rosemary chicken with zucchini and cherry tomatoes

found a really delicious chicken recipe from williams sonoma today. it has tomatoes, shallots, zucchini, rosemary and some white wine.

So here's the recipe:

2 tbs olive oil
2 zucchini, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 shallot, chopped
2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved, if they're large)
1 tsp+ chopped fresh rosemary
salt and pepper (to taste)
4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup dry white wine

directions: on medium-high heat, warm 1 tbs of olive oil. add the zucchini and cook until lightly browned - about six minutes. add the shallot and cook until softened - about 1 minute. add the tomatoes and rosemary and cook until tomatoes are heated through but not collapsed, about two minutes. season with salt and pepper and set aside.

add remaining 1 tbs of olive oil. season chicken breasts with salt and pepper and cook until browned on both sides and cooked through (about 8 minutes). set aside.

add the wine to the pan and bring to a boil. return the veggies to the pan and cook for 1 minute to reheat...or until most of the wine has cooked/evaporated. transfer to a plate or serving dish and top with chicken breasts.

goes well with white rice or sauteed potatoes (pictured).

burger tuesday (with some sweet potato fries)

i woke up yesterday morning and wanted a burger. no joke. i wanted a burger at 7am. so by midday you can imagine how much i was craving some good ol' american goodness. dave called sometime in the afternoon and i mentioned we were having burgers for dinner. he was momentarily stunned silent. i don't think i've ever made burgers unless we were grilling out on our DC roof deck on a hot day. it's definitely not hot here these days.

when i went grocery shopping, i identified my burger inspiration: sweet potatoes. they're everywhere this time of year, and there are few side dishes out there better than baked sweet potato fries. turns out what i was REALLY craving was sweet potato fries.

easy fix: we had both.

i love caramelized onions.

we had a salad, too. you know, to make ourselves feel better.

vegetable curry

i'm trying to embrace this whole english thing. while the brits aren't known for their food (which i'm learning is truly an unfair stereotype), they are known for their indian food. one of my favorite restaurants here serves indian food and i'm doing my best to learn how to make it at home.

i did a vegetable curry last night that was pretty good. i won't call it stellar (because it wasn't), but with the addition of extra spices, this could be a pretty solid meal.

the recipe came from waitrose magaine, which generally has some pretty good stuff:

2 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions, sliced
1 tbsp curry powder
2 green chillies, halves, deseeded, chopped
3 tbsp ground almonds
6 potatoes, peeled, cut into small cubes
6 carrots, peeled, cut into 2cm rounds
2 cans chopped tomatoes
1 tsp garam masala
1 cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 handfuls of toasted cashews
2 tbsp coriander, chopped

directions: heat 1 tbsp oil in a large pot and soften the onions for about 5 minutes. add the curry powder, chillies, and almonds and cook for 2 minutes. add 1/2 tbsp oil, the potatoes, and carrots; stir to coat in the spices. add the tomatoes and enough water to cover the vegetables. bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer for 30 minutes. about 5 minutes before the curry is ready, heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in another pan. add the garam masala, cauliflower and nuts; cook on a high heat for 5 minutes. stir into the curry with the coriander. serve with rice or naan and plain yogurt.

**i really think you could just about DOUBLE all the spices on this recipe...but that's up to you.  

(mostly homemade) chicken and rice soup

when you're not feeling well, you want chicken soup. after returning from a thanksgiving adventure in turkey (an update to follow shortly in SIE), dave was pretty sick. we're talking third-sick-day-in-seven-years sick. he stayed in bed all day. so of course i made him chicken rice soup. gluten-free noodles don't hold up that well when overcooked, as noodles in soup tend to be, so rice was more out of necessity than desire. the result was still tasty.

i used a semi-homemade kind of recipe i found on allrecipes for the base:

2 quarts chicken broth
1 quart water
1 store-bought roasted chicken
little bit of vegetable oil
2 large onions, cut into a medium dice
2 large carrots, peeled and cut into rounds
2 large stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch thick

directions: bring broth and water to a simmer. separate meat from skin and bones of chicken and set meat aside. add skin and bones to the liquid and simmer about 45 minutes. strain broth into a separate container and discard skin and bones. add a drizzle of oil to the pot and add onions, carrots, and celery. saute until just soft. add chicken and broth. simmer 15 minutes or so, then add any additional ingredients you'd like.

(i added 3/4 cup rinsed long-grain rice and simmered for 15 minutes and added 1 cup of frozen peas just before serving.)

for a sick person, a good grilled cheese on fresh french bread makes this even better!! (french bread obviously isn't gluten free!)

chicken with raspberry sauce, sweet potato & squash mash

i'm really trying to embrace autumn. i've always loved fall, but i don't know that i've ever actively tried to incorporate it into my meals. the other night i made cashew-encrusted chicken breasts with mixed veggies and an combo of sweet potato and butternut squash mash. YUM. a double thumbs up goes to the mash and the raspberry sauce i put on the chicken.

a carrot cake NOT to try

while my step-dad was in town, he celebrated his birthday. i thought it fitting to make him a fabulous gluten-free cake, and since his favorite is carrot cake, i went in search of a recipe. i found one in an allergy cookbook (that will not be named since the result was....well, i'll tell you in a minute) and i set to work. the recipe included some cooked mashed carrots, some raw shredded carrots, coconut, raisins, and a whole host of other ingredients - notably, a lot of oil. i was surprised and extremely disappointed after happy birthday was sung and the candles were blown out to find that the cake was DRY. it had the flavor right...but it was most definitely lacking. gluten free fail.

i will say that the frosting was excellent.

peanut butter vegetable chicken soup

yes, i'm serious. i made peanut butter vegetable chicken soup last night and it was delicious! neither dave nor i are feeling top notch so i was in the mood for soup. i found this recipe and had to give it a try. i know it sounds a bit odd, but it ended up being a great meal for us. for one, it has a ton of veggies in it. and two, who doesn't love peanut butter?! (though i must be honest: the flavor at the end isn't really peanut buttery...it has an overall nutty essence.) please forgive the photograph - nothing looks good in green bowls!

the recipe (slightly modified from this one):

8 cups chicken broth
one cup chopped onion
one cup chopped celery
two cloves garlic, roughly chopped
two chicken breasts, cooked and chopped or shredded
one cup peeled and diced carrot
one cup peeled and chopped potato
one cup diced zucchini
one cup broccoli florets
1 can whole tomatoes (including juice), broken up
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter

directions:
in a little drizzle of olive oil, saute the onion, garlic and celery until translucent and set aside. meanwhile, in a large pot, bring the chicken broth to a boil. add the carrot, chicken, and potato, return the broth to a boil, and then simmer for ten minutes. add the onion, garlic, and celery mixture as well as the zucchini, broccoli and tomatoes and simmer for another ten minutes or so. add the peanut butter and mix until the peanut butter has dissolved. i find it best to let the flavors work in for another ten minutes or so. if needed, add a little salt and pepper and/or parsley.

enjoy!