Chicken and Mushroom Pasta

Secret time. I also love making this minus the chicken... I know I know I go on and on about how awesome rotissory chickens are... but sometimes I just love me some extra bonus mushroomy goodness! If you want the recipe for this delicious quick Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Meal, head on over to Food Fanatic for the recipe and post!

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Wheat pizza dough in 30 minutes flat

I like the idea of being able to get home at night and have a nice pizza with home made dough... and I REALLY like the idea when it doesn't take 2 hours for the dough to rise!! I found the recipe on What's cooking in the orange kitchen yesterday and HAD to make this for dinner.


Having a kitchen aid mixer makes this stupidly easy, but if you don't have one no worries just use your hands :) (bonus you get a little arm workout).

I made broccoli and mushroom stuffed calazones. My roomie and I gave them a thumbs up! And the crust recipe is a keeper for sure! Filling recipe is below the dough recipe.


Jessica says the 12 ounce dough recipe made 2 good size calzones, but they are on the thin side so if you like yours thicker (crustier) go for the 1 pound recipe.

Whole-Wheat Pizza Dough
(Source: Originally from EatingWell.com As found on Amber's Delectable Delights I found it linked there from What's cooking in the orange kitchen) man this recipe gets around!

To make 12 ounces dough:
3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
1/2-2/3 cup hot water (120-130°F)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

To make 1 pound dough:
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 package quick-rising yeast (2 1/4 teaspoons), such as Fleischmann's RapidRise
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
3/4 cup hot water (120-130°F)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Combine hot water and oil in a measuring cup. With the motor running, gradually pour in enough of the hot liquid until the mixture forms a sticky ball. The dough should be quite soft. If it seems dry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons warm water; if too sticky, add 1 to 2 tablespoons flour. Process until the dough forms a ball, then process for 1 minute to knead.
2. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface. Coat a sheet of plastic wrap with cooking spray and place it, sprayed-side down, over the dough. Let the dough rest for 10 to 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet on the lowest oven rack;preheat oven to 450°F or highest setting. Roll and top the pizza as desired(we suggest a 13-inch circle) and bake the pizza until the bottom is crisp and golden, 10 to 14 minutes.

*For calzones split the dough in half and roll them out into 2 flat circles. Put the filling on half of one of the dough circles and then folded the other half over. Pinch the edges all the way around. Keep an eye on the baking time. Mine took 15-20 minutes. Serve immediately



Calazone filling
recipe by me

1 tsp chopped garlic
spray of olive oil for pan
1/2 cup chopped brocolli
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup pasta sauce of choice
1/4 tsp dried basil (or 1 Tbs chopped fresh if you have it on hand)
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup part skim mozzerella
1 Tbs parmasaian cheese

Saute garlic until fragrant then add everything but the cheeses in a pan until cooked through, roll out half the dough from the recipe above and pile mixture on half of the circle. I used all of this filling for 1 calazone (half the dough recipe). Sprinkle with cheeses. Fold dough over and pinch to seal. Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes. CHOW!

shrimptastic

Sunday nights have turned into sauce night for me and John. This past week we made skinny pasta and topped it with turkey kielbasa, shrimp, and mushrooms in a red sauce. Easy, fast, and delicious!

Cook the pasta (whole wheat for me!) according to the package, I like mine aldente yum! Slice up the turkey kielbasa and mushrooms and toss in a sauce pan with a little olive oil spray. Toss them around until they are nice and browned, at this point plop in a jar of your favorite sauce (in a pinch wegmans Diavola sauce is the hands down best in my opinion, spicy!) Stir and turn the heat down to low. I used frozen cooked shrimp so once they were defrosted I just tossed them in the sauce for the last few minutes to warm them up.

This meal goes from start to finish in 20 minutes. Top with some parmasian cheese or a little parsley and you are good to go! I also added in a bunch of spinach into mine for a little added boost.

Chow!

Mushroom peppers and onion pot stickers - Vegan friendly

So I have a new blog I love to go look at... Vegan Yum Yum (thank you Niki for telling me about it!!). It's amazing!! I mean I love to eat meat but I can totally appreciate all the things she has cooking over there! Delicious. Plus with a bunch of vegan friends it's only fair I put up some recipes they can use! While perusing her pages I came up with a ton of great ideas of my own, and bookmarked a bunch of recipes to try in the future.

Inspired by all the tasty vegan recipes I started thinking iron chef style about what vegan friendly items I had at home on hand and what exactly I was going to make for dinner after hitting the gym... My mind wandered, hmmm there is a green pepper, a red onion, broccoli, I have some cans of all types of beans (chick, black,red, black eye), a can of mushrooms, miso paste, wanton wrappers... Eureka! Also on Vegan Yum Yum's pages were a bunch of recipes for pot stickers. They looked delicious and I figured with all the random ingredients I had... I could totally make up a tasty on the fly vegan pot sticker! So after a night of lifting upper body (back, bi's, tri's, chest) and a short 30 min. stint on the elyptical I came home and started pulling things out... what I ended up with... an AMAZING recipe that I will totally make again! Here it goes!


Mushroom peppers and onion pot stickers
1 can sliced mushrooms, drained, rinsed, and chopped
1/2 red onion chopped
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1-2 tsp. olive oil
1 Tbs light soy sauce
1 Tbs Tamari sauce
2 tsp hot chili oil (I use the kind that has pieces of pepper and seeds floating in it (use 1 Tbs. if you don't want it too spicy)
20-24 wanton wrappers
1 cup water
Tamari sauce for dipping

Heat a large non stick pan, once hot add a drizzle of olive oil then the onions and peppers, stir until mostly cooked then add mushrooms. Add soy sauce, tamari, and chili oil. Stir to mix. Once everything is cooked through remove from heat and start assembling the pot stickers.

You'll want to place about 1 heaping tablespoon of mixture into the center of each wanton wrapper, then using your fingers cup it up into a little bouquet. It's ok if some of the stuffing is puffing out the top. (the juice from the stuffing will help the wrapper stick to itself)

Once they are all assembled place the same large pan back onto medium heat (you may or may not need to add another drizzle of olive oil) and place pot stickers fat bottom side down. Cook a few minutes until bottoms are nice and browned. At this point pour a cup or so of water into the pan and cover immediately.


This allows the wanton wrappers to steam cook, the water should all boil off within 5-7 minutes, careful if you let all the water boil off the bottoms will start to burn. Once the wrappers are cooked, remove from heat and serve with a little side of tamari sauce. ( I had to do mine in two batches since I don't have a crazy huge pan, also you want to let them have some breathing room from each other so they don't stick together)

Chow!

Balsamic Chicken Mushroom Onion Sandwich

Here is a quick 20 minute healthy meal for you! There is no need to eat frozen dinner packages that don't fill you up to save time. This is a very quick and easy meal that will satisfy without hurting your waistline. I made these friday night after long day at work followed by an intense spinning class. Simple quick easy and satisfying!

Balsamic chicken sandwich with mushrooms and onions (serves 2)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
balsamic vinegar
black pepper to taste
1/2 container sliced fresh baby bella mushrooms
1/2 medium sweet onion (chopped)
2 whole wheat rolls
romaine lettuce leaves

Place chicken in a bowl or bag and piece a few times with a fork. Pour 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and black pepper to taste over the chicken and set aside while grill heats up. I don't have an outdoor grill so I used my handy George Forman grill but you can easily cook the chicken outside on your grill.

While grill is heating, lightly spray a pan and start sauteing chopped onion. Once brown add mushrooms along with 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and black pepper to taste, cook until vinegar is reduced to a thick sauce.

Once grill is hot, cook chicken for 7 minutes or until done. (don't over cook they get chewy and dry BLEH)

Cut rolls and place a chicken breast along with a helping of the onion/mushroom mixture and top with a lettuce leaf and the top of the roll.

Enjoy!


Corn on the cob
(a great summer side any night of the week!)
4 ears of corn husks removed and silk cleaned off
pot of water

Fill a pot with 3-4 inches of water (enough water to cover the corn ears) set the stove on high and bring to a boil.
Place corn into the water and let boil 4-5 minutes, using a spoon make sure to rotate them in the water bath so all sides cook.
Remove from water and let cool. (Again over cooking will leave the corn soggy and bland)
Top with some pepper, red hot, or whatever else floats your boat.

Chow!