Greek Yogurt Chicken

Sorry for the blurry picture, I used my iPad to take it.

This was Friday night's dinner.  I asked my husband to get me some Fage Greek Yogurt so I can put it into my smoothies, I thought he'd buy a few small containers or the next size up.  He came home with 35 ounce container!  That's a lot of Greek yogurt for one person, since he doesn't usually eat any of it.  So I started searching the internet for Greek yogurt recipes, turns out there's more than I thought.  I found a ton on Pinterest alone.  I found a few from food blogs I follow and one new blogger (well, new to me) I found.  This recipe was influenced by Life of Meg's blogspot.  I changed some of the spices since I have a lot of Penzeys' spices, I figured I'd use them. I used Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken & Fish Seasoning which consists of salt, black pepper, garlic, lemon peel, and onion.

Here's what you'll need:

• 4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts
• 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt (I used Fage)
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1-2 tablespoons Ruth Ann's Muskego Ave. Chicken & Fish Seasoning (Penzeys')

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  In a small bowl combine the Greek yogurt, cheese, garlic and spices.

  Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with cooking spray.  Coat chicken breasts in the yogurt mixture.  Bake for 35-45 minutes depending on thickness of chicken breasts.

Pair it with your favorite veggies or couscous (which would go well with it too).  Enjoy!

Teriyaki Salmon with Mushrooms

I made this recipe for dinner almost two weeks ago but have had other things on my mind so that's why I'm late in blogging it.  My spring break was this past week and all I really did was go roller skating, study for my second Financial Accounting exam, and help in a roller derby scrimmage.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but I've also been running errands, and reading a book that's been saved on my iPad for a long time, that I didn't have time to get to until now.  So, this recipe comes from my Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast Weeknight Meals cookbook. The recipe also has a side to go with the teriyaki salmon, orange-ginger sugar snaps, but I chose to use rice instead.   The salmon was delicious and the teriyaki and mushrooms gave the rice an extra flavor, since rice is so flavorful to begin with. ;-) 

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4 cup sherry (I used white cooking wine)
• 1/4 cup low-sodium teriyaki sauce
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon canola oil
• 1 8-ounce package presliced baby portobello mushrooms
• 4 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets (about 1"-1 1/2" thick)

Combine the first three ingredients in a small bowl;  stir to dissolve sugar.  Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat;  add mushrooms, and saute 4 minutes or until tender (it took more than 4 minutes for me, I don't remember how long though).  Add 1/3 cup sherry mixture to mushrooms.  Reduce heat, and simmer 1 to 2 minutes or until liquid almost evaporates (it will take longer, again, I don't remember how long.

Spoon mushroom mixture into a bowl and set aside.  Heat pan over medium-high heat;  add fillets.  Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side or until browned on all sides (depending on how thick the fillets are, it will probably take more than 4 minutes).  Add mushrooms and remaining sherry mixture to pan;  cook 2 minutes.

Transfer fillets to a serving platter, and top with sauce and mushrooms.  Enjoy! 

Irish Soda Bread, not Irish-American Soda Bread

It's been a little bit of a while since I updated my blog.  I have two recipes to share with you, a salmon recipe I made last week for dinner, and yesterday's (St. Patrick's Day).  I did the traditional thing and baked Irish soda bread, only this recipe is not your typical full of sugar or caraway seeds soda bread.  This is a recipe that resembles how the Irish bake their soda bread.  I found this recipe on the King Arthur Flour website.  According to their website, the Irish bake their bread with wholemeal flour which is a close relative to our whole wheat flour, as well as baking soda, salt and buttermilk.  Their soda bread resembles bread, as opposed to our cakey-like sweet soda bread.  Anyway, here's the recipe.

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups unbleached bread flour 
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 4 tablespoons butter, cut up into little pieces

First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, salt, and raisins. 

Using a mixer, cut in the butter until it's evenly distributed and no large chunks remain.

In a separate bowl whisk together the buttermilk and egg.  Pour this mixture into the dry ingredients and mix to combine.  The dough will be stiff;  if it's too crumbly to squeeze together, add another tablespoon or two of buttermilk.

Knead the dough a couple of times to make sure it's holding together than shape it into a ball.

Flatten the ball slightly, and place it into a lightly greased 8 or 9 inch round cake pan.  The bread won't spread too much while it's in the oven.  Use a sharp knife to cut a 1/2 inch deep cross, extending all the way to the edges, atop the loaf.

Bake the bread at 400 degrees for 40 to 50 minutes, until it's golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean from the center.

Cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes, then take it out of the pan and cool on the wire wrack some more.

Cut it up and spread some butter or jelly or whatever you like on your soda bread.  Enjoy! 

Fruit Crisp

This recipe also comes from my Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook.  I was looking for something warm to eat for breakfast on Saturday and since I'm watching my weight, I didn't want to eat too much, so pancakes and waffles were out.  This recipe was small, healthy, and delicious.  I think it would make a great snack and dessert too, especially with vanilla ice cream on top...mmmm! 

Something to remember before I give you the recipe, raspberries become very watery in the oven.  I completely forgot this happens, but I wanted more than one berry in it.  Maybe next time I'll add blackberries.  Do those become watery in the oven?

Anyway, here you go:

• 12 oz. frozen blueberries 
• 2 tablespoons raw sugar (optional, I didn't need it)
• 2/3 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup whole-wheat or oat flour (I used whole wheat)
• 5 tablespoons agave nectar (I used a light colored one)
• cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place blueberries in a 10-inch baking dish, sprinkle with sugar if desired, set aside.

In a mixing bowl, whisk oats, and flour together, then add agave nectar 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring after each addition, until the mixture crumbles.  Place crumbs over blueberries and sprinkle generously with cinnamon.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the top is crisp and the fruit soft. 

Enjoy!

Kidney-Quinoa Burgers

I know these were probably meant to be eaten the vegan way, but I added some turkey bacon since I hadn't eaten any meat all day. 

This recipe comes from Everyday Happy Herbivore by Lindsay S. Nixon.  This was probably the first vegan cookbook I ever got and I was surprised how easy all the recipes were.  Sure there were some ingredients I've never heard of, but they weren't difficult to find.  I had never heard of things like tempeh or turmeric only because while I was growing up my parents never used these ingredients.  I love discovering new food, recipes, and spices, so when I came across this recipe, I had to try it.  The burgers turned out to be very tasty with or without the turkey bacon.  ;-)

Here's what you'll need:

• 1/4 cup quinoa
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 15-oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 tablespoons barbecue sauce
• 2 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1 teaspoon onion powder (granulated)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder (granulated)
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1/3 cup vital wheat gluten

In a small saucepan, combine quinoa with 1/2 cup of water, cover and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, reduce heat to low and continue to cook until fluffy and all water has evaporated, about 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mash beans with a fork in a mixing bowl until the consistency of refried beans.  Add remaining ingredients in order, plus cooked quinoa, and stir to combine.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or a greased cookie sheet.  Break mixture into 6 equal segments.  Roll each into a ball, flatten it, and shape it into a patty using your hands.

Bake for 8 minutes, flip, and bake for 8 more minutes, then flip again for 5 minutes, but only if necessary.  When the burgers are brown and crisp on the outside, they are done.

Enjoy!

Walnut Coffee Cake

Today's recipe comes from Cooking Light Everyday Baking, it's one of the cookbooks I got for Christmas from my secret santa, who happened to be my sister-in-law, Meghan.  This was the first recipe I have cooked from this book, and it was great.  It was your classic coffee cake without all the really horrible stuff in it you'd find in an Entenmann's.  There's a sweet streak of brown sugar, cinnamon and a little bit of a crunch of walnuts.  If you're allergic to walnuts you can substitute them for pecans.

Here's what you'll need:

• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/3 cup chopped walnuts (chopped to the size of a pea)
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 14.5 oz. or 3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 10 tablespoons butter, softened
• 6 large egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat buttermilk
• Cooking spray

First preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the first 3 ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Weight or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Combine flour and next 3 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring well with a whisk.  Combine granulated sugar and butter in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium-high speed until well combined (about 3 minutes).  Add egg whites; beat 3 minutes or until combined.  Beat in vanilla.  Add flour mixture and buttermilk alternately to sugar mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating well after each addition and scraping sides of bowl.

Spoon half of batter into a 10-inch Bundt pan coated with cooking spray.  Sprinkle half of brown sugar mixture evenly over batter.

Spoon remaining half of batter into pan.  Top with remaining brown sugar mixture.  Bake at 350 degrees for 55 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool in pan 10 minutes on a wire rack; remove from pan.  Cool completely on wire rack.