Chicken Spinach Gouda Roll-Ups

Servings 5 to 6

The combination of thin chicken cutlets, tomatoes, Gouda cheese and spinach makes my mouth water!  These are a few of my favorite things so I put them together to make an easy and delicious Sunday supper.  I hope you enjoy it as much as we did!
  
INGREDIENTS:

1¼ pound thin-cut, boneless skinless chicken cutlets (5 to 6 cutlets)

9-ounce package frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

4 ounces Gouda cheese, shredded

2 ounces cream cheese, softened

Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

5-6 slices bacon

1 15-ounce can diced Italian style tomatoes with juice

1 Tablespoon melted butter

Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs for sprinkling

DIRECTIONS:

·        Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

·        Lightly grease cooking dish with olive oil or cooking spray.

·        Pour diced tomatoes with juices into prepared pan.

·        Squeeze spinach dry and combine well in small bowl with gouda cheese, cream cheese and salt & pepper.

·        Lightly salt & pepper the chicken breasts and spread the spinach mixture over each, leaving about a 1-inch border at the bottom of each cutlet (about ¼ cup mixture for each cutlet).

·        Roll each cutlet tightly and wrap each with one slice of bacon.  Secure with toothpicks.

·        Arrange in baking dish, brush with melted butter and top with sprinkling of Panko crumbs.

·        Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve with herbed orzo and side green salad. 

Squash, Zucchini, & Tomato Gratin

It's summertime and the living is easy or so the song says!  It's really summertime and the veggies are yummy!!!  I just came home from the farmer's market with a load of summer squash, zucchini and tomatoes and an appetite for a light gratin.  This one doesn't use butter or milk or loads of cheese so you get the full taste sensation from the vegetables. 

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium tomatoes, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 2 zucchinis, sliced in 1/4 inch slices 
• 2 medium yellow squash, sliced in 1/4 inch slices
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, thinly sliced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
• French fried onions to cover (about 1 cup)
• Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat a large baking dish with cooking spray (or grease with olive oil). 
• In medium skillet, heat extra-virgin olive oil over medium heat & add the onions, sea salt, black pepper, and Italian seasoning and cook until the onions are caramelized, about 10 minutes. Next add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute more.
• Layer the dish with half of the tomato slices and then all of the yellow squash slices. Sprinkle with half the grated Parmesan. Pour the caramelized onion mixture over in a even layer. Then, add the zucchini slices and the final layer of tomatoes. Top with remaining Parmesan cheese.
• Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  This dish is delicious served warm from the oven or at room temperature.  

Blackberry or Peach Kuchen

Servings:  8 to 10

Peach Kuchen

Blackberries and peaches are in season!  I got mine at our local farmer's market so that I didn't have to go pick them and collect chiggers (a definite childhood memory)!  Should I make a cobbler or a crisp or a kuchen?  Kuchen wins this time.  Oh how I love kuchen (German for cake).  Did you know that kuchen is the South Dakota state dessert?  This version is chock full of fruit (you can use raspberries or blueberries or a combination of fruits) and is not too sweet.  It makes a delightfully yummy dessert or coffee cake.  Hubby said that it is good enough to be sold in a New York bakery!  That’s how good it is.  Enjoy!  Oh yes, I made two:  one blackberry and one peach!

Blackberry Kuchen

INGREDIENTS:

½ cup unsalted butter

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup sugar (or ½ cup Splenda) plus about 1 Tablespoon more for “dusting”

1 teaspoon baking powder

2 large eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon almond flavoring in addition to vanilla for peaches

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 cups fresh blackberries, washed and drained
 or 2 cups fresh peaches, peeled and thinly sliced
powdered sugar for dusting top of cake

DIRECTIONS:

·         Lightly spray a 9-inch cake pan with cooking spray and dust with flour

·         In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar and butter.  Beat with mixer to combine and then beat on medium high speed until well mixed and creamy.

·         Add flour, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon, and eggs.  Mix to combine and beat on high speed about two minutes until blended well.

·         Spoon batter into cake pan and spread it smoothly to the edges (batter will be thick). 

·         Scatter berries or peaches over the batter and sprinkle with about 1 Tablespoon of sugar.

·         Bake on middle rack of 350 degree F oven 35 to 40 minutes or until browned and pulling away from edges of pan.

·         Let cool a bit and dust cake with powdered sugar.

·         Cut into wedges and serve with optional freshly whipped cream!

Southern Banana Pudding Minis

Banana pudding is indeed a Southern delicacy! It’s wonderfully light, creamy, fruity, and comforting.. and makes a cool summery dessert that you can make ahead without using the stovetop or oven! This is an easy, no-cook, recipe. I’ll be posting another one later that is my Mom’s recipe for cooked custard and meringue topping. I use low fat ingredients and the end result is excellent. Give this one a try!

As you know, I just love making individual servings so for this one I used eight ½-pint canning jars with lids. They are adorable!

INGREDIENTS:
1 8-ounce package lower fat cream cheese
1 14-0unce can low fat sweetened condensed milk
2 3-ounce packages French vanilla instant pudding mix
3 cups low fat cold milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 8-ounce container light Cool Whip, thawed
4 to 5 bananas, sliced
Vanilla wafers (I used about ½ the box)

DIRECTIONS:
In a large mixing bowl, beat cream cheese until creamy (duh?). Beat in condensed milk, pudding mix, cold milk and vanilla extract and mix until well blended and smooth. Fold in ½ of the Cool Whip.

Line the bottom of 8 half-pint sized canning jars with vanilla wafers. Place sliced bananas over the wavers. Spread with pudding mixture. Top with remaining Cool Whip. Garnish with some crumbled vanilla wavers. Put the lids on the jars and chill for a few hours.
Enjoy!!