Paleo Guacamole

My friend Brittany is going to ATL for 5 weeks for an internship so we threw her a mini "were going to miss you" going away party.  Brittany is doing the 60-day Paleo challenge at our gym - so her party eating is a bit limited.  Since we can't have the guest of honor starved at her own party - I atttempted Paleo Guacamole.  I paired it with chips for us non-paleoers and got baby carrots and cucumbers for Brittany.

Paleo Guacamole

Ingredients
3 medium avocados
1 firm tomato, finely diced
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup chopped cilantro (i found this very difficult, so I recommend cutting it with scissors instead of attempting to use a knife)
2 tbsp fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Open the avocados and scoop out the "flesh" (that sounds gross, I know - just wait until you check out the pits).  An easy way is to cut it length-wise around the pit and then using a spoon to scoop out the pit.
Mash the "flesh" (I hate using that word) with a fork, to your consistency prefrence.  Be mindful that you will probably accidentally overmash it, even if you're going for chunkier.

Stir together the ingredients

Enjoy right away or store in the refirgerator.  A trick is to put plastic wrap touching the guacamole so it doesn't brown because of contact with air.

Top Chef Challenge #2

Any idea what Manchego is?  Yea, me either.  Apparently it's some type of spanish cheese.  This weeks challenge was "citrus" so I threw in a double whammy and found a recipe with manchego cheese and thought i'd give it a try, without even a sample!  I know, I'm so brave.  I found a recipe for Chicken Manchego in Publix's weekly ad and thought I'd give it a try - especially since it said "feed four for under $20.00"....because I have 4 people to feed and everything :).

It was surprisingly simple to cook and was seriously healthy - maybe too healthy for me, so I threw in a few cookies at the end.

Chicken Manchego

Ingredients:
5 oz Manchego Cheese (ask the deli!)
1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers (check the aisle with the mexican food)
2 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp slivered almonds (I recommend adding more)
4 Chicken Breasts
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano leaves
salt and pepper
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Dice cheese and red peppers into bite-size pieces.

Combine cheese, red peppers, lemon zest, almonds, olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper.  Let stand 15-20 mins (while you cook the chicken) for flavors to blend.

Preheat grill pan on med-high heat.  Coat chicken with olive oil and sprinkle with lemon pepper.
Grill chicken, flipping over to cook thoroughly.

Slice chicken, top with cheese mixture and serve.

Top Chef Challenge #1

I've always enjoyed pesto, but I have never tried to actually cook with it.  Honeslty, I couldn't even find it at the grocery store (it can be found in the pasta aisle or refrigerated pasta aisle).  So this was my attempt at giving it a shot...

Chicken Florentine Pesto Pasta

Ingredients

12 oz bowtie pasta

4 chicken breasts cutlets

Salt

Pepper

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped, about 1 cup

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup white wine or stock

8-16 ounces of fresh spinach

1/4 cup (regular) cream

1/4 cup (or more) pesto

Directions

1 Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the dried pasta and cook until al dente.
2 While preparing the pasta, cook the chicken. Sprinkle the chicken breasts with salt, heat the olive oil in a sauté pan and brown the chicken breasts on both sides over medium-high heat. They don't need to be cooked all the way through, just browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set aside.

3 Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the onions cook, slice the chicken into strips.
4 When the onions are just beginning to brown, add the garlic and cook another minute. Add the white wine or stock and boil vigorously until the liquid is reduced by half.

5 Add the spinach and the undercooked pieces of chicken to the pan. Using tongs, turn them over to coat them with the juices in the pan. Continue to cook, turning and stirring often, until the spinach is wilted and the chicken cooked through, about 2 minutes.

6 Turn off the heat and add some black pepper, the pile of cooked chicken pieces and the pesto. Stir to combine. Drain the pasta put it in a large bowl. Add the cream to the saute pan and stir well to combine. Add the contents of the pan to the bowl with the pasta and mix well. Serve at once. Literally, by the time I started to eat mine it was already getting cold!





Garlic Oregano Zucchini

Ingredients
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
2 med zucchini, sliced
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions

In a large skillet, cook and stir the garlic in oil over medium heat for 1 minute.  Add the zucchini, oregano, salt and pepper.  Cook and stir for 4-6 mins or until the zucchini is crisp-tender.

Voila!






And my favorite part of cooking....