Recipe for Quick and Easy Chicken Piccata-Secret Recipe Club

I was a little nervous when I got Barbara Bakes for my assignment for this month's Secret Recipe Club.  We'd just finished off the amazing Armenian Coffee Cake I made and really didn't want or need to have anything else tempting in the house for a while.  


I needn't have feared though.  Barbara has, in addition to all her mouth watering baked goods, a great selection of savory dishes.  Her chicken piccata recipe got my attention right away since it is a "quick and easy" recipe and one of our favorite chicken dishes to order at a restaurant. However, I'd never made it at home, which won't be an issue now I have her recipe in my files!


Barbara, like many of us, started her blog to share her favorite family recipes and her adventures in the kitchen. She also enjoys the Daring Bakers recipes as I do (where the Coffee Cake came from!).

Recipe for Light Version of King Ranch Casserole

Maybe this should be called "Princess Ranch Casserole" because it is probably less than half the fat and calories of the classic recipe.  No canned soups, full fat milk, or sour cream, and a modest amount of low fat cheese.  Still delicious though!

Recipe for Pan-Cooked Vegetables with Crunchy Fish

Once you get the veggies grated for this dish, it is a snap to pull together.  Super flavorful and very satisfying!  This recipe is based on Mark Bittman's recipe by the same name-I love his recipes and enjoy The Food Matters Cookbook immensely.  If you are fortunate enough to have the cookbook, the recipe is on page 440, but if not I also found it on line and the link is below. 

Recipe for Lamb and Sweet Potato Curry

According to Wikipedia, curry is a dish of meat and vegetables, cooked in an Indian style spicy sauce and served with rice.  And while not what I think of when I think "curry", other than the rice, this full-of-flavor dish meets the definition.  I adapted this dish from Meena's blog "Hooked on Heat", a great spot for Indian recipes that anyone can tackle.  As you know if you've been reading ELEB for a while, I'm trying to cook more Indian recipes.  This one is a winner!

Recipe for Chicken with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Kalyn’s Kitchen was one of the first food blogs I started reading on a regular basis.  Kalyn has great healthy and flavorful recipes which tend to adhere to the South Beach Diet principles.  Even if you aren’t dieting, there are some amazing recipes on the site. 

This chicken recipe uses Kalyn’s recipe for roasted red pepper dip with feta and mint as the sauce for baked chicken thighs (you could also use breasts).  It’s fabulous as a dip and great as a cooking sauce.

Recipe for Chicken Vindaloo

Indian dishes are something we really enjoy eating.  How about you?  I've been trying to cook more Indian recipes at home and with that in mind, I bought some Vindaloo Spice Mix at Penzey's when I was at their retail location in Menlo Park last month.


This probably wouldn't be considered a traditional dish which most references say includes potatoes, not beans or tomatoes, but I wanted a one-pot dish, didn't want potatoes, and had green beans to use.  I used the directions on the Penzey's package for general guidance and then went my own way!


If you want to mix your own spice from scratch, here is an ingredient list I found on e-How.  In Penzey's mix: coriander, garlic, cumin, ginger, cinnamon, mustard, cayenne pepper, jalapeno, cardamom, turmeric, black pepper, cloves.

Recipe for Ground Turkey, Black Beans and Rice Mexican Casserole

Staring at a package of ground turkey breast, I was pretty uninspired...until I remembered reading about a chicken and black bean casserole Jenny recently posted on her blog, Picky Palate.  I love food bloggers!  I changed things up a pretty good bit and loved the results. 

Recipe for "Sate" Roasted Chicken

This is one moist and delicious chicken, if I do say so myself, and I do!  Another experiment with some of the Penzey's spices I picked up on a recent trip to the mainland [and no, Penzey's isn't sponsoring these posts : -)]. This roasted chicken is slathered in a slurry of olive oil and Indonesian Sate seasoning (that's their spelling). I roasted it following my favorite "not just for special occasions" method.  It's foolproof.  The meat is so moist and the Sate seasoning was fantastic.


So, you might be wondering "what's in that Sate seasoning Susie Bee?"  Here is the list of ingredients:  

Recipe for Oven Roasted Rack of Lamb

Not everyone likes lamb.  I used to think I didn't like it, probably from having some gamey tasting mutton somewhere in England as a kid!  Today's New Zealand, Australian, or Colorado lamb is wonderful and, if you trim the fat well, it has none of the possible gamey flavors that turn some people off.  We even have lamb being raised on Maui now through the Maui Cattle Company.  I haven't tried any yet but can't wait.   This rack came from Australia via Costco.  I've found their Australian lamb to be very good and competitively priced.

Recipe for Ponzu Cardamom Marinated Grilled Tuna

Yes, cardamom.  I thought I was using ground coriander but I realized when I smelled the pungent aroma of the cardamom that I’d grabbed the wrong bottle.  Ah well, I thought I’d give it a try since I’d already dumped it in the marinade with the tuna.  Cardamom imparts a sweet and savory flavor to chicken, meat, fruit, pastries…why not tuna?

Recipe for Red Wine and Garlic Portabellas Over Whole Wheat English Muffins

When we had friends visiting recently, I pulled a bunch of stuff out of the fridge for a pot luck lunch.  I had some portabellas that needed to be used and came up with this recipe.  Everyone loved it and insisted I write it up for the blog, so here you go!  This is a rich and filling veggie dish that works for lunch or dinner.  I’m also going to try the mushies on top of whole wheat pizza sometime.

Recipe for Azwain Seasoned White Beans with Roasted Red Peppers and Salmon

Mr. ELEB asked for "something light" for dinner the other night.  We're both doing pretty good with our diet and exercise plan after the excesses of the recent trip and this meal, adapted from a Mark Bittman recipe, hit the spot.

Buon Appetito from Eat Little, Eat Big, Foodbuzz, and Barilla Tortellini



Clockwise from top left:  Prosciutto Wrapped Pesto Tortellini with
Asparagus; Shaved Asparagus with Tangy Vinaigrette, Parmesan and Pine Nuts; 
Tortelloni Frittata; Crema Moka with Crispy Tortellini.

La Specialita' della Casa:

• Prosciutto wrapped pesto tortellini with asparagus
• Shaved asparagus dressed with a tangy vinaigrette, Parmesan cheese, and pine nuts
• Tortelloni frittata with sausage and spinach, topped with marinara sauce and basil
• Crema moka-layers of chocolate and coffee flavors with a crunchy tortellini surprise

Recipe for Inside Out Turkey Cheeseburgers



It was burger night and I had ground turkey breast defrosted.  I rotate between turkey breast, bison, and Maui Cattle Company beef for our burgers.  It was one of those afternoons where the dinner hour was rapidly approaching; I had already had a glass of wine, and had zero inspiration for dinner.  Luckily for me, Mr. ELEB eats anything I put in front of him and with a smile and usually a compliment for the chef.   Luckily for both of us, these turned out really yummy, so we both were happy at the end of the day!  I mean, look at that gooey cheese, would you?

Recipe for Baked Fish with Salsa

This recipe for baked fish is about as easy as it gets.  It’s what I do when I know it’s time for us to have fish but I have no inspiration for a recipe, it’s late and I just want to get dinner on the table in the shortest time possible.  The good news is that it is tasty!

Ingredients for 2 servings:

10 ounces firm white fish

2 tsp olive oil

1 TBSP fresh lemon juice

Salt and Pepper

Fresh or store bought tomato salsa

Optional: fresh herbs for serving

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put fish in oven proof container.  Combine lemon juice and olive oil and pour over the fish.  Generously salt and pepper.

Bake for 10 minutes or until just flaking.  Remove and top with salsa and fresh herbs.

How easy is that?  What's your "get food on the table in 15 minutes" meal?



Printable Recipe

Recipe for Panko Crusted Pan Fried Mahi-Mahi

Trying to provide you a fish recipe every week has been good for me-reminding me to be sure we eat fish at least once a week!  This recipe is so simple, yet the tenderness of the fish, the crispiness of the panko crust and the tang of the lemon create a real quality dish.  Try it, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Makes 2 servings, each approximately 322 calories, 12 grams fat, 16 grams carbs, 0 fiber, 36 grams protein;  8 WW Points+

Slow Cooker Shredded Barbeque Chicken for a Crowd

The slow cooker is a treat to have when preparing food for a large crowd.  My slow cooker is quite the beast so it came in handy last week when we hosted a crowd to watch the final round of the Master's.  In honor of the Master's I served some Southern inspired dishes.  Here's one.
 

Recipe for Greek Salad Bison Burgers



Beautiful Grill Work Courtesy of Mr. ELEB!



Earlier this week, I shared the story of how the Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken recipe came about.  Today's recipe resulted from my plan to make bison burgers and Greek salad for dinner.  However, I overheard a couple of acquaintances discussing lamb burgers made with olives and feta, how good they were etc, etc.  Mr. ELEB really likes Greek Salad and so do I.  What’s not to like?  Fresh veggies, good fat, tangy flavors…    I started thinking; why not just put the whole Greek salad in/on the burger?  So, that’s just what I did!

Recipe for Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken

Do you ever wonder how people's recipes come about?  Well for this one I'll satisfy your curiosity.  I bought a bottle of buffalo chicken hot sauce ages ago intending to make some buffalo chicken for pizza.  And recently I read on Cara’s Cravings how to modify a large slow cooker to make smaller quantities.  Mine is a massive beast which always means plenty of leftovers for the freezer.  Cara has the same issue I have: sometimes you just want to make smaller quantities.   So she came up with this ingenious method of using a smaller ceramic container with a lid INSIDE the larger slow cooker for those times.   (She also has a great sounding Buffalo Chicken recipe but I just went simple-chicken, onion, and sauce).  I never made the pizza (we ate all the chicken!) but I think this would be good on a pizza but I'm sure you'll see that on Eat Little, Eat Big one day.

Recipe for "Not Your Mother's Tuna Salad"

Here’s your fish recipe for the week from Eat Little, Eat Big.  We’re lucky to get access to fresh, good quality ahi tuna here.  It’s tempting to eat it every week! 

It’s crucial to only sear the tuna-you don’t want to cook it all the way through.  Buy the best quality tuna that fits in your budget.  And, a little goes a long way-3-4 ounces per person is plenty.