Greek Chicken Bake

Casserole type dishes are a great weeknight dinner since it all cooks in one pan, which makes clean up really easy. Also there is plenty for leftovers the next day. This dish uses some traditional Greek ingredients such as feta cheese, spinach, kalamata olives, and artichoke hearts.


1 package whole wheat penne pasta
4 cups cubed chicken breast
1 can (29 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes
1 package frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry
½ cup sliced kalamata olives
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
½ cup crumbled feta cheese

Cook pasta for about 5 minutes, drain and put in large bowl. Mix in all the ingredients and transfer to a greased 9x13 on baking pan. Sprinkle the top with cheeses. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes.

Caprese Pasty

I traveled to England this last May and I ate a lot of pasties. If you aren’t familiar with this dish it’s called a Cornish Pasty and it’s made of a traditional pie crust filled with cubed meat, potatoes, veggies, and a light peppery sauce. It’s similar to a meat pie. I wanted to do a twist on the traditional pasty and make it with caprese ingredients. I had one similar to this when I visited Bury St. Edmunds in England with my sister.


Pie Crust recipe
2 cups flour
2/3 cup shortening
1 tsp salt
4 – 5 T warm water
Mix flour and salt together then cut in the shortening and water until it’s the size of peas. Trying not to work the dough too much. Roll out the dough into a large circle. Then cut the dough in half into 2 half circles.

Fill the pie dough with fresh mozzarella, tomato, basil, and pepperoni. Then fold the dough over and crimp the edges. Bake in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve marinara sauce on the side.

Red Beans and Rice with Sausage

Anything that has sausage is a winning recipe for me. I really love the spicy flavors in this dish and it’s a really filling dinner since it’s served over rice and has plenty of beans. Also this is a one pot meal, so clean up is easy. I’m sure you’re noticing a trend on this blog, I really love one pot meals :)


1 cup uncooked rice and 2 cups water
2 T EVOO
1 onion chopped
1 green bellpepper chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
16 oz sausage sliced
1 can red kidney beans
1 can diced tomatoes

Cook rice according to directions and set aside. Heat a large pan over medium heat and add the EVOO. Stir in onion and bellpepper until soft. Stir in cumin and chili powder and mix well. Add in the sliced sausage and cook until browned. Then mix in the beans and diced tomatoes and simmer until heated through. Serve over Rice in bowls.

Note: This can also be prepared in the crock pot. Just toss all the ingredients in a crock pot at the same time (except the rice) and cook on high for 3 hours.

Cioppino

This is a little bit of a cheater dish since I used a premade Cioppino Sauce from AJ’s. Although a homemade cioppino base would be pretty easy to make since it’s similar to a marinara sauce. I really love mussels and this is a very simple and fresh dish.


2 lbs fresh mussels
1 lb shrimp
1 lb scallops
1 bottle or about 3 cups Cioppino base sauce

Simmer the Cioppino sauce in a large pot (of course I use my Le Creuset) for about 15 minutes. Then add the shrimp, scallops, and mussels to the pot and put the lid on. Let the seafood steam for about 12 minutes until the mussels have opened. Serve the soup in a bowl with a French baguette on the side.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

Matt loves anything that has buffalo sauce on it so he created this salad. Grill 2 chicken breasts in buffalo sauce then slice them when they come off the gill. Place the sliced chicken on top a salad of mixed greens, celery, carrots, tomato, and mozzarella cheese. Cover the salad with a Buffalo Ranch dressing which is just 1 part buffalo sauce and 1 part Ranch dressing. Serve a grilled baguette with Olive Oil on the side.

Chicken Enchiladas

These are a favorite meal around here because there are usually leftovers and they are really easy. I also cook them all in a casserole dish so they are great to serve at a party since you can make a lot of them at once.


2 chicken breasts
1 can green chiles
½ can jalapenos (or more if you like it spicier)
1 ½ cups shredded cheddar cheese
12 corn tortillas
2 cups Enchilada sauce (homemade or I like Macayo’s canned sauce)

Boil chicken breasts for 10 minutes then set aside to cool. Finely shred the chicken with two forks. Transfer the chicken to a large bowl and mix in green chiles, jalapenos, and 1 cup of the cheese. Spread 1 cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a large greased casserole dish. Then take one tortilla at a time and fill with the chicken mixture and place in the dish seam side down. Once all tortillas are filled pour 1 cup of sauce over the top, spread it around to cover all tortillas. Then top with the remaining ½ cup of shredded cheese. Bake in the oven uncovered at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Stuffed Bacon Cheeseburgers

We decided to try a twist on the traditional bacon cheeseburger and put the cheese and bacon inside instead of on top.


To start sauté bacon and onion until crispy. Set mix aside in a bowl and combine with shredded cheddar cheese. Then make two thin beef patties for each burger. Season the meat as you normally would with salt and pepper. Then put the mix of bacon, onion, and cheese in the center of one of the patties. Put the other patty on top and seal the edges. Grill the burgers for about 8 minutes on each side depending on how you like your meat prepared. Then serve on a bun and top with additional cheese and bacon if desired. Enjoy your juicy burger with a surprise inside!

BBQ Chicken Pizza

I’ve never been a huge fan of BBQ chicken pizza. I usually opt for a traditional red sauce pizza. I know several people that absolutely love BBQ chicken pizza so I figured I would try it out at home. The result was an amazing meal! It turned out really delicious.
To start I bought fresh pizza dough from whole foods. Then I rolled it out with some flour and put it on my pizza stone with a little cornmeal underneath so it doesn’t stick. Then I top with my homemade BBQ sauce (recipe below), rotisserie chicken (I bought some from Safeway then shredded it), sliced red onion, then top with freshly grated mozzarella. Bake at 450 degrees 15 – 18 minutes.

BBQ Sauce recipe (makes 3 cups)
6 slices of bacon (finely chopped)
1 onion chopped
¾ cup ketchup
¾ cup plain tomato sauce
½ cup brown sugar
¼ cup cider vinegar
1 T Worcestershire
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Put large pot over medium heat and add chopped bacon and crisp. Add onion and cook until soft. Stir in remaining ingredients and mix well. Simmer for 5 – 10 mins.