 The weeknights when we all get home late and tired are the hardest ones to decide what to make for dinner. Who wants to be bothered? But this recipe only takes 25 minutes. Total. You can make this and feel a little fancy, and you’ll be done and eating before your Door Dash alternative would have even got picked up. Which leaves time to properly set the table and actually be fancy. Enjoy, and you’re welcome! Chicken Piccata
INGREDIENTS: 1 lb thinly sliced chicken breasts 1/2 cup flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground black pepper 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 2 Tbsp olive oil 1 Tbsp capers, drained 1/2 cup white wine 1 lemon, juiced (approx. 1/4 cup) 1 lemon, sliced into wheels 1/4 cup water 3 Tbsp cold butter, salted 3 Tb fresh parsley, chopped PREPARATION: Step 1: In a shallow bowl, mix the flour, salt, and pepper and cayenne. Dredge each piece of the chicken through the mixture to coat evenly, and set aside. Step 2: Heat the olive oil over medium high in a large pan. Add the chicken. Then reduce the heat to medium. Cook the chicken for 5-6 minutes on each side to brown. The chicken is done cooking when the internal temperature is 165F. Transfer the chicken to a plate. Step 3: To the same pan, add in the capers and cook for 1 minutes. Then add in the wine. Stir to scrape up any browned bits from the chicken, and smoosh the capers to flatten them a bit. Step 4: Add in the lemon juice, water, and butter to the capers in the pan. Stir and cook until it comes to a boil. Then reduce the heat to low and mix in 2 Tbsp of the parsley, and add back in the chicken. Heat for 2-3 minutes to allow the sauce to thicken and the chicken to heat through. Step 5: Serve with the additional parsley, and lemon wheels over pasta, rice, and/or a nice arugula salad. Enjoy!  I am always looking for recipes that are easy to make and can incorporate something really good for you - like spinach. This recipe reminds me of Marry Me Chicken but was even easier. I served it on top of mashed potatoes, but a nice fat noodle like pappardelle or tagliatelle could work too,. And the leftovers were even yummier. Enjoy! Creamy Tuscan Chicken
Ingredients:
Preparation: Step 1: Season the chicken with the Italian seasonings, salt, pepper, garlic and onion powder Step 2: Heat olive oil in a skillet and sear the chicken until golden on both sides (about 6 minutes per side) , then add 3 Tbsp of butter and coat the chicken. Remove and set aside. Step 3: In that same pad, saute the onion, sun dried tomatoes, and garlic. Step 4: Add the spinach, and stir to wilt. Add in the heavy cream and parmesan, and stir until smooth. Step 5: Return the chicken to the pan and spoon the sauce on top. Step 6: Serve over tagliatelle noodles, or with mashed potatoes. I have a young athlete in my house who is obsessed with protein, and I should be eating more protein as well. This recipe really hits that target and it literally take 8 minutes total to make it. And if you add another protein such as chicken, then this is a home run. This made a lot of food, so my lunch the next day was pretty awesome a well. Enjoy! Lemon Pepper Chickpea Skillet (with optional protein)
INGREDIENTS:
PREPARATION: Step 1: Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the minced garlic, the lemon peppers seasoning, and the salt and the mustard powder. Cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Step 2: Stir in the all-purpose flour and stir until combined. Then add in the vegetable broth and bring it to a gentle simmer until the sauce thickens. Then stir in the chickpeas, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes. Step 3: Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the heavy cream, the grated parmesan, and the chopped parsley. Garnish with the lemon wheels and some freshly ground black pepper. OPTIONAL: You can easily add to the protein punch of this meal by adding chicken, salmon, or shrimp. In this case, I made my recipe for Grandma's Chicken, and used plan breadcrumbs seasoned with lemon pepper seasoning. This recipe for One Pan Creamy Tagliatelle could not be easier. The best part? This recipe maybe takes 20 minutes total including the time to prep it. And please don't tell my kids there was spinach in there - they had no idea and loved it. The extra bonus point is that it cooks all in one pan which makes for a much easier cleanup. This is a perfect meal for when you get home lack from a soccer game or baseball practice - it's easy peasy, and a crowd pleaser. And if you need to add some protein, you could easily add some rotisserie chicken or cooked shrimp or an added boost. OR, you could very easily cut this recipe in half to cook for just two, or have some for lunch the next day. Enjoy! One Pan Creamy Tagliatelle
INGREDIENTS:
PREPARATION: Step 1: In a large pan, place the tagliatelle, cherry tomatoes, onion, spinach, and garlic. Step 2: Drizzle with olive oil, add the tomato paste, Italian herbs, cream, and vegetable broth. Step 3: Cover and cook over medium for 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Add a bit of broth if you see that it is getting too dry. Step 4: At about 15 minutes, or once the pasta is creamy and tender, plate and top with the parmesan cheese.  This is another 25-30 minute meal that is a winner in our house. This recipe serves 2-3 people, so you'll need to double it if you're cooking for a family of four with big appetites. Or if you want seconds and/or leftovers.
This recipe is great because everybody loves it, and it is easy to make at the end of a long day. It is an easy win! Crispy Thai Beef & Snow Peas served over gold turmeric rice INGREDIENTS:
PREPARATION: STEP 1: In a pot that will hold 2 cups of rice, heat 1 Tbsp of olive oil over medium. Add the tumeric and the rice and toast for 2-3 minutes. Then add 1 ½ cups of water & a pinch of salt and bring to a boil. Once it boils then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook for 12–15 min. Step 2: Trim snow peas and slice into 1–2" pieces. Put to the side. Step 3: In a large sauté pan, heat 1 Tbsp oil (2 Tbsp) over medium-high. Pat ground beef dry, then add the beef to pan and flatten into an even layer, and cook for 4–5 min without stirring to crisp the bottom. Keeping beef in the pan, spoon out most of excess fat and discard. Step 4: Break beef up with a wooden spoon and add Beef Starter & the chopped snow peas, and cook for another 3–4 minutes until the peas are just tender. Step 5: Zest and juice lime(s), keeping them separate. Then chop the cilantro. Step 6: Make the sauce by first removing the beef & peas from pan. Then reduce the heat to medium. Then to that same pan, still on the heat, add the lime juice & Thai Sauce Starter. Stir it to combine while scraping up any browned bits in the pan for 1-2 minutes. Step 7: Add lime zest to rice and fluff with fork. Step 8: Scoop rice onto a plate, top with crispy beef & snow peas mixtures, and drizzle with the sauce. Garnish with cilantro.  I do most of my TV viewing on the treadmill, so it took me a while to get to the part of my queue with Megan Markle's / Sussex's new Netflix series, even though I consider myself a Royalist. In the first episode, she makes an "easy pasta dinner just like she does for her family." It's a single-skillet spaghetti recipe. Unbeknownst to me, she says this is how Brits make their pasta (is this true, friends?), but I've also heard that this is an old Martha Stewart recipe. Either way, the truth is that is that it's easy, especially after a long day of work - so it passed that test as part of the Delaney Test Kitchen. My boys are athletes and always need a bit more carbs, so I added the frozen baguettes from Trader Joe's, and they were the perfect complement to this meal. Enjoy! Single Skillet Spaghetti
INGREDIENTS:
PREPARATION: Step 1: Fill and electric tea kettle, and boil 3 1/2 cups of water Step 2: In a large, deep skillet combine tomatoes, salt, olive oil, and garlic. Then place the dry spaghetti on top. Add the lemon zest, then the Swiss chard stems on top of the pasta. Step 3: Pour boiling water over the pasta. Cover pasta by 1 inch. Step 4: Cover with a lid, return to a boil and cook for 6-8 minutes. Step 5: Remove lid, and add the greens (chard and kale leaves, plus a handful of arugula). Cook 4-5 minutes more, until pasta is al dente. Step 6: Drain, and top with a drizzle of olive oil and grated parmesan. Enjoy!  Peri Peri Chicken with Grits There is a chain of chicken restaurants that we discovered in the UK (and have since learned there are some in the US while on a visit to Washington, DC) called Nando's. They are famous for their Peri-Peri chicken, which comes in a variety of levels of spiciness. Peri Peri means "strong pepper" in Swahili, so the heat is to be expected. And we learned from friends that after a night out at the bars, Londoners will often go out for some "cheeky Nando's" to soak it all up. Since we all love PeriPeri and Nando's in our house, I was excited when this was a big hit with my family. We added it into our regular rotation, minus the grits and adding a little bit more spice. Instead of the grits, I often serve it with roasted fingerling potatoes. Peri Peri Chicken,
with creamy grits, chili peppers & wilted collard greens (serves 4) INGREDIENTS: 4 chicken breasts Peri Peri Spice: 2 T sumac, 2 T smoked paprika 6 T thyme, 4 Thai chilies, 2 garlic clove 6 T red wine vinegar 1 1/2 c grits 2 c milk 4 c collard greens 2/3 cup of Olive oil salt and pepper to taste PREPARATION: 1. Preheat oven to 400° 2. Cook Grits:
3. Make the Peri Peri Sauce
4. Cook the Chicken
5. Prepare the Collards, and Finish the Grits
 This is a recipe that my son has told me is the closest thing to authentic Mexican food he's tasted that I have ever made. I also made this over the summer when we had 7 17y-olds to feed, and they ate.it.all. Then the moms started asking me for the recipe. So this is for them :-). This recipe is easy to double for when the whole family is home or friends are over. For those of you feeding teenage boys - just go ahead and double it. Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas INGREDIENTS: 8 oz pulled chicken (cooked) (I get some at our local BBQ place and freeze it for this, or you can use a rotisserie chicken) Filling: 3 T cream cheese 6oz tomato paste (small can) 2 tsp garlic / 4 tsp if 1 tsp cumin 1 tsp chili powder 3 T cilantro 4 ea 10” flour tortillas 1 ½ c shredded mozzarella ¼ c red onion ⅓ c sour cream 1. Prepare the Chicken: Defrost the chicken if necessary, and then roughly chop the pulled chicken. Here you have two choices – you can get a rotisserie chicken and pull off the meat, get some pulled chicken from your favorite BBQ place, or I keep packages of it in the freezer to defrost as needed. 2. Start the Filling: Mix together all of the Filling ingredients into a medium sized bowl. Chop the cilantro and add half to the mixture. Then add in the roughly chopped chicken, and mix well. 3. Cook the quesadillas: Heat one Tbsp of oil over medium heat. Place one tortilla in the pan, cover with filling and mozzarella cheese to taste. Then top with another tortilla. You’ll want to cook them for 3-4 minutes per side, until the tortilla is golden & the cheese is melted. Repeat the process to make additional quesadillas, adding more oil to the pan as necessary. Place the quesadilla on a plate and cut into 4-6 wedges, using a pizza cutter. Serve with a dollop of sour cream an a sprinkle of some of the remaining cilantro, and some salsa. Our favorite salsa is from Zocalo here in Atlanta Enjoy!  The Delaney Test Kitchen was excited to try this recipe from @NYTCooking that included Feta, since a) I am always looking for something interesting to cook in our cast iron pan (it feels more Southern than a regular saute pan), and b) after the success of TikTok Feta, I was eager to try another Feta recipe. This one was more of a hit with the adults than the kids, but I really loved it since it included two of my favorite things – dill and olives. I think with one minor change it will work with everyone. The recipe calls for cooking the orzo in chicken broth or water. I found it to be so much more flavorful with the broth, but not as appetizing to my little picky eater. So if you have one of those, you may want to just use water. My favorite flavor in this dish was from the dill. It was a nice change from what we normally expect from chicken and pasta, and it always pairs well with feta. If you try this one, please let me know how it goes! Skillet Chicken with Orzo, Dill and Feta INGREDIENTS:
 Chicken, Orzo and Onion in the pan before adding cucumber, feta, dill or olives. |
