Do you love complicated recipes at the end of a workday? Nope, I didn’t think so. I had picked up some bone-in chicken breasts on a recent sale, and thought that would be a nice simple thing to throw on the grill for a midweek supper. I hopped online to try to quickly get an idea of cooking times, but the online recipes for grilled bone-in chicken breasts seemed to make it a complicated process.

Why complicate a simple meal? Well, there is the matter of getting the chicken cooked through, but not too much. And if you want to play the grilling superstar, you probably want those breasts looking golden brown and crispy on the outside. Read on to cook up these Simply Scrumptious Grilled Chicken Breasts with Garlic Basil Butter.  Since originally posting this recipe, we have added the details in recipe card format at the bottom of the post if you find that format easier to follow. 

If you are looking to grill boneless chicken, try these Juicy Grilled Chicken Breasts.

Fear not. It doesn’t need to be that hard. Bone-in chicken breasts are forgiving, a few minutes past optimal timing is OK. I perused, several recipes, found this one to be a good launching off point, and got the process and timing simplified for you.

A barbecue sauce might be your first instinct grilling chicken, but my simple Garlic Basil Butter takes about 5 minutes to whip up, and helps that chicken stay nice and moist as you grill it. Plus it adds enough flavor to make this chicken nice and savory. Scrumptious, you might say! I had a bottle of BBQ sauce on the table, thinking the chicken might need a bit more flavor, but that went unopened. Along with some tasty corn and side of pasta, this grilled chicken had plenty of flavor for a scrumptious yet simple weeknight meal.

For the butter
3 tbsp butter (I used non-dairy, see note)
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 to 8 basil leaves, sliced into thin julienned strips
pinch of salt
squeeze of lemon juice (optional)
***
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

Make the butter: Leave the butter out of fridge for 30 minutes, or microwave for 10 seconds to get it soft enough to work with. Add the garlic and basil, stir in vigorously to get it well incorporated into the butter. Stir in a generous pinch of salt. If you have lemon on hand, you might try squeezing in a teaspoon or two of juice. I didn’t have any to add, but I bet it would further enhance the flavor.

Prep the chicken: Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts. Gently pull back the skin just enough so you can slip your fingers in between the skin and the breast meat. Grab a dollop of the butter, and work it under the skin. Gently rub it onto the breast meat. Try to get about halfway down the breast with your fingers. This is enough to spread the flavor without making the skin too loose. Grab another dollop of the butter and rub that over the outside of the skin, forming a thin coating of butter all over the breast. Repeat the process with the butter on the other chicken breast.

Grill the chicken: Here’s the part a lot of other recipes seem to make complicated. Let’s try to keep it simple. I’ll explain what I did using my gas grill, you can do a similar process with charcoal by just filling half of it with the coals.

Pre-heat the grill to about 400. Turn off the back burner(s) so that you have an area available for indirect heat cooking. Place the chicken on direct heat for 5 minutes, then turn the chicken over to grill on direct heat for another 5 minutes. Using your tongs, carefully move the chicken and place it breast meat side down on the back of the grill. Cook on indirect heat with the grill covered for 15 to 20 minutes. Check the chicken for doneness (chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees), taking care not to overcook.

Our chicken was a nice golden brown at the end of the indirect cooking time. But if you want a bit more coloring for crisper skins or presentation purposes, place the chicken meat side down on the direct heat for another minute or two.

Sides and Wine: Some good local corn on the cob went nicely with this dish. We also had some pasta with pesto on hand from this other recent Cooking Chat project. If I was focused mostly on the grilled chicken, I might have opted for a rose or Chardonnay. To go with the lively flavors of the pesto and corn, as well as the grilled chicken, I served it with a Viogner and was pleased with that pairing.

Note: I typically use Earth Balance Natural Butter Spread when cooking, as our son is allergic to dairy among other things. It’s softer to start with, making it easier to cook with. Along with being lower in saturated fat, it tastes great, too!

Simply Scrumptious Grilled Chicken Breasts with Garlic Basil Butter

Garlic basil butter helps deliver a juicy and flavorful bone-in chicken breast.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Yield: 3 servings
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp butter (I used non-dairy, see note)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 to 8 basil leaves, sliced into thin julienned strips
• pinch of salt
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice (optional)
• 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts

Instructions

1. Make the butter: Leave the butter out of fridge for 30 minutes, or microwave for 10 seconds to get it soft enough to work with.
2. Add the garlic and basil, stir in vigorously to get it well incorporated into the butter. Stir in a generous pinch of salt and optional lemon juice.
3. Prep the chicken: Rinse and pat dry the chicken breasts. Gently pull back the skin just enough so you can slip your fingers in between the skin and the breast meat. Grab a dollop of the butter, and work it under the skin. Gently rub it onto the breast meat. Try to get about halfway down the breast with your fingers. This is enough to spread the flavor without making the skin too loose.
4. Grab another dollop of the butter and rub that over the outside of the skin, forming a thin coating of butter all over the breast. Repeat the process with the butter on the other chicken breast.
5. Grill the chicken: Pre-heat the grill to about 400. Turn off the back burner(s) so that you have an area available for indirect heat cooking. Place the chicken on direct heat for 5 minutes, then turn the chicken over to grill on direct heat for another 5 minutes. Using your tongs, carefully move the chicken and place it breast meat side down on the back of the grill.
6. Cook on indirect heat with the grill covered for 15 to 20 minutes. Check the chicken for doneness (chicken should reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees), taking care not to overcook. When done, the chicken should be safely cooked through but still nice and juicy, with golden brown skin.

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This recipe for Grilled Swordfish and Eggplant with Fusilli and Tomatoes was too good not to share! I was glad to see that the #SundaySupper BBQ Party is featuring a wide array of dishes beyond true “barbecue”, so that I could bring this recipe to the virtual party. Thanks to Jenny from the Messy Baker and Melanie from Melanie Makes for co-hosting the event.

Inspired by the flavors of Sicily, this dish was so fresh tasting with awesome tomatoes and plenty of garlic to punch up the flavor of grilled swordfish and eggplant. A certain someone in our house who often passes on the seafood options was very enthused about how the swordfish tasted in this dish.

Not a fan of eggplant? I wasn’t either, until I learned to salt it, then grill as I do here. If you’re already a fan, that’s just another reason to make this soon! But please, if you come upon this dish later after tomatoes have gone out of season, please do not make this dish with hardened tomatoes found in the grocery stores in the winter! This is meant to be enjoyed in the summer only, with those awesome tomatoes just starting to roll in. I used a tasty heirloom variety. Enough preliminaries, on with the tasty details!

For the swordfish
12 to 16 ozs swordfish steak
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
dash of salt

Veggies and pasta
2 small eggplants, sliced semi-circles 1/2 inch thick
2 medium good quality summer tomatoes, diced
1 garlic clove minced
1 tbsp parsley
1 head of garlic, roasted (you can easily do this on the grill)

12 ozs fusilli pasta
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup feta cheese
extra parmesan cheese to pass at table

Instructions
First, spread the eggplant sliced out on a plate in a single layer. Salt the eggplant slices generously, and let the eggplant sit and aborb the salt for at least 30 minutes. I’ve found this salting process to be a key factor in getting me to add eggplant to the list of veggies I enjoy.

Preheat a grill to medium high. Spread the salted eggplant out in a grill pan or other such device to keep the eggplant from slipping through the grill grates. Coat with cooking oil spray. Place the grill pan on the grill to cook the eggplant. Turn the slices over after 5 minutes, and grill for another 5 minutes or so until the eggplant is cooked to a nice tenderness and has begun to caremelize. Remove the eggplant from the grill and set aside to cool. Note:  you can grill the eggplant directly on the grill if you don’t have anything to put them in, but you’d want to use whole circle slices and turn them carefully. You can leave the grill on to be ready for the swordfish.

When you put the eggplant on the grill, start a pot of water to boil for pasta and prepare the swordfish marinade. Combine the 1/4 olive oil, garlic, lemon juice and a dash of salt in a large bowl. Add the swordfish, and gently turn it over to coat it thoroughly. Let the fish marinade for 10 to 15 minutes at room temp.

As the fish marinades, prep the tomatoes. Gently combine the diced tomatoes with 1 tbsp of olive oil, parsley, 1 clove of minced garlic and a dash of salt. Set aside.

Put the pasta on to cook just before you start grilling the swordfish. Remove the swordfish from the marinade, and gently shake off the excess marinade. Reserve the marinade. Place the swordfish on a the grill, and grill covered on medium high for about 6 minutes. Turn the swordfish over, and grill until just cooked through, which will take about 6 more minutes. Keep in mind the fish will cook a bit more while resting and you don’t want to overcook it. Our swordfish steak was about an 1 1/2 inches thick, if yours is different that would impact the cooking time a bit.

When the fish is done, place on a platter and loosely cover with aluminum foil to keep warm as you put together the pasta dish. When the pasta is cooked to your liking, drain it and combine with 1 tbsp olive oil, the roasted garlic (squeezed out of the garlic skin after it has cooled enough to work with) and eggplant. Next stir in the feta cheese and olives, followed by one-half of the tomato mixture, saving the other half of the tomatoes to top off the dish. Bolded that step because the fresh tomato topping is key to taste and presentation!

To plate the dish, divide swordfish to have a piece ready for each diner. Plate a serving of pasta, followed by a piece of swordfish, then spread some of the reserved fresh tomato topping. A tablespoon or so is good to start, and pass the tomatoes along with parmesan cheese for additional toppings. Enjoy!

Be sure to check out all these tasty creations from my fellow #SundaySupper bloggers!

Beverages

• Best Wines For A Summer BBQ Party from ENOFYLZ Wine Blog
• Grilled Peach and Cinnamon Whiskey Sour from Peaceful Cooking
• How To Make Fresh Squeezed Lemonade from Life Tastes Good
• Pineapple Margaritas from The Messy Baker
• Stone Fruit Sangria from Because I Like Chocolate
• Strawberry Lemonade from Basic N Delicious

Appetizers

• BBQ Stuffed Calimari from Jane’s Adventure in Dinner

Sides and Accompaniments

• Cucumber Salad with Blackberry Browned Butter Vinaigrette from Nik Snacks
• Easy Fruity Salad from Hot Momma’s Kitchen Chaos
• Grilled Corn on the Cob with Lime Butter from The Redhead Baker
• Jacques’ Cucumber Salad with Onions from Food Lust People Love
• Mango Peanut Slaw from The Texan New Yorker
• Mom’s Classic Macaroni Salad from Webicurean
• Roasted Strawberry BBQ Sauce from Bobby’s Kozy Kitchen
• Two Tomato Chutney from What Smells So Good?

Main Dishes

• Asian-Style Pasta with Gochujang Peanut Sauce from Wallflour Girl
• Barbecue Ribs from girlichef
• BBQ Stuffed Peppers from Small Wallet, Big Appetite
• Bistecca from Confessions of a Culinary Diva
• Competition Baby Back Ribs with Apple-Bourbon Barbecue Sauce from Crazy Foodie Stunts
• Grilled Cedar Plank Salmon from That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Grilled Clams with Chorizo from Noshing With The Nolands
• Grilled Sanma from A Mama, Baby & Shar-pei in the Kitchen
• Grilled Shrimp with Lemon Basil from Nosh My Way
• Grilled Swordfish and Eggplant with Fusilli and Tomatoes from Cooking Chat
• Grilled Wings from Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Lemon Oregano Spatchcock Chicken from Kudos Kitchen by Renee
• Mango Beef Kebabs from Curious Cuisiniere
• Steak Skewers with Chimichurri from Jelly Toast
• Sweet and Tangy Blueberry BBQ Chicken Pizza from Simply Gourmet

Desserts

• Amazing S’mores 7-Layer Bars from Flavor Mosaic
• Banana Pudding Pie from A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Blackberry Cake from Peanut Butter and Peppers
• Blueberry and Raspberry Galette from Rhubarb and Honey
• Farm Stand Blackberry Buckle from The Wimpy Vegetarian
• Grilled Peach Crumble from Try Anything Once Culinary
• Grilled Peaches with Mascarpone Cream and Sweet Balsamic Syrup from La Bella Vita Cucina
• Hot Fudge Ice Cream Pie from Melanie Makes
• Lemon Ricotta Bars from The Foodie Army Wife
• Old Fashioned Sour Cherry Pie from Pies and Plots
• Pineapple Upside Down Cake from Take A Bite Out of Boca
• S’mores Chocolate Cookie Cups from Cupcakes & Kale Chips

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

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This Orzo Salad with Kale Pesto recipe can serve as a side dish, vegetarian main course or a contribution to a summer picnic or potluck. We originally shared this recipe for a #SundaySupper event focused on picnic food, and had it with some grilled steak the first time we served it. We came back through in May of 2016 to update the post with new photos and text updates after making the dish as a main course paired with a with for #ChardonnayDay. Read on for more detail, or click here to jump directly to the recipe.

Confession: I don’t actually do much cooking for picnics. A summer social gathering is more likely to be a cookout in our family. But I was eager to join another Sunday Supper event, having not done so yet this month, and the Big Virtual #SundaySupper Picnic was hard to pass up! Thanks to Jane of Jane’s Adventures in Dinner for hosting.

I often make some version of orzo salad for summer gatherings, and typically include my traditional basil pesto. Following last week’s Sunday Supper theme about healthy approaches for family favorites, I thought I’d try making my orzo salad with kale pesto for an extra boost of nutrition. That way I’d get to share something new with my Sunday Supper friends; and I’m happy to report this healthy recipe packs a lot of flavor! This dish is certainly fit for bringing along for your next picnic. It also makes a great cookout side–I served it alongside some Grilled Ribeye Steak with Garlic Cumin Rub, which just so happens to be something I served up for a previous Sunday Supper.

Orzo Salad Serving Notes

The pesto has a good bit of kick, so once the orzo is nicely coated with it you might want to set some pesto aside for people to add some extra if they are so inclined. If you are serving this for a small number of people, as I was recently, you can also reserve some of the tomatoes and add them as an individual topping for a nice presentation. Of course, if this is actually being served at a picnic, you just want to toss all the ingredients in advance. Take the orzo salad out of fridge for 30 minutes or so to get it closer to room temperature when serving it for a salad or a cookout side. Toss in a bit of extra pesto and a dash of olive oil to freshen it up right before serving.

Wine Pairing for Orzo Salad with Kale Pesto

Kale Pesto Recipe Variations

The orzo salad with kale pesto recipe shared here uses my original kale pesto recipe, which uses some arugula and walnuts. My standard kale pesto recipe has evolved to use pumpkin seeds instead of walnuts, for a nut-free kale pesto that works for food allergy concerns. We also generally just use kale for the greens now, though if we have extra arugula on hand we add that for some additional flavor. So depending on your taste and what’s available, you can use the kale pesto recipe below or check out our updated version. The post with the updated recipe also has a bunch of ideas for ways to use kale pesto.

Orzo Salad with Kale Pesto

Orzo salad tossed with kale pesto, tomatoes, peppers, white beans and olives. Can be served as a side dish or a vegetarian main course.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 5 servings
• Category: Side or Main
• Method: stove top
• Cuisine: Italian
• Diet: Vegetarian

Ingredients

• FOR THE KALE PESTO
• 3 cups kale, rinsed and thick stems removed
• 1 cup arugula
• 3 garlic cloves
• 1/3 cup walnuts, lightly toasted
• generous pinch red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 cup grated pecorino romano cheese
• 2/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• OTHER INGREDIENTS
• 2/3 of a large yellow or orange bell pepper, chopped into small pieces
• 8 ozs grape or cherry tomatoes, quartered
• 1 15 oz can of cannellini beans, or other white beans would do
• handful of sliced kalamata or black olives, sliced
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb orzo

Instructions

1. Start boiling a pot of water for the orzo.
2. Make the pesto: Add the kale, arugula and garlic to a food processor, coarsely chopping to create enough room for the other ingredients. Add the other ingredients and puree until it comes to a nice smooth consistency. Set the pesto aside while orzo cooks.
3. Cook the orzo according to package instructions, taking care not to overcook. Strain the orzo when cooked to your liking. If you are making this to serve later, after draining the cooking water, leave the orzo in the strainer and rinse with cold water. This helps prevent sticking and further cooking of the pasta. Take care to thoroughly drain the water, then return the cooked orzo to a large mixing bowl. Skip the cold water rinsing if you are serving right away.
4. Stir the extra tablespoon of olive oil into the cooked orzo, then gradually stir in the pesto. Get the orzo thoroughly coated with the kale pesto, then set aside the remainder to pass at the table.
5. After you’ve got a good coating of pesto, stir in the peppers, followed by the beans, tomatoes and olives.
6. Serve the orzo salad, passing extra kale pesto at the table. Enjoy!

Keywords: kale pesto, summer salads, orzo salad, pasta salad

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This party was over a year ago, but I figured healthy spring recipes with wine pairings won’t go out of style. So I’ve come back and made a few updates to the post. 

When I volunteered to help Jodi with the North Suburban YMCA’s annual fundraising campaign this spring, I thought hosting an “Almost Spring” tasting party would be a great way to sample some health and tasty foods while supporting the Y. After all, healthy living is one of the cornerstones of the Y’s work. We also shared at the event how the Y is committed to ensuring individuals and families of all backgrounds have the opportunity to participate in their great programs. Definitely a cause worth supporting!

Some folks seem to think healthy eating means sacrificing taste, this lineup of tasty recipes provided a great chance to dispel that notion! Of course, good food ought to be enjoyed with good wine and friends. So in addition to featuring healthy recipes, the other fun part of the event was finding good wines to pair with each course. As is often the case, I got some good ideas and wine for this from my friends at Pairings Wine and Food. We had a fun group of 15 people enjoying this lineup with us. I served tapas style portions of each course, so that people would be able to enjoy the full lineup. Our guests were eager to get the recipes and wine info, so I guess it’s a good sign that the menu worked well, and that you might want to replicate some or all of it for yourself!

Getting Started: Spicy Red Pepper Dip and Healthier Cheeses with Prosecco

This spicy red pepper dip of Turkish origins, know as “Muhammara”, is something I make frequently for gatherings when taste is the only consideration. But made with olive oil as opposed to cream or cheese, along with healthy ingredients like walnuts and the pomegranate molasses, this seemed like the perfect start to our health + tasty themed party. I figured we should still put some cheese out, too, but offered two that are somewhat healthier. Goat cheese is easier for some people to digest, along with being lower in fat than some cheese, so we featured a tasty one from Pairings. Parmigiano is also lower in fat than cheddar, and I got a great serving idea from one of the cheese gurus at Whole Foods Woburn–dipping the Parm in some honey. A very tasty idea! Bubbles are a great way to whet the appetite, so we served this with a Mionetto Prosecco.

Pairing 1: Shaved Raw Asparagus with Parmesan Dressing served with a Grillo
Raw veggies are healthy, of course, but asparagus isn’t one we typically eat raw. But sliced thin and tossed with tasty Parmesan dressing, this is a tasty and creative way to serve asparagus. And the asparagus is starting to look very good in stores now as spring approaches. Get the Food and Wine recipe here and try this for yourself!

As you may know, asparagus is one of the trickiest foods to pair wine with. The cheese in this dish provides a “bridge”, something that does go well with wine that you can focus on in coming up with a pairing. I asked Ray from Pairings for help with this one, and we are all very pleased with the result. The Fondo Antico Grillo Parlante, made from the Sicilian white grape Grillo, has a nice fresh crispness that worked with the lemon in the dressing. I also got a bit of salinity in this–perhaps from the vineyard’s proximity to the sea? That worked well with the saltiness of the cheese. This was one of our most popular and commented upon pairings!

Pairing 2: Pasta tossed with Kale Pesto served with a Picpoul de Pinet

Food doesn’t get much healthier than nutrient dense kale, but some people find it challenging to enjoy. I love it in kale soup, but have also come to enjoy featuring it in this pesto recipe I’ve developed. I use a bit of arugula along with the kale, which along with the garlic and red pepper flakes gives this pesto a nice zesty kick. I’d say our guests were pleasantly surprised by this one! I served the kale pesto with bowtie pasta, though the photos here are from another time when I tossed it with linguine. Good both ways!

Sauvignon Blanc is the classic pairing for pesto, but I like to mix it up a bit! The Saint-Peyre Picpoul-de-Pinet, at about $10/bottle, is a great, versatile wine we have a lot here. I’ve found it can work quite nicely as a pairing for pesto, whether it be this kale pesto or the more typical basil pesto. With the kick in this kale pesto, next time I might try something with a touch of sweetness, such as a Gewurztraminer.

Pairing 3: Seared Salmon with Lemon Olive Relish and a Pinot Noir
Salmon is my favorite fish, and a natural to feature in a health plus tasty menu. As a healthy bonus, this salmon gets served over some sauteed spinach with cannellini beans.  I’ve mastered a technique for pan searing salmon thanks to the recipe in Barbara Lynch’s Stir: Mixing It Up In The Italian Tradition, which I broke out again for this party. It’s a great cookbook, picking it up is one way to get this recipe. I’ve written up the basic pan-searing method in this post, just skip the soy sauce to do the lemon olive relish. For the relish, it’s basically the juice from one lemon, along with some olives, parsley and a bit of white wine vinegar.

I suppose you could make a case for a full-bodied white with this, given the citrus element. But Pinot Noir is my preferred option for salmon, and that’s what we went with. The 2012 Hahn California Pinot Noir was a big hit with the crowd, and I didn’t even tell them it was under $15 per bottle! Your not going to find many pinots this good for that price.

Pairing 4: Cilantro-Lime Pork Tenderloin and Cumin Sage Sweet Potatoes with a Zinfandel
Pork tenderloin compares favorably with chicken in terms of providing a fairly lean source of protein and minerals, and sweet potatoes are another nutrient dense food. OK, so that’s how these items made the healthy part of the lineup. These recipes I’ve developed definitely pack the flavor! Cilantro-Lime Marinaded Pork Tenderloin with Chipotle Cream has a nice kick, and goes perfectly with my Sweet Potatoes Mashed with Cumin-Sage Butter. For the healthy theme, I cut back on the butter a bit, and used half regular butter and half Earth Balance spread, still quite tasty!

Meat with some spice? My first instinct is to go with a good zin, and I trusted my instincts for this pairing. I had recently sampled a great lineup of wines from Sonoma, so I went with the 2008 Amphora Zinfandel from Sonoma’s Dry Creek Valley. This big, robust red didn’t disappoint…well, except for the fact that when I went back to get more bottles for our crowd, Pairings had sold out of it! Oh well, I grabbed a bottle of Ridge zin for our backup after the Amphora had been finished, a solid backup. Sorry, by the time I was serving up course number four I wasn’t getting very detailed tasting notes down!

Pairing 5: Strawberries Dipped in Chocolate Sauce served with Port
I love reading news stories extolling the virtues of things like chocolate. In case you needed another reason to eat it, here’s an article on the 10 health benefits of chocolate. Combined with vitamin rich strawberries, it must be about as healthy as it gets, right? Dessert doesn’t get much easier. I just shaved a cup or so of good quality dark chocolate that I got at Whole Foods, heated with a tablespoon of milk and a dash of extra sugar until it was liquefied. Put a little dollop on a plate, place the berries on top and give them a little twist to partially coat with chocolate, and you got a great looking and tasting dessert!

We had a humble port ready to go with this, that I knew tasted pretty good with chocolate. Then, much to my pleasant surprise, one couple that came to our gathering are port connoisseurs, and brought an awesome bottle of Warre’s Otima 10 year old tawny. A great finish to the evening!

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I’ve shared about recipes similar to this in the past, but the proportions on this Rigatoni with Kale and Sausage came out just right, so it seemed worth sharing. Not to mention I’m overdue for a blog post here! Kale and sausage often mean kale soup around here, but I do like featuring these ingredients in a hearty pasta dish, too.

Wine Pairing: When we made the Rigatoni with Kale and Sausage again to take some new photos in October 2015, we paired this with a Tenuta la Falcona Cavrine ($13, 13% ABV) from Veneto, Italy. The wine features grapes common to the Veneto region–Corvina, Rondinala and Molinara, along with Sangiovese. The wine is a good value and goes well with the dish.

Rigatoni with Kale and Sausage

Kale simmers with tomatoes and sausage for a healthy, substantial pasta dish.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 35 mins
• Total Time: 45 mins
• Yield: 4 servings
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• 1 bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
• 4 fresh garlic cloves, minced (or if you have roasted garlic on hand, try using 2 fresh garlic cloves along with a tablespoon or so roasted garlic)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 14.5 oz can chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup chicken broth
• handful of fresh basil, or 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tbsp fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 Andouille sausages (fairly small ones, I used Niman Ranch, probably about 1/2 lb total)
• 12 ounces rigatoni or other short pasta shape
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese, I used a combo of cheddar and gouda that I was trying to use up
• extra parmesan cheese at the table for serving
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• dash of salt

Instructions

1. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large pan. Add the sausages, turn them over occasionally to get them browned. This takes 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the sausages and set aside. When the sausages cool, slice them in half lengthwise then cut slices across, to create half circles.
2. Add another tablespoon of the olive oil to the pan, heat on medium. Add the onions, cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Add the fresh garlic, cook for another minute. Add the kale in batches, stirring it in with the onions and garlic, letting it start to wilt a bit to create room for more.
4. Once all the kale is in, add the chicken stock and tomatoes, the basil and oregano, sausage, roasted garlic if using it, salt and tomato paste. Bring the liquid to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer covered. Let the kale simmer for a good 20 minutes, taking the cover off toward the end to thicken the sauce a bit.
5. Cook the pasta according to package instructions while the kale simmers, aiming to have it done around the same time as the sauce. Add the drained pasta to the pot with the kale, stir to combine thoroughly. Stir in the cheese, serve with a bit of parmesan at the table, and enjoy!

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For more recipes featuring kale and other healthy greens, be sure to check out the Collards & Kale Cookbook!

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My ears perked up when the woman next to me at the farmer’s market inquired in a Caribbean inflected accent about callalloo. Back when I was working in Cambridge, a vendor at the Central Square farmer’s market turned me on to this tasty green popular in the islands. And he urged me to use the meaty stems as well as the leaves, which makes it a heartier side. But it’s not something I’ve seen at the grocery store, so hadn’t made it in years. I was glad to come upon it at our local market at Spence Farm last weekend and make up a batch following this simple recipe. And yes, though its flavor is a bit different than some more familiar greens, it too tastes good with bacon!

bunch of callallo ready for prep

1 strip bacon
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
bit salt red pepper flakes
callalloo, coarsely chopped including stems
pinch of salt

Heat a large skillet with cooking oil on medium. When hot, add the strip of bacon and cook until nice and crispy. Remove the bacon, set on a plate with a paper towel on top to cool. Empty most of the bacon grease, leaving a bit in the pan for flavor.

Add a tbsp of the olive oil to the skillet on medium heat. Add the garlic, cook for a minute until it begins to turn golden. Gradually stir in the callalloo in batches, so that one batch begins to cook down creating room for more greens. Once all the greens are in the pan, stir to combine with the garlic and the 2nd tbsp of olive oil. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes and salt. Saute for about 15 minutes until the greens are softened, stirring occasionally. You want to have a bit of liquid in the pan, if needed add a bit of additional oil and/or some water. White wine would be another option.

The greens are ready when nice and tender. Crumble the bacon and stir it into the greens shortly before serving. We had this along with some mashed potatoes, which was a nice combo, though rice would be a more traditional accompaniment. Though the stems have a meaty quality to them, we also enjoyed a bit of roast chicken with this dish, too. If you’re looking to try a new healthy vegetable, give this one a try!

The post Callalloo: Easy Recipe for a Tasty Caribbean Green appeared first on Cooking Chat.

I went to Whole Foods planning to get the tuna on sale to make this recipe. But I couldn’t pass up the freshly caught swordfish that was being filleted to order when we got there (and it was on sale, too). I figured the basic approach to the pineapple salsa would work for swordfish too, so I converted the recipe and made Grilled Swordfish with Pineapple Salsa. We really enjoyed it, and also had enough of the salsa to go with some pork chops we had on hand. Double-yum! I generally just link to other folks’ recipes I make, but there are enough changes I made–along with helpful tips–to re-blog it here. Not too mention the MyRecipes site was lacking tasty photos! I made another version of pineapple salsa recently for chicken, but grilling the pineapple as done here definitely enhances the recipe.

1 cup fresh orange juice
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into bite-sized chunks* see note below
1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Cooking spray
1 swordfish steak, about 12 ozs
1 tablespoon canola oil
3/8 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano (original recipe called for mint, bet that would be good too)
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 serrano pepper, seeded and minced

Pre-heat grill to medium-high. Boil orange juice in a small saucepan 15 minutes or until reduced to 1/4 cup. Beware: orange juice can quick boil over the sauce pan. Transfer juice to a small bowl; stir in soy sauce. Once it starts to boil, lower to medium high and keep an eye on it. Learned this one the hard way! I’m not a frequent boiler of orange juice.

Place pineapple and onion on a grill rack or grill pan coated with cooking spray. Grill 5 minutes on each side or until the onion is tender. Remove from grill; let stand 5 minutes. Coarsely chop, and transfer to a bowl.

Brush both sides of the swordfish evenly with oil; sprinkle evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Place fish on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; brush with half of juice mixture. Grill about 5 to 6 minutes; turn fish over. Brush fish with remaining juice mixture; grill another 5 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Note your grilling time for the fish will depend on the thickness of the swordfish steak. Mine was about an inch thick.

Add the remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt, remaining 1/8 teaspoon pepper, basil,oregano, lime juice and serrano pepper and next 3 ingredients to pineapple mixture; toss.  Serve the swordfish with a generous topping of the salsa and enjoy! A side of couscous went nicely with this, along with some greens. I served with a Rioja rosé, which I think was the right idea, but the particular wine was a bit big for the dish. Something a bit more delicate and nuanced, but enough heft, like a Bandol perhaps, might be ideal.

*Coring pineapple: you can Google for more details instructions, but as you can see from my photo above, you basically twist the top off, chop off both ends, then start cutting off the sides to reveal the fruit. Cut the fruit off around the core and chop.

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Jambalaya! Love the sound of that, don’t you? I haven’t had too much experience cooking with shrimp. A One Day Sale on shrimp at Whole Foods Woburn seemed like a good time to try something new. I was looking to try out a recipe with some good spice involved, and so I adapted a Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp recipe from the Whole Foods blog. The use of chicken sausage and shrimp make this a healthy meal. I followed their recipe with just a few minor adjustments.

Wine Pairing for Chicken Sausage Jambalaya

Anticipating some heat in the dish, I asked Ray at Pairings for a suggestion. He pointed me in the direction of one of his favorites to go with Thai Food, the 2009 Sipp Mack Gewurztraminer ($19). I got honeysuckle on the nose, and taste of honey and a bit of lemon. Good mouthfeel–especially after a bite of Chicken Sausage Jambalaya! A good pairing. As you can see from the first photo, we tried our newer jambalaya recipe with a red wine; if you go in the direction you’ll want something with a bit of spice, such as a Zinfandel or a Syrah.

Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp

Chicken Sausage Jambalaya with Shrimp has lots of great Cajun flavor with less calories than a version with pork sausage.

• Author: Cooking Chat
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 70 mins
• Total Time: 1 hour 20 mins
• Yield: 8 servings
• Category: Main
• Cuisine: Cajun

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 packages pre-cooked spicy Italian chicken sausage
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 large onion, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cup water
• 2 1/4 cups long-grain brown rice
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 2/3 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
• 1 lb frozen okra
• 1 lb. pre-cooked, peeled and deveined shrimp
• Hot sauce for serving

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat. Add sausage and cook until lightly browned. Remove from pot and set aside. Slice sausages diagonally when they have cooled.
2. Add remaining oil, celery, bell pepper, onion and garlic. Cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
3. Stir in tomatoes, broth, water, rice, thyme, salt and cayenne. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 35 minutes, stirring now and then.
4. Add frozen okra and reserved sausage. Cook on medium heat, uncovered, stirring frequently, until rice is tender, 10 to 15 minutes.
5. Add shrimp and continue cooking until heated through, about 10 minutes for shrimp that are not frozen; add 5 minutes if you are using frozen, pre-cooked shrimp. Scoop some jambalaya into bowls after the shrimp is heated through, and you are ready to enjoy!

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Full disclosure: Whole Foods Woburn provided me with the ingredients for the meal to help spread word about the special. I chose the recipe, and the results are fully my own!

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I enjoy bok choy, though I don’t have it all that much. So I was pleased when it appeared in the week’s CSA box. I like the way the whole plant is edible. If you’re not familiar, the leafy green part has a quality similar to other greens. Unlike greens like kale, where the stem is much too tough to eat, the bok choy stem is tender enough to enjoy. Using it all together, you get a nice crunch from the stem to add texture to the dish. So I often add bok choy to a main course stir fry. But this time, I combined it with just a few other ingredients as a separate side. The delicate bok choy absorbs the flavors of the sauce nicely.

For the stir-fry
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
big bunch bok choy, greens and stem, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp canola oil (or similar oil good for high heat)

For the sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp honey
2 tsp brown rice vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced

Optional: top with toasted almond slices

Whisk the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a wok or large, deep skillet to medium high. Stir-fry the bell pepper for 2 to 3 minutes until it begins to soften. Stir in the bok choy in a few batches, letting it start to wilt a bit to create more room in the pan. Stir-fry for about 2 minutes, until the greens have begun to wilt. Reduce heat to low, stir in the sauce, and let cook that way for a minute or so to let the flavors meld. Remove from heat and serve, adding the almonds on top of each serving if desired.

I served this over couscous along with baked parmesan crusted chicken breasts. We had a Spanish white wine called Casamaro, a blend of the local grapes Verdejo and Viura. With grapefruit on the nose and a citrusy crisp taste, it makes for a nice stir-fry pairing.

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Hi there! You may have found this article looking for a good wine pairing for carrot ginger soup. I wrote this post a few years ago looking for wine pairings suggestions for the soup I was making. More recently I picked up on the suggestion that this might be good with a Gewurztraminer. To see how that turned out, and get my recipe for carrot ginger soup, visit this updated Wine Pairing for Carrot Ginger Soup.

I find soups to be generally challenging for wine pairings, how about you? Not sure why, maybe it’s the liquid to liquid aspect of it. I have landed on a few good ones. My favorite would be the Golden Winter Soup and Pinot Noir combination 

The other night I was making Carrot Soup with Orange and Ginger from the Williams-Sonoma Soup  cookbook; if you don’t have that book, here’s a version from Food Network that is similar (though I didn’t have the cilantro in version I used). The citrusy element and ginger had me a bit uncertain about what to try. So I used Twitter to crowd source some suggestions. @pnrieslingfan suggested a dry Gewurztraminer or perhaps a Riesling. @rbcellars tweeted “Thinking Sauvignon Blanc or maybe even sparkling“.

I didn’t have Riesling or Gewurztraminer on hand, but did have the less common Pedro Ximenez, a Chilean bottle from Cucao Winery in the Elqui Valley. This grape is more often used making sherry. In this version, the taste did have a crisp citrusy element that picked up the orange juice in the soup. There was also a hint of sweetness in the soup dish, from the carrots I suppose. That didn’t exactly mesh with the wine. Overall, I’d give the pairing a “B”. Of the various suggestions, I’m especially interested in trying the Gewurztraminer with this next time, and the sparkling idea is interesting. What would you try?

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