Summer dreams and spring harvest {How my garden grows}

They say good things come in small packages.

Well, I'm hoping for great things from these small plants.

This weekend, thanks to the extra day off and getting in my long run on Saturday, I was able to get my garden ready for summer. We added another raised bed (3x8 feet) and cleaned out the others with the hopes of a bounty of vegetables. I planted 13 tomato plants, mostly heirloom varieties that we buy at a friend's plant sale; two pepper plants; and a variety of squash, as well as cucumbers.

But with all the planting, there was a bit of harvesting as well. I had planted some greens in early April - spinach, kale, arugula and leaf lettuce. They were doing well - better than I had hoped - but taking up some prime garden real estate. I pulled it all up, washed it several times and put it in plastic bags with a paper towel (to absorb moisture).

I am not quite sure what to do with all of it to be honest because, in case you were wondering, there might be such a thing as too much kale.

However, I'm doing my best. Kale and spinach have been blanched and frozen. I've made some delicious salads, including a popular Blue Cheese-Pecan Salad for a Memorial Day barbecue.

And then there was this. Chicken Breast Stuffed with Mozzarella and Arugula Pesto. Served with roasted broccoli, red sauce and penne (for the wheat consumers in the family), it was one of the best weeknight dinners that I've made in months. MONTHS, I tell you.

Chicken Breast Stuffed with Mozzarella and Arugula Pesto

For the pesto:
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
2 cups packed arugula leaves
1 tablespoon garlic paste
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

For the chicken:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 slices mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

For the pesto: In a skillet over medium heat, toast the nuts just until you can smell them; about 2 minutes. Put the nuts, arugula, garlic and sea salt into the bowl of a food processor. With the processor going, drizzle in the olive oil until the mixture reaches a pasty consistency. Stir in the parmesan cheese.

For the chicken: Using a kitchen mallet, slightly pound out the chicken breasts. Butterfly the chicken and open up. On one side of the chicken, place slice of cheese and drop 2 tablespoons of pesto on the cheese being mindful not to let the spoon touch the raw meat. Spread out pesto and fold plain of chicken over the toppings. Repeat for second breast.

In a skillet over medium heat, cook the chicken on each side until golden but not too brown; about 4-5 minutes. Place the skillet in the oven and cook for another 10 to 15 minutes, or until cooked through.

Dinner tonight: Dude, it's ranch

Before I tell you this, I will admit that I am probably the last person on the planet besides my grandma who was ignorant to its wonders.

My friends, I have discovered Instagram. OK, not so much as discovered Instagram as much as now have the capability to use Instagram.

Up until last week, I had a Sony Ericson Xperia. It was a decent enough phone, and I liked that I didn't have to pay any money for it (with a new contract). However, it always felt like I had got it only because I didn't want to spend money on an iPhone. It didn't have some of the functionality that I had seen with Mark's iPhone, and the photos were definitely lacking. It took forever to load emails or any data for that matter, and I used it basically to call, text and play Angry Birds.

I had to replace my laptop last week so Mark and I figured that we should bite the proverbial bullet and empty a sizable chunk of my paycheck at Best Buy. Asus computer and an iPhone it would be for me. The computer is lovely but the phone is beautiful. It is my friend and I shall name her Penny.

Penny has made my life so much easier. OK, not really, but it has encouraged me to take more photos including some in the kitchen - like the Southwest Ranch Chicken Stuffed Potatoes I made for dinner tonight. They might not have made it on the blog before (find camera, take photos, upload photos, blog) but with the wonders of Instagram and its filters making lighting less of an issue, I had to snap a photo when I was prepping them.

This dinner is wonderful in that you can prep every thing in the morning, time permitting, and merely bake the potatoes when you get home from work. I served the dish with boiled then grilled local corn that I got in my Green B.E.A.N. delivery and zucchini from my garden.

I had gone out merely to check on things only to discover that I had one giant zucchini and a very cute baby one. I was so excited! So much so that I almost forgot about the potatoes in the oven.

Mark and I really enjoyed this dish. The flavors were subtle but identifiable, and it was a nice change from the regular grilled chicken + potato/starch + vegetable.

Southwest Ranch Chicken Stuffed Potatoes

Four potatoes
3 wedges Laughing Cow Queso Fresco & Chipotle
2 teaspoons dry ranch dressing mix
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup milk
1 to 1.5 cups cooked chicken, cubed (I grilled mine with additional ranch dressing mix as seasoning)
1/2 cup 2% shredded cheddar cheese
2 scallions, sliced
Toppings, as desired: Sour cream, Greek yogurt, salsa, chopped bacon

Scrub potatoes and slit to vent. Bake in a 400-degree oven for an hour or until cooked. Allow to cool to the touch.


Once potatoes are cool, cut in half. Use a spoon to scoop out the insides, leaving a quarter- to half-inch border around the skin. Put the scooped potato in a bowl. Add Laughing Cow wedges and ranch mix, mashing with a fork. Pour milk over potatoes, starting with 1/4 cup, adding more as necessary. Be mindful not to overwork as potatoes can become gummy. Fold in the chicken. Divide mashed mixture evenly among the potato shells. At this point, you can place potatoes on cookie sheet and cover with plastic wrap, refrigerating until ready to bake.


Lower oven to 350 degrees. Top potatoes with cheese and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the potatoes are slightly golden. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chopped scallions and serve.

It's OK to be chicken

I didn't want to cook. I had just spent a whirlwind weekend in Cincinnati with family, driven 3+ hours in a hot car and still had to grocery shop and pick up Denali from the kennel. That was enough for a day. Or two.

Instead of picking up a pizza, which was very tempting, or buying a slew of frozen entrees at the grocery, I picked up one of my favorite ready-to-go meals: the rotisserie chicken. My grocery always has them hot and waiting for me near the checkout lanes. While they have several flavors, I like to stick with good ol' plain. It makes it that much easier to dress it up.

(Get it ... the chicken's dressed up! OK, I'm lame.)

Without further ado, the many faces ... or meals ... of the rotisserie chicken.

Monday: Chicken breast slices (about half of breast) with a microwaved sweet potato and grilled summer squash. (With the holiday and all, I forgot that I was supposed to go meatless.)

Tuesday: Wrap with chicken breast, raw summer squash, tomato, red onion and a wedge of the new sun-dried tomato Laughing Cow.

Wednesday: Chicken thigh quarter, broccoli and a sweet potato mashed with Silk Almond Milk, pumpkin pie spice and Truvia.

BBQ Chicken Wrap

Thursday: Wrap with chicken breast (on to breast No. 2), 1/2 T barbecue sauce, 1/2 T light ranch, shredded cheddar and red onion. Grilled until it was all warm and melty.

Friday: Quesadilla with chicken, salsa and homemade creamy avocado sauce. Wait. What is homemade avocado sauce? I took a 1/4 avocado and 1/4 cup 0% Fage, and I mashed it with a splash of lime juice and dashes of cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder. By the way, this meal scores extra points because I served it with a 1/2 cup fat-free refried beans. Beans that were in a can, which was in my pantry. Operation: Clean Out the Pantry, full steam ahead!

How do you dress up chicken?