Easy Sautéed Chicken & Cherry Tomatoes

I had some iffy looking tomatoes and scallions left in the fridge at the end of the week and wanted to use them before they went from iffy to inedible. Since I was feeling tired and impatient, I couldn't be bothered looking for a recipe and just hacked something together.

Of course, the dish turned out really well, so I've had to go back and think through what I did, writing down the recipe as best I can. I might actually have used a tablespoon of salt-free Italian seasoning blend, but that seems like too much. Also, my ¾ cup of white wine was more like a several glugs. Glugs, alas, is not a recognized or standardized form of measurement!

Sautéed Chicken with Tomatoes & Scallions

Ingredients
2 small boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3 oz each)
sea salt and pepper, as desired
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
¾ cup whatever white wine you have open
4 scallions, chopped
2 tsp salt-free Italian seasoning blend

Directions
Pound chicken breasts until they are a more uniform thickness. Generously season the breasts with salt and pepper. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the breasts and saute until beautifully brown and cooked through. Set aside in a shallow bowl (don't want to lose any chicken jucies).

Add tomatoes to hot skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until cherry tomatoes skins begin to char a little and burst. Add the wine and cook until liquid evaporates. Add the scallions and seasoning blend. Return any chicken juices to the pan. Serve over the chicken.

I served the chicken with garlicky green beans and a pasta packet. It was yummy.

Easy, Cheesy Roasted Carrots

When I asked The Husband to add organic carrots to our Peapod order last week, I didn't realize he would add the five pound bag. That's a lot of carrots, you know. It takes us a month to get through a pound of carrots. Five pounds ... Blarg. Time to make many of carrot-y things!

Alas, since we're going on vacation, there isn't much time to make many carrot-y things. However, I did manage to make Food.com's "Roasted Carrots With Feta." Seriously good carrots. I mean, roasted carrots are always good carrots, but the addition of feta brought them to a whole new level.

Toss a pound of thickly cut carrots with olive oil; season with sea salt and pepper. Roast in an 425°F oven for 25 minutes or until the carrots are all sweet, tender, and golden.

Remove from oven and toss with feta (I used garlic and herb seasoned feta) and parsley. Serve immediately.

These were so good -- I could have eaten the whole bowl for supper. But, I didn't. No, I ate them with a bunch of other things that needed eating up before vacation. Necessity is the mother of good meals?

Roast peppery pork tenderloin, garlicky cheesy pasta shells, sauteed mushrooms, and yummy carrots. A definite win for the ol' taste buds.

VitaBun Sandwiches, I Made Some

Several months ago, in a burst of good intention, I ordered a case of Vitalicious VitaBuns -- nutritionally superior English muffins with low Weight Watchers Points Plus values. Unfortunately, 2 24-packs of VitaBuns is a lot of VitaBuns, delicious though they may be (and they are seriously good). My freezer, it overfloweth with them. So I've been making sandwiches ... omnomnom.

Faux Tuna Melt

Ingredients
14 oz can organic garbanzos, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp light mayonnaise
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp minced sweet pickle
Salt and pepper, as desired
1 slice cheese
1 VitaBun, toasted

Directions
Mash garbanzo beans until you like the texture (I left mine pretty chunky). Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Serve on toasted VitaBun with a slice of cheese (I used soy cheese, because ... I dunno).

Egg Salad

Ingredients
3 large eggs, hard cooked
2 Tbsp light mayonnaise
2 tsp capers, drained and rinsed
2 tsp parsley
1 stalk celery, minced
Salt and pepper, as desired
3 VitaBuns, toasted

Directions
Chop eggs until you like the texture. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Divide into thirds to make three sandwiches.

Ham Sammich

Ingredients
1 (51 g) serving Oscar Mayer Deli Selects Honey Ham
1 slice cheese (soy, again)
2 tsp spicy stone ground mustard
Small handful Bibb lettuce leaves
1 VitaBun, toasted

Directions
Sandwichize. Seriously, we all know what to do ... right?

Simple & Delicious Dessert

Strawberries and kiwi tossed together with a smidge of sugar (or Splenda, if that's how you roll). That's it. Delicious.

Improv Challenge: Strawberries & Cream

After all the grilled cheese sandwiches we ate for May's Crazy Cooking Challenge, I wanted something light for this month's Improv Challenge hosted by Frugal Antics of a Harried Homemaker. Feeling a little guilty over my complete lack of sticktoitiveness vis-à-vis Weight Watchers, I modified their recipe for "Spring Berries with Whipped Ricotta Cream" and found it good.

Spring Berries with Whipped Ricotta Cream
Based on a Weight Watchers' recipe

Ingredients
2 cups fresh strawberries, sliced
1 cup raspberries
¼ cup Sprite Zero (or a sparkling white wine?!)
1 Tbsp fresh mint leaves, rolled and sliced à la chiffonade
½ cup light ricotta cheese
1 Tbsp grated lemon zest + more for garnish
2 Tbsp light sour cream

(The original Weight Watchers' recipe uses all fat-free dairy, but I'm not a fan and stuck with the light versions).

Instructions
Toss the berries with 2 tablespoons of soda or wine and mint; set aside for 10 minutes.


Combine ricotta, lemon zest and remaining soda or wine; whip until light and fluffy. Gently fold in sour cream. Divide berry mixture evenly between 4 small bowls and top each a dollop of cream. Garnish with mint leaves and extra zest, if desired.

You could, of course, use any combination of berries -- a mixture of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blue berries, and red currants might be nice. Regardless, you want to use good, ripe berries as the whipped ricotta cream is creamy and lemony, but not at all sweet so the sweetness (or tartness) of the berries really shines through.

Eating the Alphabet: H is for Hearts of Palm

For May's Eating the Alphabet Challenge, we were to cook with ingredients starting with the letter G or H. I looked at several interesting grape recipes, before deciding now would be an excellent time to finally use the can of hearts of palm that has been rattling around in my cupboard since last year's ill-fated South Beach Diet Adventure.

I looked at a bunch of salad recipes (including SBD's hearts of palm "potato" salad) before finally settling on "Greek Salad Bowl" from Cooking Light Fresh Food Fast (Oxmoor House, 2009). I figured there would be enough going on in this salad that, if I didn't like the hearts of palm, I could pick them out and still not need a second lunch!

Hearts of palm are pretty much exactly what they sound like -- they are the tender inner core of the stem of certain kinds of palm trees. They're sold canned or in jars at most grocery stores and they don't seem terribly expensive at $3.49 for a 14 ounce can. Out of the can, they look a bit like trimmed leeks but are tender like boiled potato. They don't seem to taste like much -- bland and smooth like potato with a slight artichoke-y tang.

That makes them sound a little weird and, frankly, I think they are a little weird. But also strangely compelling. Rather like Earl Grey tea, I kept consuming them in a mad attempt to nail down their exact taste ... and still the best I could come up with was "bland and smooth like potato with a slight artichoke-y tang!"

Ingredients: romaine lettuce, hearts of palm, artichoke hearts, cooked chicken breast, cherry tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onion, Greek vinaigrette.

Just drain and rinse the hearts of palm and artichokes, chop all the vegetables, and toss everything in a big bowl. Dress with vinaigrette and nom. It's that easy. The recipe says it serves 6, but I'd say it's more like 4.

Grilled Cheese, It's (Still) What's For Breakfast

I have made Fo's Reals Mom's Egg-in-the-hole Grilled Cheese Sandwich for breakfast two days running and, if there's time, I might make it again on Sunday to fortify us for the long drive down to Mom Land. It's delicious, darlings. Seriously delicious. Crunchy, buttery bread encasing hot, melty cheese and yolky goodness ... it's grilled cheese gone platinum.

My first attempt. Look at that hot, melty rivulet of Cabot Seriously Sharp cheddar! *Swoon* Yolk's a little hard, though.

My second attempt. Lots of hot, runny, golden yolk! A bit too much, really, but that's what the toasted holes are for.

It's been years since I ate egg-in-the-hole. My mom would occasionally make me eggie-in-the-hole when I was small and I would "help" her by buttering the bread and (carefully) cutting the hole with a butter knife. Egg-in-the-hole production has not changed a lot in the last thirty-odd years, but the use of a round cookie or biscuit cutter to make the hole is a welcome improvement. Perfectly round holes every time:

Sweet, not Savory, Grilled Cheese

When searching for the perfect grilled cheese recipes for May's Crazy Cooking Challenge, I considered making a sweet rather than savory grilled cheese. I looked at a several different temptingly-sweet grilled cheese recipes, but decided to demo Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate's "Grilled Nutella and Cream Cheese," because who can resist chocolate and strawberries? Not I.

Spread one slice of bread with cream cheese and the other with Nutella. I used Weight Watchers cream cheese and Trader Joe's dark chocolate almond spread.

Top one slice of bread with sliced strawberries.

Smoosh bread together and cook until a beautiful golden brown on both sides. I didn't butter my bread, but sprayed it with a little Pam. Seemed to toast just fine.

Look at that sexy grilled cheese, oozing with chocolate and strawberry juices. Mmm.

This grilled cheese was pretty good and I definitely recommend it to anyone who likes chocolate and strawberries (and who doesn't?) but it would have been better on thickly sliced challah or brioche rather than the country-style white I used. Also, a dusting of powdered sugar wouldn't have gone amiss.

(I feel I must confess we shared this grilled cheese for breakfast. Yes, another grilled cheese for breakfast! What do we eat for lunch? Scrambled eggs and toast? Pancakes and sausage? Well, yes).

Fast Greek-Style Dip & Salad

We threw a little shindig at work last week to celebrate our volunteers and, as always, I panicked when I saw the sign-up sheet going 'round. I never know what to bring to these things -- especially since this year, it was a "social hour" instead of a meal, which meant lots of nibble-y things instead of "sit down" food.

I knew I wanted a recipe I could throw together in the morning before work with minimal fuss that would still look good on a plate -- as if I had actually made an effort. A quick search on the Internet at lunch turned up Kraft's recipe for "10-Minute Appetizer Spread" and that seemed pretty perfect. I could make it right before work with minimal fuss, it would keep well until the "social hour," and it was savory rather than sweet (there was already a preponderance of sweets on the offing).

I modified what I thought of as the "Mediterranean" version of the recipe and it turned out really well! So well, in fact, that three people asked me for the recipe!

Combine 1 8 oz. package softened neufchatel cream cheese, ½ cup light mayonnaise, and 1 tablespoon Penzeys Greek seasoning blend.

Plop into a serving dish -- I used a shallow soup bowl -- and top with ½ cup chopped seeded Campari tomatoes, ½ cup chopped unpeeled seeded English cucumber, ¼ cup chopped black olives, and ½ cup crumbled feta with garlic and herbs.

I lay the diced seeded tomatoes and cucumbers on paper towels for about an hour before assembling the dish, hoping to get some of the water out of them. I also drained and blotted the olives very well.

As my amounts turned out differently from Kraft's (I did't want to bury the cream cheese mix in a mound of vegetables), I ended up with leftover chopped vegetables. I tossed the excess vegetables and cheese with cold diced beef leftover from Sunday dinner and a little Greek vinaigrette to make a lettuceless salad.

Easy Greek(ish) Chopped Salad

¼ cup diced seeded tomatoes
¼ cup diced seeded cucumbers
2 Tbsp black olives
2 Tbsp crumbled garlic and herb feta
4 oz diced cold roast beef
2 Tbsp Marie's Greek vinaigrette

Combine all. Toss well. Eat.

Crazy Cooking Challenge: Grilled Cheese

I tried out many of grilled cheese recipes for May's Crazy Cooking Challenge. There was grilled cheese with bacon. And pickles. And a fried egg. And crab. They were all good and I'm sure I'll blog about them all at one point or another, but only two recipes made sandwiches I would want to eat again and again and again. In the end, I went with "Sriracha-Mayo Grilled Cheese" from Ashley Dalle Eats Food, Too, Sometimes because it was less fiddly than "Bacon, Egg, and Cheese Grilled Cheese Sandwich" from Lynn's Kitchen Adventures. Still, that grilled cheese was excellent and I really do recommend it. You can read about my experience making it here.

I must admit I used slightly different cheeses than Dalle's recipe called for, based on what I had on hand at the time, and the sandwich came out really well. Crunchy, creamy, and spicy with lots of good tomato-y tang ... it made my taste buds and tummy quite happy.

Sriracha, you are a delicious blessing flavored with the incandescent glow of a thousand dying suns. I love you.
                     -- "Dear Sriracha Rooster Sauce," The Oatmeal.

Behold! Yumptious cheesy goodness!

So happy, in fact, that I could eat this grilled cheese two or three times a week. Seriously, I would happily keep a little bowl of sriracha-mayo in the fridge so that, in the morning, I could just slap the sammich together and pop it in my waffle iron (if I ever find my waffle iron). In the morning, you say? Yes, I ate (and will eat) this grilled cheese for breakfast.

Combine light mayonnaise with sriracha to taste. Smear all over both sides of two slices of bread.

Top one slice of bread with two slices of Boar's Head Monterey Jack with jalapeno, a glop of Green Mountain Gringo roasted garlic salsa, and two slices of Cabot sharp cheddar. Top with remaining bread.

Fry in a hot nonstick pan until the bread turns a lovely brown, carefully flip over, press, and fry until brown (about 5 minutes each side for me on medium). I created an impromptu sandwich press with a plate, a mug, and a tin of refried beans. I don't usually press grilled cheese, but this sandwich was so thick that it seemed like a good idea.

Important: As this grilled cheese is quite thick, you don't want to cook it too fast, because then the bread will brown faster than the cheese melts and that makes for an Unfortunate Grilled Cheese. I ate a lot of Unfortunate Grilled Cheese in my impatient teen years and have since learned better. Cook 'em low and slow.

My First Cauliflower

I bought a cauliflower to make the "Quick Giardinera" I saw in March/April 2012's EatingWell, but then I wussed out and was left with a very large organic cauliflower occupying too much of my fridge. As always, I turned to the internetz for help and the internetz did not disappoint. I found tried a recipe for "Slow Cooker Curry Cauliflower Soup" and, having made it, I now want to cook all things cauliflower.

I didn't really know how to break down my cauliflower, but decided tackling it from the bottom up was probably the best route. I cut the leaves away and then, using a paring knife, carefully cut the head into florets by basically cutting the little cauliflower "trees" free of the main stalk. "Trees" that seemed too big were cut in half so I ended up with a pound of (mostly) similarly sized florets.

I used two 14.5 oz cans Muir Glen fire-roasted diced tomatoes and two cups of low-sodium chicken broth as well as 4 cloves of pressed garlic instead of the powdered stuff.

The instructions don't say to, but I used an immersion blender to turn my soup into a smooth bisque and it was very pretty. Also tasted good, which is probably more important, but I wouldn't want to eat an ugly soup.

There are no photos of this soup, because I ate it all up, yum! Really, it was a good soup. I fed some to my parents, who say they don't like curry, and they liked it a whole lot. However, if curry and cumin aren't your thing, you could probably substitute a liberal amount of your favorite salt-free Italian seasoning blend.

Another Cookery Catch-up, Or, "Food, We Ate Some"

It's not been all cupcakes and grilled cheese sandwiches here at Chez Savory Tart, you know. There have been proper meals at proper times. There have been vegetables and the counting of Weight Watchers Points+. Oh, yes. Not that anyone in their right mind should calculate out the Points+ values of grilled cheese sandwiches. Particularly not on a day where you've eaten two of those delicious darlings, plus some stray bacon that just happened to be loitering in the kitchen.

Anyway, proper meals:

Sliced mushrooms cooked with garlic and minced shallots in olive oil until tender and all liquid evaporated. Then splashed with a bit of red wine vinegar and cooked until vinegar evaporated. Tossed in some goat cheese crumbles, salt-free Italian seasoning, parsley, and black pepper. Stirred until cheese was thoroughly worked in. Served over whole grain pasta with garlicky green beans.

Caesar Salad -- chopped romaine hearts, grated Parmesan, garlicky croutons, black pepper, Newman's Own Creamy Caesar Dressing.

Cheesy Artichoke Chicken -- Freebird fully-cooked breaded chicken patties spread with a mixture of Newman's Own Creamy Caesar Dressing and diced artichoke hearts, topped with a slice of provolone, and reheated as directed.

Fish -- frozen tilapia fillets, brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt-free lemon pepper seasoning blend, and roasted with asparagus.

Asparagus -- trimmed asparagus stalks tossed with olive oil, salt-free lemon pepper seasoning blend, garlic cloves, and cherry tomatoes and roasted at 42°F about 15 minutes. Served with rice.

Alton Brown's scrambled eggs with sauteed halved cherry tomatoes, Heinz baked beans ("The British Bean"), and buttered toast. Just needed some mushrooms and orange marmalade to be The Perfect Sunday Breakfast.