Weeknight Meals

Most nights of the week I get home from work and go straight to cooking. Why? Because it is my form of relaxation. Some people like to read or wtach TV to relax but for me the best way to relax is to be in the kitchen cooking.

When I tell my friends or co-workers that I cook almost every night of the week they are shocked that I have the time. But in under an hour anyone can have a home cooked weeknight meal which will be much better than ordering takeout. All it takes is a little creativity.

This past week I made baked italian chicken thighs with roasted broccoli and rice all in about 45 minutes. And the best part of this meal was that it is basically hands off allowing you to relax in other ways at the same time.

Here's what you need:

4 chicken thighs

half bottle italian dressing

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1 tbl butter

broccoli
chili powder
garlic

salt

pepper

olive oil

I marinated the chicken thighs over night in the italian dressing. This helps impart the flavor into the meat but if you cannot marinate it over night at least try to let it marinate for a half hour before cooking.

Heat an over to 400 degrees. While the oven is heating cut the broccoli and toss it in a bowl with olive oil, garlic, salt pepper, cumin and chili powder.

Place the chicken in a baking dish and bake until the jucies run clear when a knife is inserted into the chicken. This took about 20 minutes.

At the same time, put the broccoli on a parchment paper covered baking sheet and put in the oven as well. I based the roasted broccoli on a recipe I saw on the Amateur Gourmet's website.

While this was cooking as an added bonus, I added a tablespoon of butter to a frying pan and added in a couple handfulls of panko breadcrumbs. When the chicken thighs were cooked, I topped them with the breadcrumbs and browned it in the broiler for a minute or two. This served as a crunchy topping adding a great texture contrast to the chicken.

This was a perfect meal for a weeknight. I served it with a side of rice that was cooking at the same time as everything else.

Weeknight cooking does not have to be hard, with a little planning and creativity cooking during the week can be easy.

What are some of your favorite weeknight meals?

Ground Turkey With Zucchini Ribbons and Tomato

So for my first real post about food I decided to show you an easy weeknight dinner I made last week. This is based upon many recipes that used the same combination of ground turkey and zucchini but took much longer, such as stuffing the zucchini with the ground turkey. I like the combination of turkey and zucchini but I wanted something I cook make in no time when I got home from work. This is what I came up with. I will try and give amounts of ingredients but feel free to do as you wish.

1 lb ground turkey
1 can San Marzano diced tomatoes
1 zucchini, shaved or cut into ribbons
garlic powder
onion powder
chili powder or cayenne pepper
salt
pepper
extra virgin olive oil
brown rice, cooked

Get a skillet nice and hot. Add in olive oil. I just go two turns around the pan. Then add the ground turkey.

Once the turkey is added season it with salt and pepper. I also add some garlic powder, onion powder, and chili or cayenne for some kick. Just add however much you like. I like a lot.


As the turkey is browning cut up or julienne the zucchini. I recently received as a gift a set of Swissmar peelers which are amazing (http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/sku7018542/index.cfm?pkey=cctlslcpel). The set includes a peeler which juliennes vegetables. So it was the perfect tool to cut the zucchini into nice ribbons.


Here is the zucchini after it has been added to the browned turkey. Look at how nice the zucchini looks and it only took minutes to do with the peeler.

Cook this until the zucchini is wilted and soft. Then add the diced tomatoes.

Cook this for 10 - 15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning as necessary. I served it over brown rice for a quick healthy weeknight meal.

Here is the final plating:

Let me say that this is one tasty meal that is so simple and easy to make. The turkey and zucchini taste great together and the addition of cayenne or chili powder gives it a nice kick.