The Good Stuff

I'm so sorry! I've been a BAD blogger!! It's been really crazy-busy at work, and I felt super-guilty about that, but here I am! I'm back!

Anyway, it's been a bit warm lately, and we don't have A/C. Our version of A/C is opening two windows on opposite sides of the house, turning the ceiling fan on and letting the sprinkler run. It actually kinda works! So, since it's been warm, I haven't really been cooking all that much, and I was craving something on the lighter side. I had seen an episode of Everyday Italian on the Food Network where Giada was making dishes in order to get bikini ready. One of her recipes she featured was a whole-wheat linguine with garlic, green beans and tomatoes. Living with the men that I live with, I knew I needed something a bit heartier than that.

I decided to nix the green beans idea, since E and I had some in our lunches today and I didn't want a green bean overload, so I went with zucchini, squash and shrimp, and kept the tomatoes. And instead of linguine, I used fettucine. I also added mozzarella cheese, because... well, I love it! So, here's my adapted recipe.

Whole Wheat Fettucine with Shrimp, Zucchini and Squash

Ingredients:
-3 to 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-1 medium zucchini, sliced bite-sized
-1 medium squash, sliced bite-sized
-1/2 lb shrimp, shelled and deveined (I used a bag of prepared frozen shrimp)
-1/2 bag of whole wheat fettucine (I got mine from Trader Joe's for $1.99!)
-1/2 tomato, diced
-3/4 cup ricotta cheese
-1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-salt and pepper to taste

Instructions: In a large pot, boil about 3 quarts of water. Add the pasta, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking (I've found that whole wheat pasta tends to take longer to cook). Set aside about 3 ladelfuls of the pasta water, and drain the rest of the noodles. In a small bowl, combine the two cheeses. In a 10-inch skillet, heat the olive oil, then add the garlic. Once the garlic starts to give off an aroma, add the zucchini and squash, cook until slightly tender. Add the pasta water (this is especially important as it will help create the sauce). Once the water starts to simmer, add the cheese mixture and stir until well combined. Add the shrimp and tomatoes, then allow to heat over, about 5 minutes. You don't want to heat it too long, or the shrimp will get gummy, and that's terrible! After that, you're ready for dinner!

My thoughts: This was pretty hearty, it filled me up. What you see here is my plate, and I wasn't able to finish all of it. That's probably due in part to the fact that I also had some salad along with it, but I also don't think I could have finished all of it. It makes for really good leftovers, too, since storing it gives it time for all the flavors to really mix well.

Thanks for stopping by! And sorry I've been so scarce lately, but rest assured that I have read everyone's comments and greatly appreciate each and every one of them. Oh, and don't forget, Royal Foodie Joust is coming up!!

~Mehgan~

Royal Foodie Joust-September 2007

Every month, Jenn from the Leftover Queen hosts The Royal Foodie Joust. Each contestant is given three ingredients they must use to create a recipe that is competition-worthy for the title of Royal Foodie Joust Winner. This month's Royal Foodie Joust ingredients are chipotle, zucchini and buttermilk, as chosen by August 1, 2007's winnder marye from Apron Strings and Simmering Things. I was a bit daunted by this challenge, there were so many possiblities, and I wanted my creation to be creative, different, and most of all, tasty!

I've never cooked with chipotle before, but after this challenge, I feel I'll be adding this to my cooking repertoire for Latin foods from now on. I loved the smoky flavor, with the nice lip-smacking bite it leaves in your mouth.

I decided to go with stuffed chicken breasts, seeing as how I've never tried stuffing chicken breasts before, but thought it would really bring out the zucchini flavors. So, without further ado, here's my recipe for Zucchini Stuffed Chicken Breasts with a Buttermilk Chipotle Sauce:

For the chicken:
-4 skinless chicken breasts, halved
-1 zucchini, sliced thin
-1/2 cup sliced cheddar
-salt and pepper
-toothpicks to hold the breast together, should you need it

For the sauce:
-1 eight oz can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
-1/2 cup buttermilk
-4 oz. plain yogurt
-salt and pepper

Instructions: Preheat oven to 375F. In a medium saucepan over low heat, combine the ingredients for the sauce. I added about a half tablespoon of lime juice, but you can opt out of that, I'm just a freak about lime. Line a 13" x 9" pan with tin foil. Cut a slit in the center of each chicken breast half and stuff it with your desired amount of cheese and zucchini (I layered mine so I had two pieces each of the zucchini and cheese). I had some extra zucchini leftover, and knew I'd be using toothpicks to hold them together while they cooked, so I topped each breast half with a slice of zucchini and stuck the toothpick through that. Continue until each breast half is complete and place them in the lined pan. Bake for 30-40 minutes or until the breasts are cooked through. Once they're done, pour the chipotle sauce over them.

I thought these turned out really, really well. The chipotle was far too spicy for me, so I ended up scraping the actual pepper pieces off, but kept the red sauce. My husband LOVED them, he's the king of all things spicy-hot. He even said to me, "Look how much you made me sweat... that's a good thing!" My little brother loved how they looked when they were plated, but was not a fan of the chipotle (spicy foods upset his stomach), but he was more than happy with the chicken without the sauce. I was especially happy that these made enough for me to bring for dinner tomorrow night when I stand duty.

I'll be posting the link for you to vote for yours truly after September 1st, which is when voting is available. I hope I get your vote! Thanks!

~Mehgan~