Risotto with Chicken Sausage and Peas

There is a restaurant near our apartment which serves a variety of foods, from steak to macaroni and cheese. Everything is delicious. The last time my husband and I ate there, however, they had a sausage risotto as one of their specials. Now, the sausage was a bit greasy and there was a lot of it, so it was a bit too rich to finish. So I made a *slightly* lighter version of the dish to eat at home based on this recipe. Risotto is a bit more time-consuming than a standard pasta, but the creamy texture that results makes it so comfort-foody, you'll forget how the deliciousness even made it into your bowl.

You will need the following ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (16 ounce) package Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage
1 cup chopped sweet onion
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/4 cups Arborio rice
1 cup Chardonnay or other dry white wine
3 1/2 cups chicken broth, low-sodium
1 cup frozen petite sweet peas
Salt and pepper to taste

First, chop your chicken sausage into bite-sized pieces and chop your onion, garlic, and herbs. Heat your oil in a dutch oven or large skillet, then add your onions and cook until softened. Add in your garlic, herbs, and chicken sausage and heat through.

Next, add the rice and wine to the skillet. Cook until wine is absorbed by the rice, and begin adding chicken broth one cup at a time. Once the rice has absorbed a cup of the chicken broth, add another cup to the rice mixture. Repeat until all 3 1/2 cups have been absorbed. As soon as you are on your final 1/2 cup of broth, add the frozen sweet peas to the mix. 

Add salt and pepper to taste, and enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

• Like so many other recipes, I had chosen this one as an attempt to make something healthy. But, at the end of a long, difficult day, a recipe that was originally meant to be a baked chicken breast with some tomato sauce on top tends to morph a bit. You remember that you have breadcrumbs. Your husband has some leftover cheese from his week's lunches. You haven't been to Olive Garden in awhile. You realize that these things, in combination, sound way better than a tomato-y piece of chicken all by its lonesome. And really, doesn't your chicken deserve to have breadcrumbs and cheese?
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• Of course it does.
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• So, I give you: chicken parmesan! (And yes, there is actual chicken under that cheese...)

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• You will need the following:
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• 2 eggs, beaten + 1 tablespoon of water
• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 7 ounces seasoned bread crumbs
• 1 cup of flour
• Salt and pepper
• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 12 ounces pasta sauce (or make your own--I used canned tomatoes, sauce, paste, and spices to create a more homemade taste)
• 6 slices Monterey Jack cheese
• 6 tablespoons of shredded parmesan cheese
• *Spaghetti, if serving
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• First, if you are making your own pasta sauce, prepare that an hour or more in advance. This will give the flavors time to meld before you begin your chicken. Next, mix your salt and pepper in with your flour in a shallow dish. Pour your beaten eggs with water into another shallow dish, and your breadcrumbs into yet another to create your chicken parm assembly line.
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• Then, one at a time, dip your chicken breasts into the flour, then into the egg wash, then finally, into the breadcrumbs. Your chicken is breaded and now ready for cooking!
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• *If you are serving spaghetti, this would be a good time to get your water on the stove for boiling.
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• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Warm a large skillet over medium high heat and add your oil. Once oil is warmed, add your breaded chicken breasts and cook for approximately 4 minutes per side, until each side has turned a golden brown. Finally, place your oven-safe skillet with your chicken breasts into the oven to allow them to finish cooking for another 10-15 minutes. Top with cheese when there is about five minutes left for them to cook.
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• Serve with spaghetti, sprinkle with basil, and your healthy-turned-comfort food dinner is ready to serve. Enjoy!
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• [Note: recipe is a combination of the ingredients and techniques found here and here]

Cornflake-Crusted Chicken Tenders

Chicken has always been a staple in my family--to the point where, growing up, my relatives would joke that I was adopted because I wasn't as fond of it as I am now (all in good fun--no worries!). Since then, most of my recipes have involved chicken--mostly in casseroles or baked with some sort of accompanying sauce--because it is healthy and tasty.

But, my friend Sarah has been posting this recipe in various forms on Facebook (chicken, chicken parmesan) and explaining how popular it is in her house--and admittedly, you miss a good crispy, fried chicken amid all the healthy chicken recipes--so I finally gave it a try yesterday. And it was every bit as tasty as she promised (and considerably healthier than actual fried chicken)! 

Here are the ingredients as listed by the recipe (I only used about 1/6th of this for my husband and me):

• 7 cups Kellogg's Corn Flakes® cereal (crushed to 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 egg
• 1 cup fat-free milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 3 pounds chicken pieces, (without or with skin) rinsed and dried (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• 3 tablespoons margarine or butter, melted

First, crush the corn flakes. I placed mine in a large ziplock bag, removed the air and sealed the bag, and then used a rolling pin to crush the flakes in the bag. Place crushed corn flakes in a shallow dish.

Next, prepare your batter: beat egg and milk together in a medium-sized bowl. Add flour, salt, and pepper and whisk together until smooth. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a microwave, and get out your chicken. I chose to make chicken tenders, so I cut my chicken breasts into 3 pieces each, but a whole chicken breast works just as well.

Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and preheat your oven to 350 degrees. To prepare your chicken, first dip the chicken pieces into the batter, then roll in the crushed cornflakes. Make sure that the chicken is evenly-covered, then place in the baking dish. Drizzle the melted butter over the top of the breaded chicken pieces.

If you are following the recipe, bake uncovered for approximately one hour; if you are making 6 chicken tenders (like I did for my husband and me), 35 minutes will do the trick! Just be sure the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees before eating. Enjoy! 

Chicken Broccoli Casserole

I doubt even my husband knows this--because I'm usually too busy drooling over a Taco Bell commercial to bring it up--but this casserole is one of my absolute favorite comfort foods. I came across the recipe in one of my Mom's old cookbooks* back in high school, made it, and fell in love with the creamy, melty texture and the flavor of curry powder. Since then, I've made it here and there (the mayo in it usually reminds me that it can't be a weekly dinner), but love it every time. I hope it warms your stomach like it does mine!

Ingredients:

-1 large bag of frozen broccoli (or veggies of choice)

-3-4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

-2 cans cream of chicken soup

-1/2 cup mayo (the original recipe called for a full cup--see, I'm looking out for your health here ;))

-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

-2/3 cup of breadcrumbs

-1 tablespoon of butter

-1.5 teaspoons of curry powder (or more or less, to taste)

-Salt and pepper 

-Oil for browning chicken

I like to prepare the saucy part of the casserole first. To do this, simply mix together the cream of chicken soups, mayo, cheddar cheese, and curry powder. Set aside, and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Next, get your broccoli into the microwave (or on the stove-top--I just love the convenience and crispness of the broccoli in those microwave steamer bags) and cook according to package directions. If you like your broccoli to have a bit more bite to it, take it out of the microwave (or off the stove) a minute or two earlier, because it will finish cooking in the oven later.

For the chicken (and to expedite the process), I typically cut my uncooked chicken breasts into cubes, salt and pepper them, and then toss them in a skillet with some oil to brown. When I was baking the casserole this time, however, I already had some leftover chicken breasts that I had baked from the day before and used those. Really, so long as you have some form of cooked chicken, you can't go wrong.

Set the chicken aside, then melt the butter in a small skillet and add the breadcrumbs. Make sure the breadcrumbs absorb the butter evenly and toast them for a few minutes until they get crispy (just be sure to keep stirring so they don't burn).

Finally, assemble the casserole. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole with cooking spray to prevent sticking. Then layer the following in the following order:
1) Broccoli
2) Chicken
3) Sauce
4) Breadcrumbs

Bake for about 20-30 minutes, until everything is heated through and the sauce is bubbly around the edges. And, if you want to get a bit more texture into the dish or just can't handle such a concentration of yummy creamy goodness, you could also serve the casserole over rice. Enjoy! :)

*My apologies, but I do not remember the name of the cookbook since this was about 10 years ago. Eesh, I'm getting old!!!