Pasta with Chicken, Spinach, Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

Did you make any New Year's resolutions?

Typically there is a resolution in there about eating healthier.  My motto this year is "eat well".  To continue on the journey of healthy eating, (with a few treats thrown in) is a way of life.  Not a diet...but a life style change in which I've been working toward for the past several years.  Each year, gets better and better.

I saw this dish in a BHG specialty magazine for low calorie dishes.  The look of it caught my eye.  It's actually a pasta salad with added chicken.  It's light on the carbs and heavier on the protein so the balance is pretty good.  Low in calories, this mix of pasta, veggies, and chicken is just perfect.  And it tastes even better.   I will say that the dressing, with the addition of orange zest and juice is the bomb.  Do not skip this as it adds such a great freshness to the salad.  Plus, with navel oranges being in season right now it is just perfect for this time of year.  

I made this into a deconstructed salad for a great visual effect.  Deconstructed means that each ingredient is separated and laid out next to each individual ingredient.  Makes for a nice presentation.  However, you can just place it all in a bowl, and toss it up.  It's just as beautiful.

This is easy to whip up on a weeknight.  Don't be surprised if there isn't any left, and if there is, it tastes excellent cold for lunch the next day.  Trust me I know.

Here's what it looks like all tossed and plated pretty.

Enjoy and Eat Well!

Pasta with Chicken, Spinach, Tomatoes and Feta Cheeseslightly adapted from BHG

serves 6 

4 ounces dried whole grain or whole wheat penne pasta Nonstick cooking spray 
1 1/4 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
3 tablespoons canola oil or olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon finely shredded orange peel
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon canola oil or olive oil
1 pound grape tomatoes, halved (3 cups)
4 cloves garlic, minced
10 ounces fresh baby spinach
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese or goat cheese (chevre) (3 ounces)
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted Directions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain. 

2. Meanwhile, lightly coat the an indoor grill with cooking spray. Preheat grill. Place chicken on grill.  Grill until chicken is no longer pink (170 degrees F). About 12 to 15 minutes, turning once halfway through grilling. Cut chicken into bite-size pieces.

3. For dressing, in a small bowl whisk together 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, orange peel, orange juice, honey, mustard, salt, and pepper; set aside.

4. In a large skillet heat 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat. Add tomatoes and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring frequently.

5. In a bowl add spinach and top with warm tomatoes so spinach slightly wilts.  Add pasta and chicken making a deconstructed salad.  Add feta cheese and pine nuts and drizzle with dressing.  Serve.

Spinach and Feta Mini Turnovers

Tomorrow is New Years Eve!

A special time for all to ring in the new year.  I'm off to do some girly stuff today like get a mani/pedi, and some light shopping.  Celebration time!  Some sparkly is in order don't you think?

But before I go I wanted to show you these wonderful appetizers.  A friend of mine brought these to a function at work and I decided to try my hand and make my version of Spinach and Feta Mini Turnovers.

The Greek flavors inside a nicely browned and flaky pie dough is just the right combination for a small appetizer to serve anytime...but especially on new years eve.  What a great New Year's Eve appetizer!!

I bought this handy turnover mold (filled pastry press) at Williams-Sonoma a couple of weeks ago and was so eager to try it out.  It's really easy to use and it gives me a reason to make all types of appetizers or desserts using this gadget, where as I might now want to fuss with otherwise.  How does apple, pear, and raisin turnovers sounds?  How about mushroom turnovers?  Limitless variations await you!  Here is the item I used, and you can find it here.

It made making the appetizers really easy, and you can imagine the endless variations you could come up with.  A simple ready made pie dough is all you need.  If you wants puff pastry works really well as well.

Using a store bought dough I made about 10 appetizers with the 2 rolls.  Perfect for a small intimate party or a piece of a larger arrange of appetizers.

If you don't want to purchase the mold then you can make these the old fashioned way by cutting squares, adding the filling, and then creating triangles to enclose the filling.  Works as well, but is a little more work and effort than this mold.

So while I'm out doing my pampering, take a look at this recipe and try these delicious bites!

Happy New Year's Eve!

Spinach and Feta Mini Turnovers 

Serves 10

Ingredients:
1 package of ready- made pie crust (2 crusts)
1 pkg. (10 ounces) frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained 
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 
½ tsp onion powder 
¼ tsp garlic powder 
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper 
1 egg beaten for an egg wash

DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oven to 400°F. 

Drain thawed spinach really well getting out all water. Place in a medium bowl. Add cheese, onion powder, garlic powder, and black pepper. Stir to combine.

Unroll the pie crust lightly floured surface. Place over the bottom of a floured pastry mold, and gently press down dough in triangles to mold. Brush edges of the triangles with an egg wash. Place about 1 tablespoon spinach mixture in the center of each triangle mold.

Unroll the other pie crust on the floured surface. Place the pie crust over the top of the filling. Take the top pastry mold and place upside down over the pastries. Press down tightly to score the dough and assist with sealing the dough. Take off the top mold. Turn the bottom mold over to release the pastries.

Using a knife or pastry cuter trim each pastry along the edges using the scoring as a guideline. Remove any excess pie crust dough. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with an egg wash.

Bake for 15 minutes or until the pastries are golden brown.  Remove the pastries from the baking sheet and let cool on wire racks for 10 minutes.

Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

My new love of late is Quinoa.

Don't you just love it?  Don't know what it is...or have never tried it?

Well let me tell you what you are missing.  It's a fiber rich whole grain that is classified as a superfood.  Who doesn't want that?  It a slightly nutty grain with a little bite to it like brown rice...or bigger couscous.  It's wonderful used in a salad such as this one, or as a side dish.  This salad is wonderful and light.  The flavors pop in your mouth, and it's very healthy for you.

Try something new this year, and be healthy with whole grains.  Try the quinoa, you'll love it.    

Quinoa Salad with Dried Cranberries and Pecans

Serves 4

1 cup quinoa

2 cups water

1 c fresh spinach, sliced

1⁄4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil

1⁄4 cup dried cranberries

1⁄4 cup pecans, chopped

3 Tbs. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1⁄4 tsp. sea salt

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

Place the quinoa in a fine mesh strainer and rinse well under cold water. In a saucepan over high heat, bring the 2 cups water to a boil. Add the quinoa and reduce the heat to low. Cover and simmer until the grains are tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove the quinoa from the heat and let cool slightly. Transfer to a large bowl and fluff with a fork to separate the grains. Stir in the spinach, vinegar, olive oil, cranberries, pecans, and parsley.  Season with salt and pepper. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Fast & Fresh: Blackberry, Blue Cheese, and Spinach Salad

With all the fresh produce of summer it's hard not to take advantage of them. 

This year has been a "Berry" year for me.  I've made more dishes with berries than ever before, and I absolutely love them!

During these hot end of summer days a fresh salad always comes to mind.  I like salads, but I seem to crave them more in the summer months.  Cool, light, crisp, refreshing, and unique flavors to add some zip to a plain old salad.

Today's salad is part of my Fast & Fresh series. 

"Fast & Fresh"

• Simple ingredients
• Fresh and healthy
• Easy prep
• Delishhhh taste!

This salad is perfect for lunch or as a side salad with dinner.  Of course I had to use "berries" in it!  Why wouldn't I?

So I created a Blackberry, Blue Cheese, and Spinach Salad.  YUM!  The flavors of this salad are sweet and tangy.  It has just the right amount of blue cheese and blackberries, and is topped off with a lemon vinaigrette.  All on top of a bed of fresh spinach leaves.  Sounds good huh?

First you make the dressing.  I use a cute little canning jar for this so I can just shake it up and store any left overs in it for a couple of days in the refrigerator.  So to a jar or bowl add your lemon juice, dried thyme, Dijon mustard, salt & pepper, and your olive oil.  If you are making this in a bowl whisk in your olive oil as your slowly drizzle it in to get the dressing to emulsify.  Easy as that!

Next, arrange your spinach on your plates, top with blackberries and drizzle on some salad dressing and toss to coat well.  Then add your blue cheese crumbles.  Your done!  So fast, easy, and oh soooo tasty!

 

So I hope you enjoy this recipe.  It only takes minutes to make but the results are delishhhh!

Blackberry, Blue Cheese, and Spinach Salad

serves 4

Ingredients
 
1 ½ T fresh lemon juice
1 t dried thyme
1/2 t Dijon mustard
1/4 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 c fresh spinach
1 c blackberries
2 ounces mild blue cheese, crumbled

Directions

In a small bowl or a jar add olive oil, lemon juice, thyme mustard, salt, and pepper.  Whisk together or shake up to mix together.

Divide among 4 salad plates the spinach and berries.  Gently toss with dressing to coat thoroughly.  Crumble blue cheese on each salad. Enjoy!

adapted from a Sunset recipe

Spinach and Feta Cheese Bundles

It's almost New Year's Eve and I'm in the mood for some appetizers...are you?

I've been eyeing this calzone recipe from Cooking Light and decided to make a variation of it buy turning it in to little appetizer bundles. 

So here's my test run with this new recipe. They came out great!  I can't wait to serve them at my New Year's celebration.  Hope you try them too!

You'll need a can of pizza dough.  I used Pillsbury's thin crust pizza dough.

Unroll it on to a 15x8" pan that you have sprayed lightly with cooking spray.

Stretch it out to fit the sheet. 

Next take a pizza cutter and cut 4 rows across the width and 3 rows down the length of the dough.

You should end up with 12 small squares.

Sprinkle the minced garlic evenly over the 12 squares.  Use a little more if you dare!

Cut up the red onion into very thin slices and then separate them in to rings like this.

Place a small mound of baby spinach on each square..not too much...these get pretty full!

Place 1 or 2 thin onion rings on each bundle, as you please.

Place several crumbles of mushrooms (about 4-5 crumbles) on top of that.

Place feta cheese on top of that.  I used about 1 teaspoon on each one, crumbling up the pieces a little more.

Then you take 1 corner, and the opposite corner and pinch them together well.  Take the two remaining corner and do the same.  Pinch all points together now...real tight or they will come apart!

Look how pretty!

Pop 'em in the oven at 400 degrees for 12 min, until golden brown.  Ummm Ummm!
Take a look at these babies will ya?
Making my mouth water...

I'm definitely going to make some variations of this....stay tuned!

Spinach and Feta Cheese Bundles

A variation of Cooking Light’s recipe Spinach Calzones with Blue Cheese

A scrumptious appetizer!

12 servings

1 (10-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust - thin crust variety
Cooking spray
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups baby spinach leaves
12 -16 thin rings of red onion
4 oz. button mushrooms sliced and crumbled in pieces
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400°.

Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; stretch out dough to fit a 15x8” pan.  Cut dough into 4 rows lengthwise and then 3 row width-wise creating 12 squares.  Sprinkle garlic evenly over squares.  

Cut onion in to very thin slices and separate in to rings.

Top each square with a mound of baby spinach, 2 onion rings, about 6 mushroom crumbles and 1 teaspoon of feta cheese.

To make bundles bring 2 opposite corners to center, pinching points to seal. Bring remaining 2 corners to center, pinching all points together to seal. Bake at 400° for 12 minutes or until golden.