Not only is this recipe for Provencal Chicken with Vegetables easy enough for a weeknight meal, but it’s also delicious enough to serve to company. The flavorful chicken is rubbed with Dijon mustard and Herbes de Provence then roasted in the same pan as the vegetables. Serve with roasted potatoes or crusty bread.

P.S. As much as I love green olives, I didn’t have any on hand so they didn’t make it into the recipe. The meal was still a success! Enjoy!

Provencal Chicken with Vegetables
-recipe from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Magazine

Roasted chicken gets a stylish French makeover with herbs, carrots, and olives. Yield: Serves 4

1 pound carrots, peeled, halved crosswise then lengthwise (and quartered lengthwise if thick)
2 large onions, quartered, layers separated
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried Herbes de Provence or thyme
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1/2 cup pitted green olives
1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat oven to 475 degrees, with rack in top position. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss carrots and onions with oil. Push vegetables to sides of sheet, and place chicken in center. Using your fingers, carefully loosen skin. In a small bowl, combine Dijon and Herbes de Provence. Spread mixture under skin. Season chicken and vegetables with salt and pepper.

Roast until an instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of chicken (avoiding bone) registers 165 degrees, 30 to 35 minutes, tossing vegetables once. Transfer chicken to a serving platter, and loosely tent with aluminum foil to keep warm.

Add olives to sheet with vegetables, and gently toss. Return to oven; roast until vegetables begin to brown and liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven; add parsley and lemon juice, and toss. Serve chicken alongside vegetables.

Tags: carrots, Chicken, chicken breasts, French, Herbes de Provence, Martha Stewart Everyday Food, onions, Provencal, roasted chicken, vegetables

This easy, home-style version of the Philly Cheese Steak Sandwich makes a great weeknight or game day meal. The recipe calls for strip steaks (aka New York steaks), a tender and flavorful cut of beef. Serve with kettle-style potato chips, fresh veggies and dip. Enjoy! 

Steak Hoagies with Mushrooms, Onions, and Peppers
-recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine

Steak hoagies are traditionally made with thinly shaved pieces of beef that are quickly cooked on a griddle and then layered into rolls with thinly sliced cheese. To translate this recipe for the home cook, here’s what we discovered:

•Skip the tedious step of shaving the meat and simply pan-sear steaks and then slice them thin.
•Use high-quality strip steaks for their beefy flavor and tender texture.
•Sliced mozzarella or American cheese can be substituted for the provolone.
•The sliced steak, sautéed vegetables, and cheese are piled into the rolls and then quickly baked in a very hot oven to melt the cheese. Make cleanup easier by lining the rimmed baking sheet with foil.

Serves 4.

2 strip steaks (also known as top loin or shell steaks), about 1 inch thick
Salt and pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion , sliced thin
1 red bell pepper , seeded and sliced thin
8 ounces white mushrooms , sliced thin
1 tablespoon steak sauce (such as A.1.)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
4 (6-inch) sub rolls , slit partially open lengthwise
6 ounces thinly sliced Provolone deli cheese

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 450 degrees. Pat steak dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook steaks until well browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer to plate and let rest 5 minutes, then slice thin against the grain.

Meanwhile, add remaining oil, onion, bell pepper, mushrooms, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to empty skillet and cook until vegetables are softened and golden brown, 8 to 10 minutes. Off heat, stir in steak sauce, oregano, and sliced steak until well combined.

Divide steak mixture among rolls and top with cheese. Arrange sandwiches on rimmed baking sheet and bake until cheese is melted and rolls are golden brown around edges, about 5 minutes. Serve. 

Tags: game day food, hoagie, mushrooms, new york steak, onions, peppers, philly cheese steak sandwich, provolone cheese, sandwich, shell steaks, steak hoagies, strip steaks, sub sandwich, top loin steaks

With all the summer entertaining going on, this recipe for Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw is a great side dish to add to your cooking arsenal. Not only does it go well with a variety of grilled foods and other sides, it’s nice to see something other than pasta salad or canned baked beans at a potluck. Plus, we all need more veggies!

This slaw is slightly sweet and slightly tangy with a nice punch of heat from the mustards. I didn’t have spicy mustard so I substituted some whole grain creole mustard and a little extra Dijon. I also substituted green onions for the red onions because that’s what I had on hand…plus, it added more color to the dish. If you don’t have malt vinegar, I’m sure apple cider vinegar will do just fine. Enjoy!

Blackberry Farm’s Sweet and Spicy Foothills Coleslaw
-recipe from williams-sonoma.com
Adapted from The Blackberry Farm Cookbook, by Sam Beall (Clarkson Potter, 2009).

For maximum crunch, this zippy variation on classic coleslaw should be made no more than 2 hours before serving. The dish makes a fine companion to fried chicken or burgers. Serves 6.

Ingredients:
3 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
3 Tbs. malt vinegar
1 1/2 tsp. mustard seed oil or very spicy mustard such as English or German
1 1/2 tsp. kosher salt, plus more, to taste
1/4 tsp. freshly ground pepper, plus more, to taste
1 cup mayonnaise
3 cups thinly sliced red cabbage
3 cups thinly sliced green cabbage
1 1/2 cups shredded carrots
3/4 cup shredded red onion

In a large bowl, whisk together the Dijon mustard, brown sugar, malt vinegar, mustard seed oil, the 1 1/2 tsp. salt and the 1/4 tsp. pepper, whisking until the sugar dissolves. Whisk in the mayonnaise.

Add the red and green cabbages, the carrots and onion and toss until the vegetables are coated. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Strain the coleslaw. Taste and season it with more salt or pepper if desired.

Tags: Blackberry Farm, cabbage, carrots, dijon mustard, mayonnaise, onions, Sweet and Spicy Coleslaw, vinegar

I love scrambles! When I’m not ordering pancakes at a breakfast place, I’ll go with an egg dish like a scramble. This particular recipe has some of my favorite ingredients: spicy Andouille sausage, mushrooms, spinach, onions and, of course, eggs. And while I don’t think the devil should get any credit for something good, this dish gets its name from the spicy sausage and red pepper flakes. Oh yeah! It makes a great lazy Saturday morning breakfast…enjoy!

Devil’s Mess
-recipe from The Sunset Cookbook (Oxmoor House, 2010)

A big, spicy scramble of eggs, hot pork sausage, vegetables, and red chile flakes in which all the flavors remain distinct.
Serves 6.

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup chopped andouille sausage (about 6 oz.)
10 large eggs
1 tablespoon minced garlic (about 3 cloves)
1/4 teaspoon red chile flakes, or to taste
6 ounces spinach, washed and thoroughly dried (about 2 qts.)
Hot sauce

Heat olive oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Add onion, mushrooms, salt, and pepper, and stir often until onions are light golden, about 10 minutes.

Increase heat to medium-high, add sausage, and stir often until sausage has browned slightly and released some fat, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and 3 tbsp. water.

Reduce heat to medium and add garlic and chile flakes. Stir until garlic is fragrant, about 1 minute. Add spinach to pan and toss with tongs until it has wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer sausage-vegetable mixture to a bowl and wipe pan clean.

Add eggs to pan and scramble just until set, 4 to 5 minutes, then gently stir in sausage-vegetable mixture. Serve with hot sauce if you like.

Sunset, OCTOBER 2008

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Tags: Andouille sausage, Breakfast, Eggs, mushrooms, onions, scramble, spinach

My first thought was, “Do Italian people really eat this at weddings?” I’m not Italian so it’s an honest question, don’t you think? After a little research, though, I learned that the “wedding” part refers to the fact that the vegetables and meat go well together in this Italian-American soup (hence the marriage). Whatever the history, it’s a great recipe!

Although the broth is fairly simple, it’s the meatballs that are the star of the show here. While they consist of typical meatball ingredients, the addition of Italian sausage and fresh garlic adds a lot of flavor! Baking them in the oven cuts down on prep time, and results in tender and delicious meatballs. I couldn’t fit all the meatballs on one baking sheet so I used two baking sheets and rotated them on the racks halfway through baking.

The store I was at didn’t have fresh dill so I used a heaping teaspoon or so of dried dill. Right before serving, I also stirred a tablespoon of pesto into the soup to bump up the fresh herb flavor. Garnish each bowl of soup with a little freshly grated Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

Italian Wedding Soup
-recipe from Barefoot Contessa Back to Basics: Fabulous Flavor from Simple Ingredientsby Ina Garten

Who likes standing at the stove rolling meatballs around in hot oil? Not to mention that I can never get them evenly browned. I discovered that chicken meatballs mixed with good Italian sausage have great flavor and they’re so much easier to make because you bake them in the oven. This rich chicken soup is filled with lots of good things: spinach, pasta, and plenty of those spicy meatballs.

Serves: 8 servings.

For the meatballs:
3/4 pound ground chicken
1/2 pound chicken Italian sausage, casings removed
2/3 cup fresh white bread crumbs
2 teaspoons minced garlic (2 cloves)
3 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
3 tablespoons milk
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the soup:
2 tablespoons good olive oil
1 cup minced yellow onion
1 cup 1/4-inch diced carrots (3 carrots)
3/4 cup 1/4-inch diced celery (2 stalks)
10 cups homemade chicken stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 cup small pasta such as tubetini or stars
1/4 cup minced fresh dill
12 ounces baby spinach, washed and trimmed

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

For the meatballs, place the ground chicken, sausage, bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, Pecorino, Parmesan, milk, egg, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a bowl and combine gently with a fork. With a teaspoon, drop 1 to 1 1/4-inch meatballs onto a sheet pan lined with parchment paper. (You should have about 40 meatballs. They don’t have to be perfectly round.) Bake for 30 minutes, until cooked through and lightly browned. Set aside.

In the meantime, for the soup, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat in a large heavy-bottomed soup pot. Add the onion, carrots, and celery and saute until softened, 5 to 6 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the chicken stock and wine and bring to a boil. Add the pasta to the simmering broth and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the pasta is tender. Add the fresh dill and then the meatballs to the soup and simmer for 1 minute. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir in the fresh spinach and cook for 1 minute, until the spinach is just wilted. Ladle into soup bowls and sprinkle each serving with extra grated Parmesan cheese.

Note: the pasta will thicken the soup as it sits; just thin it with some water or chicken stock.

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Tags: carrots, celery, chicken broth, chicken Italian sausage, ground chicken, Ina Garten, Italian Wedding Soup, meatballs, onions, parmesan cheese

If you’re looking for a way to use up some of that summer zucchini, try this recipe for Zucchini Caponata. The combo of zucchini, tomatoes and olives makes a great topping for grilled bread or a quick, fresh sauce for cooked pasta. I bet it would also be really good as a topping for grilled chicken or pork.

The recipe calls for adding 2 teaspoons of sugar to the cooked zucchini mixture but next time I’d only use one teaspoon. For a little oomph, I added a few dashes of crushed red pepper and a splash of red wine vinegar. A garnish of freshly grated Parmesan cheese or crumbled feta or goat cheese would also be a great addition to the caponata. Enjoy!

Zucchini Caponata
-recipe from kingarthurflour.com

You can also add diced grilled slices of eggplant for an extra-smoky twist. Makes about 3 cups.

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups chopped zucchini
1 cup chopped onion
2 large garlic cloves, peeled and chopped or minced
1 1/2 cups chopped tomato
2 to 3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
1/2 cup halved grape or cherry tomatoes
1 to 2 tablespoons drained capers
1/4 cup pitted halved black olives, preferably oil-cured
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, parsley, or oregano (optional)

Heat the oil, and fry the zucchini, onion, garlic, and tomatoes for 30 minutes, covered.

Remove the cover, and cook an additional 10 to 15 minutes to evaporate any extra liquid.

Add the sugar, salt, and pepper; stir and remove from heat. When lukewarm, stir in the cherry tomatoes, capers, and olives. Store covered and refrigerated until ready to use.

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Tags: basil, black olives, capers, caponata, garlic, onions, parsley, tomatoes, zucchini

If you’re looking for a new recipe to make for Cinco de Mayo (or any Mexi-themed meal), try these Quick Turkey Enchiladas! They’re super easy to make and quite tasty!

I made a few substitutions based on what I had on hand, such as using a shredded Mexican Four Cheese Blend instead of Monterey Jack cheese. I also used 7 medium soft-taco size flour tortillas instead of corn tortillas because I forgot to get ‘em at the store (whoops!). The flour tortillas worked fine but I would’ve preferred the corn variety. I also skipped the jalapenos because I used a spicy enchilada sauce.

My flour tortillas were soft and pliable so I didn’t need to microwave them before filling and rolling. I spread a little enchilada sauce in the baking dish before adding the filled tortillas, and skipped spraying them with cooking spray. I baked the enchiladas until bubbly (20-30 minutes). Olé! 

Quick Turkey Enchiladas
- recipe from America’s Test Kitchen 30 Minute Suppers (Spring 2009)

Adding cheese to the warm turkey binds the mixture together, making assembly quick and easy. Serves 4.

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 pound ground turkey
3 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 1/2 cups red enchilada sauce (see note)
1/4 cup drained pickled jalapenos, chopped
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Salt and pepper
10 (6 inch) corn tortillas

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Grease a 13- by 9-inch baking dish. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in turkey and cook until no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir in 2 cups cheese, 1/2 cup enchilada sauce, jalapenos, and cilantro. Season with salt and pepper.

Stack tortillas on plate, wrap with plastic, and microwave until pliable, about 1 minute. Top each tortilla with 1/4 cup of turkey mixture and roll tightly. Place seam-side down in pan and spray lightly with cooking spray. Top with additional 1 cup enchilada sauce and remaining cheese; cover with foil. Bake 10 minutes, remove foil, and continue baking until cheese is completely melted, about 5 minutes longer. Serve, passing remaining heated enchilada sauce at table.

Test Kitchen Note: You will need two 10-ounce cans of enchilada sauce for this recipe.

Tags: corn tortillas, enchiladas, ground turkey, Monterey Jack cheese, onions, Quick Cooking, red enchilada sauce, turkey

Every party needs a few meaty appetizers to keep the festivities rolling. That’s why I brought these Sweet & Sour Cocktail Meatballs to a party recently. Sure, you can buy store-bought meatballs but I thought these were delicious and worth the effort to make (they are firmer in texture than some spongy, store-bought types). Plus, you can make the meatballs and sauce ahead of time and freeze them for up to a month…a bonus when it comes to preparing for a party!

I was getting lazy towards the end of the meatball rolling process so I started making them a bit bigger. Because of that, I only got 74 meatballs instead of 80 (no big deal, though). I used a regular-sized jar of Smucker’s Apricot-Pineapple Preserves (about 2 cups) and added a splash of cider vinegar to make the sauce a bit more tangy. The smaller you mince the onions, the better because you don’t want chunks of onion the size of the meatballs. And remember to buy the toothpicks to spear them with. 

Make-Ahead Sweet and Sour Cocktail Meatballs
-recipe from Cook’s Country Magazine (December 2009)

We wanted to do as much advance preparation as possible so the meatballs could come together in a hurry the night of a party. We needed a sweet, tangy sauce without any hints of artificial candy flavor and meatballs that wouldn’t dry out in the freezer. Here’s what we discovered:
•Browning the meatballs in a skillet was a pain. Baking them in the oven was much faster and ensured the meatballs browned evenly.
•We found that all of the most common binders—bread crumbs, cracker crumbs, and even cornflake crumbs—dried out the meatballs. We settled on a panade, a paste made from bread softened in milk, to protect our meatballs from the dry cold of the freezer.
•Too much seasoning will overpower the meatballs, but too little will be lost in the sauce. The right balance of salt, pepper, garlic, and parsley complimented the sweet and sour flavor of the sauce perfectly.
•Tomato sauce doctored up with red pepper flakes, Dijon mustard, and a few other key ingredients took care of the sour portion of the sauce. For the sweet, we tested every type of jam and jelly we could think of and settled on one standout.
•Freezing the meatballs and sauce in separate containers eliminates almost all of the last-minute prep work. When it’s time to serve, simply reheat the sauce, dump in the frozen meatballs, and you’re done.
•Use a 1 1/4-inch melon baller or a 1 tablespoon measuring spoon to form the meatballs.

Serves 20.
 
Meatballs
4 slices hearty white sandwich bread , torn into pieces 
1/2 cup whole milk  
2 large egg yolks  
1/2 pound ground pork  
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh parsley  
2 garlic cloves , minced 
1 teaspoon salt  
2 teaspoons pepper  
2 1/2 pounds 85 percent lean ground beef  

Sauce 
1 tablespoon vegetable oil  
1 onion , minced 
1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce  
2 1/2 cups apricot preserves  
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar  
3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce  
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard  
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes  

MAKE MEATBALLS: Adjust oven racks to upper-middle and lower-middle positions and heat oven to 450 degrees. Using fork, mash bread, milk, and egg yolks in large bowl until smooth. Add pork, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper and mix until incorporated. Add beef and knead gently until combined.

BAKE MEATBALLS: Form mixture into 1¼-inch meatballs (you should have about 80). Bake meatballs on 2 rimmed baking sheets until cooked through and beginning to brown, 12 to 15 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through cooking. Let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. Transfer to large zipper-lock freezer bag and freeze for up to 1 month.

MAKE SAUCE: Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium-high heat until shimmering. Cook onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Whisk in tomato sauce, preserves, sugar, Worcestershire, mustard, and pepper flakes and bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Transfer to airtight container and freeze for up to 1 month.

TO SERVE: Reheat sauce, covered and stirring occasionally, in Dutch oven over medium-low heat. Once sauce reaches simmer, stir in frozen meatballs and cook until heated through, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve.

STEP BY STEP: Make-Ahead Magic
1. Bake the meatballs, cool them on the counter, and refrigerate.
2. Place the chilled meatballs in zipper-lock bags and freeze. 
3. To reheat, dump the frozen meatballs directly into the simmering sauce.

Tags: Beef, make ahead, meatballs, onions, pork, sweet and sour, tomato sauce

Here’s a good, quick springtime recipe if you’re hankering for a steak. The colors and flavors of the tomato salsa are vibrant and fresh, and it adds an Italian flare to the pan-seared rib-eyes. This is an easy recipe to cut in half if you’re only cooking for two (or even one). I served the steak with crusty bread and sauteed zucchini.

Pan-Seared Rib-Eye Steak with Balsamic Onion & Tomato Salsa
-recipe from Fine Cooking Magazine

1 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, cut into medium dice (to yield about 1-1/2  cups)
2 tsp. granulated sugar
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
4 boneless rib-eye steaks, 3/4 to 1 inch thick (6 to 8 oz. each)

Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until hot; add the onion and sugar. Cook the onion, stirring occasionally, until it begins to soften but not brown, 4 to 5 min. Add the vinegar and cook until the onions are soft, 2 to 3  min. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until they just begin to soften, 1 to 2 min. Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the basil, and season the mixture to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer the mixture to a bowl and keep warm.

Season the steaks generously on both sides with salt and pepper. Wipe out the skillet and melt the butter in the skillet over high heat. Cook two of the steaks until nicely browned on both sides and cooked to your liking, about 3 min. per side for medium rare. Transfer the steaks to plates or a platter and keep warm while you cook the remaining two steaks. Serve the steaks topped with the onion and tomato salsa.

Serving suggestions: Serve alongside a mixed salad of Bibb lettuce, spinach, and torn basil.

Tags: balsamic vinegar, basil, Beef, onions, Quick Cooking, rib-eye, steak, tomato salsa, tomatoes