Tomato Basil Chicken

I had some chicken. I had some fresh basil (thank you to the parentals for that). I needed to use them. Allrecipes.com to the rescue!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups olive oil for frying
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs
6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 pint grape tomatoes, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup chopped fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, or to taste
1/4 cup olive oil, or to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat 2 cups olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Place the eggs and bread crumbs in 2 separate bowls. Dip chicken in the eggs then in the bread crumbs to coat. Place chicken in the skillet, and fry until golden brown and juices run clear. Drain on paper towels.

In a bowl, mix the tomatoes, onion, and basil. Season with salt and pepper, and drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Spoon over the fried chicken to serve.

COMMENTS:

To save time, we ignored the breading option, and just grilled our chicken on the stove. Personally I think this sounds better than doing the tomato mix on breaded chicken, and it did taste really good.

Also, we used roma tomatoes instead of grape tomatoes, which worked fine. I like them because they're a little easier to dice up.

I highly recommend the fresh basil! The stuff we used was right out of my parent's garden and it tasted soooo good. Enjoy!

Balsamic Tortellini

Back when we first started living together (and I couldn't cook AT ALL yet), one of our favorite easy dinner staples was tortellini with marinara sauce. We had a craving for the tortellini, but I found this recipe online to change up the flavor a bit. Courtesy of allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5 slices pancetta bacon, raw

1 (9 oz.) package cheese-filled tortellini

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

DIRECTIONS:

-Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Saute onion and bacon until onion is translucent and bacon is brown; remove from skillet and drain on paper towels.

-Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente; drain.

-Return onion/bacon mixture to skillet and add cooked tortellini. Toss with 2 tbsp olive oil and heat through. Place in serving dish or bowl, sprinkle with vinegar and cheese, and serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-Not being onion fans, we skipped the onion and put in some garlic instead. We also used regular bacon instead of pancetta.

-I'll say up front, this was not my favorite. I think maybe I used a little too much balsamic vinegar? I found the taste of the vinegar to be very strong and I didn't get to enjoy the pasta/bacon at all. I think it might be a good idea to use a little less of the vinegar than the recipe called for. Tweak and tell me what works!

Asian Beef with Snow Peas

As you've probably noticed, we love our stir fry. Many of our stir fry dishes have been with chicken in the past, so I found this variation on allrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS:

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons rice wine

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cornstarch

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 lb. beef round steak, cut into thin strips

8 oz. snow peas

DIRECTIONS:

-In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, rice wine, brown sugar and cornstarch. Set aside.

-Heat oil in a wok or skillet over medium high heat. Stir fry ginger and garlic for 30 seconds. Add the steak and stir fry for 2 minutes or until evenly browned. Add the snow peas and stir fry for an additional 3 minutes. Add the soy sauce mixture, bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce is thick and smooth. Serve immediately.

COMMENTS:

-We didn't have rice wine, so we used red wine vinegar instead--a good substitute.

-This sauce was good--I'm not a big fan of soy sauce on its own, but the other things it was mixed with made it better, and a bit spicy too.

-Next time, we might vary the veggies a bit. The snow peas were great, but I think you could also get some good flavor with green/red bell peppers, onions, etc.