Chicken with Apples, Raisins, and Olives

Not our favorite of this week's (the third in your weeknight meal planner) dishes. The boyfriend doesn't like olives, but I put them in anyway, hoping they would blend in enough. They did not. It wasn't bad, just not our cup of tea. Although I think I liked it more than he did. And since the store was out of the garlic and olive oil couscous, we substituted herbed chicken couscous. I don't think that made any appreciable difference in the recipe. Since this recipe didn't rely on partial packages of items the way the other dishes do, this would be a good night to use up leftovers of the previous nights, or swap it out for something else entirely different.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp EVOO
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs
salt and pepper
1 large apple (8 oz) such as gala or cortland, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/3 cup raisins
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup (2 oz) large green olives, pitted and coarsely chopped
1 box (5.8 oz) garlic and olive oil couscous
1/2 lemon, cut into wedges (use the rest Thursday)

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, melt the butter in the EVOO over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, add to the pan and cook, turning once until golden-brown and just firm to the touch, 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil.
2. Add the apple, raisins and cinnamon to the skillet with 1/3 cup water and scrape up the browned bits, season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over medium heat until the apple is tender, about 5 minutes. Cut the chicken into chunks and stir into the mixture with any chicken juices. Stir in the olives and remove from the heat.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the couscous according to package directions. Spoon onto plates, top with the chicken mixture and serve with the lemon.

Spinach and Ricotta Quiche

Part two of your weeknight meal planner. The salad was a little lackluster with just lettuce and some dressing. We might add some other vegetables to it next time. But the quiche came out nicely and the puff pastry crust was quite the time saver.

Ingredients:
1 sheet (half of a 17.3 oz pkg) frozen puff pastry, thawed (use the rest Thursday)
1/4 cup EVOO
6 cups (half of an 11 oz pkg) baby spinach (use the rest Thursday)
Salt and pepper
1/4 lb italian sausage links, casings removed
4 eggs
1/2 container ricotta cheese (use the rest Friday)
1/2 cup heavy cream (use the rest Friday)
1 1/2 tsp grainy mustard
1 small head green-leaf lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 400. Press the puff pastry into a 9-inch glass pie plate; trim the excess. Prick the bottom all over with a fork, line with parchment paper and fill with dried beans (or pie weights). Bake until golden, about 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans; transfer the pan to a rack to cool. Leave the oven on, but lower the temperature to 350.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat 1 tbsp EVOO over medium-high heat. Add the spinach and cook, tossing, until wilted, about 1 minute. Season lightly with salt, then drain in a colander. Add 1 tbsp EVOO and the sausage to the skillet; cook over medium-high heat, breaking the meat up with a spoon, until golden-brown and cooked through, 3-4 minutes.
3. Spread the sausage and spinach in the pie shell. In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, ricotta, and cream; pour into the shell. Bake until the eggs are set and the crust is golden, about 35 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, in a salad bowl, whisk together the remaining 2 tbsp EVOO and the mustard; season with salt and pepper. Add the lettuce and toss. Serve with the quiche.

"Your Weeknight Meal Planner" shopping list

This is the shopping list that was included with the meal planner, pull out section, from the September 2011 issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray. I don't know about you, but I pretty much always have cinnamon in the house (great in oatmeal!), so I didn't need to buy any of that. However, Tuesday's recipe is a quiche and requires baking the puff pastry with pie weights or dry beans. I had neither and had to make an extra trip to the store to grab some beans (along with more garlic and extra virgin olive oil as we've been using both of them lately and I wanted to be sure to have enough). Feel free to pick and choose, although I liked the idea of finishing off containers of things and not having a 1/2 cup of ricotta cheese left in the fridge, etc. I'll link all the recipes here, as well as a link on each recipe back to here. Happy eating!

Monday: Crispy Fish with Creamed Corn
Tuesday: Spinach and Ricotta Quiche
Wednesday: Chicken with Apples, Raisins, and Olives
Thursday: Sausage Rolls with Spinach Salad
Friday: Mushroom Fusilli with Garlic Breadcrumbs

Produce:
1 large apple (8 oz) such as gala or cortland
1 lemon
8 ears corn
2 red bell peppers
2 beefsteak tomatoes
1 small head green-leaf lettuce
1 pkg (11 oz) baby spinach
1 small head garlic
1 pkg (10 oz) mushrooms
1 bunch flat-leaf parsley
Dairy:
1 pt heavy cream
1 stick (4 oz) unsalted butter
1 container (15oz) ricotta cheese
1/2 dozen eggs
Fish:
4 tilapia fillets (5-6 oz each)
Meat:
1 lb italian sausage links
1 1/2 lbs skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Bakery:
1 small loaf crusty bread (6 oz)
Grocery:
1 jar (7.3 oz) grainy mustard
1 box (16 oz) fusilli pasta
1 box (5.8 oz) garlic and olive oil couscous
1 jar (2.37 oz) ground cinnamon
1 bag (12 oz) raisins
1 pkg (17.3 oz) frozen puff pasty
2 oz green olives (from the olive bar)
Total price $72.58 (EVOO, salt and pepper are freebies)
Pie weights or dry beans

Crispy Fish with Creamed Corn

This is the first in a week's worth of recipes from Every Day with Rachael Ray, September 2011, the "Your Weeknight Meal Planner" pull-out section. I used the dijon mustard we had at home and one of the containers of breadcrumbs we have instead of making my own. And I forgot to garnish with the parsley. But overall, it came out quite close to the picture.
Shopping List and overview

Ingredients:
4 tilapia filets (5-6 oz each)
salt and pepper
6 tbsp grainy mustard
1 cup (2 oz) fresh breadcrumbs (use more on Thursday)
4 cups fresh corn kernels (from 8 ears)
4 tbsp unsalted butter
1/2 cup heavy cream (use more on Tuesday)
1/4 cup EVOO (aka Extra Virgin Olive Oil)
2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley(use the rest Friday)
2 beefsteak tomatoes, cut into wedges

1. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place on a large plate; spread 1 1/2 tbsp mustard evenly on top of each piece. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the mustard, pressing to adhere. Refrigerate while you make the creamed corn.
2. Using a food processor, puree 3 cups corn kernels. Transfer to a small saucepan and stir in the remaining 1 cup kernels. Add the butter and cook over medium heat until hot, about 5 minutes. Stir in the cream and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
3. In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 tbsp EVOO over medium-high heat. Add 2 pieces of fish crumb side down, reduce heat to medium and cook, turning once until golden and crisp, about 8 minutes. Repeat with the remaining 2 tbsp EVOO and fish.
4. Serve the fish on a bed of the creamed corn. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve with the tomato wedges. Season with pepper.

Pockets of Lemon Cake

This cake is a perfect summer dessert!  I've been making it for years, but recently rediscovered it to make for our housewarming party.  Everyone loved it so much, there wasn't time to get a photo!

I cut this recipe out of a Pillsbury ad.

Pockets of Lemon Cake

Cake

1 package white cake mix
1 1/4 water
1/3 cup oil
4 egg whites (to keep the cake white)
1 can lemon pie filling (I always make instant lemon pudding* instead)

Topping

1 can lemon frosting
1 container Cool Whip, thawed

Heat oven to 350.  Prepare 13x9 cake pan (grease and flour or spray with cooking spray).  Prepare cake mix as directed using the above measurements of water, oil, and egg whites.  Spread batter into prepared pan.  Drop the pie filling or pudding by heaping teasponfuls evenly onto batter (I usually end up with four rows of three).  Bake 30-40 minutes or until edges pull away from pan and top is golden brown.  Allow cake to cool in pan for 45 minutes or until completely cooled.

Mix lemon frosting and Cool Whip, blend well.  Spread over cooled cake.  Serve cake chilled.

* We drink 1% milk, which doesn't make good pudding --  it comes out too thin.  The box calls for 2 cups of milk, so I always use 1 1/2 cups instead, to make it thicker, instead of buying a small container of whole milk just to make the pudding.

Scalloped Corn

This recipe is from my mother's copy of Better Homes and Gardens. I'm sure they still publish it, but I've adjusted the milk measurement, since the original said to use either whole kernel or cream style corn and I use a combination. I think that gives the best result, enough whole kernels and enough creaminess.

1 regular can whole kernel corn
1 regular can cream style corn
10 oz milk
2 cups saltine cracker crumbs, plus more for top (about 1 sleeve)
dried minced onion to taste
4 Tbs butter

Combine corns, milk, cracker crumbs, and onion. Pour into greased 2 qt casserole, sprinkle additional cracker crumbs, dot with butter. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. 12 servings (officially -- it never seems to go that far around here!)

Classic Bran Muffins

I've made these a number of times (found on allrecipes) and they're always tasty, as long as you like bran muffins. Even if you don't, you might like these. And the guilt level is pretty low with these. I use Bob's Red Mill wheat bran.

Ingredients

* 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
* 1 cup buttermilk
* 1/3 cup vegetable oil
* 1 egg
* 2/3 cup brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1 teaspoon baking soda
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in raisins and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!