Chicken with Artichoke and Angel Hair - Everyday Food

Ingredients

• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 8 thin chicken cutlets (about 1 1/2 pounds total)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1 can (14 ounces) artichoke hearts packed in water, rinsed, drained, and quartered
• 2 tablespoons rinsed and drained capers
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 8 ounces angel-hair pasta
• 1/2 cup parsley leaves

Directions

1. Set a large pot of salted water to boil. Place flour in a shallow dish, and season with salt and pepper. Dredge cutlets, shaking off excess. In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil over medium-high. Cook chicken in batches, adding remaining oil as needed, until light golden, 1 to 3 minutes per side; transfer to a dish.
   
2. Add broth to skillet, and bring to a boil; cook until reduced by half. Add artichokes, capers, and the chicken with any juices. Gently swirl to combine, and bring just to a boil. Remove skillet from heat. Swirl in butter, and cover to keep warm.
   
3. Add pasta to boiling water. Cook until al dente; drain. Serve chicken and sauce over pasta, topped with parsley.

I became distracted in doing multiple things at once today and picked this recipe last minute. I didn't give it much thought because I love artichokes. I realized after eating it that there are definitely somethings I would add to the sauce. I would probably reduce the broth and replace some of the liquid with white wine. I would also add the juice of half a lemon. Capers do taste good with lemons and while the sauce was good, it was lacking something.

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday weekend!

Haddock and Quinoa - Everyday Food

Ingredients

• 1 cup quinoa
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 2 1/2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 pound boneless, skinless tilapia fillets, divided into 8 pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup English cucumber (6 ounces), diced small
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped fresh dill
• 1/3 cup feta (1 1/2 ounces), crumbled
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice (half lemon)

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring quinoa, 2 cups water, and 1 teaspoon salt to a boil over high. Reduce to a medium simmer and cook until water evaporates, about 15 minutes. Transfer quinoa to a medium bowl and let cool 5 minutes.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons oil over medium-high. Pat fish dry and season with salt and pepper; sprinkle with paprika. Cook fillets until opaque throughout, about 4 minutes, flipping halfway through. Stir cucumber, dill, feta, 1 teaspoon oil, and lemon juice into quinoa. Season with salt and pepper. Divide quinoa among four plates and top with fish.

So to start my blog, I have a story to share. All of my clothes are fitting me tight, like really tight. I had to change my shirt three times on Wednesday so my stomach didn't show its true size. I've come to the realization I need to be more active and eat a little better. I think for the most part my dinners have been pretty healthy and I try to balance them. I just don't eat well during the week and I've made an April resolution to be healthier :) I usually don't like "health" food so tonight I branched out and thought outside for what I normally eat. This meal turned out really good.

A few item changes; Shaws didn't have fresh tilapia so I used haddock. I didn't have time to thaw anything out, but frozen fish is fine to buy. Tilapia, haddock, and cod are really similar tasting. I will say that tilapia holds up a little better in the skillet and the haddock was a little hard to cook as it kept breaking.  Whatever fish you like best I would use, except maybe salmon. I also didn't add any oil to the quinoa, I forgot actually but it tasted really fresh and I think the oil might have taken away from that.

Admittedly I was hesitant to use quinoa. My mom had made it once for breakfast and we all responded with, well thanks for making us breakfast, at least we know we won't make this again. I keep reading about how healthy it is and I figured I would try it again. I followed the recipe for making the quinoa exactly as it says above. The only think I wasn't sure about is how much 2 teaspoons of fresh lemon juice is in ratio of how much lemon to cut; I used half a lemon and that seemed to be perfect.

Everyone really liked dinner tonight so the quinoa was a success! I might try to make it for breakfast again, sweeten it up. If I do, I'll keep you all posted!