Lemon Pepper Chicken Home Made Crouton Salad and Fresh Bought Ravioli Ridiculousness

One of the things I will miss about my old job is its close location to Eastern Market. They have a large indoor market with all sorts of fresh and hand made foods. I particularly love the home made pasta section. Earlier this week I bought these little beauties:

Hand made cheese ravioli with pretty stripes.

I boiled them for about 3 minutes and they were done! Fresh pasta has so much more flavor then store bought pasta and cooks in about a third of the time. I try to buy it anytime I come across it.

I topped it with my home made marinara sauce and....

Yummmy ridiculousness!

I know Jake doesn't consider food a meal without a meat so I grilled up some easy lemon pepper chicken.

Recipe:

4 chicken strip cuts

Lemon pepper seasoning

2 tbs olive oil

Heat oil in pan over medium heat. Remove chicken strips from package and pat dry. Season both sides with the lemon pepper seasoning. Cook for about 8 minutes flipping chicken half way through. Remove once chicken is fully cooked through. Makes 2 servings.

I topped mine with a raspberry walnut light dressing and Jake went with the light ranch. I forgot to buy croutons at the store so I thought I would give home made croutons a shot.

Recipe:

4 pieces of Healthy White or Wheat bread cut into bite sized cubes

2 tbs olive oil

1/2 tbs of salt

1/2 tbs of pepper

1/2 tbs of garlic powder

1 tbs dried parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toss bread cubes with oil. Add seasoning and gently toss again. Arrange on tin foil lined baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for about 10-15 minutes or until bread is golden brown. 

They turned out pretty good and definitely more healthy then store bought croutons. I might try adding Parmesan cheese next time as well.

Pepper Jelly On A Mission

Like I said yesterday, my goal was to incorporate delicious pepper jelly into dinner this week. Well tonight was the night :)  The pepper jelly was awesome with the turkey sausage and green beans. It added a nice sweet and spicy flavor that wasn't too strong.

Pepper Jelly Green Beans

Recipe:

Steamed green beans

Salt

Pepper

1 tbs of pepper jelly

1 tsp olive oil

Steam green beans and then toss with remaining ingredients.

Turkey Sausage Pepper Jelly Stuffing

Recipe:

1 package of italian turkey sausage

3 tbs pepper jelly

2 cups of stuffing prepared as directed on package

Remove skin from turkey and place in cooking pan over medium heat.  Add pepper jelly and mix until combined. Break up turkey into bite size peices as it cooks. Remove from heat when turkey is fully cooked. Add turkey mixture to stuffing, toss, and serve.

Jake's Take: Added a sweet taste to dinner and would eat it again.

Healthy Spinach Dip

This is one of my all time favorite dips. It is super healthy and has a ton of flavor. Like most women, I found out from my doctor that I had pretty low iron and so began my search for a tasty spinach dish I would enjoy eating. I tweaked a few spinach dip recipes to make it healthier. You can also vary the ingredients to your liking as well (i.e. add more cream cheese for a creamier dip, use more garlic for a sharper taste, etc)

Recipe:

1 package frozen chopped spinach

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1 1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 1/2 tsp minced onion

1 1/2 tsp chopped basil

1/2 tbs butter

1 tbs chopped parsley

1 tbs lemon juice

2 oz fat free cream cheese

1/4 cup of shredded Italian cheese

1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese

Cook and drain spinach. Over medium heat, add butter and saute spinach for about a minute. Reduce heat to medium low and add remaining ingredients. Heat and stir until all cheese has melted and the dip is at a creamy consistency. Transfer to serving bowl and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. I like to serve this with baked tortilla chips.

Jake and I are like 3 year olds when it comes to vegetables. If it doesn't taste good, it's just not happening. That's also why you will probably never find brussel sprouts on this blog.. I am all for being healthy and eating well so I do try to make all of our vegetable dishes taste awesome. Or when all else fails add cheese or a healthy dose of Ranch :)

Jake's Take: (will update soon, but I know he likes this dip and appreciates that it is tasty and healthy at the same time. He requests it at least once a week :)  )

This may be the last post of 2010 since Jake and I are off to PA to hit the slopes to ring in the New Year!