What's For Dinner?

Mustard, Sage and Balsamic Glaze Chicken with fragrant, Organic Baby Greens & Roasted Asparagus.

1 2-3 pound organic chicken cut into pieces. (Breast, legs) Use the extras for Chicken Broth

8 Fresh Sage Leaves chopped

1 Tablespoon Balsamic Glaze

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Salt and Pepper

For the Asparagus.

Wash.

Cut off about 1 inch of Asparagus from the bottom

Peel bottom half of Asparagus.

Divide the asparagus lengthwise into two pieces using a sharp knife.

Place in a baking dish.

Drizzle with Olive oil coarse salt and pepper.

Cook on high heat about 4oo degrees about 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Saeson your chicken with Salt and Pepper

In a bowl combine all ingredients.

Pour over chicken and rub in with your hands.

Place in refrigerator and marinate at least 30 minutes.

BBQ chicken on indirect high heat about 30 minutes. Finish on direct high heat for about 5-8 minutes.

Or, roast in the oven about 15-20 minutes at 390 degrees. Or until liquid runs clear.

To serve place salad on plate.

Top with Asparagus

Drizzle fragrant Olive oil and a squeeze of lemon season with salt and pepper.

Plate your chicken as is and enjoy!

Simple and Delicious!

Getting your Junk Food Fix!

Since we are on the topic of giving in to our food cravings, I decided to dedicate this post to just that!

This is a slight twist on satisfying that craving that creeps in and just doesn't want to let go.

We gave up bad eating habits a long time ago. It goes against our very nature to get into the car and drive to a fast food joint to satisfy our craving.

It seems almost unnatural and wrong. In fact if you analyze the food you actually get when you indulge in such places, it is exactly that: wrong and unnatural.

My switch to Organic local farming happened when I started eating chicken again during my pregnancies. I practice it religiously, avoiding chicken that I know has not been raised in healthy happy homes. Patrick, has just recently made the switch and can't even eat in his food court anymore!

I promise, he will have that post out soon on industrial factory farming vs local organic farming soon, here and at

So this post is dedicated to satisfying our natural urges for "bad" food and turning them into pretty healthy options for lunches and/or dinners.

So here you have it:

The Hamburger

The Sub

The French Fry

For the Hamburger:

I make these hamburgers for my kids all the time. I make the mini versions for all of us. I don't need a huge hunk of meat sitting between two pieces of bread at lunch time.

A small mini burger like this one and a salad is more than enough.

For the Chicken Burger.

1 pound of organic lean ground chicken

2 corns cooked-kernels only

2 shallots finely diced

1 green pepper finely diced

1 red pepper finely diced

2-3 sprigs of parsley finely chopped

Salt & Pepper

1 egg

Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

Season.

Make small patties and grill about 5 minutes each side on the bbq.

(if you are cooking inside use a grill pan)

Toast the mini buns, dress your burger and enjoy!

Change ground meat to turkey or beef and use the same recipe.

The Homemade Sub

Incredibly sweet peppers. Soft sweet onion, tender juicy organic chicken, or organic steak, fresh crisp salad and melted mozzarella cheese make this sub a Friday night delight!

Easy, healthy and so tasty.

You can leave out the bread and just enjoy your sauted veggies, with chicken, or with beef for an even leaner alternative!

For the Vegie Sub

1 green pepper julienne

1 red pepper julienne

1 yellow pepper julienne

1 orange pepper julienne

1 vidalia onion sliced

Mushrooms sliced

Mozzarella cheese grated

1 bread roll

Slice up all your vegetables.

Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper

Grill on bbq or bake in an oven at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes.

Or lightly saute veggies in a wok over medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes.

Lightly toast bun.

Place veggies in bun.

Add shredded cheese.

Broil for about 2-5 minutes until cheese has melted and is golden brown.

For the Chicken Sub

I use chicken scaloppini.

I season with salt and pepper and grill or saute it.

I add it to my sub with the same veggies and cheese and voila! delicious.

For the Steak Sub

Marinate a flank steak over night.

For the marinade:

1/2 cup orange juice

3 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

3 tbsp chlli powder (Patrick likes to use chipotle chili)

2 tbsp dried oregano

1 tbsp cinnamon

1 tbsp kosher salt

1/2 tbsp ground pepper

Grill the steak for 4 minutes a side on direct high heat.

Cut the meat across the grain into thin slices.

Layer up your sub.

Heat under the broiler for 2-4 minutes or until cheese melts.

Enjoy.

So easy, so cheap and so much better for you than the alternative.

The French Fry.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Peel 6 potatoes.

Cut your potatoes to the desired thickness of choice.

Soak in milk, buttermilk or cold water about 30 minutes.

Rinse under cold water.

Dry well.

In a bowl coat with 1 tablespoon olive oil and salt.

(if you want to add seasoning like sea salt, parsley, garlic, paprika, rosemary etc. do it at this moment).

Cook potatoes for about 10-15 minutes at 425 degrees.

Flip fries and cook another 10-15 minutes.

Add salt when warm!

A low fat recipe would be to mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil with 240ml of water. Pour into a spray bottle and simply spray the potatoes with the oil and water mixture. Cook for the ten minutes, spray them again and cook for another 10 minutes. Or until crispy and golden brown.

Roast Chicken with Lemon, Garlic and Rosemary

Instead of using potatoes as the base for this soup we substituted with beautiful colorful organic carrots that were full flavor and sweetness.

The potatoes are a true hit and a wonderful combination, however, this is our Sunday night go to meal so potatoes like these every week just is not part of our diet anymore.

I called this post Chicken with garlic, rosemary and lemon because truly it is our favorite.

We often add other fresh herbs just to change it up a bit. Herbs like parsley and sage.

The chicken does need a base for lying on as the cooking technique in this recipe requires turning the bird three times for perfect cooking.

Start the bird on it's side, the turn it to it's other side. Finish off by cooking the bird on it's back. This technique allows the chicken to stay tender and juicy without drying out the breasts.

We cook this chicken on very high heat-475 degrees- 18 minutes a side. For a total of 54 minutes cooking time.

Here it is.

For the cavity:

1 organic chicken about 3 pounds

A large bunch of rosemary

1 head of garlic

1 lemon

For the Skin:

1 sprig of rosemary finely chopped

3 garlic cloves minced

zest of 1/2 a lemon

2 tablespoons Olive oil

half a stick of butter (optional)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the base:

20 carrots peeled & cut

1 onion sliced

Step1:

Clean out any of the insides from the bird.

Step 2:

Stuff the chicken with one whole head of garlic(does not need to be peeled)

1 whole lemon cut in half

1 bunch of fresh rosemary-does not need to be removed from stem.

Step 3:

In a small bowl combine olive oil, butter, chopped rosemary, zest of the lemon and minced garlic add 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Mix to combine

Step 4:

With your fingers slightly lift the skin from off the chicken. Slowly rub the olive oil, butter and herb mixture all over the under skin of the bird.

Once you have reached all over under the skin, then rub more of the mixture all over the skin of the bird.

Step 5:

Arrange carrots on the bottom of the cooking tray.

Drizzle small amount of Olive oil all over the carrots.

Place the bird on the carrots side facing up.

Step 6:

Cook the bird for 18 minutes at 475 degrees.

After minutes flip the bird over to its other side.

REMOVE CARROTS FROM PAN!! Set aside

After another 18 minutes flip the bird breast side up. Cook for the last 18 minutes.

Remove the bird. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before serving.

Serve the pieces on cannellini beans with carrots.

Kids Chicken Soup

CHICKEN SOUP

I usually make my chicken soup for scratch. Any time Patrick and I eat a roast chicken for dinner I take the leftovers to make my stock. It may sound overwhelming, but it really is a very simple recipe.

If I don’t have a leftover chicken handy, and I want a quick healthy chicken soup dinner, I use Organic Chicken Broth as the base for the soup.

For the Leftover Chicken Soup Broth

1. Take off the skin and anything you might have stuffed the chicken with.
2. Put it in a large stock pot.
3. I add just enough water to submerge the bird. About 8 cups.
4. 1 fresh bay leaf ( or dry)
5. 1 onion peeled and cut in half.
6. 1 large carrot or 2 small carrots peeled.
7. 1 celery stalk
8. 4 garlic cloves thrown in
9. 1 leek properly washed
10. Parsley- a bunch
11. Thyme-a little less.
12. 1 tablespoon salt.

Bring to a boil. Simmer on low heat for about 4 hours. Or until you try your broth and it’s delicious. If it doesn’t have enough flavour, season and simmer for another hour or so.

Once the soup is cooked let it cool.

Put a large bowl in the sink with a sieve on top. Strain the chicken stock into the large bowl separating liquid from solids.

Scoop out cooked carrots and dice finely. Set apart.

Take any chicken peices that might have been left behind and set apart.

Replace liquid from stock back into stock pot.

Add egg noodles or dry noodles of your choice.

Cook as you would pasta.

Add carrots and chicken.

Serve with bread, parmesan cheese lemon wedges.

It’s the perfect kids meal.

Last Night's Dinner. My take on Chicken Cacciatore

I made a big batch of roasted peppers for various uses when I made Paolo's roasted peppers. I took about 1 cup of the thinly sliced peppers and I was instantly inspired to make a fall like chicken dish!

I am not saying summer is over. I know September brings beautiful warm weather and a few more heat waves, at least one, we hope! But when the days start getting shorter and the cool air wakes us out of bed just a little earlier every day, my mind starts to shift to stews and casseroles.

I still have many summer posts to add. Including summer pasta! So don't despair.

Last nights dinner was so delicious I felt I had to share.

Chicken with Roasted Peppers & Linguini

1 carrot sliced diagonally in same sized pieces.

1 onion finely chopped.

I celery stock cut on the diagonal in same sized pieces

4 garlic cloves smashed

1/2 Tablespoon Herbes de Provence

1/2-1 teaspoon chili flakes ( depends how hot you like it)

1 fresh bay leaf or 2 dry ones

1 teaspoon dry rosemary

1/2 cup Shiraz Red wine

1/2 cup vegetable stock or chicken stock

handful of fresh parsley

handful fresh thyme

Olive oil

Salt and Pepper

4 organic chicken breasts skin on

Linguini Pasta for 4.

Season chicken with salt and pepper.

In a large skillet heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat.

Add onion and saute for about 10 minutes.

Add chicken pieces skin side down and brown for another 8 minutes or so.

Sprinkle Herbes de Provence over chicken.

Add cut carrots, celery, and garlic. Cook for about 5-6 minutes.

Add 1 teaspoon chili flakes, 1 teaspoon dried rosemary, bay leaf, and 1/2 cup red wine.

Reduce for about 10 minutes.

Add 1/2 cup vegetable broth and reduce about one half hour or until chicken is tender.

Cook your favorite pasta, rice or mashed potato and serve together

or

Eat alone with a piece of bread or a leafy salad.

Simply delicious.