Two New Foods

Two dishes.

Two foods new to my kitchen.

Two tasty meals that I recommend trying.

Both of these recipes come from REAL SIMPLE.

The first meal is CHICKEN WITH CABBAGE AND POTATOES.

Start by chopping the cabbage in half and slicing it into strips.

I did this early in the afternoon while Millie was asleep and kept it in the fridge until cooking time.

I bought 2 potatoes.

One tater per person.

Slice them all about the same size so they cook evenly.

Toss them in olive oil, salt and pepper. Cook in a 425 degree oven for about 25 minutes, and toss them half way through.

I used some chicken cutlets instead of breast. Coat them with olive oil, salt, pepper, and tad bit of Tony Chachere's. Then put them in the oven with the potatoes.

They cooked about the same length of time.

Just keep your eye on them.

I cooked more chicken than the recipe called for. I actually cooked a whole bag of cutlets found in the freezer section of the grocery store. We are eating the left over chicken for lunch this week. We got tired of turkey sandwiches. We eat the chicken in salads, on sandwiches, or just by itself.

While the potatoes and chicken were cooking, cook a few pieces of bacon on the stove. Using the bacon grease, saute one shallot, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard, and three tablespoons of cider vinegar. The actual recipe calls for whole grain mustard, but I didn't have any.

Add some salt too.

I cooked the cabbage until it started to wilt, but it was still a little crunchy. Nick was not the biggest fan of the cabbage. He's not a mustard kind of guy. But I thought it was really good. Cooking it a little longer would have been better.

Put all your food together and sprinkle bacon on top. Eat the chicken, cabbage, and bacon in one bite, and it's really good.

My plate

Magazine's plate

The next day I sauteed the already cooked left over cabbage in a pan with some butter and salt. I ate it with the left over chicken, and it was a tasty lunch. I also felt really healthy.

The next dish was TORTELLINI WITH BUTTERNUT SQUASH, MUSHROOMS, AND FONTINA.

Butternut squash was an ingredient I have never cooked or eaten.

And it was awesome.

One of the tastiest roasted veggies I've had.

First you have to peel and dice the butternut squash.

If you don't have a good peeler (like me) just cut all the sides off with a sharp knife. There is a lot of squash so don't worry about wasting a little with the peel.
Next toss the squash, mushrooms (any kind would be good), and sage(1/4 cup) with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

Next time I'm not using sage. Rosemary or thyme would work, or you could skip the herbs all together.

Roast on baking sheet in a 450 degree oven for 20 minutes, tossing halfway through.

While these are roasting, boil your tortellini.

This cheese tortellini is so good.

I have eaten it all by itself on several occasions.

Drain pasta, take veggies out of oven, and mix all together with cheese. The recipe calls for fontina, but I used an Italian mix.

The squash was a little squishy, but it was still very delicious.

Next time I don't think I'll mix everything in a big bowl, but I'll just top my pasta with the veggies and cheese.

My plate (I had green and white tortellini)

Magazine's plate

I'm still working on my food photography, but trust me, these dishes are delicious.