Chicken dinner

Chicken, crispy bacon and cheese are three of my favorite things and they come together to make an easy weeknight dinner: Bacon Wrapped Chicken. I always tend to have chicken breasts and bacon in the freezer and cream cheese has a pretty long shelf life, so I didn’t have to run to the store to make this. This recipe is great for a family but it can do single serving duty as well (not that I’m not going to make enough for seconds…) and I adapted it to fit my needs while my hubby is away.

What you’ll need:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded thin
4 oz of cream cheese doctored up with a few tablespoons of powdered ranch dressing mix
2-4 slices of bacon
salt (to taste)
2 tablespoons butter

The low down:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Between 2 sheets of wax paper/plastic wrap/or in a plastic bag with a mallet flatten chicken breasts to ½” thickness.
Evenly distribute the cream cheese over each chicken breast. Then dot with butter and season with salt and pepper.

Wrap with bacon and stick a toothpick through the rolled chicken breast to hold it together.

Roll up and stick a toothpick through to hold it together.
Bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes (or until juices run clear).Turn on the broiler and broil six inches from the heat for 5 minutes or until the bacon is crispy.

Step 1: Spread Ranch cream cheese on seasoned, pounded chicken breasts.

Roll 'em up.

Rap 'em in bacon and bake!

I am a big fan of simple pasta dishes. I am terrible about just cooking enough for dinner, so I always end up with several days’ lunches.

This pasta – a big mess of roasted zucchini, garlic and onion tossed with pasta, fresh basil and Parmesan – can stand on its own. But it’s like first grade without the glitter. That’s why I am serving it along side the bacon wrapped chicken.

What you’ll need:

2 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut into 1/4-inch-thick rounds

1 small sweet vidalia onion or 1 shallot, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

4 tablespoons olive oil, divided

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 boxpenne or ziti, dry, preferably whole grain

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1/4 grated pecorino romano cheese

The low down:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and put your baking sheet in there as well (just make sure its dry! This will make sure the zucchini gets nice and crispy!). 

Toss zucchini, onion, garlic, salt and pepper and enough olive oil in the bowl to coat.

Spread into a single layer on a large rimmed baking sheet. 

Roast until zucchini is lightly browned, turning once, 15 to 20 minutes.

In the meantime, prepare the pasta according to the package directions.

Reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid before draining the pasta.

Return pasta to pot and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a handful of cheese.

Add the roasted vegetables to the pasta.

Add 1/4 cup pasta cooking liquid, and stir over medium heat until heated through.

Add basil and cheese. Toss, adding reserved cooking liquid by tablespoonfuls to moisten if dry. 

Voila!