Thursday, May 19, 2016

Sun-dried Tomato, Spinach & Bacon Chicken

With all the wedding planning I’d been slacking on making us home-cooked meals (Lance actually did more of the cooking this past year than I did since I was always so busy…) Well, this week I’ve tried making up for it – I’ll post a couple really great recipes we tried out the last few days!

Chicken can sometimes be a boring dinner but this was far from that – loaded with all sorts of exciting toppings.  Plus, I made Caesar salad from scratch which was easier than I thought.  Adding these to my go-to recipes.

Sun-dried Tomato, Spinach & Bacon Chicken: (adapted from Julia’s Album)
Ingredients:
  • 6 small chicken breasts
  • 1 T butter
  • Italian Dressing powdered mix packet
  • 1 T olive oil
  • 10 oz fresh baby spinach
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2/3 cup half and half
  • 2/3 cup pepperjack cheese, shredded, plus 6 slices
  • 1/8 t salt
  • ¼ cup sun dried tomatoes, drained of oil & chopped into pieces
  • 6 slices bacon, cooked
Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F

2. Butter the bottom of a baking dish.  Season the chicken breasts on both sides with the Italian seasoning mix.  Place chicken into the baking dish and cook for 15 – 20 minutes.

3. In the meantime, heat the olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add spinach and cook for about 2 minutes until it begins to wilt. 

4. Remove from heat and add the garlic & half and half.  Return to the heat, bring to a boil, then add the shredded cheese.  Keep stirring on high heat until the cheese starts to melt.  Reduce heat and continue to simmer & stir until you have thick creamed spinach.  Season with salt and remove from the heat.   

5. Remove the chicken from the oven after baking 15-20 minutes.  Top with creamed spinach, then sun-dried tomatoes, chopped cooked bacon, and broken slices of pepperjack cheese.


6. Bake in the oven uncovered for 15-20 more minutes until the chicken is completely cooked through.

Homemade Caesar Salad:
Dressing Ingredients:
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt (the original recipe used mayonnaise and sour cream but this is healthier and I think tastes better)
  • 1-1/2 t anchovy paste
  • 1-1/2 T olive oil
  • 3 T lemon juice
  • 1-1/2 t whole grain mustard
  • 1 T Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 t black pepper
  • Salt to taste
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
Croutons:
  • Old loaf of bread
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ¼ t salt
  • ¼ t pepper
Salad:
  • 1 large head Romaine lettuce, chopped
  • ½ cup fresh parmesan cheese
Directions:

1. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients (you can also add whole anchovies if you want)

2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Slice bread into cubes and bake 5 minutes.  While they are baking, mix together olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper.  Take the bread out of the oven, toss in the olive oil mixture, then bake 5 more minutes.  Toss again and continue baking until golden brown and crisp. 


3. Toss the Romaine, croutons, cheese, and drizzle with dressing. 

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