Cheddar and Chive Bread

The cheddar and chive bread goes great with the pecan crusted chicken tenders and salad with tangy maple dressing. It was super easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 loaf baguette or French bread, split lengthwise, then cut in 1/2
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
10 blades fresh chives, chopped

Directions:
1. Heat broiler. Lightly toast bread under hot broiler. Remove bread from broiler and cover with shredded cheddar cheese. Sprinkle cheese liberally with chopped chives and set aside. When you are ready to serve your meal, return bread to broiler to melt cheese. When cheese is bubbly and lightly browned, remove bread from broiler and cut into 2-inch chunks.

Pecan Crusted Chicken Tenders and Salad with Tangy Maple Dressing

Loved it! the dressing was amazing, and it was really easy to make. I may try and bake the chicken tenders next time to make it a little more healthy.

Ingredients:
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 1/3 to 2 pounds chicken tenders
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs, beaten with a splash of milk or water
1 cup plain bread crumbs
1 cup pecans, processed in food processor to finely chop
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated or ground
1 orange, zested

Dressing:
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup tangy barbecue sauce
1 navel orange, juiced
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
6 radishes, thinly sliced
6 scallions, trimmed and chopped on an angle

Directions:
1. Heat 1 1/2 to 2 inches of oil over medium high heat. Season chicken tenders with salt and pepper. Set out 3 shallow dishes. Place flour in 1 dish, eggs beaten with water or milk in a second. In the third dish, combine bread crumbs with ground pecans, nutmeg and orange zest. Coat tenders in batches in flour, then egg, then bread crumb mixture. Fry tenders in small batches 6 to 7 minutes. Drain tenders on paper towels.
2. Combine maple syrup, barbecue sauce and orange juice in a bowl. Whisk in oil and season with salt and pepper.
3. Combine romaine, radishes and scallions in a large salad bowl or on a serving platter. Toss with 3/4 of the dressing. Season with salt and pepper, to your taste. Top salad with pecan crusted chicken tenders and drizzle remaining dressing over top.

Sauteed Cod with Asparagus, Asparagus Veloute

I discovered this recipe from Rozanne Gold's Healthy 1-2-3 cook book. This is a nutritional cookbook that utilizes only three ingredients per recipe. I like this book because the recipes are fat-free, low fat or low calories.

Ingredients:
2 pounds asparagus
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 7ounce cod fillets

Directions:
1. Cut asparagus off top 2 1/2 inches of asparagus stalks and set aside. Peel asparagus stalks. Cut stalks into 1 inch pieces. Cook stalks in large saucepan of boiling slightly salted water until very tender, about 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer stalks to blender. Add 3/4 cup cooking liquid to blender. Blend until very smooth, adding more cooking liquid to thin sauce. Blend 2 tablespoons butter into sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Cook asparagus tips in boiling salted water until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Drain
3. Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in each of 2 heavy large skillets over medium-high heat. Add 3 fish fillets to each skillet and cook until golden and opaque in center, about 4 minutes per side. Spoon warm sauce onto plates. Top with fish. Garnish with asparagus tips and serve.

Thai Chicken Pizza

My favorite grocery store is Central Market. They have the best seafood and meat selection and wide range of fresh produce. I shop there weekly and the best part about this grocery store is they have a "culinary resource center" I call it free for all fancy sample station. I never skip the food station. They usually use fresh ingredients in the store to make some dishes for customers to try and they offer the recipe with the sample. That is where I got the Thai Chicken Pizza recipe. It was so good I had went back a few times. The pizza turned out amazing. You can get precooked chicken breast and whole wheat flatbreads from most grocery stores.

Ingredients:
1/2 pound cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon five spice powder
4 large flatbreads, about 8 inches in diameter
1 yellow pepper diced
1/4 cup your favorite Thai peanut sauce
1 cup shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese
2 green onions, chopped
1 cup baby spinach leaves
Sriracha chili sauce to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Season chicken with salt and five spice.
2. Divide peanut sauce between flatbreads and spread to edge.
3. Top pizza with spinach, chicken, yellow pepper and then cheese. Dot with Sriracha to taste. Top with green onions.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until flatbread is crisp ad cheese is melted. Cut each pizza into wedges and serve hot.

Roasted Pork Chops and Butternut Squash With Kale

This recipe was from the January issue of Real Simple. I still love all of their recipes. I started trying other cook books and magazines and they were not as healthy. I'll post some of those here later with my updated version. I keep coming back to Real Simple recipes because they taste good, ingredients simple and easy to make.

Ingredients:
1 small butternut squash (about 2 pounds)—peeled, seeded, and cut into 1 1⁄2-inch pieces
1/4 cup fresh sage leaves
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon olive oil
kosher salt and black pepper
4 bone-in pork chops (each 1 inch thick; about 2 pounds total)
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 large bunch kale, thick ribs removed and leaves roughly chopped (about 14 cups)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400° F. On a large rimmed baking sheet, toss the squash with the sage, 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast, tossing once, until tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
2. When the squash has cooked for 20 minutes, heat 1 teaspoon of the remaining oil in a large skillet over high heat. Season the pork with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Cook until browned, 3 to 5 minutes per side.
3. Transfer the pork to the baking sheet with the squash and roast until the pork is cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes more.
4. Meanwhile, return the skillet to medium heat and add the remaining tablespoon of oil. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the kale, ¼ cup water, and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook, tossing the kale and scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the skillet, until the kale is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Serve with the pork and squash.