Saturday, March 10, 2007

Saturday Dinner: Rolled chicken with celery


Tonight, I made a dinner that looks nice but not all that hard to make.

Rolled chicken with celery (for 3 people):
Boneless, skinless chicken thigh (4 medium) - You can totally use chicken breast or pork for this recipe.
Celery (4 sticks)
Salt
Pepper

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
1. Using a smooth side of a meat tenderizer, pound the chicken pieces. If you don't have a meat tenderizer, just use the back of a wine bottle.
2. Take two pieces and put them next to each other with the ends overlapping. Place two celery sticks and roll the chicken pieces. I used celery heart sticks but if you're using outer part of celery peel it so it's not stringy. Do the same for two other chicken pieces. Put salt and pepper on the chicken.
3. Bake two chicken rolls in the oven for 25 minutes.

After they're cooked, the celery inside is still kind of crunchy, which I like. But if you don't really like that, you can boil or saute the celery before you put it in. If you're not a big fan of celery, you can substitute any other vegetables, like spinach, asparagus, or roasted red peppers. Also you can add your favorite herbs like basil and thyme.

Leek and potato soup (for 2 people):
Leek (about 3 inches - 1/2 cups sliced) - You can use onions if you like
Baby potatoes (5)
Celery (about 2 sticks - 1/2 cups chopped)
Milk (2 cups) - I used 2%
Salt
Pepper
Fresh parsley - optional
Olive oil (1/2 Tbsp)

1. Slice up leek and celery. Cut potatoes into quarters (don't need to peel them).
2. Heat pot with olive oil at medium high heat. Saute leek and celery. Put a pinch of salt in.
3. Once leek and celery are very tender, put milk and potatoes in.
4. Once the soup boils, turn the heat down to low and simmer until potatoes are tender.
5. Put the mixture in a food processor and process it.
6. Put it back into the pot and warm it at medium heat.
7. Put salt and pepper for desired taste. Put chopped parsley. If you want the soup to be thinner, you can add some milk, chicken stock, or water.

If you want to make the soup even more tasty, you can add some bacon pieces.

I put some sauteed kale and sliced portabella mushrooms on the side.


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