Pasta, Pasta! Chicken Sausage Alfredo

The best thing about pasta is it is quick! And when you can put together with a quick homemade sauce and an easy add-in it is also delicious. The quick light Alfredo recipe I discovered from before went great with sun dried tomato chicken sausage and fresh fettuccine!

Rainy Night: Grilled Cheese Alright

The weather where I live is awful tonight. Temperature dropped with rain, lots of rain. What is better than grilled cheeses with manchego, Irish cheddar and Gruyere served with a side of soup. Warm bellies tonight!

Quick Cupboard Meal: Spicy Indian

Today was one of those days when both me and hubby worked late and felt the whole day was rushed. It's nights like these I am glad I plan out meals! Tonight was an easy meal from ingredients I keep on hand (chicken, basmati rice, jalapenos, scallions, tomato paste) and two strategically purchased items: 1 jar of tikka masala sauce and 1 package of naan bread from our local grocery bakery.

The jarred tikka masala suace by Sharwood's is something we tried once before but decided needed something more. So tonight, I sauteed some scallions and thinly sliced fresh jalapeno in some olive oil and then added the chicken and sauce according to package directions. I then added about a tablespoon of tomato paste (the squeeze tube of tomato paste from Trader Joe's is a kitchen must have!) and some garlic salt. The sauce simmered, the naan was brushed with olive oil and heated in the oven, all while the rice cooked. In about 15 minutes, dinner was served! Once work slows down I want to try my hand at making my own Indian but for now this is a pretty good substitute.

Quick Meal: Spicy Chicken Quesadillas

This was a very quick recipe again courtesy of Cooking Light. Our house loves Mexican food and this recipe sounded right up our alley. I, as usual, made some adjustments based on what I had on hand. Surprisingly, I didn't have any left over rotisserie chicken so I used the quick grill to grill up two chicken breasts.

Also, since it was a lot more chicken than the recipe called for, I decided to make a big batch of filling and freeze the rest for a later meal. The original recipe for Spicy Chicken Quesadillas and here is mine:

2 grilled chicken breasts
1/2 cup refrigerated salsa
1/2 cup organic black beans
1 can of 50% reduced salt kernel corn
1/4 cup chopped jarred jalapeno slices
8 6-inch corn tortillas
1 1/2 cup 2% Mexican cheese blend
Cooking Spray
Reduced fat sour cream

It is actually a little difficult to cook these in a skillet because of the filling, so I decided to instead of using two tortillas, just use one and fold in half. I think next time, I make them in the oven like I usually do with quesadillas.

These were tasty but not as spicy as the title would lead you to believe. The extra filling is in fact in the freezer and hubby and I decided it would make great enchilada filling! Also, apparently I forgot that hubby is also not a huge black bean fan so perhaps if the filling is combined with a little more cheese and a spicy sauce, he can forgive my memory lapse next time.

Quick Meal: Prosciutto Wrapped Chicken Breasts

I think every cook, when faced with a cooking disaster finds herself retreating back to familiar tried and true dishes or at the very least a simple one. I bring this up because the long string of successful dishes came to an end on Sunday when I tried to make a stuffed pork tenderloin. When I am fully over the trauma, it will be its own post as I have never said this blog was about cooking perfection (remember that roast chicken?). In the meantime, when it came to the night I had set aside to use chicken breasts, I was not in the mood to do anything particularly adventurous.

I wasn't feeling like anything pan-fried and shockingly had no interest in Mexican or pasta. A quick scan of the fridge revealed prosciutto and that I still had parmigiano-reggiano. So enter my quick meal: prosciutto wrapped chicken. For a side,the pantry revealed some sweet potatoes left over from our last Farmer's Market trip and I knew the mashed sweet potatoes would be a success.

I salt and peppered two chicken breasts and wrapped each one in three pieces of prosciutto.

I heated some olive oil in a stainless oven proof pan and placed the chicken in the pan, seam side down:

After about 5 minutes on each side, I shaved some slices of parmigiano-reggiano on top of the wrapped chicken and slid them into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes:

I let them rest and served them with my potatoes that I had prepared while they had been cooking.

Quick, easy and pretty good. Hubby suggested adding more cheese, preferably on the inside. I agreed on the cheese and thought maybe some tucked in rosemary or other chicken-loving herb would be great. With a meal successfully accomplished, I think I can now go off experimenting again...just not pork tenderloin anytime soon!

Quick Meal: Chicken and Spinach Alfredo Pasta

Remember my Steal of the Week on an Easy Alfredo? I decided to try something different with the same basic sauce. I had left over rotisserie chicken from the chicken and herb white pizza and wanted to use it in something other than my usual Mexican ventures and this unusually warm Fall weather is not calling for chicken soup. I thought why not add it to the Alfredo sauce but better yet get a little green in there too and we always have frozen spinach on hand!

I started by adding the spinach and fresh garlic to the melted butter used to make the sauce. Once the spinach was heated through I added the cream cheese:

Next the milk, black pepper and I used the last of our parmigiano reggiano:

While the sauce heated and thickened, I cooked a bag of our favorite Wacky Mac pasta and added the hot cooked pasta to the sauce:

The finished meal was quick, simple and tasty and made leftovers to freeze for work lunches:

This has really become my go-to way to make Alfredo and by using light butter, reduced fat cream cheese and 2% milk...it is even better for you than the light Alfredo sold in the store!

Quick Meal: Bacon Wrapped Filet and Balsamic Green Beans

I don't think people believe me when I say an elegant and delicious meal can take only a few minutes to prepare and just a few ingredients.

This dish was two slices of thick cut bacon, one thick cut prime filet crushed black peppercorns, salt, olive oil, fresh green beans and Balsamic vinegar. It was all cooked using one pan on my stove top....and just as delicious as it looks. 

Using a mortar and pestle I ground the pepper corns and kosher salt together and coated both sides of the meat, pressing the peppercorns in like I would for steak au poivre. The steak was then wrapped in the bacon and secured with toothpicks. I heated a small amount of olive oil in my non-stick grill pan on medium-high heat and seared the steak on both sides. Then I turned down the heat and covered the pan, and continued cooking the steak 2-3 minutes on each side (I like mine medium rare to medium). I removed steak from pan to let rest and added the green beans into the pan. I sauteed them a few minutes and then added about 2 tablespoons of the Balsamic vinegar, tossing the green beans to ensure they were coated. I cooked them another few minutes and served them along side the steak.

Served with wine and crusty bread....better than a steakhouse I say!

Quick Meal: Chicken Sausage Fajitas

I have mentioned Al Fresco chicken sausages before in this blog and I continue to be impressed by their quality and taste. I also enjoy the different flavor options and the other day I picked up a package of their jalapenos and roasted peppers variety. Originally, I was going to make a play on an Italian sausage sub using Mexican flavors, but conveniently on the sausage package was a recipe for quick fajitas (and sadly I had used all of my red bell peppers for snacks for my kids. Not sad that they eat them, mind you, just sad I had used them all and not replaced them!)

I did have some leftover jarred roasted red peppers and decided to go ahead and incorporate them, along with the Vidalia onions I had on hand. I also had some limes and planned to add some lime juice while everything was cooking. Here is my prep:

This was also an excellent opportunity to use some more of the chipotle infused EVOO from Savor the Olive! (Seriously, their oils are AMAZING and I can’t wait to get more!) into the pan went all of the ingredients and after a few minutes I squeezed half a lime over the top:

Very, very simple. Scooped onto a flour tortilla and garnished with Mexican blend cheese, lettuce and sour cream:

The flavor was fantastic and had just the right amount of heat. Thanks al fresco for again helping make an easy and tasty meal!

Quick Meal: Steak Wrap

Leftover meat + sauteed onions + Italian dressing + 2 slices of Pepper Jack, wrapped in a tortilla:

I love leftovers!

Woe of the Working Mom - The Cook Crook Returns

Well -obviously your friend the Cook Crook has not made it into cyber world recently - what with Easter and work travel I couldn't even believe it was Monday already! Easter dinner was success though that I look forward to sharing as was my trip to California which had it's own share of cook crook moments.

So much to catch up on but let me put in one quick comment about the Virginia Culinary expo I attended yesterday. So many vendors there with their personal creations (salsa, relish, BBQ sauce, seasonings, dip mixes, etc.) - it was truly inspirational that anyone is capable of creating something delicious that can be shared with the world. I also want to put in a plug for Top Chef and one of my favorites: Fabio from season 5 who gave a cooking demonstration yesterday and was not only honest and entertaining but inspirational in his own right in terms of the simplicity of food and how 10 minutes of time to cook doesn't have to mean "peel back cellophane and heat 3 minutes". Thanks for reminding all of us and for continuing to keep fun in cooking!