Chicken and Zucchini Saute: A Simple Summer Recipe

We had a delicious dinner tonight, if I do say so myself!  I was looking through the fridge and remembered that I bought a couple of zucchini at the grocery store, and I had set some chicken out to thaw for dinner, and it was a revelation.  Why not cook them together?  I'm sure no one in the history of the world has ever thought of that.

I also decided to thaw some dinner rolls for dinner--Rhode's rolls are the only kind that I buy, and they are by far my favorite.  Pair that with some olive oil and the canister of dipping herbs that I bought at GFS, and boom!  Dinner is served.

About the olive oil mentioned above, I also have to give a shout out to flavor-infused olive oils.  I have a bottle of garlic-infused and a bottle of butter flavored in my pantry.  The garlic olive oil is my favorite, but the butter has its place too, and it's a great alternative to the times I need to fry something and don't want to use butter, as was the case this night.  If you have the opportunity to pick up some of these specialty olive oils, DO IT!  You won't regret it.

All of these things mentioned above contributed to this incredibly easy dinner.  Seriously, if it was any easier, you'd be at a restaurant and someone would be cooking dinner for you.  So, without further ado, I give you:

Chicken and Zucchini Saute!
What you'll need:
A pound of boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces
A pound of zucchini, washed, with skins on, and cut into quarter slices
4 TBSP garlic-infused olive oil, divided
Salt
Pepper
Other spices to your taste (I used a garlic and herb mix for the chicken)
Optional: shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, for topping

What you do:
Heat 2 TBSP olive oil in a deep 10 or 12 inch skillet.  Brown the chicken, seasoning with salt, pepper and other spices to taste.  When the chicken is browned, remove it from the pan and add the zucchini.  Drizzle the remaining 2 TBSP olive oil over top of the zucchini, and salt and pepper to taste.  Toss the zucchini and let it cook for about 5 minutes, until it's slightly soft and starting to brown.

I love this wooden spoon: I purchased it on Etsy from a shop called KitchenCarvings, if you're interested!

Add the chicken back into the pan and stir to re-warm the chicken.

Voila!  You're done.  Serve with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top, and pair with some wild rice, dinner bread, or any other simple side of your choice.  This is a great way to start using some of the zucchini that's coming into season this time of the year.  Hubby's rating: back for seconds!

Cheesy Tostada Recipe--A Simple Dinner

One of the recipes we really enjoyed on the 21-Day Tummy diet was the simple cheesy tostadas.  They went together so quickly and easily that I wondered if I could just eat these every night during our final week!  But we didn't.  Since they were so tasty and simple, though, I thought I'd share the recipe!

Cheesy Tostadas, makes 5 (adapted from the Reader's Digest 21-DayTummy)
Ingredients:
1 lb lean ground hamburger (you can also use ground chicken)
5 6" soft corn tortillas (you can use gluten-free corn tortillas)
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, drained of juice
1 C shredded cheddar cheese
1-2 tbsp olive oil (for brushing)
Chili powder
Cumin
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly brush both sides of the tortillas with olive oil.  Bake in the preheated oven for 5 minutes, then flip and bake for another 4-5 minutes, watching closely to make sure they don't burn.  Remove from the oven.

While the tortillas are baking, brown the hamburger, draining off any excess fat.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the tomatoes in a colander.  Add the tomatoes to the hamburger and heat everything through.  Add chili powder and cumin to taste.

Scoop the hamburger & tomatoes onto the tortillas.  Top with cheese.  Serve immediately.

A tip: In the picture above, I tried crisping the tortillas, then adding the hamburger and tomatoes and popping them back in the oven to melt the cheese, but it made the tortillas soggy and stale.  I don't recommend putting them back in the oven after you've already baked the tortillas.  Your hamburger and tomatoes should be hot enough to melt (or partially melt) the cheese when you add it to the top.  

Cheesy Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I always thought recipes like this would be hard and time-consuming.  I'm pleased to say that this one was not!  It was easy and delicious.  I wouldn't recommend it as a weeknight meal unless you can make the filling ahead of time and have it ready to go when you get home from work, but definitely an easy weekend meal!

 

Ingredients:
24 jumbo pasta shells
1-15 oz. container of ricotta
2 C shredded mozzarella
1/2 C shredded Parmesan
~1/2 C washed, chopped fresh baby spinach
1 large egg
1 C cooked chicken, finely chopped
Garlic, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning (to taste)
1-26 oz. jar of favorite spaghetti sauce


Directions: 
Preheat the oven to 375.  Spray a 9x13 baking dish with nonstick spray (I layered my shells in a 2.5 qt. casserole dish, and it worked fine).

Cook the pasta shells according to the box directions.  Drain, and allow to cool (they should be cool enough to handle).

While pasta cooks, mix together in a large bowl the ricotta, 1 C of mozzarella, Parmesan, chopped spinach, egg, and seasonings.

Spread about 3/4 C pasta sauce along the bottom of your baking dish.  Stuff the shells with about 1-2 TBSP of filling and place in dish, open side of the shell pointing up.  Pour your remaining pasta sauce over the shells and top with remaining mozzarella.

Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the center is bubbling and the cheese is browned on top.

Serves 4-6.