Marinara Sauce

Ingredients:

2-3 Tbl. Olive Oil
1/2 Vidalia or Yellow Onion- Diced
3 Cloves Garlic- Minced
Pinch of Red Pepper Flakes
Sprinkle of Italian Seasoning
1 28oz Can of Whole San Marzano Plum Tomatoes
1/2 Cup Dry White Wine
1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
Fresh Basil
Salt and Pepper

Saute diced onions in olive oil over medium high heat in a high sided saute pan or pasta pot. Once the onions start to soften, add minced garlic. Saute until garlic begins to brown and onions are translucent. Add pinch of red pepper flakes and a few sprinkles of Italian seasoning. Add San Marzano tomatoes and juice and break apart with a spoon (it is important that you do get the imported San Marzano tomatoes. This makes a huge difference in the flavor of the sauce). Add 1/2 Cup dry white wine and 1/2 Cup chicken stock, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to simmer and cook 20-30 minutes so that wine and stock reduce and flavors concentrate. Finish with liberal amount of fresh basil either torn or chopped.

Serve with pasta, grilled bread, calamari, etc.

This recipe doubles very easily.

Irish Soda Bread

Ingredients:

4 Cups all purpose flour
1 Tsp. Baking Soda
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tsp. Salt
1 1/3 C Buttermilk
1 Cup Sugar
3/4 C Butter (Melted)

Add ins: 1 C semi-sweet chocolate chips or 1 C raisins or 1 C dried cranberries or 1 C dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add melted butter and cut into crumbs using a fork (or two). Stir in add in of your choice. Add buttermilk gradually as you mix well (I continue to mix with a fork). Transfer to a well greased (with cooking spray) springform pan and bake for one hour or until a knife inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

Low Fat Cream of Broccoli Soup

Ingredients:
2 large heads of Broccoli
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot
1/2 yellow onion
1 glove of garlic
3 Cups of Chicken Stock (low sodium)
1 Cup Skim Milk
1 Cup Fat Free Half and Half
Corn Starch
Mozzarella or Cheddar Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large soup pot, saute diced onions, celery, carrot and garlic in a few tablespoons of olive oil until soft and translucent. Add 3 cups of Chicken Stock and bring to a boil. Add Broccoli florets (you can use the stems too) and boil for 5-7 minutes. Turn off burner and transfer contents of the pot to a blender (if you have an immersion blender you could you this instead). Blend until everything is combined and in a liquid state (this will not take long). Transfer contents of blender back to pot over low heat. Add Half and Half. Add milk with a few teaspoons of corn starch whisked in until smooth. Simmer over low heat 15 more minutes. At the end add salt and pepper to taste and a handful of shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese.

Enjoy with crusty bread.

Apricot Almond Chicken

Not all the recipes can be mine. Try this recipe from Taste of Home. It is SO good and very easy as well. I have absolutely no changes to this one!

www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Almond-Chicken-with-Apricot-Sauce

One BBQ Chicken Recipe Two ways

Basic BBQ Chicken-

1 package of Chicken Tenders
1-2 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce (I really like Sweet Baby Ray's Original)
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large skillet preheat 1-2 Tbl of Extra Virgin Olive Oil over medium high heat. Add chicken and saute tenders until cooked through. Salt and Pepper to taste.

BBQ Chicken Stuffed Baked Potatoes-

Additional Ingredients:
4 Russet Baking Potatoes
Sour Cream
Scallions
Shredded Cheddar Cheese

Clean potatoes thoroughly using warm water. Prick repeatedly with a fork to allow steam to escape potatoes while cooking. Bake in oven or toaster oven at 425 degrees for 40-60 minutes depending on size of potatoes.

Dice cooked chicken into small cubes. Drain off any remaining liquid from skillet and return chicken to skillet over low heat. Add enough BBQ sauce to cover chicken thoroughly (approximately 1/2 bottle).

Once baked potatoes are cooked through, slice open and puff filling with a fork. Load the top of the potatoes with a heaping portion of BBQ chicken. Top with a dollop of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese and sliced scallions.

Shortcut for baking potatoes: I start my baked potatoes in the microwave oven to reduce the baking time. I clean them and prick them and then put in a microwave safe container, uncovered, for 5 minutes on high. Then I flip the potatoes and microwave for 3 more minutes. I then transfer to a toaster over at 400 degrees for another 20 minutes. This will reduce the cooking time on this recipe to under 30 minutes!

Shredded BBQ Chicken Sandwiches-

Additional Ingredients:
4 hamburger buns
Sliced American Cheese

Using two forks, shred chicken tenders once cooked through. Drain off any remaining liquid from the skillet and return chicken to pan over low heat. Add enough BBQ sauce to coat shredded chicken thoroughly (approximately 1/2 bottle). Load BBQ chicken on to a hamburger bun and top with a slice or two of American cheese.

Easy Rissoto

1 1/2 C Arborio Rice
1 Small Onion
1 box Chicken Stock (approximately 4 C)
2 C Water
2 Tbl Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 C Grated Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a saucepan, bring water and chicken stock to a boil and reduce to a simmer. You will need to keep this liquid warm to add to the arborio rice periodically.

In a high sided skillet add 2 Tbl of olive oil and diced onion. Saute onions over medium high heat until soft. Add 1 1/2 C of arborio rice and saute for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Ladle 1 C of broth/water mixture to the arborio rice. Stir frequently. Once liquid is absorbed add another ladle of liquid. Repeat until rice is soft and you have added almost all of the liquid (approximately 30 minutes). Add 1/4 C of grated Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

Variations:

Mushroom Risotto-

Slice 1 small package of mushrooms (I like baby bellos) and add to the onions while sauteing. Continue with instructions above.

Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto-

1/2 bundle of Asparagus. Clean and cut into 1-2" pieces
1 pound of raw shrimp- peeled and de-veined

Add asparagus to boiling broth/water mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes until slightly soft. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.

Cook Risotto as indicated above. With 3 minutes left in the cooking time add shrimp and asparagus to risotto. Stir until shrimp are pink and opaque and asparagus has warmed through. Add Parmesan Cheese and salt and pepper to taste.

Low Fat Soft Sugar Cookie Sandwiches

5 Tbl. Butter or Margarine (softened)
3/4 C Sugar
1 2/3 C Flour
1 Egg
1 Tsp. Vanilla
1 Tsp. Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp. Salt
2 rounded tsp. light sour cream
Red Raspberry Preserves

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla and mix thoroughly. In a separate bowl, sift flour, salt and baking powder together removing any lumps. Slowly add dry mixture to wet mixture while mixing with a hand mixer or stand mixer. Dough will be very sticky.

On a floured piece of parchment paper, place dough mixture. Using the floured parchment, form a log with the dough with a diameter of about 1 1/2". Place in freezer for 30-45 minutes so that dough is sliceable.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough from freezer and slice cookies about 1/4" thick. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment. Sprinkle each cookie with a little extra sugar. Bake 10-12 minutes until bottoms are slightly browned. Remove from oven. Let sit for two minutes and then move to a cooling rack.

Once cookies are completely cooled (about 30 minutes) spread a generous portion of red raspberry preserves on the flat side of one cookie. Sandwich with a second cookie.

Makes 2 dozen cookies, or 1 dozen cookie sandwiches.