French Onion Chicken Breasts with Garlic Toasts

 Wow. Did the house smell good after this dish! I love French onion soup, so this was up my alley.

It's just so simple. Onion, garlic, broth concentrate or broth, thyme, fontina cheese, vinegar, sugar, Dijon mustard and spinach.  Chicken breasts and some French bread or rolls. You could also use some fresh mushroom slices.

Slice a medium onion thin. Add 1 T butter and 1 T oil to a skillet and 1 tsp. sugar and some salt and pepper. Cook, adding water as necessary in small amounts to stir up the cooked bits in the skillet. Set them aside when cooked, after about 15 minutes.

Pat two chicken breasts dry. Heat 1 T oil in the skillet and cook 3 minutes per side so that the breasts are nicely browned. I crosscut into the breast three of four times 1/4 inch on the top side. Set aside. 

Begin making a sauce with a sliced garlic clove and 1 tsp. oil.  Add 1 T chopped fresh thyme leaves, a packet of broth concentrate, and a half cup of water. Bring to a simmer and let it thicken, stirring up any bits on the bottom. 

Place the chicken on a small cookie sheet, or oven-safe skillet. Cover with cooked onion (and mushrooms?) Top with 2 oz. shredded Fontina cheese. Butter your rolls or French bread and add minced or roasted garlic. Place these around the chicken. Broil the chicken and watch carefully until cheese is melted, about 3 min. Take rolls out when they are slightly browned.

Serve with a small spinach salad dressed with 1 T. vinegar, 1 T oil, 1-1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard, a pinch of sugar and salt and pepper. Whisk the dressing before topping the spinach. 

Fast Skillet Dinners (with any seafood, poultry or meat)

Here are two skillet dinners that are easy and delicious with your choice of shrimp, beef, chicken, or meatless. Serve with garlic bread, Israeli couscous, couscous, pasta, farro, or your favorite side of potatoes, rice or grain. The creamy juices from the Tuscan skillet will mix with your side. Or use bread to sop up the juice. The dressing for the Mediterranean skillet can be served over couscous.

Fast Tuscan Skillet:

First grill or saute the meat or seafood until just done or before done and set aside. Keep warm.

Heat 2 tsp. oil in a medium skillet over medium high. Add 4 oz. baby spinach and cook only until just wilted, 1-2 minutes.  Transfer to a plate. 

Melt 1 T butter in the same skillet and add 1 pkg grape tomatoes, salt and pepper, and cook undisturbed until tomatoes are blistered, 2-3 minutes. 

Add the meat that is still warm. Add 4 oz mascarpone and still until melted. Stir in the spinach and serve with garlic bread and a side of roasted potatoes.

Mediterranean Skillet:

First, grill or saute meat or seafood in oil and salt and pepper.

Heat 1 T oil and add 1-1/2 cup grape or tiny plum tomatoes in the skillet you used to saute meat or seafood. Add 3/4 c. finely sliced yellow onion. (Chop 1 T onion for dressing.)

Add 1 thinly-sliced garlic clove and salt and pepper. Cook until tomatoes are lightly browned, or 3 minutes. Add a sprig of fresh oregano, 3/4 c water, and 1 T red wine vinegar. Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce is lightly thickened. Tomatoes should be burst but not crushed.

Nestle the meat or seafood, pouring in resting juices. Cover and simmer for 3 minutes. Stir in 1 oz. chopped Kalamata olives and the lemon zest. Remove the oregano sprig from the tomatoes. - Place meat and tomatoes on serving plate.

For the dressing, stir the 1 T  chopped onion (from above) and 1 tsp fresh oregano leaves into 2 T oil. Zest one lemon and juice 1 T. Add juice to dressing (not zest). Season with salt and pepper.

Serve dressing, crumbled feta (1/4 cup) over the meat and tomatoes. Spoon the dressing on the dish, including any sides or grains you serve with it. 

Stir-Fried Curried Noodles

 Another hit from Marley Spoon. 

Trim 2 scallions and slice thin, separating the dark green from white and light green. 

Cut 1/2 lb. Chinese broccoli into1/2 inch pieces crosswise.

Trim ends off 1/4 lb. snow peas

Cut one lime into wedges

Chop 1 oz. peanuts into coarse chunks

Measure 2 tsps curry powder. Mix 1-1/2 oz. tamari soy sauce and 2 T. sugar. Set aside.

Boil water in a medium pot big enough for noodles (egg noodles, Pad Thai noodles, etc.) Add noodles and cook 5-7 minutes al dente. Rinse and cool. 

Heat 2 tsp. oil in skillet. Saute the white and green scallions in the skillet until browned. Add two large whisked eggs to the pan. Swirl the pan to cover the edges. Cook covered until it is a thin, cooked omelette. Loosen edges and remove intact on a cutting board. Roll up the omelette like a jelly roll. Slice into 1/2 inch ribbons. Set aside.

Heat 2 tsp oil in the skillet. Add the broccoli and cook one minute. Add the snow peas and 1/2 the dark scallion slices, with a pinch of salt. Stir fry two minutes. Transfer to a plate.

Heat 2 T oil in the skillet and turn to high until shimmering. Add the 2 tsps curry powder and cook until fragrant 30 sec. Add noodles and tamari/sugar sauce. Add a bit of broth or water if it seems too dry. Toss until sauce is absorbed about 3 min. Toss in sliced egg and vegetables. 

Serve with chopped peanuts, remaining dark scallions, and some Sriracha and lime wedges.

 

Chimichurri Garnish and Agrodolce Sauce

We had this chimichurri garnish and agrodolce sauce on veggies in a steak dish from Marley Spoon. They were both delicious and easy for a meat and vegetable dinner. 

Chimichurri - Finely chop 1/4 oz fresh parsley leaves and stem and 1/4 oz fresh mint. Grate 1 tsp. garlic or use 1 tsp. roasted garlic paste (or more to taste.) Add 1 T. oil and 1 tsp. vinegar. Add some salt and pepper. Make more for a table and put in a bowl on the table to top grilled meat.

Agrodolce - Toss roasted vegetables with 2 T. vinegar and 1 T. brown sugar (mixed.) More if cooking for more than two.