Lunch Archives - The Midnight Baker

Marinated Bean Salad

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 09 Apr 2022 23:00:55 +0000

Marinated bean salad is one of those salads that can be a complete meal. Totally vegan but totally delicious.

Marinated Bean Salad–An All-Season Salad

When my neighbor saw this she said it reminds her of summer. She’s right there because this or my Mexican 3 bean salad is generally on my menu when I have cookouts on my deck.

But I tend to think of this marinated bean salad as an all-season treat. In fact, it is a meal in itself when you think about it. Beans are a great source of protein and also a wonderful source of fiber so it’s pretty filling. To top that off–if you could–it’s totally vegan. Therefore, it’s a great main course when you’re serving those who don’t eat meat.

Economical Salad

Perhaps one of the best things about this recipe is that it is very economical.

Face it, beans are cheap. With rising prices, we’re all trying to economize where we can. Pasta, rice and beans are some of the best money savers around. Many of us are cutting down on meat too because it’s very high in price at the moment. What better way to save than with this delicious bean concoction.

It calls for canned beans which a lot of us already have in our pantry to begin with. I used white (cannellini) and red kidney beans because they make a great presentation. But you can use any variety or a combination of such.

Marinade

Basically, the marinade or dressing is a vinaigrette.

One tip I picked up from watching numerous Julia Child shows is that the proportion of oil to vinegar is a highly personal choice. She said she preferred more olive oil to vinegar and/or lemon juice. I’m totally the opposite. Therefore I suggest you mix up the marinade first and taste it. Then you can adjust for your personal taste.

The Recipe

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Marinated Bean Salad

Totally vegan and totally addictive

Prep Time10

Cook Time0

Course: Main/Side, Salad

Cuisine: American

Keyword: marinated kidney beans, mixed bean salad, salads using canned beans

Servings: 6

Calories: 305kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

30 oz cannellini beans 2 cans, drained and rinsed
15 oz dark red kidney beans 1 can, drained and rinsed

Bean Marinade:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 tbs chopped fresh chives
1 tbs chopped fresh dill
1 clove garlic finely minced
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
2 tbs finely chopped red onion
1/4 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper or red pepper flakes optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Place beans in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, mix all the marinade ingredients. Pour over beans and toss to coat.
Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Toss well before serving.
Will keep well for about 3 days so you can make this ahead.

Nutrition

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Hashbrown Egg Nests

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 07 Jul 2020 23:00:37 +0000

What better way to start Saturday or Sunday than with a weekend breakfast of scrambled eggs in a nest of hashbrown potatoes?

Weekend Breakfast

There’s something very special about weekend breakfasts. Since the work week is over, you’ve slept a little later and can linger a little longer over breakfast.

Because there’s more time on weekend mornings to prepare a fancier breakfast, these special scrambled egg cups are just the ticket. You’ve got all the elements of a diner-style breakfast but all in one package. They are easy to prepare and there’s nothing very involved in the preparations. If you can make scrambled eggs, you’ve got this!

Eggs Dressed Up Or Down

The filling for these nests is scrambled eggs.

You can dress them up or down depending on what extras you have on hand. The basic add-in here is bacon. Bacon can be prepped in advance so all that’s necessary is dicing it when the time comes to prepare these egg nests.

You can easily substitute cooked and crumbled sausage for the bacon. The choice is, of course, up to you and what you have on hand.

The other basic add-in is shredded cheese. Here, you can use any variety of cheese you like–and have on hand. You can also combine cheeses. What I did here was use a Mexican blend and added in some finely dice jalapeño for a little zip.

My other “secrets” to creamy scrambled eggs is cooking them over medium-low heat and putting some cream in them.

These are nice with my orange breakfast rolls.

The Potatoes

The best choice here is to use prepared refrigerated hashbrowns. Just a reminder that it’s the shredded kind–not the patties.

The refrigerated potatoes are the easiest choice because they’re ready-to-use and are dry enough to use right out of the package.

If all you have are frozen shredded potatoes, take them out of the freezer the night before so they are completely defrosted by the time you make these egg nests. Remember to dry them well by either using several layers of paper towels or squeezing them in a clean tea (dish) towel.

The last option is to make your own. That does involve some work and if you completely prep them ahead, they will discolor so keep that in mind. However, the discoloration isn’t spoilage at all and there is no “off” taste.

The Recipe

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Hashbrown Egg Nests

Perfect for a weekend breakfast or brunch

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Course: Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: creative ways with hash browns, fancy egg recipes, weekend breakfast

Servings: 6

Calories: 309kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

20 oz refrigerated shredded hash brown potatoes
6 large eggs
1/4 cup cream see NOTES
1/4 cup milk see NOTES
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbs butter
6 slices cooked bacon crumbles
1 jalapeño diced, optional
1 cup shredded cheese

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Spray a standard 12 muffin tin with non-stick spray.
Divide the potatoes up between the cups in the pan. Press into the bottom and up the sides. Bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.
While the potatoes are baking, whisk the eggs, cream, milk and salt in a large bowl.
Melt the butter in a large non-stick skillet over medium-low heat and pour in the eggs. Stir until eggs are set and no liquid egg remains. Add the bacon, jalapeño and 3/4 cup of the cheese; stir until cheese is melted.
Divide the egg evenly between the cups. Top with the remaining cheese and bake for about 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Notes

1/2 cup milk may be substituted for the cream/milk combination

Crumbled cooked sausage may be substituted for the bacon

Any shredded cheese may be used. I used Mexican blend because of the jalapeños

Nutrition

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Ham and Swiss Quiche

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 13 Jun 2020 23:00:26 +0000

A perfect quiche. A great way to start a weekend morning.

Quiche Is Back

Seems that quiche is back in style again. I wasn’t aware it was ever “out” but it hasn’t been trendy for quite a long time.

However, by what I’m seeing on line and in print, quiche appears to becoming popular again. I like that because quiches are easy, they can use up leftovers and most of all, they are very tasty.

There’s a secret to getting a perfect quiche every time–and it’s so easy that you’ll create some delicious ones once you know how to do it!

It’s In The Custard

A quiche is basically a custard which everyone knows is milk or cream and eggs.

The key is getting the right proportions of each of those ingredients so that it’s successful each and every time you make one.

The very first thing is use the dairy product with the highest amount of fat. For me that’s heavy cream. You can’t beat it for flavor or quality of the custard. If you use heavy cream, your custard will be velvety all the time. The next choice is light cream or half and half (for those outside the USA, half and half is 50 percent whole or full-fat milk and 50 percent light or single cream). Those two choices will give very good results too. The last is full-fat or whole milk.

Stay away from low or non-fat milks and half and half. It simply won’t taste good.

Now comes the eggs. For each 1/2 cup/120 ml of cream or milk, use 1 whole large egg. Yes, it’s that simple!

One Last Thing

Ever wonder why some quiches you’ve eaten taste better than ones you’ve made? I wondered that too and when I was watching an old Julia Child show from the early 1960s, I got my answer, or rather answers.

First, pre-bake your crust. This will prevent, as Julia Child says, the proverbial “soggy bottom,” which makes the whole experience unpleasant.

Second thing is you add a teeny pinch of nutmeg to the custard. You don’t taste the nutmeg at all but it enhances all the other great flavors. If you have whole nutmeg, it’s one or two scrapes on the grater. That’s all there is to it!

The Recipe

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Ham and Swiss Quiche

Serve it hot or cold—delicious either way

Prep Time10

Cook Time40

Crust Pre-Baking20

Total Time1 10

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: French

Keyword: egg based brunch recipes, making the perfect quiche, quiche secrets, savory pies with egg

Servings: 6

Calories: 266kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

1 pie crust 9-inch deep dish

Filling:

4 eggs
2 cups milk half-and-half or cream
1/2 cup diced ham
1/2 cup shredded swiss cheese
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
pinch of nutmeg

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375F/190C. Place crust in a 9-inch/23-cm quiche pan or standard US pie plate. Line the base of the crust with parchment or aluminum foil and fill with pie weights, dry beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment and let the crust cool slightly.
Preheat oven to 350F/180C
Whisk the eggs and cream together. Stir in remaining ingredients and pour in prepared crust.
Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.

Nutrition

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Leek And Stilton Quiche

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 05 Feb 2020 00:00:24 +0000

Not your usual quiche. This one has the great savory flavors of leeks and Stilton cheese. Leek and Stilton quiche is the perfect dinner for a Valentine’s Day date night.

Quiche With Leek And Stilton

Quiche was all the rage back in the 70s. Everyone seemed to be eating it as well as making jokes about it. Eventually it stopped being super popular but it never really went away.

One reason it may have ceased to be so popular is that it is definitely not a diet dish. It’s very rich and calorie packed. However, there’s really no other way to do it.

It is a dish to be enjoyed albeit on an occasional basis. Because of it’s richness a smaller portion does satisfy. Rather than the standard swiss cheese, bacon, spinach combo, this leek and stilton quiche gets it’s marvelous flavor from those two ingredients.

Stilton Cheese: A British Favorite

Second to cheddar, there is no cheese more British than Stilton.

It’s a blue mold cheese much like bleu cheese. In fact, if you cannot find Stilton in your store–and it’ll be in the gourmet cheese section–you can definitely substitute bleu cheese or Gorgonzola cheese. The flavors of those cheeses are all similar. I find that it’s not so much the flavor that varies as it is the texture. Stilton is a lot creamier than Gorgonzola or bleu cheese. So for an eating cheese, I prefer Stilton to the others. However, in this leek and Stilton quiche, it makes little difference which one you use and you don’t use much.

Perfect Pastry

The crust for this quiche is pretty simple and it’s prepared in the food processor. As an aside, the pastry can be made with bread flour (also known as strong flour in UK). I used all-purpose (plain flour in UK) simply because I had no bread flour and it came out fine, so use what you want.

In order to get a perfect looking crust, you can follow the video in my Caramel Crumb Peach Pie. In fact, you might want to switch entirely to a deep tart pan for making all your pies. I have so now every slice is perfect.

The Recipe

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Leek and Stilton Quiche

An updated British staple that uses their famous Stilton cheese.

Prep Time30

Cook Time40

Course: Brunch, Main, Main Course, vegetarian dishes

Cuisine: British

Keyword: leek and stilton quiche recipe, quiche, savory pies, valentine's day dinner

Servings: 8

Calories: 561kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

Pastry:

8 oz flour
4½ oz butter
1 egg
1 tbs water

Filling:

1 tbs olive oil
2 leeks thinly sliced
2 sticks celery thinly sliced
4 eggs
2 cups heavy cream
5½ oz Stilton cheese coarsely grated
2 tbs chopped parsley
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
Place the flour and butter into a food processor and pulse until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water and pulse until it just begins to ball up.
Roll out on a lightly floured surface and transfer to a 11-in/28cm deep quiche pan. Press up along the rim them prick with a fork. Chill for 15 minutes.
Line the pastry with parchments and pie weights (I use dry beans) and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the weights and paper and bake for an additional 5-10 minutes or until just cooked and pale golden. Remove crust from the oven. Reduce oven temp to 350F/180C.
To make filling: heat the oil in a large skillet then add the leeks and celery and saute over high heat for a few minutes.
Lover the heat, cover and simmner for 25 minutes or until veggies are tender. Remove cover and increase heat to high to evaporate any accumulated liquid.
Beat the eggs and cream together in a medium bowl. Whisk in the salt and pepper.
Spread the cooked leeks and celery evenly on the bottom of the crust. Top with the cheese and parsley. Pour the custard over the top.
Bake for 35-40 minutes or until golden and just set on top. Let the quiche stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

Gorgonzola or bleu cheese may be substituted if you cannot find Stilton.

Nutrition

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Mushroom Galettes

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 27 Feb 2019 00:00:52 +0000

Mushroom galettes are easy to prepare and make a great brunch or meatless dinner.

Fancy But Easy

Creamy roasted mushrooms in a crsp puff pastry “biscuit” is something that is elegant enough to serve to guests.

But this also makes a great special brunch or light supper for the family because it’s one of the easiest things you’ll ever make!

This is basically a popular European dish that I “Americanized” because I liked the look of it so much. It uses one convenience ingredient and other fresh ingredients that are readily available in the grocery store.

There’s ways you can get fancier with this, however, you don’t have to do that. You can keep the fancy in mind for more special occasions.

Mushrooms

Of course if you are not a fan of the popular fungus, this recipe is a definite no for you! However, you could substitute a veggie you’re fond of if you feel it would blend well with the creamy sauce.

For we mushroom lovers, you can really go to town here. I used mushrooms that are readily available everywhere and less costly. If you have access to wild and/or more exotic varieties, they would be ever so good in this. So if cost is no object and you want to impress, by all means go wild and gourmet with your mushrooms.

Creme Fraiche

This being a European “clone” recipe, it does use an ingredient that is very popular in Europe–creme fraiche.

I can buy this in my local food store, however, it’s pretty pricy. You can make your own and there are recipes all over the internet for it. But I have discovered that plain old sour cream works just as well. Sour cream is slightly more tart than creme fraiche and it has a less-creamy texture, but it works pretty well. I also developed my own substitute for creme fraiche, which I think approximates the texture as well as the taste most excellently. The recipe is in the NOTES section and please be aware that if you do make this, use ONLY the amount specified in the recipe and not the entire amount of the copycat recipe.

The Recipe

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Mushroom Galettes

Mushroom galettes are easy to prepare and make a great brunch or meatless dinner.

Prep Time20

Cook Time30

Total Time50

Course: Brunch

Cuisine: French

Keyword: galettes, mushrooms

Servings: 4

Calories: 927kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 oz cremini button mushrooms
8 oz white mushrooms
2 large portobello mushroom caps
3 tbs oil
2 tbs butter
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
14 oz creme fraiche see NOTES
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 package puff pastry sheets the box with 2 sheets, i.e., Pepperidge Farm puff pastry
1 egg, beaten for pastry wash

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Thaw puff pastry per package instructions and unroll. Mist the top of 1 sheet with water then place the other sheet on top. Score the pastry in a crosshatch pattern being careful not to cut all the way through. Cut out 3-inch rounds and place on a large baking sheet (there will be leftover pasty; discard it) and place in the refrigerator for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush chilled pastry with the beaten egg. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Cut in half through the center; remove any uncooked dough. Flip each pastry round over and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes, or until lightly brown. Remove and cool on a rack. Keep the oven on.
Place an oblong baking dish (I used metal to avoid thermal shock) or large oven-proof skillet in the hot oven for about 10 minutes. Add the butter and the oil to the hot pan, then add the mushrooms, salt and pepper and stir so the mushrooms are coated.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until liquid is almost absorbed. Stir in the creme fraiche and bake for 10 more minutes.
Remove from the oven. Add the parmesan, lemon juice and parsley. Spoon mushrooms over 1 plain round and top with a crosshatched one.

Notes

NOTES: Creme fraiche is usually found in the gourmet cheese section of the store. Since it’s frightfully expensive, you can substitute full-fat sour cream or beat 4 oz of softened full-fat cream cheese into 1 pint of full-fat sour cream. If you’d like to make your own creme fraiche, there are many recipes for it if you Google it.

Nutrition

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Deviled Eggs

Judith Hannemann — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 00:00:27 +0000

These deviled eggs make the perfect appetizer for any party. Easy to make too.

Classic Deviled Eggs

This is the all-time winner for an appetizer.

The reason for this is easy to understand. Deviled eggs are easy to make, tasty even made the classic way and can be spruced up with interesting flavors!

Mine are pretty basic, but do include a couple of tasty additions, such as two varieties of mustard and some tangy chives. I’ve left options for bacon and a little heat too!

Playing It Safe

Most specialty deviled egg plates have a dozen spaces–that will require six eggs.

However, I always play it safe and make at least 10 hard-cooked eggs if not the entire dozen. My reasoning is that Murphy’s Law will prevail and I will definitely louse up a couple either by accidents removing the shells or uneven cutting.

I don’t mind the rejects as I get a chance to eat some! So I would suggest cooking double the amount of eggs that you plan to serve. If all of them come out perfect, then you’re ahead of the game by having that many more to serve.

Another reason for making more eggs than you need is that you will have more filling. I tend to overfill mine because they look a lot more appetizing since they make a prettier presentation.

Size Matters

If you’re like me, you buy large eggs. They are the most popular size and when they are called for in a recipe, that’s usually the size specified.

But for deviled eggs, I buy jumbo. My reason is that they look better and have more eye appeal. When using jumbo eggs, it becomes more important to make double the amount.

When I made the eggs in my pics, three of the dozen were double yolkers. That’s an automatic reject if you want your finished product to look perfect. If it’s just for family, the not-perfectly-round center isn’t an issue, but for company it’s another story.

The Recipe

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Deviled Eggs

Deviled eggs make the perfect appetizer for any party. Easy to make too.

Prep Time10

Total Time10

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: American

Keyword: deviled eggs, eggs

Servings: 24

Calories: 78kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

12 jumbo hard cooked eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1 tbs spicy brown mustard
1 tbs dijon mustard
2 tbs finely chopped chives
4 slices crisp-cooked bacon finely diced (optional)
1 tsp salt optional
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 pinch red pepper flakes more if you like heat, but optional if you don’t

Instructions

Remove the shells of the eggs carefully. Cut each egg in half.
Carefully scoop out the yolks into a small bowl. A melon baller is good for this, but I find running my finger lightly around the yolk works very well too.
Mix in the remaining ingredients and fill the eggs with about 2 tablespoons of filling—this is approximate. The filling shouldn’t be skimpy!
To fill the centers cleanly, use a pastry bag with a very large (#26 I think) star tip.
If you don’t have tips or pastry bags, place the filling in a zipper freezer bag and cut off a corner (about 1/4-inch opening) and squeeze the yolk mixture into the white portion.
If none are ruined, this will give you 24 deviled eggs.

Nutrition

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Maria’s Special Egg Salad

Judith Hannemann — Sat, 10 Dec 2016 00:00:57 +0000

This egg salad is so good, it’ll be the only recipe you ever use!

Delicious Egg Salad And Low Carb Too

This recipe comes to me from my friend Maria.

Maria follows a low-carb eating plan so this recipe fits right into her lifestyle. But this also happens to be the best salad you will ever eat. It never gets watery or soggy and the taste is just phenomenal.

When I talk about this recipe, I say that I’ve made egg salad for 50+ years but this is the best I’ve ever tasted and I cannot get enough of it!

This will make a perfect appetizer or canape for the holidays. Serve it with some crackers and you’re all set!

The recipe is available at Maria’s site. Follow the link below to get it!

Maria’s Recipe

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Cheese Stuffed Shells

Judith Hannemann — Sun, 13 Nov 2016 00:00:43 +0000

Classic cheese stuffed shells in a tasty chunky tomato sauce. These shells make an excellent holiday buffet dish,

Cheese Stuffed Shells Are A Classic

These shells are a wonderful classic Italian meal.

They’re light, yet filling. Stuffed with a savory blend of three cheeses, they’re sure to please the fussiest eaters. And kids just love them.

I consider this to be one of my best family-style meals!

Perfect For Buffet Parties

Another big plus to these cheese stuffed shells is that they are a perfect dish to put out on a buffet.

Now that the holidays are almost here, a lot of us are thinking about getting together with family and friends. And lots of us do buffets where everyone can serve themselves. These require no cutting or fuss because the shells themselves are individual servings.

Another thing to consider is these stuffed shells are vegetarian (but unfortunately not vegan) so those friends and relatives who do not eat meat will appreciate these!

The Perfect Sauce

Because the cheese stuffing in these shells is very smooth, I like to serve this with a sauce that has some body to it.

The funny thing about my Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce is that it is done in less than 30 minutes! However, it’s one of the most versatile sauces I make because you can use it on lots of other dishes besides pasta.

Another good thing about this sauce is that if you serve it on a holiday buffet with a big pot of pasta, this sauce is not only vegetarian, it’s vegan too!

The Recipe

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Cheese Stuffed Shells

Classic cheese stuffed shells in a tasty chunky tomato sauce. These shells make an excellent holiday buffet dish

Prep Time30

Cook Time1

Total Time1 30

Course: beef, Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, pasta

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: beef, mozzarella, pasta

Servings: 4 -6

Calories: 808kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

32 oz ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley -OR- 2 tbs dry
1/2 tsp oregano
2 eggs beaten
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
8 oz large shells pasta cooked per package directions
4 cups chunky Italian pasta sauce
Extra Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spread about 1 cup of sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch pan
Mix all ingredients, except for the cooked pasta and sauce, in a large bowl.
Fill shells with cheese stuffing mixture and place in prepared pan.
Pour remaining sauce over the filled shells. Top with extra Parmesan cheese, if desired.
Cover with foil and bake for 45-60 minutes.

Nutrition

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Egg Boats (Breakfast for Dinner)

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 04 Oct 2016 23:00:36 +0000

If you like breakfast for dinner, try these easy egg boats. Scrambled eggs cook right in the roll.

Breakfast For Dinner

My late husband and I used to have “breakfast for dinner” one night a week, and even before it became popular.

We never did anything fancy nor unusual. We’d have waffles or pancakes one week, then the next do bacon and eggs with home fries. My husband was no cook–trust me on that–but there were a couple of things he made better than anyone and I cannot duplicate. One of them was his home fries. He showed me countless times, but they never came out as good as his.

Anyway, I have made eggs in rolls for a few years now. My friend Lillian introduced them to me when she posted her recipe to her blog, My Recipe Journey. Originally, I used a whole Italian bread and wondered why it took so long to cook. That’s when Lillian told me to use baguette rolls or sub rolls. DUH. She served these for a family dinner and they were a big hit, and it’s no wonder why.

Eggs Any Way

You can add anything to the basic egg filling.

I chose to make mine like a western omelette, adding sweet bell peppers, bacon and red onion. Get creative with whatever you have in the fridge and use those leftovers because this is the perfect way to do that.

Just as long as you keep to the basic egg/cream formula, you can add just about anything. However, I would include bacon, sausage or ham because this recipe just lends itself to those meats.

The Rolls

While I prefer an oblong roll for something like this, round would work pretty well too.

Just be careful about hollowing it out. You have to leave a pretty substantial “wall” so the egg mixture doesn’t seep out, but not so thick that you can barely get any of the egg mixture inside. About 1/2 inch is a good thickness.

As far as which rolls to use is up to you. I chose to use sandwich/sub rolls, but ones that came pre-packaged from the bread section. Since they are pretty soft to begin with, baking them will crisp them up some, but they won’t get so crisp that they will hurt your gums when you eat them. That’s the main reason I didn’t start out with very crusty rolls from the store’s bakery. They may have gotten too hard and dry and they may have easily fallen apart while trying to hollow them out.

The Recipe

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Egg Boats

If you like breakfast for dinner, try these easy egg boats. Scrambled eggs cook right in the roll.

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Everyday Meals, lunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bacon, breakfast, eggs

Servings: 4

Calories: 427kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

4 sandwich or small sub rolls

FILLING

6 large eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbsp each green bell pepper and red bell pepper
2 finely chopped green onions -OR- 2 tbs finely chopped red onion
4 strips crisp-cooked bacon crumbled
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese see NOTES

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment or foil.
Cut a slit in the center top of each roll. Hollow out, leaving about 1/2-inch for a "wall."
Whisk eggs and cream in a medium bowl. Add the rest of the filling ingredients and stir well to combine.
Divide egg mixture evenly between the rolls.
Bake for 25-30 minutes or until eggs are just set. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving. If you prefer firmer eggs, then you can microwave on high for about 30 seconds after the standing time.

Notes

Swiss cheese, gouda and fontina are good substitutes.

Nutrition

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Chicken with Warm Arugula & Radicchio Vinaigrette

Judith Hannemann — Tue, 06 Sep 2016 23:00:36 +0000

Here’s a simple chicken dinner that’s ready in less than 30 minutes.

Stunningly Simple

If you want a dinner that’s on the table within 30 minutes and one that’s healthy too, then this is it.

I recently took an online course called, “Rediscovering the Lost Art of Cooking.” One of the dishes the chef instructor prepared was this chicken. It looked so good and easy, I just had to do it for myself.

I highly recommend this course. I have been really BLAH about cooking lately and I have to say, this inspired me to get back into the kitchen again and get creative.

Leftover Greens

The chef instructor said to use up any salad greens you have in the fridge, but he demonstrated this with arugula, radicchio and Belgian endive. I love arugula and will look for any excuse to eat it, but I’ve never tried radicchio nor Belgian endive. This was a perfect opportunity to do just that.

Tomatoes are a must in this salad. I used cherry and grape tomatoes and I included orange and yellow varieties so the meal would be more colorful. Now that summer home-grown tomato crops are ready to harvest, these work perfectly here. Home-grown tomatoes have such wonderful flavor, so forgoing color variety for taste is way better.

Tasty Dressing

The vinaigrette dressing is made in the same skillet the chicken was cooked in.

The dressing is simple yet tasty. It gets a lot of flavor from the browned bits (called “fond”) that remain in the skillet after you saute the chicken. All you do is deglaze the pan with a bit of chicken stock then reduce that down till all that’s left is about a tablespoon or two. Then it’s just preparing a standard vinaigrette dressing which is 1 part acid to 2-3 parts oil.

The Recipe

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Chicken with Warm Arugula & Radicchio Vinaigrette

Here’s a simple chicken dinner that’s ready in less than 30 minutes.

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Total Time25

Course: Brunch, Chicken, Everyday Meals, lunch, salads

Cuisine: American

Keyword: 30-minute meals, arugula, chicken

Servings: 2

Calories: 617kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

2 medium chicken breasts
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 small head of radicchio torn into pieces
2 cups arugula1 small Belgian endive torn into pieces
1 cup grape tomatoes of varying colors cut in half (see NOTES)
Dressing:
1/2 cup chicken stock
juice of 1/2 a large lemon
3-4 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
salt to taste
pepper to taste

Instructions

Using a meat mallet, pound chicken down to a uniform thickness of about 1/4-inch. Season each side with a bit of salt and coarsely ground pepper.
Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the 2 tbs of olive oil and when the oil shimmers, place chicken in the pan.
Brown well on both sides. Remove chicken and keep warm.
To make dressing, deglaze the pan with the 1/2 cup of chicken stock, making sure to scrape up all the browned bits. Turn heat to medium-high and reduce until there's about 2 tbs of liquid in the pan.
Remove from heat and stir in the lemon juice. Then whisk in the extra-virgin olive oil. Add any additional salt and pepper at this time. Also if you want a tangier dressing, feel free to add a few drops more of lemon juice. If you find the dressing too tart, stir in a pinch or two of sugar.
In a large bowl, mix the salad ingredients. Add about 2 tbs of the warm dressing and toss to coat.
Divide salad onto 2 plates and place chicken on top of salad. Drizzle remaining dressing over each plate.

Notes

Home-grown tomatoes are an excellent substitute.

Recipe is easily doubled or tripled.

Nutrition

The post Chicken with Warm Arugula & Radicchio Vinaigrette appeared first on The Midnight Baker.