Lemon-Parsley Chicken with Herbed Couscous

I must admit that while we subscribe to a lot of magazines, lately they have ended up sitting in a pile for months. Yesterday I needed some inspiration for dinner and finally tackled part of the pile and pulled out this recipe from the September issue of Cooking Light. Grilling is year round in Florida so I was lucky that wouldn't be an issue, but I am sure you can always use a grill pan if necessary. The parsley and lemon combination gave the chicken and couscous a light and refreshing flavor. 

Lemon-Parsley Chicken with Herbed Couscous
Source: Cooking Light Magazine - September 2013
Serves: 4

Ingredients:
¼ cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
4 (6oz)skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

1 cup couscous
2 Tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tablespoon melted butter
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Preheat grill to high heat

Combine minced parsley, lemon zest, garlic, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Sprinkle chicken with mixture and let stand for 10 minutes. 

Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill for 3 minute each side, or until chicken is done.

Meanwhile, bring 1 ¼ cups water to a boil in small saucepan. Stir in 1 cup uncooked couscous; cover. Remove from heat and let stand covered for 5 minutes. Stir in parsley, butter, lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Oh, Baby! Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Knowing how much I usually enjoy cooking, my sweet father-in-law bought me a book Pregnancy Cooking & Nutrition for Dummies. It mainly has healthy eating recipes with some interesting notes about ingredients that are better to have during pregnancy to help promote growth for various aspects of the baby throughout pregnancy. These muffins were a great morning snack and not too sweet. The bananas keep them nice and moist with hint of sweetness from chocolate chips. They are a great source of fiber, folate, iron, and potassium and can be enjoyed even if you aren't pregnant!

Oh, Baby! Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Source: Pregnancy Cooking & Nutrition for Dummies
Yields: 12 muffins

Ingredients:
¾ cup all purpose flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
¾ cup sugar
3 Tablespoons canola oil
½ cup chopped walnuts
½ cup mini chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F. Line muffin pan with liners or non-stick spray

In a large bowl, sift together the all purpose and whole wheat flours, flaxseed, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a fork and stir in the mashed bananas. Add the sugar and oil and stir the mixture with a spoon to blend well.

Add the egg and banana mixture to the large bowl of dry ingredients. Stir the mixture until combined well. Stir in the walnuts and chocolate chips.

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the muffin tops are browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool then enjoy!

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chili

This is one of the easiest meals to make and no one will ever know! Anyone with a slow cooker knows that the greatest part is how you can throw everything in then go about your day and dinner will be ready when you get home. Dishes like this are even easier because they use a lot of dried goods so you don't have to go to the store. The only downfall when using canned vegetables is that they can be high in sodium, so I used all low sodium versions to cut back and be sure to wash them to rinse off some of the sodium as well. Be sure to compare even those because each brands idea of low sodium is different and in many cases the store brand is the best. This chili is packed full of protein from all of the beans and quinoa. If you are a football fan, this would be great for game day, especially as we get into September and maybe some cooler weather in parts of the country.

Slow Cooker Quinoa Chili
Source: Six Sisters Stuff
Serves: 8

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 (28 oz) can reduced sodium diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
2 (16 oz) cans reduced sodium black bean, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz) can of corn, drained

1 (15 oz) can of reduced sodium kidney beans

2 cups reduced sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1 bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 minced onion
1 tsp garlic
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Place everything in a 6 quart slow cooker and cook for 5-7 hours on low. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Parsley

The name of this dish does not lie, this shrimp dish definitely has a kick. We had ours over a bed of white rice to soak up some of the spicy sauce and it was delicious. It can also be served over pasta, just add another tablespoon of olive oil and be sure to use the 2 tablespoons each of lemon juice and wine to create a thinner sauce. 

Since shrimp cook in under 5 minutes this is an extremely quick meal that is perfect for a busy night and you won't feel like you skimped on anything. And shrimp are something that are not too expensive in the frozen section so we usually have a bag on hand in the freezer meaning you don't even have to go to the grocery store to make this!

Spicy Shrimp with Garlic and Parsley
Serves: 2

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 tsp. sweet paprika
1 lb. medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 to 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
1 to 2 Tbs. dry white wine
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

Place olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat and warm.
Add garlic, pepper flakes and paprika.
Saute for 1 minute until fragrant.
Increase heat to high, add the shrimp, lemon juice and dry white wine, stir well, and sauté until the shrimp turn pink and are opaque throughout, about 3-5 minutes.
Season with salt and black pepper, sprinkle with the parsley and serve.

Peppered Pork Loin

Happy Monday! Hope everyone had a great weekend! We enjoyed our weekend and I was glad to be back cooking. As many people know, I am a fan of the Food Network, but now also their show The Next Food Network Star. The season finale was on last night, so it was only appropriate to make a dish featured by my favorite on the show, and the winner! While I didn't make the sweet potato biscuits or apple butter the peppered pork loin was packed full of flavor. The chili and black peppers definitely give this a kick, and the molasses provided a hint of sweetness. However, if you aren't a fan of spice dial down the amount of pepper. Instead of making the sweet potato biscuits, we had a baked sweet potato and got a lot of the sweetness from there. Hopefully her new show on the Food Network will have many more delicious recipes to try.

Peppered Pork Loin
Source: Damaris Phillips for Food Network
Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons sorghum or molasses
1 Tablespoon salt
2 Tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
4-pound pork loin

Directions:

In a small bowl, stir together the sorghum, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper and oil. Trim the pork loin of any excess fat, and transfer to a shallow roasting pan (or my favorite, a cast-iron skillet). Rub the pork loin with sorghum and spice mixture, coating evenly. Roast at 350F until the internal temperature is 150 degrees F, about 45 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes.

Spinach, Broccoli & Feta Crustless Quiche

It seems that lately I am struggling to get all of my veggies in for the day. An easy way I have found to help with that is by making a crustless quiche for dinner. They are pretty healthy, full of protein from the eggs and packed with veggies. This particular one I used up some frozen spinach and broccoli in the freezer, but the original called for mushrooms. You can use whatever you have on hand or your favorite vegetables, the base will remain the same. The best part is that this can be made for basically any meal. Even if you have it for dinner like us, leftovers can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner the next day!

Spinach, Broccoli & Feta Crustless Quiche
Adapted from: Tasty Kitchen
Serves: 6

Ingredients:10 ounces, weight Frozen Spinach (defrosted and drained)
10 ounces, weight Frozen chopped broccoli (defrosted and drained)
2 ounces, weight Feta Cheese, Crumbled
6  Eggs
8 ounces, fluid skim Milk
⅛ cups Parmesan Cheese, Freshly Grated
⅛ cups Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded
Salt And Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350F. If your frozen spinach and broccoli are not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave according to package instructions. Empty the box into a colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.

Spray a pie dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. Next add the broccoli and crumbled feta.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth. Add the milk, Parmesan and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. Pour this mixture into the pie dish over the spinach, broccoli and feta.


Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over the top. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer into the oven. Place the quiche into the preheated oven and bake until it is golden brown on top and the center is solid. Every oven is different but this should take between 45 minutes and an hour. Slice and serve!

BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Summer weekends mean grilling pretty much wherever you live. It is always fun to have family and friends over and try out new rubs, sauces, marinades, etc. Normally, when we make ribs they are baked low and slow in the oven to ensure their tenderness. We really enjoyed this recipe because they start off in the oven to cook and become tender, then are finished on the grill to get a little crisp on the outside and infuse the ribs with the grill flavor. It also combined a dry spice rub that goes on in the oven with a homemade vinegar BBQ sauce at the end keeping them moist. The recipe for BBQ sauce is super simple, but does make a ton, so either cut it in half or you will have extra to put on top or use another time. Needless to say these were packed with flavor and fell off the bone. 

BBQ Baby Back Ribs
Source: Jamie Deen
Serves: 4

Rub Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons light brown sugar
1 Tablespoon dry mustard
1 Tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon garlic salt
2 racks baby back pork ribs (4 pounds)
Jamie's BBQ Sauce, recipe follows

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Mix together the brown sugar, mustard, paprika, smoked paprika, black pepper and garlic salt together in a small bowl. Be sure to break up any lumps with your fingers. Reserve 1 tablespoon of rub in a small bowl for serving.

Remove the silver skin from the underside of the ribs by sliding your fingers under the thin membrane and pulling it off. Repeat with the second rack. Rub the ribs with the seasoning on both sides. Place in a single layer in a large roasting pan and cover tightly with heavy-duty foil. Place the roasting pan into the oven and bake until the ribs are tender, about 1 hour 15 minutes.

Preheat the grill to medium heat.

Grill the ribs on each side for 15 minutes, watching and flipping when necessary, for 30 minutes total. Baste with Jamie's BBQ Sauce the last 10 minutes. (The sauce goes on at the end because it is sugar based and you don't want to burn your ribs.)

Let the racks rest 5 minutes before slicing into individual ribs. Sprinkle the cut ribs with the reserved dry rub and serve along with extra sauce.

Jamie's BBQ Sauce Ingredients:

1 Tablespoon canola oil

2 Tablespoons finely chopped onion

2 cups apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 cups ketchup

3/4 cup light brown sugar

3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and stir until softened. Add the vinegar, ketchup, brown sugar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, cayenne pepper and some salt and black pepper to the saucepan and simmer on medium-low heat until thickened, about 35 minutes. Yield: About 4 cups.