Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Pasta with Fresh Tomato-Basil Sauce

I came across this recipe in Cooking Light a while back, tore it out and forgot about it. It turned up again while I was going through some recipes and I decided to get the ingredients for an easy weeknight meal. Super easy and delicious!

Ingredients
1 (9-ounce) package refrigerated fresh fettuccine (I used whole wheat penne)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved (about 1/2 cup)


Preparation
1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain; place pasta in a large bowl.
2. While pasta cooks, heat oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes and salt; cover and cook 4 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in basil and pepper. Add tomato mixture to pasta; toss well to combine. Top with cheese.
Barbara Seelig Brown, Cooking Light
SEPTEMBER 2010

Sunday, May 6, 2012

Salsa and Black Bean Chicken

I decided to try this recipe because I needed something easy and I had all of these ingredients on hand. Honestly, I didn't have high hopes for this, but it turned out really good! Michael's review: "This is fucking delicious!" That's high praise in this house.

I served this with lime-cilantro rice and some steamed broccoli.

Ingredients
1 1.3 lb package chicken breasts
1 1/2 cups salsa (I used Safeway brand chunky habanero salsa.)
2 cups cooked black beans (I used 1 can, rinsed and drained.)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder (The first time I made this, I minced a clove of garlic. The second time, I left it out and didn't notice the difference)
Salt and pepper to taste


Directions Place the chicken breasts into an 8×8 inch glass baking dish. Pour the salsa over the top and then stir in the black beans, cumin and garlic powder.
Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 55-60 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Dice the chicken and mix it all up with the salsa and black beans.