There is only one main dish I’ve ever had made with balsamic in the actual main dish and as a main flavor. It was someone in college who decided to make us all dinner, and it was awesome. I’ve been trying to figure out how he made it so tasty but I didn’t know how to cook then.

So now I’ve made my own version of it and its pretty darn good. Simple but very tasty.

I also love cooking this in my glass pan. Sometimes I just want to do something different and cook in glass. It wont sear very well but that’s not too much of a problem when I make this dish since I’m just trying to infuse the chicken with the balsamic flavor.

I tend to use a lot of balsamic, mostly because of how I cook this in the pan it gets slightly watered down from the chicken and steam. My house has been really steamy the last few times I’ve cooked, I guess its just been cold in here?

Cooking the chicken slowly also helps the acidic vinegar to really infuse into the chicken and keep it tender. I mostly serve this over pasta, but it would also be good over mashed potatoes. I’m one of those weird ones that likes balsamic drizzled on real mashed potatoes.

I add tomatoes near the end, so that they don’t break down horribly and keep their texture. This time I didn’t cook them at all since they were going in the microwave later and will end up cooking extra there.

I reserve the sauce and juices from the chicken to reduce into a nice and thicker sauce. The balsamic reduces really nicely and I like to add another big splash of vinegar as its reducing to give it an even stronger flavor.

I don’t think there is anything much better than reduced balsamic on tomatoes, it really is the best thing ever.

Top with mozzarella cheese and everything will be right in the world. Mushrooms added with the chicken also makes a great addition and gives it a little more “meat” to it.

Balsamic Chicken and Tomato Pasta
Serves 4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 large chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar, divided
• Salt and pepper
• 4 Roma tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
• Fresh cooked pasta

1. In a large pan, cook the onion in the oil until soft and translucent.
2. Add the garlic, chicken and half the balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear. Remove the chicken and onions from the pan, leaving the liquid in the pan.
4. Add the remaining balsamic vinegar to the pan and reduce to a little more than half.
5. Top the fresh pasta with chicken and tomatoes, drizzle the balsamic sauce over the tomatoes and top with mozzarella cheese.

So I tried making a stuffed bell pepper dish. It was alright, nothing to write home about. But I then realized that I really didn’t like the fact that I had to cut it with a knife and fork for some reason. I liked the slightly crunchy bell pepper, and the stuffing. I just didn’t like the way it was made.

So I decided to un-stuff them.

I liked the flavor so I kept it along the same lines, but what makes this dish easier and also quicker includes the fact that I don’t bake them, but cook it in a pan. I also use couscous for this one. Mostly because the tiny beads of couscous are like a party in my mouth. And I’m lazy, it’s quick to make.

So how do you “un-stuff” a bell pepper? Demolish it of course.

I usually will only put 2 bell peppers in the whole recipe, instead of a full pepper per person. You can add more if you like but I think it crowds it a little. I like bell pepper, but not enough to eat bell peppers served with a side of sauce.

Start browning the turkey, when its almost fully cooked drain any fat (optional) and add the spices. If you are using just lean turkey breast you might want to drain the fat. If you use the 99.9% fat free, you might want to add a little olive oil so it doesn’t get too dry. Or you could just use beef. I’m using turkey… so deal with it.

Normally I use fresh garlic and onion, but I didn’t have any at the time. Just throw those in when you add all the spices and let them cook for a bit.

Next comes the sauce. I usually add a whole can of diced tomatoes and around a half can (1 cup) of tomato sauce. In general you can use what you have on hand, extra sauce, tomato paste and chicken stock, it just needs to be a little soupy/goopy.

Next comes the bell pepper. I love the bell pepper. It only has to cook for a minute or two but it just makes everything so tasty. You can cook it as much or as little as you want. It all depends on what type of texture you want. Cook it less for a slight crunch.

Ah, bliss. I like making up dishes like these! Down home comfort…kinda. Just spoon it over some couscous or rice, add some cheese and green onion if you are feeling adventurous.

This dish is great frozen for lunches, just barley cook the bell pepper though. It will cook more in the microwave as you re-heat it.

Un-Stuffed Bell Pepper
Serves 4-6

• 2 cups unprepared couscous
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound lean ground turkey
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 cup tomato sauce
• 1 (15 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 1/2 large green bell peppers diced and seeded
• Green onions, chopped
• Shredded cheddar cheese for topping (optional)

1. In a pot, boil 2 cups of water. When water has started to boil, add the couscous and remove from heat. Cover and let stand for 5 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Set aside.
2. Meanwhile, in a skillet add the olive oil and heat to medium-high. Add ground turkey and break up while cooking. Add the garlic and onion to the mixture. When the onion turns translucent, add the salt and pepper to the mixture.
3. When the turkey is almost cooked, add the worcestershire, chili and paprika. Stir until well mixed.
4. Add the tomato sauce and let simmer for 5 minutes making sure the turkey is broken into small pieces.
5. Stir in the bell peppers and let cook for another few minutes until the peppers have softened.
6. Serve over couscous and topped with cheese and green onion (optional)

I think it has something to do with the fact that now my random craving/want has changed from chocolate. Now, its cream cheese. It’s really random to have that switch, but I’ve done worse.

My absolute favorite thing to have in the morning now is cream cheese and cranberry sauce on ciabatta bread.

It’s love. Really. It is.

But back to the sandwich. The funny part about this sandwich is that I was trying to copy something I had gotten off of a Roach Coach that comes by early in the morning at work. They have a sandwich very similar to what I made and somehow I became addicted to it in the early morning hours of work.

The bottom bread layer has a light dusting of mayo, while the top is cream cheese and cranberry sauce, with lettuce and turkey sandwiched between the two layers of heaven.

But mine tastes a whole lot better.

I love having the ciabatta bread since the cream cheese can get stuck in the little pockets and you bite into the sandwich to get a nice blast of cream cheese randomly throughout. I think this would taste a lot better with real roasted turkey instead of the lunch meat stuff, but its really just too dang hot to roast some turkey right now. I’ll just wait for Thanksgiving or some other turkey prevalent holiday.

Another thing I never had very often while growing up was meatballs. The only time I ever got them was when we would go to a restaurant in Southern California and they had appetizers in their waiting area of meatballs and hand made potato chips. I also decided to change up the normal recipe and go for something slightly healthier: ground turkey. The one problem with the turkey is that it can get dried out easily, so you have to make sure there is enough moisture in the meatballs to keep a good texture.

When I first started making meatballs, I would cook them on the stove top in some watered down marinara sauce. The sauce would thicken back up and the meatballs would get some of flavor from the sauce. The only problem I had with this is the meatballs had a tendency to get dry.

So this last time I made a batch during one of the days my husband was playing video games with a friend, I baked them instead. Not only did they turn out great but it was also fun to torture them with the smell of yummy meatballs for quite a while.

When I make meatballs, I always found it hard to make sure I had them all similar in size. As my mother used to say about me, the only thing consistent about me is my inconsistency. Sad but true. However I was able to finally get around that problem by using one of my favorite tools, the cookie scoop. It holds roughly a tablespoon so it makes nice and smaller sized but even meatballs. It also makes great cookies!

Though after using the scoop, you don’t have to roll them into perfectly formed little balls, but since I’m just a tad bit obsessive, I had to.

This time I made a double batch, which covered two large dinner plates, making more than 80 meatballs. It was a LOT of meatballs.

After getting all of them ready, I then decided to sear them in a plan with some olive oil to give some more flavor and cover them lightly in oil. I was very paranoid about making sure they had enough moisture so they wouldn’t get dried out in the oven.

After searing them, I completely filled my largest baking sheet with meatballs. Like I said, I made a huge batch. It took me around 5 batches in the pan to sear them all.

Then off they went into the oven to bake to their beautiful perfection. The guys at this point were going crazy because it was lunch time and they wanted food. The meatballs turned out golden brown and delicious. They also were so incredibly moist that I almost couldn’t believe it was the same recipe I had always used. The difference between pan cooked meatballs and baked ones, I really don’t think I’ll go back to the pan cooked ones. I love it.

Turkey Meatballs
Serves 5-6, Makes 40 or so meatballs.

• 1/4 cup instant oats
• 1/4 cup bread crumbs
• 1 pound ground turkey
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon onion flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
• 1 egg
• 4 tablespoon olive oil (divided)
• 1-2 cups marinara sauce

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.
2. In a large bowl, add the instant oats and crumble with fingers until it resembles bread crumbs. Mix in the bread crumbs.
3. Add 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, turkey, egg and the remaining spices. Mix either with a spoon or with bare hands until everything is incorporated.
4. Roll mixture into the desired size for meatballs, about one tablespoon size or larger.
5. Heat a skillet to medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil. When pan is warm, add the meatballs making sure they are all touching the bottom of the pan.
6. Cook on medium-high heat until partially cooked and nicely seared, about 5 minutes, turning the meatballs so as not to burn them.
7. Remove the meatballs from the pan and place on a foil lined cooking sheet brushed with remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Bake for 20 minutes or until cooked through.
8. Toss the meatballs with marinara sauce and serve with pasta.

My husband is convinced that I’m really not half Scot and half Mutt. He’s convinced that I’m actually half Mexican and Italian, mostly because those are two of my favorite types of cuisine to cook. I think he would have added some sort of reference to baking, but there isn’t a cultural cuisine that is only baking (not that I know of at least).

I love making Mexican food, but its mostly the Americanized Mexican Bastardization that I’m good at. Burritos, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, enchiladas with red sauce… Anything with chips or in a tortilla is fine with me. But there was one thing I hadn’t made yet for my husband…

When we used to live in California we would go to a Mexican restaurant El Torito. It was really one of our favorites, plus it was right on the water. There really is nothing better than having your favorite foods while looking out the window as the water moves all around you. Sometimes you would see some sea life, otters, seals, the random canoe…

Since moved, the husband hasn’t been able to find his favorite from that restaurant. Sour cream enchiladas. Granted we never really made a huge effort to try to find it, but our usual haunts don’t carry it. So I decided to try my hand at it.

Then came the hard part: Sour cream sauce? I figured it would be pretty much like a standard white sauce for Mac and Cheese, but since that’s made with milk and I want a sour cream taste, how would I make it smooth and not heavy? I already had decided to poach the chicken and shred it, mostly because I am a firm believer in shredded chicken in enchiladas. So using some chicken broth to poach in, then using that to make the rue, and add sour cream! Flavor all around.

I have to tell you they were a HUGE hit. The sauce makes TONS, so we had enough for three platters (around 32 enchiladas total over the week) and they keep great for leftovers. Except they don’t actually last long as a left over…

Sour Cream Enchiladas
Serves 4, with a TON of leftover sauce.

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried onion flakes
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 cups sour cream
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 12 corn tortillas, 6”
• 3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF
2. In a large pot add the broth and chicken breasts. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered until the meat is fully cooked. Remove the chicken from the pot and shred using a fork. Set aside and reserve the broth.
3. In a medium sized pot over medium heat, melt the butter and add the flour. Whisk together, adding just enough broth to keep it moving. Cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly, then add the rest of the broth and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the sour cream and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile, heat a pan over medium heat. Lightly brush each side of a tortilla with the oil and cook the tortillas until they puff and brown slightly. Remove from heat and cover with paper towel.
5. Add 1-2 tablespoons of the sour cream sauce to the chicken and stir.
6. Assemble the enchiladas by filling each tortilla equally with the shredded chicken. Roll the tortillas and place seam side down in the baking dish. Spoon enchilada sauce liberally over the enchiladas and top with the cheese.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is fully melted.