I'm Back in the Kitchen

It's taken quite a long time, but I'm finally back to cooking and enjoying more than bland food for my meals. This past weekend I made Penne with Pine Nuts and Zucchini from a magazine called Healthy Cooking that I found at Borders and served it with my own Baked Chicken Tenders. The recipes for both follow:

Penne with Pine Nuts and Zucchini
Adapted from Healthy Cooking Magazine

Ingredients
Serves 4-6

1/2 lb penne pasta
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts
1-2 garlic cloves, sliced into thin rounds, then in half
3-4 medium zucchini, but into bite size chunks
sea salt
black pepper
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

Step 1 - Cook pasta according to package directions.
Step 2 - While penne is cooking, combine olive oil and pine nuts in a large skillet cooking on medium heat until nuts start to turn golden.
Step 3 - Add garlic, zucchini, and a dash of both salt and pepper. Cook, tossing gently until zucchini softens slightly.
Step 4 - Remove 1/3 of the nuts and zucchini - purée in a blender. Return purée to skillet.
Step 5 - When pasta is done, remove 1/2 cup of cooking water and set aside. Drain pasta and add to skillet with reserved water.
Step 6 - Cook on low heat until water evaporates, stirring mixture well to coat.
Step 7 - Stir in cheese and add in a bit more salt and pepper if desired for taste.
Ready to serve


Baked Chicken Tenders

Ingredients
Serves 3-5 (depending on number of tenders in package)

1 package of chicken tenders (mine was 1.25 lbs)
olive oil
plain panko breadcrumbs
fresh oregano

In a shallow dish I combined bread crumbs with finely chopped fresh oregano and enough olive oil to coat the bread crumbs. I coated each chicken tender on both sides and placed on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes or until cooked thru and bread crumbs have started to turn golden brown.