Roasted Zucchini and Squash with Fresh Herbs

Adapted from Kayln's Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 3 to 4 medium sized zucchini and/or squash
• 1/2 cup fresh herbs, washed and chopped (I used basil, sage and oregano)
• 1/2 medium white onion, chopped
• 2 T olive oil (more or less)
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 and spray a baking sheet with nonstick olive oil based cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, combine all ingredients and toss to coat. Spread along baking sheet in single layer and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until soft.

The KBo Conclusion:
While M didn't like his portion of this veggie-licious treat, I ate mine and his! It was just the right amount of spices and oil and the baking made the veggies tender and delicious.

M said he didn't like it because I "spoiled" him with a similar dish which I doused in melted mozzarella cheese. Oh well, maybe next time I'll sprinkle some on there so he will eat it...or I could leave it out so I could have extra. :)

Creamy Vegetable Risotto with Moroccan Chicken

Ingredients:

• 12 oz. arborio rice
• 4 cups heated stock (I used low sodium chicken)
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 chopped zucchini
• 1 chopped squash
• 3/4 cup shredded carrots
  
• 3/4 cup cherry tomatoes (or other small tomatoes), halved
• 1/8 cup dry white wine
• 1/8 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• three chicken breasts
• Moroccan Spice mix
• olive oil

Preheat oven to 375. Spray baking dish with nonstick cooking spray, and place chicken breasts into dish. Drizzle with olive oil to coat. Rub Moroccan spices onto both sides of the chicken generously and bake for 35 to 40 minutes until done.

If preferred, you could also cook this chicken in a heated skillet with some olive oil, although baking is a bit more healthy!

While the chicken is baking, prepare veggies and then start with risotto about 10 minutes into chicken baking time. Risotto should only take 18 to 20 minutes so keep that in mind.

Heat a tablespoon or so of olive oil on medium in a large pot, cook onions until translucent. Pour in other hard veggies, such as zucchini and squash, and cook until golden.

















Stir in rice and coat with oil until translucent. Add carrots. Pour in wine and cook until evaporated. Pour in one cup of heated stock at a time, and let simmer until absorbed. Add tomatoes at this point, you don't want them to cook too long or they will get mushy!


















Continue adding stock until you have used all four cups and rice has cooked about 18 to 20 minutes.When all liquid is absorbed, add in cream and cheese and stir. Take off heat and let sit covered for 2 to 3 minutes before serving.



















The KBo Conclusion:
I set out to make a risotto dish last night, and followed slightly the rice cooking directions on the back of the box. You can add any vegetables you might like, I just used what I had on hand. I also think this would be great (and a bit healthier) without the cream and parmesan cheese. I tasted mine before I added these two ingredients and it was very, very good.

The chicken was great with the Moroccan seasoning and it was pretty easy to fix. I bought my spices already mixed, but I have seen a Moroccan spice mixture here that you can whip up yourself. In fact, I bought the spice mix to make Kayln's Crispy Moroccan Chickpeas the other night and they were delicious!

Don't have time to pack a fresh lunch?

Try this!

While I don't usually condone eating frozen food or canned foods on the regular, the average working woman sometimes has to resort to frozen meals or canned veggies every now and then. I even posted about my favorite frozen meals in May, with another installment to come soon. As long as you're getting something healthy out of it, not loaded down with salty sauces or creamy cheeses, sometimes a "convenience meal" might be the way to go.

Today I grabbed whatever I had on hand at home and rushed out the door to work, and threw these two things together in a bowl for a very satisfying lunch.

BumbleBee has jumped on the wagon of flavored tuna packets, and my favorite is the sun-dried tomato and basil flavor. So that was my first ingredient, then I searched the freezer and found my new favorite go-to veggie Green Giant's Weight Management mixture, that includes snow peas, carrots, black beans and edamame in a light butter sauce.

I heated up the veggies and mixed these two together and came up with a quick, pretty healthy meal in no time at all.

Cornish Hens and Chocolate Granola (But not at the same time...)

This past weekend I made what I would call my best meal ever. Sadly, there was no time for pictures of the feast before Matt and I were gobbling it up. Basically, I made two cornish game hens (we only ate one) with dirty rice and fresh Farmer's Market squash, zucchini, carrots and onions. I used my new roaster oven and it took about an hour and a half to cook.

Delish!

There was tons of leftovers, I will be eating them up in the next few days!

So I was browsing food blogs this morning and came across Orangette, who posted a lovely entry about Paris and her love affair with the food there. I must admit that the baguettes, cheeses, and crepes in Paris were amazing...and something I would love to experience again. She posted a recipe for French Chocolate Granola, and I must try it! Probably will make this while I have the apartment to myself later on in the week....So anyways here goes if anyone would like to try this with me!


3 cups rolled oats
½ cup raw almonds, chopped
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
2 Tbsp. granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
6 Tbsp. mild honey
2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
½ cup, or more, finely chopped bittersweet chocolate (Trader Joe’s bittersweet Pound Plus bar was her recommendation)

Preheat the oven to 300°F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, almonds, coconut, sugar, and salt. Stir well to blend.

In a small saucepan, warm the honey and oil over low heat, whisking occasionally – watch out! the oil will want to splash - until the honey is loose. Pour over the dry ingredients, and stir to combine well.

Spread the mixture evenly on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden. Set a timer to go off halfway through the baking time, so that you can give the granola a good stir; this helps it to cook evenly. When it’s ready, remove the pan from the oven, stir well – this will keep it from cooling into a hard, solid sheet – and cool completely.

When cool, transfer the granola to a large bowl, storage jar, or zipper-lock plastic bag. Add the chocolate, and stir (or shake, if using a jar or bag) to mix.

Store in an airtight container. Serve with plain milk; soy milk and plain yogurt overwhelm the chocolate flavor.

Yield: about 5 cups