tomato basil salsa over chicken breast

I wish I could say something poetic about the glut of tomatoes in my garden this year. But alas, I can not. Because I got a harvest totaling six tomatoes. Six. I had twelve plants of all different varieties, but between the unnaturally cool spring, the obnoxious amount of rain we’ve had, and my lack of attention to the garden as of late, the tomatoes plants all bit the dust.

So. The six fruits I managed to grow are precious to me.
I felt like I needed to prelude with this because there are a myriad of ways to enjoy fresh tomatoes. (Tomato sandwiches are one of my favorite!) And yet I have chosen to take four of my six and blend them into a sautéed tomato and basil salsa.
But fear not. It’s that good and worth each precious fruit I spent. In addition to which, this recipe is whole 30 friendly.

I mixed up the salsa one morning in about twenty minutes (before I made coffee even!) and stuck it in the fridge for later use. Tonight it was simmered over medium heat until it began to resemble a sauce more than a salsa, and poured lavishly over grilled chicken breast. Summer in its zenith.

The key to eating clean is simplicity and preparedness. If a recipe takes too long to make or is too fussy, then I’m liable to cram fistfuls of chips or thick slices of cheese into my mouth while I’m making dinner because I’m too ravenous to wait. There goes Whole 30. Oops.
So:
Be prepared.
Keep it simple.

This recipe does both. I used a food processor to finish the dicing process for me and pulsed the ingredients below a few times before tasting and adding salt and pepper. You can use a knife and dice each item on its own as well, combining everything in a mixing bowl. Either way, this recipe is diverse, keeps well in the fridge, can be used hot or cold, and is worth the expenditure of four precious garden tomatoes.
Enjoy!

TOMATO BASIL SALSA

4 medium tomatoes, cubed.
1/2 cup basil leaves
1 whole onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
dash of salt
dash of pepper
3 tablespoons olive oil

 

garlicky chicken and fresh tomato scramble

You know when you’re so hungry because you forgot to eat breakfast or plan for lunch and it’s 2pm and you’re ready to eat your arm?
Yah. Good times.
Well, this one’s for you.
Prep and cook time: 10 minutes flat. Boom.
You can eat and just tuck that Hangry back in a little.
The world is safe for another day.
I love how a good scramble can do that. *wink*
Enjoy!

GARLICKY CHICKEN AND FRESH TOMATO SCRAMBLE

 Note: This recipe is super versatile. Fresh out of chicken? Turkey works. Or pork. Or last night’s steak. Or even a can of tuna. Not a meat person? No biggie. Leave it out.

Meat of some kind, about 1/2 a cup, or not! (See note above).
1 fresh tomato
1 teaspoon diced garlic
1 teaspoon onion flakes
Pepper to taste
1 teaspoon clarified butter

In a frying pan over medium heat, melt butter and toss in meat. Turn and coat and then toss in garlic, onion, and diced tomato. Simmer and mix until everything is heated through and smells AMAZING. Crack two eggs right into the pan, and using a spatula mix it around a little to combine all the ingredients. Then allow the whole thing to cook, covered, for about three minutes or until everything has set. You shouldn’t have any runny eggs.
Serve hot with your favorite fruit or veggie.

 

skillet-baked lemon-garlic chicken breast with sautéed arugula and spinach

“Winner winner chicken dinner.”
That phrase originated, or so the tale goes, from a chicken dinner served in Las Vegas that used to cost less than $2.00. The usual bet at the time was $2.00, so when you won, you could afford the chicken dinner. Hence “Winner, winner, chicken dinner!” 

This particular recipe costs less than $2.00 a serving, and considering how good it tastes, I’d say that definitely makes whomever cooks and eats this particular recipe, a winner.
So, there you have it. Congratulations!
Enjoy!

SKILLET BAKED LEMON-GARLIC CHICKEN BREAST
WITH SAUTÉED ARUGULA AND SPINACH

4 chicken breasts
2 cups fresh arugula
2 cups fresh spinach
1 teaspoon clarified butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

for the marinade:
1 cup lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh garlic
4 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons white cooking wine

In a glass dish with a lid, (or a gallon-sized ziplock bag) mix up the marinade and immerse chicken breasts. Allow them to soak, refrigerated, for 8 to 12 hours.

Heat your oven to 400-degrees and warm a large cast-iron skillet. Drizzle in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until the pan is well-coated and then lay the marinated chicken breasts evenly in the pan. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook for 10 minutes. Remove pan from oven, turn the chicken, sprinkle the other side with salt and pepper, and return to the oven for another 10-to-15 minutes, or until the breasts begin to brown.

Will the chicken is finishing, melt clarified butter in a pan over med-high heat and toss in arugula and spinach. sprinkle lightly with salt and toss again until the greens begin to wilt. Remove from heat and plate with finished chicken.

spicy coconut chicken soup

In the Midwest, we are really good at winter. We’ve got that department mastered like it’s our JOB. I’d much rather be known for summer, but that’s what places like Florida and California and Georgia are good at. Someone’s got to do winter. *sigh*
Also, in the midwest, we are good at thick creamy soups. Because we are trying to stay warm. Anything with cream, or milk, or butter, or cream-of-anything additions to rice and chicken and broccoli and potatoes . . . Yah. You get the idea. Hey, it was -15 for the past week where I live (-25 and lower with wind chills). I’ve got cold on the brain. And also thick creamy soup.

But what happens when you crave that sort of thing but you’re all, “Oh shoot. Whole 30. No dairy . . .”?

Well, then you turn to the glorious creamy sweetness that is coconut milk. No lie, this stuff really is amazing. Chilled in the fridge overnight it separates and all the heavy vegetarian fat rises to the top and thickens. You can scoop it out with a spoon and drop it in your coffee. Or if you whip it (like with a hand-mixer) the consistency changes to something reminiscent of whipped cream. Great for topping pumpkin pie, brownies, or yaknow, coffee. And in this case, it provides an exotic note to an otherwise ordinary soup. Paired with the heat of some Sriracha sauce it’s the perfect blend of east and west—Midwest, in this case. Midwest on Whole30. In winter. Burrrrrr.
Enjoy!

SPICY COCONUT CHICKEN SOUP

1 quart chicken stock
1 tablespoon clarified butter
¼ cup diced onion
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup carrots, diced
½ cup Celery, diced
2 cups yellow summer squash, cut in rounds
2 cups of arugula
bean thread noodles
1  13.5 oz can of coconut milk
Sriracha sauce

In a stockpot, over medium high heat, melt clarified butter and cook onions and celery until caramelized. Add chicken stock and heat until boiling. Carrots, diced, can be added next. Turn down the heat and scoop the coconut milk/cream into the broth and whisk until well incorporated. The broth will have a sweet-savory flavor at this point. How much sriracha you add is totally dependent upon preference. I like enough heat to warm my soul. —Not burning, but I want my mouth to remember what it feels like to be warm during a mid January freeze in northern Minnesota.

The noodles can be dropped into the soup and the heat raised again to boiling. Cook them through—they’ll be translucent and soft, but shouldn’t be chewy. Bean thread noodles are my new fav. Their texture is unique and a nice alternatives to egg noddles or a standard pasta.

Lastly, add the squash and arugula as these two soften quickly.

Serve in hot steaming bowls on a cold day.

pan-grilled chicken breast on a bed of cauliflower rice with balsamic-glazed baby carrots

Sundays are the one day I give myself permission to basically abandon the kitchen to the forces of nature (my kids) and I cook only one meal. They are on their own for breakfast and lunch. Except the baby, of course. I’m a good responsible parent. She gets fruit snacks and a bottle. Kidding. Totally kidding. Mostly.

Anyway. Sundays. One main meal in the middle of the day. Something everyone will eat. Something relatively easy and quick to put together (because the after-church hanger is real). So often that ends up having something to do with chicken. —Soup, occasionally. Or a pot-pie. Today it was pan-grilled chicken, cauliflower rice (because whole30) and baby carrots. I fancied things up a bit for the adults with balsamic glaze on the carrots and a few avocado slices to finish it off, but everyone else requested ketchup, no cauliflower rice. (“Ewww that’s gross Mom!” Whateves), and carrots “with no black stuff.” So much for cultivating culinary taste and appreciation for presentation. Oh well. At least this meal has the benefit of mix-and-match so that we can appease ALL THE TASTE PREFERENCES. Hooray for Sundays.
Enjoy!

PAN-GRILLED CHICKEN BREAST ON A BED OF CAULIFLOWER RICE WITH BALSAMIC-GLAZED BABY CARROTS

4-5 chicken breasts
1 lb baby carrots
1 head of cauliflower
4 tablespoons clarified butter
2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette
¼ cup diced onions
a dash of Italian or poultry spices
salt and pepper to taste

CARROTS:
Start by steaming the baby carrots as they will cook away while you prepare the rest of the food. Use an in-pan steam-colander if you have one, or another steaming method you are comfortable with. When done, the carrots should be fork-tender.

CHICKEN:
While the carrots are steaming, heat 2 tablespoons of clarified butter in a large flat-bottomed pan over med-high heat. Sauté onions until caramelized, spread evenly across the bottom of the pan and lay the chicken breasts on top. Sprinkle with Italian or poultry spices, along with salt and pepper to taste, cover and allow to cook for 5-7 minutes. Flip and repeat for another 5-7 minutes. You can check for doneness by gently slicing through the middle of one breast. The meat should be white all the way through. If it is still pink, allow it to cook for a couple more minutes. Remove the chicken from pan and set aside.

CAULIFLOWER RICE:
The ‘rice’ is the messiest part of this meal, but it’s so delicious that it’s definitely worth the hassle. You will need a food processor for this job or you’ll have to be handy with a dicing knife. I’ve used both and prefer the food processor method. Take a fresh head of cauliflower, pare of the greens, chop into small pieces, and then whirl in a food processor on the pulse setting until the cauliflower resembles rice grains. You can do the same thing with a large knife and a cutting board. It just takes a little longer.

Once the cauliflower is processed, warm another 2 tablespoons of clarified butter in the same pan you cooked the chicken. (Make sure you leave all the drippings and spices from the chicken! They flavor the rice perfectly). Add the processed cauliflower to the hot pan, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and turn with a spatula to cook evenly and mix in all those tasty spices left over from cooking the chicken. Once well-mixed, cover for 5-8 minutes and allow to cook. Turn again. The rice should not be mushy—careful not to overcook or you will just have made the most delicious baby food. So catch it before the mush state and remove from heat.

The carrots should be done by now, and everything is ready to plate—cauliflower rice, chicken breasts, carrots. Top the carrots with balsamic for a nice glaze (granted ketchup isn’t the condiment of preferable choice) and serve hot.

salt & pepper chicken thighs with yogurt sauce

Dinner is an ongoing thing at my house. I am still trying to figure this out. WHY MUST THEY EAT EVERY SINGLE NIGHT? The struggle is real.
Trying to find something healthy that everyone will eat is an even greater struggle. Chicken is a fairly safe bet, most of the time. As long as I can serve it one way for some of my family and another way for the rest of my family. This recipe does just that.
For those with a more developed palate, serve the chicken on a bed of zucchini (spiraled or sliced in rounds and sautéed). The tangy yogurt sauce adds just the right amount of flair without overpowering the dish. Think of it as a fresh spin on chicken Alfredo. But if some of your people aren’t really into that and resolutely turn up noses, serve their chicken with a banana and a healthy side of Ketchup. Boom. Everyone wins. Enjoy!

SALT AND PEPPER CHICKEN THIGHS WITH YOGURT SAUCE

6-8 boneless skinless chicken thighs
4-5 small zucchini (Or roughly 4-5 cups)
Plain organic greek yogurt
2 tablespoons butter
salt
pepper

In a large skillet on medium-high heat, melt butter and coat the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken thighs and salt and pepper generously. Cover and cook until browned, then flip and repeat until the other side is browned. Remove from pan and set aside.

Slice rounds or spiralized zucchini and toss into the same pan using the chicken juices to cook the zucchini. Salt and pepper lightly and cook until no longer crunchy but still firm. remove from pan being carful to retain all of the juices. I ran my cooked zucchini through a pasta colander and then returned the extra juice back to the pan. It will serve as the base for the yogurt sauce.

Once the zucchini is removed from the pan and set aside, add greek yogurt to the juice, 1/2 cup at a time until it is the desired consistency. Anywhere from 1-2 cups total, depending on how your preference and the quality of liquids you have from the chicken and zucchini. Use a whisk to incorporate the yogurt but keep the pan on very low heat so as not to separate the yogurt from overheating.

Serve chicken on a bed of zucchini with yogurt sauce spooned generously overtop.