Chicken & Asparagus

I love everything about the holidays! Especially all of the food at all of the many holiday parties. We have all been there, eating too much and getting a little tubby around the middle. Maybe even getting lazy from all of the sugar overloads. But I don't even mind the extra weight or the laziness as long as I get to eat and eat and eat!

Some days after eating and eating and eating I forget that I actually have to make dinner so that we can eat some more! It seems impossible that we will ever be hungry again after some of these holiday spreads, but inevitably after some time we are indeed hungry again. And on these days when I am lazy from coconut macaroons, holiday cookies, and little plate after little plate of delicious finger foods, it really helps to have a quick meal on hand. One that is loaded with good for you-ness too so you can get that energy back! And as it would happen, I have one of those recipes.

My mom gave me this recipe a few months back and I made some improvements on it. It is a beautiful little dish that looks like it takes lots of time (but of course it doesn't), and what I really love about it is that your vegetables are cooked right in!

chicken roll, mashed potatoes and gravy, romaine lettuce salad

Chicken and Asparagus Rolls

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds chicken breasts, pounded thin
4 slices mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp crumbled goat cheese
1 lb asparagus
salt and pepper
and handful of flour
toothpicks

procedure

after flattening the chicken breasts to all the same thickness salt and pepper them and set them aside. (I marinated my chicken breasts for 4 hours in a dry brine. it was delicious! The brine is from William Sonoma. If you do not have a brine and want more flavor than just salt and pepper, you can make your own brine with course sea salt, pepper, dry sage and some dry thyme. rub the chicken, then pat it dry before cooking)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Place a slice of cheese and some goat cheese crumbles then some asparagus on one end of chicken and roll it up. Hold it together with some toothpicks. Do this to all of them.
Roll the rolled chicken in flour and brown it on all sides in a pan with some butter or oil. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before eating.

Very Quick Lasagna

My lasagna definitely does the job on the days I don't feel like cooking. I have also discovered that it freezes exceptionally well and the ingredients are so cheap, why not make 2 or 3 for future dinners?

You will need...

a box of lasagna noodles (sometimes I like whole wheat, but the man doesn't, so it is up to you)

crushed tomatoes or canned tomato sauce

1 zucchini, diced

1 package mushrooms, sliced

2 red bell peppers, sliced

1 onion, diced

mozzarella cheese, shredded

grated Parmesan cheese

ricotta cheese (oddly, Beau hates this cheese! So i leave it out of mine)

fresh basil and oregano, chopped

butter or olive oil for cooking

in a large pot, boil your noodles, stirring to keep from sticking and then strain. Toss with butter or olive oil to keep them from sticking together and set aside.

Saute the mushrooms and onions with butter in a saute pan until just, soft. Set aside and saute the zucchini and red bell pepper until just soft. Now the fun part...

in a pan spread some tomato sauce so the noodles do not stick, and lay down your cooked noodles. On top of this add ricotta if you are using it, but if you do not like ricotta then layer some moz. cheese and lay another layer of noodles on top of it. Top this with some sauce, and then the veggies. Add one more layer of noodles, top with more sauce and then layer both cheeses on the top. Sprinkle with the herbs.

At this point you can either cover with saran wrap and freeze or bake in a 350 degree oven until the cheese is melted and everything looks delicious.

This is just my quick lasagna, but the great thing about this particular dish is its versatility! Swap out veggies for other veggies, add meat, or even use a white bechemal sauce instead of the red. The noodles are your canvas! and luckily, it is very hard to go wrong with layers of sauce, noodle and veggie.