New Recipe Challenge
Fresh
vegetables are everywhere, especially in the summer. There is a
farmers market less than a mile from our place and they have a wide
variety of beautiful veggies. This recipe can be made with any veggies
that your family likes. Feel free to experiment.
My kids like most of the vegetables that they have tried, but can be
resistant to trying something new. The majority of the veggies I used
are ones that they are familiar with and will eat: onion, carrots,
green beans. I also chose 1 new vegetable that I wanted them to try:
asparagus. Other good veggies that would work well in this dish: snow
peas, summer squash, zucchini, bell peppers. Really anything you can
pick up at a farmer's market.
When it comes to the chiken, you can use boneless or bone-in
chicken. You will just need to bump up the cooking time about 10
minutes if you use bone-in chicken. This recipe is very versatile and
is easy to make.
Recipe
Farmer's Market Chicken
4-6 boneless chicken breasts or 1 whole chicken cut up
2 cups carrots, peeled and cut
1 large onion, sliced
2 cups green beans, cut or whole
2 cups asparagus, cut into 2 inch pieces
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
4 T olive oil, divided
1/2 cup white wine or chicken stock
1 T fresh tarragon
1 T fresh thyme
salt
cracked black pepper
- Heat 2 T oil in a large skillet while you season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
- Brown chicken on all sides; then, remove the chicken from the pan.
- Add
the rest of the oil along with the onion to the skillet and cook for
3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1-2 minutes or until fragrent.
- Pour
in wine(stock) and deglaze the pan. Add the carrots (or other longer
cooking veggies) and chicken to the pan, sprinkle with herbs, and simmer
covered for 8-10 minutes (15 minutes for bone-in chicken).
- Add the beans and asparagus (or other quick cooking veggies) and cover for another 5-7 minutes.
- Remove
chicken and veggies and arrange on a platter. Simmer and reduce the
sauce for several minutes and pour over the meat and veggies on the
platter.
- Serve over rice.
Results
Mixed results with the kids. I don't think that either of them
really liked the asparagus, but they ate it. They liked the rest of the
dinner and said that they would eat it again.
The adults really liked dinner and it will definitely find its way back to our dinner table again.
Have a Happy Family Dinner Y'all!
New Recipe Challenge
The kids both like hamburgers, so I thought that salisbury steak
would be an easy transition. I used to make this a lot before we had
kids and knew that Dave and I like it.
This recipe is fairly quick and easy to make and the meat can be
mixed and formed the earlier in the day or even the previous day to
prepare for a quick dinner.
I
served the steaks with mashed potatoes and carrots. It is equally good
served with rice or even noodles. Whatever your family prefers is fine
with these tasty steaks.
Recipe
1 1/2 lbs. ground sirloin
1 cup diced onion
1 T. Montreal steak seasoning
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
3 T. olive oil, divided
8 oz. sliced cremini or button mushrooms
4 T. flour
3 cups beef stock or broth
- mix meat with onion, seasoning, bread crumbs, and egg until everything is incorporated well.
- Divide the meat mixture into 6
equal portions and form into patties. If you made the patties early
cover them with foil and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.
- In an extra large skillet, heat the
oil over medium heat. Add the patties and let them brown about 3-4
minutes on each side and then remove from the skillet.
- Add the remaining oil and the mushrooms and cook the mushrooms until they are cooked and slightly browned.
- Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir and cook the flour for 1-2 minutes.
- Add the stock while stirring to avoid lumps and bring to a simmer until the gravy thickens slightly.
- Return the steaks to the skillet and simmer for about 10 minutes until the meat is fully cooked and the gravy is thickened.
The Results
Dave and I loved this recipe. The steak were very flavorful without
being too heavy. The gravy was thick and wonderful and the mushrooms
were a delicious addition. The mashed potatoes and carrots were perfect
alongside the steaks. Delicious!
The kids ate the steaks, but didn't want they gravy. They both ate
their patty with ketchup. The potatoes and carrots disappeared without
coercion. I think that this will definitely find its way to our table
again.
