My Two Best Recipes

One of these seems really fancy, but is really easy. The other seems underwhelming, but it tastes fabulous. Mark will agree that these are my two best recipes!

Not That Fancy Bruschetta (based on a Let's Dish recipe)

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into thin strips
Italian dressing (not the creamy variety)
2 stems fresh basil, coarsely chopped (see my tip later about an alternative)
1 T. chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1 seeded, diced Roma tomato
8 oz. (uncooked) orzo pasta
8 slices of Texas Toast
butter, salt and shredded parmesan to taste

1 day to 1/2 hour in advance, place thawed chicken in a container and cover it with about 1/2 c. of Italian dressing.

Prepare pasta and Texas toast according to package directions. While they are cooking, remove the chicken from the marinade, but reserve the dressing. Saute the chicken in olive oil for 5 minutes and then remove chicken to a plate. Add the basil, sun-dried and Roma tomatoes to the saute pan along with a tablespoon or so of the reserved dressing. Cook on medium until the liquid has reduced somewhat to a creamy texture. Return the chicken to the pan and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.

Serve chicken atop the toast with a side of buttered orzo. Generously top both with parmesan!

HOW TO MAKE THIS RECIPE EASY: Whenever I buy or harvest fresh basil, I make sure to have some Roma tomatoes on hand. I chop up all the basil and dice the tomatoes in the proportions of the recipe and fill an ice-cube tray with the fresh mix. Then, I fill the tray with water, cover and freeze. Later I move the cubes to a zipper bag and pull out about three at a time when I want to make this dish. The only difference is that it takes slightly longer to reduce with the bit of extra water.


Ritz Casserole

1 box of fried rice-flavored Rice-a-Roni
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and cubed
8 oz. sour cream
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/4 c. sliced almonds
1 roll of Ritz crackers, crushed
1/4 c. butter

Prepare Rice-a-Roni according to package directions and place in the bottom of a square casserole dish. Sprinkle almonds over the rice mix. In a medium bowl, mix chicken, sour cream and soup until the chicken is evenly coated. Spread chicken mixture over the almonds. In a small bowl, melt the butter and add to that the crushed crackers. Sprinkle the crackers over the chicken mix and bake for 25 minutes, uncovered at 350 degrees.

This recipe is quite rich. You may chose a light sour cream, reduced fat soup and/or less butter with the crackers to lighten it up.