it's what's for dinner

I was really inspired by the recipes that B has been posting over on her blog, so I decided to put up some of my own!  B and I are both going dairy-free for our milk allergic babies, so finding good stuff to eat is especially challenging.

On Sunday, I made Bruschetta and Penne with Broccoli and Lemon.

Bruschetta:

6-7 plum tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1T extra-virgin olive oil
1tsp balsamic vinegar
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 baguette + 1/4C extra-virgin olive oil

Parboil the tomatoes for 1 minute in boiling water that was just removed from the burner
Skin the tomatoes, cut into quarters and remove seeds (this keeps it from getting too watery)

Preheat oven to 450F
Chop tomatoes finely
Add tomatoes to garlic, 1T olive oil + vinegar, mix well
Slice bread, coat 1 side with olive oil, place oil side down on cookie sheet
Toast on top rack 5-6 minutes
Place tomato mixture on bread just before serving

This tasted sooo good!  It was fresh and delicious -- perfect for summer!

This main dish recipe is one that I tweaked a little to make it dairy-free, but I think it's just as good with or without cheese.  In fact, I usually just serve it with a side of freshly grated Parmesan and Drew is happy.

Penne with Broccoli and Lemon:

1 box penne
2-3 chicken breasts, chopped
6T extra-virgin olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound frozen broccoli florets, thawed
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 + 1/2 lemons, juiced and zest finely grated

Cook pasta + drain
Heat 1T extra-virgin olive oil PER chicken breast in skillet
Add chopped chicken breast pieces and saute until cooked through
Add remaining 3-4T extra-virgin olive oil to pan
Add garlic + cook until golden (1-2 minutes)
Add broccoli, red pepper flakes, + 1tsp salt
Cook until heated through (1-2 minutes)
Add broccoli mix + lemon juice to pasta
Heat through, sprinkle with lemon zest

The original recipe also called for 1C of Parmesan to be mixed into the pasta.  I thought this was overkill even before I went off dairy.  However, since I omitted the cheese I had to bump up the red pepper flakes to keep the flavor alive.  If that's too spicy for you {I like spicy} you can definitely cut it back to 1/2 tsp.

I also threw in some grape tomatoes that were in the fridge -- why not.

Think we liked it?

Good wine helps too.