When I find something I like, I tend to get a tad bit obsessed. For example, after I took my first hot yoga class, I immediately signed-up for an unlimited membership to my studio and began practicing close to every day of the week.  When I was a youngster and fell hard for New Kids on the Block (they will never be N.K.O.T.B), I covered my walls with their posters, never missed a concert and bought every teen magazine that had their pictures plastered all over them (I also convinced myself that I was going to marry Jordan, but that’s a story for another time).  My first trip to Trader Joe’s led to about three more trips in that same week.  And then there’s food.  When I find something that tickles my fancy, watch out!  It’s almost as if I think the store is going to run out of my newly found item, or all of the sudden my taste buds are going to change and I will no longer fancy it.  As you already know, I’ve been known to hoard things, and if I’m in love with a new ‘flavor of the week’, then chances are there will be multiples of the item in my shopping cart.

Image Credit – survivaldigest.com

OK, I’m not that bad!

In one of my recent posts, I talked about how I ‘re-discovered’ Swiss chard.  I love the unique taste of this leafy green and the fact that it’s loaded with vitamins and nutrients.  Plus, it literally cooks up in a hot minute.  It’s also healthy for your wallet.  So really, what’s there not to like about this veggie?  I can’t seem to find a single darn thing.  Not sure if this is actually fact for me, or simply my justification for being obsessed with the chard of Swiss, but I can’t stop dreaming of new and creative ways to eat it.  I even challenged the Healthy Chow brain to come up with a little diddy using only the ingredients that existed in my fridge and cabinets.  My creation came out quite well.  I’m pretty sure you won’t be hatin’…

You Won’t Be Hatin’ POM, Swiss Chard, Chickpeas & Bacon
Serves 2 (as an entrée) or 4 (as a side dish)

• 1/3 cup of POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup of chicken broth (I used Trader Joe’s Organic Low Sodium Chicken Broth)
• 1 TBSP of Worcestershire sauce
• few dashes of white pepper
• few dashes of onion powder
• 1/2 TSP of Dijon mustard
• 1/2 TSP of corn starch dissolved in 1 1/2 TBSP of warm water
• 1 bunch of Swiss chard, rinsed and chopped into bite-sized pieces
• 5 slices of turkey bacon (I used Jennie-O brand)
• 4-5 medium-sized white mushrooms, sliced
• 1/3 cup of chickpeas (I used canned)
• sea salt to taste

1) In a small saucepan, combine the POM juice, chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, white pepper and onion powder.  Heat everything on medium/medium-high heat.  Keep stirring as it starts to come to a slow boil.

2) Add the Dijon mustard.  Mix until the Dijon mustard is well-blended (there will be little lumps of mustard, it won’t completely dissolve).  Add the cornstarch mixture to the pot and keep stirring until the sauce begins to thicken.  It should take about 3 – 5 minutes.  Turn the heat to low, cover and set aside.

3) Heat a large skillet on medium-high.  Once the skillet is hot to the touch, add the bacon in a single layer.  Allow the bacon to cook for about 3 minutes or until it begins to crisp.  Flip the bacon and cook on the other side for another few minutes.  Once it has reached your desired crispiness, drain on a paper towel-covered plate.

4) In the same skillet, add the Swiss chard and begin moving the Swiss chard around in order to mix in with the bacon drippings (because it’s turkey bacon, it won’t be very greasy).  Allow the Swiss chard to wilt a bit, it should take a couple of minutes.  Then, add the sliced mushrooms to the skillet.  Cook until the mushrooms begin to brown.  Add the white pepper and sea salt to taste.

5) Turn down the heat to medium.  Begin tearing the bacon into bite-sized pieces.  I left mine on the larger side for a more rustic look   Add the bacon to the skillet and stir until warmed.  Finally, add the chickpeas.

6) Add the pomegranate juice mixture to the skillet.  Mix until everything is well-blended and the juice reduces a bit. It should take another minute or so.

7) EAT!  This is great as a side dish, or as your main dish served over a hot bowl of brown rice or quinoa.  Heck, eat it in pita pocket if you want!

DEE-VINE!  I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I began combing all of these ingredients together.  While I like the unique taste of Swiss chard, I know many are turned off by its mildly bitter taste.  Thus, I wanted to find something to cook the Swiss chard in that would remove or lessen some of that often considered undesirable taste.  Because POM juice is tart and semi-sweet, I figured it would be a good match.  The saltiness and smokiness from the turkey bacon rounded out this dish and added to the layers of flavor.  I threw in some chickpeas for an additional kick of protein, and mushrooms because I like the taste of mushrooms   If you’re wondering, the POM juice wasn’t overly tart or overbearing in this dish.  In fact, it nicely lightened the recipe without making it taste too fruit-like.  And, the POM juice made this recipe even more nutritious by adding a boost of antioxidants!

It’s safe to say that my obsession with Swiss chard won’t be going anywhere any time soon.  Even when I tossed various random ingredients with this vegetable, it still tasted great.  Actually, I didn’t even eat this recipe with any rice, quinoa or bread.  I ate it as soon as I plated it.  With all those beautiful colors and fabulous flavors, I just couldn’t resist.  I guess I’d just rather declare, “I’ll Be Loving You Forever” versus “Hangin’ Tough” and fighting my love for this mighty green!  (Oh yes, that was corny.  But like I said before, I was obsessed!)

Do you have any guilty pleasures?  Perhaps a cheesy TV show, band or movie?  Come on, I know you do…

Namasté,
Nicole

While I’m doing well finding my way around the kitchen, there are still some things that ‘freak’ me out a bit.  Among those things are baking my own bread with yeast, boiling a live lobster, deep frying anything (I don’t like splatter.  TWSS!), fileting a fish, making my own cheese and cooking a very large piece of meat (whole chicken or turkey, ham, prime rib, etc.).  I’m not sure why I have these nutty fears over such silly little food-related things (maybe I’m just cray-cray?)  But a few weeks ago, I decided that I had enough of being scared and decided I was going to conquer one of my fears head-on.  And what better time to bite the bullet than on a big holiday?  Healthy Chow says there isn’t any!

That said, when my brother-in-law announced that he was going to be holding Christmas Eve dinner at his apartment, the rest of the family volunteered to pitch-in and help out with the menu for the evening.  Since my mother-in-law was bringing a lasagna, my sister-in-law was bringing an appetizer, a vegetable dish and dessert, and my brother-in-law was supplying an array of finger food, the thing that was missing was a main entrée.  Ding, ding, ding, ding!!!  Do you hear the bell?  It’s telling Healthy Chow to buck up and make the main course.  And being that it was Christmas Eve, a traditional baked ham would be the perfect idea.  Take a deep breath, Healthy Chow, the plane is at the perfect altitude and it’s time to jump…

Baked Ham with Tangy Honey Citrus Glaze
Adapted from Allrecipes.com and Cooksham.com

• 1 (10 lb.) fully-cooked, bone-in ham, spiral-cut (I used a Cook’s ham)
• 1 3/4 cups packed light brown sugar
• 2/3 cup pineapple juice (reserved juice from the canned pineapple – I used Dole brand)
• 1/2 cup honey (I used Nature’s Promise brand)
• 1/2 medium orange, juiced and zested and 1 medium orange sliced
• 1/3 cup of orange juice
• 2 1/2 TBSP Dijon mustard (I used Grey Poupon)
• 1/4 TSP ground cloves (I omitted these, but I’m sure they would be delish)
• 1/4 TSP of ground ginger
• 1/4 TSP of cinnamon
• 2 TSP of cornstarch mixed in 1/4 cup of warm water(to thicken glaze)
• 3  20 oz. cans of pineapple rings, in pineapple juice (for covering ham while baking and for garnish)
• toothpicks
• 1 lb. bag of carrots (for a make-shift roasting rack)
• fresh parsley for garnish
• meat thermometer

1) Make sure to take your ham out of the fridge to let it sit at room temperature two hours prior to cooking.  This will help to ensure even cooking.

2) Take the wrapping off of the ham and discard the glaze (you’re going to be making your own!).  Give it a quick rinse and gently pat dry with paper towels.

3) Preheat oven to 275.  Since I don’t own a large roasting pan or roasting rack, I used a disposable aluminum pan and lined the bottom of the pan with carrots.  The carrots acted as a mechanism to lift the ham from the bottom of the pan.

Mighty carrots!

4) Place the ham in the roasting pan, face down on the carrots.  Cover the ham with pineapple rings by inserting the toothpick into the ham and then letting the pineapple ring suspend from the toothpick.  Cover as much of the ham with the pineapple rings as possible.

A big hunk o’ meat!

Ain’t she festive?

5) Cover the pineapple-covered ham loosely, but not entirely, with an aluminum foil tent without letting the foil touch the ham.  I poked a hole in the foil with a toothpick to prevent this from happening.

The ham in playing peek-a-boo with me!

6)  In a medium saucepan, combine brown sugar, pineapple juice, honey, freshly squeezed orange juice, orange zest, orange juice, Dijon mustard, ground ginger and ground cinnamon.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Set aside.

Not sure why my Dijon wouldn’t dissolve?

7) Bake ham in preheated oven for 2 hours.  Remove ham from oven, and brush with glaze (after 1 hour and 15 minutes of cooking).  Bake for an additional 45 minutes, brushing ham with glaze every 10 minutes.  When glazing, make sure to cover the entire ham; don’t be afraid to get into the crevices of the pineapple rings and ham.  You want the glaze coating everything!

Gettin’ all glaze-y!

Healthy Chow in action!

8 ) When it’s done (thermometer says 140 degrees), take the ham out and let sit on counter for a few minutes.  Baste one more time with glaze and cover with foil until serving.

All done!

9) Heat the remaining glaze on medium heat and stir in the cornstarch mixture.  Keep stirring until the glaze begins to thicken.  Once thickened to your liking, remove from heat.

10) When you are ready to serve your ham, remove the pineapple and toothpicks (I discarded the pineapple).  Garnish your platter with the orange slices and parsley.

The garnish is ready…!

11) Since this ham is pre-sliced, it’s easy to cut and ready to eat!  Drizzle the glaze over the ham and serve with pineapple rings.

Technically, this isn’t actually ‘baking’ a ham.  Since this ham is already pre-cooked, it’s more like ‘reheating’.  Thus, you don’t have to be afraid of the ham being undercooked.  It still will take about two hours to reheat the ham thoroughly (for a 10 lb. fully cooked, bone-in ham) and there is preparation for the glaze.  Therefore, in my opinion, this IS cooking.  I know hams often times come with their own glaze, but I wanted to make mine from scratch.  This glaze recipe had just the right amount of citrus, tang and sweetness.  I also liked the flavor the Dijon mustard added to the glaze – it gave it a unique kick.  It was a delicious glaze to use on the ham while baking and it was just as good as a gravy.  Trust me, it may seem like a ton of glaze, but you will want to have more than enough on hand for leftovers.  The tenting method of the aluminum foil helped to cause a steaming effect while the ham baked.  It wasn’t dry at all and in fact, was really moist.  The pineapple rings covered in the glaze helped to nicely caramelize the ham.  The saltiness of the ham combined with the sweetness from the glaze and pineapple created the ultimate sweet and savory combination.  It was a definite hit!

Image Credit – happierhomes.com

Adding the garnish of the orange slices and parsley definitely probably wasn’t necessary, but in my mind, presentation is key.  I like garnishing dishes with an ingredient that’s in the dish.  Thus, the orange slices fulfilled that goal and added a nice punch of color, along with the fresh parsley, to the platter.  Don’t forget, we do tend to eat with our eyes!  And while our eyes were happy seeing the ham, our stomachs were even happier with this dish in them.  I made more than enough ham (and glaze) for our Christmas Eve dinner, but having leftovers certainly wasn’t a problem.  We made ham and cheese sandwiches, ham and spinach omelets and of course, cold ham straight out of the fridge was a popular choice.  It was another gift that kept on giving!

If you can’t already tell, I was more than pleased with my baked (reheated) ham.  My fear of cooking a big piece of meat was one that was conquered and one that is now just a fleeting memory.  I can’t believe I was so intimidated?  But when you do your research, are prepared and realize that this is only as hard as you make it, it’s not so bad.  Actually, it was pretty damn great, if I do say so myself.  That said and my new found cooking confidence in me, you just might see some of my other cooking fears being conquered on this blog.  Now, who’s in the mood for some deep-fried Oreos with a loaf of homemade sourdough?  Hmmm….

Do you like to research and review recipes (I’m a fan of reading the readers’ comments) before making something or do you just like to wing it?

Namasté,
Nicole

Yup.  It’s really official now.  We’re on the downward spiral.  I know as a Bostonian, I should revel in the fact that the blustering cold will be here soon and the ice and snow will only be a hop, skip and a jump behind.  But, I don’t.  I don’t like winter and I really don’t like winter-esque weather.  This past weekend, we set the clocks back an hour and that means it will be dark at 2 o’clock in the afternoon.  OK, that’s a lie.  But that’s what it’s going to feel like!  Can you tell Healthy Chow isn’t really a fan of winter?

That said, in order to keep my heart and soul warm and my mind sane, I have to do things that remind me of the days of summer and that trick me into thinking it’s really not close to freezing outside.  Hot yoga is one way to keep warm but what else can I do?  I guess I could be a snowbird and fly south, but I can’t run away until April.  I could fake and bake and surround myself with heat lamps, but that’s really not my style.  And then I realized something.  I realized that as a healthy food blogger, it is my job to find ways to keep my body and mind well, in addition to finding ways for food to assist me in that mission.  Since I love food and I love the joy it brings me when I can make something healthy and delicious and then eat it, why not put these passions into warding off my disdain for the cold weather?

With that notion in mind, I began flipping through my bookmarked recipes (thanks Lauren!) and did a little searchin’ online.  Finally, I came up with an idea for a dinner that would not only warm my taste buds, but would also help me find that tropical island in the midst of a nor’easter.

Getting Tropical Coconut Chicken & Pineapple Orange Couscous
Inspired by SayWhatYouNeedToSayBlog.com and Cooks.com
Serves 4

For the coconut chicken:

• 1/3 cup of orange juice
• 1 TSP of salt
• 1/3 cup of egg whites
• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 6 oz. each)
• 1 cup of whole wheat panko crumbs (I used Ian’s Whole Wheat Panko Breadcrumbs)
• 1/2 cup of organic shredded coconut (I used Woodstock Farms brand)
• 1 TSP of curry powder
• 1 TBSP of Smart Balance Light, melted
• few dashes dried thyme
• few dashes of crushed red pepper
• few dashes of paprika
• few dashes of salt

Egg wash/marinade for the chicken

The makings for something tropical…

1) In a large bowl or pan, mix the orange juice, salt and egg whites.  Add your chicken breasts and let it marinate for about 15-30 minutes in the fridge.

Soakin’ it up…

2) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Once your chicken is done soaking up all the goodness, remove the chicken (place onto a plate) but reserve the marinade.

3) Mix the panko breadcrumbs, coconut, dried thyme, crushed red pepper, paprika and curry together in a shallow dish.

Look at all those colors!

All mixed up!

4) Take each piece of chicken and dredge it into the breadcrumb mixture, being sure to press the breadcrumbs mixture into each piece of chicken.

5) Place the breadcrumb coated chicken onto a foil-lined baking pan coated with cooking spray.

Ready for the oven!

6) Mix your melted butter with your reserved marinade and then pour this entire mixture over your chicken.

7) Cover the chicken with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Then, uncover the chicken and bake for an additional 30-35 minutes.

For the dipping sauces:

• a few TBSP of Trader Joe’s Peanut Satay Sauce mixed with a little water (enough to loosen it up)
• a few TBSP of dijon mustard mixed with honey (to taste)

Dippity, dippity, do!

For the pineapple orange couscous:

• 1 cup of whole wheat couscous, dry (I used Trader Joe’s brand)
• 1/2 cup of pineapple juice (from the canned pineapple)
• 1/2 cup of water
• 2 TSP of Smart Balance Light
• 1/3 cup of orange juice (plus another few splashes, if needed)
• 4 pineapple rings, chopped (8 oz. can)
• 1 TSP of cumin
• 1/4 cup of chopped fresh cilantro, just the leaves
• juice of half of a lime
• s&p

1) Combine the water with the pineapple juice in a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil.

2) When water/pineapple mixture comes to a boil, pour in the couscous.  Stir the couscous and drop a lid on the pot.  Remove the pot from the heat.  Let the couscous sit covered for 5 minutes.

3) Once the couscous is cooked, add the Smart Balance.  Give the couscous a stir to melt the Smart Balance and then add the orange juice to loosen. Give the couscous another stir.

4) Add the pineapple, cumin and cilantro.  Keep stirring until well-blended and add more orange juice if still dry.

5) Add the lime juice and salt and pepper to taste.

If you look real close, you can see the pineapple chunks! I swear!

There you have it!  While the wind chill factor outside is dropping faster than the pounds on The Biggest Loser, you can have the taste of the tropics in your home.  Because the chicken has been baked in panko breadcrumbs and dried coconut, it tastes as if it’s been deep fried.  There’s just enough crispiness from the breading to add a nice texture to the chicken without making it taste too heavy.  I was quite impressed with Ian’s breadcrumbs.  It was the first time I had ever tried (and bought) one of their products and I was pleased with the results.  The ingredient list in the breadcrumbs is pretty short and recognizable.  Another plus!  The reserved marinade along with the melted Smart Balance helped to keep the chicken moist and lock in the citrus flavor.  And combining the citrus with the coconut really emphasized the ‘island-y’ feel to this dish.  I kinda wished I made myself a fruity umbrella drink to accompany this meal!

Nothing crumby about these!

The ingredients…

And what more can I say about couscous? Couscous takes about a hot minute to cook and soaks up the flavor of whatever you cook it in so well.  I love it’s versatility and the convenience of it.  While I boiled the dry couscous in pineapple juice, the pineapple taste wasn’t overwhelming when cooked.  Plus, the pineapple chunks and orange juice gave the recipe a subtly sweet flavor.  And having fresh cilantro in the couscous was a definite plus. Since cilantro is often used in dishes originating from warmer climate countries, it accentuated the ‘anywhere-but-the-Northeastern-US’ feel. The cumin complemented the cilantro by bringing some much needed warmth to the couscous.  It’s like having heat in a bottle!

So perhaps cooking this dish in the dead of winter or at the very end of fall won’t make the snow on your doorstep or the frost on the windshield of your car disappear, but it certainly will bring a little sunshine to your stomach and mind.  And just maybe for a few moments while you’re eating this meal, you’ll be able to feel the sand between your toes, versus your thick wool socks.  Now the only thing missing is a cabana boy…

Getting Tropical Coconut chicken

Pineapple Orange Couscous

Side of steamed broccoli

All together now…

What do you think of my plate?

Now there’s some Chow!

How do you cope with the winter blues?  Or, do you love the ‘colder’ months?

Namasté,
Nicole

***Thank you so much for your patience.  I’m back and I finally have pictures (and boy, do I have pictures!).  Did you miss me?***

Do you have anyone in your life that is tough to shop for?  Someone who has impeccable taste and great style and has one (or more) of just about everything and anything? A person who is so beautiful that nothing you buy her will compare to her beauty? But this human being is very near and dear to your heart and you love her so much that you want to give her something but you just don’t know what?  Well, ladies and gents, let me introduce you to that person.  That person in my life is Mother Healthy Chow (or MHC for short).

As you might have read from my posts a couple of weeks ago, MHC recently had her birthday.  She turned 39 (*ahem-ahem, cough, cough*) and doesn’t look a day older 25.  Being the good daughters that we are, Michelle and I wanted to get a nice gift for MHC.  But we just didn’t know what?  The woman has too much a lot of clothes, more handbags than she ever can carry, fanciful jewelry, mucho make-up, a collection of shoes that can rival Imelda’s or Mariah’s and two amazing daughters (*pats herself on the back*).  What more could she want or need?

Can’t get enough of this pic!

However, even if a person has just about everything, the person’s gotta eat.  So, instead of taking MHC to the latest and greatest resto in the Boston area, we decided to shake-n-bake things up a bit and do something we haven’t done in awhile and should do more often.  Michelle and I decided to cook MHC a birthday dinner! And because MHC just moved in with her boyfriend, Darrell, we decided to make dinner at their newly renovated home.  There’s nothing like cooking in a brand spankin’ new kitchen!

Because Michelle and I were going to be responsible for cooking the whole dinner and bringing dessert, we had to plan in advance what we were going to make and thus, bring the ingredients.  I’m not quite sure how we decided, but we divvied up the courses as follows: sides, salad and dessert – Healthy Chow and main course and dessert – Michelle.  Yeah, I know dessert is mentioned twice.  That’s no mistake!  We wanted a birthday cake-ish treat for MHC, for candle blowing and wish making, as well as some other goodies, for variety and pigging out’s sake.

Image Credits – fundraw.com

While I was planning the few days prior to the dinner party, I chose to make sides that I felt would go with just about anything.  Because Michelle hadn’t told me what she was making as the main course and I didn’t want to keep annoying asking her, I just went with my gut (lame pun intended)  and selected recipes that were tasty and on the ‘healthier’ side.  Thus, I chose to make two recipes I found from Cooking Light - Creamy Parmesan Orzo and Mustard-Dressed Asparagus.  Both recipes received at least 4 out of 5 stars and very good reviews and comments from readers.  In addition, I had made the orzo recipe a few times before and it was delicious and easy and the asparagus recipe seemed healthy and easy.  Done and done! For the salad, I decided to bring mixed greens (baby spinach, arugula, radicchio and frisée) and the ingredients to make a homemade vinaigrette dressing.  So easy-peasy lemon-squeezy!  And for dessert, I just stopped by the store and grabbed brownie bites and chocolate chip ice cream.  You can’t go wrong with warm, soft chocolate baked goods à la mode, right?

I was so excited for this night!  Not only did I want to show off some of my much improved culinary skills, but I also love spending time with my family and I could not wait to see my mother’s new place.  MHC had just moved into Darrell’s condo, which they recently renovated and enlarged by acquiring the adjacent condo unit.  I’ve always loved seeing the interior of people’s homes, but ever since we gave our place a face-lift, my interest has reached a whole new level of appreciation.

Oh my stars!  I thought the ocean view from the outside of their building was incredible; the interior of their home was absolutely gorgeous! I tried not to have any expectations or visions in my head before arriving in order to be totally surprised and when I walked in, I was blown away.  Not only was their condo ginormous, but every detail was carefully paid attention to and flowed seamlessly to the next.  I felt as if I was flipping through the pages of an interior design magazine.

I lurrrrvvve those bamboo floors!

Absolutely beautiful…

Sparkle, sparkle…

I think the food might taste better coming from this kitchen…

Even the spices are cool, or should I say, ’sah-pie-say’!

Now that’s a closet!

My dream come true!

Even the washer and dryer are stylin’!

Darrell loves his shoes, too…

This closet would suit me just fine

An ocean view…

Simply breathtaking…

After receiving the grand tour and getting my groceries for dinner settled, I nibbled on some shrimp cocktail and chips and salsa.  While we told our mother she didn’t have to do a thing, she naturally put out a spread of appetizers and snacks.  What a good lil’ doobie.

It’s a good thing I had to cook or else I’d be full before dinner…

Snacks and sports…

I was having so much fun chatting it up with the party goers that I almost forgot that we were in charge of preparing dinner.  I could see the hungry looks growing, so I stopped munching (for a few minutes) and got started on cooking.  Since all of my dishes were relatively simple to prepare, I picked the one that would take the longest to make and would be the easiest to reheat.  So, I started on the creamy parmesan orzo.  Having Michelle and MHC (she couldn’t stay out of the kitchen for long, nor did we want her to) by my side in the kitchen was so much fun and so helpful.  While I would read off the instructions, one would hand me the needed ingredient and the coordinating utensil.  It was like having my very own sous chefs!

Stir that orzo, Michelle!

Even the birthday girl isn’t safe from kitchen duty!

Love that green!

Once the orzo was about done, I began on my asparagus dish.  Even though the recipe was for asparagus, I decided to add some zucchini since it would give the dish some variety and because I had some just sitting idle in my fridge.  I know, your girl is so resourceful! The recipe called for the asparagus to be boiled, but because MHC had a crazy-arse steamer built into the stove top, I just had to steam versus boil.  It just seemed so cool and high-tech; I had to give it a whirl.  The vegetables took only minutes to cook and the sauce took an even shorter time to prepare.  The key ingredient to this recipe was no doubt the mustard seeds.  They’re little, but they’re powerful (does that remind you of anyone you know?).

I gotta get me one of these…

The Yellow Wonder…(tee hee)

While I was cooking the vegetables, Michelle and her boyfriend, Jonathan began cooking the main dish – chicken saltimbocca.  Jonathan and Michelle make a great team both in life and in the kitchen.  They love cooking together and testing out new recipes.  I was told by the dynamic duo that the trick to making their recipe was to brine the chicken in salt water the night before.  I guess I’ll take their word for it.  It looked dang good! And just as the chicken was about to be taken out of the oven, I whisked together a simple salad dressing using Trader Joe’s Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar, dijon mustard, olive oil, some chopped shallot and salt and pepper.  As I’ve said before, Trader Joe’s never lets me down and he came through for me again that night.  The Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar was divine! It gave the right amount of citrus and zip to the dressing without making it too sweet or weighing it down.  Another winner from TJ’s!

That’s some kickin’ chicken!

I heart TJ’s

Veggie Might!

Finally, dinner was served! MHC did a fabulous job setting up her dining room table for her first dinner guests and her first dinner guests did a fabulous job of dining.  I couldn’t believe how well everything turned out.  Everything was cooked to perfection and tasted wonderful.  Michelle and Jonathan’s chicken saltimbocca was moist and juicy (must be that brining action) and the prosciutto that enveloped it was flawlessly crisped with just the right amount of fresh sage.  Ah-may-zing! And like the chefs who played off of the synergy that was overwhelming the kitchen, the dishes co-mingled with each other fantastically and complemented each other perfectly.

And while I don’t like to brag much, I just want to say that my dishes came out quite well.  MHC loved the creaminess of the parmesan in the orzo recipe and said that the fresh basil was the perfect complement to the dish.  And everyone seemed to really like the mustard sauce on the vegetables.  They said it gave the vegetables a unique flavor.  As for the salad, everyone wanted to know what I used to make the ‘fruity’ dressing.  They truly seemed to enjoy my new found secret weapon from TJ’s and the fact that the salad was tasty without being too greasy or heavy.  Success!

And what would a birthday dinner party be without birthday cake and dessert?  Not a good one in Healthy Chow’s book! Jonathan made a key lime pie that was so light and refreshing, I thought I was having a cocktail.  There was just enough lime to cleanse my palate and the airiness of the filling coupled with the flaky crust was enough for me to want to have seconds.  However, because there were other desserts to sample, I stayed with having only one small (ish) piece and had a scoop of ice cream along with a mini fall-inspired brownie.  I think MHC honestly loved every bite of her birthday celebration.

While receiving a luxurious cashmere sweater, the latest bottle of perfume, a new pair of fall boots, or some fancy handmade jewelry may be a wonderful birthday gift, it’s no match for the gift of time.  Being able to spend time with my mother and sister in her new kitchen laughing, cooking and simply enjoying each other’s company was my favorite part of the night and by looking at my mother’s face, she felt the same way.

Oh, he’s such an angel! Hahahahaha!

Gotcha!

“Isn’t she lovely? Isn’t she wonderfuuuuullll?“

MHC is always appreciative of any gift she receives, but I could tell that this time this gift meant the world to her.  She was so excited for us to finally see her new home with Darrell and to be able to see how our culinary skills had developed.  I think it’s always a gift for a parent to see how their children have matured and blossomed, but it’s also a gift for the child to see their parent being happy in their new life.  While it may have been MHC’s birthday, I feel as though I was the one who was showered with presents.  It was a spectacular night filled with giggles, good times and great food.  While it might have been easier to go to the mall or hop online to buy our mother a birthday gift, it definitely would not have been as much fun, nor would it have been as special.  Being able to create a memorable night, such as our dinner party, is something that everyone should try – it may require a bit of time and energy, but what you get back is immeasurable and certainly priceless.  For the person who has everything, it’s definitely something of which they could use more.

What’s the best gift you’ve ever received?  Or, what’s your favorite secret ingredient to use?

Namasté,
Nicole