Back when the weather started to turn cool, I made a list of the various cool-weather foods I couldn’t wait to make, my comfort foods for winter 2012-2013. I promised to post a few new recipes this season, and finally, I’ve gotten around to making a few of my favorites and documenting them. The first is this terribly simple chicken cacciatore served over a creamy, parmesan-cheese-laced polenta that screams comfort food.

Cacciatore is Italian for hunter, thus this is the hunter’s chicken. The preparation is simple, with just a few items that need chopping and sauteing before you let the chicken braise in a tomato-wine sauce. (more…)

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Comfort food, Dinner, Gluten free, Italian by Courtney

This recipe is one of the gems I discovered this summer in Tennessee. We grilled out at my dad’s one evening (very different from barbecuing in the South), and on the menu was chicken wings. I have to say, I was a skeptic that these were as wonderful as my dad and his wife touted, but they definitely delivered on flavor. Plus, the recipe is pretty darn easy to pull together, and once you’ve made the marinade, you’ve got enough for more than a couple of batches of chicken wings. (more…)

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Cooking outdoors, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Prep for Later Use, Quick and Easy by Courtney

While my garden is starting to produce the first harvestable crops, my CSA has been dumping the veggies of late winter/early spring on me for a while now, and I had more than a few items piling up in my fridge. So I decided to try a recipe from my CSA’s blog and use up the fava beans that had been sitting in my fridge for more than a week. It was a “sauce” that could be tossed with pasta or served with meats. While this would probably be out of this world with lamb, I happened to have chicken breasts on hand, and that turned out to be pretty out of this world too. I decided to add a little flavor to the chicken as well, giving it a hint of mustard and garlic before hitting the grill. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch by Courtney

At least that’s what I was feeling yesterday while soaking up a few of the sun’s rays. The clouds finally cleared, and the temperature got up to 80, and while sipping on a bit of pineapple juice, I thought, “I should really make something with some grilled pineapple.”

Lucky for me, I had only used half the pineapple in my juice, so half was left over for grilling. I also had some chicken thighs in the freezer, so I decided a teriyaki chicken bowl with grilled pineapple would be the perfect way to end the sunny day. (more…)

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Cooking outdoors, Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Hawaiian, Lunch by Courtney

Once upon a time I used to make this meal a couple of times a week. Then I wandered a bit, trying new things, new flavors, and I no longer had time for my tried and true couscous recipe. This week I decided to bring it back, and I’m glad I did. I missed you so, couscous salad.

I first started making this dish when I stumbled upon Near East couscous in the store. I decided to give it a whirl, and given the Mediterranean bent to the flavors (garlic, olive oil) I decided to top this with a Mediterranean salad, and a bit of chicken for good measure. (more…)

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Dairy free, Dinner, Gluten free, Lunch, Quick and Easy, Salad, Vegan, Vegetarian by Courtney