Chicken Cacciatore

This dish kept coming up on "Everybody Loves Raymond," so I finally looked it up. I can't vouch for its originality, but it's really good. I mean, chicken, bell peppers, tomatoes and mushrooms - what's not to like :). Recipe from allrecipes.com.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

1/2 cup flour for coating
1 lb chicken, cut into pieces
1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 onion, chopped
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped
3.5 oz canned diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 cup white wine
1 cup fresh mushrooms, quartered
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine the flour with a pinch of salt and pepper in a plastic bag.

Shake the chicken pieces in flour until coated.

Heat oil in a large skillet.

Brown chicken pieces. Remove from skillet.
Add the onion, garlic and bell pepper and saute until the onion is slightly browned.

Return the chicken to the skillet and add the tomatoes, oregano and wine.

Cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Add the mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer for 10 more minutes.

Sprinkle with basil and serve over pasta or rice.

Avocado pasta

A very easy, quick Italian-with-a-twist recipe.

Ingredients for 4 people:

400 grams of pasta, preferably linguine (though spaghetti and fusilli work as well).

4 ripe avocadoes.

150 mililiters of sour cream.

salt and pepper.

Boil the pasta for 8 mins, add 2 teaspoonfulls of salt during cooking. In the meantime, peel the avocadoes and mash them in a bowl with a fork. Mix sour cream. The whole thing should take a lovely lime green colour. Add the pasta. A great way to get the sauce to really seep into the pasta is, once you've taken the water out of course, to put the cooked pasta and the sauce back into the pan to mix them together. Add pepper if you want a bit of spice.

Home-made Pesto

It's cheaper and more delicious than the store-bought stuff. East to make too :) Recipe from somewhere on the internet, but I haven't written down the source.

Ingredients (for about 1 cup pesto):
~ 2 cups fresh basil leaves (one bouquet of store-bought basil)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup pine nuts (or walnuts)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

Separate basil leaves from stems.
Wash leaves in a collander under running cold water.
Put nuts, olive oil and garlic in food processor and chop them.
Add basil leaves, little by little and process them until you get a somewhat smooth paste.
Blend in the parmesan cheese.

You can store it in a glass jar in the fridge for 1-2 weeks (oil acts as a conservant), but better make as little as you need for one use.

Caprese Salad

We had that in Italy a few years ago and really liked it, so I make it once in a while when we get mozzarella on sale.

Ingredients (for 2 servings):

2 large tomatoes
~ 6 oz (120g) fresh mozzarella
2 teaspoons fresh chopped basil
olive oil

Directions:

Cut tomatoes into 1/2 inch (1 cm) slices.
Cut mozzarella into 1/2 inch (1 cm) slices.
Layer tomato slices and cover each with a mozzarella slice
Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle basil on top.

Or go with the even lazier version, cherry tomatoes and cilengini:

Panna Cotta allo Yogurt

Or panna cotta with yogurt, but you knew that! An insanely easy but elegant light summer dessert.

Ingredients (for two portions):

200 ml heavy cream*
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sugar
7 g gelatin + 4 tablespoons cold water for dissolving it.
150 g yogurt

* Or substitute cream with half-and-half, or milk, or any combination of those.

Directions:

Dissolve gelatin in cold water.
In a saucepan on medium heat mix cream, vanilla and sugar, stirring continuously until sugar melts.
Add gelatin and stir until it dissolves.
In a separate bowl stir the yogurt to get rid of any lumps.
Slowly pour the hot cream mix into the yogurt, whisking constantly.
Pour mix into two glass bowls or ramekins or whatever suitable bowls you have.
Refrigerate for about 4 hours or until firm.

To serve:

Flip onto chilled plate, and garnish with warm raspberry preserves, or cranberry sauce or fresh fruit or any combination of those.

Pesto Pasta

Sort of a spin-off of Lael's pasta recipe. This is for one person, so just double or triple the recipe. I hate having to split recipes and having it call for somethin' like half an egg. So, without further ado...

1 c noodles (Spaghetti, egg noodles, Rotini, it doesn't care...)
1-2 T pesto (It's a matter of taste. Use less if you want.)
10 black olives (Chopped up. Use 20 if you're prone to snacking.)
1 T butter (Optional. I never use it.)
Salt (Optional. I sometimes forget it.)

Boil noodles until tender. Drain. Stir in pesto, olives, and butter. Sprinkle with salt. Put on a plate and serve hot. Or cold. Or room-temperature. Or use your imagination. I did...

Italian Minestrone Soup

This is by far the best and most filling soup I've had in a long time, and I'm a soup fan. We almost always have a pot of homemade soup in the fridge and I'm thinking this one will quickly become the favorite. It's a very thick soup - we added a can of tomato soup - and we also (of course!) used vegetable broth instead of beef broth. It's absolutely perfect with homemade bread...and that's a filling dinner. It's also four points per serving, so it's also points friendly. Yay.

Ingredients:
1 med. onion, chopped
1/4 c. celery leaves, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil
1 c. chopped carrot
1 c. chopped celery
1 (28 oz.) can tomatoes with liquid
1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce
2 c. beef stock or broth
1 c. red wine
1 zucchini, sliced
1 1/2 c. chopped cabbage
1 (14-16 oz.) can white beans or pinto or kidney beans
1 c. elbow macaroni
Water or V-8 juice
Pepper
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. oregano

Instructions:
Saute onion, garlic and celery leaves in olive oil until
onions are clear, 5 to 10 minutes. Add chopped carrots,
celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, beef stock, wine, bay
leaves, oregano and pepper. Simmer until carrots are
tender, 10 to 15 minutes. Add zucchini and cabbage and
simmer until they are tender. You may need to add 1 to 2
cups more water or V-8 juice to get desired consistency.
Add beans and macaroni and cook until tender. Serve with
Parmesan cheese. You can vary this recipe with other beans,
vegetables or rice.

We didn't use Parmesan cheese.