Chicken with Pine Nuts and Orzo

I have GOT to share this AMAZING recipe I made last night!! Well, 2 technically. The Chicken Recipe is Weight Watchers, and the orzo recipe I got off a box of orzo - but it was spectacular!!! I will definitely make it over and over again. In order to help you duplicate this extremely tasty dish, I have copied it exactly as it is from the recipes I used.

Orzo with Spinach, Pine Nuts & Parmesean Cheese
1 cup of Orzo
1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch dried red pepper flakes (optional)
10 oz. fresh baby spinach leaves
2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 pine nuts, toasted
1/4 cup shredded parmesean cheese, plus extra for serving (as much as you'd like!)
Salt
Pepper

1. Cook orzo as package directs.
2. Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and pepper flakes and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.
3. Add spinach and stir to mix in garlic. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 5 minutes until spinach is wilted. (*This was the point I added the pine nuts so they could get toasted**)
4. Once spinach has wilted, stir in balsamic vinegar. Add drained orzo to skillet with basil, any additional pine nuts and parmesean cheese. Toss well and season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with additional cheese, as desired.
*Makes 3 entree or 5 side dish servings.
**No nutritional facts listed, therefore, no WW Points :-(

WHILE PASTA IS COOKING, START ON CHICKEN!


Chicken with Pine Nut Gremolata
4 6-ounce skinless, boneless chicken breasts
Salt (*I used kosher salt, but I LOVE salty food!)
Pepper
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 cup loosely packed fresh flat-leafed parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon grind
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1. Place chicken breast halves between 2 sheets of heavy duty plastic wrap; pound to 1/2 inch thickness using a meat mallet or a small heavy skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper, seasoning to taste.
2. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken to pan, and cook 5 minutes on each side, or until cooked through. (**The recipe doesn't call for this but for the last 5-10 minutes the chicken was cooking, I threw in a handfull of pine nuts to roast them - TOTALLY made the recipe!!!)
3. While chicken cooks, combine parsley, pine nuts, remaining teaspoon oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine. Server gremolata (this mixture) over chicken.
Yield - 4 servings. (Serving size - 1 chicken breast, 1 1/2 tablespoons gremolata)
Weight Watchers points - 5

As Rachael Ray would say - YUMM-O!!!!!

Chicken Divan Recipe

I made another AMAZING chicken dinner a few nights ago, but it's not from a written recipe. Which was a huge feat for me!

I was thinking all day at work about what to make for dinner when all I thought I had was chicken breasts. I got home and realized we had a ton of rice so I thought I'd make an easy chicken and rice dish. Then, the more I thought about it, I remembered I had some shredded cheese and broccoli in the fridge and then - BAM! - what if I made a casserole?

It immeadiately sounded yummy sound I started to Google recipes. I had a brief moment of panic when I remembered that you need Cream of Chicken soup to "hold" the casserole "together" and so I opened my cabinet while I held my breath - and there was a can! I was smarter than I thought and had bought the can a while back "just in case", and finally it came in handy!!

But then I had a thought - my mom probably has a really awesome, easy recipe for this. Well duh - I was right! She told it to me over the phone, so I mostly had to do it from memory, and since I know I will want to make it again, I figured I might as well write it down so I don't have to keep calling my mom and at the same time share it with you!

It's easy and has few ingredients - Enjoy!

Chicken Divan

Ingredients:
2-3 Chicken breasts
1 cup shredded cheese (or more if you LOVE cheese!)
1 10.75 oz can Cream of Chicken soup
1 pkg frozen broccoli
4 tblsp butter or margarine
2 cups rice (or 1 package of 10 minute rice, or your favorite kind)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Follow package directions on broccoli to warm up it up (if it's frozen). If you choose fresh broccoli, use your discretion/taste to decide how much you want in your dish, and cook as normal in steamer.
3. As broccoli is warming, cut up chicken breasts into small, bite-size pieces. Saute these pieces in a sauce pan on your stove top on low to medium heat to cook.
4. Place all broccoli in a glass baking dish, size depending on how much broccoli/chicken you use. The pan needs to be just big enough for the broccoli to make a layer evenly covering your dish.
5. Once the chicken is cooked, layer it evenly on top of the broccoli.
6. Mix the can of soup, 1 cup of cheese and the butter/margarine (melted first). Spread mixture evenly over the broccoli and chicken.
7. Put pan in oven for 20 minutes.
8. While dish is in oven, cook rice as normal.

Serve Chicken Divan over rice - YUM!!

Chicken Kiev Recipe

Nothing smells better than breaded chicken with garlic and Italian seasoning. Oh yea - top it off with white wine vinegar, mixed with butter and green onions. I'm talking about my mom's homemade Chicken Kiev recipe! With a little improvising on my part, of course.

I grew up with the recipe and always used to love walking in the house and smell the unforgettable smell, and know it was going to be a good night! When I moved to my first apartment in college, you bet I asked my mom for the full-fledged recipe!

Here's the recipe for you to take and enjoy...it's really easy!!! And very yummy.

Thanks Mrs. C!


Chicken Kiev
*Best served on rice

- Bread crumbs (plain or Italian seasoning)
- 1/2 cup margarine or butter
- Chicken breasts
- 1/4 cup dry White Wine/Vermouth
- 1/4 cup sliced green onions (2 bunches - cut up to 2 inches into green part)

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Melt 1/4 cup of the margarine/butter. Dip each chicken breast in butter. Cover it in bread crumbs. Place in shallow glass baking pan.
3. Bake near center of over for 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the chicken breast, until fully cooked.
4. Melt remaining butter (1/4 cup) in bowl, and mix in onions and wine.
5. Pour sauce over chicken.
6. Return chicken to oven for 3-5 additional minutes to let the mixture seep into the chicken and to heat the sauce.

Enjoy! I didn't have any onions at home tonight, and didn't want to go out to the store, so I substitued onions with garlic. So we'll see what happens. I may have invented a new recipe!