What I Ate: Pesto Chicken Panini

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

Sandwiches are such a quick and easy dinner for me. I love paninis and and I’m continually surprised how versatile they are. This was going to be chicken breasts marinated and grilled in pesto then I decided to shred it. I figured that would definitely make this seem different than some of my other paninis annnnnd I wouldn’t have that whole take a bite and the whole chicken breast comes out.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini

Ingredients:
2-3 chicken tenders (or 2 chicken breasts)
1/3 cup prepared pesto
1 tbs grated parmesan
1 tomato
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella, or sliced provolone, or fresh mozzarella
4 slices of bread

Directions:
Cook the chicken in simmering water until fully cooked, about 10 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini

Sprinkle in salt, pepper, and Parmesan, then add the pesto and shred with 2 forks pulling the chicken apart.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini
Heat a panini press/grill pan/large skillet to medium high heat.
Assemble the sandwiches with sliced tomato and pesto chicken mixture.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini

Top the sandwiches with cheese.
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini
Grill until toasty and melty on each side…about 3-5 minutes per side.
Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Pesto Chicken Panini
I love the flavors in this. The tomato is key for keeping the chicken moist. The pesto is a great use for a partial jar. I would normally have used sliced cheese but I had leftover shredded mozzarella and no plan for it, so this worked well.

Paninis need bread that can hold up to what goes inside. I think this nutty one works great. I think the Pesto Chicken Panini is kind of a nod to a lazy-man’s pizza…which makes great panini fillings.

Some of my other fav paninis are: fig and prosciutto panini, bacon & gouda panini with peach compote, and turkey cranberry & brie panini.

Instant Sangria

I’m no mixologist, but this on-the-spot sangria was excellent. I love sangria and have really only made it in big batches so I wanted to see about perfect my by-the-glass sangria.

I turned Mr. J onto sangria in Barcelona which also ended up being a gentle introduction to wine…
honeymoon_barc_sangria_390_590
My motivation for by the glass sangria was that it needed to be ready on the spot, without needing all day to mellow. I also figured it would be a great use for some open wine that I didn’t like. I started simply so it could be recreated. I didn’t know if I’d need to make tweaks for next time, but I liked this as-is.

Ingredients: (quantities per glass)

4 oz red wine
1/2 shot limoncello
1/2 shot triple sec
splash of orange juice
optional: ice cubes of orange juice & grenadine

Directions:

Optional: make some ice cubes of orange juice & grenadine.
The Three Bite Rule - Instant Sangria
Add wine, ice cubes, lemoncello, triple sec, and a shot of orange juice into a shaker.
The Three Bite Rule - Instant Sangria
Shake, shake, shake,
Serve & enjoy.
The Three Bite Rule - Instant Sangria
I do not like merlot. Merlot made me think I didn’t like red wine actually. Au contraire my friends. This huuuge bottle is making its way into lots of things I cook and then into this stellar sangria.

I loved this. I think the lemon liquor with the orange liquor with the orange juice was spot-on. It definitely had a kick so I let the cubes melt a touch and it was perfect. It sure made for a happy Sunday!

Some of my other favorite sangrias include:
apple cider sangria
Apple Cider Sangria

strawberry basil sangria
straw_basil_glass_590_390
mixed berry sangria
sangria_prepped_590_390

any sangria tips for me?

Rosemary Focaccia

This was the year to mess with bread. I figured the worst that could happen would be a bread flop, and it may take a few attempts. I decided that focaccia would be the first attempt, since it wasn’t critical to the meal. It came out great, not perfect, but delicious nonetheless. It made a lot. I didn’t want to mess with halfing the recipe. Maybe next time!

I used Anne Burrell’s focaccia recipe and topped it with fresh rosemary. It was good. I wonder if it would have raised a bit more if I had given it a bit more time. You can’t rush yeast. It does it’s thing slowly, but surely.

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cup warm water
1 package yeast
1 tbs sugar
5 cups flour
1 tablespoon kosher salt + 1 teaspoon for sprinkling
1 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped

Directions:

Leave lots of time, focaccia needs about 2 hours to rise.
Combine water, yeast, and sugar in a bowl. Let it sit for about 15-minutes in a warm place until frothy & foamy.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
My warm space was the oven on low, venting on the stove top where the yeast was resting.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
With a dough hook attached to the stand mixer, mix flour, 1/2 cup olive oil, salt, and yeast on low until combined. Then mix on medium for 5 minutes.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and need by hand a few times.
Drizzle olive oil into the sides of a bowl. Put the dough ball into the bowl, turn over once to coat with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise for an hour, doubling in size.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
Add the 1/2 cup olive oil to a sheet pan. It seems like a lot, but Anne Burrell says that’s what makes focaccia so good. Add the dough in and stretch the dough to the edges of the pan.
Turn the dough over to coat well with oil.
Poke finger marks into the dough each an inch away from the other holes and sprinkle with salt and rosemary.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
Let it rise for another hour.
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
Bake 20-25 minutes.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
I cut the rise-time a bit short and would have liked it to be more airy. It was a bit dense.
Rosemary Focaccia - The Three Bite Rule
I loved the rosemary flavor. It was crunchy and moist. I really liked it and will try it again, when I’m not trying to rush it for dinner time.

I served it with gnocchi with tomato sauce.

What I Ate: Pork Lettuce Wraps

What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with you for the idea or inspiration.

One of my fav crockpot dishes is a Chinese Pork, It has water chestnuts, and peppers, and bean sprouts,  and green onions.

Chinese Pork from the Crockpot - The Three Bite Rule

This most recent time I made it was a few months ago and I froze the leftovers so we wouldn’t get sick of it. While I was meal planning recently I thought of it and wondered how to use it differently. Lettuce wraps came to mind. They’re pretty easy to make with any filling, but this was cooked and sauced up already. Perfect!

The Three Bite Rule - Pork Lettuce Wraps

I let it defrost all day in the fridge and then heated it through to get ready for dinner. I nixed the peppers, spooning them out leaving it as pork, sauce, water chestnuts, and bean sprouts. It looks like I had more tomato sauce this time, than the first time.
The Three Bite Rule - Pork Lettuce Wraps

I whipped up some sesame noodles to go with it.
The Three Bite Rule - Sesame Noodles
And micro’ed some edemame. This was a super quick dinner (10 min of prep) and it used some some random remnants….like the pork from the freezer and a partial box of wheat spaghetti.

The Three Bite Rule - Pork Lettuce Wraps
It wasn’t exactly an award winning dinner, but it was pretty balanced, suuuuuper cheap, and was a bit different than the usual quickie dinner options. It feels less like: leftovers, womp womp when I serve it a long time from the first debut, annnd when I serve it in a different way.  This is why I save everything. Fast dinners like this meant only added Boston bibb lettuce to the shopping list, everything else was on-hand. Plus it reminded me how great edemame in the pods are.

These would have been better with something else, like vinegar-y cabbage or raw bean sprouts on top but they totally fulfilled the what’s for dinner conundrum. Lettuce wraps are a great use for my random extra ground meat. I drop leftover ground chicken and ground pork into the freezer to be used for tacos or something. It’s not the greatest for burgers once it has been frozen but lettuce wraps could be a good use. Hmmm. Maybe I’m onto something there!

How do you recreate leftovers?

Pine Nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken

This dinner was sooo good. It was flavorful yet easy, memorable yet simple. I really loved everything about it. I didn’t go overboard for a random weekday night. I kept it simple with just 2 things and it was a good one.

I had brussels sprouts on the brain because we had talked at LENGTH about them at work during lunch. I can’t tell if you think that’s weird or awesome. We thought it was awesome. It was such a fun exchange of favorite ways to make, eat, or order brussels sprouts. I love roasting them and somebody mentioned adding a touch of honey. Done!

I think the first few teases of spring made me want a crunchy protein and a veggie. Nothing else.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule

I used chicken tenders because I can’t get over how massive chicken breasts can be sometimes. 2 tenders per person is plenty when you pound them out…the same amount of chicken seems like wayy more because of the increased surface area. Plus they tighten up a bit when frying. The nutty exterior and the salty Parmesan was a perfect combo. So good!

Ingredients:

2 cups brussels sprouts trimmed and halved
2 tsp honey
1 tsp olive oil
4 chicken tenders (2 tenders per person)
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 tbs wheat germ (or bread crumbs)
1 egg
1/3 cup liquid egg whites (or one more full egg with a splash of water)
2 tsp light mayo
3 tsp milk
1/2 tsp ground garlic
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce
sea salt & pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees while you trim & half the brussels sprouts.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
In a small pan, over medium heat, toast the pine nuts. Stir regularly and be careful not to burn them. Cook for about 5 minutes until evenly and lightly browned.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
Whisk together the egg and egg whites in a shallow container.
Mix together the wheat germ, Parmesan cheese, and chopped pine nuts.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
Put the brussels sprouts onto a baking sheet, drizzle them with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Roast them in the oven for about 5-7 minutes.
Heat a large skillet with 1/4 inch of vegetable oil to a medium heat.
Pound out the chicken tenders until evenly flattened.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
Sprinkle a little salt and pepper onto the chicken. Dredge the chicken in eggwash then into the crust. Flip and shake around to get completely covered.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule

Pan fry the chicken tenders, working in batches. Cook about 5 minutes per side.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
Pull out the brussels sprouts and flip them over/around to ensure they cook evenly. Add the honey and mix well. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes, then turn the oven down to 250 degrees. The brussels sprouts can stay in the low oven until the chicken is ready.
When the chicken has cooked on each side, put it on paper towel to absorb any excess oil, then put the chicken into the oven to keep warm as the other batches cook.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule

For the garlic aoli (optional): in a small jar, shake together mayo, milk, garlic, garlic powder, and worcestershire sauce.
Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
Serve and enjoy!

I originally thought the garlic aoli would be great drizzled on the brussels sprouts since they were sweetened with honey. Then I thought the crunch of the chicken would be good with the bite of garlic in the aoli. It became a very translational ingredient. It was not at all necessary, but good.

Pine nut and Parmesan Crusted Chicken - The Three Bite Rule
What’s your favorite way to have brussels sprouts? Are you jealous of our lunch convo? I’m loving that these conversations happen. I don’t miss the crazy fad diets, juice cleanses, wedding crash diets, and instant “I’m no longer eating ___” that I used to encounter at former work places. I think it’s moreso a difference that my new workplace is more closely focused on people who have a greater need for true healthy choices. There’s a different respect for whole foods, this place has a culture that doesn’t view food as an enemy but rather a tool, a benefit, and a joy when treated right. Also, the other day the teaching kitchen students came around with a tray of mini cream puffs. I’m living the dream.

In other news, today is Bailee’s 9th birthday! She can’t open her own presents like Windsor can, but she’ll get an extra treat 😉 Those eyes! That underbite! We really love her.
Bailee