Grilled Gorgonzola Chicken with Roasted Tomatoes

I had every intention of being superwoman this weekend - I was going to leap over Spanish infinitive verb endings with a single bound, rescue the world from assorted superlatives and defeat the evil infinitive and negatives words therefore making the world safe again for those of us who are currently befuddled by taking accelerated language courses in the summer. And completely clean the house. In other words, I was panicking over a final exam three days away.

I should confess, I am just about as confused as I was this morning. Sometimes the best laid plans are bound to disintegrate rapidly as soon as they feel that first cold touch of reality. Sinus headaches and sisters don't help matters much more either. Which is why I am glad that, despite slamming face first into the proverbial end of semester wall today, I still decided to get into the kitchen and cook something so that I would feel like I had accomplished something that had a breath of creativity in it.

It helped greatly that the recipe itself was pretty quick to pull together...combine the sauce in a blender, grill the chicken and serve. My kind of recipe for a day that just never quite got started. And all that butter basted chicken does help tame the stress to more manageable levels. Overall grade: A+  for being a quick and easy Sunday night dinner that I would make again.


Grilled Gorgonzola Chicken
adapted from "The Great Big Book of Butter Cookbook"

Gorgonzola Sauce
3/4 cup greek yogurt
3 oz cream cheese room temperature
5 tbsp gorgonzola cheese
2 tbsp chopped green onions
1 1/2 tps pepper with finely grated lemon zest
1/8 tsp salt

Chicken
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 tbsp butter, melted
Salt and pepper to taste
4 tomatoes, cut into slices and grilled

Preheat grill to medium heat.

In blender, mix yogurt and cream cheese until smooth. Add gorgonzola, green onion, lemon pepper and salt. Process until combined. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

Brush chicken with small amount of melted butter then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill chicken, uncovered, over heat for 5 minutes on one side. Turn and cook for another 7-10 minutes.

Serve chicken with cheese sauce and garnish with roasted tomatoes.

Lemon Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Feta

Lately, I've been trying to focus more on eating healthier due in part to the cold hard truth..I am getting older. And after 40, while the mind might say "Of course you can still eat like you were in your 20's" your body is not going along with the sentiment at all. That's why I liked this recipe after finding it in one of my rarely used cookbooks (thanks to easy access to takeout and a genetic predisposition to laziness). Apart from having to slow down long enough to cook the pasta and toss the dressing, this was simple enough for me to pull off after a long day at work. Due to a gluten sensitivity, I used gluten free rice pasta but the flavor of the dressing helped make that difficult to taste. I also cut back slightly on the bell peppers as I'm not a huge fan of them.  Overall, a solid A-.


Lemon Pasta Salad with Tomatoes and Feta
Adapted ever so slightly from "Bon Appetit - Fast, Easy, Fresh"

7 oz tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
3 tbsp whole grain mustard
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp finely grated lemon peel

12 oz penne
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1  cup multi colored bell peppers
1 1/2 cups feta cheese crumbled
1 cup chopped green onions

Combine first five ingredients in bowl until blended. Add pepper and salt to taste.

Cook penne in boiling water until tender. Drain pasta and transfer to large bowl. Add tomatoes, bell peppers, feta cheese and green onions. Pour dressing over and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper to taste.