It's coming

I know I promised my Baked Ziti recipe. Which totally would have happened had I been smart enough to write down ingredients. So I've been going back through my pictures trying to figure out what my measurements and ingredients were. Will be up soon!

FAIL DRESSING

This weekend at the lake I came across a recipe I wanted to try in Cooking Light. I love wedge salads, and I love buttermilk and I love chive so obviously I would love this, right?

WRONG.

I am sorry Cooking Light but you really missed the bar with this one. The vinegar was an awful addition. It ruined the entire dressing. The raw garlic made the dressing far too spicy, it would have been so much better with a hint of roasted garlic. There was not nearly enough buttermilk flavor. I mark this recipe as a failure. I think later this week I will remake this recipe with my personal twist on it, and update you from there.

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup reduced-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh chives
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 (1 1/4-pound) head iceberg lettuce, trimmed and cut into 6 wedges
• 24 grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced red onion
• 1-inch pieces fresh chives (optional)

Preparation

1. Place first 9 ingredients in a blender; process 45 seconds or until herbs are finely chopped.

2. Place 1 lettuce wedge on each of 6 plates. Drizzle each wedge with 3 tablespoons dressing; top each serving with 8 tomato halves. Divide onion evenly among servings. Garnish with chive pieces, if desired.

Spicy Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken

INGREDIENTS
4 chicken breasts
1 cup apricot preserves
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
½ - 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
salt
pepper

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat grill on medium heat.
2. In a small bowl mix together apricot preserves, garlic, soy sauce, Dijon mustard, jalapeno pepper, salt and pepper to taste
3. Brush chicken with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Cook chicken 15 minutes on each side. Keep an eye on the chicken to make sure it doesn’t burn.
4. Brush the chicken with the glaze. Cook an additional 10 minutes on each side or until the chicken is no longer pink while continuing to constantly coat the chicken with the glaze.

Basil Parmesan Biscuits

I checked my mail today and found my Cooking Light in the mailbox. As soon as I got off work I sat down and started browsing. They had a whole section on basil and I paid close attention since I have a variety of basil in my garden right now. Since my other two dishes for dinner had basil I figured why not make the basil biscuits. To tie it together I also added some lemon thyme. It was perfect!

Here is Cooking Light's recipe (with the lemon thyme added in)
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup chilled butter, cubed
2/3 cup fresh basil chopped
3 tbsp lemon thyme chopped
1/2 cup fine grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 cup fat-free milk
1 large egg
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 425. Spoon flour into measuring cups*, level with a knife. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in butter with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in basil, thyme and cheese. Combine milk and egg in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add milk mixture to flour mixture; stir just until moist. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Pat to 1- thick circle. Cut with 2-inch biscuit cutter into 12 biscuits. Place biscuits on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake for 15 minutes.

*When baking breads and doughs you never want to "scoop" your flour or you will have an incorrect measurement as "scooping" will cause the flour to be packed in. Instead using a spoon lightly fill your measuing device small spoonfuls at a time, allowing it to settle naturally and not be overly packed in. Also, when I was done I had a little dough left so I just tossed it on the pan. I love the way that biscuit came out as opposed to using the biscuit cutter. Next time I will for sure just toss it on the pan and not pay attention to symitry. It made it look so much tastier.

Lemon Thyme

Sweet basil

(I have the bestest little herb garden)

Lemon-Thyme Pasta

1/2 pound vermicelli pasta
2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lemon-thyme chopped*
3 tbsp fresh sweet basil chopped
Whole lot of garlic chopped
Parmesan to taste

Boil pasta. While pasta boils in large skillet heat butter and olive oil over low. Add in garlic and lemon thyme and sauté for about five minutes until garlic starts to turn translucent. Drain pasta and add it into pan. Toss to coat with sauce. Top with basil and a large portion of Parmesan cheese.

*If you don't have lemon thyme (I grow it in my garden it smells like lemon zest but more amazing) you can sub regular thyme and 1 tsp of lemon zest.