Honey Mustard Pretzel Coated Chicken Fingers

I mostly made this recipe because I knew P.J. would like it, but I ended up really liking it too. I already had most of the ingredients so it was an inexpensive dinner, and pretty good for you too. Roasted broccoli roasts in the oven for about the same amount of time it takes for the chicken to cook (about 20 minutes). I happened to buy gluten free pretzels and they were really good, so this could be a gluten free meal.

Sweet and Saucy Meatballs

These meatballs are delicious as a main course served over rice (as pictured) or speared with a toothpick and served as appetizers. They are made with 94% lean turkey meat and are deceivingly low in calories and fat. After the first bite, PJ made the face he only makes when he really likes something. Success!

Chicken Soup with Matzo Balls

My mom's chicken soup with matzo balls is a recipe you'll want to hold onto.  She's served it every year at Passover and Rosh Hashanah for as long as I can remember, and the whole family looks forward to eating it.

As my mom says, it's a chore, but it'll be worth it!  And it's not difficult to make, it just takes time.  On day one, veggies and chicken are simmered for three hours.  Then the veggies and chicken are taken out, the soup is strained, and everything is left to cool.  Then comes the most fun part which is pulling the cooked chicken off the carcass.  My mom loves doing it, but when I was little I thought it was the grossest thing in the world to watch.  But now I realize that there's nothing like sitting down in front of the TV and dissecting some chicken soup chicken.  Finally, the broth is covered and left in the refrigerator overnight.  In the morning the fat will have congealed and can be skimmed off the surface.  Matzo balls can be made and all can be served right away or frozen.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

I used a cast iron grill pan that we got for our wedding to make these delicious kabobs and served them over quick and easy cous cous.  They would probably be even better cooked outside over a real grill, but we do what we can.  It was still fun to feel like we were grilling on a summer night.

The whole meal is very quick and simple.  We had leftovers so I brought some for lunches and then we still had enough for another dinner served with corn on the cob.

For variations, try whatever veggies you like instead of peppers, swordfish instead of chicken, and rice or quinoa instead of couscous.

Classic Cobb Salad

The Classic Cobb is my newest solution for a satisfying and fresh meal that I can throw together quickly on a night when I get home late from work.  I can have all of the components of the salad chopped and ready to go in the refrigerator for easy and quick lunches or dinners.

If you're only going to use part of an avocado for the salad, leave the part you aren't using in the skin with the pit intact in the refrigerator.  The surface may discolor but it can be scraped off with a knife when ready to use.

Chicken Peanut Curry with Banana

If you think this dish sounds a little strange, imagine eating just the curry sauce and bananas as a soup, which is what the original recipe from Mollie Katzen's The New Enchanted Broccoli Forest called for.  I ate only half of a bowl of the soup before feeling completely overwhelmed by the intensity of the flavors and the thickness of the broth.  The flavors were so amazing, but it just didn't feel like soup.  Disappointed, I put the leftovers in the refrigerator and went to bed.

The next day I had an idea to try to salvage my strange soup by cooking up some chicken and serving the soup as a curry sauce over it.  The results were absolutely delicious!

Roasted Chicken with Root Vegetables

We don't have a roasting pan or even a large dutch oven and I've thought for a while that that was an excuse for not roasting a chicken at home.  Plus they sell organic roasted chickens at the store across the street for about the same price as raw chickens.

However, I was inspired when I saw that Thomas Keller has a recipe for roasted chicken made in a cast iron skillet in his new book Ad Hoc at Home.  It's a beautiful but expensive book, so I just got the idea of the recipe by reading it over in the book store and then I went home to try my own variation.  The same recipe may be made using a roasting pan or large dutch oven.

Chicken Udon Noodle Soup

When I started making this recipe I thought, "I see what we're doing here - we're making chicken noodle soup."  I'm familiar with a good chicken soup recipe because my mom makes a really good one and I make it myself when I'm feeling sniffly or sneezy.  But as I started reading the recipe, I soon began to worry: no carrots or celery? no matzah balls??  and we're adding soy sauce???  It's amazing how switching out just a few ingredients gave this chicken soup a completely different feel. I packaged up the leftovers in pyrex containers to bring in to work for satisfying lunches.

Dress-Me-Up-Or-Down Squash and Sweet Potato Soup

I walk through Union Square daily now to get to work which means many impulse stops into Whole Foods.  Last week I stopped in for a snack of a deliciously creamy squash soup that was thickened just by pureeing its vegetables and contained no butter or heavy cream.  It really hit the spot for me, but after paying nearly $4.00 for about a cup of their soup I vowed to save some money for the coming week by making a batch of my own.

Rustic Vegetable Soup with Chicken Meatballs

I just found out that I'll be starting my new job tomorrow and my first reaction was a panicked trip to the grocery store so I could fill up my freezer with as much food as possible before my time is consumed with work. One of the things I made was a big pot of this soup and put half in the freezer so I'll have lunches ready to bring to work with me or quick dinners if I get home late. I guess it's irrational, but now that my freezer is full I feel calm and prepared for the new job! I also made my favorite quick bread and another great soup that I will share later. This soup is really filling because of the chicken and beans and tons of vegetables so I think it makes a great one-dish meal. The small handful of cheese could certainly be omitted from the meatballs if you're not a dairy person or if you don't mix meat and milk. And for those who don't eat meat, it's still a great soup on its own without the meatballs.

Trio of Healthy Heaven: Sweet Potato, Quinoa, and Haricots Verts (And a bonus Moroccan Chicken recipe!)

I've been cooking dinners for a neighbor, Eleonore, for a couple of years now . If you can believe it, she has even more diet restrictions than my husband who is trying to cure an ulcer and lower his cholesterol. But she has proved to me that having a fickle diet doesn't have to mean bland food, well, not all the time anyway. This is my favorite Eleonore-inspired dish that I make frequently when I need a quick healthy meal that doesn't sacrifice portion or flavor. Once you have a bite of the warm and comforting sweet potato with the textured and nutty quinoa you will understand where I'm coming from. It's healthy heaven! And the crisp, salty haricots are just the refresher you need before you go back in for another bite of mushy goodness.