Linguine with Chicken, Bacon & Tomatoes

HAVE READY:  2 C. cooked chicken breast (use rotisserie chicken or fried/grilled/broiled boneless chicken breasts) - this is a great way to use leftover chicken!!!

Boil some pasta al dente (approx. 1/2 to 3/4 lb)  - *linguine, fettucine, cappelini.... & while it's cooking, make the sauce:

In a medium saucepan, fry 2 strips of bacon until crispy. Remove the bacon but leave the oil in the pan. Lower the heat a bit and add 1/2 c. thinly sliced onions and a clove or 2 of minced garlic. Stir & cook until translucent.  Add 1-1/2 cups chopped tomatoes (mine were fresh picked off the vine!!), season with S&P, 2 T. chopped fresh basil and let simmer for 15 minutes.

Add the 2 C. cooked chicken, shredded or chopped.  Then crumble the 2 strips of bacon into the sauce.  Stir in 1/2 cup heavy (whipping cream) - add a dash of cayenne and GENTLY simmer for another 10 minutes.  

Stir some sauce into the cooked pasta - plate the pasta and top with extra sauce.

Fresh Chopped Salad

Easy as PIE:  Cut a cucumber, remove the seeds (make them burpless!), dice them.  Do the same with some fresh tomatoes. Add chopped onion (or not) and thinly sliced fresh basil (buy a little plant - keep it inside the house!!),  drizzle with olive oil, vinegar (red wine or balsamic), add sea salt & freshly ground pepper.  Mix it all up & eat it as is or over chopped lettuce/field greens.

Sicilian Style Breaded Round Steak

Have 1-2# of thin, thin, THINLY sliced round steak seasoned with salt and pepper.  If they're not less than 1/4" thick, pound them with a meat mallet. (You can see in the photo below how thin they are.)

One at a time, dip them in:

1.) a pan of flour seasoned with S&P

then

2.) a pan of beaten eggs (2) seasoned with S & P, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder (if you want a little heat, add some cayenne here or crushed red pepper

& finally

3.) a pan of crumbs:    1 C. breadcrumbs, 1 C. Panko crumbs (if you don't use these, use regular breadcrumbs) mixed with 1/2 cup grated parmesan, 1/2 teasp. oregano, 1/2 teasp. basil, 1/4 teasp. garlic powder,  1/2 teasp. seasoned salt, 1/4 tsp. black pepper

Lay the cutlets on a large pan (& not on top of one another), cover them and chill for at least 1/2 hour (or more).

Heat olive oil (or vegetable oil) in a large skillet.  When very hot, lay the cutlets in the oil, leaving enough room so they don't crowd or overlap each other.

They'll only need to fry for a couple minutes on each side, so check them often so they don't burn! Once they're golden, turn and finish the other side the same way.  These are VERY THIN, so they won't need to cook as long as pork or chicken cutlets.

Remove & drain - then serve plain or with lemon slices (or if you have a favorite sauce)  --- and if you have any marinara you could make these into steak parmesan baked with sauce and cheese!

Grilled Cod w/tomatoes and basil

Cod is a fleshy, moist fish that grills well without becoming dry. You could probably substitute other fish with this recipe, but the cooking time will vary.  Cooking time will be shorter for thinner filets (flounder, sole..) and longer for thicker, denser fish (salmon, halibut, swordfish..).

Heat your grill. Get a large piece of heavy duty alum. foil and spray with nonstick spray.  Place your fish filets on the greased area. Drizzle with olive oil.  Season generously with S&P and a few shakes of Old Bay seasoning.

On top of the fish, place thinly sliced tomatoes, thinly sliced onions, sliced/chopped fresh basil and again, season with salt and pepper.    Bring up the foil and close it over the fish, sealing it so that the heat stays in the packet (& cooks the tomato/onion).  Place the packet on the hot grill - cover the grill and set a timer for 15 minutes.   Carefully open the foil - if the fish is done you will see it 'separating' (flaking apart), indicating that it's fully cooked.   If you take a fork and pierce the fish in its thickest part - it should easily flake apart... if not, re-cover and cook another 5 minutes or so, checking until it's done.

Carefully remove the packet from the hot grill  (I slide a sideless cookie sheet under the packet and shimmy it on - you can gently use a spatula if you need help!).  

Butternut squash, mashed/spiced

Preheat your oven to 375º.

Scrub, then cut a butternut squash in half, scoop out the seeds. Season with S&P, turn upside down and put into a greased 9 X 13 baking pan cut side down.  Pour 1-1/2 cups water into the pan.  Bake for an hour (maybe more if the squash is large), until the thicker (stem side) part is done/soft. Remove from oven (let sit 10-15 min) until it's cool enough to handle.

Scoop the squash into a mixing bowl. Add 2 Tblsp. butter.  Add remaining ingredients (go heavier on the spice if you want it amped up!), add:   1/4 cup maple syrup, a few 'scrapes' of orange zest, 1/8 teasp. cinnamon, less than 1/8 tsp. ground cloves, 1/4 tsp. curry powder, a dash of cayenne, 1/4 cup heavy cream, salt & freshy ground pepper. Mash with a fork/potato masher until everything is blended (you don't need to whip it too much).  Spoon into serving bown, sprinkle with freshly ground pepper.

Even those who don't normally like curry love this dish!

Italian Hamburgers

This should make approx. 8 burgers.   Start out with 2# ground round or ground sirloin. 

Add these ingredients and mix together THOROUGHLY:

1/2 cup breadcrumbs (dried is ok, but add 1/4 cup milk to them & stir to soften) - you can also soften 2 slices Italian bread in 1/4 cup (or a little more) milk, mashing it occasionally until mushy   

1/2 cup finely minced onion

2-3 cloves of garlic, finely minced/smashed

1 large egg

few Tblsp. minced parsley

1/4-1/2 cup grated parmesan (depends on how cheese you like it!)

season liberally with salt and pepper

After everything is totally mixed together, divide the meat up (for equal sized burgers) and form into patties.

At this point I will put the burgers onto a lightly greased baking sheet, put it into a preheated 350º oven and bake them until the meat is cooked, approx. 25-30 minutes, or until they're nice and browned.

OR

Heat 1/2 cup olive oil in a large frying pan and when the oil is hot, add the burgers.  Cook them for 3-5 minutes - check to make sure they're browned, then turn them over and cook them on the other side until they're done.

If you're aiming to cook healthy - bake the burgers instead of frying them. Use ground sirloin (less fat than chuck) - use the egg WHITE only (& eliminate the yolk) - use lowfat milk/cheese.

Remove the burgers from the pan, place on a rack to drain any residual oil. Enjoy!

White chocolate butterscotch chips

In a mixing bowl, cream together:

1/2 cup soft butter

1/4 cup softened stick margarine

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

Stir in:

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

3 cups flour

Add:

1 cup white chocolate chips

1 cup butterscotch chips   

(or more, if you like)

Chill dough for a couple hours.  Drop tsps of dough onto sheets, leaving an inch or so between cookies.  Bake for 9-12 minutes (depending on whether you like your cookies less baked or on the crisp side) - until the edges are golden colored.  Remove from sheets and enjoy!!