Pasta and Shrimp Primavera

My friend introduced me to a produce stand nearby with great produce and inexpensive prices. So when I found this recipe packed with all kinds of produce I got all excited! The original recipe didn't have a sauce, so I made a few changes to add flavor. I thought this was good but I'm not sure it amazed me or anything.

Ingredients

• 16 oz. cooked pasta (I used half a box of whole wheat rotini)
• 1 lb frozen shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 2-4 tbsp olive oil
• 5-6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 lb asparagus, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 medium onion, diced (I used a large shallot because that's what I had)
• 3 cups fresh spinach
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 can diced tomatoes, drain excess liquid
• 3-4 tbsp chopped, fresh basil
• salt & pepper to taste
• feta cheese
• splash of white wine
• splash of chicken broth

Directions

1. Cook pasta and drain.
2. Add 1 tbsp olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat and add shrimp, season with salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes until pink. Remove shrimp and set aside.
3. Add another tbsp olive oil and add squash, onion, and asparagus to the skillet. Saute 4-5 minutes. 
4. Add spinach and mushrooms and cook until spinach has wilted.
5. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant. Add tomatoes, basil, chicken broth, and white wine. Cook for several minutes to cook out wine
6. Mix in the shrimp and pasta. Toss until combined. Top with feta cheese before serving.

Source: Adapted slightly from The Sweets Life

Caprese Pasta

I have a current summer obsession: anything caprese! I love fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, fresh basil and of course balsamic vinegar. This recipe just looked perfect for a summer evening and so fresh! I loved it. It was really easy to put together because the only thing that really got cooked was the pasta. Everything else is added in the end.

I only made one change. I tried making a balsamic reduction to drizzle on top. It was good but I needed to let it chill longer. The longer it would have chilled the thicker it would have gotten. Regardless this meal was really good. It will be a summer staple recipe.

Ingredients

• 4-5 tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Fresh ground pepper, to taste
• Pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 pound whole wheat pasta
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese, I used pearls
• Approximately 15-20 fresh basil leaves, finely shredded
• Balsamic Reduction

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine the diced tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, cayenne pepper, and salt and pepper.  Mix the ingredients well and let sit for 20 minutes at room temperature.
2. Bring a pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook the pasta according to package directions until al dente. Drain the pasta and return it to the pot.
3. Add the tomato mixture, mozzarella, and basil.  Toss gently, drizzle with balsamic reduction and serve immediately.

Source: Adapted from The Curvy Carrot

Balsamic Reduction

Ingredients

• 1 cup Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring balsamic vinegar to a boil over medium high heat. Stir vinegar to prevent burning.
2. Once boiling, reduce heat to medium low and let simmer until vinegar has reduced by half. 
3. Let chill. 

Baked Lemon Pasta

I found this recipe for Baked Lemon Pasta on Tasty Kitchen. While it looks really good, it uses 2 cups of sour cream. I decided to use low fat plain yogurt instead to make it a little healthier. I added blanched asparagus. I didn't add any meat but could have. The flavor of this was good. However, I was expecting it to be really light and refreshing and it wasn't. Because it was baked and had cheese in it, the sauce was pretty thick.

Last year I made a recipe for Creamy Garlic Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus and the sauce was made with low fat plain yogurt and lemon juice. While the flavors of the two dishes are similar, I liked the recipe I made last year better. It's lighter and tastes fresher.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Spaghetti
• 4 Tablespoons Salted Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 2 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced And Zested
• 2 cups Low Fat Plain Yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoons Kosher Salt, Or More To Taste
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Flat-leaf Parsley, chopped or dried parsley
• Extra Lemon Juice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook spaghetti until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, blanch the asparagus. Bring water to a boil. Add the asparagus and boil for 2-3 minutes (depending on thickness). Drain them and immediately place them in an ice water bath for about 3 minutes.
3. In a skillet, melt butter with olive oil over low heat. Once the butter has melted, add minced garlic the juice of one lemon into the pan. Turn off heat.
4. Add yogurt and stir mixture together. Add lemon zest and salt. Pour mixture over drained spaghetti and stir together, then pour spaghetti into an oven safe dish.
5. Bake, covered, for 15 minutes. Then remove foil and bake for an additional 7 to 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and squeeze a little more lemon juice over the top. Top generously with Parmesan cheese, then chopped parsley. Give it a final squeeze of lemon juice at the end.

Adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Pasta with Tomatoes and Corn

Last week I was really wanting corn. I found this recipe and it sounded pretty good and fairly healthy. It tasted really fresh and was really easy to make. The original recipe called for red wine vinegar but I used balsamic vinegar and I'm glad I did. Next time I might add more corn.

 Ingredients

• 8 ounces whole wheat pasta
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup whole corn kernels, cooked
• 4 tomatoes, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped green onions
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt to taste
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1+ tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large pot with boiling salted water cook pasta until al dente. Drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and basil. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in the tomatoes, corn kernels, and scallions. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Toss pasta with tomato mixture. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. 

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Creamy Pork and Mushrooms

My friend made a crockpot meal last week with pork and cream of mushroom soup, something my mom made all growing up. It was so yummy and I've been craving it ever since. My only thing was that I really wanted to cook from scratch and not use a cream of mushroom soup. My mom is in town visiting and we looked up some recipes online and then came up with something of our own. I found this recipe that used sour cream, which I already had that on hand, and we just modified it to our liking. I really wanted a shredded pork but I rarely cook pork so I didn't know what cut to use. We went with Boston Butt and it worked well. This was delicious!!! I will definitely be making it again. It almost tasted like a pork stroganoff.

One thing I'll note is that there was a lot of fat that wouldn't blend into the sauce. We drained it off a little bit. My mom actually took paper towels to soak up the grease and that seemed to work well.


Ingredients

• 3(ish) pound Boston Butt Pork Roast
• Garlic Powder, Paprika, Salt and Pepper to taste
• 1 small onion, thinly sliced
• 8 oz Baby Bella Mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 8 oz sour cream
• 2 Tablespoons flour

Directions

1. Place onions and mushrooms in the bottom of a crock pot. Add Chicken Broth.
2. Season pork with garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. Place on top of onions and mushrooms fat side up. Cook on low 9 1/2 hours.
3. After 9 1/2 hours, preheat oven to 170 degrees. Remove the pork from the crock pot into an oven safe dish. Place in oven to keep warm.
4. Mix sour cream and flour. Add to the juices in the crock pot. Cook on high for another 15-30 minutes on high until it's thickened and creamy. Serve over egg noodles and enjoy!

Adapted from Allrecipes.com

Baked Ziti

I had some friends over for dinner the other night. I figured making a pasta dish would be easy, filling, and good. I've seen this recipe for Baked Ziti on All Recipes and wanted to try it for awhile. The only thing I changed from the original recipe was that I layered pasta, sauce, and then cheese instead of pasta, cheese, and then sauce. I wanted to the pasta to have plenty of sauce so it wouldn't dry out. This was delicious! It was cheesy and creamy and so good! A little side note, I used penne pasta instead of ziti because it's what I had.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dry ziti pasta
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 2 (26 ounce) jars spaghetti sauce
• 6 ounces provolone cheese, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add ziti pasta, and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes; drain.
2. In a large skillet, brown onion and ground beef over medium heat. Add spaghetti sauce, and simmer 15 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Butter a 9x13 inch baking dish. Layer as follows: 1/2 of the ziti, Provolone cheese, sour cream, 1/2 sauce mixture, remaining ziti, mozzarella cheese and remaining sauce mixture. Top with grated Parmesan cheese.
4. Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven, or until cheeses are melted.

Source: Allrecipes.com

Inside Out Lasagna

I love lasagna but it always makes so much! Of course I could half a recipe or freeze half, but I never think of that. I found this recipe for Inside Out Lasagna from Eating Well and it looked really good. I made just a couple of changes. I used about half of the spinach, added ground beef and italian spices. Growing up, I loved my mom's lasagna and she used cottage cheese instead of ricotta and I have to say I still really enjoy cottage cheese in lasagna. So instead of the ricotta I used cottage cheese and I also added some mozzarella cheese. It turned out really good, nice and cheesy! I'd make it again. I'm not sure it's any easier than lasagna but it's definitely good to change things up a bit.


Ingredients

• 8 ounces whole-wheat rotini or fusilli
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 lb ground beef
• 8 ounces sliced white mushrooms (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 Tablespoon italian seasoning (I didn't measure this, just eyeballed it.)
• 4 cups baby spinach
• 3/4 cup cottage cheese
• 1 cup mozzerella cheese

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add pasta; cook until just tender, 8 to 10 minutes or according to package directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, until soft.
3. Add ground beef and brown.
4. Add mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the mushrooms release their liquid, 4 to 6 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes, spinach, tomato paste, and italian seasoning. Increase heat to medium-high; cook, stirring once halfway through, until the spinach is wilted, about 4 minutes. Mix in cottage cheese.
6. Toss the sauce with the pasta. Top with mozzerella cheese and gently mix in.

Cincinnati Chili

When my family lived up north, we always ate Skyline chili. After moving here, I decided I had to learn how to make it myself. I looked up several recipes and finally settled on this on from All Recipes. I've made it several times now. It's really good, but it's not the typical chili most people think of. I usually serve it "3-way" which is spaghetti, chili, and cheddar cheese. But you could also add onion to make it 4 way. I cut the original recipe in half. Also the original recipe calls you to saute the beef and onion. However, the real way of make Cincinnati Chili is by boiling the beef and you don't add onion unless you want it raw at the end, the 4-way.


Ingredients

• 1 pound ground beef
• 2 tablespoons chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 small bay leaf
• 1/4 (1 ounce) square unsweetened chocolate
• 1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth
• 1/2 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• 2 tablespoons shredded Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Add beef and beef broth to a pot. Bring to a boil and boil until the beef is cooked through. While boiling, stir often. You want the beef to be very small bits not large chunks.
2. Add chili powder, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, cloves, bay leaf, chocolate, beef broth, tomato sauce, cider vinegar, and red pepper. Stir to mix well. Reduce heat to low; cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove bay leaf. Serve now over hot, drained spaghetti, topped with shredded cheddar cheese. Or, you can refrigerate it overnight. Reheat gently over medium heat.

Lemon and Dill Orzo Pasta with Chicken

As soon as I saw this recipe, I knew I had to try it. This was SO good! It was really easy to make and had great flavor. This will definitely be filed as a recipe to make again. I didn't have fresh dill so I used dried dill. I'm sure it would have been even better with fresh. I think I could have added a little more lemon juice and I added even more dill after cooking. The only thing I didn't love about it was that it was pretty monochromatic with the exception of a few green flakes. I wonder what it would be like to add asparagus or something else to bring in color. The leftovers are just as good if not even better because the flavors have melded even more.


Ingredients

• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1 1/4 teaspoons coarse salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 pound chicken tenderloins, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 pound orzo
• 2 cups crumbled feta (4 ounces)
• 1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh dill
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest, plus 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a saucepan, bring broth, 3/4 cup water, butter, salt, and pepper to a boil.
3. In a 3-quart baking dish, combine chicken, orzo, feta, dill, lemon zest and juice. Pour broth mixture over orzo and stir once to incorporate. Bake until orzo is tender and cooking liquid is creamy, 40 minutes. Sprinkle Parmesan on top and let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6.

Balsamic Chicken Pasta

I love balsamic vinegar so when planning this week's meals, I searched for a chicken recipe than used it. This recipe was on All Recipes. I made a couple of changes. I used rigatoni pasta instead of penne just because that's what I had, added some parmesan cheese, and onion. The original recipe called for raw tomatoes, and cold olive oil and balsamic vinegar to be added to the warm chicken and pasta. Instead, while the pasta and chicken were cooking, I sauteed the onion and then added the oil, vinegar, tomatoes, and basil so they'd be warm. It turned out to be pretty good. I wonder what it'd be like with feta instead of parmesan.



Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 ounce fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• salt and black pepper to taste
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4-1/2 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. Mince garlic cloves in food processor or blender. Add 1/3 of the basil leaves to the processor, and chop until fine. Pour in 1/2 cup of olive oil, and continue to process until mixture turns light yellow with flecks of basil. Add the balsamic vinegar; process just until combined. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper. Marinate chicken for 2 hours, or up to overnight, turning occasionally.
2. Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C).
3. Brown chicken in a large skillet over high heat, about 4 to 5 minutes per side. Transfer chicken to a large baking dish, and place in the oven until cooked through, about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove chicken from oven, slice into 1/4 inch strips, and return to baking dish to absorb cooking juices. Keep warm.
4. While chicken is baking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Boil the pasta until cooked through, but still firm to the bite, about 11 minutes. Drain well. Stir the chicken and the juices from the baking dish into the hot pasta.
5. Thinly slice the remaining basil leaves.
6. Saute onions in 1 Tablespoon of oil.
7. Add remaining 1 Tablespoon of oil, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, tomatoes, basil, and salt and pepper. Cook for several minutes until ingredients are warmed through. Add the chicken, pasta, and cheese; toss to combine.

Creamy Garlic Pasta with Shrimp and Asparagus

This recipe came from Eating Well. The original recipe also had peas and red peppers but I only used the asparagus. Instead of adding the shrimp and asparagus to the pasta while it was boiling, I sauteed them seperately. I also added a shallot. I bought pine nuts, but later realized I forgot to add them. Oops! The sauce was really good. The raw garlic really gave it a bite. I think, though, that next time I'd add less raw garlic to the sauce and saute it with the shallots, asparagus, and shrimp instead.


Ingredients

• 6 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
• 1 pound peeled and deveined raw shrimp
• 1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups nonfat or low-fat plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts (optional)

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook until al dente. Drain well.
2. Sautee shallots and asparagus. After a few minutes, add the shrimp and cook until pink and cooked through.
3. Mash garlic and salt in a large bowl until a paste forms. Whisk in yogurt, parsley, lemon juice, oil and pepper. Add the pasta mixture and toss to coat. Serve sprinkled with pine nuts (if using).

Red Wine Spaghetti

I came across this recipe on Pink Parsleys blog. Her picture looked amazing and the recipe just looked different, but good. I was not disappointed. It was really easy to make but the outcome was fabulous. The flavors went really well together. It made a great dinner but I also think you could pair it with a meat and serve it as a side for a dinner party. It just looks fancy even though it's actually really easy to throw together. We will definitely make this again.

Ingredients

• 5 cups water
• 3 1/4 cups dry red wine
• salt
• 3/4 pound spaghetti
• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
• 1 cup walnuts (4 ounces) toasted and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• Freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Combine the water with 3 cups of the wine in a medium saucepan. Add a large pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, stirring often. Drain, and reserve 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.
2. Heat 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and red pepper, and season with salt. Cook over medium heat until fragrant, about 1 minute. 
3. Add the remaining 1/4 cup wine and the reserved cooking liquid and bring to a simmer. Stir in the pasta and continue cooking to absorb most of the liquid. This will take about 2 minutes. 
4. Mix in the parsley, nuts, 1/2 cup cheese, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with additional salt and pepper, and serve with additional cheese. 

Adapted from Food and Wine, September 2009

Greek Pasta

This recipe came from All Recipes.  It seemed like a very simple recipe so I definitely made some changes. I added sauteed garlic and onions, white wine, and lemon juice. It was good but I thought it was lacking a little something. Next time I might use unseasoned diced tomatoes so I can use fresh herbs. I would also add even more feta. Can you ever really have enough feta?

Ingredients

• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans Italian-style diced tomatoes
• 1 (19 ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• splash of white wine 
• 10 ounces fresh spinach, washed and chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 8 ounces penne pasta
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water until al dente.
2. Meanwhile, saute garlic and onion in a large non-stick skillet until tender. 
3. Add tomatoes, beans, and a splash of white wine. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
4. Add spinach to the sauce; cook for 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring constantly.
5. Add lemon juice and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve sauce over pasta, and sprinkle with feta.

Chicken Piccata Pasta

I debated even posting this. It wasn't my favorite dish. The recipe came from Rachel Ray and had really good reviews. Perhaps I didn't execute it right. Regardless, it was a disappointment. I think it would have helped to have all the ingredients prepared and measured out prior to cooking. Also, I used a nonstick skillet but didn't have a nylon whisk. I didn't want to scratch my pan, so I just used a spoon to "whisk" the liquids into the flour mixture. Some of the reviews said that this was too lemony. I actually didn't think it was lemony enough. All I can figure is that I was trying to make it quickly and felt kind of rushed so I must have done something wrong.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/3 pounds chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 shallots, chopped
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 cup chicken broth or stock
• 3 tablespoons capers, drained
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1/2 a box of penne rigate pasta, cooked to al dente

Directions

1. Heat a deep nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add a tablespoon of extra-virgin olive oil and the chicken to the pan. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Brown chicken until lightly golden all over, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove chicken from pan and return the skillet to the heat. 
2. Reduce heat to medium. Add another tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter, the garlic and shallots to the skillet. Saute garlic and shallots 3 minutes. 
3. Add flour and cook 2 minutes. 
4. Whisk in wine and reduce liquid 1 minute. 
5. Whisk lemon juice and broth into sauce. Stir in capers and parsley. When the liquid comes to a bubble, add remaining 1/2 tablespoon butter to the sauce to give it a little shine. 
6. Add chicken back to the pan and heat through, 1 to 2 minutes. 
7. Toss hot pasta with chicken and sauce and serve. Adjust salt and pepper, to your taste.

Pasta Primavera

I adapted this recipe from one on All Recipes. This dish seems to have a lot going on in it. However, I already happened to have many of these ingredients. Plus it had balsamic vinegar and seeing as how I currently am obsessing over balsamic vinegar, I thought this recipe would be perfect. I didn't use peppers or green beans but I did add a little extra asparagus than what the recipe called for. I love that the recipe tells you to roast the veggies because it's so easy and I love the flavor.

The dish turned out good but not amazing. I felt like it was missing something but Matt liked it. He said if I added anything to just add chicken. Maybe I'd add balsamic marinated chicken to bring out more of the balsamic flavor.

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) package whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 yellow squash, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 carrot, julienned
• 1/2 pint grape tomatoes
• 1/2 cup asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
• 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/4 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup grated Romano cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C). Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
2. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne pasta and cook for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente; drain.
3. In a bowl, toss squash, zucchini, carrot, red bell pepper, tomatoes, green beans, and asparagus with 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt, pepper, lemon juice, and Italian seasoning. Arrange vegetables on the baking sheet, and roast 15 minutes in the preheated oven, until tender.
4. Heat remaining olive oil and butter in a large skillet. Stir in the onion and garlic, and cook until tender. 
5. Mix in cooked pasta, lemon zest, basil, parsley, and balsamic vinegar. Gently toss and cook until heated through. 
6. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Toss with roasted vegetables and sprinkle with Romano cheese to serve.

Chicken with Mushroom and Balsamic Cream Sauce

Recipe from Rachel Ray

Prep: 10 min  Cook: 20 min  Total: 30 min

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1/2 pound orzo pasta
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 ounces
• Pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 12 cremini or baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 12 shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 12 white mushrooms, sliced
• 2 large cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tablespoon thyme leaves, a couple of sprigs, chopped
• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar, eyeball it
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream or half-and-half, a couple turns of the pan
• 1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley, a generous handful

Directions

1. Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and add orzo pasta. Cook to al dente.
2. Preheat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat and add extra-virgin olive oil, 2 turns of the pan. Season chicken liberally with salt and pepper and add to the hot skillet. Cook the chicken for 5 to 6 minutes on each side. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover with foil to keep warm.
3. Return the skillet to the heat, turn heat back a bit, and add the butter. Once the butter melts add the mushrooms and brown stirring occasionally for about 4 to 5 minutes. Once the mushrooms are brown season with salt and pepper then add the garlic, thyme and shallots. Cook stirring occasionally for about 2 minutes or until the shallots are wilted. Sprinkle the flour into the pan and cook 2 minutes more. Whisk in the stock, balsamic vinegar and the cream. Turn the heat up to high and simmer for about 2 minutes or until thickened. Slice the chicken on an angle. Add the parsley and the chicken back to the skillet to heat up, about 1 minute.
4. To serve, pile orzo on dinner plates and top with the sliced chicken and sauce.

This was really good, great flavor. I might even add just a little extra balsamic vinegar next time. I didn't have shitake mushrooms so I only used 2 boxes of mushrooms, white and baby bellas.  For the pasta, I actually found whole wheat orzo pasta and was so excited. It was so good I couldn't even tell it was whole wheat once it was cooked!  I was trying to save a little money so used dried herbs that I already had as opposed to buying fresh. This is when I wished I grew my own herbs. Fresh would have made this so much better!

Matt suggested maybe trying it again adding asparagus and Parmesan cheese. We'll definitely be making this again because we both really liked it. In the words of Rachel Ray, Yum-O!