3 Cheese Tortellini Alfredo with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Asparagus, and Roasted Red Peppers

Wow, that's a mouthful. But please don't let the title deter you from trying this incredibly easy, quick and delicious recipe.

I'm not feeling particularly 'wordy' today but I had several people comment on my facebook post asking for this recipe. I'll get right to the point so that I please their hungry tummy's!

3 Cheese Tortellini Alfredo with Sun Dried Tomatoes, Asparagus,
and Roasted Red Peppers

2 Medium Chicken Breasts

1 Large Red Bell Pepper, thick sliced

1 Bag Frozen 3 Cheese Tortellini (I bag I used served 5)

1 Jar Alfredo Sauce (Or your favorite recipe for one)

1/4 C. 2% milk

2 Cloves Garlic, minced

1/2 bunch Asparagus, chopped in 1 inch pieces

1/4 C. Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese, Shredded

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Herb Seasoning

1) Heat oven to 450 Degrees. Also bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.

2)  Place sliced red bell peppers in a glass dish. Drizzle a little olive oil over the peppers and toss. Sprinkle some sea salt on the peppers and place in the oven. Roasting will be complete in about 15 minutes.

3) Once water is boiling, cook tortellini according to directions. Drain when done, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic powder (just a bit).

4) In the meantime, place chicken breasts in a skillet over medium heat. Season both sides with garlic herb seasoning and cook until chicken is almost cooked. Remove from pan and set aside. After the chicken has rested for about 10 minutes, slice against the grain into slices (about an inch thick)

5) In the skillet you cooked the chicken in, add the alfredo sauce, milk and garlic cloves. Allow to come to a slight boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 8-9 minutes. Add in sliced chicken and asparagus and turn heat onto medium to bring to a low boil again. Keep stirring and allow it to boil slowly to finish cooking the chicken breasts and asparagus, about 3 minutes.

6) When red peppers are done roasting, place on a cutting board and cut into big chunks. Add to the alfredo sauce. Add mozzarella cheese to the sauce, give a good stir and cook for 1-2 minutes.

7) To serve, put tortellini on a plate or in a bowl and top with a good helping of the sauce.

*I had this for leftovers at lunch today and it was DELICIOUS! Would be a good sauce to add red pepper flakes to to add a little bit of heat*

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Lightened Up Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I live in Ohio. And its Winter. Enough said?! LOL!

Without fail, every year when winter hits, I end up telling myself and those within ear shot that I "can't wait to get out of here". Yet each year, I find myself still here, suffering through the dreary winter days. Aside from it being cold and having the occasional blizzard, the drearyness is the worst part of it. Today broke a 14 day stretch of having no sun. YUCK.

I wanted to make something like a chicken pot pie but Shawn is on his yearly lenten diet and I don't tend to lean towards heavy, calorie-laden dinners (unless it involves hot sauce and fried chicken). And I didn't feel like devoting a large chunk of my time in the kitchen this weekend.

I ended up landing on the idea of making a soup inspired by the flavors and goodness of chicken pot pie but without all of the unwanted heavy ingredients and time.

You can make substitutions on the vegetables to fit your family's tastes. I'd love to hear what you think about this!!

Lightened Up Chicken Pot Pie Soup

(photo courtesy of  www.noblepig.com)

1/3  C. flour

3 C. Chicken Stock

5 C. 2% milk

1/2 medium sized onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, sliced

2 medium carrots, sliced and quartered

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 bag frozen green bean

1 bag frozen corn

2 Chicken Bouillon Cubes

Ground Black Pepper

Sea Salt, to taste

2 tsp. Herbs De Provence

2 medium to large sized chicken breasts, cooked and chopped into bite size pieces

2 medium to large sized potatoes, cut in small cubes

1) In a bowl, combine 1 cup chicken stock with the flour and whisk until the flour is incorporate. Set Aside.

2) Pour remaining chicken stock and milk into your soup pot. Slowly bring to a boil.

3) Add onion, celery, carrots, garlic, frozen vegetables, chicken buillons, herbs and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. 

4) Partially cover and reduce to simmer on low to medium low until vegetables are tender. 

5) Add potatoes and chicken and simmer on a low boil until potatoes are cooked through and tender. 

6) Slowly whisk in the stock/flour mixture that you set aside in step 1. You may need to add more depending on how thick you like your soup. 

7) Make sure to adjust seasonings to taste prior to serving.

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Authentic Lebanese Hummus

When it comes to food, I am big on texture. If it doesn't feel right, I have a hard time eating something. This hurdle obviously prevented me from seeing why people would crave sushi. It also had the same impact on my ability to enjoy hummus. I remember the first time I had both of these foods. I would pay to go back in time and see my face. I think it goes without saying that I was not impressed. At all. And had no desire for a 'second chance'.

It took some heavy persuasion from people that I love to try sushi and hummus again but I gave each of them a second chance. And loved them both! I guess it just takes a little time, a little recommendation, and the right chef behind them.

One of my favorite restaurants is Aladdin's Eatery. It's a local chain (I think they have 5-6 locations) that is run by a Lebanese family and really have opened my eyes to their delicious cuisine. My sister and I had taken my mom there for mother's day 4 years ago. They both go crazy for their hummus and insisted I give it a try. I wanted to make my mom and sister happy so I tried it. And I was hooked. It was a velvety smooth texture that had this wonderfully fresh taste. It was night and day from the store bought, processed hummus. In a pinch, I will buy Sabra hummus at the grocery store if I'm craving it for lunch. It does the job but definitely doesn't hold a candle to the real thing.

So one day I went searching for an authentic hummus recipe that I could make at home and be just as delicious (or close to it) as Aladdin's hummus. But there was one problem. Every time I would go looking for  tahini paste, I could never find it. I got the bright idea to look in the same section as olives and capers and VOILA it was there!!!


It is crucial to follow the directions to a "T" to get the desired outcome. It seems like a lot of work, but it's not. It just takes planning ahead. Of course you can adjust the salt, tahini and lemon but follow the process to a T.

Authentic Lebanese Hummus

1 bag of dried garbanzo beans

1 T baking soda

8 oz Tahini (sesame paste)

6-8 oz very cold lemon juice (pour over ice and shake to achieve this, and you can add very cold water too)

1 T paprika

Kosher Salt

Garnishes:

Parsley

Seedless Cucumbers

Red Bell Peppers

Roma Tomatoes

Greek Olives

Soaking:

Sort through your beans and discard any bad beans. Pour beans into a deep bowl and put twice as much water on them. And allow to soak overnight. Add more water if you noticed they start to become exposed.

Cooking:

Rinse soaked chickpeas off with ice cold water. Fill a large pot with water and add baking soda and bring  to a boil. Just like with pasta, you'll want twice as much water as volume of pasta to allow them to cook correctly. When the water comes to a rolling boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and allow to cook for 60-90 minutes. Make sure that the water is on a soft boil the entire cooking time. 

To tell if the bean is cooked, through it against the wall. It should stick momentarily. If it does not, it is not cooked. 

Skinning the Garbanzo Bean:

One the beans have cooked, removed the pot from the stove and put it under an ice cold tap. The cold water will shock the beans and help them to crack the shell. The skins will be a clear but milky color (like jellyfish). Give the beans a stir and they will float to the top. Remove them from the water. Gently massage the beans with your band to aide in removing the skins. Strain the beans and leave them in a colander overnight in the fridge. Cover them with a plate so that they don't freeze in the fridge. This helps to drain any excess water.

Preparing the Hummus:

Place the beans in a food processor and blend until you have a smooth paste. Add in tahini until the mixture become very smooth but a little firm.

Add in the cold lemon juice a little at a time. You must use ice cold lemon juice (like iI said you can shake it over ice or add ice cold water to it). This will help keep the hummus cold while it is being blended.

Add in salt to taste and paprika. Let it rest in the food processor for about 15 minutes. If you find that it has thickened, add in more lemon juice and blend.

I serve this garnished with paprika and parsley and love it on fresh pita, tomatoes and cucumbers.

Please do not use canned chickpeas. They are too soft and the consistency you get with them is not the same as with the dried beans. The recipe will make a very generous portion of hummus. 

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Herb Dusted Chicken with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Basil Sauce

Whoa...that's a mouth full. LOL

First, please don't let the word "creamy" in the title scare you away. It's not fat and calorie laden like you might expect a recipe with that name in to be.

With that said ....

I can't tell you for sure how long this jar of sun dried tomatoes has been sitting on my pantry shelf untouched, but what I can tell you is that it won't last much longer in my fridge now that I have made this chicken dish!!

I wanted something awesome. I had chicken breasts in the fridge that needed used and, lets face it, most often chicken dishes using breasts seem to fall short of the mark. If you would have asked me a year ago what cut of chicken I used it would have been a boneless skinless chicken bosom. But, when I joined weight watchers, I noticed that the majority of recipes called for boneless skinless thighs. I was hesitant but I tried them and now I know why. Breasts, unless cooked with a lot of fat, get dry really quick and tend to not be as delicious as the thigh. I had originally bought the breasts to make buffalo chicken dip for Super Bowl but opted for guacamole instead. So it sat there. And sat there. And it needed to be used. But it begged me to make it into something delicious and memorable.

This recipe does not fall short of that. In fact, my 4 year old daughter (who has been giving me a headache at dinner time for that last two months) actually said "Momma, this chicken is soooooooo delicious. Thank you for making me dinner." And she ate EVERY.SINGLE.BITE that was put on her plate!!! HOME RUN!

Herb Dusted Chicken with Creamy Sun Dried Tomato Basil Sauce



3 Boneless/Skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup white onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped

1/2 bunch of asparagus, chopped in 1 inch pieces

One - Two handfuls of fresh basil, confetti chopped 

3 T. flour

1 1/2 C. chicken stock

1/3 C. White Wine (I used Sauvignon Blanc, but any dry white wine will do)

1/2 C. whole milk 

2 T. Olive Oil

2 T. Butter

Salt and Pepper

"Perfect Pinch" garlic and herb seasoning

**A few things before we start. For the Olive oil, I used basil flavored oil that I have in ice cube trays in the freezer. I used whole milk but if you want something super creamy, use a heavy cream in its place. Mushrooms would be a nice addition but my boyfriend doesn't care for them. I wasn't sure how to measure the basil. I have a plant in my kitchen and used about 8-10 good sized leaves off of it**

1) Heat your skillet on medium high heat and put in the olive oil. In the mean time, slice your breasts in half (like you are butterflying but go all the way through). 

2) Season both sides of the chicken with salt/pepper and the garlic and herb seasoning. There really isn't a way to 'over do' the seasoning here. Get a nice crust on it.

3) Cook the chicken in the skillet until almost done, about 4 minutes on each side.

4) When chicken is almost done (about 3 minutes from being done), remove it from the pan and put on a plate and cover it.

5) Using the same skillet, reduce heat to medium and add in butter, onion and garlic. Saute for about 3-4 minutes. Add in the sun dried tomatoes and cook for another 3-4 minutes stirring regularly. Add in the asparagus and cook for 2 minutes.

5) Add wine and chicken stock to the skillet and let cook for 3-4 minutes. Take a 1/4 cup of the liquid out of the skillet and put it into a small glass bowl. Add the flour into this reserved sauce and stir until the flour forms a paste. Pour that paste back into the skillet and whisk vigorously, until sauce begins to thicken. (if it doesn't thicken to your liking, add a little flour at a time until desired thickness)

6) Add the basil and the chicken back into the pan and let simmer for 3-4 minutes. This will cook the chicken the rest of the way and allow it to soak up the good flavor of the sauce.

We served this over campanelle pasta but you can serve with roasted vegetables, potatoes or rice. Or even by itself with a fresh salad!

Enjoy!!

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