Lemon-Thyme Roasted Chicken

Not a great picture I know, but I for got to take one once it was done.  I was to excited to show off my carving skills!!  This was my first attempt at making a whole chicken, and wow was it good.  I had an over abundance of thyme growing in my Aerogarden, and lemon thyme chicken was the first thing I thought of.  This is a cooking light recipe, so enjoy!!!!

1  (6-pound) roasting chicken

2  teaspoons  Hungarian paprika

2  tablespoons  chopped fresh thyme, divided

1  teaspoon  salt, divided

1  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper, divided

2  lemons, divided

Cooking spray

1  teaspoon  olive oil

2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour

1/2  cup  dry white wine 

1  cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth

1  tablespoon  fresh lemon juice

2  teaspoons  sugar

Lemon slices (optional)

Thyme sprigs (optional)

Preheat oven to 425°.

Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Trim excess fat. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Combine the paprika, 1 tablespoon thyme, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; rub under loosened skin. Thinly slice 1 lemon; arrange slices under loosened skin. Cut remaining lemon into quarters. Place lemon quarters inside chicken cavity. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon thyme to chicken cavity.

Place chicken on the rack of a broiler pan or roasting pan coated with cooking spray. Brush oil over skin. Cover chicken with aluminum foil. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake 50 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thigh registers 165°. Transfer chicken to a cutting board; cover with foil, and let stand 15 minutes before carving.

Place a zip-top plastic bag in a 2-cup glass measure. Pour drippings into bag; let stand 10 minutes (fat will rise to the top). Seal bag; carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of bag. Drain drippings into measuring cup, stopping before fat layer reaches opening; discard fat. Place pan on stove top over medium heat. Sprinkle flour into pan. Add wine; bring to a boil, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add drippings, broth, juice, sugar, remaining 3/4 teaspoon pepper, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt to pan, stirring constantly with a whisk until slightly thickened. Remove from heat.

Remove skin and lemon slices from chicken, and remove lemon wedges from cavity; discard. Carve chicken, and arrange on a serving platter. Serve with gravy. Garnish with additional lemon slices and thyme sprigs, if desired.

THE VERDICT:  This chicken was perfect.  It was so moist and had a great light, citrusy, flavor.  I hate dry chicken, and this was the furthest from it.  The prep was quite easy, and I got to use up a lot of thyme.  I served this with a huge spinach salad, and the boys wanted stuffing with the gravy, so I just made them some cornbread stuffing.  

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

This is a recipe I just throw together, and I have been making it for years.  I used to make this when I lived alone right after college all the time.  I like to say this is my dressed up version of ramen.  This is also another good recipe for cleaning out the fridge.

1 cup orzo ( I mixed half whole wheat and half regular)

2 overflowing handfuls of fresh spinach

1/2- 1 cup feta depending how much you want

8-10 chopped kalamatas

1 chopped roasted red pepper

8 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 lemon

1 T. olive oil

1. Fill medium sauce pan halfway with water and boil. 
2. Boil orzo until 1 minute before el dente.  
   
3. Add spinach to boiling orzo and water, and cook for 1 minute or until wilted.
4. Drain orzo and spinach in a colander.
5. Transfer orzo and spinach to a large bowl, and add olive oil and lemon juice, stir to mix.
6. Add olives, peppers, tomatoes, and feta to the mix.  
7. Enjoy!

THE VERDICT: Always a winner, looks impressive, but it is so easy.  If you don't have a certain ingredient just substitute it or leave it out.  I used to eat this as a main entree, but now I serve it as a side dish to my meat lover husband.  It is also great cold the next day.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

WOW...These are good.  Usually I make cookies and send them to work with Abe for the boys, but I did not do that with this bunch.  These cookies are super easy to make and they are perfect for spring!!  This recipe is from Everyday Food, by Martha Stewart.

2 cups all purpose  flour

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 T. finely grated lemon zest, plus 2 T. fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. ( I know, just keep reading)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 tsp. vanilla

Lemon Glaze ( see below)

1. Preheat oven to 350.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.  In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Add egg, vanilla, and lemon juice and beat until combined.  With a mixer on low speed, beat in flour mixture.
2. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons, 1 inch apart, onto 2 baking sheets.  Bake until edges are golden 15 to 20 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.  Let cool 2 minutes on sheets, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Spread cookies with Lemon Glaze and let set, about 1 hour.

LEMON GLAZE:  In a medium bowl, whisk 2 cups confectioners sugar, 2 T. finely grated lemon zest, and 1/3 cup lemon juice until smooth.

THE VERDICT: Amazing...They came out so soft, and zesty.  I enjoyed one with a cup of tea before I went to bed, and it was perfect.

Herb Bread

Ok so I said I would document the messes and successes.  Welcome MESS!  Now if I would have read the recipe all the way through I could have prevented this flop.  So I will post the recipe because it wasn't the recipes fault it was mine.  The recipe states that if making a small loaf use rapid bake on the bread machine.  Well I made a medium loaf, which was supposed to bake on the standard setting, and of course I saw Rapid Bake first and that's what I did!  OOPS!   So moral of the story...read directions!!!!   This may have been a flop for dinner that night, but it made excellent croutons.

MEDIUM LOAF (Bread Machine)

7/8to 1 cup milk

1 1/2 T. sugar

1 1/2 tsp. salt

3 T. butter

1/2 cup chopped onion

3 cups bread flour

1/2 tsp. dried dill

1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp. dried rosemary

2 tsp. active dry yeast

1. Place all ingredients in bread pan, using the least amount of liquid listed in the recipe.  Select Medium Crust and press Start.
2. Observe the dough as it kneads.  After 5 to 10 minutes, if appears dry add more liquid 1 T. at a time until smooth, soft, pliable ball forms.
3. After baking cycle ends, remove bread from pan, place on wire rack, and allow to cool 1 hour before slicing.

Recipe from Bread Machine Magic.

THE VERDICT:  Good Croutons!!!

Asparagus with Olive Gremolata

Wow the macro button really emphasizes the scratches on my plate.  Any who, this asparagus was fabulous.  The original recipe called for it to be steamed, but I was grilling my salmon and just threw the asparagus next to it.  The gremolata is very fragrant and it gave the asparagus a new interesting taste.  This recipe is adapted from my Cooking Light year book 2008.

Gremolata:

1/2 cup picholine olives, pitted

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 T. grated lemon rind

1/4 tsp. salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

Remaining ingredients:

2 1/2 lbs. trimmed asparagus, grilled

1/4 tsp. fresh ground pepper

1. To prepare gremolata, place olive in a food processor; pulse 3 times or until finely chopped.  Add parsley, lemon rind, salt. and garlic.  Pulse 2 times or until mixture us combined.  Serve gremolata over grilled asparagus; sprinkle with black pepper. (Gremolata can be prepared in advanced)

The Verdict:  This was just for me tonight; and I really enjoyed it.  I had a piece of grilled salmon, asparagus, and a piece of homemade bread**.  It was a perfect dinner.  Now off for a run!!

**Which was a flop but still tasted good. I will post later!!

Chicken Fajita Salad with Poblano-Buttermilk Dressing

Healthy Green Dinner for Earth Day!!!

This recipe was nice and light for a 95 degree day.  I also wanted to make something Green for Earth Day.  All the ingredients in this recipe are natural, including the homemade tortillas.  We also used cloth napkins for dinner, which is something we need to continue to reduce waste.

I got this recipe from my most current issue of Everyday with Rachael Ray Magazine.

Juice of 2 limes

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 lb)

1/4 cup plus 2T. EVOO

salt and pepper

2 poblano chiles, halved and seeded

1 sweet onion, thickly sliced

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 medium flour tortillas (made my own)

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 large head of romaine lettuce, torn into bite size pieces

1. Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium. In a shallow bowl, pour all but 2 teaspoons of the lime juice over the chicken. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and turn to coat; season with salt and black pepper. Cover and let marinate at room temperature for 15 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, toss the chiles and onion with 2 tablespoons olive oil; season with salt and black pepper. Transfer the chiles to the grill and tent with foil. Grill, turning occasionally, until softened, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl, cover and let stand for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, grill the chicken and the onion, turning once, 5 to 6 minutes on each side; let cool.
3. Peel the chiles and slice. Using a food processor, puree one-third of the chiles with the buttermilk, 1 tablespoon olive oil and the remaining 2 teaspoons lime juice; season with salt and black pepper. Transfer the remaining chiles to a medium bowl. Coarsely chop the grilled onion and add to the sliced chiles.
4. Brush the tortillas with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and season with the cayenne, salt and black pepper. Grill, turning once, until crisp, about 2 minutes; cut into wedges.
5. In a large bowl, toss the romaine lettuce with half of the poblano dressing. Slice the chicken and serve on top of the romaine. Add the chile-onion mixture and the remaining dressing; serve with the grilled tortilla chips.

THE VERDICT:  I thought this was really good, and a perfect summer meal.  You get plenty of serving of veggies with this meal.  The recipe is for 4, but I made it all for 3 and we are stuffed.

I am going to submit this to Joelens Foodie Films for May, where they are featuring the movie Tortilla Soup. Here is the link check it out.

Pecan Sandies

mmm...We all need a little cookie in our lives.  I had some leftover Pecans in the freezer, and Martha Stewart came to my rescue for this recipe.

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temp. (Just call me paula Deen y'all)

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1 1/2 tsps. vanilla

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven 350. 
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in vanilla and salt.  With the mixer on a low speed, gradually add flour, beating just until combined.  Fold in pecans.
3. Roll dough in 1 1/2 inch balls, and place on a baking sheets, 2 inches apart.  With a dampened bottom of a glass, lightly flatten each ball.
4. Bake until cookies are golden brown, 15 to 17 minutes, rotating sheets half way through.  Transfer to wire racks, and let cool.

The Verdict:  Good but not very healthy.  I guess if you wanna dig deep, and I mean deep, we can pretend they are good for us due to the protein and the unsaturated fat in the Pecans!!!!