Great Summer Meal!

Rotini with Chicken, Asparagus, and Tomatoes

This recipe comes from Cooking Light: The Essential Dinner Tonight Cookbook, so you know it's healthy.

Ingredients:
Pasta
8 oz uncooked rotini pasta (I just made the entire 13 oz package of pasta)
cooking spray
1 lb skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch strips
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 c (1-inch) slices asparagus (I used the entire bunch of asparagus, which was about 2 cups)
2 c cherry tomatoes, halved (I used the entire package of cherry tomatoes, which was probably more than 2 cups. Why waste it?)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I used three cloves, since I'm using more of all the other ingredients and who doesn't like garlic?)
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (I used a little more, since I'm using more of all the other ingredients)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c (1 oz) crumbled goat cheese
Salad
2 tbsp minced shallots
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/8 tsp salt
dash of black pepper
6 cups fresh spinach (I just used the entire package I got from the grocery store. 

Directions:

1. While the water boils for pasta, prepare the ingredients for chicken mixture.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions.
3. While pasta is cooking, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; coat with cooking spray.
4. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper.  Add chicken and asparagus to pan; saute 5 min.
5. While chicken is cooking, combine 2 tbsp minced shallots, 1 tbsp olive oil, 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar, 1/8 tsp salt, and a dash of black pepper in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Add spinach to the bowl and toss.
6. Add tomatoes and garlic to pan; saute 1 min.
7. Remove from heat.  Stir in pasta, basil, vinegar and oil to chicken mixture in pan.  
8. Arrange 2 cups of pasta mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 tablespoon goat cheese.  
9. Serve salad on the side.

Verdict is that it tastes good!

Oh yes, To Die For is Right!

To Die For Blueberry Muffins?

When the roommate left town, she also left 2 pints of blueberries, which I have sadly neglected.  So tonight I decided to comb through the berries and identify the best of the rest for these muffins.

**DISCLAIMER: At 383 calories per muffin, these might not count as "healthy", but I'm including them in the blog anyway.  I'm sure you'll forgive me once you eat one.  Yum!**

Ingredients:


Muffins
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 c sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 c vegetable oil
1 egg
1 c fresh blueberries (Okay, so my berries were of questionable freshness... that's why I put the question mark in the title people!)


Topping
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c flour
1/4 c butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Line muffin tin with muffin liners.
2. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder for the muffins together.  Place vegetable oil into a 1 c measuring cup.  Add the egg and enough milk to fill the measuring cup.  Mix this in with the flour mixture.  Fold in blueberries.  Fill muffin cups to the top with muffin mixture and sprinkle with topping before baking.
3. To make crumb topping: mix together sugar, flour, butter and cinnamon for the topping with a fork.  I used a couple of knives to roughly cut the butter into the mixture.  I think it worked better than the fork.  Also, this made WAY TOO MUCH topping.  I think you could easily cut these amounts in half and have enough topping.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in preheated oven or until done.  

The recipe claims this makes 8 muffins; if I made it again, I would follow the reviews that suggested making 12 muffins by only filling the muffin cups up 2/3 of the way and baking for 18 minutes.

Costs:

I already had everything in my kitchen, so I don't know!  I'm going with free because I was able to use stuff that we already had.

They smell delicious!  Happy belated birthday to me ;)