Taking a New Approach

Well, we have decided to go a somewhat different direction with our blog.  Because Leroy is a Culinary Institute of America graduate, and we spend SO MUCH time in the kitchen, we thought it appropriate to share our experiences and recipes via the blog.   We take pictures of our dinner almost every night and we were posting for a while, so we have decided as long as we can keep up with making the recipes, we should be able to make this happen.  I'm sure we will occassionally have other stories about life, but it's our blog, so we can do that, right?! 

The first post I have is a meal I(Celia) prepared one evening while Leroy was at work...so while a lot of the time we work together, I was flying solo on this one and I was pretty proud!

  

6 cups water

3 cups Whole Wheat Penne Pasta

1 Tablespoon Garlic Salt

1 Tablespoon Dried Chives

1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley

2 Basil Leaves (If you cant get a hold of fresh basil, use about 1 Tablespoon Dried Basil)

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 Cup Fresh Parmesean Cheese

1/2 Cup Cherry or Grape Tomatoes

1/4 Cup Fat Free Plain Yogurt OR 1/4 Cup Fat Free Sour Cream

Boil the pasta for 13-16 minutes, strain it, add all the additional ingredients EXCEPT basil, and mix together.  Chop the Basil and place it on top of the pasta once its finished.

Sauteed Veggies

1 Tablespoon Dried Chives

1 Tablespoon Dried Parsley

1 Tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1-2 Cloves finely chopped Garlic depending on your love for garlic...I used 3, as I am a HUGE lover of hot breath(as Leroy would say)!
2 Cups Raw Broccoli

1 whole Red Pepper

1 whole Yellow Onion

1 medium sized Zuchinni

Chop all of your vegetables, try to keep the size fairly even throughout.  Put the EVOO in a Sautee Pan(Frying Pan) on medium heat.  Once the Oil is hot, put the Onions in and get them going, add all the herbs.  In the meantime, boil the Broccoli and Red Pepper for five minutes in salted water(blanching them).  Once they are done, quickly remove them from the hot water and put them in an ice bath(this quickly stops the cooking process, overcooking the veggies will result in loss of color, thus loss in vitamins and nutrients!).  The Onions should almost be done; add the chopped garlic.  After about 3 minutes, add the Zuchinni and let that sautee to a nice brown color.  Add the Red Pepper and Broccoli and cook for about 5 more minutes. 

Salt

Pepper

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 Cup Lawry's Hawaiian 30-Minute Marinade (Liquid)

2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

Marinate your chicken about 30 minutes before you cook it(you can marinate for longer if you prefer) Heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Put about a quarter size amount of EVOO in a Sautee Pan on just below High Heat, once the pan is hot(you want it really hot to get a nice sear on the meat), place the chicken(presentation side down) in the pan, let it get a good hard sear(nice dark color), flip it over, and immediately put the pan in the oven to finish.  Let cook until internal temp of chicken 165 degrees.

Plate all the items above for the below meal and enjoy!

PS.  I registered for my 1st race ever, I am so excited, if you are wondering why this is such an accomplishment, check out my journey.  I registered for the Atlanta half Marathon on Thanksgiving Day! 

Well that's what Cookin' with The Browns,
Celia