2012 Resolutions

Part of our family's new year's resolution was to eat healthier, lose weight and get my husband's cholesterol down. The first thing I did was do some research on cholesterol-healthy foods. Then I came up with a menu for the week to serve these ingredients.

Last night I created broccoli-gruyere stuffed chicken divan with a kidney bean puree and southern collard greens. It was packed with flavor and nutrients to boost our healthy bodies for the new year.

Broccoli-Gruyere Chicken Divan
4 chicken breasts
1 head of broccoli
3 leaves of kale
1/2 cup shredded gruyere cheese
2 garlic cloves
fresh oregano
olive oil
salt
pepper

Start by roasting your broccoli, kale and garlic in the broiler for 15 minutes. Meanwhile work on your kidney beans. Once the puree is ready to go take out the roasted vegetables and let cool for five minutes. While cooling start on your southern collards. Once the collard greens are on their way, shred up your gruyere cheese. Then pull your chicken breasts out of the fridge and slice a line in the middle of them, push through with your fingers to make a pocket inside each breast. Roughly chop up your roasted veggies and mix with the cheese. Stuff this mixture into each breast, place the breasts back on the roasting pan and broil for 25 minutes, until cooked through and golden brown on top.

Rosemary-Kidney Bean Puree
1 can of kidney beans
2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
1/2 cup chicken stock
salt
pepper

First I roughly chopped the rosemary and added that to the beans in a saucepan. Add chicken stock and bring the bean mixture to boil, in order to release the rosemary flavor. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Then use your emulsion blender (or blender) to emulsify the bean mixture. You may have to add more chicken stock if the mixture gets too thick. Then put on low and stir occasionally until ready to serve.

Southern Collard Greens
1 bunch of collard greens
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup chicken stock

Chop up the collard greens and get rid of the inner spine (hard to eat). Pour a little olive oil into a larger sauce pan and add greens plus diced tomatoes. Cover and let greens wilt- about 5-7 minutes. While the chicken is broiling, stir around your collards to make sure they are being evenly coated by the tomatos. Put on low until ready to serve.

Once all components are cooked, plate by adding the puree first, curve your collards around the puree and place a chicken breast on top of the puree. Your company will love this dish!!

Happy 2012 everyone!!

xo Lo

Opa! Greek Salad

My ancestry on my mother's side is Greek and I take pride in that heritage, luckily my mom raised my brother and I on Greek food since we were little. I've always had a versatile palate thanks to my parent's upbringing and encouraging me to try foods from different cultures. I love Greek food, the bitterness and sharpness of flavors is aromatic and enlightening to me. Some may have a hard time eating Greek food so I thought I'd start with a simple, fresh Greek salad to help ease you into Greek-style cooking.

On this particular day, my mom and I had been shopping all day for my wedding, we were both on diets and super hungry. We went to the grocery store and thought what better than a classic, fresh Greek salad!

Our grocery list consisted of:

- rotisserie chicken
- one package of feta cheese
- one can of kidney beans
- one can of garbanzo beans
- one can of beets
- kalamata olives
- one head of romaine lettuce
- one package of spinach lettuce
- one package of cherry tomatos
- one English cucumber
- sun-dried tomato hummus
- one red onion

I chopped up the chicken into bite size pieces, washed both lettuces, sliced cherry tomatoes in half, roughly chopped the lettuce, thinly sliced the red onion then added all of those ingredients into our large wooden salad bowl. Next, I topped it with sliced cucumbers, the can of garbanzo beans, can of kidney beans, and can of sliced beets. The beans give the salad some heartiness and protein along with the beets give the salad a tad of sweetness. Tossed that up a bit, added crumbled feta cheese, which adds a tangy, sharp flavor and a bit of hummus on the side. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper...enjoy!!! Maybe we'll explore spinach and cheese pie or Moussaka next!?

xoxo Lo