Chicken Breasts with Prosciutto and Sage and Grilled Asparagus- April 23, 2010

Using up the rest of the prosciutto from last night as well as some asparagus, this was a quick and easy meal. I like to grill asparagus or roast it unless its going into a pasta I might blanch it.

Fettucine with Peas, Asparagus, and Pancetta- April 20, 2010

Another springtime pasta dish from Epicurious. I purchased some fresh fettucine for this.

Asparagus Mushroom Tarts- April 15, 2010

Although I think these were actually designed as more of an appetizer, they were also delicious and decadent as a main. We made the entire recipe and froze the remaining tarts to try a as an appetizer sometime.

Red Quinoa, Brown Rice & Chicken Salad- April 6, 2010

Whole Foods was handing out a little spring magazine which is where I found this recipe. Quinoa is yummy and very good for you, as is brown rice. I don't usually make brown rice because it takes so long to cook, but I discovered Whole Foods carries it frozen. You just microwave it for two minutes and its done! This recipe was vegetarian but I added some rotisserie chicken. Basically you had the rice, quinoa, chicken, some asparagus, canned artichoke hearts, feta cheese and then you added a light vinaigrette to that. It was very yummy as a side or a main.

Grilled Lemon-Pepper Chicken with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes & Asparagus- April 3, 2010

Another Whole Foods purchase was this marinated chicken. Although I usually like choosing my own marinade as I find the ones at the store can get old after a while (old like boring...), these fantastic warm temps (its only April- wow!) dictate grilling, so this was a no-brainer. I found a recipe for roasted potatoes with asparagus and Parmesan, which paired perfectly with the chicken.

Slow-Roasted Halibut with Shaved Asparagus and Fennel Salad- April 1, 2010

This is another epicurious recipe. It was very yummy and the salad was light and refreshing. We are moving in a week and packing up a lot of our dinnerware for the time being. I'll miss these plates in particular.

Fingerling Potato, Asparagus & Goat Cheese Pizza- March 15, 2010

I often make my own pizza. Its easy to make the dough and freeze it, as I think I've mentioned before. My dough recipe which I use for both oven & grill pizzas:
2 cups flour (plus more for rolling the dough)
1 TBSP olive oil
1 package quick-rising yeast
3/4 cup warm water
Mix the ingredients and knead the dough for about 10 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Place in a warm area and let rise for 45 minutes. Punch down the dough and divide into 2 balls. Allow to rest 10 minutes more. Use both or freeze one.
When I cook pizza in the oven I use a very hot (500 degree) oven and a preheated pizza stone. I find with this combo I don't need cornmeal even as the stone gets so hot. When I grill the pizza crust again a hot grill is good but I oil it and then turn down the temp on the grill. Once it puffs up I flip it and add toppings, but depending on the toppings I often end up finishing it off in a warm oven.
The sky's the limit with toppings- this combo I found on Epicurious.