Chicken with double roasted tomatoes and leeks

I spent the better part of last week eating my way through a refrigerator of leftovers from a dinner party I threw over the weekend.

So this weekend, it was time to try something new to rejuvenate my palate. I walked through the Manhattan Fruit and Vegetable Exchange on Saturday looking for some inspiration.

There were some nice fairly (I stress fairly) inexpensive leeks so I grabbed a bunch and then saw that grape tomatoes were on sale (2 pints for $2.99). The tomatoes looked decent and even though I stay away from them in the "off season" I thought some time in the oven would give them some depth of flavor.

I came home and after washing all the sand off the leeks, sliced them in chunks and filled a cookie sheet with the leeks, the grape tomatoes and some unwrapped cloves of garlic. Some olive oil spray, salt, pepper, garlic and thyme and my work was done. After a good half hour of roasting time the vegetables were tender and my apartment smelled amazing!

The next day, I preheated the oven while preheating my Le Cruset on the stove top. After seasoning some chicken breasts, I placed them in the Le Cruset to sear on both sides.

When that was complete, I added the leeks, tomatoes, garlic, some chicken stock, tomato paste as well as few large capers and olives for good measure. A light mix and it was off to the oven for about twenty minutes.

What came out was juicy chicken in a rich salty sauce. I probably added a bit too much kosher salt but that's nothing a little extra stock won't take care of when I reheat it for lunch this week; making what is going to be a very busy week at the office a little easier to handle.

Summer lovin'

Once summer arrives, I always seem to get the same cravings: tomatoes, corn on the cob and grilled steak. Unfortunately city living doesn't always afford the opportunity to grill and while I am certainly no exception to that rule, I manage to work around it with my trusty grill pan.

On Saturday, I splurged on some $4.50/lb heirloom tomatoes at the Union Square Greenmarket. There were some nice Jersey tomatoes at a more reasonable price but I was too exhausted to battle the Greenmarket crowd in order to comparison shop and instead chose the best looking stand closest to my destination.

I also settled on some bi-color corn on the cob since my favorite all white corn was nowhere to be found. Add some skirt steak from the supermarket, along with some basil and cucumbers from the Greenmarket and I was on my way to an amazing meal.

So before heading out to Yankee Stadium with Goldie on Sunday, I marinaded my skirt steak. Garlic, roughly chopped scallions, soy sauce, olive oil, salt, and pepper thrown into a handy Ziploc bag and the heavy lifting was done.

And while the water was boiling for my corn on the cob, I let the meat come to room temperature. During this time, I gently chopped up one of my expensive tomatoes, a cucumber, some basil; mixed with some kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder, balsamic vinegar and some extra virgin olive oil and I had a simple, fresh and beautiful salad to go with my meal.

Now just a quick sear of skirt steak with some time for the meat to rest and my meal was complete.

The taste of summer just doesn't get any better than this!

It Ain't Pretty...It's Monkfish

I got home a bit later than my stomach had hoped tonight so I was in a bit of a rush to get dinner on the table.

Tonight's entree was monkfish. I seasoned the fish with a generous helping of kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and garlic powder after a quick blitz of olive oil cooking spray. While the fish was sauteing in the pan I cut up some white onion, olives and tomatoes. When the fish was cooked; I removed from the pan and threw in some minced garlic and the onions. Being impatient, I didn't sweat the onions and after about only a minute, threw in some capers, the olives and then the tomatoes and seasoned again.

The bright red tomatoes gave the dish a nice splash of color to what would otherwise be a pretty bland colored dish and for someone in a hurry I was pretty dead on with my seasoning. Of course if I had taken an extra thirty seconds to add some fresh thyme it would have added another level of herby freshness, but alas, piggy was hungry.

The monkfish came out much better than expected with the only caveat being that I probably cooked the fish about a minute too long.

It wasn't pretty but it was pretty good.

Everything but the kitchen sink!

The genesis of last night's dinner was quite interesting. It began with me asking RRR if she thought I should add fresh basil or parsley to my shrimp with tomatoes in a garlic white wine sauce. The basil seemed to be a natural complement to the tomatoes while the parsley worked with the shrimp. Decisions, decisions...

As I reached into my produce drawer, I realized that I also had some slender asparagus spears and a bit of rigatoni in my cabinet. Determined to be less wasteful in the kitchen, I figured why not combine all of these ingredients?

I began by sauteing some garlic and added the finely chopped asparagus spears. I added a bit of chicken stock and covered to steam and soften. After some seasoning, I added the chopped tomatoes to the pan and again let it simmer for a few minutes.

The shrimp and white wine were added next along with a squirt of tomato paste. By this point, the pasta was almost al dente, and I took my sauce to the next level by adding (gasp!) a healthy tablespoon of butter!

Being calorically challenged, it was a huge step for me to add butter. Any cook worth their salt knows the addition of butter or cream at the end of a dish is what makes most food flavorful and certainly not something you won't find happening on a regular basis at your local restaurant. In those cases, what you don't know doesn't count in your food journal right?

I gently spooned the pasta into the pan, bringing in a bit of the pasta water to add some starch to the dish and finished with a generous helping of freshly chopped parsley.

I wound up with a fresh delightfully unexpected meal and a much cleaner fridge!

Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives - It's Real Simple!

I knew that this week was going to be a busy one. That being said, I spent my Sunday preparing some healthy quick meals for the week. For an easy, low-cal meal I decided to try one that recently caught my eye in Real Simple magazine called Golden Chicken with Tomatoes and Olives.

1 cup long-grain rice
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into thirds
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large yellow or other kind of onion, thinly sliced
1 cup large pimiento-stuffed olives, quartered
2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
1 pint grape or cherry tomatoes, halved
3/4 cup dry white wine (such as Sauvignon Blanc)
3/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

If using, cook the rice according to the package directions.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Season the chicken with the salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate. Add the onion to the skillet and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly soft, 5 minutes. Add the olives, garlic, and tomatoes and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes more. Return the chicken to the skillet, add the wine, and bring to a simmer. Cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has slightly thickened, 4 to 6 minutes. Stir in the parsley. Divide the chicken among individual plates and spoon the sauce over the top. Serve with the rice.
Makes 4 servings.

This "sauce" would also work very well over a firm white fish, shrimp, pasta or even some lean pork. A nice little trick to have these pantry ingredients on hand to liven up what would otherwise be an everyday boring meal.

I substituted olive oil Pam for the oil to shave off a few calories and used a sweeter Italian white that I had on hand versus the suggested Sauvignon Blanc. I was surprised how tasty this dish was and how the salt of the olives was a perfect complement to the sweet of the onions (I used yellow) and tomatoes. I continually seasoned the dish throughout the cooking process as well, which is my usual method but otherwise pretty much stuck to what is written above.

This dish came out so well; that I offered some to Piggytails for lunch. When something is this good; it is hard to keep to yourself!

Don't you wish you sat near me at work?

Turbot and tomatoes - what a combo!

You may have noticed that most if not all of my recipes are fairly calorie conscious; especially this close to bikini season! I've been pretty diligent about my diet and exercise regimen lately, even more disciplined than my usual almost military approach to staying fit. Plus with my restaurant partner-in-crime, RRR, not working in the city the past few weeks, restaurant reviews have been few and far between. So forgive all the home recipes of late.

Coming home late last week, I was looking for a quick, easy, healthy and satisfying meal. After seasoning a piece of turbot with my usual salt, pepper and garlic powder, I sauteed the fish in my grill pan.

After turning the fish over after a few minutes, I filled the pan with grape tomatoes (cut in half), diced olives, thinly slices white onions, a few cloves of garlic and loads of fresh parsley. After the onions and tomatoes began to soften (helped along with a splash of chicken stock) I was done.

Note: Turbot is a great fish especially with any tomato based sauce or topping. The firmness of the fish and it's oily texture can stand up to whatever thick sauce you can dish up.

For a quick side dish, I sauteed some garlic then added a head of kale. Once the kale wilted and turned a vibrant green, I seasoned with salt, pepper, more garlic powder, freshly grated nutmeg and crushed red pepper and I had a hearty healthy quick weeknight meal.