Seafood Gratin

Posted by CK in cheese, easy, gratin, potato, recipe, seafood, vegetarian

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C came back into town for the week end and we just couldn't resist getting back into our old habit of cooking together. Here's what we came up with this time:

Ingredients (for 2 large servings or 4 small servings):

• 2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup milk
• half a bunch of broccoli, chopped
• 5 white mushrooms, chopped
• 1 cup seafood mix (I got the 10$ pack of frozen seafood from Super C - but feel free to use whatever seafood you prefer)
• Half a shallot, chopped
• Grated mozzarella cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Boil the potatoes in a small sauce pan.
3. In a separate pan, boil your seafood for a few minutes, simply to let them melt (Note: If your seafood isn't precooked, make sure it is cooked before proceeding with this recipe).
4. In the meantime, mix your shallots, mushrooms and broccoli in a bowl.
5. Once your seafood is ready, add to the veggies. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix. (Note: next time, I'll try adding coriander to the mixture. Feel free to add whatever spice you may think is appropriate for your taste buds)
6. Once your potatoes are boiled, drain and add the milk. Mash until the potatoes and the milk have been properly combined.
7. In large ramekins, layer the potatoes at the bottom and add the seafood mixture on top. 
8. Top it off with mozzarella cheese (quantity to your liking) and slide in the oven until the cheese has melted, approximately 5-10 minutes. 
9. Serve immediately. 

Enjoy!

- CK

Creamy Herb and Garlic Orzo Salad

Posted by CK in basil, cheese, easy, olives, orzo, pasta salad, recipe, sun-dried tomatoes

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As mentioned in my previous post, we spent the beautiful Canada Day week end at our friend's cottage. We had quite the relaxing time, so we came back extremely rested, our ears ringing from all the fireworks and surely, our bellies full!

Before we left to part-take in the shenanigans, I had asked one of A's co-workers for an amazing salad recipe she whipped up for a BBQ we attended. With a few adjustments (the original recipe called for Feta cheese and capers, which I'm not a big fan of), I came up with a warm, yet refreshing salad that everybody enjoyed! 

Prep time: 15 minutes. BOOM!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups Orzo
• 1 cup diced black olives
• 1.5 tbsp diced sun-dried tomatoes (make sure to keep the oil it's dipped in)
• 1 tbsp herbs and garlic Boursin cheese
• lime juice to taste
• 1 extra tsp sun-dried tomatoes oil
• 1/2 tbsp basil

Do it up:

1. Cook the Orzo according to the package (it shouldn't take more than 10 minutes to cook)
2. Once your Orzo is ready, place it in a salad bowl and add the olives, the sun-dried tomatoes, the extra oil, and the basil. Mix well.
3. Then add the Boursin cheese. The orzo will still be warm enough that the cheese will melt when mixed, creating a creamy looking salad.
4. Finally, add the lime juice to taste, just to give it the kick it needs.

Pair this with spicy lime and chicken skewers, and you've got yourself a full meal! :) 

Enjoy!

- CK 

Springy Grapefruit Salad

Posted by amanda in cheese, easy, grapefruit, healthy, lemon, salad, spinach

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free your fruit!!...into your belly

Spring is in the air (she said, as it snowed aggressively outside her window)! Or it was this past Family Day weekend anyhoo. A little wishful thinking never hurt, right?

Spring means salad season, and there's nothing I like better than a tasty combo of fruits and veggies, and of course, cheese. Cheese is pretty key.

If you're getting tired of our first spinach/parm salad (but how could you!) - here's a variation on a theme with a little more zing. Also, recent studies have indicated that eating citrus fruits lowers a woman's risk of blood-clot related stroke, so get peeling!

Here's an easy, healthy, tasty salad for 4:

You're going to need:

8oz (250g) of baby salad. Wash it.
Half a cup of Parmesan flakes (shredded or flaked, not ground or whatever...if you have a block of it, use a veggie peeler for speed's sake. You can also buy it flaked, as per the petals in the earlier recipe).
1 grapefruit (I prefer red) peeled and segmented.

Toss (more like mix) these ingredients with you hands in a large bowl for ideal distribution onto 4 plates or into bowls.

Dressing: In a small bowl mix....

Juice of half a lemon (or roughly 1.5-2 tbsp)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
chopped chives to taste (you're going to sprinkle this over the salad, so a large tbsp or two would do, unless you really want to up the chivey-ness)
fresh ground pepper

For a little protein consider toasting some slivered almonds and tossing them in there. Raisins might also be yummy. Flax seeds if you're feeling ambitious, though they would probably be best mixed into your dressing, or else they'll sink to the bottom.

Dress your salad and enjoy!!

DIY Cheese Tortellini

Posted by CK in budget, cheese, easy, parsley, pasta, vegetarian

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How would you feel if I told you you could make your own cheese tortellini with 4 simple ingredients? With lent season starting today, and my choice on cutting on meat, I have no choice but to start looking for great vegetarian recipes again. This cheese tortellini is definitely going up on my list! The original recipe was for a lobster tortellini, which - you know - I'll HAVE to try out. But in the meantime, let's start small shall we? ;)

Now, I must warn you that this does take a while (i.e. approximately 2 hours) if you don't have a pasta maker (that's definitely on my next wish list!!). In the meantime, get ready to use those muscles, because you're in for a delicious ride! :)

Note: This is a great recipe if you're just starting with pasta making. It definitely put me in the mood to start making all my pasta from scratch!

Step 1. Make the pasta dough

All you need for this pasta dough recipe is flour and water. Yes. That's it. Trust me on this one. So, for about 5 good portions of tortellini, use:

•  3 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour (feel free to play around with those, I would suggest keeping the ratio at max a half and half, but that's for you to experiment). To this, add 1/2 a cup of warm water and mix.
• Add warm water to this mix - one tbsp at a time - until all the dry flour has been absorbed. Knead this ball of dough for about 10 minutes (it should be stiff for you to knead), or until you get a nice smooth ball that's not too sticky, but not too dry either. You'll see what I mean as you do it. Don't be shy and give it a try :)
• Once that's done, wrap it in plastic and let it rest for at least 1 hour. That'll give time for the glutens to rest so you get a nice elastic dough.

Step 2. Make your cheese filling

• For the amount of dough you made, you'll need about half a box of ricotta cheese (I picked the traditional kind because I wanted to be on the safe side - I'm not a ricotta expert) and about a tablespoon of fresh cut parsley. C and I are not big fans of parsley's strong taste, but still wanted to add a little something to the cheese. Feel free to add more if you like :)
• Mix well in a bowl and let it rest in the fridge until your dough is ready.

Step 3. Make the tortellini - yay!

Oook. Now comes the fun part! First tip I'll give you: work with small portions of your dough - it'll be long, but it'll be much less work on your arms. Make sure you leave the rest of your dough wrapped in plastic so it doesn't dry out while you're working your dough.

Honestly, This is a faster - and funner - process if there's two of you: 1 person rolls the dough and 1 person rolls the tortellini, but that's up to you and how much time you have. 

A. Take a piece of your dough and roll it out on a flouered surface. Make sure it's as thin as possible so your pasta doesn't turn out too thick once cooked, making you miss out on the amazing filling.

B. Using a circular cookie cutter (not too big, not too small, depending on the size you want to make your tortellini), cut circles in your rolled out dough. Apologies for not having a picture for this step, but I think you get the gist of it. Make sure to use the scraps with new dough so that it doesn't crumble the next time you use it!

C. Lay out your cut circles and a little over a quarter of a teaspoon of your cheese-parsley mix to the center.

D. Dab the borders of your circle with water and fold in half. Make sure you press close to the cheese to remove the air in there.

E. Press the cheese up toward the border using your thumb.

F. Twist the two corners towards each other and secure. Place your finished product on a cookie sheet. Play around with the twist and see what they look like! Twisting in different directions will make them look different, but they all have the same delicious taste! :)

From this point on, you have two options:

1. Freeze them for later. If you're going to do that, make sure they're not touching each other on your cookie sheet and freeze them flat for about half an hour, then transfer them into a freezer bag and save for later. Once you're ready to eat, take them out of the freezer and boil for approximately 3-5 minutes, or until they float to the top - about a dozen at a time, depending on the size of your pot.
2. Make them fresh! How can you resist?? In this case, boil for approximately 2-3 minutes, or until they float to the top - about a dozen at a time, depending on the size of your pot.

We couldn't resist and had to try it out for supper! So we cooked them and made a simple rosé sauce! :) Quite impressed with ourselves I must say. Now, I have to spend a full day making those for the days we just won't feel like cooking!

Not only are they delicous, but they're also cheap to make! Enjoy it to the last bit and have fun with different fillings. Next stop, LOBSTER! :)

- CK

Roasted HeartBeets Valentines' Day Appetizer

Posted by amanda in appetizer, beet, budget, cheese, chevre, easy, healthy, mint, recipe, roast, valentines day, vegetable, vegetarian

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Special occasion dinners are divine, but they can also put a lot of pressure on people who are used to eating out of tupperware to make a multi-course meal on real dinnerware (i.e. me). I'm always on the lookout for fun appetizers that make me look like a better cook than I am, and this year I've happened upon a winning combination. The combination of foods isn't a terribly original one (beets and chevre have a long standing and delicious history), but this is a cute visual twist on a safe taste combination that will dress up a dinner in a heartbeat ;) Though this dish is commonly served as a salad, I think it makes an elegant appetizer. It would pair nicely with the lobster dinner we're recommending, and would also be dressed up prettily by a glass of champagne! A nice bonus: beets are great for, you guessed it, your heart.


You'll want to prep your parts about 1.5 hours before serving: the beets need to cool once roasted, and you want to assemble no more than 30 minutes before you serve, so things don't try out or unravel too dramatically). I actually roasted and cooled my beets a whole day before prepping my dish - slicing mint and spreading chevre takes only a minute, and you only need to spend as long arranging your plates as you actually want to - assembly takes about 5 minutes let's say)






Appetizer for 2


Ingredients:

• 2-3 medium sized beets, peeled
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sea Salt
• 2 sprigs of fresh mint (depending on your servings and your mint...basically you want about 2.5-3 mint leaves per plate)
• a small pat of chevre (I know that's an incredibly vague measurement designation, so check out the final picture..basically you want to put down a little pillow of chevre to "plant" your heart-shaped beets in, so it's pretty much up to you.)

"Heart-beets" before roasting

Don't:
-Wear white. These hearts bleed.


Do:


-Preheat your oven to 375 (make sure your rack is on the middle rung)


-Notice that your peeled beets are already somewhat heart shaped. Slice the beets top to bottom (preserving this natural shape in the slices) in pieces about 1/4 inch thick.


-Using the preexistent shape, make small cuts to shape your beet slices into hearts


-In a bowl, toss the beets in the olive oil until coated


-Sprinkle the coated beets with a few dashes of sea salt


-Lay them out on a Pyrex (glass type?) baking dish or pan. Try to make enough room so that each beet has a surface on the bottom of the pan


-Roast for 35-40 minutes, checking every 10 minutes or so. Skinnier slices will roast faster, so feel free to take them out early (my littler hearts took more like 15 minutes), thicker ones could take as long as 40 minutes. Stir the beets every 10 minutes. When they're done they'll look glazed, but not crispy.


-When they're done, chill the beets covered in the fridge, for an hour.


Before serving:


-Using a knife, lay down a pat or "pillow" of chevre on a little plate; try to mold the pat into an angle, so the hearts will be supported "up" by the chevre, as in the first picture in this post.


-Using your knife, dig little wedges into the cheese, to place the heart in. The beets will dye the chevre pink where they touch it, so you can get creative with that if you want.

Stirred and delicious final product

-Slice your mint into strips, removing the stems. If you want to make little rosebuds of mint, roll a leaf (or stack of leaves) into a tube and slice across the tube. Pinch the little rolls (little minty cinnamon bun shapes) and plant them in the chevre around the hearts, or strew them like confetti if you prefer. It'll be pretty anyways :)


-Love all serve all!

Unquenchable: A Tipsy Quest for the World's Best Bargain Wines by Natalie MacLean

Posted by amanda in book review, budget, cheese, education, wine

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Unquenchable by Natalie MacLean

Doubleday Canada, 2011

$29.95 CAN (also available as an ebook)

356pp

Though CK and I throw back our share of the red wines in this world (and have a damned good time doing it too! Not to mention the actual “wine-throwing” incident...), we’ve both always not-so-secretly wished that we knew more about the wines we were buying and drinking. We both love to learn, and wanted to understand what makes a wine tick, and how to get the most out of any delicious experience (and maybe more importantly, how to turn wines that make us screw up our faces into wines we love by pairing them more appropriately), but we also both really appreciate the bigger picture that contextualizes our purchases, particularly those that go in our mouths. We needed help, particularly as the wonderfully wine-soaked holiday season approached.

AGerman Riesling and Argentinean Malbec:
two delicious wines recommended in Unquenchable

Enter Natalie MacLean’s latest read, Unquenchable: this journey through 8 wine regions, with blessedly specific emphasis on local treasures, serves up a delightful blend of personal travel narrative, wine tasting, pairing, and (best of all) drinking tips for the aspiring oenophile. The book is made mighty by a really satisfying socio-cultural and historical exploration of the worlds and conditions (not to mention a good dose of accessible and fascinating scientific explanation) that bring some of MacLean’s favorite wines to life. Readers who care more about where their wine is really from, and who put their heart, souls, (and sometimes fingers or feet) into it, more than what’s on the label description, will be truly grateful for this human side of wine. Moreover, this isn’t one of those books that will make you feel shabby about your 10$ safety-net Shiraz; instead, Unquenchable is all about introducing the reader to remarkably budget-friendly vintages from around the world. MacLean pulls even the most impressive wines down off their lofty pedestals, turning them into stories and experiences best shared with friends and family, in sloshing raised glasses, to hearty toasts, and belly cheer. Her travels and discoveries are punctuated by memorable information, and followed up by helpful short lists of the chapters’ best value products and producers, sure-fire food pairings, and other handy tools to take to the liquor store.

Argentinean malbec from Mendoza paired
with cheddar cheese and dark chocolate

Other novice wine readers like ourselves might feel a tad disoriented by what is probably very basic wine language, and might regret the lack of a glossary, however one of the perks of Unquenchable is that it prefers storytelling over taxonomy, and so even the newcomer to the ins and outs of wine will feel at home. That being said, having a dictionary (okay, the internet) on hand, will give readers quick insight into what things like tannins are. Though, even without definitions, the stories soon compensate for any vocabulary that isn’t immediately obvious.

Unquenchable will reignite the desire for new experiences in anyone who has settled into a stable wine routine, and will give you lots of good reasons to try things you never thought you would. MacLean makes pairing easy and exciting (thanks to a beautifully written chapter about Argentina, CK and I are currently recovering from an Argentinean-Malbec-and-cheddar-cheese-bliss-coma that everyone should try at least once), and leaves the reader room to make the experience of wine choosing and drinking as thoughtful (or as purely sensual) as they want it to be. 

Unquenchable makes a great holiday gift for any wine lover this year, and is an excellent addition for anyone who loves to travel. Be prepared: it’s not only your yen for wine culture and experience that will become unquenchable, but also your desire to see the places MacLean gifts to her readers in such living detail. Natalie MacLean’s thirst for life and living is part of the true pleasure of this read, and it’s a pleasure we hope she’ll keep on sharing.

Unquenchable is ripe for the picking at your local book retailer or online at http://www.nataliemaclean.com/, where you can find lots of other great resources.

Spinach Pear and Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Mustard Dressing

Posted by amanda in budget, cheese, dressing, easy, recipe, salad, spinach, vegetarian

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This salad is really easy, and could be made really beautiful with a little careful pear-placement. I tend to go right in for chaotic salads, but you could make something quite pretty out of this one.

For the dressing, whisk together

3 parts olive oil

1 part balsamic vinegar

.5 tablespoon whole grain mustard

1 tsp brown sugar

a dash of salt

(These are my preferred ratios, and probably makes enough for two servings, however give it a shot and adjust to meet your own needs and tastes)

Drizzle this over
2 bartlett pears, sliced very thin, length-wise (one per person)
1.5-2.5 cups baby spinach per person

Once dressed, toss in half a cup of freshly grated parmesan (though not pictured here, shaved parmesan "petals" make for a sharper, more assertive parmesan presence that is super delicious. Saputo Parmesan Petals are my flowery cheese source of choice!).

Serve immediately

Baked Pasta with Sausage and Eggplant

Posted by CK in cheese, eggplant, pasta, recipe, sausage

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YUMMY. Last night I actually had time to cook a nice dinner for M and I and it turned out great! Believe it or not, I actually found this recipe on a parenting website (no worries A, I wouldn't tell you on a blog ;)). The recipes on family websites are usually very little time-consuming (takes about 45 minutes from start to finish) and delicious as it needs to please the kids. This one was no exception! Although frying eggplants is not the best for your health calorie-wise (as it absorbs most fat and adds a hell of alot of calories in the process), you'd be fine eating small portions of it. Besides, this recipe is so packed with ingredients that you won't need a big portion to fill up that belly! :)

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry pasta
• 6 links of your favorite pre-cooked sausage (beef, pork or chicken) (I used 3 large sausages that were on sale at Super C - the ones we use for the bbq - instead of 6 links of sausage)
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large eggplant cut into 1-inch pieces (you'll see that this might look like ALOT of eggplant when you cut it up, but it's actually very proportional)
• 2 tablespoons of dry basil (the original recipe calls for fresh basil but I didn't have any and it still tasted awesome)
• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• Pepper
• 1 can of Aylmer tomato soup
• 1 small can of tomato paste
• 1/3 cup of water
• 1 cup Parmesan cheese (optional - I didn't have any)

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook pasta only 6-7 minutes. It will be firm (and will soften when it's baked).
2. While waiting for water to boil, chop the sausages (into big pieces) and the onion and garlic. Cook together in olive oil in a skillet 3-4 minutes (they'll cook further when baked). Put sausages, onion and garlic in a large casserole dish.
3. In the same oil fry as many eggplant pieces as you can fit. Cook until both sides are browned and then add eggplant to casserole. Repeat with all of the eggplant pieces, adding more oil when necessary.
4. Add the cooked pasta (drained) and ½ cup of the pasta water to the casserole. Add the basil to casserole and add 1 cup of mozzarella. Grind in some black pepper.
5. In a mixing bowl, pour the tomato soup, the tomato paste and the water and mix well. Pour in pasta casserole. Stir until all ingredients are combined.
6. Optional: Sprinkle remaining cup mozzarella and Parmesan over pasta.
7. Cover with foil and refrigerate if making ahead, or immediately bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.

I would like to apologize for the picture - it's not the best for this dish but take my word for it, it's absolutely amazing! I got my sausages a little spicy so it gave an extra umph to the dish!

Enjoy!

-CK

zucchini and yellow pepper risotto with A BASIL BONUS

Posted by amanda in cheese, easy, pasta, pepper, recipe, rice, vegetable, zucchini

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So I have recently begun working, by which I mean I have a real job that leaves me exhausted by 6pm and yearning for sleep by 10. Somewhere along the line between unemployed vagrant and underpaid (but profoundly grateful) teacher, I lost the time I used to spend chopping vegetables to my couch and tired feet. I realize that this is my own fault: granola bars and coffee do not a lunch make 5 days a week. I've been burning out because I'm just not feeding my furnace, so here's a recipe I'm returning to in a time of nutritional need. I used to make this for special occasions, but risotto is actually one of the best things for me to eat for lunch as my version is packed with nutrient rich vegetables and the benefit of fresh herbs, satisfying carbs and dairy protein. Besides, risotto is one of those rare foods that actually benefits from a microwave, or can be eaten cold, which suits my noontime cravings just fine. Also, sometimes I buy a whole basil plant and can't keep it alive so I just eat it, in this :)

FYI this is a little time consuming, and I would set aside an hour to do it, but it' worth the wait for the long term gain :) And it's an impressive dish when you're done, not to mention totally delicious.

INGREDIENTS:

• 4tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 4 zucchini. diced generously
• 1 large yellow pepper, seeded and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped finely
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 1/2 cups dry risotto
• 4 tbsp dry white vermouth
• 7 cups vegetable broth, simmering
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter or margarine, room temperature
• EXTRA LARGE handful (or entire plant) of fresh basil, torn roughly
• 1 cup (freshly) grated parmesan cheese (I know it's expensive, but the real stuff will make such a different with the basil, it's really worth the extra dollar to buy a block of reggiano and grate it yourself)

DO!

Heat half your oil in a large skillet on high. When it's super hot, but not smoking hot, toss in your zucchini and peppers, and stir fry them for about 2-3 minutes, until they're starting to get a wee bit golden brown (gauge by the zukes, not the peppers). Add your garlic and stir it all together to fry for about 30 secs, then remove it all to a separate plate and set it aside for a spell.

Heat the rest of your oil in a heavy pot (this will eventually hold everything, so account for about 7 cups of rice); add the chopped onion and cook, stirring, until soft, which usually takes a good 2-5 minutes IMO. Add the risotto and cook it all together, stirring so it doesn't stick, for another vague 2-5 mintues (you want your risotto to become translucent, which has taken a wide range of times in my experience). Make sure the risotto is well coated with the olive oil.

Pour in your vermouth (delicious); let it bubble and steam away - this is its job, and I promise, not a waste of your vermouth :) Add ladleful by ladleful of hot almost boiling stock to your risotto pot, stirring each ladleful until it is absorbed by the rice. Do this until all your stock is finito. This should realistically take about 20-25 minutes. The rice will get creamier and tender, but should still be firm (think al dente pasta). It will get a little tough to stir.

When this is done, stir in your pre-cooked veggies, along with any of their escaped juices. Add in the butter/margarine, basil (LOTS OF BASIL) and grated parmesan, stirring gently (but forcefully, for the cheese spreadage). When mixed, drizzle with oil if you like, garnish generously with EVEN MORE BASIL(!) and serve hot.

Makes about 6 girl sized servings.

Healthy Stuffed Eggplant

Posted by CK in cheese, eggplant, recipe, rice, vegetarian, zucchini

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There are so many recipes that I'm finding online that I just can't wait to try, and this one is surely one of them!

Eggplants were never my favorite vegetables, but once in a while I don't mind eating them cooked or in purée form.

(source: http://operagirlcooks.com/2010/07/22/stuffed-eggplant-recipe/)

Ingredients (serves 4)

- 1 medium-sized eggplant (about 7″ long and 5″ in diameter)
- 1/4 C. extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 1/4 tsp. kosher salt
- 1 small (4 oz) zucchini, diced
- 1 medium yellow pepper, diced

- 1 C. cooked short-grain brown rice
- 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp. Italian Herb Garlic Gold Nuggets

- 1 small (1 oz) slice whole wheat sourdough bread, processed into breadcrumbs
- 1 oz (1/4 C.) grated parmesan cheese

Preparation

1. Halve the eggplant, then scoop out the insides with a melon baller or tablespoon, leaving 1/4″ of flesh. Place hollowed out halves in a 9″ square baking dish and set aside.

2. Coarsely chop the eggplant flesh.

3. In a large (12″) non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium flame. Add the onions, and cook until translucent and softened.

4. Add the eggplant and salt to the skillet, cooking until eggplant softens and is no longer opaque.

5. Add the zucchini and diced pepper to the skillet, cooking until softened.

6. Transfer sauteed vegetables to a medium mixing bowl, then add the brown rice, vinegar, and Garlic Gold nuggets. Stir until everything is combined.

7. Preheat oven to 400F.

8. In a small bowl, mix the sourdough breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese together.

9. Scoop the vegetable mixture into the eggplant halves, then top them with the breadcrumbs and cheese, patting it down to form an even crust. Bake for 25 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Serving size: 1/2 an eggplant half Calories: 318 Fat: 17g Sodium 307.9mg Carbs: 37g Fiber: 6.3g Protein: 7.6g

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

Posted by CK in cheese, chicken, lemon, pasta, recipe

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I just stumbled upon this recipe. It seems like it's somewhat a long preparation, but the outcome looks delish! Again, haven't tried it yet. Perhaps something I'll try when I move into my new home! :)
(source: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/07/grilled-chicken-with-lemon-basil-pasta/)

Ingredients

• 4 whole Grilled Chicken Breasts, Sliced
• 1 pound Penne Pasta, Cooked Until Al Dente
• ½ sticks Butter
• 3 whole Lemons, Juiced
• ¾ cups Heavy Cream
• ¼ cups Half-and-half
• 1-½ cup Grated Parmesan Cheese (or Romano)
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper, To Taste
• 20 whole Basil Leaves, Chopped

Preparation Instructions

Cook pasta, reserving 1 cup of hot pasta water when you drain. Set pasta aside in a colander.

In the same pot, melt butter over medium heat. Squeeze in the juice of 3 to 4 lemons. Whisk together. Pour in cream and half-and-heat. Whisk until hot. Dump in cheese and whisk until melted. Add salt and pepper. Check consistency, adding some of the hot pasta water to loosen the sauce if needed.

Pour pasta and sauce into a large serving bowl. Sprinkle remaining basil all over the top, then add sliced chicken breasts. Serve immediately!


Alternative: For our vegetarian Amanda, perhaps some grilled tofu or shrimp would be a good replacement to the chicken!