This is a cheater blog post since I just blogged it on my work blog … but what the heck!  It’s a good recipe!  Our friend John brought all of the ingredients by one night!  How nice is that?  Enjoy!!

Tags: Food, Marinara Sauce, Recipe

My blog gets the most hits from people looking for the Costco Greek Chicken Pasta Salad Recipe!  If you liked this recipe or have any comments, improvements, etc…  Please leave a comment at the bottom - click on the number on the sand dollar!

Thanks,
Karen

Last weekend I bought a Greek Chicken Pasta Salad at Costco.  It was pretty good and I knew I could re-make it ….. better :)   So … I bought the ingredients -

A Rotisserie Chicken at the market

A can of artichoke hearts

Grape tomatoes

Whole grain pasta

Greek Olives (pitted)

Red Onion

Salt and Pepper

Mayo

Italian Dressing

Cook your pasta - al dente.  Shread your chicken.  Cut the artichoke hearts into smaller pieces from what they come in the jar or can.  Slice the Red Onion.  Cut olives in half (remember no seeds)   Mix all ingredients.  For the big bowl, I added two heaping tablespoons of mayo and about 1/4 cup of italian dressing.  Mix.  Chill.  Eat.

Family Comments-

Megan - Better than Costo

Mark - Really Really Good

Samantha - The Best

or something like that!!

Enjoy!

Tags: Food, Greek Pasta Chicken Salad, Recipe

Today, Samantha came and worked for me. She is my 21 year old daughter and in search of a new job near Long Beach - her home now to finish college at the Cal State there. In the mean time, I put her to work doing EVERYTHING! AND, she’s good at everything! Today she boxed up files for the storage unit, vacuumed, moved boxes, emptied and loaded the dishwasher, input data for our business website, put away new stock, counted keychains and etc… etc…. she does EVERYTHING I need her to do and I love it!

So …. she went to the storage unit with me. She said it was creepy and reminded her of “The Shining”. She had to go down to the end of the hall ……

AND she came running back !!!!!

Then it was to WalMart.  Samantha pulled a recipe out of her purse that she tore out of a magazine at the doctors office.  Hmmmm … not sure you are supposed to do that!!!!!  BUT, it was so good, I forgive her!  We headed to the market to get the ingredients we needed and then back home where Sam cooked Mark and I dinner!

Busy Day … Good Day ….

Tags: Food, Moroccan Chicken, Recipe, Storage Unit

We saw this made on TV and after I made it, I have never gone back to buying a jar of spaghetti sauce.

1 medium onion cut in half and then cut into thin slices
Olive Oil
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon parsley leaves
1 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 16 oz can of diced tomatoes

In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil and cook your onions until slightly browned.
Meanwhile - start your pasta - I like whole wheat spaghetti
When the onion is done, add the red pepper flakes and parsley. Give that a stir and cook for a minute.
Add the red wine vinegar, stir and cook for a minute.
Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, stir it all up.

When the pasta is done, put a spoonful of the pasta water into your tomato/onion mixture. Don’t ask me why, just do it.

Drain your pasta and add to the tomato/onion mixture. Stir really good.

This recipe was found here - Mine looks more saucy…and I don’t use the pancetta

Now…. I make Brauts, either BBQ’ing them or cutting them into 1″ pieces and frying them in the pan before I start the onions. I just made some turkey meatballs that were REALLY good - see recipe below. I place a heap of the spaghetti mixture on my plate and then top with brauts or meatballs.

Turkey Meatballs -

I buy a package of ground turkey - about a pound
1 small onion, grated
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 Large egg
1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
3 tablespoons ketchup
1/4 cup chopped fresh italian parsley leaves (I used dried, about 2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan (I bought a bag of this at Trader Joes)
1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano (I didn’t have this, so left it out)
salt and pepper
Olive Oil

Blend onion, cloves, egg, bread crumbs, ketchup, parsley, cheeses and salt and pepper.  Add turkey and make into small meatballs.  Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and cook your meatballs, about 5 minutes or so.  I stuck them in the oven for a few minutes when they were done (while I was baking my asparagus).

Okay…. so there you have it.  REALLY easy when you get it down.  I keep all of the ingredients in the cupboard and it’s an easy meal and really good.

Turkey Meatball recipe comes from here

ENJOY!

Tags: Recipe

This recipe is by the Barefoot Contessa and is in the March issue of the Better Homes and Gardens magazine.  As much as I cook (about every night) I have never made Parmesan Chicken!  This is easy and fast!  I served it with a baby green salad and the Godess dressing from Trader Joes. 

6 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 1/4 cups seasoned dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Salad greens for 6, washed and spun dry.
Lemon Vinaigrette

1.  Pound chicken breasts until they are 1/4 inch thick.  You can use either a meat mallet or a rolling pin.  I used a meat mallet with the chicken in a big baggie.

2.  Combine the flour, salt and pepper on one plate or pie tin.  On a second plate, beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon water.  On a third plate, combine the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese.

Coat chicken breats on both sides with the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture, and dredge both sides in the bread crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

3.  Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook 2 or 3 chicken breasts on medium-low heat for 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until cooked through.  Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts.

Toss the salad greens with the Lemon Vinaigrette.  Place a mound of salad on each hot chicken breast.  Serve with extra parmesan cheese.

Make sure you pound it thin.  The chicken plumps up when cooking.

Tags: Parmesan Chicken, Recipe