Olive-Mushroom Chicken Piccata

Cook up 6-8 oz. of your favorite thin spaghetti, to al dente. Drain, saving about a cup of the starchy pasta water, rinse in cold water to chill, then drain again, sprinkle on 1T dried parsley, and set aside.

A lot of home cooks and chefs swear the only way to serve pasta is piping hot, fresh drained, just after cooking. However, after reading articles such as ~this~, I now cook, drain and chill it, before reheating to serve it the first time.

Begin by sautéing the following over low-medium heat, for just a few minutes, until the chicken looses its pink color. Usually, truffle-infused EVOO should be only a finishing oil, but if you keep the heat low, definitely well under its smoke point, you can impart wonderful truffle flavor to dishes.

8 oz. small pieces of chicken

~or shrimp~ add these later*

a little of chopped purple shallot

1 clove or so of the sliced garlic

fresh ground black pepper

2-3T truffle-infused EVOO

Next add 8 oz. of mushrooms, continuing to stir and sauté a couple minutes. Add a couple ounces of the pasta water then cover, and let it steam on low heat. When it's sizzled a bit, remove the cover, turn up the heat and let it cook until half the cooking liquid is evaporated. Add the *(shrimp) rest of the chopped shallot, garlic, zest and juice of 1 lemon.

After the garlic turns translucent, continue to evaporate the liquid, lightly browning everything. Add a little more of the cooking water and 1/3c of chopped olives and 1/3c of drained capers. Stir, shut off the heat and cover for a few minutes before adding the pasta to the pan and combining it.

Now combine 3-4oz. of hot pasta water with 1T chicken Better Than Bouillon. When that dissolves and cools a bit, stir it together with 1/2c sour cream. Pour this over everything in the pan, bring it to a bubble for just a minute or two, to thicken the sauce, cover and turn off the heat for a minute before serving. Sprinkle with a little half-sharp Hungarian paprika for a little pop of color and spicy-peppery heat.

I have other food for dinner tonight, but made this today since my lemons and mushrooms were starting to look tired.

This will taste much better chilled and reheated tomorrow, when eaten for the first time. . .Lin

Chicken Shrimp Mushroom Piccata

Start by sautéing these vegetables:
2 stalks of celery
1/3 green pepper
1 med. yellow onion
1 med. sweet onion
10 oz. sliced mushrooms
1t fresh ground black pepper
4T butter

Sauté this together, while stirring releasing the liquid, scent and becoming a little translucent, for about 10 minutes. Then add: 2-3c finely chopped dark green kale - leaves only

Cover and simmer 5 minutes then add:

8oz. chicken thigh meat - cut in bite size pieces

4 big garlic cloves - sliced into thin matchsticks

1/3 green pepper - chopped

2 thinly sliced green onions

1/3c rinsed capers

Stir and turn up the heat to medium, allowing some of the liquid to absorb and evaporate, for 20 minutes or so. Add the last ingredients:

1T Better Than Bouillon - lobster

10oz. thawed jumbo shrimp - cut in half

juice of 1/2 lemon

Stir and bring up to a low simmer for 10 minutes. Just before serving, stir in sour cream, or keep it on the side to be mixed in. Serve over al dente pasta. . .Lin

A Big Sorghum Tabouli Salad (gluten-free)

1½c sorghum

Rinse, then cook the sorghum according to the package directions.

1 recipe of Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing *

~ with ½t of ground oregano added

2 cans garbanzo beans

~ drained and rinsed

1c chopped celery

¾c sliced green onions

¾c drained-rinsed capers

¾c sliced kalamata olives

¾c chopped green peppers

¾c Lemon-Olive Oil Dressing

Make up a fresh batch of the dressing.  Put the drained, still warm sorghum, garbanzos and all the chopped vegetables and ingredients in that group in a large container, drizzling with the dressing.  Gently mix it all with a big wooden spoon.  Cover and refrigerated to marinate, at least a couple hours or as long as a day ahead.

Just before serving, prepare the following vegetables; according to directions below; then chop into a big bowl:

3 lg. tomatoes

3-4 med. pickling cucumbers

~ or one long English cucumber

2-3 hearts of Romaine lettuce

1 bunch of parsley

Wash 3 large tomatoes.  Drop them into rapidly boiling, water to cover them.  Gently stir until the skins split.  Immediately plunge them into icy water.  After about 10 minutes, cut them in quarters and slide the skins off.  Remove the wet seedy parts.  This will give you a meatier-drier tomato which will keep the salad fresh longer.  Additionally it removes the main source of lectin in tomatoes, found in the skin and seeds.  Lectin is responsible for much inflammation in the body.  Scrub, peel, seed and chop the cucumbers.  Lectin is also found, to a lesser degree, in cucumbers (and zucchini).

Slice-chop the tomatoes and cucumbers into a bowl with the well cleaned Romaine and parsley.  Mix this, then combine it with the marinated sorghum and vegetables.  Add more dressing if needed.  This makes a giant container (about 6 quarts) of tabouli.  It's August!  Happy Salad Days! . . . Lin

Mediterranean Chicken and Pasta

1½# chicken meat

2T butter

4 lg. cloves garlic - minced

½ med.-lg. onion - diced

2t dried oregano

1-2t Rosemary Seasoning *

dry white wine

Sauté the chicken with this group of ingredients.  As the liquid evaporates, brown the chicken a bit, then add a little more white wine.  Repeat this process several times to get a nice browning on the meat.  Add the following ingredients to the pot. . .

28oz. crushed tomatoes

½ med.-lg. onion - chopped

1 can quartered artichoke hearts

1c sliced kalamata olives

½c caper berries - drained

1T sugar

1c dry white wine

Simmer all the above for at least a half hour to develop the flavors.  Serve over al dente spaghetti or medium pasta.  I decided on black bean penne for tonight. . .Lin

Sour Cream - Caper Chicken with Angel Hair Pasta

2# boneless chicken cut in chunks

5 lg. finely chopped garlic cloves

1/2 med. onion chopped

1/2 stick butter

8 oz. sliced mushrooms

zest and juice of 1 lemon

6 oz. capers drained
a handful of corn flour

lemon pepper

garlic sea salt

8 oz. sour cream

Saute' the chicken, garlic and onion in butter for 10 minutes.  Add remaining ingredients except the sour cream.  Cover and continue to simmer another 10-15 minutes.  Refrigerate for a couple hours.  Cook the pasta, reheat the chicken and serve.  Top with a little grated parmesan cheese.  (the next day this was a little dry - I added several tablespoons of sun-dried tomato pesto and a little water which brightened it up nicely). . .Lin

Spicy Mediterranean Pasta Salad

1 lg. clove elephant garlic

- or - 3 lg. regular cloves

4oz. kalamata olives

1 sm. can sliced black olives

1/2c drained caper berries

1/3c drained chopped pimentos

1/2c extra virgin olive oil

1/4c dark balsamic vinegar

1t+ sea salt and ground rosemary

1/4t+ ground black and red pepper

1 can artichoke hearts - drained and cut up

1c - or more - sprouted lentils and mung beans

8oz. dry quinoa pasta - cooked "al dente" - drained

1 lg. Roma tomato - finely cubed -optional-

4oz. ± crumbled feta cheese

Chop garlic and kalamata olives into a big glass bowl.  Add next 7 ingredients, stir together then let rest to blend the flavors for 30 minutes.  Add artichokes, sprouts, tomato and pasta.  Mix and let chill 30-60 minutes.  Top with cheese and toss just before serving. . .Lin