Playing with Fire

When I was younger I actually managed to set fire to a croissant in the microwave.  A bright spark caught my attention, erupting into flames as I dashed across from one side of the kitchen to the other.  I could have sworn I only put it in for 30 seconds but the charred crisp said otherwise!  Ever since then I have always chosen to take a back seat when it comes to cooking.  When the household chores are divided up between housemates, or family members I will do anything to get out of cooking (and they are usually thankful). 

So as my 25^th birthday approaches and I look more seriously at my future I have decided that I no longer want to live off my old student diet of bread, frozen veg and noodles.  I’m not promising amazing recipes, there will probably be some disasters and I am definitely going to cheat on difficult sauces but I do promise a variety of meals and easy dinnertime suggestions, perfect for tired, hungry people.

Spinach stuffed chicken breast with homemade fries and garlic mushrooms:

(serves 2 – most of my ideas will be designed for two people)

Note, I am terrible at preparing menus in advance so the choice of stuffing was entirely dependent on my under-stocked cupboards.

Ingredients:
2 large chicken breasts

5oz fresh Spinach leaves

½ cup grated cheddar cheese

2 cloves garlic

6-8 mushrooms

6 potatoes

Method:

·        Pre-heat oven to 375F

·        Peel and chop potatoes into strips.  Place on baking tray.  Drizzle olive oil to cover.

·       Mince up 1 garlic clove.  Place the spinach in a glass bowl and pop into microwave for three minutes.  Stir every minute.  Add the minced spinach and grated cheese to the bowl. Stir.

·        Stuff the chicken with the mix

·        Bake the chicken and fries for 30 minutes

The mushrooms were a last minute addition and I didn’t have any cream to make ‘creamy’ restaurant style so literally fry them up with olive oil and one crushed garlic clove.

I thought it tasted yummy but a little messy as the filling spilled over onto the baking tray.

I’ll try and remember photos for future recipes...

Bon appétit!