Rosemary Chicken with Corn Quinoa

Ready in 40 minutes. Serves 4 or 5.

Chicken Ingredients:
4 skinned and boned chicken breasts (2 lb.)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation:
Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and rosemary. Cook in hot oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat 6 minutes on each side or until done. Serve with quinoa.

Fresh Corn Quinoa Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups uncooked red quinoa
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
4 cups water
4 shallots or 2 small onions, quartered
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh corn kernels
6 cups shredded greens (such as chard)
1/2 cup torn basil
1/4 cup torn mint
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:
Bring quinoa, salt, and water to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and simmer 8 to 10 minutes or until tender; drain. Cover and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté shallots in hot olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat 3 minutes or until tender. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add corn kernels and shredded greens; cook 2 minutes or just until wilted. Add quinoa, basil, mint, and fresh lemon juice.

Recipe from Southern Living's September 2013 issue. See it here.

Chicken Piccata

Serves: 4 Calories: 365 Prep Time to Table: 30 minutes 

Ingredients:

• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 ounces all-purpose flour, divided (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 T finely chopped shallots
• 1 medium garlic clove, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 3/4 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth, divided
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Place each chicken breast half between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2-inch thickness using a meat mallet or small heavy skillet. Place 1 teaspoon flour in a small bowl, and place remaining flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle both sides of chicken evenly with salt and pepper. Dredge chicken in flour in shallow dish; shake off excess.
2. Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; sauté 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
3. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in pan; swirl to coat (optional - turns out great without the added oil). Add shallots to pan; sauté 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add wine; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Cook until liquid almost evaporates, stirring occasionally. Remove shallots mixture and put on top of chicken, on serving plate(s).
4. Add 1/4 cup broth to reserved 1 teaspoon flour; stir until smooth. Leave aside.
5. Add remaining 1/2 cup broth to pan; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced by half (about 5 minutes). Stir in flour mixture (from step 4); cook 1 minute or until slightly thick, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, juice, and capers*. Place 1 chicken breast half on each of 4 plates; top each serving with about 2 tablespoons sauce.
6. Notes: *Not a fan of capers – so left these out of original recipe and also reduced shallots and garlic

Original recipe from Cooking Light Jan/Feb 2012. Used adapted recipe found here.

Patriotic Peanut Butter Cookies (Frosted)

Prep time: 20 mins  *  Cook time: 20 mins  *  Total time: 40 mins  *  Serves: 24

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup butter (room temperature)
• 1½ cups dark brown sugar
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1½ cup chunky peanut butter (room temperature)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2½ cups all-purpose flour
• 4 cups white chocolate chips
• 6 teaspoons vegetable shortening
• red food coloring
• blue food coloring

INSTRUCTIONS

• Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
• In a stand mixer, combine the softened butter with the dark brown sugar and granulated sugar until well mixed.
• Add the eggs and continue mixing until the eggs are completely incorporated.
• Now pour the vanilla extract into the cookie dough and mixer for 30 seconds to combine.
• Add the chunky peanut butter to the bowl and mix for 2 minutes, or until the peanut butter is completely mixed into the dough.
• Now add the salt, baking soda, and flour and mix slowly for 2-3 minutes. The dough should be very sticky.
• Scoop the dough onto un-greased baking sheets (2-3 tablespoons per cookie). Lightly press the cookie down to form a small disk (do not use a fork!).
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove from the oven and let sit for a minute before moving to a cooling rack. Once the cookies are cool to the touch, move them to the refrigerator or freezer to cool completely.
• While the cookies are cooling, separate the white chocolate chips into 3 bowls and add 2 teaspoons of shortening to each bowl. Microwave for 60-90 seconds to melt the chocolate. Add red coloring to one of the bowls and blue to another.
• Once the cookies are cooled, place the cookies upside-down into the plain white melted chocolate to coat the top of the cookie. Place back in the refrigerator or freezer so that the chocolate can harden.
• To add the red and blue stripes, use a spoon to spread the red and blue chocolate over ⅓ of the cookie. Again, place back in the refrigerator or freezer to harden. Store in the refrigerator until serving.
• Note - I found it hard to apply colored frosting on top of the white frosting. As an alternative, I used a zip lock bag to pipe the colored frosting through.

Recipe from Zack and Cilantro Saga on Cooking & Beer.

Hot Cross Buns (Cinnamon Raisin Bread)

Active Time: 15, Total Time:  3.25 hours, Serves 13

INGREDIENTS:
3/4 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45
degrees C)
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon instant powdered milk
1/4 cup white sugar
3/8 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 egg white
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
3/4 cup dried raisins (or currants)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg yolk
2 tablespoons water

CREAM CHEESE ICING
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS:
1. Put warm water, butter, skim milk powder, 1/4 cup sugar, salt, egg, egg white, flour, and yeast in bread maker and start on dough program. My bread maker sets this program for 2 hours and 20 minutes.
2. When 5 minutes of kneading are left, add raisins and cinnamon. Leave in machine till double.
3. Punch down on floured surface, cover, and let rest 10 minutes.
4. Shape into 12 balls and place in a greased 9 x 12 inch pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place till double, about 35-40 minutes. I was able to let it rest for 10 minutes and it turned out fine.
5. Mix egg yolk and 2 tablespoons water. Brush on balls.
6. Bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 20 minutes. Remove from pan immediately and cool on wire rack.
7. To make crosses: mix together confectioners' sugar, and cream cheese. Put in a zip lock back and cut a corner, to allow icing an X on each cooled bun.

From AllRecipes.com. Frosting from previous recipe.

Dark Chocolate & Raspberry Banana Bread

Yield: 1 loaf | Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 50 - 60 mins

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup granulated white sugar
• 4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup plain low fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup dark chocolate chunks or chips
• 1 cup halved raspberries, tossed in 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate large bowl, beat the sugar and butter with an electric mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Stir in the flour mixture; just until moist. Don't over-mix. Stir in the chocolate chunks and then gently stir in the raspberries. If you want, you can sprinkle a few additional chocolate chunks and raspberries on the top to make it look pretty.
4. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in the pan on a wire rack. Remove from pan and cool completely on the wire rack.

COMMENTS:
Source: Thank you Recipe Boy! Below are some comments they made on the recipe:
Since there have been some mixed reviews, we're adding in some tips to help you make this recipe a success (added 9/25/12)

• This recipe turns out perfect for us, so here are the details: We bake at sea level in a greased pyrex pan and we bake on the middle rack in a gas oven.
• Don't use frozen raspberries or freshly washed raspberries (they will add too much moisture).
• If you bake in a dark metal pan or if you are baking at a different altitude or using an electric oven, you may possibly get different results.
• Oven temperatures can vary quite a bit, so if you have an oven thermometer that is helpful to see if yours is recording the right temperature.
• If the top is browning too quickly, cover the top with foil in the middle of baking to prevent it from browning further.