So last week I nearly made 'Rookie Cooking Mistake #1' by just BARELY remembering to read a recipe all the way through, almost missing the long cooking time.
Cut to last night, where I committed 'Rookie Cooking Mistake #2: Taste as you go.' The WORST part?? It was for THE EASIEST DISH IN THE WORLD TO MAKE: SALAD!
And I was all excited about this one. I knew it wasn't going to be the healthiest of salads, but I knew it was going to be tastyJ
Starting with the homemade cumin & cinnamon coated almonds. Yep...I whipped out the skillet, managed not to burn the sugar or the almonds and thought it was going to be alllll smooth sailing from there.
That was until I was whipping up the dressing and the lid of the white balsamic vinegar dropped into the bowl...along with a HUGEEEEE glug of vinegar. Why I didn't TASTE THIS OR START OVER before pouring this over my salad is beyond me...
Result? An ENTIRE salad that tasted like VINEGAR. PURE VINEGAR. And we're talkin sweet & salty almonds, mellow avocado, sweet craisins, earthy arugula. And yet, nothing out-powered the vinegar. I was so bummed. Oh well....learn from my mistakes and I'll try this one again soonJ I'm SURE it was tasty under all that TANG!
Anyway, onto another dinner that was WAYYYYY more successful: Our dinner from Sunday night- Greek 'Stuffed' Chicken with Brown Butter Orzo...
We based it off this recipe, and even managed to simplify a Rachael Ray dish. We are NOT fans of 'stuffing' chicken. It seems like the meat takes forever to cook, the fillings get all messy and even though I KNOW it's all cooking together, something about stuffing cooked food into raw meat just *creeps. me. out.*
So instead of 'stuffing'...we just 'top'! After a quick butterflying of the chicken breast, we did a quick grill (using my Griddler pan) of the chicken coated with salt, pepper & Greek seasoning...
While the chicken was grilling up, I cooked up some diced onion & garlic before adding a box of defrosted & drained chopped spinach and some salt & pepper...
Once the chicken was cooked and the spinach warmed through, I topped the chicken with the spinach and finished it off with a little feta cheese....
A couple minutes in the toaster oven to warm the cheese and these were perfect. Talk about an EASY AND HEALTHY dish...oh yeah, and REALLY tasty too. If this took 15 minutes, I might be stretching it. See...you're never too far from a healthy & flavorful mealJ
And as a quick and different side (why, oh why, do I not make orzo enough??) I made an easy Parmesan-Browned Butter Orzo. Which you start by melting butter in a saucepan until it becomes golden (that's when you know it's going to be goooooood!)
Add in the orzo to toast up for a few minutes...
A little white wine...a little chicken broth...a little time boiling on the stove (13 minutes) and a little Parmesan cheese...& WALLAH....
A perfect side to a light dinner. This one is DEFINITELY going in the "Quick & Healthy" files that, I'M SURE, I will pulling from a LOT in the near futureJ
Alright, so that's one failure & one success for you todayJ hahahahhahaha...hope you enjoyedJ Have a good Tuesday, everyone!
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