidentally got peppadew, having never had goat cheese before. I figured it would go well with this recipe so I didn't really worry about it.

The original recipe called for mint in the cheese filling, which was just weird, and I didn't feel like buying it just for this recipe, so I skipped it. Other than that I followed the recipe pretty closely, except for replacing the shells with lasagna noodles and the plain goat cheese with peppadew. Also, I finally figured out where the roasted peppers are in the store (with the condiments??), so I can use them in other recipes that call for them. They gave a different taste to the sauce, that's for sure.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? This has the cheesy comfort-food taste that I crave sometimes when it's cold outside, but with a definitely spicy twist that is a little unexpected. I wish that I could find the shells though.

Chicken Tikka Masala

When I first moved to Seattle, the extent of my knowledge regarding Indian food consisted of the fact that I knew they ate curry. And I had never actually HAD curry, I only knew that it was a food and was from India. Then some friends suggested we go to a nearby Indian restaurant before the Open House at school, and I have been hooked ever since. My favorite dish there is tikka masala, also called butter chicken. As you can imagine, it is somewhat less than healthy, in the way that eating a stick of butter is "somewhat" less healthy than eating a carrot. In Clean Eating a few months ago, they had a recipe for Tikka Masala so I thought I would give it a shot on a day I had off from school, since the recipe said it needed 4 hours of preparation. Then I took a closer look at the recipe, and realized that while I had torn out the ingredients, I had neglected to tear out the directions (face --> palm). So this is cobbled together with ingredients from Clean Eating and directions from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:

1 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tsp ginger*
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1.5 tsp coriander
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 chicken breasts, cut into chunks

Sauce:
1.5 tsp safflower oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ginger*
4.5 tsp garam masala**
1.5 tsp chili powder
1 can tomato sauce
1 cup low-fat sour cream

*I used ginger powder because I didn't have any fresh ginger. If you use fresh ginger, use 4x as much as dried
**garam masala is a mixture of Indian spices. I had to go to Uwajimaya to find some. You can make your own by mixing together spices like coriander, cumin, pepper, ginger, cardamom, etc. Here is one recipe, and here is another one.

Directions:
Mix together the first set of ingredients and let it marinate in the fridge for at least an hour. I put mine in a plastic bag and let it sit for about 2 hours. Then saute*** the chicken over medium to medium-high heat, and when it's done set it aside. To make the sauce, heat the oil and saute the garlic for a couple of minutes, then add the onions and saute them until translucent. At this point, turn the heat down to low, add the tomato sauce, spices, and sour cream and let it simmer, stirring frequently, for about 45 minutes. I added the chicken back in about half way through, just for kicks. Serve over rice and garnish with cilantro.

***"tikka" is a Hindi word for chunks of meat cooked on a skewer. I was feeling quite lazy (my grill is hard to clean and is stored in a rather inaccessible place) so I sauted the meat in a pan instead. I actually think it would taste a little better if it had been grilled.

My thoughts....I liked this. It was a little spicier than I am used to, so in the recipe above I left out part of the cayenne pepper for next time. It also was not as buttery as what I get at Naan N Curry, but that's ok, since there's no butter in this. In a traditional tikka masala, there is butter and heavy cream in the sauce and I would have replaced those anyway. Also, in the Clean Eating recipe, it called for sour cream, where I would have normally used Greek yogurt. I had some trouble with the yogurt curdling when I was baking at Christmas so I decided to follow their recipe, but next time I think I would use the yogurt instead.

Rating: 4/5
Why? It is not as smooth and silky as what I am used to and the spices are different. It is still pretty good and worth playing with.

Poppyseed Salad Dressing

This year I have been taking a salad to school for lunch each day. I really like this but have been on the hunt for a decent salad dressing to go with it. I have looked and looked and in the course of this hunt have realized that nearly every salad dressing on the market, including organic versions, have a lot of preservatives in them. So I set out to make my own. The original recipe is from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients:
1/3 cup (or less) sugar
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
4.5 tsp grated red onion
3 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp poppy seeds
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup evoo

Mix all the ingredients together in a jar with a tight-fitting lid. Shake it well, then put it in the refrigerator at least overnight.

This was really good. I did cut down the sugar by over half a cup (no, really, it was a ridiculous amount of sugar). This is nice and tart because of the apple cider but creamy at the same time. I just take it to school and leave it in the fridge and it lasts over a week.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? There is a lot of oil in this...but it still is pretty good.