fish, funk and a whole lotta cumin

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Hope you all got a bit of a giggle out of hubs' April 1st recipe....I'd say it was an April fools' prank...except that he really does bake hockey sticks. ALL.THE.TIME. ;) Last week, he even baked his brand new hockey skates (oven at 80C, turn off, then heat for 15-20 minutes....if anyone was curious). Apparently the skates are now exponentially more awesome than they once were.

I'll take his word for it.

I've been in a bit of a cooking funk lately, so we've really been exercising our 'finger cooking' muscles (oh except not from BP, because they don't deliver to our backwoods neighbourhood). I'm actually kinda sick of take-out, especially since there are only three places in my area that are even remotely decent (pizza delivery, greek delivery and the most scrumptious Indian take-out place in the ENTIRE world.) Not joking - their channa masala is legendary.

Lest I end up as a bloated, sodium-stuffed whale, I figure it's time to try to get out of my funk. My first course of action was to actually make dinner tonight. My second is to actually do all the dishes....but of course, rather than heading straight to that, I've decided to procrastinate and blog about dins. ;)

I didn't want to have to go get groceries, so I based my dinner around what I could find in my fridge....though a little random, it's surprisingly enjoyable and at least it's something I can feel good about eating.

I based the meal around some frozen tilapia I had in the freezer, finding a great papillote recipe on epicurious (of course, the recipe is for sea bass, but as with most fish recipes, it's no big deal to just substitute another white fish). If you've not tried papillote cooking, I'd highly recommend it....it's pretty simple, usually very healthy and gives you moist, delicious results. This recipe in particular, baked on a bed of lemon slices, and topped with a garlic/tomato/caper mixture, just reminded me of provence. And that made me all reminiscent and nostalgic about the amazing trip hubs and I took (back in October) to Europe (you can check out our trip blog, if you're interested in more deets). It's fresh and wonderful. You could definitely serve it to company, or just make it and enjoy...doesn't take too long to come together.

For a side, in my pantry I had ridiculous amounts of both quinoa and sweet potatoes...so I decided to seek out a recipe involving one or both of those ingredients. In my Clean Food cookbook, there was a tasty-sounding recipe involving quinoa, currants raisins and onions. I had to make a couple of substitutions based on availability, but it turned out fab. To round out the meal, I served with some *(only slightly sketchy!) asparagus and some sliced cucumber. I just cooked my asparagus in the microwave (lazy way!) and drizzled a tiny bit of balsamic on it. Very easy and super delish. I hate steaming veggies on the stove because you end up dirtying too many pots...I'm all about the nuked veggies. Just put them in a covered glass dish with a sprinkle of water. Unfortunately (as you'll see in the pics), my asparagus is a touch overdone, because my fish was a tiny bit frozen and took longer than expected to cook.

Imma say it now, whatever sick troll said you could just defrost food 'overnight in the refrigerator' is a DAMN LIAR. Has anyone ever put something in the fridge overnight, and come home the next day to anything but a rockhard brick of ice? GAH. My fish was still a little icy when I started dins tonight, and even the 45 minutes on the counter (before I was ready to throw it in the oven) seemed to do little for its crystalline plight.

That said, this meal was great. Lil Z (who helped out the entire way through....check out the pics if you don't believe me) proclaimed that it was "AWESOME AWESOME" and gobbled nearly an entire fillet of fish, as well as the sides. Have I ever mentioned that I just love this kid?

Tilapia en papillote

(stolen and modifed from epicurious)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4-5 pieces of fish
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 thin lemon slices (2 per fillet...make them very thin if you are using skinless fillets...unless you really like to pucker!)
8 sprigs fresh thyme (I used a hefty amount of herbes de provence - procured on our trip). I never buy thyme fresh)
2 garlic cloves, very thinly sliced (product placement - I sliced mine using this fun slicer from pampered chef...not necessary, but fun)

12 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (I had most of a pint left...I just sliced 'em all)
1 1/2 tablespoons drained bottled capers

1. Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 400°F. Line a large baking sheet with heavy-duty foil, then drizzle with 1 tablespoon oil.

2. Arrange lemon slices in pairs (2 per fillet). Sprinkle lemon with sea salt, pepper and herbes de provence. Put fish on top off lemon. Add more sea salt, pepper and herbes de provence.

3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté garlic, stirring occasionally, until pale golden, about 30 seconds.

4. Add tomatoes and a pinch of salt and sauté, stirring occasionally, until tomatoes are softened, about 1 minute. Stir in capers.

5. Spoon hot tomato mixture over fish, then cover with another sheet of foil, tenting it slightly over fish, and crimp edges together tightly to seal.

You can see my quality control officer here:

6. Bake until fish is just cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes (depending on thickness of fish - my fishsicles took 20 minutes); check by removing from oven and carefully lifting up a corner of top sheet of foil (don't be dumb like me and stab the middle, then necessitating a complete re-cover in order to put back in the oven...steaming is the entire point of this cooking method, so you don't want the steam to escape!), pulling up sides of bottom sheet to keep liquid from running out. If fish is not cooked through, reseal foil and continue to bake, checking every 3 minutes.

7. Transfer fillets to plates (leave the lemon) using a spatula (be careful not to tear foil underneath) and spoon tomatoes and juices over top. Serve immediately.

Quinoa with almonds and currants raisins

stolen and modified from Clean Food

*When I make this as a side in the future, I will likely scale the quinoa down to 1 cup, but keep the seasonings the same....it's good, but it makes more than I needed to go with my fish)

1.5 c quinoa (I used a mix of red and white)...you can see my helper in the background

2.25 c water

1 T olive oil

1 onion, diced

1/4 t cinnamon (hmmm...in retrospect, I forgot the cinnamon...my bad)

3/4 t cumin (I think I forgot it because I was so preoccupied with grinding more cumin*)

1/4 t ground ginger

1/4 t ground coriander

1/8 t ground turmeric

3 T toasted sliced almonds (I skipped this...too lazy to slice and toast)

1/4 c currants raisins

1/4 c chopped parsley (I used cilantro because that's what I had...it was fab)

1. Rinse quinoa and place in a pot with water and a bit of salt. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer (covered) until all water is absorbed (about 15 mins).

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté onion and spices in oil until brown. I had some extra time, so I let my onion get a bit brown on the edges....yummy.

3. Combine onion, quinoa, (almonds), currants/raisins and fresh herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

I topped mine with a tiny swirl of sri racha....LOVE that stuff. And I'm not alone. You should get some.

start tangent.....

* Why do I grind my own cumin you ask? Not because I want my house to reek of fresh curried armpits, or because I am righteously indignant at the idea of pre-ground spice....mostly because I have, over the years, bought WAAAAAAY too many bags of cumin seeds. More cumin seeds than a person could ever use in a lifetime. When I re-organized my pantry/spices a couple of months ago, I was shocked to see I could fill a four-cup mason jar with cumin seeds.....so until further notice, I have a special coffee grinder dedicated to the task of providing me with freshly-ground cumin.

See? That's a buttload of cumin.

The only problem is that when it comes time to put the cumin in the spice jar...I don't have a funnel....but really, even if I did...for some reason, cumin powder just clings to itself. I always make an enormous stanky mess when I try to get it in the jar.

I was actually a bit torn about posting this next photo...on the one hand....it just reminds me a little too much of the 'old-fashioned' in the South Park crème fraiche episode ...but on the other hand, it both shows you what a pain in the butt it is to try to pour cumin into a spice jar, AND what a fabulous manicure I am currently sporting (the colour is OPI's you don't know jacques....if you were curious). The manicure being the decadent take-away from a glorious spa day at Uxbridge Manor and Spa. *sigh*

/end random tangent.

So there you have it. Thanks for reading.

quinoa chicken and veggies...oh my!

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I'm not sure where you all live, but from my Ottawa-based perspective, summer has been a total write-off. Rain, rain and more rain. Cool weather (downright chilly yesterday, quite frankly). Miserable forecast, after miserable forecast. It has royally sucked. Blah.

BUT, that hasn't stopped hubs and I from enjoying yummy food from the grill (or food that tastes like it could maybe be from the grill). Though we've only had one alfresco meal this summer (a rotten record, I concur), we haven't starved yet.

I've got three yummy things for you today - a tasty grilled lemongrass chicken with quinoa (courtesy of epicurious), a DNM original seafood risotto, the best grilled side of salmon you'll ever eat in your life (courtesy of Clean Eating magazine).

We've been having a lot of fun introducing Z to all sorts of new foods. Thus far, the kid seems to have an undiscrimating palate. I could fool myself into thinking that she's a bit of a pint-sized gourmande, but I think she just eats everything, and asks questions later. She quite liked this lemongrass chicken recipe. I thought the chicken part of the recipe was five-star. It was juicy, flavourful and delicious. I loved the smokiness from the barbecue and the zip from the marinade and it was awesome afterward in wraps, salads, etc. The quinoa was a bit meh. I was initially excited by the idea of red quinoa, but this recipe just doesn't do it for me. I've discovered that quinoa is a real black hole for flavours....no matter how much you add to it, it just soaks it up...so while one might think that cooking in broth would result in a lot of flavour....it really doesn't. I think you're better off tossing the quinoa with a little oil (to seal it off) and then a little something with acid and bit (like lime juice and chopped onion....or something like that).

Red Quinoa vs. regular quinoa:

The chicken is totally worth it. Also, it seemed a bit of a shame for me to throw out all that flavourful chicken marinade, so I used it to cook my veggies. DOn't worry though, I browned/cooked it THOROUGHLY before the veggies touched the pan. :)

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken with Red Quinoa and VegetablesSELF | July 2009

Yield: Serves 4 3 medium shallots, roughly chopped 2 stalks fresh lemongrass (tough outer leaves removed) (I could only get jarred lemongrass....it was fine) 1 piece ginger (about 1 1/2 inches), peeled 1/4 cup plus 5 teaspoons canola oil, divided 1/4 cup fresh lime juice 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce) 2 tablespoons light brown sugar 1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt, plus more to taste 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 1 teaspoon ground coriander 4 boneless, skinless organic chicken breasts (about 5 ounces each) 3/4 cup red quinoa 1 1/2 cups chicken broth (or stock) Vegetable oil cooking spray 1 pound fresh sugar snap peas, strings removed 1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and thinly sliced 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint 1. Marinade: Puree shallots, lemongrass, ginger, 1/4 cup oil, lime juice, tamari, sugar, sea salt, pepper, and coriander in a blender until smooth. 2. Place chicken in a baking dish and spoon on marinade, rubbing it on all sides. Cover; chill 1/2 to 2 hours. 3. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook quinoa until toasted, 3 to 4 minutes. Add broth; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until quinoa absorbs liquid, about 20 minutes. Turn off heat; let sit, covered, until ready to serve. 4. Heat a grill pan or skillet over high heat; coat with cooking spray. Cook chicken, turning once, for 4 minutes. Reduce heat to medium. Cook, turning once, until a meat thermometer reads 165 degrees, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove chicken; let rest two minutes. (I cooked mine on the barbecue - highly recommended if you have one!!!!) 5. Slice each breast on the diagonal into 1/2-inch pieces. 6. Heat remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat (I added the leftover marinade). Cook sugar peas and peppers until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Turn off heat. Add mint and toss. Divide quinoa among 4 plates. Top each with 1 sliced chicken breast and 1/4 of the vegetables. Our plates looked liked this: Z's was a little different....she did like it though! Gobbled up the chicken like there was no tomorrow. I'm putting the other two recipes in their own posts! Thanks for reading and enjoy the tasty eats........mmmmmmmm...........grilled chicken.....

to say that life has been busy...

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...for the past few weeks would actually be an understatement.

I've got two guest rooms and they've both been occupied more often than not in the last little bit...which is why you haven't heard anything from me.

Between that and Lil Z, life has kept me hopping.

So um...first things first, merry Christmas from Lil Z and I:


I will update about the big potluck party a bit later (it was awesome) as well as all about Christmas dinner...because in the meantime, I have a few more resolution-worthy recipes to share.

As I've mentioned before, I don't run ads on this blog - first, I'm way too incompetent to figure it all out in HTML (I'm a click and hope kind of gal, when it comes to website coding), second, I steal too many recipes and don't want people to think I'm making money off their creativity, and last, the piddly income I would get from ads would probably only serve to screw up my taxes, make me hire an accountant and essentially negate any financial benefit.

Plus, ads are annoying.

BUT, that said, blogging will occasionally have its perks, and sometimes, I do get the odd freebie in the mail.

Lately, I've received a couple of cookbooks and while I will not mindlessly whore my name out to enrich others, I am pretty happy with some of the recipes I've sampled. This particular cookbook seems fitting for this time of year, given that most of us are probably resolving to eat healthier (BAHAHAHA!), eat out less and all that jazz, I think it's worth considering.

Whole Grains for Busy People, written by Lorna Sass is pretty much exactly what the title describes - quick recipes using whole grains. I'll admit I actually found the book a little off-putting at first...almost TOO healthy looking. I guess I like people to make food appealing by extolling its TASTE virtues, not so much the health virtues. I go for taste, first and foremost, with health being a very good side benefit...kwim? Anyway, Sass, who is pretty much THE person for whole grains, does a good job of explaining a few of the less common grains (farro, millet, etc.) and I'm most definitely looking forward to trying a few more recipes (like squash bisque topped with curried popcorn, or oat-crusted turkey cutlets....she also has recipes coating meat in ground-up popcorn, which sounds intriguing).

The recipes I tried are actually on facing pages, using my latest most fave ingredient - quinoa. Can I tell you how much I love this stuff? It's got a nice chewiness, doesn't taste obnoxiously-in-your-face-good-for-you and just goes so well in so many different things.

I modified the recipes lightly due to ingredient availability (and, let's face it, proximity, as I was too lazy to brave the cold to grocery shop), and because I like bolder, stronger seasonings.

These recipes are relatively quick, though they do require a higher than average amount of attention (i.e., lots of do this, wait 3 minutes, then do this, etc.).

Here are two yummy sample recipes for ya:

Provençal Salmon Stew with Quinoa
from Whole Grains for Busy People
Serves 4 (generously)

My modifications are in parentheses

1 T olive oil
1 c. diced onion
3/4 t thyme *I thought using only thyme would be a bit plain, so added some other typical provençal herbs
(1/4 t lavender)
(1/4 t marjoram)
(1/2 t basil)
(1/2 t rosemary)
1/2 t minced garlic (I used 3 cloves)
1/2 t anchovy paste
1/2 c dry white wine or vermouth (I used vermouth, to keep me from opening and drinking the bottle of white wine, hehe)
2 bottles (13 ounces each) clam juice (here, I subbed 900mL chicken broth as I had no CJ on hand)
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) diced tomatoes with liquid
1/4 c small black olives (I omitted - not a big fan and didn't have any anyway)
1 pound boneless, skinless salmon fillets, cut into 1 inch chunks - I used one of my fave christmas prezzies to cut this bad boy up....

3 T fresh parsley (omitted because I didn't have any)
grated zest of 1 large lemon
2 T freshly squeezed lemon juice

1. In a heavy 12-inch sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, thyme (and other spices, if using), garlic and cook, stirring frequently until the onion is lightly browned, 3-4 minutes. Stir in the anchovy paste and cook 30 seconds more. You can actually see the lavender and other spices here:


2. Stir in the wine/vermouth and cook until it evaporates, about 2 minutes. Add the clam juice (or broth) and bring to a boil. Stir in the quinoa, cover, and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes.


3. Stir in the tomatoes and olives. Return to a boil. Cover and continue cooking until the quinoa is almost done, about 5 minutes longer (if the quinoa has a substantial white dot of starch in the centre, continue cooking until the dot is tiny).

4. Add a little water if the mixture is no longer loose and soupy. Gently stir in the salmon. Cover and cook over medium heat until the salmon is cooked through to the centre and the quinoa is tender, 2-3 minutes.


5. Gently stir in the parsley, lemon zest and juice and season (salt/pepper) to taste, if needed.


Both hubs and I really enjoyed this stew. Sure, I made some changes, but it's a very nice, fresh, healthy tasting soup...like something you might find in a health spa. I noticed, actually, that hubs enjoyed it so much he also ate it for brekkie. Fish for brekkie should tell you something about how tasty this is. Two thumbs up.

Now, on the facing page to the salmon quinoa recipe was another quinoa stew recipe. And while I was making last night's dinner, I couldn't help but read through this other stew recipe and think...hmmm...I freaking love quinoa and I think I have all/most of the ingredients for this. SOLD.

So here's another one for you. I followed the recipe for the most part, but I added a LOT more spices, due to personal preference. I suspect the original might have been a little timid in flavour. Not so much mine.

Southwestern Quinoa Stew with Squash, Black Beans and Corn
serves 4-6
stolen from Whole Grains for Busy People

(again, my mods are in parentheses)

1 T olive oil
2 t minced dried onion (wtf is this? I used 1 small whole regular onion)
1/2 t dried oregano
1/4 t granulated garlic (again, wtf....I used 3 cloves of regular garlic)
1 container low-sodium chicken/veggie broth
(1 T chili powder, 1 t cumin, dash cinnamon, 1/2 T cocoa powder)
1 cup quinoa
1 t chipotle in adobo, minced (didn't have any - subbed 1 T chipotle hot sauce, and then oomphed it with a few dashes of sri racha)
1 10-oz package frozen cooked squash
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn
1/3 c fire-roasted red peppers (ummmm....witness what happened to my peppers...EW. I may have cured cancer here, but I opted to toss that jar and just use a fresh green pepper along with the onion....GROSS)

1/4 c chopped fresh cilantro
pepper to taste
(crumbled aged cheddar)

1. In a large sauté pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Stir in the onion, oregano and garlic, cook for 10 seconds (because I used fresh onion, garlic and added a green pepper, I actually cooked for about 5 mins).


2. Add the broth and 2 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add the quinoa and boil uncovered over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. I added my extra spices at the same time as the quinoa. While the quinoa is cooking, you can assemble the other ingredients.


3. Stir in the chipotle in adobo, and add the block of squash (I partially defrosted mine in the fridge overnight). Otherwise, cover, turn the heat to high and continue cooking until you can break up the squash and stir it in (3-4 mins).

4. Stir in the beans and reduce heat to medium. Continue cooking until here is no solid white dot of starch at the centre of the quinoa (1-3 minutes). I added my squash/beans at the same time because I am lazy.


5. Stir in the corn, red pepper, cilantro and salt/pepper to taste. When I tasted it, I added some sri racha and the juice of half a lime (it needed more bite). Cook, uncovered, until the corn is defrosted.


I garnished mine with some 3-year-aged balderson heritage cheddar. OMG. YUMMY. The stew was delicious - I never would have thought to put these ingredients together, but it works wonderfully....I just thought it needed some kick, and I'm happy with the way my mods turned out.



Overall, I think this is a pretty good cookbook if you're trying to eat healthy, or for example, if you need to eliminate gluten, etc (it's NOT a gluten-free cookbook, but uses a lot of gluten-free grains). THere is a nice variety of recipes and I like how it gently introduces you to a large variety of whole grains.

Critiques? It would be nice if there were nutritional info. I know these recipes are healthy, and were I feeling motivated, I could enter the ingredients and find out the exact info myself...but it would have been nice if this book had already done that. And I also find the recipes can overemphasize the salt and underemphasize other herbs and seasonings.

That said, I would recommend this book to any of you who are trying to eat healthy and are trying to look beyond steamed veggies and rice for your healthy fare. Keep your eyes peeled, as I'm sure I'll have more to say about this book in coming weeks. I've got a beach with my name on it and only a few short weeks to get beach-ready!

so...uh...it's kinda been a while

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anyone still out there?

Holy crap I suck at this.

I have been a *wee* bit busy, between moving (I HAVE A NEW KITCHEN!!!), being pregnant and of course, my cute little munchkin, lil Z. :)

Lil' Z was born in early August and weighed in at a hefty 8lb15oz...and she's kept us hopping ever since.



Don't worry though...there's no way we're going hungry. In fact, I could probably have a football team move in here and we still wouldn't be going hungry. At the end of my pregnancy, I was so enormous that I ended up bombarded by twin/triplet inquiries at least once a day (I became somewhat of a recluse just to avoid people's jackassed comments). So everyone thought lil Z would come early.

I'm only 39 weeks and change in this pic (I almost went to 42 weeks):


I went off work.

I cooked copious amounts of food and froze it. Pic below is from one day of cooking. I was off almost a month before lil Z made her grand entrance.



I have an upright freezer, as well as the one on my fridge. Both were so jam-packed that my engineer hubs could no longer figure out any viable way of squeezing anything else in.

We were totally prepared.

Except for one problem.

I don't like frozen food.

And I like to cook.

So here we are, almost 8 weeks later...and the freezer is almost as full as it was to begin with...and I'm still cooking up a storm. :)

I've just been a real truant about writing anything about it. However, tonight's dinner was SO freaking good that it couldn't not be shared. Way in the back of my (enormous - YAHOOOOO!) pantry, there was a medium-sized tupperware container of a mystery grain. I remembered that I had purchased this grain a while back (like probably a year or two). Unfortunately, I didn't have the presence of mind to bother labelling it.

So the mystery grain sat, untouched, and totally unidentifiable. I couldn't cook it because I didn't know what it was.

Finally, today it occurred to me that the mystery grain might be quinoa. I dug up a trusty google image search and sure enough...the funny little grain was (likely...probably...i think?) quinoa. I didn't have any sort of exciting side dish planned for dinner, so I then set out to figure out a) how to cook it and b) how to serve it. This is what it looked like...it also feels really cool (yes, that is a handprint on top...I was inspired by Amélie's love of plunging her hands into a bin of grains...)



Cooking it is pretty easy. Boil for 15 minutes and then strain....but the straining turned out to be a little more complicated than anticipated because all of my strainers are far too coarse for such a little grain...I ended up using a towel to line the strainer...messy, but workable. I like quinoa. Hubs likes quinoa.

And we're both kicking ourselves that we didn't identify the mystery grain sooner. Quinoa is so insanely good for you - it makes almost every superfood list out there. It has loads of protein, fibre, potassium and all that good stuff and is lower in carbs than other grains too. Yum. Look for it again here soon.

Without further jibber jabber and rambles...this was dinner. It kicked ass and was about 45 minutes, start to finish.

Quinoa, Black Bean and Tomato Salad

Quinoa is a fast-cooking, protein-packed whole grain. Steamed, it makes a perfect partner for lime-spiked black beans and fresh tomato.

Makes 4 (main dish) servings.


2 teaspoons grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon brown or demerara sugar
1 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced
4 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro (unfortunately, as happens all too often, my cilantro had liquified in frigo....so I just skipped this)


1. Whisk together lime zest and juice, butter, oil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.



2. Wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a sieve each time.

3. Cook quinoa in a medium pot of boiling salted water (1 tablespoon salt for 2 quarts water), uncovered, until tender, about 15 minutes

4. Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.



Kickin' Chicken (shamelessly stolen from a book everyone should have, Eat, Shrink and Be Merry

12 chicken thighs
1 cup reduced-fat peanut sauce
2/3 c hot salsa
1/3 c fresh basil

1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Spray a 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Spread the chicken thighs in a single layer in the pan.

2. Mix together the peanut sauce (I like PC brand), salsa and the chopped, fresh basil.



3. Pour over chicken. Bake for 40ish minutes. Serve the chicken with the sauce.



It's insanely awesome and ridiculously easy. I was skeptical...but it's SO YUMMY. I think the sauce would also be good on pork or tofu. I served this with the quinoa salad and some steamed broccoli. Two thumbs up from me and two thumbs up from hubs. :)



It's quite the experience to be writing this as I hear my little baby cooing away in the background.... :) Thanks for reading, thanks for sticking with me...I'll be back soon!