Yogurt Parmesan Chicken, Thyme Smashed Potatoes & Asian Snap Peas

Yesterday, Thu came over and helped me cook dinner.  I’ve made this Yogurt Parmesan Chicken several times before – the original recipe uses mayonnaise, but I substitute plain greek yogurt instead to make it healthier.  The yogurt keeps the chicken incredibly moist.  I purposely made extra so we could have leftovers. 

This was my first time making smashed potatoes.  I will say, ours didn’t turn out nearly as pretty as the original recipe, but they were some of the best potatoes I’ve ever had.  You boil potatoes, and then once they are soft, smash them, top them with spices, and bake them in the oven.  It would probably be a lot easier if you have a potato masher, but we were smashing them with a fork which just made a mess.  But once cooked, the outsides were nice and crispy, and the spices were perfect. 

The Asian Snap Peas were super simple to make as well – the addition of hot sauce added a little bit of a kick to it, but they weren't too spicy. 

Here are the recipes:

Yogurt Parmesan Chicken (adapted from The Enchanted Cook)

Ingredients:

·        6 boneless skinless chicken breasts

·        ½ cup Parmesan cheese

·        1 cup plain Greek yogurt

·        3 T Italian seasoned dry bread crumbs

·        1 T Italian seasoning

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Cut the fat off the chicken breasts and lay them flat on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

3. Mix the yogurt and parmesan in a small bowl.  Spread over the chicken, then sprinkle with bread crumbs and extra Italian seasoning (I actually mixed all the ingredients this time, but it turns out better if you top the yogurt & cheese mix with the breadcrumbs).      

4. Bake in oven for 20 – 30 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked through.  You can finish them off under the broiler for a minute or two if you want to get them extra crispy. 

Thyme Smashed Potatoes (adapted from Damn Delicious)

Ingredients:

·        10-12 baby yellow potatoes

·        2 T olive oil

·        2 cloves garlic, minced

·        1 T fresh thyme leaves

·        Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees and bring a large pot of water to a boil.

2. Cook the potatoes in the boiling water until tender, about 20 minutes, then drain well.   

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and place the potatoes on it.  Using a potato masher or fork, smash the potatoes until flattened.  Ideally you’ll want to keep them all in one piece, but it may be difficult if you’re only using a fork.  To make it easier, you can cut the potatoes in half, then mash them flat. 

4. Top them with olive oil, garlic, thyme, salt & pepper.

5. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes or until crispy.      

Asian Snap Peas (adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen)

Ingredients:

·        1 lb. sugar snap peas, strings removed

·        2 T soy sauce

·        2 T peanut oil

·        1 tsp Sriracha (or whatever hot sauce you have)

·        1” ginger root, minced

·        2 large garlic cloves, minced

·        1 tsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. Mix the soy sauce, 1 T peanut oil, and hot sauce in a small bowl and set aside.

2. Put either a large frying pan or a wok on the burner on high heat.  Once it feels hot, add 1 T peanut oil (careful that the oil doesn’t splash). Once the oil simmers, add your ginger and garlic, stir frying until they become fragrant.  

3. Add the sugar snap peas and cook on high heat, stirring constantly, until they turn bright green.  Pour the sauce soy sauce mixture over and coat the peas, cooking for about 1 more minute. 

 4. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.   

Crock Pot Pork with Peaches

Peaches were on sale this week at Trader Joe’s, so we bought a 4 pound box.  Since we have so many peaches, I looked up recipes to incorporate them into our dinner. 

This one was inspired by the Williams-Sonoma recipe for Grilled Pork Loin with Peaches.  Unfortunately we don’t have a grill (besides our little George Foreman) so we adapted the recipe for the crock pot instead.  I’ve had peaches with pork before (I tried out this Summer Peachy Pork from my friend Leslie’s blog and it was great!)

The original recipe called for fresh thyme & oregano, but since I already had rosemary and mint growing on my patio, I swapped for those herbs instead.  I ran out of plain balsamic vinegar, so in my recipe I used Cinnamon Pear Balsamic that I had purchased from Joe & Son’s Olive Oils.  If you haven’t been there, it’s worth a trip to check it out.  They have a huge selection of olive oils and vinegars, and they let you taste as many as you want.  I actually had a Creative Loafing deal, so I got $40 worth of fancy oils and vinegars for only $20. 

I still want to try out the grilled version of this recipe at some point, but the crock pot version was super easy to make and tasted amazing!  It was very juicy and shredded like pulled pork.  We ate it by itself in a bowl, but I’m sure it would taste great on a sandwich as well. 

Crock Pot Pork with Peaches

Ingredients:

• 1 boneless pork loin roast, about 3 1/2 lb
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar (mine was cinnamon pear balsamic)
• 1/4 cup Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbs. firmly packed light brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. fresh rosemary
• 1 Tbs. chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 Tbs. dried thyme (or fresh if you have it)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
• 2 1/2 lb. small peaches, pitted and quartered (we used 8 peaches)

Directions:

1. Cut your peaches in quarters and arrange about half of them in a layer along the bottom of the crock pot

2. Rub the pork with the balsamic, mustard, brown sugar, herbs, salt & pepper. 

3. Place the pork in the crock pot and top with the remaining peaches.  

4. Turn your crock pot to low setting and come back to enjoy 8 hours later! 

There will be a lot of juices from the peaches in the crock pot, so when serving you may need to use a slotted spoon to dish out the meat & peaches.  

Enjoy!