Tag: dinner

Chicken & Veggie Zoodles- Scampi Style

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Good morning! It’s hard to believe that we are entering our last full week of August. On the one hand, this summer has gone by in a blur, but on the other, I feel like it’s been one of the most relaxing summers I’ve had in a long time. We only had 1 wedding, we didn’t have any big trips planned and we were able to get to the Cape for a few nice weekends. Even though I always want a nice, sunny weekend, this past one- rainy/gloomy/humid weather and all- was actually welcomed.

It was nice to be able to do stuff inside my apartment rather than go to the beach! Plus, my parents came down on Saturday for the night to help my sister and me with some packing and to celebrate my dad’s birthday. We ordered lunch when they got here on Saturday and then headed to Piers Park to hang out and relax before going food shopping in order to make dinner on Saturday night. We ended up grilling burgers- some were beef/veal/pork and the others were plan ol’ beef burgers. So good! On Sunday , mom and I went to church and then we all helped pack up some stuff that they were gracious enough to take home for us. All in all, it was a great weekend and so nice to just be home. I can’t remember the last time I woke up in my apartment on a Sunday and then had most of the day to do whatever the heck I wanted to do (which, consisted of watching part of a movie, doing a quickie workout, cooking, reading and blogging).

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Anyway! The point of this post was to share an easy “zoodle” recipe with you. It seems like spiralizers are all the rage these days, and I can’t lie- I love using mine! I’ve used it for carrots, zucchini and summer squash, but zucchini is my favorite. This recipe came together pretty quickly and I enjoyed it all week. Loaded with wine and garlic and veggies, you can’t really go wrong 😉

chicken & veggie zoodle scampi bowl

Ingredients- rough estimate- I didn’t measure 🙂

  • 2 large zucchinis, spiralized
  • 1 ear of corn, steamed and kernels cut off the cob
  • handful of small Brussels sprouts- cut in half
  • 4 chicken breast tenders
  • 2 tbsp. pine nuts (or nut of choice)
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1/4 cup EVOO
  • 1/4 cup white wine
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • S&P to taste

Directions

  1. Steam the corn & cut the kernels off. Meanwhile, cut the Brussels sprouts and steam for 2-3 minutes to speed up the cooking time.
  2. Spiralize your zucchini and set aside. Head a skillet at medium heat and let the oil, garlic, wine and lemon juice simmer.
  3. Once it’s simmerd a bit, add in the steamed Brussels sprouts and let them cook for a bit. Once they are mostly soft, add in the pine nuts and corn and raw zucchini. While that is cooking, heat up another skillet and cook the chicken.
  4. Once the chicken is cooked, chop it up and add it to the veggies.

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I’ll be honest, I had no idea what I was creating when I started this dish- I just knew I had a bunch of things in my fridge that I needed to use up so I went with it and I have to say- I’m pretty happy with the end result!

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I loved the flavor combination as well as the bright green and yellow colors- and the slight crunch from the pine nuts was great for a texture queen like myself.

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I ended up even eating it cold throughout the week and it tasted just as good as when it was nice and hot.

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I tend to eat more veggies in the summer (because everything is fresh and they are light and easy), and this meal totally hit the spot in that department. Nothing like quick, easy & healthy meals to throw together and eat throughout the week!

Questions for you: How was your weekend? Has your summer been busy with weddings and travel? What’s your favorite dinner to make in the summer? Do you have a spiralizer?

 

 

 

Weekending: Cape Edition

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And we are already amidst another week…. can time please slow down?! RM and I escaped to the Cape last weekend and it really was the most perfect weekend from start to finish. The only bad thing was it ending! I was saying to RM on our way back to Boston yesterday that normally I’m OK with weekends and parties and vacations ending because I love my normal day to day life, but for some reason I really didn’t want last weekend to end.

Friday night, we packed up and headed south around 6:45, but not before I packed up some “healthier” weekend treats. I don’t like to travel without some staple food items because they help me stay more on track with the way I like to eat- here are some staples and some splurges, all picked up at the Whole Foods in Lynnfield.

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We hit ZERO traffic heading to the cape which was awesome! Before we knew it, we were saddled up at The Kettle Ho which is just down the road from RM’s family’s house. We had a few drinks and some dinner and called it an early night since RM had a 7:40 tee time on Saturday.

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While RM was golfing, I took advantage of being down on the Cape and took Aly’s class at the B/Spoke Cape House “pop up studio”.

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The class was AWESOME and judging by the crowds and waitlists, this was a great business venture for them. Aly’s class was crazy high energy, the tracks were challenging and I left there literally dripping with sweat.

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Continuing on with my “morning of me”, I treated myself to a post class smoothie and pedicure at the Mashpee Commons.
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Italy Recap Part 3 (Final one!): Castiglione Della Pescaia

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I can’t believe I’m here with my 3rd and final recap of our recent Italian vacation… I’m not ready for it to be over! In case you missed the first 2 recaps, here they are: Italy Recap Part 1: Rome Italy Recap Part 2: Pienza Our last leg of the trip was spent on the sandy beaches in Castiglione Della Pescaia, which was about 2 hours north west of Pienza. The ride on Friday morning was actually quite nice as we entered into the more beach-y areas of Italy. IMG_1387 IMG_1386
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Crustless Veggie & Goat Cheese Quiche

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Would you look at that- I’ve posted for FOUR days in a ROW this week! I know, I’m just as surprised as you. I’m so happy that I had time to post this recipe for you, though, because boy oh boy is it tasty! Not only that, but it was super easy to put together: chop & sautee some veggies, whisk some eggs, bake and voila! You don’t even have to deal with making or rolling out a crust, which not only saves you time, but saves you some calories, too! What you end up with is a healthy, nutritious and yummy dish to eat for breakfast, lunch and/or dinner.

Crustless Veggie & Goat Cheese Quiche

That’s the beauty of quiches, right? They’re so versatile since you can literally eat them for any meal of the day. And, if you add veggies you’re getting an even better bang for your buck. I don’t like to add TOO many veggies, though, because they get in the way of the egg consistency that I love about quiches. This one ended up coming out super fluffy, which I think may be due to how much I whisked the eggs and milk- my arm was burning by the time I finally stopped!

Crustless Veggie & Goat Cheese Quiche

Ingredients

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Shrimp and Veggie Curry Dish

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I feel like I go through phases with my food dishes of choice. For a while, it was chicken and roasted veggies and kale. Then, it was meatloaf (so random, but so good). Then it was fish tacos (ok I always love these, but have to force myself to not request them every week!). Recently, though, it’s been curry dishes. When RM was doing the Whole30 (more on that later- he’s working on a recap guest post for you guys!), we were looking for meals that fit the guidelines and that were not boring. With so many restrictions, this wasn’t as easy as you might think, but this dish fit the bill and we were super happy with how it came out.

Before some of you start going “yuck. I don’t like curry”, I want to let you know that this recipe doesn’t taste like traditional curry (like this curry recipe did). I can’t really explain the difference, but it’s a milder taste and just doesn’t remind me of traditional curry dishes. Maybe it’s because of the curry paste we use, which is Thai Kitchen curry paste- either red or green. I forget which one is my favorite because we interchange them all the time (I think we’ve made this dish 4 times in the past three months- I just made it again on Monday with chicken thighs and the green curry paste), but either one will work and be delicious- I promise. Another thing we change up is the “meat” of the dish. We’ve used chicken breasts, chicken thighs and shrimp, but I think my favorite is when we make it with shrimp, as I’m showing in this recipe.

shrimp & veggie curry dish 1

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp. green or red curry paste
  • 1 can of coconut milk (make sure there’s no added sugar or anything- just coconut!)
  • 1/2-3/4 lb peeled and pre-cooked shrimp
  • 1/2-1 cup cooked quinoa, rice, millet, etc. (optional!)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1/2 cup chopped red pepper
  • 1/4-1/2 cup snow peas
  • 1/2 cup chopped broccoli
  • 2-3 large carrots, spiralized or chopped very thin (can use a shredder, too)
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • 1-2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how hot you want it!)
  • 2-4 tbsp EVOO (for sautéing)

Directions

1. Chop/spiralize your veggies. Heat a large pan with plenty of EVOO and add in all the veggies once it’s hot. Cook until they’ve softened (about 10 minutes). Season them with salt and pepper as desired. If you’re going to eat this with quinoa/rice/millet/etc., start cooking that now, too.

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2. Once the veggies have softened, remove from the heat and add in your coconut milk. Bring to a simmer and add in the curry paste after about 5 minutes. Stir to combine and let them come to a boil before turning down the heat and letting it simmer for a few minutes.

3. Add in the veggies and shrimp and let everything simmer until the curry sauce thickens.

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We’ve served it over nothing (during the Whole30 challenge), over quinoa and over rice. I think my favorite is rice since it soaks up the extra sauce a bit.

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I love these “one pot” meals because cleanup is a breeze and it’s great to get a bunch of food groups in with just one dish (stuffed peppers is another favorite to accomplish this).

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Another beauty with this dish is that it reheats so well! The flavor intensifies in the perfect amounts.

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YUM! Just looking at these photos makes me want to have a dish of this right now! This week I also paired it with some kale, which was another great way to soak up the extra sauce. This is a great dish for 2 that will leave you with plenty of leftovers or a small dinner party. I’d love to know if you try it!

Questions for you: What’s your favorite non-American style cuisine? Do you like curry? What’s your favorite protein to add to a dish?