sausage, lentil, and escarole stew

I found this in a book I got from the library, "Atkins for Life: Low-Carb Cookbook." It was really tasty and fairly easy to prepare. The kids thought it was gross. But that's nothing new, as they will scream about mac-n-cheese as of late. We served it with some nummy artisan bread (so much for the low-carb... sorry Atkins). It was yum. We definitely will make this again!

Note: I did change the recipe a tad... adding more water/broth and subtracting the fresh parsley as a garnish (I thought it was a weird tasting addition, liked it better without). Besides that, the recipe is really not mine. So thanks, Atkins, for a delicious new soup to add to our repertoire!

RECIPE: Sausage, Lentil, and Escarole Stew

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb kielbasa sausage, sliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 1/2 tsp caraway seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 small red onion, diced (about 1/2 c)

4 1/2 c chicken broth

1 c dried lentils, rinsed and picked over

1/2 tsp pepper

1 head escarole, rinsed well and chopped

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add kielbasa and cook, turning occasionally, until well browned, about 10 minutes.

Add garlic, caraway, and fennel to saucepan. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add chicken broth, lentils, and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until lentils are tender, 40 to 45 minutes.

Add escarole, stirring until it wilts. Serve warm.

mango chutney

This can hardly be called my recipe. I snagged it off the internet by a faster-than-lightning Google search, ran to the store, bought the ingredients, whipped it up - and loved it! I changed a few things {and will post the thus-altered recipe I used}, but really credit goes to Elise via Simply Recipes {go here}. Way to go, Elise! The salsa, which for some reason we continuously called chutney, was fantastic! We served it over grilled salmon and grilled chicken breasts. Mmm... delightful.

This recipe is really versatile, so change it up however you'd like. Add more of this and less of that, whatever. It should still work. We used less jalapeño because we wanted the flavor of the chili but not the heat {this recipe is kid-friendly}. Change that up if you want it to pack more of a punch. Serve over grilled salmon or chicken, or just with your favorite tortilla chips! Relish in the ease of it all... and enjoy!

RECIPE: Mango Chutney

Ingredients:

2 ripe mangoes

1 red onion

3/4 of a jalapeño

1 cucumber

1 big handful of fresh cilantro

2 limes

Directions:

Peel, pit and dice the mangoes. Finely chop the red onion. Remove the ribs and seeds of the jalapeño, then mince it finely. Peel and dice the cucumber. Chop the cilantro. Combine all ingredients in a small-medium bowl, mixing gently. Juice the limes over the mixture. Give it another quick stir, and serve!

*Photo courtesy of simplyrecipes.com

bbq chicken pizza

We love to make our own pizza. It feels so festive and is somehow so fulfilling. Usually we go for the supreme variety, but this time we opted for something a little different. We had some bbq sauce in the pantry and some chicken and pizza dough in the freezer. It was meant to be. And it was yummy.

PS. We used way too much sauce the first time (ie. twice as much as needed). You can see the excess gushing out the sides. Anyway, the recommended amount is listed below, so try that. Change it however you'd like. It's your pizza, after all!


RECIPE: BBQ Chicken Pizza

Ingredients:
pizza dough {We buy ours frozen at Macey's for 99c.}, thawed
corn meal (optional)
1 c. bbq sauce
1 lb. chicken, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
3/4 lb. mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Stretch, pull, flip, roll... whatever... to get your dough into the correct shape and size for your stone. Spread a thin layer of corn meal on the stone (optional) and place dough. Using a fork, poke holes all over the dough, leaving the outer crust-area alone (this will prevent it from ballooning up; it will keep it flat). Bake dough at 400F for about 8-10 minutes, or until golden. Meanwhile, combine bbq sauce and chicken in a pan. Cook over medium heat until chicken is cooked through.

Pull pizza dough out of the oven and dump sauce/chicken mixture on top, spreading it around evenly. Sprinkle the diced onion evenly, then top with mozzerella cheese. Make sure and leave a bit of a crust on the outside perimeter. Bake the whole thing again, still at 400F, until cheese is melted, bubbly and starting to brown. Remove from oven, cut into wedges and serve warm.

cayenne-rubbed chicken with avocado salsa

This recipe is from the lovely Mindy Anderson {author of The Orange Apron}, who got it from an issue of Everyday Food magazine. Phew! :) Anyway, we altered it a bit. Instead of red onions, we used white onions. Don't. It was a bad idea... way too powerful of a punch. Also, we doubled up on the avocado {this was a great idea... mmm, avocado}, halved the amount of onion and added a Roma tomato, since we had a bunch on hand. We also grilled the chicken instead of pan-frying it. All in all, I loved the meal. We ate outside {hence the strange coloring in the pic... natural sunlight- pssh! Weird!}, and it felt like a wonderful summertime meal. Note: If you don't like avocados and will not therefore eat the salsa with the chicken {ahem, James}, the chicken might be pretty spicy. As a combo, though, the flavors and spicy/creamy factors harmonize well and result in a super delicious meal!



RECIPE: Cayenne-Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa

Ingredients:
coarse salt
ground pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbs. olive oil
2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into strips
1/2 medium red onion, finely chopped
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice
2 large avocados, pitted and cut into chunks
1 Roma tomato, diced

Directions:
Fire up the grill. In a small bowl, combine 1 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cayenne. Baste chicken with olive oil and rub with seasoning mix. Grill chicken on medium heat until cooked throughout (until opaque and the juices run clear, or until it is at least 165F). Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine onion and lime juice; set aside. Just before serving, fold avocado chunks and diced tomato into onion mixture; season with salt and pepper. Serve chicken topped with salsa.

If your kid doesn't like it, throw a tortilla his way. ;)