Category Archives: Chicken

Fusilli with Sun-dried Tomatoes & Chicken

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , , ,

fusilli with sundried tomatoes and chicken

I have a secret……..I have a new love in my life….De Cecco pasta.  Any kind.  OMG.  Yes, it’s that good.  I tried it last week for the first time, spaghetti.  It was life changing.  Serious.  If you had told me before a brand of dried pasta could totally make the difference I would believe you..to a point.  However, this De Cecco cooks absolutely perfect, the texture is amazing.  It is imported from Italy and just amazing.  I used to be a Barilla fan, but no more, De Cecco all the way for me now!!

This is a great recipe, if you like sun dried tomatoes, I highly encourage you to make this! Continue reading Fusilli with Sun-dried Tomatoes & Chicken →

Cajun Chicken Sandwich with Chipotle Mayo

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, Sandwiches, , ,

cajun chicken sandwich

There is nothing like a great sandwich.  The secret to a great sandwich is the right bread (and not too much of it) a great sauce and a mix of textures, fresh and warm, soft and crunchy etc.  I made cajun chicken for a salad Monday and Brian fell in love with the cajun chicken and then I thought that will make a great sandwich but what would be a good sauce and then I thought chipotle mayo (a FANTASTIC condiment :)).  This is a super quick weeknight dinner.  Enjoy!!! Continue reading Cajun Chicken Sandwich with Chipotle Mayo →

Fresh Tomato Pasta with Chicken

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , ,

fresh tomato pastaThis is one of my top 3 favorite pasta dishes.  Very simple and sooooooo good!!!  I call it fresh tomato pasta because you are cooking the tomatoes very briefly, 10 minutes so they still have that fresh taste.  They cook long enough to break down some of the juices and the fresh tomato juices make the sauce.  Adding a little pasta water at the end holds the sauce together.

You can skip the chicken, or substitute shrimp instead.   This is also really good with grape or cherry tomatoes.  Enjoy! Continue reading Fresh Tomato Pasta with Chicken →

Orecchiette with Sausage & Zucchini

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Pasta, Recipes, , , ,

pasta with sausage and zucchini First, I have to say, this tastes better than the picture shows. The colors look a little bland here once the zucchini and squash cook, don’t be fooled.  This is a delicious healthy pasta dish!  It is inspired by a dish I had in Rome.  Mama mia it was good!  In Rome I am sure it wasn’t chicken sausage, but I like to use the chicken sausage as I think it has great flavor.  Feel free to use whatever sausage you like.

The key to this dish is to undercook the pasta, so that  you finish it in the pan with the sauce (or “condimento” as Mario Batali always says!).  This allows the orrechiette to soak up all the flavors, oh yeah! Continue reading Orecchiette with Sausage & Zucchini →

Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs with Molasses

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, , ,

lemon garlic chicken This is one of my oldest, go-to, weeknight dinners.  It’s super easy to make, fast and delicious!  Everyone loves it.  You could substitute chicken breast if you don’t like the dark meat, you just won’t cook it as long.  I love to have mine with a roasted sweet potato and Bill and the boys like it on rice to soak up all the yummy sauce.  A must try dish! Continue reading Lemon Garlic Chicken Thighs with Molasses →

Roast Chicken with Shallots

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, ,

roasted chicken

Yes, I know another chicken  recipe but if you are like me, there are just so many ways to enjoy chicken and it’s so healthy.  Here is the story of this one.  It was 4:30 last Thursday and I have no idea what to make for dinner.  I had a cut up chicken in the fridge and went to Epicurious and looked around and found this recipe.  I made a couple of changes (of course!).  Number 1 the original recipe called for 4 large shallots.  As you can see from the picture above there are no shallots.  That is because I ate all the delicious omg shallots before I plated this.  So, I determined the number of shallots needs to be at least doubled.  I didn’t use the parsley either as I didn’t have any in the house but it was delicious without it!

The only other thing I did was to add the chicken stock to create a fabulous pan jus.  This recipe comes from the book French Farmhouse Cookbook which I just may order after trying this.  Nothing like a super simple delicious, healthy week night dinner! Continue reading Roast Chicken with Shallots →

Chicken Marsala

Chicken, Main, Recipes, , ,

chicken marsala

Chicken Marsala, a classic dish but too often at a restaurant the sauce leaves me feeling ripped off.  Bland.  Sorry but there is nothing worse than a wasted restaurant meal.  You know what I am talking about.  When  you order the wrong thing and it stinks which in most cases your companion ordered the right thing………you know what I am talking about!

Anyway, I digress.  When  I saw this recipe I knew the sauce would be great as it has prosciutto in it.  Salty, smoky prosciutto.  The only change I made was to add shallots.  I cannot seem to make a recipe without some type of onion in it, sorry.  I will say the amount of sauce this made was better for 2, than 4, so next time I will probably double the sauce.  If you do double, just remember it will take longer to reduce.  I served mine on a tiny bit of spaghetti.  Delish! Continue reading Chicken Marsala →

Balsamic Roasted Chicken

Chicken, Healthy, Main, Recipes, ,

balsamic roasted chicken whole

This recipe comes from one of my favorite cookbooks, Simple Italian Food by Mario Batali.  He says it’s one of his favorite things to make on a Sunday for Family dinner and I agree.  There is something so festive about making a whole chicken, it’s just comforting.  By the way, the leftover onions, pan juices and carcass make a kick ass chicken stock like no other.  The pan juices create their own sauce, all you do is strain the fat out of it.  That’s due to the 2 secret weapons, a parmesan rind and bacon.  His recipe has you use a proscuitto rind but I am pretty sure you don’t have one of those sitting in your fridge right now, so the bacon fits the bill.  🙂  Someone once said to me that “Bacon is the duck tape of food”, how perfect is that? Continue reading Balsamic Roasted Chicken →

Hamersly’s Roasted Chicken with Garlic & Lemon

Chicken, Main, Recipes

Hamersly's roasted garlic chicken This is it.  This the recipe that started my cooking journey.  I had just started dating Bill and I was going to make him dinner.  I can remember it now, I was at the Star Market on Mt. Auburn in Watertown, and In Julia’s Kitchen with Master Chefs caught my eye.  I picked it up, saw the Gordon Hamersley recipe for the Roasted Chicken, bought the ingredients and went to town.

The cook book is great for a beginner, the way it lays out the recipes and there are a lot of pictures, which I love.  I was able to follow the directions and I could not believe the end result.  Not only did it look just like the picture but it tasted like a restaurant quality dish.  Bill was impressed.  I was giddy inside.  He assumed that was no big deal and that is the way I cooked normally (I let him keep thinking that), I got addicted to cooking magazines, cook books and cooking shows.  Fast forward 18 years and I am the author of my own food blog.  All thanks to falling in love!  xo

ps…..Hamersley’s Bistro is a 20-year-old Boston Institution and this recipe is still on the menu.  Yes, it’s that good! Continue reading Hamersly’s Roasted Chicken with Garlic & Lemon →