Do you live with someone who wants every item on the dinner menu served separately? No cooking with sauce. No vegetables combined with tomato sauce. Every THING separate?
Well, I do and it’s not fair …. not a fair thing to do to a Chef! So I am going to show you the ‘separatist’ menu compared to my Combination of Flavors, and see what you think!
Let’s start with pictures:
So separate and apart from everything is the Pasta. Keep in mind the pasta keeps cooking minutes after you take it off the stove. So just undercook the pasta!
The Pasta water is a key ingredient to thickening your sauce. But if you being asked for separate marinara, separate pasta I think it takes a lot of the joy of eating, right out of that fork and mouth of yours. I mean “Sauce Not Separate” means I combined a bunch of vegetables into the sauce. Surprise! But I do think the picture of Combining Flavors look way more yummy.
We eat with our eyes. You can go all veg or combine a crumbled protein (plant based or pork) to make for a nice meal. For the Combining Flavors shot: Just a drizzle of olive oil, a shred of parmesan over the top, and you’re in business!
On to a brilliant but separate combination.
Now I never eat chicken and I feel almost tortured to cook chicken. But a breast alone, without all the flavor of the bone and skin, is the only way for me to go. So this is what I do.
Take a chicken breast, cut it in half so it’s thin then pound it out. Dredge in Flour, Salt and Pepper ….. Then into an egg wash. And finally patted into a bread crumb with dry spices including rosemary and parmesan cheese finely shredded. I put it on my George Forman Grill.
Remember: always pat dry anything you use, whether it’s Eggplant or Chicken if you’re looking for a crust.
But you can use a cast iron pan or your favorite pan to fry, using a spray of oil, (not soaking ingredients it in oil, remembering that each teaspoon of oil is 100 calories). The squash is over the top with blended cider, applesauce, turmeric, smoked paprika, crumbled prosciutto, celery and celery salted and chopped, and chives. A bite of the chicken is lightly seasoned but bland. But a bite of the chicken with a bite of the squash, you’ve got great flavor combining! Experiment!
Healthy Happy Cooking,
