We’re continuing our apple week here on Lemon & Mocha! Fall and apple picking go hand in hand and there’s so many sweet and savory dishes you can make with apples. Today we’re going down the savory route with a healthy dinner dish.

This Grilled Chicken with Apple and Mango Chutney is definitely a bit out of the box for me. It uses a spice, garam masala, I had previously never used, which is a spice commonly used in Indian cooking. It’s a warm spice blend that can incorporate different spices depending on the region or brand and it was the perfect ingredient to liven up this grilled chicken dish.

The chicken is marinated in Greek yogurt, which I love for grilled chicken since it helps the meat stay juicy and flavorful. The apple and mango chutney has both complementary flavors and textures going for it with the tartness and crispness of the apples and the sweetness and softness of the ripe mango.

Why it’s a chutney and not a salsa, I really have no clue, but whatever it’s called it complements the yogurt marinated grilled chicken perfectly.

Matt and I both really enjoyed this dish (more chicken – sorry Matt!), but I don’t think it will bump ahead of the Sesame Pecan Chicken Strips or the Chicken Cordon Bleu anytime soon. Mostly because the flavor profile is just so far out of our normal realm of eating. But if you like Indian flavors or are looking for a different way to spice up your chicken dinner then definitely make this healthy recipe!

Grilled Chicken with Apple and Mango Chutney

 

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the chicken

• 1 cup plain non-fat or low-fat Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 2-ounce boneless skinless chicken cutlets (about ¼-inch thick)

for the chutney

• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons apricot preserves
• 1 small jalapeño, seeds and pith removed, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 apple, such as Gala, cut into ⅓-inch dice (about 1¼ cups)
• 1 small mango, peeled and cut into 1-3-inch dice (about 1 cup)
• ¼ cup chopped fresh mint leaves
• Cooking spray

Directions

for the chicken

1. In a shallow plastic storage container or baking dish, whisk together the yogurt, apple juice concentrate, apple cider vinegar, garam masala, salt and pepper. Add the chicken cutlets then toss to coat. Cover and return to the fridge to let marinate for at least 2 hours or up to 1 day.
2. Preheat a grill or place a grill pan over medium-high heat. If using a grill, use a paper towel to lightly coat the grill grates with vegetable oil before turning on. If using a grill pan, lightly spray with cooking spray before turning on the stove. Place the chicken cutlets on the grill and grill until they reach an internal temperature of 165 degrees F, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from the grill and let rest before serving with the chutney over top.

for the chutney

1. Combine the apple cider vinegar, apricot preserves, jalapeño, Dijon, hot sauce, salt, pepper, cloves and ginger in a medium bowl until combined. Toss in the apple, mango and chopped mint. Let sit for 30 minutes before serving or cover and return to the fridge for up to 2 days.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

Do you have one specific protein that you eat a lot at your house? For us it’s chicken, much to Matt’s dismay. Not that he doesn’t like it, it’s just that we do have it for dinner a lot.

Unless I’m cooking a specific recipe I tend to gravitate towards chicken. It’s healthy, fairly inexpensive and versatile. Since it’s easy to get stuck in the baked chicken rut I’m always on the lookout for new chicken recipes.

When I saw this Cheesy Broccoli Stuffed Chicken in my Food Network Magazine binder I figured it was worth a shot since it combined two of our dinner go-tos: chicken and broccoli. The cheesiness in this chicken comes from the garlic and herb cheese spread. Love that stuff! You can use Boursin; I usually use Alouette.

I’ve never stuffed a chicken by cutting slits in the top, but it worked really well. The chicken stayed nice and moist while the cheesy broccoli filling got a little crisped on the top parts.

Serve this Cheesy Broccoli Stuffed Chicken alongside some roasted veggies and potatoes or some salad and rice for a perfect dinner meal!

Cheesy Broccoli Stuffed Chicken

 

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 cup finely chopped broccoli florets and stalks
• ⅓ cup garlic and herb cheese spread (such as Boursin or Alouette)
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided
• 4 small skinless boneless chicken breasts (6-8 ounces each)
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• Salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with nonstick aluminum foil and set aside.
2. In a small bowl, combine the broccoli, cheese spread, lemon zest and 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Place the chicken breasts on the prepared baking sheet. Cut 3 deep slits into the top of each chicken breast, being sure not to cut all the way through. Drizzle the chicken with the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil then season with the paprika, salt and pepper. Use a spoon to stuff the broccoli mixture into the slits of the chicken. Cook the chicken in the oven until it registers 165 degrees F, about 13-15 minutes.

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 Recipe from Food Network Magazine.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

Sometimes I see a recipe shared on Instagram and I need to make it instantly. That’s what happened with this Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil. The NY Times Cooking account shared a photo of this summery and fresh pasta dish and revealed the most intriguing part: there is no cream in this luscious dish, just pureed corn.

I’ve shared a bunch of recipes here that have been very successful using pureed cauliflower instead of cream so I was excited to try a similar technique with corn. Matt and I were blown away when we tried this Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil!

The dish uses such simple ingredients, but it’s packed with flavor giving it that can’t-stop-eating-it quality. Unlike using pureed cauliflower to get the cream texture without the cauliflower flavor, pureeing part of the sautéed corn amplified the corn flavor so that sweet corn taste is really coating every single farfalle noodle.

Zucchini and corn is a classic summer pairing so I included some sautéed zucchini to add some more veggies and texture to the dish. Additional ingredients, such as the fresh basil, parsley, Parmesan and jalapeño really make the pasta pop.

I’m so excited I didn’t wait around to make this Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil so now I can make it again and again. I hope you all make this one soon!

Creamy Corn Pasta with Basil

 

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Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 12 ounces orecchiette or farfalle
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• 6-8 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced (keep the whites and greens separate)
• 2 large ears of corn, shucked and kernels removed (about 2 cups kernels)
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 zucchini, halved lengthwise then cut into half-moon rounds
• ½ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
• ⅓ cup roughly chopped basil, plus more for serving
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes, or to taste

Directions

1. Cook pasta to al dente, according to the package directions. Drain, making sure to reserve ½ cup of pasta water.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large sauté pan. Add the whites of the scallions, season with salt, and cook for 3 minutes. Add all the corn except keep ¼ cup of the corn aside and add ¼ cup water. Let simmer for 3-5 minutes. Add the pepper and salt then transfer to a blender (or blend with an immersion blender) and puree until smooth.
3. Return the sauté pan to medium-high heat to melt the butter. Add the zucchini and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the remaining ¼ cup of corn kernels, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the corn puree and cook for 30 seconds.
4. Reduce the heat to medium and add the cooked pasta and reserved pasta water. Toss to coat and cook for 1 minute then add almost all the scallion greens and Parmesan. Season with red pepper flakes and additional salt and pepper to taste. Serve the pasta hot garnished with a little drizzle of olive oil, chopped scallion greens and Parmesan.

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Lauren Uncategorized 4 Comments

Sometimes it takes a little while for me to remake a recipe. And sometimes that little while is ten years, but that’s okay, as long as it means I eventually got back to it. This Pasta with Shrimp and Roasted Veggies in a Garlic Lemon Sauce recipe comes deep from the archives of recipes I printed, made and tucked away in one of my binders.

Way back when, I only read a handful of food blogs and one of them was For the Love of Cooking. This recipe is extremely important because it introduced Matt and I to the amazingness that is roasted garlic. How little we knew of life before that moment!

We made this pasta dish in Matt’s off-campus apartment the summer after junior year of college and with our limited space and kitchen equipment it was quite the ordeal. The recipe is fairly simple, there’s just a lot of ingredients and most of them require some chopping, shredding or zesting.

I love this dish because it’s so fresh, but all the veggies get a nice depth of flavor from being roasted. Asparagus, zucchini and grape tomatoes all get roasted before being tossed with pasta, toasted pine nuts, fresh Parmesan cheese and plenty of fresh herbs. There’s two standout other mix-ins, though. The first is the tender shrimp that get marinated in olive oil, lemon zest, basil parsley and garlic. The second is that zesty roasted garlic lemon sauce that should be used on every pasta, chicken and seafood dish from now until forever.

This dish is the perfect example of how some basic ingredients, like lemon, fresh herbs and roasted garlic, can take an ordinary pasta dish to a flavor-packed one that you don’t forget about for ten years. I’m so glad I finally made this dish again and with it fresh on our minds, I’m sure it won’t be another ten years until we have it again!

Pasta with Shrimp and Roasted Veggies in a Garlic Lemon Sauce

 

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the shrimp

• 1½ pounds shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh basil, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Zest of half a lemon
• Salt and pepper

for the pasta

• 1 bulb garlic
• 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 8 ounces farfalle pasta
• 1 zucchini, diced
• 1 bunch of asparagus, ends removed and spears cut into thirds
• 2 cups grape tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Zest of half a lemon
• Juice of 1 lemon
• ¼ cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
• 2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
• Sal and pepper

Directions

for the shrimp

1. Combine the shrimp, olive oil, parsley, basil, garlic and lemon zest in a bowl or plastic container. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and put in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours.

for the pasta

1. Roast the garlic. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut off the top of the head of garlic so almost all the cloves are exposed. Place the head of garlic in a little square of aluminum foil and curve up the sides. Lightly drizzle the garlic with some olive oil then season with salt and pepper. Seal up the foil to make a little packet. Roast for 35 minutes then carefully open the foil packet to let cool. Once it's cool enough to handle, squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves.
2. When the garlic has 15 minutes left, start the onions. Heat 1 teaspoon of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, lightly season with salt and pepper, and sauté for 15-20 minutes, until tender. Remove the onions to a large serving bowl then sear the shrimp in the same skillet, trying not to get too much of the marinade in the skillet. Cook for 3 minutes on each side, or until shrimp are pink and no longer translucent. Remove from the pan and add to the serving bowl.
3. While the onions are cooking, start boiling the water for the pasta. Cook the farfalle according to the package instructions until al dente. Drain and add to the large serving bowl.
4. On a large baking sheet lined with nonstick aluminum foil, spread out the zucchini, asparagus and grape tomatoes. Drizzle with 2 of the teaspoons of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When you take the garlic out of the oven, add the baking sheet of veggies and cook for 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and add to the serving bowl.
5. While the vegetables are roasting, roughly chop the roasted garlic cloves that you squeezed out of the skin. Combine in a small bowl with the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice and the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Pour into the serving bowl.
6. When the onions, pasta, shrimp, veggies and roasted garlic lemon sauce have all been cooked and added to the serving bowl, toss to combine along with the Parmesan, parsley, basil and toasted pine nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with more Parmesan on top, if desired.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments

I have another restaurant inspired dish for you! I say inspired because it is actually quite different from the original. This time it’s from a New England classic – Legal Sea Foods. There’s a few restaurants Matt and I have been to over and over and Legal Sea Foods is definitely in that category. It helps that there’s a lot of them here in Massachusetts and that we’ve always seemed to have one near us, whether it was the one in Chestnut Hill while we were still at Boston College or the one in Harvard Square that we could walk to when we lived in Cambridge.

It was at their Harvard Square location that we first tried their Thai style fried calamari. It is described on the menu simply as “Thai style – pineapple and peanuts,” and when it came out we could smell the rich peanut sauce.

The crispy fried calamari was smothered in an addictive peanut sauce, scallions, chopped peanuts and pineapple chunks. We were hooked! They are actually pretty spicy and normally I cannot do spice, but I will happily suffer through every time just for some of these saucy, crispy calamari bites!

Now if you’re wondering why I’m talking about calamari when this is clearly a shrimp recipe that is a big part of why I’m using the word “inspired.” This Crispy Baked Coconut Shrimp with Peanut Sauce and Pineapple can be served as a party appetizer or as a main course alongside some rice and salad.

The panko breadcrumbs, which are already crunchy, get pre-baked to ensure they create the crispiest coating for the shrimp. The shredded coconut is another departure from the original, but I love the flavor combination along with the peanut sauce and pineapple. A little savory, a little sweet and a whole lot of deliciousness. I hope you enjoy these Crispy Baked Coconut Shrimp with Peanut Sauce and Pineapple!

Crispy Baked Coconut Shrimp Topped with Peanut Sauce and Pineapple

 

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Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

for the shrimp

• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut (see note)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 pound shrimp, peeled, deveined and tails removed
• ¼ cup chopped peanuts
• ¼ cup sliced scallions
• ¼ cup chopped fresh pineapple
• Salt and pepper

for the peanut sauce

• ¼ cup creamy peanut butter (don’t use natural peanut butter)
• 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
• 1-2 tablespoons light coconut milk or water (depending on how thick you want your sauce)
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• ¼ teaspoon ground ginger
• ⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes

Directions

for the shrimp

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place the panko and coconut on a baking sheet then bake until golden, about 4 minutes. Remove from the oven and toss with ½ teaspoon salt.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place a wire cooling rack on top of baking sheet then spray with nonstick cooking spray. Set up a breading station for the shrimp with three shallow bowls. Place the flour tossed with salt and pepper in the first one. Add the beaten eggs to the second one and the panko mixture to the third.
3. Bread the shrimp. Coat with the flour, shaking off excess, then dip in the egg, letting excess drip off. Coat completely in the panko mixture then place on the prepared wire rack. Repeat until all the shrimp are breaded then bake for 8-10 minutes. Serve immediately along with the peanut sauce, chopped peanuts, scallions and pineapple.

for the peanut sauce

1. Whisk everything together until combined.

Notes

If you don’t want to use coconut, just omit it and add an additional ½ cup of panko.

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Lauren Uncategorized 2 Comments