Lemon-Tarragon Chicken Toss and Cheese & Veggie-Filled "Focaccia"

Yesterday was my first day "home" from visiting "home." Hubby and I spent the past two weeks in the South visiting friends and family that we hadn't seen since December. Now he's gone for the next three weeks to teach drum corps again, and I'm stuck here working and cooking! (Of course one of those activities is much preferred over the other.)

Upon my first day back, I undertook one of my favorite weekly rituals: meal planning! I got out my calendar and current cookbook, Better Homes & Gardens Biggest Book of 30 Minute Meals. This was the first cookbook I ever bought for myself. I bought it in college, figuring that the subtitled, "More than 450 Hassle-Free Recipes," would be an easy introduction to cooking for myself. Well I only delved into a few of its pages during school, but since I'm now working full-time and married to a full-time grad student, I'm finding it fairly convenient. Since all the recipes are quick and easy, the resulting quality can be hit or miss. Of course I'll let you know which ones aren't worth your time after I've wasted my own on them. On the other hand, we've come across some excellent gems that we've already made multiple times and most likely will recreate often in the future!

Lemon-Tarragon Chicken Toss

We've made almost every chicken recipe in this book because it's so easy to buy a big bag of frozen chicken breasts and keep it around for whenever you need it. I had been holding off on this recipe because it includes cornstarch which isn't my favorite ingredient, but I thought I'd give it a shot yesterday since the only ingredients it required that I didn't already have were broccoli and a carrot.

For every recipe that requires chicken broth, I whip some up using chicken bouillon. Keeping both chicken and beef bouillon around is SO much cheaper than continually buying cans of broth when occasion requires.

The only other substitution I made was exchanging white pepper for black. I don't own any white pepper and haven't made anything that called for it since I started cooking, so I figured I could endure a bit longer without buying some. I don't feel like the black pepper was overpowering at all in this recipe.

See how happy the broccoli looks in its whole wheat fettuccine bath! A beautiful combination I must say!

Again, I love the addition of a bright vegetable in this step of the recipe. The tarragon makes my skillet look like a party!

Lemon-Tarragon Chicken Toss with Cheese & Veggie-Filled Focaccia

Lemon-Tarragon Chicken Toss Recipe:

Ingredients

6 oz. dried fettuccine or linguine

2 cups broccoli or cauliflower florets

1/2 cup chicken broth

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size strips

2 teaspoons olive oil or cooking oil

1 medium carrot, shredded

1 tablespoon snipped fresh tarragon or 1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon, crushed

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, adding the broccoli or cauliflower for the last 4 minutes of cooking; drain well. Return pasta mixture to pan; cover and keep warm.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine broth, lemon juice, honey, cornstarch, and white pepper; set aside.

3. In a large nonstick skillet stir-fry chicken in hot oil for 3 to 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Stir cornstarch mixture; add to skillet. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add carrot and tarragon; cook for 1 minute more.

4. To serve, spoon chicken mixture over pasta mixture.

Serves 4.

I wasn't overly impressed by this recipe, but what I made to pair with it was the true gem of the day!

Cheese & Vegetable-Filled "Focaccia"

As I was pulling this recipe together, I grew more and more uncertain of its outcome. Honey mustard and mayo with dilled cheese, picked veggies, and spinach!? Once I sat down to dinner, I took the first bite and couldn't quite comprehend what was going on in my mouth, but as I continued, I found myself delightfully surprised at its unique combination of flavors. I think this would be a hit at a party if guests would give it the benefit of an initial taste.

I couldn't find focaccia bread at my local supermarket, so I bought saloio bread instead. I think this loaf is bigger than the recommended 8-10" round focaccia, and the toppings could hardly fit on it! So I think you could easily split the toppings between the top and bottom halves of your bread instead of in the middle like a sandwich as the recipe instructs. The sandwich style makes for a mighty big bite!

As I was grocery shopping, I was unsure of what "pickled mixed veggies" were exactly. I recalled seeing something involving carrots and cauliflower in the pickle sections before, so upon much debate, I settled on a jar of antipasto in vinegar. I think I chose correctly because unless the dilled cheese was super powerful, the result had a definite "pickle" taste. Nommy!

I must say that the best decision I made for this recipe was to toast it. Honestly, I can't believe that isn't part of the recipe because all of the ingredients just cry out to be toasted! So here's the simple, nommy, toasty recipe.

Cheese & Vegetable-Filled "Focaccia" Recipe:

Ingredients

1/3 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons honey mustard

an 8-10" tomato or onion focaccia bread, halved horizontally

1 cup lightly packed fresh spinach leaves

6 oz. dilled Havarti cheese, very thinly sliced

1-16 oz. jar pickled mixed vegetables, drained and chopped

Instructions

1. In a small bowl stir together mayonnaise and honey mustard. Spread mayonnaise mixture over bottom half of focaccia.

2. Top with spinach leaves and half of cheese. (You can see I got a little carried away and accidentally shredded the cheese instead of slicing it. No biggie!)

3. Spoon vegetables over; top with remaining cheese.

4. For the love of all that is nommy, toast 'em! I stuck them in the oven on 350° for a little less than 10 minutes -- until the cheese is nice and melty.

5. If you're using real focaccia or circular bread, cut it into quarters. If you're using a loaf bread like me, cut it into four big slices.


Thanks, friend, for taking the time to read my first food blog post. I hope you try the focaccia and love it as much as I did!