Grilled Chicken with Marinara over Zucchini Ribbons

My kids love this! When I say chicken tenders, I am talking about the boneless, skinless, tender little pieces of chicken from the underside of the breast, NOT the breaded freezer kind. Of course, you can also use skinless, boneless chicken breasts, and slice them crosswise after they are grilled.

2 packages chicken "tenders"
Olive oil (not extra-virgin)
Garlic salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil (not extra-virgin), 2-3 Tablespoons
Crushed red pepper flakes, to your taste
4 cloves garlic, minced
Dried mint flakes, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
Dried basil flakes, about 1 1/2 teaspoons
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
Salt to taste

6-8 zucchini (if they are small, use more)
Olive oil (not extra-virgin)

First make your sauce. Put olive oil in a pan, and add crushed red pepper flakes, minced garlic, dried mint, and dried basil. Turn heat onto medium-low. When garlic starts to sizzle (do not let it brown), add crushed tomatoes. Stir until most of the olive oil is incorporated into the tomato. Partly cover to control the spatter, but don't cover all the way, or your sauce won't thicken properly. Cook sauce for 20-30 minutes, scraping it up from the bottom occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick. When it's done, taste it and add salt if necessary (some brands of crushed tomatoes are salty already, and you might not need any).

Put the chicken tenders into a bowl and drizzle them with olive oil, garlic salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Stir them around a bit to be sure the seasoning gets on all of them. Grill.

Wash your zucchini, cut off the ends, and use a vegetable peeler to peel ribbons off of them (including the green). Rotate the zucchini around a bit as you go, that helps. Saute these at medium-high heat for just a couple of minutes.

Put some zucchini on your plate, top with marinara sauce, and finally with the grilled chicken.

Red Beans with Vegetables and Smoked Sausage (Plus Vegetarian Version)

While not difficult, this takes a while, so it's a good one for a weekend or an afternoon at home. This tastes great days later, and would freeze well, so it would be a good recipe to double. Please note: Don't forget to soak your beans the night before!

1 bag dry red kidney beans

1 tablespoon olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
1 onion, diced
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
1 green pepper, diced
3 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 package lean turkey smoked sausage, coarsely diced

fresh parsley, a few sprigs, minced
fresh thyme, a few sprigs (if using dried thyme, a good-sized pinch)
fresh whole hot pepper (jalapeno or cayenne), or dried whole red hot pepper, one or more (one will add flavor but not much heat, add more to increase the heat)

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

To soak your beans: Rinse them in a colander, picking out any nasty-looking ones, and any foreign objects. Put beans in a pan, cover with several inches of water, put the lid on, and leave out overnight or until you need them the next day.

To cook your beans: Drain off soaking water, run fresh water into pan until it covers beans by about three inches, bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer. It takes about two hours to get them tender. You'll need to stir them occasionally to keep them from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep an eye on the water level - if the beans start to become exposed, add enough water just to cover them. In the end, you want tender beans that are moist but not too soupy, so don't add too much water. No salt needed at this stage, it makes them take longer to cook.

After your beans are done, in another pan, over medium heat, saute vegetables, garlic, and crumble in a good-sized pinch of dried thyme if you are using it. When vegetables have gotten a little soft, dump them in the pan with the beans. Then use the pan you just used for the vegetables to slightly brown the diced smoked sausage. Dump this in the pan with the beans and vegetables. To this mixture add the parsley, fresh thyme, and fresh or dried hot pepper(s). Stir this thoroughly and cook over low to medium heat until the vegetables are tender and it thickens nicely, about 30 minutes. Stir it and scrape it up from the bottom of the pan every few minutes so it doesn't burn.

Remove the sprigs of fresh thyme and the whole hot peppers, taste for seasoning, and add kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper if necessary (most smoked sausage is quite salty, so you may not need the salt).

Serve with brown rice and hot sauce.

Vegetarian version: Omit smoked sausage (duh!) and add 3-5 minced canned chipotle peppers (up to 1/3 of a small can, depending on how much heat you can take) at the end of sauteing the vegetables, then saute for another minute or two before adding to beans. This will add considerable heat, so unless you're really into spicy food, you probably want to omit the regular whole hot pepper(s).

Honey-Balsamic-Thyme Roasted Turnips with Red Onion

Young tender turnips (you don't need to peel the little young, thin-skinned ones, but if all you can find is the bigger ones, peel them)

Balsamic vinegar
Honey
Olive oil (regular, not extra-virgin)
Fresh thyme, several sprigs

Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper

1-2 red onions

Fresh thyme for garnish

Wash turnips and cut tops and ends off. Roughly chop into approximately half-inch-sized dice. They don't need to look perfect, but they roast more evenly if the pieces are around the same size. Put in bowl.

Drizzle into bowl some balsamic vinegar, some honey, and some olive oil. You don't need much.  Toss well. Strip the little leaves off some of the sprigs of thyme, into the bowl. Sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and toss again.

For the red onions, cut off the very tops and bottoms, peel, and quarter them, leaving them in wedge-shaped quarters.

Spread turnips in a single layer on a baking sheet. Arrange onions along the edge of the pan and drizzle some olive oil over them, and sprinkle them with some kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Roast at 425 degrees until turnips are browned around the edges and fork-tender. Onions will get a little black along the edges - that's how they're supposed to look. During the roasting process, scrape turnips up from pan a couple of times with a spatula to keep them from sticking, and to make sure they are roasting evenly.

Garnish with the fresh thyme. This is great served with pot roast or roasted pork.

Chicken Gumbo Soup

If you're not saving your (nitrate-free) bacon grease like your grandmother did, you're missing out on a whole lot of flavor, for free! Before some of you flip out, please note that the bacon fat is the only fat in this whole recipe (besides what's in the chicken itself, of course)!! If you have to fry some bacon to get your bacon grease, then you can have a BLT for lunch. This is not thickened with a roux like a traditional gumbo; it's a soup version with the same flavors.

Boneless, skinless chicken (I used one package each of thighs and
  breasts)

Bacon grease (you could use vegetable oil instead, but the bacon fat
  really adds flavor)

One onion, minced
One red bell pepper, minced
Two or three stalks celery, thinly sliced

1 can petite diced tomatoes, juice and all
Frozen okra, 1-pound bag, rinsed in a colander to remove any stale-
  tasting ice crystals
Frozen white corn, 1-pound bag, rinsed in a colander to remove any
  stale-tasting ice crystals

1 large carton/box chicken broth (I like Progresso's 100% Natural,
  gluten-free, no MSG, etc.)
Fresh thyme, a few sprigs
Fresh flat-leaf parsley, a handful, minced
5 dried red hot peppers (they have these super-cheap in the Latino
  foods section at Walmart)

I used the crockpot for this recipe, but you could also use a large covered pot, either stovetop, or in the oven if you have a pot with an ovenproof lid. Into the pot you intend to use, put the can of tomatoes, juice and all, the rinsed frozen okra and corn, the chicken broth, the fresh thyme, the fresh parsley, and the dried hot red peppers.

Melt a dollop (for those not familiar with this scientific unit of measurement, a heaping, regular cereal spoon full) of bacon grease in a skillet. Saute the onion, red bell pepper, and celery until it's soft but not browned. Dump this into the pot with the other vegetables. Melt another dollop of bacon grease, on the high side of medium heat, and when it's really hot, place your (yes, completely naked, whole) chicken pieces in the skillet (Browning meat 101: get your fat hot first, put the meat in, do not disturb it until it's really good and browned, or else it will stick when you try to turn it. Use a metal spatula to un-stick it if it's still stubborn). 

Brown the chicken on both sides and add to pot as it gets done. I had to do it in three batches, which took maybe 10 or 15 minutes. You are NOT trying to cook it all the way through, just browning the outside for flavor. Add more bacon fat as needed. When all the chicken is in the pot with the vegetables, run some water (say 2 cups) into the skillet and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom (there's your flavor!) and pour that in the pot. Give it all a good stir and push your chicken down into the liquid. If there's not enough liquid to cover it, add more water, just enough to barely cover the chicken.

In a crockpot, cook on the high setting for six hours. Stovetop, bring to a boil, turn down to low heat (lower than a simmer) and cover. In an ovenproof, covered pan, say 275 degrees would probably be about right, for several hours.  In the oven or stovetop you'll have to be around to check it occasionally to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom, or cooking too fast (that's why I love the crockpot).

When it's done, taste it to see if you think it needs salt (mine didn't). The chicken should be tender enough to pull apart and eat with a fork or spoon. Great with a little hot sauce sprinkled on at the table!

Broiled Wild Salmon with Maple-Mustard-Smoked Paprika Glaze

Quick and easy! For you Athens area people, in my opinion Kroger (Alps or Gaines School) has the most reasonably priced decent quality wild sockeye salmon. At the fish counter, I always ask for a still-frozen side of salmon, because that way I know it's not been sitting there defrosted for a long time. It's a good idea to develop a taste for wild salmon as opposed to farmed salmon - it's way better for you, and has not been fattened up with agricultural by-products. The smoked paprika gives it a nice, well, smoky taste.

Wild salmon filets (or a whole side of salmon still on the skin)

Real maple syrup
Dijon mustard
Butter
Smoked paprika

Kosher salt
Freshly-ground black pepper

Turn on your broiler and raise your oven rack to the second-closest position to the broiler.

Rinse salmon and place it on a foil-lined, lightly oiled baking sheet (regular olive oil, or any vegetable oil, works great). Pat salmon dry with a paper towel. If using individual filets, spread them out on the pan, leaving plenty of space in between them.

In a microwaveable measuring cup (like Pyrex) or bowl, put maple syrup, dijon mustard, butter, and smoked paprika (you want your mixture to consist of roughly half maple syrup, one-fourth butter, and one-fourth dijon mustard, with a few shakes of smoked paprika). Microwave this mixture until the butter melts, and stir well. You don't need a lot, just enough to generously glaze your raw salmon.

Pour mixture over the raw salmon, using a spoon to spread it thoroughly over the fish. Sprinkle salmon generously with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

Broil to the doneness you like. The fish will slightly "shrink" and the glaze should be a nice golden brown when it's done. You can eat it with the skin or not, depending on your preference.

This is great with wild rice (I like the brown rice/wild rice blends) and steamed green beans.

Pineapple - Walnut Coleslaw with Poppyseed

1 can crushed pineapple, drained
1 bag angel-hair coleslaw (extra-thinly sliced cabbage)
  OR 1 small or 1/2 large cabbage, cut into very thin shreds
1/3 cup walnuts

equal parts (to taste):
peanut oil or other flavorless vegetable oil
agave nectar
white wine vinegar

a sprinkling of poppy seeds

Put cabbage in a bowl. Add drained crushed pineapple. (If you've had a hard day, make a drink with the pineapple juice left over from the can - I recommend adding ice, rum, a shot of grenadine, a maraschino cherry, and a nice squeeze of lime. Aah, that's better.) Put walnuts on a pan and put them in a 225-degree oven for about 5 minutes, lightly toasting them (this intensifies the flavor and makes them more crunchy). When cool, break them up a bit and add to bowl.

In a measuring cup, mix a good shot each of peanut oil, agave nectar, and white wine vinegar. Mix together and taste (if it's not sweet enough for you, add more agave nectar; not acidic enough for you, add more vinegar).
Pour this over the slaw mixture and toss. Add a good sprinkling of poppy seeds and toss again. It's good to let this sit for a few minutes to let the flavors "meld," as my mother would say.

Unlike most slaw, this is great without salt or freshly-ground black pepper, but if you think it needs it, be my guest.

This is good alongside jerk-style grilled chicken or tofu.

Roasted Winter Squash with Curry-Maple Butter

You can use acorn squash, butternut squash, pie pumpkins, or any of the exotic varieties available at the store or farmer's market.

Winter squash

Butter
Real maple syrup
Curry powder

Hot red pepper flakes (optional)
Kosher salt

Set your oven to 375 degrees, with the rack in the middle.

Cut the squash(es) in half and use a spoon to scrape out the pulpy seeds in the center, over the trash can. Cut halves in half lengthwise, and in half again crosswise if your winter squash is a large one. You want to end up with serving-sized pieces with enough of a concave center to hold the butter. Arrange skin-side-down on a foil-lined baking sheet.

In a microwaveable measuring cup (Pyrex) or bowl, put approximately 3 tablespoons of maple syrup, 2 tablespoons of butter, and several shakes of curry powder. Microwave this until the butter melts and it's bubbly. Give it a good stir, and, with a pastry brush, brush mixture over the pieces of winter squash. Pour any mixture that's left into the center of each piece of squash (it should form a little pool in the center of each piece).

Sprinkle with kosher salt and hot red pepper flakes (use just a few flakes for flavor, or if you enjoy spicy food, add a few more).

Bake until tender when pierced with a fork and browning along the edges.

Tarragon Lemon Garlic Grilled Chicken

This is my favorite way to use fresh tarragon - it just adds that little special something to grilled chicken.

Skinless, boneless chicken pieces (I like to buy one small package each of thighs and breasts)

5-7 cloves garlic, minced
Juice from two lemons
Olive oil (regular), about 1/4 cup
Several sprigs fresh tarragon, leaves stripped off and minced
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste

Rinse chicken pieces, cut breasts in half, and slash all of the chicken pieces shallowly and diagonally (to allow them to absorb more flavor from the marinade). Put marinade ingredients in a gallon-sized ziploc bag or mix them together in a shallow baking dish large enough to hold all the chicken. Use more salt and pepper than you otherwise might, since most of the marinade will be left behind when you cook the chicken. Put the chicken into the ziploc bag, squeezing out all the extra air inside the bag, and flip it around a few times to evenly distribute the marinade over the chicken. If you are using a baking dish to marinate the chicken, be sure to flip each piece over a couple of times in the marinade, so the good stuff coats each piece. Let marinate anywhere from one to four hours (the longer it marinates, the more intense the flavor will be).

Grill the chicken on your gas or charcoal grill.

White Bean Celery Salad

It doesn't get easier than this.

1 can white kidney beans (cannellini beans), rinsed and drained
3 stalks celery (the big green crunchy stalks), thinly sliced
1 shallot, minced

extra-virgin olive oil
white wine vinegar
agave nectar
kosher salt
freshly-ground black pepper
red pepper flakes

Put white kidney beans, celery, and shallot in a bowl. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil, white wine vinegar, and a little agave nectar. Toss gently but thoroughly. Sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly-ground black pepper, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Toss again, taste, and adjust seasoning to your liking.

Guilt-Free Meat Sauce, 3 Ways

This is the meat sauce your Italian grandmother would make if she were also a fitness instructor. Below I have included three ways to enjoy it, besides the usual way, over pasta.

1 tablespoon olive oil (not extra-virgin)
large pinch red pepper flakes
4 cloves garlic, minced

1 pound 93% lean ground beef (I like Laura's from Kroger)

1 large (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes
fresh herbs: mint, basil, oregano (amount when chopped, about 3 tablespoons total)
(If you don't have fresh herbs, use 2 teaspoons each of dry mint and dry basil, and add it to the pan along with the garlic and red pepper flakes. In my opinion, dried oregano just kind of hijacks a recipe.)

salt
freshly-ground black pepper

Put the olive oil in the pan and add the garlic and red pepper flakes (and dried herbs if using), while the pan is still cold. Heat it very slowly, until you hear the garlic sizzle, but before it browns. Add the ground beef, turn the heat up a bit, and brown it, breaking it up with the edge of a metal spatula really well into very small pieces. With this type of super-lean ground beef, breaking it up until it's tiny is key, because it can seem a bit tough if left in large pieces. Tilt the pan and use a spoon to scoop out any liquid or fat that has accumulated.

Add the crushed tomatoes and fresh herbs, stir well, and simmer slowly, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan. Partially cover pan with a lid to control the spatter, but don't cover it all the way or the sauce will not thicken properly. When the sauce looks nice and thick (usually about 20-30 minutes) taste it for seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed. Be sure to taste it first before adding the salt, because some brands of crushed tomatoes are much saltier than others. It's ready!

Feel free to serve this over regular or whole-wheat spaghetti, but I like it over brown-rice pasta (Tinkyada brand is by far the best - Earth Fare carries it), spaghetti squash, zucchini "pasta," or roasted eggplant slices (see below).

Spaghetti squash: Cut spaghetti squash in half crosswise (not lengthwise) and scoop out seeds. Turn halves upside down in a roasting pan with an inch of water in it. Put in a 375 degree oven. After 20 minutes or so, prick it with a fork to see if it's tender. When tender, remove from the oven, remove from the pan, and cool on a plate until it's cool enough to handle. Get a fork and scrape the squash, bit by bit, out into a bowl. Don't try to use a spoon for this step. If you use a fork, it will come out in strands, like spaghetti. Toss in a little butter and kosher salt and it's ready for the sauce.

Zucchini "pasta": Wash and cut the ends off your zucchini (leave the skin on) and use a vegetable peeler to peel thin, pasta-like ribbons off the zucchini. Rotate the zucchini around as you do this to keep the ribbons of zucchini a manageable width. I usually do about 6 or 7 zucchini to feed our family generously. Saute the zucchini ribbons lightly in olive oil, and add a sprinkling of freshly-ground black pepper and kosher salt at the end.

Roasted Eggplant: Cut eggplant into thick (say 3/4-inch) slices. Put on a cookie sheet in a single layer and brush lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper. Roast in a 400-degree oven until slightly browned on both sides. Top with the sauce. This is kind of like a healthier, dairy-free version of Eggplant Parmesan (of course you could grate a little parmesan or pecorino over it if you like).