BAKED CHEDDAR RANCH CHICKEN

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 tablespoons dry ranch dressing seasoning
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup panko
cooking spray


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Place the chicken in a large baking dish.

In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, ranch, and cheddar cheese. Spread on top of the chicken breasts.

Sprinkle the panko on top and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Bake for 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Serve it up with BAKED RANCH RICE from this blog.

PESTO LEMON RICE

2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil (or 1 TBL olive oil plus 1 TBL butter)
1 cup Converted/Parboiled Rice
1/2 tsp. salt
2 T lemon juice
2 1/4 cup chicken stock 
2-3 T basil pesto

1-Heat olive oil in a heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid; then add the rice and saute until rice is light browned, about 2-3 minutes, stirring several times.

2-Add the salt and lemon juice and stir again (the lemon juice will bubble up in the pan.)

3-Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil.

4-As soon as it is boiling, turn down the heat to medium-low, cover the pot, and let it cook without lifting the lid for 20 minutes.

5-After 20 minutes, remove the lid and fluff the rice with a fork.

6-Stir in the pesto, put the lid back on and let the rice sit for 5 minutes.

SIMPLE BAKED RICE

4 TBL butter
2 cups rice (paarboiled/converted or basmati are my favorites)
3.5 cups boiling water (consomme/broth for more flavor) (use 2 cups for brown rice)
1/2 envelope onion soup or beefy onion soup (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Mix everything in 9x13 baking dish.
Cover with lid or foil and bake 25 minutes.
Fluff. if not done return to oven checking and fluffing every 5 minutes

***brown rice will take about 45-60 minutes.
***If rice texture is good but seems too soupy, return to oven UNcovered 5 minutes at a time.

CREAMED SPINACH

1 TBL butter
1/2 small onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic
3/4 cup whole milk
2 TBL cornstarch
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2oz cream cheese
2 TBL parmesan cheese
1lb fresh spinach or 10oz frozen, thawed and squeezed dry

In a large skillet, cook butter and onion stirring often, until translucent (about 3 minutes).

Add garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes, stirring often.

Make slurry by mixing milk and cornstarch. Pour mixture to skillet.

Add salt, pepper, cream cheese, and parmesan cheese to skillet; whisk until well combined.

Stir in the spinach (in bunches if using fresh), coating the spinach completely in the cream mixture.

Serve warm.

SAUTEED GARLIC SPINACH

1 TBL butter or olive oil
8 garlic cloves, chopped
1lb baby spinach or 10oz frozen, thawed and squeezed dry
1/4 tsp salt

Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat.

Add the garlic and cook, stirring slightly softened and fragrant, about a minute.

Place the spinach (in bunches if using fresh). Sprinkle with the salt. Keep things moving around the pan so that all the spinach wilts and the garlic doesn't burn.

As soon as heated through or spinach is all wilted, it's done.

Remove from the heat right away, before it starts to release too much liquid.

SPINACH - FRESH/FROZEN EQUIVALENTS

A 10 oz package of frozen spinach is the equivalent about a 1 pound bunch of fresh spinach. 

If you're buying fresh spinach, it's wise to buy more than you think you'll need because some bunches will need the stalks trimmed off and that will decrease the weight before cooking.

BALSAMIC SPINACH AND MUSHROOMS

1lb. fresh baby spinach (or 10 oz frozen thawed and squeezed dry)
8oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1.5 TBL olive oil
1 TBL butter
4 cloves fresh garlic, minced
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 TBL balsamic vinegar more to taste if desired

In a wide fry pan, put olive oil, butter and mushrooms sauté on med. high heat 8-10 minutes until mushrooms start to brown.

Add garlic, onion powder and salt stirring for 1-2 minutes.

Turn heat to medium and add spinach (in bunches if using fresh), turning until wilted down.

Drizzle with vinegar, toss to coat and serve.