Michael Symon's Chicken with Mozzarella Salad

I wasn't going to post this, because it's so easy and similar to many things we've had before, but this was super great, the boys gave it perfect 10 and Aaron and I gave it a 9.  This tastes like summer on a plate, and it is super healthy, only 416 calories the way I make it.  This is another Michael Symon hit, from his 5 in 5 cookbook, and again, it's easy and delicious.  Here's what to do:

1/2 c plain dry bread crumbs
seasonings to taste
1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
seasoned butter (garlic butter, etc.)
1/4 c balsamic vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 lb fresh Mozzarella cheese, diced
1/2 c torn fresh basil, chopped

Dip the chicken in seasoned bread crumbs.  Melt the flavored butter in a large skillet, and brown the chicken on both sides.  While the chicken is cooking, mix together the olive oil, vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss the tomatoes, cheese and basil together with the olive oil mixture, then serve over the chicken.  Serve and enjoy :)

Michael Symon's Chicken Mozzarella and Basil Sandwiches

This is really just a fried chicken sandwich, but since that is something that is loved around here, I'm sure you can imagine it was a hit.  We all gave this a 9, and although it was a calorie bomb, it was great.  I found this in Michael Symon's 5 in 5, and each sandwich was 823 calories for 6 sandwiches because we used two slices of garlic bread for the bread, but it will be less if you use less calorific bread.  Anyway, this was a hit, and easy to make, so here's what I did:

1/4 c flour
salt and pepper
1 egg
1/2 c dry bread crumbs
1/2 c Parmesan cheese
1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
1/2 c olive oil
1/2 lb fresh mozzarella cheese cut into slices
12 slices garlic bread
1/2 c fresh basil leaves
1 tomato, sliced

Pour the flour in a bowl and season it well with salt and pepper.  In another bowl, beat the eggs, and in a third shallow bowl, mix the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and season it well with salt and pepper.  Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Season both sides of the chicken with salt and pepper, and then dredge each piece in the three bowls in order, flour, eggs, then bread crumbs.  Pour the oil into the pan, and then place the chicken in the oil.  Cook until browned well on both sides, and cooked through.  Place the mozzarella on top of the chicken slices, place on the bread and top with basil and tomato, then top with the last piece of bread.  Serve.

Michael Symon's Arancini

So despite the deep-frying requirement, I knew I had to make this recipe.  Deep-fried sausage risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella?  Yeah, these were good :).  Michael Symon came up with this recipe, and we all loved it, Jonah included.  We gave this a 9, and every ball was 220 calories with the marinara dipping sauce on the side (I just used canned marinara sauce).

You start by making the risotto, cooling it, then forming the balls and frying them.  It's actually not that difficult, especially because you don't have to fully cook the risotto, just mostly cook it :).  Anyway, these are so good, they were a fun meal for us.

1 T olive oil

4 oz Italian sausage

1 onion, minced

salt

1 c Arborio rice

3 c chicken broth

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 c grated Parmesan cheese

5-6 oz mozzarella, cut into small cubes

deep-frying oil

3/4 c plain, dried bread crumbs

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Break the sausage into small pieces and brown on all sides.  Add the onion and 1/4 t salt, and cook for 2 minutes.  Add the rice, and toast, stirring for about 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken broth 1/2 c at a time, and stir constantly.  Continue to add the broth until the risotto is creamy and the rice is mostly tender.  When the rice is cooked, place the rice in a bowl in the fridge.

After the rice has cooled in the fridge for awhile.  Add the egg, egg yolk, Parmesan and 1/4 t salt.  Form the balls with damp hands, and place a cube of mozzarella in the middle.  Reform the ball, roll it in the bread crumbs, and fry for about 2 1/2 minutes.  Salt and serve immediately.  Yummy!

Crockpot Caprese Chicken

This was an easy recipe, and the boys gave it a 9, and Aaron and I gave it an 8.  It is super easy, and just requires a little time in the crockpot.  I used some Italian marinade/dressing and cooked the chicken in the crockpot for about 4 hours, then removed it, layered tomatoes, basil, and fresh mozzarella on top, and broiled it in the oven for about 5 minutes.  Season more to taste, but this gave us moist, flavorful chicken with really delicious melty mozzarella.  Each 4 oz portion was 270 calories.  This was great and easy!

No Cook Tomato Sauce with Pasta and Fresh Mozzarella

This was a great summer dinner, it's still quite summery here in Tucson, even though I see fall recipes all over the internet right now, we're still feeling the heat here :).  Anyway, the tomatoes, and green onions came out of our garden, and we had some carrots from our garden as a veggie.  We really like eating garden food!  This was a fabulous quick dinner, the longest part was cooking the pasta, unless you plan on making your own mozzarella, which I have done, but I didn't do it this time.  I bought fresh mozzarella from our deli at Fry's.  I got this recipe out of Cook's Illustrated New Best Recipe cookbook.
No Cook Tomato Sauce with Pasta and Fresh Mozzarella
1 lb pasta (they recommend fussili, I used rotini)
1 1/2 lbs tomatoes, diced, seeds removed
2 green onions, sliced thin
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c olive oil
8 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into small cubes
Salt and Pepper

Cook pasta according to directions, salting well.  Mix together the tomatoes, green onions, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Drain the pasta, then add the tomato mixture to the pasta.  Add in the mozzarella and serve.

This tasted fresh and wonderful, and like I said it came together super quickly.  We all gave it an 8, and the calories for 1/8 of the total were 412. 

Sundays are going to be a no post day around here, so I'll only post 6 times per week.
Tomorrow we're having fish and green beans.

Cornbread Panzanella

We tried this cornbread panzanella recently, and we really enjoy bread salad.  The cornbread added a different element, and although we enjoyed this, I like traditional panzanella better.  I thought this dressing was a little lemon heavy.  This is an easy salad to make, and very summery with fresh tomatoes and basil. This comes from Giada's cookbook Everyday Pasta.

Cornbread Panzanella from Giada de Laurentiis

1 lb cornbread, cut into cubes

1 c halved cherry tomatoes

1 c cubed fontina cheese

½ hothouse cucumber, quartered and sliced

½ c chopped fresh basil

Dressing:

2/3 c extra-virgin olive oil

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 2 lemons

1 t kosher salt

1 t pepper

Combine the cornbread, tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, and basil in a large bowl. 

Ina small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon zest, and juice, salt and pepper.  Stir together and pour over the salad.  Toss very gently to combine.  Serve immediately.

 

This is 452 calories per serving when you split it into 8 servings, which is about a 1 to 1 1/2 c serving.  We all gave this an 8.

The shrimp recipe I mentioned yesterday will be up soon, but tomorrow we're trying chicken shawarma.