BBQ Chicken & Hasselback Potatoes

While killing time on Pinterest recently, I stumbled upon a beautiful potato! Hasselback Potatoes are artfully prepared, and when done, make such a simple food look so fancy. Of course, they are delicious too :)

I made these the other night, and served them alongside BBQ chicken/Naked Chik Cutlet. I also whipped up a delicious dipping sauce for the potatoes, using low-fat sour cream and shredded Mexican-mix cheese.

HASSELBACK POTATOES

Ingredients
2 Medium Size Potatoes
2 - 3 Cloves Garlic, thinly sliced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp Butter
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Method
Preheat the oven to 425˚F. Put the potato on a chopping board, flat side down. Start from one end of the potato, cut almost all the way through, at about 3 to 4 mm intervals.

Arrange the potatoes in a baking tray and insert sliced garlic in between the slits. Scatter some slightly melted butter on top of each potato. Then drizzle the olive oil and sprinkle some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake the potatoes for about 40-60 minutes or until the potatoes turn crispy and the flesh is soft.

DIPPING SAUCE

Ingredients

4 Tbsp low-fat sour cream

2 Tbsp Mexican-mix shredded cheese (whatever you have on hand will work)

Method

Mix sour cream and cheese in a small ramekin. Place in microwave for 30-45 seconds. Mix thoroughly.

BBQ CHICKEN

Ingredients

1 Boneless chicken breast

1 Quorn Naked Chik Cutlet

1 1/2 C Stubbs Original BBQ sauce

2 Tbsp Honey

Method

Place protein in tupperware or ziplock baggie. Cover each with BBQ sauce and drizzle honey on top. Let marinate in the refrigerator for 24 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chicken in oven for 25 minutes, turning over mid-way through the cooking time.

Paula Deen's Southern Fried Chicken (or Tofu)

This was such a scrum-diddly-umptious dinner! We made fried chicken (and tofu!), per Paula Deen's recipe (with a few minor tweaks), and served it along-side mashed potatoes with gravy, and peas. Oh yeah, we invited Kim to dinner too :)

For obvious health reasons, this is not a meal we'll have often, but when we do have it we'll definitely enjoy it!

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1/3 cup water
• About 1 cup hot red pepper sauce (we used Louisiana)
• 2 cups self-rising flour
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• House seasoning, recipe follows
• 1 chicken breast
• 4 slices of tofu, 3/4" thick
• Oil, for frying (I used veggie oil...bad, I know, but it works the best!)

Directions

In a medium size bowl, beat the eggs with the water. Add enough hot sauce so the egg mixture is bright orange. In another bowl, combine the flour and pepper. Season the tofu/chicken with the house seasoning, let marinate in refrigerator for at least 20 minutes. Dip the seasoned tofu/chicken in the egg, and then coat well in the flour mixture.

Heat the oil to 350 degrees F in a deep pot (I used a small saute pan, and covered it with an oil screen and it worked just fine). Do not fill the pot more than 1/2 full with oil (we did a very slight amount of oil - enough to get the tofu/chicken fried, but not so much that we felt guilty!)

Fry the tofu/chicken in the oil until brown and crisp. Dark meat takes longer then white meat. It should take dark meat about 13 to 14 minutes, white meat around 8 to 10 minutes.

House Seasoning:

• 1 cup salt (this is WAY too much salt - we used less than 1/2 C salt, and removed much of the seasoning before dipping the tofu/chicken into the egg mix. Had we prepared per these directions, it wouldn't have been edible)
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder
• *Leftover seasoning can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 6 months

Hello Dolly Bars

This recipe comes from The Complete Magnolia Bakery cookbook.  Chris gave it to me for Christmas, and so far every recipe I've made from it has been DELICIOUS!

I made these Hello Dolly bars yesterday and brought them over to Margie's house.  They are borderline addictive - perfectly chewy and buttery and totally indulgent. Yummy!

• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 2 cups coarsely chopped pecans
• 2 cups sweetened flaked coconut
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup butterscotch chips
• 3/4 cup unsalted butter , melted
• 21 ounces sweetened condensed milk (1 1/2 cans)

Preheat oven to 325°; lightly grease a 13x9 inch baking pan. 

In a large bowl, mix together the first 6 ingredients; transfer mixture to the prepared pan; pat down evenly with your hands. 

Pour the sweetened condensed milk over the top to cover, using a spatula to spread if necessary.

Bake 30-35 minutes or until lightly golden. 

Cool to room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and let set overnight before cutting and serving.

Pretzel Rolo Amazingness

It's hard to imagine a Rolo can get any better than it already is. I'm happy to have discovered that it can!

My coworker, Barbara, shared this recipe with me:

-butter snaps pretzels (windowpane style)

-Rolo candy

Preheat over to 325. Place pretzels on wax paper on top of a sheet pan. Place one Rolo on each pretzel. Bake for 3-5 mins. Watch so the candy doesn't melt entirely! Remove from oven an top each with another pretzel. Cool and enjoy!

Basil, Lemon & Spinach Pasta

Rob and I made this a few weeks ago - yum! Although we were eating pasta, it felt fresh and light with the olive oil and lemon-based dressing. The use of spinach as the bed for the pasta took care of our vegetable need for the meal, and we served this with tofu for me, and steak for Rob as our proteins. Of course, we had some delicious, crusty garlic bread on the side too :)

There were plenty of leftovers, which made for a great lunch at work the next day for both of us.

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound pasta (we used a fettuccine pasta)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more for seasoning
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 3 tablespoons capers
• 1 lemon, zested
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 cups fresh baby spinach leaves
• Crushed red pepper for seasoning
• Parmesan cheese

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain pasta and transfer to a large bowl. Add the garlic, extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss to combine.

Add the basil, capers, lemon zest, and lemon juice to the spaghetti mixture and toss to combine. Place 1/2 cup spinach in each bowl. Top with 1/4 of the pasta. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Serve immediately.

Cranberry Brie Bites

This is my go-to Fall/Winter appetizer! It's exactly what I look for in an app - simple ingredients, easy to prepare, season-appropriate and can be reheated quickly upon arrival if you're traveling to someone's home.

INGREDIENTS

• Whole berry cranberry sauce 15 oz can
• Brie cheese 1 triangle
• Puff pastry 2 sheets

DIRECTIONS

Thaw puff pastry (about 40 minutes - place on wax paper on countertop). Preheat oven to 375. Using a pizza cutter, slice 16 squares from each puff pastry sheet (~2" x 2" per square). Cut brie cheese into 1/2" squares.

Press each puff pastry square into a slot in a mini muffin pan. Fill with one brie square and top off with one cranberry berry. Bake for 12-15 minutes, turning the pan halfway through cooking time.

*To reheat, place in oven at 250 for 10 minutes.

Easy Pumpkin Soup

I made this soup and served it in Mom's mini Irish coffee mugs as an appetizer for Christmas Eve this year at the Smithe house. It was soooo incredibly simple and easy to make, and it went over well!

This would make a fantastic addition to your weeknight meal options, as it uses ingredients you can shop for in advance, and preparation time is minimal. Enjoy!

2 15-ounce cans pure pumpkin

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup half and half

1 garlic clove, pressed

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon curry powder

Bring first 4 ingredients to simmer in large saucepan over medium-high heat, whisking often. Whisk in syrup, 2 tablespoons butter, and curry powder. Simmer soup 10 minutes, whisking often. Season with salt and pepper. (Soup can be made 1 day ahead. Chill until cold, then cover and keep chilled. Bring to simmer before serving.)

*Optional: Garnish with cinnamon-coated mini marshmallows