Barbecue Baked Lentils with Chicken Apple Sausage

Since learning that we will be moving in a few short months, Lee and I have started forming our grocery lists with an eye on clearing out the cupboards.

Some time ago, we bought lentils (I think they were for Smoked Cheddar and Lentil Burgers) and I noticed this week that we still had a couple cups leftover. It's finally starting to warm up here in Chicago and we're not in the mood for soup these days, so I started hunting around for a unique way to use these little beans. Lo and behold, Cooking Light listed a recipe for Barbecue Baked Lentils.

We served the lentils with chicken apple sausage and some Dijon mustard and a side salad--a nice spring welcome at our table.

I made the lentils according to the recipe, but I wouldn't do it again. The method (pre-simmering for 20 minutes, baking with a sauce that includes some of the cooking liquid) is a keeper, but I found the sauce to be one-dimensional and altogether too sweet. Next time, I'd create my own sauce or use one of the fabulous-sounding recipes from Epicurious.

Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic

Lee and I are always on the lookout for a meal that we can transform into different dishes throughout the week. Tonight, we made one of the tastiest, easiest dishes I can remember--Chicken with 20 Cloves of Garlic, adapted from a recipe we saw on the Cooking Light web site.

Start by combining a bit of butter with a bit of olive oil (perhaps a teaspoon of each) into a large covered saute pan. Take a whole cut-up chicken and brown it in the pan; you may need to do this in two batches. The chicken needn't be cooked through at this point; you just need three or four minutes per side.

Once the chicken is browned, set it aside for a moment and saute 20 whole cloves of garlic until they're just starting to tan. Then arrange the chicken evenly over the garlic cloves. Add in 1/2 cup of white wine and 3/4 cup of chicken broth, cover and simmer for about 25 minutes. When the chicken is cooked through, remove it (along with the garlic cloves) and reduce the sauce for five or ten minutes.

This simple meal is perfect with a little bread (the garlic will spread like butter) and a salad or green vegetable. Though Lee and I were dining as a pair, it would be a perfectly appropriate entree to serve to a small dinner party, provided you were looking for something a little rustic.

One note--the braise this chicken gets does no favors to the skin, leaving it pale and flubbery. The skin adds a ton of flavor during the cooking process, but I'd recommend skinning the chicken before serving. With the moisture and flavor imparted by the wine and stock, I assure you, you won't miss the skin a bit.



The next day, we made lovely little chicken salad sandwich bites with the leftovers.

Maple-Glazed Salmon with Nutmeg Zucchini

Last week, MSC-certified, Alaskan wild-caught sockeye salmon was on sale at Whole Foods. Naturally, we didn't want to do anything too much to it, since Alaskan sockeye tends to have delicious, rich flavor. Jenny found this great recipe for a maple glaze, so when I got home from work, we fired up the broiler and got started on this extremely simple dish. The glaze is nothing more than maple syrup, hoisin sauce, and mustard. We coated the salmon before putting it under the broiler, basted it again about halfway through, and I drizzled just a little bit of glaze right when we took it out of the oven.

For the side dish, we made nutmeg zucchini. Again, a very simple dish. This is grated zucchini lightly sautéed in a little bit of butter with salt, pepper, and a dash of nutmeg.

Both recipes came from a recent cookbook acquisition, Cooking Light Superfast Suppers, which is filled with delicious, low-fat recipes for weeknights. As busy as we've been lately, it's been a big help.

Spicy Udon Noodles with Tofu

It started getting a little cold in Chicago this weekend, so we decided to make a batch of spicy Asian noodles to get us through the weekend. We made a fairly basic udon noodle dish out of Cooking Light with some tofu, snow peas, and mushrooms.

In general, I thought the recipe came out pretty well, but there were a few things that I would do differently next time (and there will be a next time; we love our udon around here). The recipe called for me to add chili pepper, garlic, and ginger at the same time that I added the broth. Instead, I'll probably sauté them for a little while first, so they release their oils and flavors and make a richer broth. I think we'll also make a little less broth (we used 3 cups, but 2 would have done it for the full recipe).

Overall the dish was very tasty. And we used the extra spot on our bowls to keep a blob of chili paste handy to spice up our noodles.

Chicken Strips with Blue Cheese Dip and Kale-Cabbage Saute

We have a few foods that we like to go back to from time to time. Some dishes that are nice and easy, and that cook up pretty fast. One thing that pops up every few weeks are chicken strips (from a recipe that we found in Cooking Light).

They're very simple. In one dish, mix milk with some hot sauce. In the second, paprika, red pepper, black pepper, and salt are sifted into flour. Heat some oil (we use organic canola) in a frying pan. Dip the chicken into the milk, then roll it around in the flour. The whole batch cooks up in around 15 minutes.

The dip is one thing we keep toying with, and this time around we discovered a wonderfully creamy blue cheese at Whole Foods. It made a chunky, flavorful dip that blended well with the spicy chicken strips.

For the side dish, I put together a kale-cabbage sauté, also from Cooking Light. We love leafy greens, and this was a neat twist on a coleslaw-like dish, served hot instead of cold and without mayonnaise. There is a little bit of fresh ginger and jalapeno in the dish, but I might increase each the next time around.

Pan-Seared Chicken Breasts with Sweet Potato Fries

Tonight, I made pan-seared chicken breasts in thyme-peppercorn sauce with steamed green beans and brown sugar-glazed sweet potato fries. The chicken is really simple: just pound two half chicken breasts until they're about a quarter of an inch thick, then sear them on each side for three or four minutes in a bit of oil. Set them aside, and sprinkle a little flour in your pan (a teaspoon, maybe) and start scraping up the fond. Deglaze the pan with half a cup or so of chicken stock and maybe a quarter of a cup of half-and-half. Stir in a couple of teaspoons of dried thyme and a few peppercorns.

The fries were a great find from Cooking Light.

In other news, Lee and I have decided to try alternating the menu planning. We share the cooking duties, as it is, but we hope we'll cook more often if we take turns taking charge of things. So I'm playing executive chef this week. I hope he'll post his meals next week--Lee's an excellent cook.

Jen