SPINACH AND ALMOND PENNE PASTA WITH GRILLED HERBED CHICKEN

Tonight I wanted to make a really light and simple meal. Something tasty, nutritious and healthy. I looked through my pantry and found an open pack of penne pasta, slivered almonds, and extra virgin olive oil. Ok, a pasta dish was coming to mind. Now, what was in my freezer? I found a Tupperware of chicken breasts and a bag of frozen baby spinach...hmmm....I think I know what to do! An olive oil based spinach pasta and grilled chicken sounded good! Here's what I came up with.

 For the pasta:
3 cups Penne pasta, cooked
1 1/5 cups frozen spinach, blanched and drained
2 Tbsps Almond slivers
Salt and pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 or 2 chicken bouillon cubes, with 1/2 cup hot water
Mix everything together and adjust seasoning and oil according to your taste.

For the grilled chicken:
Marinate chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano, basil and thyme. Add some crushed garlic and a squeeze or two of lemon juice. Let sit for at least half an hour to marinate. Grill until done. Cut into thin slices and top on the pasta.

YOGURT HONEY DILL DRESSING

Ingredients:
Non fat yogurt
Extra virgin olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Crushed garlic
Honey
Chopped onions
Fresh dill.

Mix all ingredients together, adjust seasoning to your liking, and let the dressing sit for at least 30 minutes for all the flavors to meld together.

5 SPICE PORK MEDALLIONS AND SALTED FISH FRIED RICE

I just arrived from a month long trip to San Francisco so I am still on a high from all the wonderful food I ate there! One place that really stood out was a chinese restaurant called Yuet Lee. They serve an awesome salt and pepper pork chop with five spice that I knew I could easily replicate at home, sans the MSG of course. So last night I was craving, and so I made the pork! Came out really good! And of course, I had to make some Salted fish fried rice and broccoli in oyster sauce to go with it.

I used pork tenderloin, cut them into thin slices, about 1/4 inch thick pieces diagonally into medallions. Then I seasoned them liberally with salt and pepper. The 5 spice, I added the cornstarch which I added a bit of salt and pepper to as well.

Dredge the seasoned pork medallions into the seasoned cornstarch mixture. Let it sit for a few minutes.

Meanwhile, in a shallow frying pan, heat some vegetable oil, about an inch deep is enough to deep fry these babies.

When the oil is hot, fry them up. Be careful not to overdo them because they cook fast. They come out really nice and crispy. Deelish!

For the rice:
Sauté onions, garlic, chopped carrots, chopped bell peppers, green peas and salted fish flakes (I used bottled daing).

Then add your rice. Season with salt and pepper.

Voila! While you're cooking the rice, sauté the broccoli in another pan with some oil and when almost cooked, add some oyster sauce for flavor. Easy Chinese food at home in less than an hour. Enjoy!