Back to the Basics

So yesterday, with about three hours on my hands to make dinner, I decided to go for the easiest simplest dinner, one which would take very little effort and time. One of those "let's see what's in the fridge and what I can make with it." Well, obviously, since I was the one who went to the grocery store and picked out everything I had a pretty good idea of what was in the fridge and what I could actually do with it (or at least I had thought briefly about it when I put the groceries into the cart).

Anyways, I wandered into the kitchen and started pulling everything out of the fridge. I decided on simple roast chicken breast, yukon gold potatoes (preparation was not initially defined), and something with green beans, asparagus and tomatoes and maybe edamame. So I started with the chicken, because I knew that would take the longest. Onto a pan, a little olive oil, a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper and into the oven at 375. I had about 35-40 minutes until that was done so I focused on the potatoes. Since I like my roasted potatoes crispy I usually cook them at 425, and the oven was already in use at a much lower temperature, so I decided to just saute them. But, I don't always like pan sauteed potatoes because I have found that I have to use more oil because they need to cook for awhile (although I suppose that I could put a lid on and partially steam them), I decided to par boil them and finish them off in the saute pan. Then I could add some garlic because it would be a quick cook and the garlic wouldn't burn. I freakin' love garlic and potatoes.

Chicken and potatoes done. Now onto the vegetable. Since I had some boiling water (from the potatoes), I decided to blanch some green beans, asparagus and edamame. I chilled them and sort of looked at them trying to decide what to do. Back to the fridge/pantry. Out came: dijon mustard, feta cheese, onion, red wine vinegar, olive oil and tomatoes. So I made a dressing with the mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Sliced some cheese and tomatoes,diced the onion and tossed it with the greenies. With a quick taste...mmm...delicious!

I also grabbed some thyme from the fridge and threw it in the pan with the potatoes, again with a good sprinkle of salt and pepper. Chicken came out and everything was done. All at the same time even, which is always a big big problem for me. To my great surprise this very simple, quick dinner was delicious. Jeff even ate the green beans...a rare feat. I think feta cheese helps him to digest it, or maybe he was just starving and I gave him no choice.

Then, last night was the first night in which we had an ice cream craving and didn't go get some after the gym (actually I had an ice cream craving...but then again I'm usually the motivation for the post-work out ice cream treat), but that's because we had strawberry "gelato" at home. Although it isn't my perfect gelato, it still tastes awesome after the gym.

Soooo...recipes! I haven't posted any in awhile, but here's the recipes for my super simple recipes from last night (if you couldn't have figured them out from my descriptions):

Roast Chicken Breast
2 chicken breasts, skin on, bone in
olive oil
salt and pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375. Put chicken on pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and olive oil. Put in oven for 35-40 minutes until skin is crispy and juices run clear (I think the internal temperature should be 165 but don't quote me on that).

Garlicky Delicious Pan Sauteed Potatoes
About 4 handfuls of Yukon Gold Potatoes (enough for two)
1 T olive oil
1 clove of garlic
thyme (or any of your favorite herb, fresh)
salt and pepper

Put potatoes (whole) in a pot of cold water and bring to a boil over high heat. Add salt to the water. Cook until the potatoes are almost cooked through (knife goes in with a wee bit of force). Keep the water on the heat if you're also cooking the veggies. Cut the potatoes in quarters (I like keeping them whole while I boil them because I think, maybe it's not true, that when you boil the potatoes already cut they get a little water logged) Heat a saute pan over medium heat, and add the olive oil when hot. Add the garlic and immediately add the potatoes. Add salt and pepper. If it looks like the garlic is going to burn add a LITTLE white wine or broth or something (it will reduce the crispiness of the potatoes a touch, but at least you won't have burnt bitter garlic), then reduce the heat cause it's too high. Cook until the potatoes are done and add the thyme towards the end of the cooking.

Green Bean, Asparagus, Tomato, Edamame, Feta Salad
Any combination of green beans, asparagus, tomatoes and edamame to fit your taste
2 -4 T of finely chopped onion
~ 1/4 cup diced feta
1 heaping teaspoon dijon mustard
splash of red wine vinegar
1 T olive oil
Handful of parsley

Blanch the greenies in boiling, SALTED water. Chill in an ice water bath. Chop the tomatoes into large-ish pieces and cut the feta into cubes. Whisk together the mustard, vinegar and olive oil. Toss everything together and add some salt and pepper. Taste and make sure it's delicious.