Ah, the winter! The time when you keep telling yourself you need to eat healthier, but at the same time are craving comfort foods. So why not do both, I ask? As any of my friends and family will attest to, I’m a carb FANATIC! Especially pasta. Ooh, pasta stuffed with stuffs… I mean, seriously, there are days I will cave and (yes, it’s OK to judge me) just go to the store and buy a can of Chef Boyardee. YES! I know! Here I am trying to maintain a food blog, and I’m telling you I short-cut to Chef Boyardee!

On to healthier things! I was poking around the internet the other day looking for something fun and different to make for dinner (which, let’s be honest, is pretty much the norm for me). I stumbled on the Philadelphia Cooking Creme site, and saw that not only do they have just the regular flavor (which I’ve used to add to spaghetti and marinara sauces) but also a Lemon and Herb flavored one! That started the wheels turning. In the back of my head I heard “no meat Monday.” Hmmmmm….

Next stop was the best place on Earth–the grocery store. There’s just something about seeing all those fresh fruits and vegetables, the fish and meat in the produce section, the lady next to the frozen bins trying to hand out tid-bits of bread with some brand-name sauce. “Yes, please! That smells delicious!” I gathered up my findings after discovering that shrimp were ON SALE! (yes, I’m a victim of the “s” word) and headed out (um, yes, I promise I paid for everything). To dinner, and beyond!

Shrimp Orzo with Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

12oz orzo pasta
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 12oz bag shrimp, deveined and uncooked
8oz snap pea pods
1 10z container Philadelphia Cooking Creme Savory Lemon & Herb
1/3 c milk
1 Tbs butter
1 Tbs olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt
pepper

Directions:

Cook pasta according to box directions. I usually add a few chicken bouillon cubes into the water for flavor, this doesn’t add much other than a little color and a bit of flavor.

Depending on what kind of shrimp you find, you’ll want to make sure they are deveined, and shelled. Set aside. In a deep saute pan, melt butter and oil. Toss in minced garlic, cook just until you can smell it, then toss in the shrimp, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Don’t they look delicious?

Pour the shrimp back into the bowl with all the wonderful juices and bits.

Now for the creamy goodness!

Toss that whole container into the pan. Add in milk and stir to combine. Toss in tomatoes, pea pods and cooked shrimp. Let it simmer for a minute, then, if your pan is big enough, add in the orzo and stir it all together. If not, put the orzo back in the pot you cooked it in, and pour in the sauce to the orzo. Either way, I promise it will come out delicious!

Enjoy!

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Caprese Topping

You ever sit down and stare at a computer screen and say to yourself, “what do I type?” Yep, well, it’s like that. I’m rolling up my sleeves, sitting down and saying HELLO WORLD, COME ENJOY MY COOKING!

Welcome to my first post EVER! Hopefully you will enjoy the short commentary followed by a *hopefully* creative and delicious cooking experiment.

A few months ago, I moved BACK out of my parents’ house (thank you awesome parents!) and into my own place again. Starting over is *so* great. I’ve always loved cooking, and trying new things, but in the last few months have REALLY found a love for sharing what I’ve been cooking and improving upon it. After a few months of posting every new recipe I try out, plus pictures on Facebook, I thought to myself…I need a new medium. Something that is dedicated to just my recipes, my interpretations, and perhaps–and I apologize–some ranting about other randomness.

I’m going to keep this post relatively short and sweet–as most of the site is still under construction, but I felt that I really wanted to post something. That being said….let the drum roll begin….

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Caprese Topping

Ingredient List

Parmesan Crusted Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts
2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt (optional)
1/2 tsp pepper
2 eggs, beaten, plus 1 Tbs cold water
1/4 cup olive oil

Caprese Topping:

2-3 Roma tomatoes, quartered and sliced
2-3b Tbs fresh basil, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
16oz fresh mozzarella cheese, quartered and sliced to 1/4″-1/2″ thickness
4 Tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper (use less if using fresh ground, 3 good turns on the pepper grinder)

Directions

For the chicken, trim any fat or gristle off the chicken breasts, set aside. In a shallow dish or bowl, combine breadcrumbs, cheese, oregano, and salt and pepper. Feel free to omit the salt at this point–the cheese may add plenty of salt depending on personal taste.

Heat a large pan with a couple tablespoons of oil. Treat the 1/4 measuring of oil as more of a “just in case you need more.”

In a separate bowl, beat eggs and water together to combine for dipping. Dip chicken in breadcrumb mixture, then into egg mixture, then back into the breadcrumbs, making sure everything is completely covered. Put in the pan, cook until golden. Repeat this process with the remaining chicken breasts.

While the chicken is cooking, put the topping together! Combine all ingredients for the topping, leaving the salt and pepper. Let the topping rest for a minute, and stir again, adding the salt and pepper. Feel free to add more of each to taste! I personally love garlic and pepper, so those are the two ingredients I really want to pop at me when I taste it.

Once your salad and chicken are done, serve your chicken, and scoop a healthy amount of the topping over top. Cut yourself a bit, scoop up a bit of cheese and tomato–and wait for your mouth to sing!

Until next time…enjoy!

Aunt Kookie's Cookatorium

Tag Archives: tomatoes