Category: Main Dishes (Page 9 of 11)

Slow-Cooked Chicken and Tomato Sauce with Rice

January 13, 2015 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 4 Comments

Chicken and rice are great comfort foods, especially when cooked slowly with rich, saucy tomatoes. This is a meal that my husband and son enjoy very much on a cold, snowy evening. And we are definitely having some cold, snowy evenings these days. Right now we have enough snow to cross country ski, so I was very grateful and excited to get the chance to get out on my skis yesterday afternoon. The snow was piled up on every little branch, and I was the first person on the trail since the previous night’s snowfall, so the only tracks in sight were from rabbits. Fresh snow is so pristine and cleansing. Breathing in all that cold air and looking at the clean, white snow and the white-blue sky soothed my overactive mind. There is something so silent about snow. The woods were hushed, as the snow absorbed all sounds, including the internal sounds from my mind. It is easy to get overstimulated and stressed out in the this world we live in, but I left the woods a more peaceful person than I was when I entered them. Simple, nourishing food is also good for the mind, body, and soul. With the help of a crock pot, this meal cooks and builds flavors for a few hours on its own, once the prep work is done. One of the many things I like about this recipe is that it is intentionally simple. I made it as basic as I could, because sometimes that I what I have time for, or what my kids like best. You can cook the rice while you are preparing the chicken and sauce, or cook it a few minutes before mealtime, whichever works best. Add a green salad or a green vegetable, and you’ve got a healthy, complete meal that tastes good and warms up those you love. And that too is good for the soul.

Slow-Cooked Chicken and Tomato Sauce with Rice

Servings: about 4
Time: about 15 minutes preparation, and 5 hours cooking time
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Ingredients:

1 to 1 1/2 pounds chicken breast halves
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 cup chicken broth
1 14.5 ounce can of tomatoes (I really like organic San Marzano tomatoes because they have a great flavor)
1-2 teaspoons salt
1-2 teaspoons honey
about 2 cups cooked rice (I start out with 1 cup of uncooked rice, but it expands to about 2 cups when cooked)

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Swirl the oil to coat the pan, and add the chicken. Cook chicken for 5-7 minutes, turning occasionally, until lightly browned. Place chicken in your crock pot. Add the chopped onion and minced garlic to the pan. Saute for about 2 minutes. Add the chicken broth, scraping the brown bits from the pan, and stirring. Add the tomatoes, breaking the tomatoes into small pieces with your spoon. Turn off the heat and pour the tomato mixture over the chicken in the crock pot. Cover and cook on low for about 5 hours. When you are about to serve the meal, test and season to taste with salt. Add 1 to 2 teaspoons of honey to taste, and stir to combine. Serve the chicken and tomato sauce over cooked rice. You may add the cooked rice to the crock pot before serving if you wish. Enjoy!

Warm Up with Roasted Butternut Squash and Cauliflower in Pita Bread

November 19, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 0 Comments

It snowed almost all day today. The sandhill cranes must be getting ready to head south, because I could hear them at dusk this evening, calling and honking and making such a racket, gathering at the bird sanctuary near here. These are perfect times to roast vegetables, using nature’s bounty, warming up the kitchen, warming up ourselves. The recipe I have posted below is very flavorful and nourishing. I love the color combination of the vivid, golden butternut squash with the deep purple of the onion. Butternut squash and cauliflower can taste a little bland when cooked all on their own, but when they are roasted with a little olive oil, red onion and garlic, and then tossed with lemon and toasted walnuts, the result is delicious flavor and lots of nutrients. Add some grated Parmesan cheese, spoon the mixture into a pita pocket or onto a piece of flatbread, and you have a light, yet satisfying meal. This time of year makes me think of the following quote by the poet Wendell Berry: “Eating with the fullest pleasure is perhaps the profoundest enactment of our connection with the world. In this pleasure we experience and celebrate our dependence and our gratitude.”

Butternut Squash and Cauliflower Roasted with Red Onion and Garlic

Servings: 2-4
Time: approximately 45 minutes
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Ingredients:

2 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cubed in 1/2-inch pieces
2 cups cauliflower, cut into florets
1/2 cup red onion, sliced
1-2 cloves garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup walnuts
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 pita bread pockets or 2-4 pieces flatbread

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Wash and chop/slice the vegetables. Spread the vegetables in a single layer onto a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Roast in your oven for 30-35 minutes, or until the vegetables start to turn lightly brown and are crisp-tender. While the vegetables are roasting, grate the teaspoon of lemon zest and squeeze the tablespoon of lemon juice into a cup. Also, on a separate baking sheet, lay out the walnuts and pita bread. For about the last five minutes of roasting time, place the walnuts and pita bread in the oven with the vegetables, till the walnuts are lightly toasted but not burned. Remove the walnuts, pita, and vegetables from the oven and toss the vegetables and walnuts in a bowl with 1 more tablespoon of olive oil, the grated Parmesan cheese, the lemon zest and lemon juice. Gently spoon the mixture into the pita pockets or spoon onto flatbread. Enjoy!

Pasta with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Sausage, and the Power of Music, Food, and Memories

November 13, 2014 / Dragonfly Home Recipes / 2 Comments

In some ways, music and food are very similar. Both can transport us to earlier times. A well-loved song or a certain dish can remind us of a beloved place or a long lost friend. The other night, I put on a Lucinda Williams CD to listen to while I was doing dishes. The last song took me by surprise. I hadn’t listened to this album in quite awhile, and I had forgotten which songs were on there–but when Lucinda started singing “Which Will,” a song written by English singer/songwriter Nick Drake, I felt myself become full of sentimental nostalgia. Right away I was transported back to a dorm room in Bremen, Germany, twenty-seven years ago. A good friend of mine had sent me a mix tape (that shows my age!) when I was studying in Germany, and the song “Which Will” was on that tape. Because I had brought just a small amount of things with me for my seven months studying abroad, I listened to that tape over and over. Immediately, I thought of the friend who had sent me the tape, because it was so comforting to receive music when I was far from home. And then I thought of my time in Germany, and what I was often doing when that song was in the background: daydreaming, cooking, eating, and having great conversations. I was staying at that time in a dorm full of international students, all of whom were learning German. I became good friends with a woman from Colombia, and we often cooked and ate dinner together. I can remember evenings sitting at a tiny table with mismatched chairs, listening to the rain spattering the street. We would often invite other students walking down the hall to come in and eat with us, as we were all practicing our German speaking skills and learning about the different cultures gathered in the dorm. One of our standard meals was the pasta dish posted below. I don’t believe this dish is particularly German, Colombian, or American, but it is so easy, colorful, and nourishing, and anyone can make it, even two international students on a tight budget in a tiny dorm kitchen, communicating in a language that is not their own. It is kind of a meal borne of necessity, but enjoyed to the fullest because of its simplicity and quality ingredients. It’s also a great meal for busy people who come home from a long day and don’t have a lot of time to make a complicated dinner, which is why this meal is still relevant in my life today. Good food and music are warm and comforting on a cold, dark, rainy evening, and we had many of those in northern Germany in wintertime, and we are experiencing them at this time of year here as well.

Pasta with Tomatoes, Spinach, and Sausage

Ingredients

12 ounces of pasta, any kind
8 ounces of high-quality kielbasa or bratwurst, sliced in bite-sized pieces
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 cup spinach
4-8 ounces cheddar cheese, cut into small chunks
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cook the pasta as directed in salted, boiling water. While pasta is cooking, slice the sausage, tomatoes, and cheese. When pasta is just tender, drain in a colander. In the same pot, heat the tablespoon of oil over medium-high heat. Saute the sausage slices for about 5 minutes, or until they are browned. Add the pasta to the pot, and then add the cheese, tomatoes, and spinach. Stir until combined, and the cheese is melted. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!