rosemary grilled chicken with whole-grain pilaf and steamed asparagus

I really like this chicken recipe because it is just so easy. I used boneless thighs the last time I used this recipe.  This time I tried it with skinless, boneless chicken breasts that had been pounded to a 1/4-inch thickness.  I also added a low-calorie cream sauce this time.  I think I prefer the flavor that the thighs provided.  If I use breasts again, Chef D and I will split one instead of each having our own -- we had way too many leftovers tonight.

The pilaf was okay.  It had a nice nutty flavor, but cutting out the butter to reduce calories also reduced the flavor.  The fresh asparagus, steamed just 5 minutes were perfect.

Notes for next time:  Use one breast and split it, figure out additional herbs and spices to add to the pilaf to replace the flavor lost by cutting the fat.

maple glazed salmon with baked potato

This salmon recipe is really easy and definitely leaves a nice crisp exterior and tender inside.  I didn't use enough salt this time, so the flavors did not all come through like they should have.   The potato was fluffy, yet still had a nice texture.  I originally planned to have steamed broccoli, but realized I had the makings for a salad already, so made a last minute change.

In the end, I still really liked this quick and easy meal.

steaks with sauteed squash, carrots, and asparagus

Tonight was sous-chef Saturday where Chef D prepares the meal.  Most of my sous-chef duties were cleaning up afterwards!

Chef D prepared bacon-wrapped filet's for the ladies and ribeyes for the menfolk.  On the side, we had some perfectly cooked, but crisp, fresh veggies and our favorite Sister Schubert rolls.

We ended the meal with a store-bought tiramisu kicked up a notch by Chef D.

Here are a few remarks from the test kitchen attendees:

Mama S:  Great.  Delicious. Splendid. Superb.

Ms. Diva:  The filets were almost like butter.

Mr. Diva:  Scrumpdeli-icious.

DW: Superb.

rosemary grilled chicken thighs with sauteed garlic spinach and two-cheese polenta

This Southern Living recipe just looked too good not to try and turned out to be pretty simple to prepare, as well.  Although the recipe said that boneless breasts or pork tenderloin could be used, I stayed with the thighs in hopes of a more moist meat.  The thighs marinated for about 20 hours and were true to recipe in only needing about 5 minutes per side on the grill.  At that point, I pulled them from the grill and wrapped them, covered in the fresh lemon juice, in foil and kept them in the warming oven until Chef D arrived home from work.  I used polenta in the place of the called-for grits (since I had some in the cupboard that needed to be used) and used chicken stock instead of water.  As always, it ended up needing extra liquid so I added about 1/2 cup of water extra during the 25 minutes of cooking.  

I wasn't too sure about the spinach, but decided to give it a shot.  Chef D was quite the good sport and ate all his spinach, even though I know it would not have been his choice of vegetable.  Personally, I did not care for it either, but ate mine as well.  The chicken was good and the polenta was divine (in my mind, grits are the perfect food).  I will definitely fix the chicken and grits again:)