Baked Chicken with Balsamic Peppers

Someone mentioned "Paleo Diet" last week and curious me was on the internet the whole week reading about this diet and Paleo recipes.

I saw this chicken recipe and decided to try it last night. I bought the ingredients, sent the recipe to the BF and told him that he is making dinner :). The BF did a great job on this... it is so yummy good.

This is a easy recipe.. good for weekdays. We served the chicken with some green beans and brown rice. So good !

Ingredient

4 large ripe bell peppers: red, green, orange, yellow; cored and sliced thin

1 large sweet onion, sliced thin

1/3 cup organic balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons gluten-free Worcestershire Sauce

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup or so chicken broth

6 fresh cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1/2 teaspoon rosemary

4 fresh, organic free-range split breasts of chicken, rinsed and patted dry

Sea salt and ground pepper, to taste

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.

2. Toss the pepper and onion slices in a large bowl. In a large measuring cup, fork-stir your sauce using: balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire, olive oil, broth, chopped garlic, and herbs. Pour the sauce over the sliced peppers and onions and toss well to coat.

 

3. Place the split chicken breasts in the bottom of a baking pan sprayed with olive oil. Season with sea salt and pepper, to taste. Pour the balsamic pepper mixture over the chicken and arrange them evenly. Use every last drop of sauce.

 

4. Loosely cover the pan with a piece of foil and place in the center of a pre-heated oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Spoon the sauce all over the peppers and chicken breasts to keep everything happy and moist, recover it and continue to bake until everything is melt-in-your-mouth tender (depending upon the thickness of the chicken, and the size of your pepper strips, and your particular oven and altitude it could be an additional 10 minutes or 20 minutes).

Blueberry Muffin

I am in "muffin frenzy" state of mind these days. just can't get muffins out of my head. I have been reading and looking at muffin recipes. I love baking muffins...they are easy.. usually just two bowls for the wet and dry ingredients..... no cake mixer.

My cool ultra-runner friends Sarah and Miguel are running the Nanny Goat race in May. This is a unique race where participants run round a one mile dirt loop for 12 or 24 hours. The objective is to run as many run as possible within the 12 or 24 hours. To help them practice their run, our good runner friend Matt planned a mini goat run - a 5 hr run around a one mile loop around his hood. .. of course.. we runners are invited to the run.

I could not decide what to bring to this event .. and asked the BF... banana muffin, chocolate or blueberry. I almost expected him to say chocolate.. but the chocolate loving boy abandoned his chocolate and asked for blueberry.

So.. blueberry is it ! I chose this recipe from Joy of Baking. It is a healthy recipe.. no butter. Just yogurt and canola oil. I was skeptical of any recipe that abandon the butter.. but surprisingly this turn out really yummy.


Ingredients
1 cup (240 ml) plain yogurt (regular or low fat)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup (60 ml) canola or corn oil
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups (260 grams) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup (100 grams) granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups (100 grams) fresh or frozen blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Position rack in center of oven. Butter or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.

2. In a large measuring cup or bowl whisk together the yogurt, lightly beaten egg, oil, and vanilla extract.

3. In another large bowl whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Remove 1 tablespoon of the dry ingredients and toss it with the blueberries.

4. With a rubber spatula fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir only until the ingredients are combined. Gently stir in the blueberries. Do not over mix the batter or tough muffins will result.

5. Evenly fill the muffin cups with the batter, using two spoons or an ice cream scoop.

6. Place in the oven and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool for about 5 minutes before removing from pan.

Makes 12 muffins.

~bel~

Chocolate Chocolate Chunky Muffin

There is a good reason why these are called chocolate chocolate chunky muffin !!! Full of chocolate... a good dessert... although it is a muffin ! I guess having a chocolate muffin for Breakfast is not a sin... especially on a Monday!

I saw this recipe from Dorie Greenspan and just could not resist the temptation to bake it

Ingredients
6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
2 cups (9.6 ounces) all-purpose flour
⅔ cup (4.67 ounces) sugar
⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1¼ cups buttermilk
1 large egg
2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions:

1, Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Butter or spray the 12 molds in a regular-size muffin pan or fit the molds with paper muffin cups.

2. Melt the butter and half the chopped chocolate together in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering water; or do this in a microwave. Remove from the heat.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

4. In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk the buttermilk, egg and vanilla extract together until well combined.

5. Pour the liquid ingredients and the melted butter and chocolate over the dry ingredients and, with the whisk or a rubber spatula, gently but quickly stir to blend. Don’t worry about being thorough — a few lumps are better than overmixing the batter. Stir in the remaining chopped chocolate. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin molds.

6. Bake for 20 minutes, or until a thin knife inserted into the center of the muffins comes out clean. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool 5 minutes before carefully removing each muffin from its mold.

Note: Add more chocolate chunks for more chocolate boast :)

~bel~

Irish Soda Bread

I have been wanting to try this recipe after seeing it on Tuesday with Doris. Its really a simple recipe with just4 ingredients - flour, buttermilk, salt and baking soda- mix and bake !

The only downfall of this recipe is that it does not last longer than a day due to the low fat content - just buttermilk. But it is a definitely keeper. Easy and yummy!

Ingredients
4 cups of flour
2 cup of buttermilk
1 tsp of baking soda
11/2 tsp Salt

Directions
1. Preheat overn to 375K

2. Mix all the ingredient together until the dough come together

3. Knead for one minute. Pat into a 6 inch ball and place onto pan. Cut an X prior to placing into oven

4. Bake for 40 minutes or when golden brown

5. Remove from oven and cool on rack

~bel~