Italian cuisine is renowned for its delicious and aromatic flavors, and one of the most essential ingredients that contribute to this is a blend of herbs and spices that add a distinct flavor to various dishes.
While these herbs are readily available in Italy, they were not always easy to find in America. As a result, early Italian immigrants needed a way to add their preferred flavors to dishes. ‘Italian seasoning’ provided exactly that. Its origins are a bit mysterious, with some people believing it originated in Italy and others insisting it is an American invention. However, the most common understanding is that the Greeks and Romans developed Italian seasoning somewhere in the Mediterranean during ancient times.
Italian seasoning is a mix of dried herbs with an earthy, piney flavor that’s subtly sweet and peppery. This kitchen staple includes dried basil, dried oregano, dried rosemary, dried thyme and dried marjoram, but there are several variations that also feature additions like dried sage, fennel seeds or even spices like garlic powder or crushed red-pepper flakes. Traditionally, though, it is just those five core herbs.
It has become a staple in North American kitchens and can be used to flavor just about anything, but some of our favorite uses are in classic Italian American dishes like meatballs, pizza or chicken Parmesan. It adds extra interest to olive oil for dipping bread or vinaigrette for salads. Or stir it into marinades to infuse your meat with woodsy, herbal flavor.
These chicken cutlets cook quickly and are highlighted with a creamy sauce made with tomatoes, zucchini and Italian seasoning. Nice served with roasted mashed cauliflower, brown or Basmati rice or orzo pasta.
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Creamy Chicken Skillet w/ Italian Seasoning
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Instructions
Chicken
In a small dish, combine all chicken seasonings & sprinkle on both sides of chicken cutlets. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken & cook, turning once, until browned & cooked through. Transfer to a plate.
Sauce
Add the remaining 1 tablespoon oil, zucchini, mushrooms & onions to the pan. Cook, stirring, until starting to soften, about 2 minutes. Cook, scraping up any browned bits, until the liquid has mostly evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, cream cheese & Italian seasoning. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring to melt the cream cheese, for 5 minutes. Return the chicken to the pan and turn to coat with the sauce. Serve topped with basil or Italian parsley if desired.
Nice to serve with roasted mashed cauliflower, brown rice, orzo or basmati rice.
When you think of Mexican food you probably think of the standard burritos, nachos and quesadillas. While those dishes are definitely tasty why not do the summer ‘thing’ and incorporate these ingredients in a salad.
The idea of a full meal salad has always appealed to me. Of course, there are many of these using a variety of ingredients. Probably one of the most popular was the taco salad. The earliest record of it dates back to the 1960’s with its predecessor being the small teacup sized ‘Tacup’. It consisted of beef, beans, sour cream and cheese, served in a small ‘bowl’ made entirely of a Fritos tortilla.
The taco in a Tacup was invented by Charles Elmer Doolin, the founder of Fritos (tortilla chips). He created a device that looked like tongs but with two tart molds at the end of each tong. One mold would fit within the other mold with a tortilla sandwiched between them. The scalloped-edged shell was dipped into hot oil. Holes in the bottom mold exposed the tortilla to the hot oil, enabling it to cook evenly.
Tacups were first served in Dallas, Texas in the early 1950’s and by 1955, he was selling them in Fritos’ flagship restaurant, ‘Casa de Fritos’, at Disneyland in Anaheim, California. It became popular enough that the Tacup was made bigger and served as a full, main-dish sized salad bowl.
Today’s salad is a satisfying meal, a seriously feel-good dinner salad that’s crisp, spicy, and fresh all at once. Tacos de camarones (‘shrimp tacos’) originated in Baja California in Mexico. But these shrimp tacos in salad form gives you that full meal deal. All the very best elements —seasoned shrimp, healthy fresh veggies, in an edible tortilla bowl with a homemade cilantro lime dressing.
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Shrimp Taco Salad
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Ingredients
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
Ingredients
Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing
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Instructions
Cilantro Dressing
In a food processor, place the cilantro, garlic, avocado, lime juice, honey, coriander & salt. Pulse to combine. With the machine is running, pour in the olive oil & process until smooth.
Shrimp
In a medium bowl, add all marinade ingredients (except shrimp) & blend well. Add shrimp tossing well to coat. Set aside to marinate for 15 minutes. In a saucepan, melt a Tbsp butter then sauté shrimp over medium-high heat for 5 minutes or just until shrimp is cooked.
Salad Ingredients
In a saucepan, fry bacon until cooked but not too crisp, drain on paper towel & chop. Drain canned or cook fresh corn on the cob & remove kernels from cob. Peel, pit & cube avocado. Sprinkle a bit of lime juice on it to keep it from going brown. Halve grape tomatoes. Slice green onions, chives & dill. Drain sliced black olives. Cube cheese.
Tortilla Bowls
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Brush inside of 2 heat resistant glass bowls with oil. Place one tortilla in each bowl so that the shape more or less adheres to the bowl. Line each tortilla with cheese slices then place a second tortilla on top.
Place the bowls with the layered tortillas in the oven & bake for 7 minutes. Remove the bowls from the oven & allow to cool before removing the 'edible tortilla bowls'.
Assembly
Place tortilla bowls on serving plates. In a large mixing bowl place shrimp & all salad ingredients. Toss gently, then divide between tortilla bowls. Drizzle with cilantro dressing (or dressing of choice) & serve.
Often, when we think of chicken meals, rice comes to mind as an accompaniment. Couscous can be used as a fluffy grain alternative to rice and, because the flavors of each are subtle, swapping them won’t throw your entire recipe off course. Both rice and couscous take on the flavors of the seasonings you add, and neither needs much to shine.
While rice is a grain and couscous are a type of pasta, you can buy whole-grain versions of both. Couscous’s flexibility has made it a favorite ingredient in kitchens worldwide. This tiny pasta can be used as a side dish, as a part of an entrée, or added to soups and salads to boost texture. Its mild flavor makes it ideal for combining with seasonings ranging from sweet to spicy, and it can be used to recreate dishes from any cuisine.
Couscous is a pale, delicate grain that North Africans have served for centuries with a meat or vegetable stew on top.
Although it is made from wheat, couscous is the North African equivalent of rice, and it could be called a second cousin of German spaetzle, although it does not contain egg and the granules are much smaller.
Steamed in a manner similar to rice, couscous takes about 10 minutes to prepare. Delicious when served hot, it is equally good at room temperature.
Today, I’m preparing a sheet pan meal with roast veggies and chicken thighs and serving them with a couscous accompaniment. Should be good!
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Pearl Couscous w/ Chicken Thighs
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Instructions
Vegetables
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In a plastic bag place Italian dressing. Add carrots, onions, zucchini, mushrooms & garlic. Shake well to marinate (do them separately if you wish). Place on a foil lined baking sheet & roast until tender. Marinate cherry tomatoes in a bit of dressing & add to the pan for the last 10 minutes of baking.
Chicken Thighs
In a small dish combine all chicken seasonings. In a plastic bag, place chicken & 2 Tbsp olive oil. Shake well to cover thighs with oil then add spice mixture & shake well again.
Line a baking sheet with foil. Add chicken thighs & roast in oven at the same time as veggies are cooking.
Couscous
In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium-high until just shimmering. Add the pearl couscous & toss around to toast until golden brown.
Boil water & add it to the toasted pearl couscous. Season with salt. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat to low. Cover & cook for about 14 minutes or until couscous is tender. Remove from heat.
Serving
On a serving plate, place the couscous & vegetables. Top with chicken thighs & drizzle juice from roast chicken over all. Serve.
A glass of beer, a loaf of bread, a bowl of cereal, a standard of measurement, a form of currency, a medication – they all began with barley – an ancient grain, possibly even older than rice. Barley’s once exalted status has been redefined. No longer does it serve as a unit of monetary exchange or a unit of measurement. No physician thinks of prescribing it for an ailing patient. Now, barley is largely relegated to being a food or a key ingredient in the making of beer.
We owe much to the desert nomads and the camel caravans who endured sandstorms and unrelenting heat to trade their sacks of barley with distant neighbors, who then traded with other distant neighbors. Our steaming bowl of mushroom barley soup is a hand-me-down recipe with roots that take us back to prehistoric man. In 2005 barley ranked fourth for cereal production. There are many types of barley, many different uses for it and a long history of its importance to mankind.
Barley has a unique family-friendly quality. You can make a batch ahead on a Sunday, and it keeps well for at least three days in the fridge, and up to three months in the freezer. Monday, you can use it as breakfast and Tuesday, put a cup or two in your salad, and on Wednesday, you can add a barley casserole to your meal.
Four ways to cook barley. For each cup of barley, add 2 1/4 cups of water.
-Stove top: bring barley to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 to 50 minutes.
-Rice cooker: barley will cook in the same amount of time as brown rice — approximately one cycle in a rice cooker.
-Oven: place barley and liquid in a covered casserole dish and cook it in the oven.
-Slow cooker: cook barley in a slow cooker for 3 to 4 hours on low heat.
Barley Chicken & Mushroom Casserole is such a wholesome and comforting meal.
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Barley Chicken & Mushroom Casserole
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Instructions
Chicken Thighs
Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the seasonings until well combined. Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels and place them in the baking dish.
Rub both sides of the chicken with olive oil. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over the chicken, rubbing it on both sides of the chicken thighs.
Bake in the preheated oven, without moving or turning, until the internal temperature of the thickest part of the chicken reaches at least 165° F. This will take about 30-40 minutes, depending on the size of your chicken thighs. During the last 15 minutes, place the cherry tomatoes on baking tray & roast. Remove chicken thighs & tomatoes from oven. Slice thighs in 1/4-inch thick slices. Keep chicken & roasted tomatoes warm.
Barley
In a saucepan, place the water & vegetable broth powder, stir to dissolve. Add barley & bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer & cook barley until tender. Cooking time for pearl barley is around 35 minutes. Turn off the heat, stir the barley, cover the saucepan and let it stand for another 5 to 10 minutes.
Vegetables
In a saucepan, sauté vegetables in 1 Tbsp oil until tender then season to taste. Combine with cooked barley.
Serving
In a casserole serving dish, place the veg/barley mixture. Top with sliced chicken thighs & roasted tomatoes. Garnish with sliced green onion & serve.
Recipe Notes
- If you find the barley & vegetables seem a bit dry add a bit more vegetable broth.
With Christmas right around the corner, pasta meals are an easy quick fix on those busy days leading up to the big day. Stuffed Shells are truly the perfect meal to make ahead of time since you can prepare everything but hold off on baking them until you’re ready to eat.
Stuffed shells are a tasty dish that is usually made with ricotta cheese or other types of cheese inside the pasta shells. Tomato sauce is another common ingredient in the dish. However, there are so many ways to jazz it up and one might be surprised just how many unique ingredients one can put into a shell.
I have always loved stuffed pasta shells and over the years I have stuffed them in every way I could imagine. There are endless variations such as using different cheeses and herbs or making some homemade marinara or sun-dried tomato sauce.
There’s a reason surf and turf is often one of the most desired items on a restaurant menu — it’s because meat and fish are the perfect complement to each other! The light flavor of fish and shellfish is a great addition to the richer, heartier flavor of meat.
Today, I’m combining some shrimp and chicken sausage in my filling and topping it with a nice smoky sun-dried tomato parmesan sauce. Should be good!
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Shrimp & Chicken Sausage Pasta Shells
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Instructions
Pasta / Filling
Cook pasta shells in a pot of salted boiling water for about 10-12 minutes. Drain well & lay on a wire rack to keep them from sticking together until ready to fill.
In a large skillet, heat 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat. Add onion & mushrooms; sauté until tender & moisture has evaporated from mushrooms. Add chicken sausage & minced garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add wine & cook until sausage is no longer pink about 4-5 minutes more. Drain well & transfer to a large bowl.
Peel & devein shrimp; chop into 1/2-inch pieces. In a small bowl, whisk together broth & flour. Set aside.
In the same skillet, heat remaining 1 Tbsp oil over medium heat. Add shrimp; cook, stirring constantly, until shrimp begins to turn pink. Stir in flour mixture. Add cream, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder & Italian seasoning; stir until thickened. Remove from heat & stir in sausage mixture. Set aside until ready to use.
Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce
In a skillet, heat oil. Add onion & cook for 2 minutes until it starts to soften. Add garlic, oregano, thyme, paprika & sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 2 minutes while stirring. Add vegetable broth; bring to a boil & simmer for 5 minutes.
Stir in cream & parmesan cheese into the sauce. Remove from heat & cool for a few minutes. Pour sauce into food processor & process to a fairly smooth consistency. It will not be completely smooth but that is fine.
Assembly / Baking
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Spread half of the sauce over the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Divide filling between cooked shells. Lay in rows over sauce. Pour remaining sauce over top carefully covering all the shells.
Loosely lay a piece of foil paper over baking dish and bake for 45 minutes or until bubbling nicely.
Pastetli were invented in the early 1800s in Antonin Carême’s pastry store in Paris, France where they’re called vol-au-vent, French for ‘windblown’ to describe its lightness. While they’re served as an appetizer in France, they’re eaten as a main meal not only in Switzerland but also in Belgium and the Netherlands. It is also from the Netherlands where the Swiss name Pastetli origins from. The Dutch call them pasteitje (little pastry). From there it came to the German Pastete. Just to add a little complication though, a Pastete in Switzerland is rectangle cake shaped puff pastry pie filled with sausage meat, mushrooms in a creamy sauce.
A vol-au-vent is a light puff pastry shell that resembles a bowl with a lid. The shell is generally filled with a creamy sauce (most often a velouté sauce) containing vegetables, chicken, meat or fish. The lid is placed on the filled shell and the pastry is then served as an appetizer, also known as bouchée à la Reine, or as the main course of a meal. When prepared, the pastry dough is flattened and cut into two circles. A smaller circle is cut out of the center of one of the circles, which then will be used as the lid. The circle without the center cut and the circle with the center cut are then joined together around the edges so as the pastry bakes, it rises into a shell with a hole in the top. The lid, which is baked separately, is added later. The pastry shell may be made the size of an individual serving, or it can be made in several different sizes to become a main serving for one or a larger size to be served for more than one.
Vol-au-vents rose to prominence in Paris in the 19th century. In post-war Britain, they were a mainstay of any self-respecting buffet, served to suitably impressed guests alongside welcome drinks at dinner parties. By the 1990s, they had become unfashionable and remained so for decades. Updated vol-au-vents started reappearing in chic restaurants a year or two before the covid pandemic (2020) erupted and have become the retro appetizer or main course to have.
You can even adapt them to make some elegant desserts. Fill with cream and fresh fruit or melt a chocolate orange with a dash of Grand Marnier and orange zest then spoon this quick-fix mousse into the cases and top with sweetened Chantilly cream and chocolate shavings.
For our main course vol-au-vents, I am making an interesting filling which includes, chicken, shrimp, mushrooms and tiny meatballs. Sounds a little odd but is packed with flavor.
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Chicken, Veal & Shrimp Pastetli (Vol-Au-Vent)
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Instructions
Chicken/Broth
Add the rosemary, garlic, bay leaves, cloves, chopped celery, carrot and onion to a stock pot. Season generously with pepper and salt. Cut the chicken up: legs, wings and breasts. Also chop up the remaining carcass. Add it all to the pot. Then fill it with water (about 7 cups) until the chicken is fully submerged.
Place the pot over high heat until boiling, then leave it there for 10 minutes. Turn the heat lower and gently cook the chicken for about 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the heat and let it cool down for another 45 minutes.
Mushrooms/ Shrimp/ Cheese
Chop the mushrooms into bite-size pieces. Peel & devein shrimp. Grate parmesan cheese.
Puff Pastry Shells
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Cut (4) 5-inch circles from puff pastry. Beat the egg & prick holes in the large circles with a fork & brush with egg. Cut 12 more RINGS from pastry about an inch wide. Lay a ring on each of the 4 circles & brush with egg wash. Repeat this until there are 3 rings on each large circle. Bake the puff pastry shells for 25 minutes.
Finish the Broth
Remove the cooked chicken from the hot stock. Reserve stock for later. Remove any chicken skin, bones, veins, cartilage, or sinew (discard all this) & pick the cooked meat from the bones. Shred the larger bits up roughly. Then transfer the chicken meat to a large saucepan.
Strain the chicken stock in a fine sieve or colander over a large pan. You should end up with about 6 cups (1,4 l) of chicken stock. Discard the cooked vegetables.
Meatballs
In a bowl, combine ground veal (pork), salt & pepper, egg & breadcrumbs. Mix well and make tiny balls of ½ oz (15 g) each. You should end up with about 20 of them. Cover the meatballs with cling film and store them in the fridge until later.
Bring the stock to a gentle boil again. Once warm, add the meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms.
Poach them for about 5 minutes. Then remove the meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms using a slotted spoon. Add them to the shredded chicken in the large saucepan.
Béchamel Sauce
Take the chicken stock off the heat now. In a large saucepan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and whisk well until you get a wet crumble. Gently cook this over medium-low heat for about a minute. Then gradually add splashes of the warm chicken stock until you get a sticky flour paste. Keep stirring. Don't add too much at once or the sauce will become lumpy.
Whisk well. Gradually add more chicken stock (about 3 to 4 cups) until you get a pretty runny sauce. Bring the sauce to a low simmer & cook for 3-4 minutes or until thickened. whisk in Montreal Steak Spice, onion salt, garlic powder, mustard & grated parmesan.
Add the béchamel sauce to the chicken, meatballs, shrimp & mushrooms. Stir carefully. Cover the pan for another 5 minutes and let the vol au vent filling warm through or place it back over very low heat.
Put the vol au vent puff pastry casings onto 4 serving plates. Top with the chicken, meatball, shrimp & mushroom filling. Garnish with chopped fresh parsley if desired. Serve the vol au vents hot.
Crackers and cheese are one of life’s true snacking pleasures. They have been around for almost two centuries since they first made a debut as an after-dessert course in restaurants in the 1850s. Today, this classic duo is still going strong in everything from lunchboxes to the most elegant charcuterie boards.
Crackers are available in different shapes and sizes. Some can be round, rectangular, or even irregular in shape. John Pearson, who invented crackers, will always be credited for baking the first cracker at a time when it wasn’t even in anyone’s imagination. He used only three basic ingredients. Later on, more ingredients were added to the recipe that gave a different flavor to the crackers.
Crackers are one of the most versatile snacks around, and these cheese crackers are no different! There’s something about a homemade version of a store-bought snack that’s amazingly delicious. By making crackers at home, you can skip over the artificial flavorings, sugars and preservatives and stick to the good stuff—
These crackers are buttery, crunchy, savory, so cheesy, and sprinkled with that addictive spice known as everything bagel seasoning. You will love these!!
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Cheesy Everything Spice Crackers
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Instructions
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In the bowl of a food processor, pulse together flour, salt, pepper, garlic powder & smoked paprika. Add the butter & pulse 5-7 more times or until butter is incorporated into flour & no large pieces remain. It should look like coarse meal. Add the cheeses & pulse a couple more times until combined. With the machine running, stream in 1/4 cup of the half & half until mixture comes together in a ball. Divide ball in half.
Take one half & roll out to about an 1/8-inch thick between two sheets of parchment paper. Transfer dough, along with bottom piece of parchment to a baking sheet. Use a sharp knife to cut out 2 x 2-inch crackers & use a fork to prick each one a few times. Brush the crackers lightly with remaining half & half & sprinkle with 1 Tbsp of everything spice. Repeat with remaining dough.
Bake on middle rack for 20-25 minutes or until crackers are a light golden brown. They continue to crisp as they sit. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Recipe Notes
- Don't hesitate to substitute a different cheese in for the cheddar & Romano such as fontina, asiago, parmesan, gruyere or an aged gouda if you prefer.
People in Mexico, the Mediterranean, and South Asia have been eating wraps since around the 1900’s. The wrap in its Western form probably comes from California, as a generalization of the Mexican/Tex-Mex burrito and became popular in the 1990’s.
Wraps have become a popular option in sandwich shops and restaurants, and for good reason. Like all sandwiches, wraps are an outlet for culinary creativity. A wrap can be anything you want it to be – breakfast, lunch, dinner, even a snack!
Wraps offer the same flexibility and creative options as a sandwich, but in a more convenient format all rolled up in a tasty tortilla or flatbread. The usual flatbreads are wheat tortillas, lavash or pita; the filling may include cold sliced meat, poultry, or fish, shredded lettuce, diced tomato, guacamole, sautéed mushrooms, bacon, grilled onions, cheese, and a sauce, such as Ranch dressing or honey mustard.
They are the perfect on-the-go meal. Most wraps can be eaten one-handed, leaving the rest of you free to continue about your day. They’re the perfect meal solution for a busy schedule.
It is remarkably easy to create your own personalized wrap: choose a bread, pick your condiments, layer your fillings, decide whether you want to grill it or not and enjoy. Does it get any better than that!
I have to admit, I absolutely love wraps so I like to fit them in to our meals whenever I can. These zesty chicken wraps are so good !
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Zesty Chicken Wraps
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Instructions
Chicken
In a large bowl, combine 2 Tbsp oil, lemon juice & seasonings; add chicken & turn to coat. Cover & refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
Filling
In a heavy skillet, heat 2 Tbsp oil & sauté zucchini & onions until tender crisp. Remove & keep warm. Drain marinade from chicken & cook in the same skillet until no longer pink, about 5-6 minutes. Return zucchini/onion to pan, heat through.
Assembly
Lightly spread 4 tortillas with a bit of guacamole or sour cream. Spoon filling down the center of tortillas. Add toppings saving a good bit of the cheese for sprinkling over them after they are rolled.
Roll up & place on a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese & microwave only until cheese is melted. Top with sliced green onions & tiny grape tomatoes. Serve extra toppings on the side if you like.
They’re not just for snacking—Ritz crackers go in casseroles, main courses, appetizers, side dishes and even desserts! Everybody loves Ritz, and even more when they’re on pork chops.
Breading is an essential ingredient in so many recipes. Turns out that many pantry staples (including crackers, chips, and other dried goods) can be used as a breading. All it takes is crushing up some crackers to get the same effect as your usual breadcrumbs and you may even find that you like some of these swaps better than the real thing! Ritz Crackers make a great substitute for traditional breadcrumbs.
Why use breading? Firstly, there’s the elements of taste and texture. Seasoned breading on a chicken or pork cutlet, for instance, helps encrust the meat in more flavor. It also adds a bit of texture and along with a good blend of spices, a humble pork chop becomes amazing!
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Ritz Cracker Crumb Pork Chops
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Instructions
In a small dish, combine spices. Mince onion (chopping by hand).
Empty 1 1/4 sleeves of crackers into a large zip-lock bag. Crush crackers finely until you have a uniform size. Add seasoning mixture & onions to the bag & toss well to incorporate.
Create a breading station for pork chops. One dish with flour, one with the beaten egg & one with the cracker crumb breading.
Dip one of the chops into the flour & flip it over a couple of times . Coat all sides of the pork chop well with a thin layer of flour. Dip the flour coated chop into the egg, coating all sides.
Lastly, dip coated chop into cracker crumb breading mixture. Press the crumb mixture onto the pork chop with your hand to ensure it is coated well. Lie breaded pork chop onto a platter. repeat this process for the rest of the pork chops.
Place breaded chops in the refrigerator for 10 minutes. This will help the batter adhere to the chops better.
Heat a griddle to a medium-low heat & spray griddle with cooking spray. Grill chops on both sides until cooked through & nicely browned. Serve with pork gravy if desired.
Native to the Mediterranean, the artichoke is actually the edible flower bud of a thistle plant in the sunflower family. In fact, if left to develop, the artichoke will blossom into an extraordinary, spiky, brilliant purple flower.
Artichokes pair well with many dishes. They don’t have a ton of flavor so they’re a blank canvas and can go in pretty much anything. Artichokes are one of the most beloved vegetables in the world. But, like all vegetables, artichokes don’t have much protein. That’s why it’s important to pair them with a good, high-protein meat.
Chicken is one of the most popular types of meat to serve alongside artichokes because it is so versatile. The flavor of artichokes and how it is perceived can vary from person to person and from preparation method to preparation method. Roasting will bring out the nutty, savory flavors inherent in artichokes.
The ways to cook artichokes, are plenty. They can be added to pastas and salads, pureed for cheesy dips, sautéed, roasted and served whole with other springtime vegetables or added to pizzas. Really, the options are endless.
This chicken is marinated in Italian dressing then topped with a cheesy artichoke dip and baked. Just a few ingredients – easy to prepare – ready in 30 minutes – perfect!
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Artichoke Chicken
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Instructions
Marinate chicken breasts in Italian dressing for a couple of hours or overnight.
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Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Remove chicken from marinade & cook 2 minutes per side. Place chicken on foil lined baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, mix together chopped artichoke hearts, parmesan cheese, mayo & garlic powder. Spread artichoke mixture evenly on top of chicken.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, until juices run clear.
Recipe Notes
- I added 200 gm sautéed mushrooms & a bit of minced garlic this time just for a little something different.
