Janet's More or Less Chicken

Here is my favorite thing to make when we have friends over. It is really easy and everyone loves it. You serve it in a big pot on the table and give each person a big piece of crunchy bread. I usually use some sort of French bread. Not the really skinny kind, more the type you could put some of the chicken into and make a sandwich.


More or Less Chicken


½ Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
3 crushed garlic cloves

8 Chicken Breasts (you can use fewer without altering the rest of recipe)

1 Large Can Whole Tomatoes w/ juice
1 ½ Cups White Wine
1 cup Kalamata Olives (buy ones with no pits)
¾ cup Raisins
½ cup Pine Nuts

One Bunch of Scallions cut into 2 inch long pieces


1. Sizzle the first 4 ingredients together in a large pan for one minute.
2. Add whole chicken breasts and brown on each side. (You can use the chicken strips if you want to)
3. Add the next 5 ingredients and simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. Add the scallions and cook 5 more minutes
5. Enjoy!

Shortcut to Heaven

This is an abbreviated approach to an authentic pizza crust from Adam's awesome mother starter, with yeast he alchemically captured from the air. By abbreviated, I mean it still takes 3 days, but without as much fussing on day 3. It's so freakin' worth it.

Making Starter

1. Measure out ¼ cup of mother starter into big bowl.
2. Fill ¼ measuring cup 2/3 full of water. Dissolve starter into it.
3. Add ¼ cup flour. Stir until combined.
4. Leave on counter all day or overnight. (Now feed the mother: add 1/8 cup flour and a tad less water. Leave on counter for 1-2 hours.
5. Stir down new starter and repeat steps 2-4.

Making Pizza

1.5 cups flour

1 tsp. Sugar

¾ tsp. Salt

3 T. olive oil

Scant ½ cup water

1. Pulse dry ingredients in food processor.
2. Add oil and scant ½ cup water. Process until dough forms sticky ball.
3. Knead dough until smooth, adding more flour if necessary.
4. Put in oiled bowl; turn dough in bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until doubled, about an hour.

Use or refrigerate. Punch down dough when ready, and prepare pizza.

Healthy Pancake Make-Ahead Mix

Why use Bisquik (loaded with trans-fat) when you can quickly whip up a batch of dry mix on your own? I have tinkered with this quite a bit, and have upped the milk from 1/2 to a whole cup (I like my pancakes a little on the thin side). Here 'tis:

Healthy Pancake Dry Mix and Recipe

Dry Mix

2 cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup wheat flour

¼ cup flaxseed

6 tsp. baking powder

1/3 cup sugar

1 ½ tsp. Salt

Mix all ingredients and store in an airtight container. If it won’t all be used within about a week, store in fridge because flaxseed spoils quickly.

Pancake Recipe:

1 cup dry mix

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 Tbsp. Oil

Because of the oil in the pancakes, you don’t really need any in the pan. These pancakes have such a nice flavor that when you have regular old pancakes again, they will seem bland and boring!

green cooking site

I'm on a posting frenzy today. Found a neat website, especially the recipe section:

http://www.thedailygreen.com/

asparagus, orange and fennel oh my!

a link to the salad I made for easter:

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/238012

Focaccia

I can only imagine how much better this would be with Adam's starter dough, but for a QUICK, EASY hard-to-mess-up recipe (because I've made it 4 or 5 times and it's come out good each time despite my playing fast and loose with the recipe), this is pretty good. It's posted as I found it on allrecipes, but I now sprinkle herbs on top instead of adding them into the dough. I also sometimes substitute out 3/4 cup of white flour and use 1/2 cup wheat flour and 1/4 cup flaxseed meal. Comes out good both ways.

FOCACCIA

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. white sugar
1 packet dry yeast
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp.. dried thyme
1 tsp. dried basil
pinch black pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 cup water
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. grated parmesan
1 cup mozzerella

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

1. In a food processor, stir together the flour, salt, surgar, yeast, herbs and pepper. Add oil and water, and mix until a ball is formed, about 20 seconds. Dough should be sticky, smoothe and elastic.
2. Lightly oil a large bowl, place dough in bowl and coat with oil. Cover tightly with plastic wrap or a damp towel, and let rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
3. Punch dough down, place on greased baking sheet. Pull into a 1/2 inch thick rectangle. Brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with parmesan and mozzerella.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Beans, Beans...you know the rest (Lentil Salad with Feta)

I've been looking for recipes using beans and whole grains. The kinds that come in a bag for about 50 cents, because they're economical, tasty, filling and very healthy. Not to mention the fun of having gas.

I used to think lentils HAD to go with ham or bacon to give them flavor and make them palatable. Not so! Some lemon juice and garlic does just fine, and the lentils actually have a flavor all on their own that I happen to really like.

I made this for lunch today; it rocked. My only substitution was sundried tomatoes for cherry tomatoes. The lentils did get a bit mushy with all the tossing at the end. I don't know if this is just the nature of lentils, or if I cooked them a bit too long. Anyway:

Lentil Salad with Feta

1 1/4 cups dried lentils
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon coarse ground pepper
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 1/2 cups quartered cherry tomatoes
1 cup diced cucumber
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup thinly sliced celery

Place lentils in a large saucepan; cover with water to 2 inches above lentils, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well, and set aside.

Combine lemon juice and next 5 ingredients (lemon juice through garlic) in a medium bowl; stir with a wire whisk until blended.

Add lentils, tomatoes, cucumber, cheese, and celery to lemon juice mixture; toss gently to coat.

Serves 4.