Chicken and Tomato Saute

This is a great dish for any size group (I recently made it for a group of 6, and a group of 17!). It's easy and fun, and a great use of cherry tomatoes!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 half pounds of chicken tenders
2 tsp dried oregano
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
3/4 C dry white wine
2 shallots, thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced or minced
olive oil
salt and pepper

Heat a little olive oil over a medium high heat in a large skillet. Season chicken tenders with salt, pepper and oregano. Brown chicken in Olive Oil. Hint: Place chicken in skillet and do not touch it for 2 minutes before checking to see if it's golden brown. Flip chicken over, and repeat.

Transfer chicken to a plate. Lower heat to medium. In the same skillet, add the shallots, and cook for 3 minutes or until slightly soft. Add in the tomatoes and cook until they begin to burst (4-5 minutes), add in the white wine, and simmer until reduced to about half. Slide back in the chicken to heat.

This is served best with a side dish like rice or noodles, or perhaps potatoes-- something to soak up the delicious sauce!

'Faux 'Fredo

The number one food that I get asked to recreate, is Fettuccine Alfredo. But, I am not a fan of Alfredo sauce, so it's something I've continued to put on the back burner. Then one day, I was watching The Chew, and Daphne Oz made a healthy alfredo! Boiling cauliflower in milk sounded disgusting to me, but I tried it, and while it needed a few tweaks for my taste, it turned out quite good!

Ingredients:

1 pound Fettuccine noodles

4 cups cauliflower, cut into large chunks (about 1 large head)

1 cup of milk

2 Tablespoons butter

1 large shallot, minced

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

Place the milk, and cauliflower in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook cauliflower until it's fork tender (10 minutes). With a slotted spoon, transfer cooked cauliflower to blender, then add the milk back in. Carefully blend, to make a creamy sauce. Add butter, and season with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to blend until completely smooth. (or leave it chunky if you'd like).

Cook fettuccine according to package instructions minus one minute.

In a large skillet, heat a little olive oil and sauté the shallot and garlic for 2-3 minutes. Add wine to deglaze the pan and reduce by half. Stir in the cauliflower puree adding starchy pasta water as needed. Add the noodles, Stir in the parmesan cheese, toss and serve! 

No one will believe it's healthy!

As a side note: the first time I made this I used almond milk, as I do not drink cow's milk. It turned out fine, perhaps a little sweet. The second time I made it- I used regular milk- I have to say it was creamier and tastier (of course I'd refined the recipe as well). None the less, you should be able to use just about any milk substitute.

Also- add some color by stirring in some frozen peas at the last minute (before you add the cauliflower puree, I'd guess). Or maybe some steamed broccoli when you toss the noodles! Yum!

Nutty Broccoli Spread

This easy peasy spread idea was found in an appetizer cookbook that I got a few few years ago. As is typical, I found a way to make it mostly healthy! And we snuck it some good veggie action!

Ingredients:

Nutty Broccoli Spread

1-10 oz bag of frozen broccoli florets
4 ounces of cream cheese (half a brick)
1/4 c grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp dried)
1 clove garlic, sliced or minced
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1 loaf of french bread

Cook broccoli according to directions and drain well.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place broccoli, cheeses, garlic, and basil in the food processor and blend until ingredients are mixed. Add the walnuts and process for another 4-5 seconds.

Split bread loaf lengthwise, and spread broccoli mix over it evenly.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until bread is toasty, and everything is heated through.

Cut into small slices and serve warm.

Options: I think this would work with a lot of frozen veggies, spinach, peas, asparagus! You could probably trade out the cream cheese with goat cheese, and the walnuts with pine nuts, for a "fancy" version! It may also work great as a dip for crackers or other veggies. Huh, seems like I have some more experimenting to do!