Leftover Madness turned Lunchtime Delicacy

So you are sitting in your house after just finishing your morning chores, you're tired and hungry and don't want to have to make a big deal for lunch. You could always make a cold cut sandwich, again, but thats so boring and lackluster. It's time to mix it up and have a delicious lunch that is super easy to make, and the best way to do that is to look at the other meals you didn't finish in the fridge.

I had sliced tomatoes sitting in a plastic container from a BLT made over the weekend, some extra Farfalle noodles from my moms Mac N' Cheese, and a few extra chicken breasts from the previous week. As I stood there, I thought, how can I use these seemingly unrelated items and make a meal out of them? Then it hit me, a fall pasta with grilled chicken! A simple, light, meal that won't take more than thirty minutes to prepare and will fill me up until dinner time.

To start, preheat the grill to 300-350 degrees. If your chicken breast has the rib meat attached, go ahead and pull that off. You now have chicken tenders for another meal later in the week! Now, drizzle the chicken in EVOO and sprinkle about a tablespoon of basil and a teaspoon of garlic powder over the top. Allow the meat to sit while the grill preheats to allow the oil to begin to penetrate the breast. Once your grill heats to 300 degrees, place the chicken on the grill, basil side up. with the grill on its Medium-Low setting, allow the chicken to cook on that first side for fifteen minutes. It is important to allow most of the cooking to be done on that first side to allow the basil and garlic flavor to infuse with the meat. After fifteen minutes, gently flip the breast over and allow for ten more minutes of cooking time. After the ten minutes, flip the breast one more time, and gently press down with your spatula. If the juice is flowing clear at this time, remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for about 2 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, there is a lot to get done! At this point you will want to get your Magic Bullet System out, or a basic food processor will work. Put your sliced tomato in along with about a quarter cup of
EVOO, two tablespoons of butter, a teaspoon of garlic salt, and a dash of basil. Blend this all together until you achieve a smooth consistency. Pour the sauce into a medium sized wok, add a quarter cup of water to help thin the sauce a bit, and heat over medium heat until the sauce begins to simmer. Stir the sauce often to keep a "skin" from forming on the top. Once the sauce is heated through, add a pinch of salt and pepper to taste and stir together. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and begin to stir in to coat the pasta thoroughly. Once the pasta is totally coated in the sauce, cover and turn the heat down to low to allow it to simmer, stirring occasionally. The pasta will heat and cook until the chicken is done.

Once the chicken is done place a small "lunch sized" portion of pasta on the plate along with the grilled chicken breast. Since this is lunch, you don't have to worry about serving anything else with this meal; however, if you decide to make this for dinner, serve with a side salad with a light vinaigrette dressing and a chilled glass of Chardonnay.

What you need

1 Sliced tomato

EVOO [Extra Virgin Olive Oil]

Basil

Garlic Powder

Butter

Cooked Pasta [Spaghetti style noodles not recommended]

Chicken

Salt and Pepper

Dining on Flipper!

Well, not really. Dolphin yes, but not the friendly mammalian type that we adore so much and swim with and chirp with and all that amazing fru-fru jazzy stuff. Mahi Mahi, a more acceptable thing to say other than dolphin. It's a hearty white fish that is very versatile in flavor. You can steam it, bake it, grill it, or fry it. The easiest of which being baking or grilling. I have found the best flavor combination is citrus basil. It keeps the light flavor of the fish available while subtly adding notes to it that bounce all around your pallet.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grab some aluminum foil. Lay out a large enough piece of aluminum foil to hold the entire piece of fish. Sprinkle the juice of half a lemon over the fish and sprinkle about half a tablespoon of basil over that. Take a clove of garlic and peel off the skin. Place four portions of the garlic around the fish and wrap the foil up over it all. Place the foil packets in a baking dish and place in the oven.

The fish will take about 20-30 minutes to cook. While the fish cooks, you can prepare your sides. I ended up cheating today and using some microwave in the bag rice and green beans. They are good, simple, and easy to make. That way you can focus more on a glass of wine or ice cold beer and the people you have invited over.

When the fish has completed cooking, it will be slightly flaky, yet still firm. Cut the Mahi Mahi pieces into smaller steak sizes and serve over rice with the beans on the side. This fish goes best with a crisp white wine like a Chardonnay. With the time you saved on making the sides, you can think of an amazing desert to make for afterwards!

What you need

Mahi Mahi

Rice

Green beans

Lemons, or juice of, half for each piece of fish

Garlic

Basil

"Slap Yo Mama Good" Pork Loin

Pork Loin. The most versatile pork meats. You can smoke it, grill it, bake it, fry it. However you want to cook it you can. I like to bake it at low temperatures for a good amount of time to allow all the flavors to seep into the meat and fill each bite with wonders! Well, I guess more like garlic and Italian herbs. Yep, you guessed it! The "Holy Trinity" gets used again in this recipe, which, I mean really, why wouldn't you?

To start off set your oven to preheat to 350. While its heating up grab your loin, the pork loin that is, and season it up. [NoProTip: Season the side of the loin that doesn't have the wall of fat on it, the flavors will absorb more easily!] First drizzle some EVOO over the top, then I like to put the "Holy Trinity" [basil, oregano, thyme] and a little garlic salt on it. I use about a tablespoon of each. After you have seasoned it up, let your loin have a spa day! Give it a good massage, making sure those seasonings really get in to the meat, try working out all those tension knots the butchers put in there when they cut off the slab of meat! After it has been relaxed by a nice massage, its time to rest in the sauna, a.k.a. the oven. The pork really needs to relax so it's going to sit in there for at least an hour, maybe even an hour and a half. The best way to check if the pork is cooked is to simply cut all the way through the middle and take a peak. [Don't worry about the look of the pork because you are going to be slicing it when its done] If you feel the pork isn't quite done, still a little slimy pink in the middle, cook longer at ten minute intervals until the internal temperature is 145 degrees.

While the pork is resting in the sauna, you can prepare your sides! The pork is a great source of protein so you'll want to round off the meal with a yummy, yet semi healthy, starch and a vegetable. I like broccoli and sweet potato fries! I have to admit, Ore Ida has the best sweet potato fries I've had outside of a restaurant! All they need is a dash of salt over the top and they are perfect! The bag says to cook them at 400 for about 20 minutes, but that temp would cook the outside of your pork too fast and dry it out, so we don't want to cook them at that temp. Leave the oven at 350 but cook the fries for 30 minutes. This way all your parts of the dish will be perfectly cooked and done at relatively the same time.

For the broccoli, all you have to do is boil some water. If you are using fresh broccoli, good for you! That means you have bought it recently and planned out your meals and now exactly what your going to cook and when you're going to cook it! However, if you live in the real world with an ever changing life schedule that is pretty unpredictable, frozen broccoli works just as good! Once the water is boiling, place the broccoli in the water for five to ten minutes or until the outside of the broccoli begins to feel tender to a forks prodding. Drain the water and place off to the side until the rest of the items are done. Don't cook the broccoli too early though, you don't want it to turn cold.

Once the pork is done, place it onto a cutting bored and slice it into thin slices. Two pieces is usually a good portion size, unless you can slice it deli thin. Add a serving of the sweet potato fries and broccoli and serve!

This meal is perfect for a Sunday dinner where you have time to let the meat cook for a while and absorb all the wonderful flavors! Pair this with a crisp Chardonnay and you will be very pleased!

What you need

Pork Loin

Garlic Salt

Herb "Holy Trinity"

EVOO

Sweet Potato Fries [Ore Ida Steak are the best!]

Broccoli