Tommaso’s Sinful Delights

A friend was asking my suggestion what he should make for dinner.  I thought for a minute about a few things I had a craving for and are in season, combined his suggestion for whole wheat pasta, and put this recipe together.

Fresh Summer Salad

-1/2c olive oil
-1 medium red onion
- 3 ears of sweet corn
-1 pint of grape tomatoes
-1 lemon
-1 cup feta cheese
-2 cups sugar snap peas
-4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
-1 tsp herbs de Provence
-1 TBSP fresh oregano, chopped or 1 tsp dried oregano
-1lb whole wheat penne pasta
-salt and pepper

Juice one lemon and whisk with 1/4 c olive oil in a small bowl.  In a deep dish, place chicken breasts and season with salt and pepper.  Pour lemon mixture over chicken breasts and marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat grill (or you can saute.)  Grill chicken breasts 8-10 min per side. 

While the chicken cooks, boil the corn for about 5 minutes, then set aside to cool.  Prepare the water for the pasta and bring to a rolling boil.  After salting the water, cook the pasta according to the instructions on the package.  While the pasta boils, preheat a saute pan with 2 TBSP olive oil and saute the red onion for 8 minutes.  When onions are soft and caramelized, place in a large mixing bowl.  Add 2 TBSP olive oil to the same saute pan and saute peas for 3-4 minutes.  Add the peas to the onions in the bowl.

Take each ear of corn and slice off the kernals with a sharp knife.  Add corn to the onions and peas.  When the chicken is done, cut it up into cubes.  Add it to the bowl and combine the grape tomatoes, feta, cooked pasta, oregano and herbs de provence. 

Stir and serve warm or chill for at least 2 hours before serving.

I’m not a huge fan of super spicy things, but I like a little kick in my food.  Horseradish is one condiment most people have in their refrigerator, but only use it to make cocktail sauce for shrimp or Bloody Mary’s.  I kicked up the ole hamburger and the result are thick, juicy burgers to die for!

Horseradish Burgers
(serves 6)

2lbs ground beef (80% lean)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 fresh parsley, chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
2 TBSP Dijon mustard
2 tsp Worcester sauce
1 TBSP prepared horseradish
1/4tsp salt
1/4tsp pepper
pinch cayenne pepper
1 package of English muffins

Preheat grill on high.  Mix together all ingredients until incorporated.  Be careful not to over mix, otherwise you’ll end up with a more firm, less juicy burger.  Form into patties according to your liking.  Grill each burger for about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare.  If you prefer toasted bread, toast the English muffins while burgers are grilling.  If adding cheese, put a slice of cheese on during the last minute.

Serve with your favorite burger toppings.

Clearly, I’m in a Latin American food mood this week.  I’ve been craving corn cakes for awhile, but couldn’t find one recipe that didn’t call for at least 1/2 stick of butter.  All along, a healthy, low-fat recipe was in one of my Williams-Sonoma cookbooks.  The recipe called for store-bought salsa.  I of course, made my own.  I marinated chicken and grilled it to pair with the corn cakes.

Corn Cakes

5 ears of corn (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 egg
1 egg white
2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3cup flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2tsp baking powder
1/4tsp baking soda
2TBSP fresh parsley
1/4 c low-fat plain yogurt
Fresh salsa (recipe below)

Cook ears of corn for 5-7 mins.  Allow to cool.  Slice kernals off the ears of corn with a sharp knife. 

In a food processor, combine 1 cup corn, egg, egg white, buttermilk, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Pulse until smooth.  Add remaining 1/2 cup whole kernals and parsley and blend with a spatula. 

Preheat a nonstick frying pan.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  Pour about 2TBSP of the batter onto the frying pan and cook for 2 minutes.  Flip and cook for 1 minute more, or until golden brown.  Place onto a platter and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm. 

Serve with a dollop of low-fat yogurt (or sour cream) and fresh salsa.

Derived from: Williams-Sonoma Healthy Cooking 

Fresh Salsa

2TBSP olive oil
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalepeno, chopped
1 lime, juiced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in sauce pan.  Add all ingridients and cook for 10-15 minutes.  Allow to cool and serve.

Grilled Lime Chicken

2 limes, juiced
2TBSP olive oil
4 chicken breasts
salt and pepper to taste

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts and place in a casserole dish.  Whisk together olive oil and lime juice in a bowl then pour over chicken.  Place in refrigerator and marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

Preheat grill on high.  Grill chicken breasts 8-9 minutes per side, or until internal temperature reaches 180.

I eat very clean, which means a lot of white meat.  Like chicken, pork can get very boring.  So, you have to spice it up.  Cooking is similar to interior design; you need to be adventurous!  You shouldn’t be afraid of color, therefore you shouldn’t be afraid to add spices or different flavours.  You’ll never know unless you try.  

 This recipe turns the flavour up a bit with herbs de Provence and the sweetness of the chutney.  Now, you can always make your chutney, but most of us don’t have time for that.  Buy your favorite flavor at a specialty food shop.  (I used apple-cranberry for this recipe.)

Grilled Pork Tenderloin

2TBSP Butter
4TBSP olive oil
2, 1lb pork tenderloins (usually comes in 2)
4TBSP Herbs de Provence
sea salt and pepper to taste
2 large red onions, sliced
1/2c beef stock
1/2c your favorite chutney

Preheat grill on high.  Trim the fat and skin off the tenderloin.  Rub each tenderloin with 2TBSP olive oil, salt, pepper and herbs de Provence.  Grill about 5-8 mins per side.  Continue rotating to be sure the meat doesn’t burn.  During the last ten minutes of cooking, turn the heat down and brush the chutney on the pork (be very careful that it doesn’t burn as it has a high sugar content.)  When pork reaches an internal temperature of 145, remove and tent aluminum foil over it to keep hot.  Let it rest 10 minutes before slicing to reconstitute the juices. 

While you’re grilling the pork,  preheat a large saucepan on med-high heat with 2TBSP butter and olive oil.  Sauté the onions until very soft (about 30 minutes.)  Once the onions are soft and translucent, add beef stock, salt and pepper to taste.  Reduce liquid by half. 

Serve pork, sliced with a spoonful of the sautéed onions.

Lets face it, we all love bacon.  Even though its one of the worst foods you can eat, it’s a nice treat to have once in awhile at Sunday brunch.  What I simply can’t stand about it is the odor after its cooked.  It lingers and penetrates every orifice of the house for days.  Gross! 

For those of you who have outdoor barbeque’s, there’s a solution.  Not only will you be rid of that terrible grease smell, but grilling the bacon will infuse a nice smoked flavour. You’ll need a vegetable/fish basket for the grill.  Everyone who grills should have a basket (we’ll get to that in another post.) 

Grilled Bacon

Preheat grill on med-high heat. Spray vegetable basket with Pam for grilling.  Place strips of bacon inside a vegetable basket.  Close basket so the top is close to the the bacon strips.  Grill on each side until desired doneness (about 5 minutes per side.)