Grilled Chicken on a bed of Baby Spinach with Mushroom Barley

So, because I didn't take pictures while I was preparing the meal, I posted three of my plate to compensate. Eventually I'll do because each one of those dishes are now a staple on our menu.

The chicken is really the best I have had. I omit the salt and it still tastes yummy. The spinach is just sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic. The barley recipe is so delicious. It s the first barley recipe I tried and so far I haven't made another one. You have to start this one first since the barely takes a while to cook, but it's well worth it.

Again, I will take and post step-by-step pictures and then will link back this post.

Pork Chops with Mushrooms in a Honey-Dijon Sauce

I am a little behind posting dishes I had previously made, so sometimes it takes me a while to find the recipes for those dishes to post along with the pictures. I could not find the recipe for this one, so I assume that I just came up with it or at least combined a few recipe ideas to accommodate the ingredients I had on hand.

So, let's see if I can piece the ingredients together:

3/4 cup Onions, chopped

1 cup Mushrooms, sliced

2 Tbsp. Honey

1 Tbsp. Dijon Mustard

2 Tsp. Marjoram

1 - 1 1/2cups Vegetable broth

2 Pork Chops, seasoned with salt and pepper

1-2 Tbsp. EVOO

First, heat the olive oil in a skillet and pan-fry the pork chops on both sides until they're done:

Take out the pork chops and keep warm. Meanwhile, saute the onions and mushrooms for a few minutes until the onions are translucent:

Stir in the honey, mustard and marjoram as well as the broth. Heat through until it thickens up a little and add the pork chops back to the pan to heat through.

Serve with rice or whatever you would like with it:

Just a note here, I am guessing on the honey, mustard, marjoram and broth amounts here, but it sounds about right to me:) I'll update this post when I try it out again and make sure to note that on the top of the blog for anybody who may be following this.

As always, enjoy!

Orzo with Asparagus. Mushrooms and Chicken

So, this is one of my own creations. I usually use about a cup of Orzo and two cups of liquid, some of it wine and some it broth, depending on what I have. Then I use half a bundle of asparagus, cut into 1/2 inch pieces; a little box of mushrooms, sliced and a few garlic cloves; chopped. I have started buying the chicken tenders (about 1 lb.) because then I don't have to cut as much, but chicken breasts work too. For the finishing touch I use freshly grated parmesan.

Below are the vegies:
Heat the garlic in some olive oil:
Wash and dry the chicken tenders:
Cut them into 1 inch pieces or whatever size you like and sautee them:
Measure the orzo and get the wine ready:
Once the chicken is fully cooked, ad the mushrooms and asparagus and sautee them for a few minutes:
Hmmm:
Add the orzo:
And stir it some:
Add the liquid and cover, reduce heat to low and let it cook for about 20 minutes or until the liquid has desolved. Stir occasionally:
Serve with some parmesan and enjoy:

Orzo and Mushrooms

You can really add any vegetable or cooked meat you want to this. You can also vary the liquid. I use a mix of water, wine and broth or whatever I have handy. Basically you mix the orzo and liquid 1:2, like you would rice. I used 1 cup orzo and 1/2 cup white wine, 1/2 cup broth and 1 cup water. The amount of vegies is to your liking.

I sautee some onions and garlic first and then I add the sliced mushrooms:

The I add the orzo, stirr it some and then I add the liquid:

Bring it to a boil, lower the heat, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed and that's it.

Last Night I cheated

Every now and then I need to make something easy. That's when those yummy Knorr Fix meals come in very handy. I get them from Germany, but I am sure you can find them online. I love GermanDeli.com, because they have anything I could want from Germany.

So I saute the mushrooms and follow the directions and in less than 5 minutes I am done. It took me longer to boil the egg noodles.

Looks good, eh?