What's For Dinner: Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Okay, I think it's fair to say that this is, perhaps, not the best food photo I have ever taken ... but please, don't judge a recipe by its photo ... at least in this case. What may be hard to discern at first glance is that this is a photo of a sliced chicken breast that has been stuffed with mozzarella cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and fresh basil. And it is delicious.

Though many recipes call for covering the chicken breasts with bread crumbs, I opted to marinate the chicken breasts in a balsamic vinaigrette prior to stuffing and cooking them. Doing so added an extra level of flavor and also helped to keep the meat tender and moist.

What I love most about this recipe is how versatile it is -- the options are virtually endless given the wide variety of flavor combinations you can put together using whatever fresh herbs, cheese, and fruits or vegetables you have on hand. I think my next version will stuffed with spinach, feta, and olives as a Mediterranean-inspired dish. Or maybe I'll try a dried cranberry, wild rice, and brie-stuffed chicken breast. And just imagine how the flavors could change as the seasons do! Let the creative flavor combinations begin! I am definitely going to make use of this cooking technique again.

Tomato, Basil, and Mozzarella Stuffed Chicken Breasts
makes two servings

2 six-ounce boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1/4 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon herbes de Provence
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (or you can use fresh mozzarella)

1. In a gallon-size plastic zippered bag, add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, herbes de Provence, and oregano. Liberally salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts then place them in the bag and zipper it closed. Place the bag on a plate and marinate in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
2. Remove the chicken from the fridge about 20 minutes before baking to allow it time to come to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a small bowl, stir together the basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and mozzarella cheese.
4. Place the marinated breasts on a cutting board. Carefully cut a slit into each chicken breast horizontally (along the side) to create a pouch.
5. Stuff each pouch with the mozzarella, basil, and sun-dried tomato mixture. Use toothpicks to keep each pouch closed.
6. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray, then place the prepared chicken breasts in the dish.
7. Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 165 degrees. Remove the chicken breasts from the oven and allow them to rest for five minutes before serving.

What's For Dinner: Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup

It appears that as soon as I wax on about the lovely springtime weather, Northern Wisconsin strikes back with a little taste of winter. Over the weekend, our temperatures dropped from the mid 70s back down into the 30s and 40s, and these colder temperatures were accompanied by high winds and moments of intense sleet and snow. Happily, none of the precipitation accumulated. I'm not sure what I would have done if it had.

Due to the return of wintery weather, I decided a warm and spicy soup was on order for dinner on Sunday. I knew that I wanted the soup to include chicken, since I already had a package of organic chicken breasts thawed in the refrigerator. Nothing was piquing my interest on Pinterest, so I cast a wider net and happened upon a Food & Wine recipe for Moroccan Chicken and Couscous soup.

This soup is rich in flavor and the addition of cayenne and cumin adds just the right level of spiciness without being overwhelming. The couscous adds heartiness to the soup, making it a filling meal.

Moroccan Chicken and Couscous Soup (adapted from this Food & Wine recipe)
makes six servings

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 white onion, chopped
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2), cut into approximately 1 1/2-by-1/4-inch strips
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 3/4 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch cubes
1 zucchini, quartered lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1-inch pieces
3 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly
3/4 cup tomato puree
4 cups filtered water
2 cups low-sodium organic vegetable broth
1 cup cooked couscous, cooked per the manufacturer's instructions
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

1. Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add in the chicken, cayenne, cumin, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is browned on all sides.
3. Add the sweet potato, zucchini, carrots, tomato puree, water, and vegetable broth. Bring the soup to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are fork-tender, 10-15 minutes.
4. Stir in the cooked couscous, and simmer for an additional five minutes.
5. Garnish with fresh parsley, and serve.

What's For Dessert: Vanilla Bean Pudding

I bought a half-gallon of whole milk last week, with intentions of using it in a recipe for sweetened condensed milk. (We are typically skim milk drinkers in this house.) However, after realizing that the recipe I planned to follow would take several hours (and the sweetened condensed milk -- just two tablespoons' worth -- was intended for another recipe I was making), I opted to follow a simpler recipe that called for dry milk.

Long story short, I had an unopened carton of whole milk in the fridge and I needed to use it up. The first thing I thought of was pudding (of course my mind would go to dessert first). Since I had just recently made a chocolate pudding recipe (and a quick glance through my archives shows that I always opt for chocolate when it comes to pudding), I figured it was about time I try a vanilla pudding recipe. Smitten Kitchen provided just the recipe I was looking for, and the resulting pudding was delicious and finely-flecked with vanilla bean seeds -- just because it's vanilla doesn't mean it's boring. This pudding is definitely a step above the plastic containers of pre-made pudding you can buy in the grocery store.

I still have over half a container of whole milk left -- I'm thinking a custard might be next on my must-make list.

How would you use up a container of whole milk?

Vanilla Bean Pudding (adapted from this Smitten Kitchen recipe)
makes six (1/2 cup) servings

2 2/3 cups organic whole milk, divided
1/2 cup raw granulated sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
seeds scraped from 1/2 vanilla bean
1 large egg
1 teaspoon bourbon or dark rum [optional]

1. In a medium heat-proof bowl, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, salt, and vanilla bean seeds. Slowly whisk in 2/3 cup whole milk, then whisk in the egg. Continue stirring until smooth. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining milk and vanilla bean seed pods. Bring the milk to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the milk begins to boil, remove the pods and slowly add the hot milk to the cornstarch mixture, whisking constantly.
3. Pour back into the saucepan and, while stirring continuously, bring the mixture to a simmer. Cook for an additional minute. If desired, add in a teaspoon of bourbon or dark rum for a little extra flavor.
4. Carefully pour the pudding into six containers. Chill in the fridge until set, at least 2 hours.

What's For Dessert: No-Bake Mini Bananas Foster Cheesecake

Northwoods update: our lake is free of ice! After the ice first began to break up early last week, all it took was several days of warm weather and it seemed like the remaining ice disappeared right before our eyes on Monday. According to the Old Timers in the neighborhood, this was one of the latest dates for ice breakup on the lake in the last 30 years -- last year the ice was gone by the end of March! (Last spring was unusually warm in these parts, though they later got a large dumping of snow in April.)

All I can say is that it was a long time coming and I cannot wait for the lake to warm up so I can get in a few (dock to dock) laps. D has been working on getting our small boat tuned up for the season, and I need to get a fishing license -- and then we'll be ready to hit the water for some evening boating and fishing.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, I may have made one of the most awesome desserts of my life. (Wow, that's a grand statement!) Seriously, though, I think it was a stroke of genius (if I do say so myself) to meld together a recipe for no-bake mini banana cream cheesecakes that I spied on How Sweet It Is (via The Kitchn) with a recipe for bananas foster. Cheesecake is good. Bananas foster is good. But put them both together -- and you've got a dessert that is sublime.

Since bananas foster is quite rich, I subbed in neufchâtel cheese for cream cheese, which has a slightly lower fat content. These cheeses taste quite similar, so I don't think the overall flavor was affected at all, but if you only have cream cheese on hand, you can of course use that instead. (And, if you're curious, here's a quick explanation of the difference between the two cheeses.)

No-Bake Mini Bananas Foster Cheesecake (inspired by this How Sweet It Is recipe)
makes four servings

For the bananas foster (adapted from this Alton Brown recipe):
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon brandy
3 bananas, sliced in half widthwise, then lengthwise (so you'll end up with 12 slices)
1/4 cup dark rum
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest

8 ounces neufchâtel (or cream) cheese, softened

2 tablespoons sweetened condensed milk

1. Melt the butter in a heavy skillet over low heat. Add the sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and stir until the sugar dissolves. Add in the brandy and bring to a simmer. Add the sliced bananas, and cook for about one minute per side, spooning the sauce over the bananas as they cook. Remove the bananas from the skillet and place them in a medium-sized bowl.
2. Add the rum to the skillet. If the sauce is hot enough, it will start to flame. If not, use a long lighter to ignite the flame (be careful!). Continue cooking the sauce until the flame dies out, about 2-3 minutes. The sauce should have a syrupy consistency; if it is too thin, continue cooking for a few minutes longer.
3. Stir in the orange zest, and then carefully pour the sauce over the bananas. [It's totally cool if you want to stop at this point and just serve the bananas foster over vanilla ice cream. I may or may not have bogarted a couple bananas to give it a taste -- long story short, it was delish.]
4. Use a fork to mash the bananas into the sauce. Set aside and let cool for a few minutes.
5. Add the neufchatel (or cream) cheese to the bowl of an electric mixer and beat until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary. Add in the sweetened condensed milk and beat to combine. Next, add in the cooled banana mixture and beat until the mixture is smooth.

For the cheesecakes:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2/3 cup graham cracker crumbs (about 2 full cracker sheets)
1 ripe banana, sliced thinly
bananas foster cheesecake filling [see above]
whipped cream for serving
graham cracker crumbs for topping

1. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter and graham cracker crumbs.
2. Spoon and press the graham cracker mixture into the bottom of four containers (I used small jam jars; you could use short glasses, ramekins, or other container of your choice).
3. Next, add a layer of sliced bananas (about 3-4 slices in a circle) to each jar.
4. Carefully spoon the cheesecake filling evenly into each of the containers.
5. Refrigerate for at least 4-6 hours to let the cheesecakes set.
6. When ready to serve, top each cheesecake with whipped cream, graham cracker crumbs, and a banana slice.

Made from Scratch: Sweetened Condensed Milk

Sweetened condensed milk reminds me of the holidays -- and pumpkin pie -- which means I only ever have it on hand around Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fast forward to last weekend when I needed a small bit of it for a recipe I was making -- and there was not a single can of sweetened condensed milk to be found in our pantry. I wondered if perhaps I could make my own sweetened condensed milk from scratch with the ingredients I did have on hand. Lo and behold, the Internet answered my question with an easy-to-follow and super-quick recipe for sweetened condensed milk made from scratch. Oh, the wonders of the Google search!

Truth be told, this stuff is kind of yummy on its own, and I might have snuck one (okay several) spoonfuls. (I mean, it's not like I had to scrape every last bit into the container...) Coming tomorrow, a ridiculously-delicious recipe that uses some of this made-from-scratch sweetened condensed milk. Trust me, you'll want to come back to check it out.

Sweetened Condensed Milk (adapted from this recipe)
makes about one cup

1 cup organic nonfat dry milk
2/3 cup raw granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/3 cup boiling water
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Add all of the ingredients to a blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.
2. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.

What's For Dinner: Grilled Ginger-Soy Marinated Chicken

I think marinating chicken breasts is my new favorite thing. Is that a weird thing to say? Quite possibly. But seriously, the flavor options are endless, and at the end of the day, I can just hand the marinated meat over to D to grill. (Yes, I could operate the grill on my own, but it's so much nicer to have someone else do it. That, and maybe I'm afraid I'll blow the thing up. Or I'm just too lazy to grill things myself. One (or more) of those options might be the truth.)

For this week's grilled marinated chicken, I went for Asian flavors by combining together sesame oil, soy (or tamari, if you're gluten-free) sauce, ginger, garlic, and a few other ingredients. Ginger is at the top of my "favorite" ingredients list, too. During our recent trip to California, we stopped into a Trader Joe's, and I picked up a bag of crystallized candied ginger, and I might cry when the bag is empty -- it is soooo good. Looks like I might need to put a couple of bags on my shopping list the next time we're in Madison (home to our nearest Trader Joe's location).

Grilled Ginger-Soy Marinated Chicken
makes two servings

1/4 cup sesame oil
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon (about 4") peeled and chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoon light brown sugar
juice 1/2 lime
2 organic chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)
fine sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Add the sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, brown sugar, and lime juice to a small bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Pour the sauce into a gallon-size plastic zippered bag.
3. Generously salt and pepper both sides of each chicken breast. Add the chicken breasts to the zippered bag, squeeze out the excess air, and seal the bag closed.
4. Place the bag on a plate and marinate the chicken in the refrigerator for at least one hour. (The longer, the better.) I tend to flip the bag over a few times while the meat marinates.
5. Remove the chicken from the fridge about 20 minutes before grilling to allow it time to come to room temperature.
6. Grill the chicken for 10-15 minutes (about 4-7 minutes per side), or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. Cover with foil and let rest for 5 minutes. Serve the breasts whole or cut the chicken into slices and serve.

What's For Dinner: Spinach-Mushroom Lasagna Roll Ups

Like Garfield, I'm a fan of lasagna, but I think I've only made "normal" lasagna once -- and even then it was a butternut squash lasagna with a cream sauce, not your typical cheesy-marinara goodness. I'm not sure what it is about lasagna that intimidates me -- all those layers? The fact that there are just two of us, and a typical lasagna recipe would feed us for days on end? 

For some reason, lasagna roll ups seem much easier to handle. And with a set serving size (one roll; two if you're really hungry), it's easy to keep portions under control. Though the recipe I worked from used a meaty marinara sauce at its base, I opted to make my lasagna roll ups vegetarian. I added sauteed onions, garlic, and mushrooms to the mix as well as a number of fresh herbs I had on hand. This recipe is very forgiving -- feel free to improvise with the ingredients you have in your fridge or pantry. 

Spinach-Mushrooms Lasagna Roll Ups (inspired by this For the Love of Cooking recipe)
makes 8 servings

8 lasagna noodles
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I used a tomato-basil sauce)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 white onion, chopped fine
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped mushrooms
2 cups fresh spinach, chopped

15 oz ricotta cheese
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella (divided)
4 tablespoons freshly-grated Parmesan (divided)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/3 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
pinch red pepper flakes

1. Add the olive oil to a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onions and saute until translucent and lightly golden, 3-4 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and add the chopped mushrooms. Saute until browned and most of the liquid has cooked away. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in the chopped spinach and saute until just wilted. Remove the skillet from the heat.
2. Cook the lasagna noodles per the manufacturer's instructions. Drain them, then lay them out on a working surface lightly coated with cooking spray.
3. While the noodles are cooking, in a large bowl, combine the ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, egg, rosemary, thyme, parsley, basil, oregano, pepper, salt, nutmeg, and red pepper flakes. Stir in the spinach-mushroom mixture until well-combined.
4. Spoon a thin, even layer of the lasagna filling down the entire length of each lasagna noodle. Carefully roll each noodle up.
5. Pour a thin layer of marinara sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. Place the lasagna rolls seam-side-down into the baking dish. Top each roll with a sprinkle of Parmesan. Then cover each roll with the remaining marinara sauce. Use the remaining mozzarella (1 cup) and Parmesan (2 tablespoons) to evenly top each roll with cheese.
6. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes. Then remove the foil and bake an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbling and the cheese has melted.