Posts tagged main dishes

An easy main course that looks fancier than it is!

Honey-Lemon-Pine Nut Chicken

Serves 4

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/8 cup honey
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1-1/2 tablespoons gluten-free Worcestershire sauce (I use Robbie’s)
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1-1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mace
• salt
• pepper
• 1-1/2 pounds chicken breasts, either sliced thin or pounded thin
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• a few tablespoons of cool or lukewarm water

Mix olive oil, honey, lemon juice, GF Worcestershire, thyme, oregano, and mace in a bowl or large measuring cup until smooth. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Trim fat off chicken and cut into serving-sized pieces. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Brown chicken on both sides in two batches. (You don’t need to thoroughly cook the chicken here, as it will finish cooking later.)

Reduce heat to medium and return all chicken to skillet. Pour honey-lemon mixture over it. Pour wine around the chicken, and sprinkle with the pine nuts. Cover the skillet and cook until chicken is cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a platter and raise heat to high. Cook, mixing and scraping, until sauce gets a bit syrupy, about 3 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Put cornstarch in a little cup, add water, and mix. Pour into sauce and stir until sauce thickens.

Spoon sauce over chicken and serve.

This makes a super-delicious sauce—in fact, sometimes I double the sauce ingredients so we can pour it all over our rice!

Unfortunately this is far from low-calorie…but it is quick and delicious!

Gluten-Free Fettuccine Alfredo

• 1 pound gluten-free fettuccine pasta (I use Tinkyada)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1-1/2 cups shredded parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup fresh finely chopped parsley (or basil, if you prefer)

Cook GF pasta as directed on package, making sure not to overcook (pasta will cook a little more in the sauce later).  Reserve 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain pasta and leave in colander temporarily.

Melt butter in the same pot.

Add heavy cream and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water.  Bring to a simmer.

Add the fettuccine and parmesan cheese and toss.

Season with salt and pepper.  If you want a thinner sauce, add more pasta water.

Mix in parsley or basil and serve with extra cheese.

I used the basil this time, since I have a bumper crop in my AeroGarden. :-)

Instead of the traditional breading, I simply dredge the chicken in gluten-free flour to save both time and calories. Jarred spaghetti sauce also saves time. Nevertheless, this tastes like you spent hours in the kitchen!  

Quick GF Chicken Parmigiana

Serves 4

• 1 to 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup gluten-free flour (I use Pamela’s)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
• jar of your favorite gluten-free spaghetti sauce (I use Prego Fresh Mushroom)
• shredded mozzarella cheese to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Trim fat off chicken breasts and either pound thin or slice thin. Cut into serving-sized pieces.

Mix GF flour, salt, and pepper in a shallow bowl.  Coat chicken with flour mixture.

Coat large skillet with a little olive oil and heat on medium-high.  Add chicken and cook, turning once, until cooked through.  You will probably need to do this in two batches.

Place cooked chicken in a baking dish.  Spoon spaghetti sauce over chicken to cover.  Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over everything, either lightly or thickly, depending on your preference.

Place baking dish in oven and bake until the cheese is completely melted.  Serve while still nice and hot.

Served here with steamed broccoli and gluten-free spaghetti—a good way to use up the rest of the jar of spaghetti sauce. (I use Cornito spaghetti.)  Can you tell we like LOTS of cheese? :-)

A delicious, super easy way to prepare scallops.  I adapted this recipe from one I got years ago from my good friend Taire Martyn.

Coquilles Saint-Jacques a la Bretonne

Serves 4

• 1 pound scallops (I buy mine frozen at Trader Joe’s)
• 1/4 cup seasoned gluten-free bread crumbs (I use Gillian’s Italian Bread Crumbs)
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 cup butter, melted in a cup
• 1 clove crushed garlic (fresh or from a jar)
• half a lemon

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (convection oven to 400 degrees).

If the scallops are frozen, defrost them. Rinse, drain, and pat dry. Cut larger scallops into quarters and smaller scallops in half.

In a small bowl, mix GF bread crumbs, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Mix the garlic into the melted butter.

Pour a thin coat of garlic-butter into the bottom of a small casserole dish. Add half the bread-crumb mixture. Add the scallops. Cover scallops with remaining bread-crumb mixture. Drizzle with the remaining butter, and squeeze lemon juice over the top.

Bake for 15 minutes or until scallops turn white and are cooked through.

This can also be made in individual ramekins, as I did here. Place ramekins on a baking sheet to cook.