In the spirit of Mother’s Day, it was no question that wewould once again treat our mothers with a homemade meal to please their palates on Sundaynight.Obviously since Riley and Lola are only sisters at heart,we retreated to spend separate evenings with our mothers and make them special dinners.
Lola's Meal
I decided on a healthy, but equally scrumptious meal of pan fried Halloom* (Halloumi) cheese, tomato and basil as an appetizer, andspinach, mushroom, onion and Boursin** stuffed chicken with a side of asparagusfor the main course.
Now I have to admit that the appetizer and side asparagus disheswere recently made for me by someone with slightly more refined cooking skillsthan myself, but I found them too delicious not to pass on.
Halloom withTomatoes and Basil
Ingredients
One package Halloom (Halloumi) cheese (I got the PC Halloom)
Grape or Cherry tomatoes sliced lengthwise
Fresh Basil
Directions
Cut quarter-inch width wise pieces of cheese (desired amount– 3 to 4 pieces per person seemed sufficient for an appetizer portion).
Heat pan on med-high heat. Use a small amount of olive oilonce the pan is hot. Pan fry the pieces of cheese for 1-2 minutes each side,making sure they don’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
Meanwhile, slice enough tomatoes and fresh basil to place on eachpiece of cheese.
Remove cheese from pan, place on serving tray and arrangebasil and tomatoes to desired appearance.
Asparagus
Ingredients
1 bunch of asparagus
½ - 1 tbsp of honey
Chiliflakes
½ - 1 tbsp of Balsamic vinegar or glaze
Directions
Cut off about 1-2 inches of the end of the asparagus. Heat oil in a pan and add asparagus. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, then add in about 1/2-1 tbsp of honey,chiliflakes and Balsamic vinegar or glaze. Continue cooking, shaking pan occasionally until asparagus is browned and tender, about 5-10 minutes.
Spinach, Mushroom, Onion and Boursin Stuffed Chicken
Ingredients
6-7 ounce piece of chicken per person
Approximately one bunch of spinach (uncooked) per piece ofchicken
One cup of chopped mushrooms and sweet onions combined
1 tbsp of Boursin or Boursin Light cheese per piece ofchicken
Optional spices – dried Basil, Greek spices
Directions
Preheat barbeque to med-high or oven to 350F.
There are two ways to stuff the chicken. You can use arolling pin or meat masher to thin out the chicken and simply place theingredients on one side and roll the chicken around the ingredients, or you canslice the chicken lengthwise and stuff the ingredients inside. You may need touse a skewer or cooking rope to keep the ingredients from falling out whilecooking.
To prepare the ingredients, sauté mushrooms and onions in asmall amount of olive oil for about 4-5 minutes on med heat. Add in spinach andpan-cook for amount 1 min, until leaves start to wilt. You can add spices asyou wish to add extra flavour. I added in some dried basil and Greek spices.
Place the mushroom, onion and spinach in chicken pieces todesired amount and place Boursin on top. Roll or close the pieces of chicken toensure that no ingredients fall out. I added some more Greek spices to the topof the chicken.
Cook in oven or on BBQ for about 25-30 min, or to yourdesired liking.
*Halloom or Halloumi is a mild cheese that is sturdy and stands up well to grilling and frying. It has a slight squeakiness when you bite into it, like fresh cheese curds.
*Boursin is a soft creamy cheese available in a variety of flavours, with a flavour and texture somewhat similar to cream cheese.
Riley's Meal
Now for my meal, I opted for an equally healthy yet flavourful recipe.
To start, I chose a simple and tasty appetizer:
Bocconcini, Tomato and Italian Salami Skewers
Ingredients
2 containers of bocconcini
1 package of cherry tomatoes
1 package of spicy italian salami
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of basil pesto
Salt and pepper
36 toothpicks or 12 skewers
Directions
I simply cut the bocconcini balls into three sections and sliced the cherry tomatoes in half.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, Icombined the olive oil, basil pesto and salt and pepper. I then put the bocconcini and tomatoes in the bowl and evenly coated them and let sit for 15 minutes.
I then skewered 1 bocconcini, 1 cherry tomato and a folded slice of salami on each toothpick. Once finished, I placed them in a serving dish and drizzled the leftover oil/pesto over the skewers.
Now for the main course, I served a hearty jambalaya, which I cooked using my slow cooker.
Easy Slow Cooker Jambalaya
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thigh
1 pound smoked sausage
1 large onion, chopped
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
3 stalks celery, chopped
1 (28 oz.) can diced tomatoes with juice
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon Cajun or Creole spice mix
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 pound extra large shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 3/4 cups long-grain rice
Directions
Combine chicken, sausage, onion, green pepper, celery, tomatoes, garlic, chicken broth, spice mix, thyme and oregano in a large (5-quart) slow cooker (I was glad mine was 6 quarts!). Cook on low for 5 hours.
Add shrimp and rice; raise heat to high and cook for 30 minutes more. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, if desired.
This last step is where I went wrong. I accidentally set my slow cooker on 'warm' instead of cook, and so when I added in the rice and shrimp, I was very concerned when the rice was not cooked over an hour later. It was at this point that my mother pointed out my error and so I let it all 'cook' for another 30 minutes. Supper was obviously served much later than anticipated, but I think everyone can agree that it was well worth the wait!
Now to finish off the evening, I served a light and refreshing raspberry swirl frozen dessert.
You can access the recipe at the following link: http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Raspberry-Swirl-Frozen-Dessert.
The dessert was delicious, however, I would recommend that you remove it from the freezer about 30 minutes before you serve it. Mine was quite frozen when we ate it, which made it difficult to cut. Also, I would set aside about 1 hour and 30 minutes to make this (it definitely took longer than the recipe let on). Overall, I would recommend this dessert on a warm summer night.
