Quick and Easy Lemon Chicken

We just got back from an epic trip to Florida.  I say I couldn't live there but I sure do find it hard to come back sometimes after visiting so many of my close family and friends.  In a strange and wonderful coincidence, the 3 girls I had as bridesmaids and I all had baby girls.  Girls rule!

Yes, we did the Disney thing.  Kuen's first trip.  As much as I'd love to get all "Oh gawd, it was Disney and I hated the mind numbing music, crowds, etc.", I actually loved it.  Kuen had a blast.  Aside from 2 rather titanic meltdowns - one experienced when I dared to take her in a race car at the ever offensive Tomorrowland Speedway.  What?  I'm from Daytona?!  She actually got a little violent when I tried the second, even more objectionable Dumbo ride.  The look on her face as she thrashed about as violently as only a 3-year-old can read, "how dare you try to make me fly on this adorably plump elephant with large ears?!"  Other than that, she had a great time and is full-on Disney Princess and Frozen-crazy.  This is something I've tried very hard to rage against but my resolve just melts away when I see how much joy she gets out of it.  I guess she'll just have to learn to love Disney Princesses and still grow up to be a strong, independent girl that doesn't need to wait for a man to be her meal ticket.

*steps down from soap box*

We stayed on property and needless to say, we ate a lot, ON PROPERTY.  Totally by design.  That Walt Disney really knew what he was doing, I mean, what a cash cow?!  They make it pretty hard to get on/off the grounds so it's just easier to stay and make them take your money.  I was happy to see that they actually did allow patrons to bring their own food and beverages in to the park so with a little planning, you can actually get away with a cheap(ish) Disney experience, but we didn't have time for that this go around.  Next time.

How are we going to top ourselves next year??

After 3 days of Mickey Mouse and Disney Princess paraphernalia, 20-80 minute ride lines, being ass to ankles with tourists from all over the globe and sleeping in the same bed as a nocturnally acrobatic toddler, I was ready to leave and have a nice home cooked meal.  I made this a few times while I was down in FL and it was a hit!

The sauce is definitely the best part.

It's one of those really quick meals you can throw together in 15 minutes, pop it in the oven and have some time to play w/ your kid(s) or veg out in front of the TV before the smells from the oven lure you back for some super fresh and delicious chicken.  This is a great make-ahead meal as well and can be prepped for a quick 30 minutes in the oven.  (Cindy - let me know how the crock pot version turns out!)

Note: The dish is very versatile - I usually use chicken thighs (bone in, skin on) because I think it's the most flavorful cut of chicken but I've used drumsticks as a backup.  If you opt for the white meat, make sure it's at least bone-in with skin.  The breasts will likely dry out if you use boneless skinless breast meat. The amount of chicken is scale-able.  I usually use 5-8 pcs of thighs depending on the size.  When I'm making this and serving immediately, I like to take the chicken out of the fridge to take the chill off.  This helps with not only cooking time but more even cooking.

Another note, I'm not writing in any measurements for salt or pepper.  I season all three layers (veg, sauce and chicken) but never measure it.  The amount of seasoning also depends on the amount of chicken you're using and your own tastes.  Just err on the side of caution, you can always add more but you can't take it out if it's too salty.

Quick and Easy Lemon Chicken

adapted from this recipe

serves 3-4

3-5 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thighs (see above note for substitutions)

1/2 medium onion, diced (sometimes I add the whole thing)

1 to 2 lbs potatoes, diced (any waxy version is good - red or yukon)

1 fennel bulb, diced (celery works in a pinch)

2 lemons (cut in half, juice 3 of the 4 halves and slice the last one)

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

optional: your favorite dried herbs - see the original recipe for inspiration, I always forget to include herbs but never miss it

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Dice the onion, fennel and potatoes and place in a roasting pan (you want something that's going to be deep enough to hold all the sauce) and season with salt and pepper.  Juice the 3 lemon halves, add olive oil and any optional herbs, add salt and pepper to taste.  Mix and pour 1/2 the sauce over the vegetables, toss to coat.  Season the chicken pieces and spoon the rest of the sauce over the chicken, coating both sides.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  Again, this will depend on how thick the cut is and how cold your chicken is when it starts baking.  I always go by how brown the skin is which isn't scientific at all but hasn't failed me yet.  Make sure you let the chicken rest after it comes out of the oven for at least 10 minutes before serving with rice or noodles.

Enjoy!

Yum!

Leftover Makeovers: EGG-cellent Frittata (see what I did there?)

I have issues w/ portion control both cooking and eating.  We're a family of 3 yet I inherited this gene from my mom where I always just cook for like 10 people meaning we eat a lot of leftovers.

Waka waka waka

Most leftovers get eaten as lunch or dinner the next day.  Some get lost and turn in to unintentional science experiments in the back of the fridge.  Sad face.  True story.

Little annoys me more than wasted food.  No, that's a false statement.  Many things annoy me. One of the several things that annoy me greatly is wasted food.  There we go.  Yes.

If I've gone particularly crazy on the leftover front and have more than say 2 days worth, I like to give the leftovers a little makeover before they're relegated to science experiment status (a.k.a. Poltergeist).  This frittata is VERY adaptable and works well w/ pretty much any leftovers: potatoes, broccoli, chicken, ham, roasted veggies always work really well, whatever.  

Puffy and golden!

Frittata is good for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner.  I love a slice of this paired with salad.  It also freezes well so you can bake and stick it in the freezer for when you don't want to cook which is me for the months of June, July and August when it's hot. Give it a try!

Leftover Frittata

makes 8 servings in a 9" (oven safe!) pan

2-3 c leftovers (try using dryer foods like things that weren't cooked w/ sauces)
       I happened to have some leftover steamed broccoli, about 1/2 cup of ham, diced, and    
       some roasted fingerling potatoes for this one)
1/2 c shredded cheese of choice (I've even used sliced cheese on top)
5-7 eggs (depending on how many leftovers you're starting with)
1 tbsp fresh chopped herbs such as parsley, basil or green onions (if using dried, 1 tsp is fine)
1/2 c milk (I've used half and half)
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 tsp salt
pepper

Preheat oven 425 degrees.  Start with an oven proof skillet on medium heat.  Unless yours has a metal handle, make sure it's oven safe (to 450) before beginning or else you'll have to transfer to an oven safe dish (or a greased pie plate works) before sticking it in the oven. Heat oil in skillet and drop in your leftovers to warm them through.  While those are going, crack your eggs and add milk, salt and pepper.  Depending on how well seasoned your leftovers are you may need to use more or less salt.  Hard to tell until it's done but when in doubt, underseason - you can always add more later but not the other way around!  Whisk in the flour, herbs cheese and olive oil to the egg mixture and stir lightly.

Add the egg mixture in to the pan and move everything around a few times until the eggs start to set - 2-3 minutes.  Put the entire pan in the oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.  The bake time will actually depend on how deep the pan is so for fully set eggs, bake it until the middle is puffed and golden.  When you pull it out of the oven the center should bet set completely.  Cool for at least 30 minutes.  

You can cool and freeze the whole thing or wrap up individual slices for a quick meal.  If freezing whole, thaw in the fridge overnight before serving. Either microwave or put it in the oven for 350 for about 20-30 min.

Yummy for bfast, lunch or dinner!

Notes: 

I got rid of my nonstick skillets a long time ago and while before stainless I would've never have attempted a frittata in anything but a nonstick skillet, just make sure there's a light coating of oil on your skillet if you are using steel or aluminum.  I can't say I have experience with nonstick pans going in the oven but do recall reading the box on one in the past and saw it was rated for up to somewhere in the 400 degree mark so do your research.  Or just use a dang pie plate but make sure you grease or spray it or you'll be cursing my name as you're scraping egg shards off it.

You can always just saute the veggies in the pan if you don't have leftover issues like me.

Spinach Tofu Soup (gasp, no meat?!)

Imagine if you will, I'm standing in the kitchen chopping, stirring, on autopilot thinking about work stuff, birthday cards, meal planning for lunch tomorrow, etc., while simultaneously trying not to cut my fingertip off (yes, that seriously happened) and someone comes meandering into the kitchen...

Person: Smells good!  Whatcha cookin'?

Me: Dinner.

Person: Is there any meat?

Me: No.

Person:  Aww maaaaaan!

Deja vu, anyone?  Happens to me at least once a week.  This is karmic retribution of course, because I used to run my mom through this very scenario all the time but I've come to enjoy meatless meals (not often enough since I married the quintessential meat-loving carnivore but still, I'm happy if I can get away with it at least once a week.

With rice..Kuen's fave.

A while back I made the mistake of decision to watch this episode of Oprah that featured Michael Pollan (of Food Inc. fame) filling my brain with all these things I almost wish I didn't know about food.  The episode also included a particularly graphic segment where Lisa Ling toured a Cargill cattle processing plant.  It was very, um, enlightening and I turned in to a pescatarian for about 4 months until I got pregnant w/ Kuen (and homegirl wanted MEAT).  I've turned carnivore since but it did leave an impression and I like to participate in Meatless Mondays.

I know we're a meat-heavy culture so I doubt you can get away with it too often but when you're feeling like a light meal and the carnivore(s) isn't/aren't around, make this soup.  It's not completely vegetarian because I like to use chicken stock but it can easily be made with vegetable stock instead and omitting the fish sauce.

This soup was my go-to through the fall and winter.  Surprisingly filling, so quick and easy, literally comes together in 15 min (if you have boiling water on hand) and made with fridge staples I always have on hand.

So du-li-shuus! Ta ta ta ta ta taaystay taystay" (name that song)

Spinach Tofu Soup
serves 2-4 (depending on whether it's a side or main)

3-4 cups baby spinach (arugula always works and I've tried kale too)
14 oz. package firm (or extra firm) tofu, cubed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
2 whole scallions, sliced
1 tbsp miso paste
2 tsp organic chicken bouillon (I get the jarred stuff but you can sub canned chicken stock or bouillon cubes - enough for about 6 cups of stock, or use vegetable stock)
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp fish sauce (optional, omit for vegetarians)
fresh cilantro, garnish
salt & pepper to taste
6-8 cups boiling water (*if you don't have a hot water kettle, starting this first makes the dish come together more quickly)

Heat stockpot over medium heat with 1 tbsp oil, add minced garlic and ginger - stir/cook for 2 min until softened and fragrant.  Add spinach (or your favorite greens) and wilt, add tofu, stock and remaining ingredients.  Bring to a simmer.

Other optional ingredients:
1 c. frozen or canned corn, drained
1 c. rotisserie chicken, diced (if the carnivores get too restless)
1 c. ground pork, saute w/ fish sauce - lots of flavor, def don't forget the ginger w/ this addition
1 c. mushrooms, slice and saute before you add the garlic/ginger
any short cut pasta, cooked rice or quinoa

With mini shells, also awesome.

My Updated Pizza Obsession

I have never been much of a bookworm.  Gabe, on the other hand, could live with his nose in a book and be happy.  He once spent a several hundred dollar Amazon gift card he got for Christmas by the following March - all on (you guessed it) books (several of which he still hasn't read - but that's another story for another time).  Oh, and my mother-in-law is literally (see what I did there?) a librarian so it's not really a surprise he has this love of books and reading.  But the man has some sEEEriously dry reading interests..in my most humble opinion, of course.  Topics of most interest include: history, military history, sci-fi, teen fiction, romance, etc.  Ok fine, I added in that last two but of the lot I would choose them over the other three - gun to my head.  Sharing a Kindle w/ him is a kinda hilarious because it looks something like: 

• Lions of Kandahar
• Foreign Devils on the Silk Road
• Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic
• Fifty Shades of Grey
• Hannibal Crosses The Alps
• Bossypants

Would love to see what sort of suggested readings he gets from Amazon.  Yes, you picked out my two books on that list and yes, I like literary junk food.  

Did someone say food?

Carby, carby goodness.

Uhh, right.  I can't say I have the type of attention span to get lost in a military history book about Prussia and forego sleep to do so.  I'm practical.  WHAT is for dinner tonight?  What is the best cooking oil to use for what?  Where did you go in Portland that I can't leave without stopping by for a doughnut?  That is useful information (to me).

Mmmmm, mushrooms..

Anywho - we eat this deeelish pizza for dinner all the time.  A little something like 4 years ago I posted about this pizza and how I love it and wanted to marry it b/c it was all that.  Well, I have a new pizza recipe in my life and I'll never look back. 

This picture is so fake, you know I had like 4 more slices of pizza.

Found this amazing recipe on Smitten Kitchen - another one of my favorite blogs and I've been making it a few months now, life has changed AGAIN.  Sorry PW, I still love you but this pizza is way better and still so easy to make.  It is the closest thing to take-out pizza I've been able to recreate at home.

She even gives all the options on when to start the dough - whether overnight, morning of or afternoon of times to start it.  Yes, it does need to rise but it's really painless, promise.  It's called LAZY Pizza Dough for Pete's sake.

Overnight - 22 hr rise

All-Day - 12 hr rise

Part-Day - 8 hr rise

These rise times are approximate and definitely work +/- a few hours.

Lazy Pizza Dough

from this recipe on Smitten Kitchen

makes a half sheet pan pizza

3 cups AP or bread flour (I use bread)
Slightly heaped 1/8, 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast (for Overnight, All-Day, or Part-Day Schedules respectively, above)
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 1/4 cup room temp water, plus an additional tablespoon or two if needed (I almost always need it)

Throw everything in to a mixing bowl and mix until your arm falls off.  Or get a stand mixer and mix w/ the dough hook attachment for about 10 min.  When finished mixing, cover the bowl w/ plastic wrap (I use the same bowl I mixed in because, ya, I'm lazy).  The dough will be very sticky and shaggy.  I always put a ring of olive oil around the bowl for fun.  

I almost always make this with either the all-day or part-day, stick it in a (cold) oven w/ the oven light on to proof (rise).  

When the dough is finished rising, (take the dough out of the oven if you're using it to proof and) preheat the oven to 550 degrees and prepare the pan you'll be baking the pizza on (I don't have a fancy pizza stone so I just use a 1/2 sheet pan) by dusting it with a liberal amount of cornmeal.  Sprinkle the dough (and your hands) with flour and use a spatula to scrape the it out of the bowl.  Stretch the dough to fit the pan (don't roll it out!) and make sure there are no sticky spots underneath by sprinkling with more cornmeal until it moves freely when you shake the pan.  

Bake w/ your favorite pizza toppings for about 10-15 min until the cheese is nice and bubbly, enjoy!

Killing me softly.

Notes:

I've since changed my mind about fresh mozzarella much due to the fact that, after reading the Smitten Kitchen posting about pizza, I agree the aged mozz is much better for pizza.  It comes out nowhere near as soggy and I still get a great flavorful cheesy topping.  I love the Trader Joe's Whole Milk Mozzarella hunk and grate it myself.  Furthermore, I haven't had the patience to add another step to the pizza by doing what she does w/ the canned tomatoes - I just used Trader Joe's jarred pizza sauce.  The sauce is really good but a tad on the salty side so I never need to add any other seasonings to the toppings.  Hope you try it!  And if you do, tell me how it turned out! 

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Who's excited for fall?  

*raises hand*  

Let me start by thanking the weather gods because this summer has been absolutely amazing in terms of nice weather in Western Washington.  We kinda got robbed last year.  That being said, I may be the minority here but I'm entirely too excited to see the temperature drop so I can bust out the sweaters and boots.  Even for being a Florida native my entire life, I just cannot get enough cool weather. Of course, I could do with less rain but I'll take a cool rainy (entire) day over triple digit heat and still-wet-after-toweling-post-shower humidity. Yuck.  Don't miss that.  

Not only are the clothes cuter, in Seattle it signals the end of no-way-in-hell-am-I-turning-this-oven-on season.  

When I first moved to the Pacific Northwest and I was scoping out apartments, I was appalled to learn the thermostats didn't equal air conditioner - it controlled the heater.  Only.  I looked at the lady renting the apartment funny.  Huh? 

That means if it's 95 degrees out and you have a west facing window that isn't shaded by a beautiful greenbelt, you are sleeping in your skivvies with the windows wide open.  I just didn't grow up with open windows in the house.  We lived and died by whether or not our A/C was kickin'.  But that's the nice thing, if you DO end up trying to escape stifling heat by way of windows, you won't wake up having to worry about giant flying vermin (such as mosquitoes, horse flies or palmetto bugs..aka flying freaking cockroaches) flying in to your room at night.  

Spiders are more the NW pests.  Spiders and slugs.  Oh god, the slugs.  I find them gross but I should try to capture a video of my mom reacting to these slugs out there.  You'd think they were some sort of deadly spastic creature that can jump on your and suck your blood or something.  She literally convulses in disgust and scurries away like a crazy person.  Gabe and I find it both hilarious and ridiculous.  

Nature shock.  

My current obsession is anything w/ buffalo sauce and while the weather is starting to turn cooler, I had the pleasure of dreaming this up one night it was still warm enough to warrant not cooking anything over a hot stove.

I always have a rotisserie chicken from the store in my fridge to make sandwiches, quesadillas, whip up a quick dinner, etc.  I just use some of the meat mixed w/ Frank's for the chicken.  Comes together super quick and you're not withering away over a hot stove trying to bring life-giving sustenance to your family, man!



Buffalo Chicken Salad
Serves 1 (but easily scaleable for more)

The measurements are intentionally loose so you can scale to your own taste.  Plus I didn't think it practical to direct you to put 1/2 a bottle of buffalo sauce on your chicken like I do.

1/2 - 1 c. cooked chicken
buffalo sauce to taste
2-3 c. butter lettuce
1 stalk organic celery (why organic?  read this about the dirty dozen)
4-6 grape tomatoes, sliced
1 scallion
chopped cilantro to taste
blue or gorganzola cheese (all I had was feta in the fridge)
blue cheese or ranch dressing

Slice or tear chicken into bite size pieces and toss with buffalo sauce.  Assemble salad layering lettuce, celery, tomatoes, chicken scallions, cilantro and dressing.

Bacon would obviously be awesome on here also.

Turkey Sausage Lasagna

Sorry it's been so long since my last post - we've been busy around here!  I've had this damn draft going for about a month.  All my free time has been spent remodeling our condo, vacations and taking advantage of what little bit of summer there was left (and if anyone caught the AH-MAZING Seahawks game last night where we kicked San Francisco's bootie, you know that summer is way the hell over for us).  Enjoy!

----------------------------------------

I vividly remember Kuen's first month of life.  So vividly.  Like, a total blur but with streaks of very clear memories.  My thoughts went something like:

"Don't you ever do this again to yourselves."

"Oh my god, we don't know what the hell we're doing."

"What is this sleep people speak of?"

 - "Sleep when the baby sleeps."
HA.  Good one, Mom. - 

Luckily, the first month is the hardest part and things gradually get easier.  For all the parents-to-be, don't let me scare you.  Not only does this very crazy month go by quickly, nature does this cruel and hilarious thing that makes you get amnesia and you gradually forget about all the terrifying parts (or if you're like me, you don't forget, you just let the instinct take over and forge ahead undeterred).  Let me be clear: we are NOT pregnant again.

Yet.

That's a big deal for me - I didn't think we'd be having one after Kuen.  But now, I'm not too sure we won't.  In fact, I'm pretty sure we want to if the powers that be allow us the chance.

I know I talk about her like she's some sort of nut (and she totally is), but if we didn't have my mom there to help us, I'm pretty sure we'd be one and done.  When I was all tapped out, she took care of the baby, Gabe took care of me.  I don't know why I thought it was that scary, maybe because it was our first time at the rodeo and everything we did seemed so unfamiliar.  

Now, I'll be the first to tell you it's her own damn fault she got roped in to helping us w/ Kuen for the first year.  She only started asking us about having kids a few WEEKS after we got married.  That being said..not sure we could've done it without her.  Well, ok, yes we would've found a way but having her there made things SO much less daunting.  She was there to make sure I gained back all the weight nursing helped me drop (and then some).  Love you, mom!

Anywho - those meals she cooked - total lifesaver.  Literally.  Being on the receiving end of such extraordinary help only makes bringing a meal to someone even less of a big deal.  We had it gooooooood.  I don't know how many times someone is in need of a home cooked meal.  Someone needs to start a meal train business.

This recipe is one of those super versatile ones that is a proverbial 'slam dunk'.  It's a crowd pleaser, comes together pretty quickly, stores well, reheats well, relatively inexpensive and very adaptable.   I love using ground turkey instead of beef to lighten it up and the no-bake pasta is like, the best invention ever.  Because who has time for boiling pasta?

 - Saute veggies & meat, combine - 

 - Layer sauce, noodles, cheese - 

 - Lather, rinse, repeat - 

 - I'm too much of an airhead to take a photo of the actual finished product that came out of the oven.
So there. -

Turkey Sausage Lasagna

Makes 9 x 13" pan (plus more for a few individual ones as well)

3 zucchini, diced
1 large onion, diced
1 carrots, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, finely diced
1 lb ground turkey
1 box no-bake lasagna sheets (I use/love Trader Joe's)
1 tsp fennel seed
2-32 oz cans store bought spaghetti sauce
32 oz cottage cheese or ricotta cheese
1/4 c. grated Parmigiano Reggiano 
2 c. shredded cheese (I use TJ's Swiss & Gruyere)
salt, pepper, oil

Preheat oven at 375 degrees.  Heat a large stock pot on medium high heat.  Drizzle 2 tbsp light oil after the pan starts to smoke.  Add diced onions and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt to sweat onions.  After onions become translucent, add zucchini, carrots and garlic to saute - sprinkle with additional pinch of salt and add fresh ground black pepper to season.  Saute vegetables for 5-10 minutes, until a deep golden crust forms on the bottom of the pan and the veggies are soft.  Remove the veggies and return the pan on the burner.  Drizzle another tbsp of oil in the pan and brown the ground turkey.  Make sure the pan is hot enough and the turkey has enough room to brown otherwise steaming of the meat will occur (yuck).  If you must, brown the meat in batches.  While browning, sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt, pepper and fennel seed.  When fully cooked, add back the sauted veggies and cook for another 3-5 min.  Add spaghetti sauce and stir to combine.  Remove from heat.  

Note: Amounts of sauce and cheese are to your liking but I find the more sauce the better for the lasagna sheets.  Since you're not preboiling them, they need to hydrate from the sauce going in to the lasagna so I go super saucy on this one.  

Ladle about a cup of sauce on the bottom of the 9x13 pan. Layer on pasta sheet being careful not to overlap. Spoon over cottage or ricotta cheese and sprinkle the reggiano. Ladle on more sauce, repeat. You should end up with 3-4 layers.  Last layer sprinkle on shredded cheese and the rest of the parmigiano reggiano if you have any left. 

Let the pan sit for 10-15 min if you can to let those past sheets absorb some of the moisture.

Bake for 45 min until golden and bubbly.  Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.  


Notes: 

I use a heavy non-reactive stainless steel pot to make the sauce.  Great article about it at another blog I frequent here.

You can easily substitute the veggies for anything you like or have on hand.  Eggplant, peppers, mushrooms, yellow squash - the world is your oyster!

Sauce can be done ahead - several days in fact, the longer it sits the better it tastes.  I've even done in stages.  Saute veggies first, brown meat and stick in the fridge.  Or do both then add sauce and stick in the fridge, assemble with all cold ingredients.  So versatile!

I found disposable foil pans are very much appreciated by recipients.  There's no cleanup or guilt for keeping your pans for too long.  

This recipe is actually best if you can let it sit for a while after it gets out of the oven.  If you try to serve immediately, you'll have a hot mess on your plates (literally).  Best to let it come to room temp or serve reheated. 

 - Our sweet little munchkin at 5 weeks -

Other People's Food

I follow several food blogs.  Made this for dinner last week (with a few minor tweaks) and it was AH-MA-ZING.

Yes, this post is definitely 'phone-it-in' level effort but hey, that's the life of a working mom!

Can totally be vegetarian if you took the bacon out.

The end.

PS: Working on more posts that are a tick above phone-it-in level.  Enjoy!

My Pizza Obsession

Hi friends! Sorry I've been out of commission for a few weeks. New job, company, sleep deprivation! All worth it though. I've got a backlog of recipes to share but for now, here's my absolute favorite thing I've learned since being on PW's website: making homemade pizza.

This pizza is seriously the easiest thing you've ever made. You can make it in advance, let it sit in the fridge, stick it in the freezer, whatever.

I haven't made the version that's in these photos for a while, but no matter - it's super versatile.

We almost always make this pizza with:

• fresh mozzarella
• feta cheese
• fresh garlic
• baby portabello mushrooms
• proscuitto
• fresh spinach

..but it's super versatile. My suggestion is to keep 'wet' ingredients to a minimum: tomatoes, onions, peppers, etc. Since it's such a thin crust it can get soggy. Carrie suggested caramelized onions one night we made this and it was awesome.

I'm actualy more of a thick crust pizza girl but this pizza is seriously deee-lish. It's basically PW's pizza recipe, I just like to use a mix of whole wheat as well as AP flour.

If you have time, roasted eggplant is really yummy. Just slice into 1/4" slices, drizzle w/ some olive oil and roast at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes until they're nice and caramelized.

That's only if you have time. If you don't, just go w/ some easy ingredients you have laying around. Sorry I haven't taken photos of the dough making process, it's just so easy. Plus, PW has step-by-step instructions too.

Bake at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes.

Doesn't that look good?

It's about to get better..wait for it..

Basil.

Basil makes everything better.

Pair it w/ a good salad to make yourself feel better about eating the whole thing.

Pizza. Side salad.

Here's a proscuitto, garlic, feta and spinach.

And pepper.

The proscuitto is awesome. Gets nice and crispy like bacon.

You can see the little bits of fresh garlic. It gets super fragrant and crunchy.

And the feta adds so much flavor.

I think I may have drooled on my keyboard a little there.

I hope you make this soon. Then don't blame me for putting it into your repertoire. It's been in heavy rotation at my house since PW posted it in February.

Pizza Dough

makes 2 balls of dough, each enough to fit a half sheet pan

adapted from The Pioneer Woman's favorite pizza dough

2 c. AP flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
1.5 c. extra warm water (about 110 degrees or so)
1.5 tsp. dry active yeast (can use 1 tsp. if using all AP flour)
1 tbsp. cornmeal for sprinkling on bottom

Dissolve yeast in water and set aside. In a stand mixer, mix flours and salt. While the mixer is going on low speed, drizzle in olive oil. Then stir water/yeast mixture and pour into mixer on low speed. After all is poured, continue to mix for a few minutes. If the dough looks too wet, sprinkle in 1 tbsp. of flour at a time.

Note: PW suggests using the paddle but I find using the dough hook works fine too, just requires a little more flour. Keep some on the side and sprinkle in 1 tbsp. at a time until the dough comes together in a ball.

If your making for the week: divide the dough in half and drizzle with about 1 tbsp. olive oil, rub to coat. Place in separate containers (I use clean 32 oz. containers that my cottage cheese or sour cream came in from Costco). I usually just put the top on, put it in the fridge and wait at least one day for it to rise slowly as PW suggests.

If you're making day-of: just leave it on the counter or some warm, non drafty place to rise for at least an hour.

If you want to use one and store the other for later, just wrap tightly w/ plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the day-of. Take it out in the a.m. and put on the counter at least 6 hrs. before baking.

When you're ready to bake, preheat oven to 500 degrees. Flatten out the dough onto a half sheet pan (don't use non-stick pan, the oven temp is too hot so that coating would burn right off). Flattened dough should be about 1/4" thick. Instead of more olive oil, sprinkle cornmeal liberally on the bottom of the dough for easy removal and added texture.

Toppings:

1 1/4 c. fresh mozzerella
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp. crumbled feta cheese
4-5 thin slices proscuitto
3/4 c. sliced baby bella mushrooms
2 c. fresh baby spinach
1 tbsp. olive oil
fresh basil for garnish

Add toppings (I like to put toppings on in this order from the mozzarella to spinach. Bake at 500 degrees for about 20 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly. Garnish w/ red pepper flakes.

Indonesian Ginger Chicken

Are you sick of me blogging about how much I love Barefoot Contessa? Gabe always tells me if I love her so much I should just marry her. Too late for BC, honey - I already married you. Besides, you're waaaaaay cuter. ;)

Her food is just so..awesome. This super simple Indonesian Ginger Chicken is SO GOOD. A great prescription for my chicken hoarding problem. I hoard whole chickens when the price dips to anywhere around $0.70/lb. Hoard, friends. Just stick them in the freezer. I wish I had an extra freezer but I have no room for it. Therefore I can only hoard 2 or 3 max since my freezer elicits gasps of horror from my sister-in-law and mother at the sight of how gorged it is w/ food. I'm getting better.

Tell me you don't want to eat this for dinner:

Told you.

Let's begin.

I've been on a ginger kick lately too. Ginger is really good for inflammation and I have rheumatoid arthritis, so it's supposed to help.

Tip: I've said it before folks, peel and freeze your ginger. It grates up so nicely straight out of the freezer. Like ginger snow. Super finely grated ginger. And you don't waste a bit if you peel with a spoon. It just barely scrapes the paper thin skin off the ginger. Double bag it and it lasts in the freezer forever.

Dump the honey in a saucepan.

Soy sauce to follow.

Ginger, grated on a microplane.

Lots of garlic.

All the kids get dumped in the pool.

Bring to simmer, take off the heat.

Let cool.

Meanwhile, get the chickens butchered.

Set yourself up for success here. Have your sheet pan nearby and your meat cutting board ready to put into the dishwasher.

Remove the neck bones, liver and/or gizzards. Lisa loves that part. Then cut the backbone out. Just use the little chicken butt as a guide to cut about a 1" wide spine out of the chicken.

Use some heavy duty kitchen scissors if your knife isn't working.

I leave the thigh and drums together as well as the breast and wing. Big big meaty pieces.

Then take your cooled marinade and dump it on the chicken. Skin side down.

I made the mistake of not lifting the pieces up so the marinade could get underneath the chicken.

Get it all over the chicken. I'm an equal opportunity marinader.

This sauce smells awesome.

Everyone happy?Happy.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.

This is what they look like after a little sleepover in the marinade.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put this thing in the oven (foil on please).

After 30 minutes, you're going to remove the foil and it'll look like this. Freaky 1/2 cooked chicken. Calm thyself.

Flip it over so the skin side faces up. Now crank up the heat to 375 degrees and bake for another 30 minutes.

Then you'll get this.

Glorious golden sweet gingery garlic goodness.

Leftovers were amazing. I ate both hot and cold. Both awesome.

I loved the charred pieces.

That skin. Awesome.

BC's Indonesian Ginger Chicken

a direct recreation from this Barefoot Contessa recipe

makes 6-8 servings

1 cup honey
3/4 cup soy sauce (I used low sodium)
1/4 cup minced garlic (I just put a full head of garlic)
1/2 cup peeled and grated ginger root
2 (3-4 lb) chickens, quartered, backbones removed

Put the honey, soy, garlic & ginger in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Immediately after it comes to a boil, remove from the heat, let cool.

Butcher your chicken into eight large pieces. No sissy pieces here, friends. Put the chicken skin side down on a baking sheet - something w/ sides, I used my trusty half sheet pans.

Pour the cooled marinade over all the chicken, slather. Make sure the skin side is down but the marinade gets all underneath as well. After all the chicken is coated, cover with aluminum foil and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. When heated, put chicken (still covered with foil) into oven and bake for 30 minutes. The chicken will look half cooked, it is. Don't worry. Flip everyone over so skin side is up and turn oven up to 375 degrees. Bake for another 30 minutes until skin is nice and golden. Some of the little wing tips may be a little charred, delish! To check for doneness make sure all the joints don't have any blood and there isn't anymore pink flesh.