Truly Smitten

 

(making the sauce reduction)

This subtly mediterranean flavored roast chicken dish will leave a long, yummy impression in your belly and taste buds! I make a lot of chicken dishes because the hubby and I avoid eating red meat as much as possible (besides the occasional burger or steak). I found this recipe on Smitten Kitchen’s new cookbook and it is now forever dog-earred as one of my favorite chicken recipes! I highly recommend eating this with a loaf of crusty italian or french bread because the sauce will definitely be worth soaking the bread in! If you are not willing to spend a ton of time for dinner, give this dish a go. I roasted a batch of simply dressed brussels sprouts and parsnips as a side dish.

 

Roasted Olives, Grapes, and Rosemary Chicken
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

Ingredients:
- 3 lbs chicken (variety of bone-in, skin on chicken legs, thighs, breasts)
- 2 cups seedless red grapes
- 1 cup pitted kalamata olives
- 1/2 yellow onion, sliced
- 2 tablespoon of fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 cup white wine
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
- salt and pepper

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 F. In a skillet or dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Brown the chicken until nice and crispy…about 4-5 minutes on each side. Leave the chicken in the skillet/dutch oven and throw in sliced onion, kalamata olives and grapes. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of minced rosemary. Bake in oven without lid for 30 minutes.
3. Once taken out of oven, remove chicken, grapes, olives, onions – all out of the skillet and set aside in a serving platter.
4. This is where you will make the sauce. Bring the skillet or pot with all the drippings/juices to a boil. Add the white wine and chicken stock as well as the other tablespoon of minced rosemary. Reduce for about 4-5 minutes until it is reduced by half and thickens.
5. Plate your chicken with the onion, grapes and olives and generously spoon sauce over all that goodness and serve with side dish or yummy crusty bread! Garnish with fresh sprig of rosemary optional.

Bon Appetit!

 

 

I made a quick green smoothie for my husband and myself as dessert. This one I made a bit sweeter so I don’t crave anything afterward =)

My Power Green Smoothie recipe:

- Kale
- Spinach
- Cucumber
- 1/2 pear
- 1/2 banana
- 1/3 cup ripened sweet pineapple
- 1 tablespoon flaxseed

Now that summer is somewhat around the corner and also needing to shed some of that extra winter weight, I decided to start making green smoothies for breakfast for the hubby and myself. We have been doing this for 2 weeks and we feel so much more energized and cleaner! I know that blending green veggies and fruits have been a craze lately and I do read about it a ton on other blogs and nutrition books. I used to do purely juicing and I noticed that I couldn’t do it long-term due to the fact that it was too acidic for my stomach. I actually felt nauseated from juicing. But blending is so much better for my stomach and I stay full much longer. Plus I don’t get to throw away any fiber! I also didn’t want to shell out $400-$500 bucks for the Vitamix quite yet….but luckily my sister introduced me to the Nutribullet ($99 – but I got it for $79 with a 20% Bed, Bath and Beyond coupon!) and it has worked wonders for us! Yes, it’s not huge as the Vitamix but this size is perfect for me. The largest cup size is 16 ounces and you can blend a smoothie for your portion in an instant. If you want to make one for a friend or spouse, just quickly rinse and toss all the veggies and fruits and voila! It’s done!

I LOVE my green smoothies AND my Nutribullet! It’s a great beginner’s blender for those that don’t want to shell out the big bucks.

Here are a few of my favorite green smoothie recipes (keep in mind to use organic whenever possible! Also my rule of thumb is to use 50% green veggies and 50% fruits):

Green Smoothie 1:

Ingredients:
- handful of kale or lacinto kale
- handful of fresh cucumber
- 1/2 pear
- 1/3 cup of frozen mangos
- 1/2 banana
- 1 teaspoon of flaxeed
- 4-5 pieces of raw almonds
- 1 – 1.5 cup of water or coconut water (I use coconut water)

 

Green Smoothie 2:

Ingredients:
- handful of kale or lacinto kale
- handful of thoroughly rinsed spinach
- 1 stalk celery
- 1 whole carrot, chopped
- 1/2 apple
- 1/2 banana
- 1 teaspoon of flaxeed
- 1-1.5 cup water or coconut water

Happy blending!! Let me know how you like these recipes!! Cheers to clean and healthy eating =)