Panzanella

I just got Ellie Krieger's cookbook, "So Easy," and I found a great-looking recipe for a dish we made in culinary school: Panzanella (Italian Bread Salad). Ellie's recipe is a bit different from the one we made in school, but it has the same basic ingredients - bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, and onions. So, I decided to combine the two recipes into my own version of the classic Italian salad!

Panzanella

3-4 cups of bread, cubed

1 English cucumber, seeded and diced

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 of a small red onion, thinly slivered

1 avocado, peeled and diced

a few sprigs of fresh fennel (or any other fresh herb you have on hand)

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

Salt & Pepper to taste

dried italian herbs to taste

3 links of chicken sausage

First, preheat the oven to 320 degrees F. Then put the cubed bread on a sheet pan.

Next, combine a few tablespoons of olive oil with salt, pepper, and dried italian herbs in a shallow bowl.

Dunk each bread cube into the olive oil mixture on two or three sides. Put them back on the sheet pan and toss them around a bit.

Stick the sheet pan in the oven on the bottom rack and allow them to cook for 15 - 20 minutes (until they're crispy). While they cook, combine all of the vegetables and herbs in a bowl. Sprinkle salt and pepper on them and toss.

Once the bread cubes are done, add them to the vegetable mixture.

Pour the rest of the olive oil and the balsamic vinegar over the vegetables and bread. Now toss it more. I added some black cooked lentils (from Trader Joe's) as a garnish - you can too if you have them. If not, it should be just fine! Then I cooked the sausage, sliced it, and served it alongside of the panzanella. That was Ellie Krieger's pairing idea - and it was perfect! I also plated the salad overtop of some mixed baby greens.

I hope you enjoy it! It was so simple to make - I couldn't even believe it! Plus, it was delicious and full of texture!

~ Mari

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Spanish Couscous

I would be lying if I told you that Chicken is my favorite meat. It's definitely not. In fact, it can get pretty boring. But, they had some nice-looking organic chicken breasts on sale at Kroger and I figured I could come up with something tasty to make with them. So, I looked through Ina Garten's (she's pretty amazing) "Barefoot Contessa at Home" cookbook and she had a great recipe for Chicken stuffed with goat cheese that I decided to make. I made a few minor adjustments, but here it is:

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 heaping Tbsp. of goat cheese

6 fresh basil leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Finely chop three of the basil leaves and mix it with the goat cheese in a small bowl with a fork. Then add some salt and pepper. Put a Tbsp. of the goat cheese mixture into each of the three basil leaves. Put the chicken breasts on a cutting board so that the tenderloin is facing up. Take the basil leaves with goat cheese inside and stuff each little basil "package" underneath the tenderloin on each breast. Next, rub each breast with extra virgin olive oil. If you have "Silpat" (a nonstick surface for cooking on), you can use that, but if not, put parchment paper down on a sheet pan. Then place the chicken breasts on the sheet pan and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Put them in the oven and allow to bake for 35 minutes, basting them with olive oil (or spray with olive oil cooking spray) frequently.

After the 35 minutes, check that the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breasts is at 165 degrees F. Once it is, turn off the oven and turn the broiler on high. Watch the chicken closely as it will brown very quickly! Once the breasts are golden brown, take them out and allow them to cool.

While the chicken is cooking, you can make the couscous (it's so nice, they named it twice!):

Spanish Couscous

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion or shallots

3 cups chicken stock or broth

1.5 cups couscous

1 ear, grilled corn, off the cob

10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup frozen, chopped spinach

1.5 tsp. chili powder

Melt the butter in a large pot and add the olive oil once it's melted. Add the onions/shallots and saute them over medium-low heat for about three minutes - until they become translucent. Next, add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, stir in the couscous, add the frozen spinach, cover the pan, and set aside for about 10 minutes. The couscous will soak up all that yummy liquid and the steam will cook the spinach.

In a smaller pan, saute the corn and tomatoes with a little olive oil and some chili powder. After the couscous has soaked up the liquid, add the corn and tomatoes and stir until mixed well.

Now that your chicken and couscous are perfection, plate, eat, and enjoy!

Here's what the inside looks like with the melty goat cheese and flavorful basil leaf:

Hope you like it! Happy eating and buon appetito!

~ Mari

Summer Watermelon & Feta Salad

So, I can't claim this recipe as my own, but I do think it warrants sharing. Last year, Ryan and I had a romantic dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta - Kyma. It's a fantastic Greek restaurant in Buckhead. And this salad is what they served us first...YUM.



First, get a watermelon. I found this cute little seedless "personal watermelon" at Kroger that worked perfectly! There's always soooo much left over when I use a big watermelon. Thanks, watermelon farmers, for growing creepy little hybridized watermelons! Haha.

Slice that little guy up and put the pieces into a bowl. Then grab an onion.

Sliver it as thinly as possible.

Then crumble some Feta cheese (I used fat free) and chop some fresh mint. Put those on top of the watermelon along with the slivered onion. Next, drizzle the salad with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

Now, toss!

The perfect summer lunch: avocado, ham, and arugula panini with watermelon & feta salad. I'm a happy camper.

Yeah... it was good. Not gonna lie. The sweetness of the watermelon balances the saltiness of the feta cheese. Then the mint and onion add a freshness that really pleases the palette. Se delicious and refreshing! Thanks, Kyma! :)

~ Mari

Roasted Summer Squash & Caramelized Onions

Summer is most definitely here - as are my parents' summer squash from the garden. My mom gets tired of sauteed squash, grilled squash, and just...well...squash in general. But, she roasted some and said it was a delicious new twist on squash! (One that she promptly added to her list of summer squash recipes)

Luckily, mom and dad brought some of their tasty summer squash here to our house in Kathleen this past weekend - so I could try roasting some!

Roasted Summer Squash

4-5 summer squash

2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar

3 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp. kosher salt

1 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. allspice

Preheat the oven to 345 degrees F. Chop the squash into a-little-bit-bigger-than-bite-sized pieces.


Cut the garlic cloves in half, and then half again. Put the squash and garlic onto a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Toss with your hands so that the yumminess coats the squash. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and allspice.

Put the little buggers in the oven and set the timer for 15 minutes. After the 15 minutes is up, check them - they should be soft, but firm (you know what I mean...). If they are to your liking, turn the broiler on and leave them in the oven for another 5-6 minutes (until the squash is browned on the edges.

Just to add a sweet element, I tossed the squash with some onions that I caramelized. Mmmmmm! (P.S. if you're not sure how to caramelize onions, I could do a post on that... yes? no? suggestions?)

Enjoy!

~ Mari

The "Whatever You've Got in Your Fridge" Pizza

Don't judge this pizza by her looks - she's unbelievably tasty, however knobbly she may be. Every two weeks or so my mom and I get a hankerin' for homemade pizza. And tonight, the above photo is what came of our efforts. Are you ready? It was a: goat cheese - roasted tomato - spinach - caramelized onion - hard-boiled egg - mustard vinaigrette pizza! And how did I discover that all of these ingredients made one hell of a pizza? By making it...out of random goodies in the fridge!



Mom made her famous pizza dough (which I will put on here eventually), but you can make any pizza dough recipe or buy a ready-made pizza crust. Then we drizzled olive oil on it, put the pre-roasted tomatoes (mom does this in the summer when we have more tomatoes than we know what to do with) on top and plopped globs of goat cheese on it. Then we baked it in the oven on 500 degrees F until the crust browned and bubbled.

Next we put fresh spinach, caramelized onions (I caramelized them before-hand in a little red wine), and sliced hard-boiled eggs on top. Then I drizzled my homemade mustard vinaigrette (dijon mustard, honey, apple cider vinegar, thyme, and basil) over the whole thing!

I must say, it was quite good! The combination of the sweet onions, the tart roasted tomatoes, and the creamy eggs and mustard vinaigrette was a great variation on the old "pizza with red sauce and lots of cheese" trick.

~ Mari

Spinach

The Joy of Cooking (Vegetables)

Spring is here and it's time for veggies! Last night, my dad and I made a strictly veggie meal (which, if you know my dad, is almost unheard of) that was amazingly delicious - if I do say so myself! The photo above is what we started with: raw beets, sweet onions, fennel, and garlic cloves. We decided to roast them (believe it or not, at the suggestion of Auguste Escoffier) so they would be cruncy and delicious. After we arranged them in the pan (and preheated the oven to 350 degrees F), we drizzled EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) on them and sprinkled them with salt, pepper, a little chicken base (I promise... it works), and balsamic vinegar.



Next, we baked them for about 20 minutes, flipped them over & added a few splashes of red wine, and baked them for another 10 minutes.

Next, we plated them and sprinkled toasted walnuts shaved parmesan cheese on them and drizzled a homemade mustard walnut vinaigrette over the entire yumminess. I love how the onions soaked up the balsamic and wine and look like little sweet roses! And every once in a while, when you bite into a roasted and caramelized garlic clove, you just want to weep with happiness.

You've got to love my dad. He couldn't take having a completely vegetarian meal (it's just not in him), so he rendered some bacon and sauteed the beet greens in it for about 4 minutes. And I must say - they were delicious! But, if you're a vegetarian, you could do without that step, of course. ;)

Enjoy!