Braised Chicken, Fennel and Tomatoes

Well, as you may have noticed, I haven't been posting much lately. You want to know why? BECAUSE MY HUSBAND IS ON A DIET!!! And I have to say, I'm not liking it much. Not only because he has lost quite a few pounds and I haven't, but also because I'm not cooking what I really want to cook. I've been making a lot chicken dishes. I'm getting sick of chicken! And the thing is, he would be totally fine with the same chicken dish over and over. He is a creature of habit, as you know from my blog...remember, he eats the same thing for breakfast, day after day. And now he eats the same thing for lunch, day after day. It's me that needs variety and I am constantly looking for new ways to make chicken, which I have to say, hasn't been that easy. There are only so many different recipes on Pinterest!

This time I decided to braise the chicken with fennel and tomatoes. Braising the keeps the breasts moist. Easy. Tasty. One pot meal. Doesn't get any better than this.

Braised Chicken, Fennel and Tomatoes 

2 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 fennel bulbs, thinly sliced
1 pint of cherry tomatoes, halved
3 green onions, sliced
1 jalapeño, sliced, totally optional
1 tablespoon capers
1 cup chicken stock
Salt and pepper
Parsley, chopped

Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to pan. Let it brown on one side for about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over and add the fennel, tomatoes, green onions, jalapeño and capers. Pour the the stock over, cover and reduce the heat. Cook until the chicken is done, which should tale about 10 minutes. Take off the heat and sprinkle with parsley. Serve.

m xo

Fennel and Beet Salad with Tarragon-Shallot Vinaigrette

My go-to salad dressing is pretty basic: olive oil and vinegar. It's what I grew up with. Sometimes we would convince my mom to buy the bottled salad dressing because we wanted to be like everyone else, but inevitably we would have it once or twice and then go back to our usual oil and vinegar.

I came across this tarragon and shallot vinaigrette recipe awhile ago and filed it away for when I had tarragon to use up. This time it wasn't my tarragon but my sister's, who had leftover from something she made with it. Alexandra, from "Alexandra's Kitchen" blog, suggests you double the batch just to have on hand, well thank goodness I did because I loved it! The tarragon gives it a nice anise flavour and really enhanced the fennel that I made my salad with. I'm planning on making the salad the rest of the week!!

I combined all the ingredients in a mason jar. It was easy to shake up and store in refrigerator.

Tarragon-Shallot Vinaigrette
(from Alexandra's Kitchen)

4 teaspoons sherry vinegar
1 shallot, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup olive oil
2-3 tablespoons tarragon, finely chopped

Combine vinegar, shallots, sugar, mustard, salt, olive oil and tarragon. Macerate for a few minutes before using.

I just threw this salad together with what I happened to have in my refrigerator. The combination totally rocked!! 

Baby greens

Fennel

Roasted beets

Dried cranberries

Almonds

Feta cheese

 m xo

Paella

Isn't paella amazing?! You have everything in one dish. A little sausage, some poultry, a bit of seafood and of course rice. What more can you ask for? I love it!

There are many recipes for this Spanish national dish depending on the region and the cook. This recipe is very loosely based on The Dean and DeLuca cookbook by David Rosengarten that I have had many years. It's my go-to paella recipe. It's a pretty simple and forgiving recipe. Please don't be intimidated by it.

I like taking out my paella pan that a friend gave me many years ago from Spain but you can use a wide, oven proof skillet.

Paella

olive oil
6 oz chorizo, sliced
2 chicken thighs, skinless with bone in
2 chicken legs, skinless with bone in
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 fennel bulb, chopped
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
saffron threads
5-6 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup white wine
1 tablespoon sambuca
1 lb. raw shrimp, shelled
parsley
lemon wedges

Preheat oven to 350F.

Heat 3-4 tablespoons of olive oil in pan over high heat. Cook the chorizo slices until brown.
Remove and set aside. Salt and pepper the chicken and add to skillet. Sear on both sides. Remove and set aside.
Lower heat to medium and put the rice in the same pan and stir around for a few minutes. Add the onion, garlic, fennel and pepper flakes and cook for another 5 minutes or so. Add the wine, saffron threads and 5 cups of chicken stock. Season with salt if you have to (depending on your chicken stock). Bring to a boil and nestle the chorizo and the chicken in the rice and add the sambuca. Place the pan in the oven for 30 minutes. Bury the shrimp in the rice 20 minutes into the cooking time. You might have to add more stock if the rice had soaked it all up. It is ready when the rice is tender. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with chopped parsley and a squeeze of lemon.

Buen apetito!

m xo

Chickpea Bread with Fennel, Cabbage, Celery Salad

If you have never tried chickpea bread before, you must try it. I feel in love with this street food when we went to Florence a few years ago. It's not your typical bread as it has no leavening agent. It's gluten-free, protein and fiber filled AND so easy to make. When it comes out of the oven it should be crispy on the outside. Tonight we had it with a salad but I also like to serve it with aperitifs alongside some chunks of parmesan cheese drizzled with honey. 

I didn't give you quantities for the salad. That all depends on you. Whatever you like. Or don't like. 

 I'm not a huge fan of raw onions or raw garlic for that matter, so that's why I like to soak the onion slices in water for about 15 minutes. I find it mellows it out a bit. 

Chickpea Bread

1 1/2 cups chickpea flour
1 1/2 cups water
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a bowl whisk together chickpea flour, salt and water. Add olive oil and let it sit for 30 minutes.
Coat a 10 inch pan or cast iron skillet with olive oil and pour in batter. Bake for 35-40 minutes until golden.

In the meantime, make the salad.

Salad

Chinese napa cabbage. shredded
Fennel bulb, thinly sliced
Celery, thinly sliced
Parsley, leaves picked off the stems
Grapes, halved
Slivered almonds, toasted
Shallot, thinly sliced, soaked in cold water
Shaved parmesan cheese

Dressing

1/4 cup olive oil
4 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Combine ingredients for the salad and drizzle on the dressing. Top with shaved parmesan cheese.

m xo

Vitamin C with your salad?

I thought I'd share this salad with you because if you are anything like me, you over indulged this past holiday season and CRAVE fresh salads. My riff on it this time was to use Chinese napa cabbage instead of romaine to keep it interesting and delicious. And of course oranges because I could always use the extra vitamin C this time of year. I also used Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar, but you can easily substitute white balsamic vinegar and the juice of half an orange. 

Orange, Chinese Napa Cabbage, Fennel Salad Chinese napa cabbage, shredded Fennel, thinly sliced Orange, peeled & sliced Handful pomegranate seeds Dressing 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 1/2 tablespoons of orange muscat champagne vinegar Salt & pepper to taste

Mix ingredients of dressing, pour over salad and sprinkle with pomegranate seeds.

Enjoy!
m xo

Happy and healthy!

Well,I can't believe the new year is upon us...and this is my first post on my new blog. Yippee!! 

I guess like everyone else, I'm reflecting about the past year and looking forward to the new one. Looking forward to what surprises the new year will bring.

Being of Italian descent, our tradition for New Years is lentils. Usually made with cotecchino (sausage). The lentils represent money and fortune. My take on it is a little healthier version. More like a salad. 

New Years Lentil Salad 2 cups cooked puy lentils 1 carrot, chopped 1 celery stalk, chopped 1/2 fennel bulb, chopped 3 green onions, chopped 1/4 cup parsley chopped

Dressing 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar 1 small shallot, finely chopped 1 teaspoon honey 1 tablespoon dijon mustard juice of half a lemon 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil salt & pepper to taste

Mix all the ingredients for the dressing and pour on the rest of the ingredients.
Can be refridgerated at this point. 

Have a Happy and Healthy New Year 
m xo