Real Food

Vacation was wonderful. I relaxed and ate way too much. However, whenever I return back from a trip, I crave good food. Real food. Food that isn't the same color. Food that is fresh and from my kitchen. We ate out way too much and I don't care if I see a burrito for months. That may be an exaggeration but right now I mean it. I missed my rainbow of colors. I came home, unloaded the car and as soon as I could get the sand out of my suitcases, I hit the farmers market.

I LOVE the farmers market. I loaded my cart with fresh farm eggs, whole wheat, hand spun tortillas, local red new potatoes, fresh picked corn and melons, tender asparagus and much, much more. I only stopped when my cart would hold no more. I became inspired to cook again. Hooray. My husband requested roasted sweet potatoes, Basmati rice and a good smoothie for dinner. It was perfect. The teenagers were gone so we were able to pull that one off. Light and flavorful.

I couldn't wait to cook up the fresh asparagus for dinner tonight along with the corn and melons. The potatoes were amazing. You don't know what a potato tastes like until you get them fresh from the ground. I roasted them in some olive oil and fresh chopped rosemary with a little Celtic salt. Heavenly. The veggies were roasted with a little olive oil and Herbs de Provence. I served them alongside some garlic Parmesan chicken that was packed with flavor. My palate is pleased. We finished it all.

Want to try it out? It would make a great family night dinner.

Garlic Parmesan Chicken

1 C. soft whole grain bread crumbs (finely crumb bread in blender)
3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. dried parsley flakes
1/4 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. salt
1 T. poultry seasoning or 1 t. thyme and 1/2 t. ground sage
1 T. olive oil
dash of pepper
1 stick of butter
chicken breasts or tenderloins

Mix bread crumbs with Parmesan, seasonings and olive oil. Add more salt if needed. Cut chicken into smaller pieces, about three inch sections or use tenderloins. Dip in egg and water mixture and coat in crumb mixture, piling a little extra on the top of the chicken. Put in pan that has been sprayed with oil. Drizzle some melted butter on top of chicken.

Bake at 350 until done, about 20-25 minutes depending on thickness of chicken.

You can freeze the breading for later use if you want to double the batch. I usually get about 12 tenders out of this mixture.

****I am putting in oil and supplement orders at the end of the week.