ARF/5-A-Day #65

Company coming, what to make? I had a meeting this afternoon, so wanted to keep it real simple. I turned to Martha Stewart’s newest cookbook Great Food Fast for inspiration.

Charlie Brown’s restaurant has a corn salad recipe in their salad bar that I love, so when I spied a recipe for that in Martha’s Great Food Fast, I had my first dish, and a perfect ARF/5-A-Day contribution. For the main course, I ended up with her Parmesan-Stuffed Chicken Breasts, and rounded out the meal with Broth-Simmered Rice. I seriously love this new cookbook. I’ve now made 4 recipes from it so far, and each has been super-fast to make, delicious and definite keepers.

The salad was cool and refreshing, and using canned corn instead, I ended up freeing up more space in my pantry, giving me less to pack. For the chicken, I used thighs instead, and the only thing I did differently was to sprinkle it with a bit of lemon juice before popping it into oven. I doubled the recipe and not a speck was leftover, so that tells you how good it is.

Alright, enough about what we had for dinner. If you don’t have Great Food Fast yet, pick it up. And now for the rest of the round-up.

A year ago today… mixed bag
Two years ago today… nothing.

Newcomer Food Blogga is up first this week with a trip down memory lane and Warm Citrus and Banana Cups and a Mexican Citrus Salad with an Orange-Lime Vinaigrette:

Claire from Cooking is Medicine keeps it ultra-healthy with her Bran Muffins and nostalgic photos:

The Cookbook Junkie makes adorable little Cheese-Stuffed Jalapenos:

Albion Cooks goes garlic with her Cabbage and Green Garlic Soup:

Once Upon a Tart drinks up a healthy breakfast with her gorgeous fruit smoothie:

Corn Salad
Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Great Food Fast,

Serving: Serves 4

6 ears corn, husks and silk removed (I used three small cans)
3 scallions, thinly sliced crosswise (1/2 cup)
2 Tablespoons white-wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons olive oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Remove kernels: Cut off tip of each cob; stand in a wide shallow bowl. With a sharp knife, slice downward to remove kernels. To bowl, add scallions, vinegar, and oil. Season generously with salt and pepper; toss to combine. Serve, or cover and refrigerate up to 1 day.

Parmesan-Stuffed Chicken Breasts
Recipe courtesy of Martha Stewart’s Great Food Fast

Serving: Serves 4

1 Cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
1/4 Cup plain dried breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup grated Parmesan cheese
Grated zest of 1 lemon, (about 1 tablespoon)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
4 bone-in chicken breast halves, (about 3 pounds)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees;. In a small bowl, mix parsley, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and zest. Season with 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Divide parsley mixture into four mounds. Carefully loosen chicken skin with fingers; tuck parsley mixture under skin (left). Season chicken with salt and pepper. Place in a 9-by-13-inch roasting pan. Bake until skin is crispy, chicken is cooked through, and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the meat registers 165 degrees; about 30 minutes.