Chicken Cordon Bleu (my version)

This dish was quick, easy, and made the house smell delicious. Oh, and it tasted good. :)

Ingredients:

*Four chicken breasts, cut in half to make 8 thin breasts (or you can pound the four breasts flat, but that takes work)

*salt and pepper

*Canadian bacon (one slice per chicken breast)

*One fresh mozzarella ball, sliced

*1 T butter

*1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a glass baking dish.

Grind salt and pepper lightly on each side of each chicken breast.

Place a slice of Canadian bacon on each breast, then top with a slice of mozzarella.

Fold the breast in half, then secure with a toothpick.

Place a small amount of butter on the top of each breast, then place baking dish in oven for 2-3 minutes, or until butter is completely melted.

Remove dish from oven, sprinkle panko crumbs over the chicken, the place back in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Check to make sure chicken is no longer pink, and serve immediately.

I served it with brown rice and a summer salad. (Mostly) healthy and simple! :)

Whole Wheat Spinach Feta Quiche

I haven't made quiche in quite a while, and had a ton of eggs to use up this week. About a dozen boiled eggs later, I decided quiche was the way to go to finish off the eggs. Here is a link to my last quiche post from about 17 months ago:

http://mommysmuffins.blogspot.com/search/label/quiche

This time, I used whole wheat flour for the crust, and used six whole eggs mixed with milk for the filling. I also used the following:

1/2 of a fresh mozzarella ball, sliced

2/3 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted on the counter for about 30 minutes

5 chopped up Trader Joe's frozen pre-cooked turkey meatballs

1 small chopped up tomato

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

After baking the crust for the initial 20 minutes covered loosely in foil, I topped it with the tomatoes and spinach, then added the feta and mozzarella before pouring the egg mixture over top. I baked it for another 35 minutes, uncovered, and knew it was time to remove it from the oven when the top of the mozzarella slices were slightly golden brown. I let it sit on the counter to cool for about an hour, and it sliced perfectly for lunch. Healthy and delicious!

The Perfect Summer Sandwich

Now that summer is in full swing, our local Farmer's Market has become one of my favorite places to shop. This morning I picked up the ingredients to one of my absolute favorite summer dishes--the mozzarella/tomato/pesto sandwich. I bought live basil, a bunch of vine ripened tomatoes, a loaf of Italian bread, and some fresh mozzarella cheese.

I love to make homemade pesto for pasta, sandwiches, and spreads, and I usually make it pretty garlic-heavy. I decided to tone down the garlic a bit so I can use some of the leftovers to make Audrey some pasta tomorrow. Instead of a head of garlic, I used about 3-4 cloves. :)

Pesto

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/4 cup olive oil

3-4 cloves of garlic (I buy the large container of fresh peeled garlic from Costco, divide it up, chop, and freeze it for quick use in recipes)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

5 large basil leaves

1/2 tspn salt (to taste)

Combine all ingredients in a food processor (I used my small one since this is a small amount of pesto), and grind/chop until you reach the desired consistency. You'll need to stop and scrape the processor bowl with a spatula every few seconds.

Slice the bread in half lengthwise, and then cut each section into thirds so you end up with six halves (for three sandwiches, or two sandwiches with about 1/3 of the loaf leftover).

Spread a thin layer of pesto on each half of the bread, then top with two slices of mozzarella, and two-three slices of tomato (sliced thin and seeded).

Close the sandwiches, place on a baking sheet, and bake for about 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees. This bread ended up being a little thick, so I sliced 1/2 of the bottom slice off of each sandwich. When I have used an Italian loaf from the store in the past, I didn't have to do this. It just depends on the thickness of your bread and your preference.