We all have those hectic nights when a super easy meal is essential. Lemon and Rosemary Baked Chicken with Asparagus is a perfect weeknight meal when you don’t have the time or inclination to hover over the stove. And since you only use one pan for both the chicken and veggie, cleanup is a breeze, too. Add this recipe from Kayla of That One Birch to your list of “quick and easy dinners”.

Lemon and Rosemary Baked Chicken
with asparagus

by Kayla Greensky

When looking for a healthy and flavorful recipe there’s nothing as easy as baking up some lemon rosemary chicken with asparagus. Not only are all of the ingredients natural, it’s a meal that can be prepared in under an hour. Although I make my asparagus with minced garlic, simply using some lemon to flavor the asparagus works as well. I love when food has a citrusy flavor. There was one time when I didn’t have any lemons in the house so I used an orange instead. Delish!

Keep in mind that baking times may differ depending on whether you’re using a gas or electric stove. The temperature and timing that I use has the chicken coming out nice and juicy. No dry chicken here!

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. skinless boneless chicken breasts
• ½-1 lemon
• Fresh asparagus
• 1 tbsp. dried rosemary
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
• olive oil or coconut oil (to taste & to grease)
• aluminum foil
• baking pan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°. Lay foil down on baking pan and grease with olive oil or coconut oil.

2. Cut any fat off of the chicken breasts. Depending on the size of the breasts consider cutting them in half for more even cooking.

3. Place chicken in the baking pan (leave room for asparagus) and pour the juice of half a lemon over the chicken. Add rosemary.

4. Take another piece of foil and put the asparagus on it. Add a drizzle of olive oil and minced garlic. Wrap the foil around the asparagus loosely and leave a small hole open for steam to pass through. Set to the side.

5. Place chicken in the oven for 15 minutes.

6. Add asparagus and bake for another 15-20 minutes. Let cool before serving.

Bio: Kayla is a military spouse who enjoys hiking and caring for her two furry babies. She is the owner of That One Birch, a lifestyle, DIY and recipe blog where she shares her experiences.

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Pyrex Baking Set

Our local Italian restaurant makes delicious tiramisu but I never thought of making it myself. That is, not until Mark at MoreFlavour shared this recipe with me. I had no idea it was so easy!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for supporting Life With Dee!

Coffee Tiramisu

A guest post by Mark Ackermann 

This simple Italian dessert is a family favorite at my house and benefits from being prepared ahead of time, allowing all the flavors to mingle and settle. Tiramisu seems like a lot of work, but is deceptively simple in its preparation. Traditionally served as an afternoon tea boost, tiramisu contains both coffee and alcohol. I’ve noted in my recipe that alcohol is optional and it really is. Those of you who don’t like cooking with alcohol due to personal or religious beliefs can feel free to leave it out without altering the recipe at all.

Try to find some Italian Lady Fingers (or Savoiardi), but if you can’t find any then there are many other brands that work just as well. These biscuits are hard with a sugary topping, but soften as the tiramisu is allowed to sit. It is thus important to wait at least six hours before serving.

This recipe requires the use of cold brewed coffee since it provides the best taste. It’s really easy to make at home. All you require is a little time and something like an Aeropress. So if you plan on going this route you can make the cold brew coffee a day before you start the tiramisu, since the cold brew needs to sit overnight. If you don’t have the time, space or equipment for that then you can also just buy some ready-made. Regular coffee is fine, but you should just be careful not to burn the coffee grounds since this leads to bitterness.

Easy to make and delicious to eat, this creamy and decadent Italian dessert is sure to become a household favorite.

Ingredients

· 3 egg yolks
· 1/2 cup sugar
· 1/3 cup milk
· 500 grams mascarpone cheese at room temperature (about 2 cups)
· 200 grams Lady Fingers (about half a package)
· 1 cup cold brewed coffee
· Cocoa powder
· Chocolate shavings
· 3 tsp of brandy/rum (optional)

Instructions

1. Put the egg yolks, sugar and milk in a medium saucepan and whisk until combined.
2. Cook over medium heat, whisking continuously, till it boils. Continue cooking for about one minute.
3. Leave to cool at room temperature for about 30 minutes followed by 1 hour in the fridge.
4. Once the egg yolk mixture is cold, whisk in all of the room temperature mascarpone cheese and add the brandy or rum.
5. Line a 9X5 loaf pan with plastic wrap.
6. As quickly as possible, dip a third of the lady fingers in the cold brew coffee. Do this one at a time then place them on the bottom of the pan in a single layer. It’s ok to break them if they don’t fit the pan.
7. Spread about a third of the mascarpone filling over the Lady Fingers.
8. Now place a second layer of the coffee dipped Lady Fingers and spread about another third of the mascarpone cheese on top.
9. Dip the remaining Lady Fingers in coffee and arrange them over the mascarpone cheese.
10. Now spread the rest of the mascarpone cheese
11. Cover the pan with plastic wrap and refrigerate over night.
12. Once set you can gently remove the tiramisu from the pan, sprinkle the cocoa powder and chocolate shavings on top.
12. Slice and enjoy!

Bio: When Mark isn’t out cross-country running, cycling or hiking over the weekends he works at MoreFlavour where they are passionate about good coffee. Their mission is to try to help individuals and organizations discover great coffee and their preferred way of enjoying it.

Aeropress

Have you ever heard of a “salad cake”? I hadn’t either until Victoria Giang sent me this recipe. Doesn’t it look gorgeous?

Layered Salad Cake with Chicken Breast… Simple!

by Victoria Giang

Have you ever felt enthusiastic about trying some recipe salad you saw on the Internet, but then as soon as you saw the ‘directions’ section, you were like “nah, I ain’t got no time for that!”. Been there, done that!

Seriously, I bet you have seen dozens of cool-looking salad recipes, but never made any of them just because… you were lazy! And you ended up making some dull-looking salad (I’m not saying it wasn’t delicious, just… you didn’t truly impress anyone with it!). But in order to surprise a special guest at your home (whether it’s your girlfriend, boyfriend or boss!), you surely want to get more creative than just throwing all the ingredients into a bowl, not caring about how the salad looks. And did you know that if a meal looks good, it also tastes good? That’s a psychological trick, so why not take advantage of it?

The following layered salad cake recipe is a wonderful choice if you:

1. Want to impress your guests (your girlfriend will think you’re a great chef for making such a masterpiece)
2. Want to eat a super healthy salad and not feel guilty after devouring it
3. Don’t want to spend more than 45 minutes to make a cool-looking salad
4. Don’t want to run to the nearest grocery store to get lettuce, Swiss chard, some turnips or whatever, as you’ll most likely find all the ingredients in your fridge .

It will take you about 45 minutes to make this awesome layered salad cake.

Serving size: 1

Ingredients:

• Chicken breast – 200 g (7 ounces)
• Carrot – 1
• White mushrooms – 100 g (3.5 ounces)
• Onion – 1
• Pickles – 2
• Garlic – 2 cloves
• Olive oil for frying
• Mayo – 2 tbsp (you can replace mayo with fat-free sour cream to satisfy your weight-loss goals)
• Pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Boil the chicken breast for 20 minutes and then let it cool in its own broth while you’re doing other steps of this instruction (this way the chicken will be softer and more delicate).

2. While the chicken is boiling, peel the mushrooms, chop into medium pieces and fry them in a little bit of olive oil (around 10-15 minutes). Now take the fried mushrooms out and put them on a plate to cool.

3. While the chicken is still boiling, peel and grate the carrot. Now fry the carrot in olive oil for about 3-5 minutes. Place it on a separate plate.

4. Given that the chicken breast is done boiling by now, chop it into small cubes.

5. Peel the onion and chop it into small pieces. Now fry it until golden (no more than 1 minute) and add more olive oil if necessary. Place on a separate plate.

6. Peel the garlic and chop it into small pieces. Throw it on the plate with the hot onion, and stir it up!

7. Grate the pickles on a separate plate.

Now split the salad into layers and put mayo (or sour cream) and a little bit of pepper as a filling between each layer:

1. Chopped chicken breast

2. Mayo (sour cream)

3. Fried, grated carrots

4. Mayo (sour cream)

5. Fried, chopped mushrooms

6. Mayo (sour cream)

7. Fried, chopped onions and garlic

8. Mayo (sour cream)

9. Grated pickles

That’s it! You have your layered salad-cake that not only tastes delicious but is also super healthy and rich in all kinds of nutrients!

Nutrition Information

Victoria is the author of HowDaily.com , a food and how-to blog. She loves cooking and sharing her recipes with the world as well. Follow her on Pinterest.

You can read more about salad cakes here.

Some of you know that I used to have a couple of other blogs before I started Life With Dee. One was a cooking blog, Dee’s Kitchen. I rolled over all my old posts to Life With Dee but unless you dig through the archives you aren’t likely to realize that there is a wealth of uncategorized material, especially recipes. I had a LOT of guest posts on Dee’s Kitchen.

I’ve decided to start reposting some of those treasures. Many don’t have accompanying photos but I decided not to let that be a deterrent. After all, lots of cookbooks don’t have photographs of every single recipe. These may not be “Pinterest Pretty” but don’t let that stop you from trying some of these. Like this Crawfish Bisque recipe from Frank Maier, who is originally from New Orleans where he no doubt learned to love food.

Crawfish Bisque

by Frank Maier

This is my favorite dish in the entire universe. It’s the sine qua non of New Orleans cooking. If you’ve never had it, stop what you’re doing right now and make this dish immediately. Well, at least get started by going online and ordering some crawfish tails from one of the many internet purveyors, if you can’t get crawfish locally. I’m not kidding. Order four pounds of crawfish NOW. When they arrive, come back to this recipe and make it. Serve it for dinner and your family/friends will apotheosize you for it, I promise.

Yes, it’s a lot of work. Yes, crawfish are kinda expensive if you’re not somewhere where they’re readily available. Yes, it’s not perfectly authentic unless you put the stuffing in crawfish heads (actually the carapace behind the head) instead of making balls/boulettes. Ignore all these factors and just make this stuff already. Here’s how.

Ingredients:

Bisque:

2 pounds crawfish tails (leave whole)
1/2 pound butter (Substitute EVOO, if you must, but I don’t recommend it.)
1-1/2 cups flour
1 onion (chopped fine)
3 stalks celery (chopped fine)]
1 bell pepper (chopped fine)
1 whole garlic (chopped fine)
1/3 cup tomato sauce
3 quarts stock (crawfish, if possible, otherwise just do the best you can)
1 bunch shallots (chopped fine)
1/2 cup parsley (chopped fine)
A couple of bay leaves
Cayenne, salt, and pepper (to taste)
Stuffing:

2 pounds crawfish tails (chopped semi-fine)
1 onion (chopped semi-fine)
3 stalks celery (chopped semi-fine)
1 bell pepper (chopped semi-fine)
1 whole garlic (chopped semi-fine)
1/2 cup parsley (chopped semi-fine)
1/2 stick (1/8 lb.) butter (Substitute EVOO, if you must, but I don’t recommend it.)
3 eggs, beaten
1-2 cups bread crumbs
cayenne, salt, and pepper (to taste)
Optional: About 50 cleaned crawfish heads(carapaces) (See prep choices later in the instructions for heads vs. balls (boulettes), if you don’t have access to crawfish heads)

To make the bisque:

In a large (dutch oven is perfect) cast iron (substitute if you must) pot, heat butter over medium-high heat. Add flour and, using a wire whisk, stir constantly to make a medium roux. Add onions, celery, bell pepper and garlic and sauté about 5 minutes. Add crawfish tails and tomato sauce. Slowly add stock a little at a time until you get a sauce-like consistency. More may be needed as cooking progresses to keep the bisque from becoming too thick; but it’s supposed to be hearty. Ya don’t want it to be as thin as soup, more of a stew-like consistency. Bring to a rolling boil, then reduce to simmer for about 45 minutes, stirring occasionally to keep the tails from settling and scorching. During the last ten minutes, add the heads (or balls), green onions, parsley, and season to taste.

To make the stuffing for heads/balls:

Grind crawfish tails, onions, celery, bell pepper, garlic, and parsley in a food processor to the point that individual pieces are small but not pureed. Add butter, eggs, and enough breadcrumbs to hold the mixture together but not so much that it becomes bready. You wanna taste crawfish, not bread. Season to taste using cayenne, salt, and pepper. Then use prep 1 or prep 2.

Prep 1: If you have crawfish heads(carapaces) – Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Put stuffing mixture into crawfish heads(carapaces). Bake on a cookie sheet for 20 minutes or until lightly browned, then set aside for later addition to the bisque.

Prep 2: If you don’t have crawfish heads(carapaces) – Form the stuffing mix into balls (boulettes). I’d recommend about the size of a ping-pong ball or a Swedish meatball kinda size. A tennis ball is definitely too big; a marble is too small. Ok? Sauté them briefly to brown the outside and marry the ingredients, then set aside for later addition to the bisque.

Serve in a soup bowl over white rice with a crusty baguette. Wine? Crawfish bisque is a dish which is robust enough to eat with strong, red wines. Go for it.

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Frank is a New Orleans transplant living the good life in Seattle. He occasionally shares thoughts, opinions and recipes on his blog, Singularity.

Recipe originally posted on Dee’s Kitchen, February 14, 2014.

Warm Lentil Salad

by Teresa White

Today I have for you a recipe for a warm lentil salad. This recipe is low-maintenance, very healthful, and versatile! I am a vegan, so I made it completely vegan, but you can always adjust the recipe to your personal preferences by using butter instead of coconut oil (or whatever you would like!). That being said, though, I really enjoyed the flavor that unrefined coconut oil added, and I would definitely recommend this recipe for a Meatless Monday meal! I personally ate it for dinner over some mixed greens, but I think it would also go very well on top of a grain such as rice or quinoa, or even all by itself. It’s full of flavor from sautéed onions and garlic, cumin and chili powder, and a bit of apple cider vinegar. I hope you enjoy!

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Warm Lentil Salad

Ingredients

• 1 cup green lentils
• 3 cups water
• 1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons coconut oil
• 1 medium onion
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• salt to taste
• 1-2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Instructions

1. First, measure out the lentils and put them, along with the 3 cups of water, into a medium-sized pot. Lightly salt them, cover the pot, bring to a boil, and then uncover and allow to simmer until cooked but not mushy (about 40-45 minutes, but keep an eye on them).
2. Wash and dry all the vegetables, and then chop the onion into medium-sized pieces, the carrots into thick coins, and the zucchini into medium-small chunks. The sizing here doesn't have to be exact; just make sure the carrots and zucchini chunks are not so thin they will become mushy.
3. Add the coconut oil to a large skillet, bring to medium-low heat (for my stove, this was on the hotter end of medium-low), and add the onions and carrots. Sauté them for 4-5 minutes, then add the zucchini. A few minutes later, add the garlic, spices, and tomato paste. Stir well, allow to cook for 1-2 minutes, and turn off the heat.
4. Once your lentils are done cooking, drain any remaining water from their pot and then add the lentils to the skillet with the vegetables. Stir well and add the apple cider vinegar and salt to taste.

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My name is Teresa White, and I am a high-schooler living in small-town Oklahoma. I’m a total [vegan] foodie, and I have a little blog by the name of The Kale Storm. Thank you to Deanna for having me on Life With Dee!

Hot Turkey Sandwiches

By Leanne Penny

I grew up Dutch, the child of a second generation immigrant. Being Dutch in America generally doesn’t mean much more than last names with difficult spellings, chocolate letters and banket at Christmas and genetically ingrained frugality. I was part of a large family, 13 first cousins on my dad’s side. We were a tight knit clan who loved vacationing together and gathering over my grandmother’s scrumptious scratch cooking.

I could start my own cooking blog reminiscing on her recipes. She passed away just a few months ago and she leaves behind a legacy of faith, family and food.

The recipe I am about to share here isn’t HER recipe per se, but it is something she ingrained in me and cooked every Sunday night for my dad and his four siblings. It’s also a meal I served regularly at the Dutch-American restaurant I used to work at, the one with the wooden shoe and tulips on the sign.

Today we’re going to learn how to make hot turkey sandwiches. These aren’t really sandwiches in the classic sense. They’re more open-faced…a slice of bread covered in shredded turkey, smothered in gravy and served with a side of mashed potatoes.

This is an easy, classic meal and more of a process than a recipe. I don’t have it written down anywhere. Well, I guess I do now.

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Hot Turkey Sandwiches ~ By Leanne Penny

Ingredients

• Turkey (Dark meat preferred; you’ll get more gravy.For this recipe I used turkey thighs.)
• Stock (turkey, chicken, vegetable, whatever you have on hand)
• Flour
• Potatoes (peeled or unpeeled, whatever floats your gravy boat)
• Sour Cream
• Milk
• Butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• A good, solid loaf of bread

Instructions

1. Place your turkey in crockpot, on low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours. If you are working with dark meat, you should be fine without adding extra liquid. If you are working with turkey breast only, you may want to add some water or stock if you’re going to be gone so it doesn’t dry out.
2. Once cooked, remove your turkey from the crock pot. Strain the liquid in the bottom of the crockpot into a pan. Not a sauce pan, but a frying pan. This will be used to make your gravy and I find that sauce needs surface area to reduce.
3. Add some stock into your pan. I'd say about as much stock as you have pan drippings, but the ratio is pretty flexible.
4. Now, grab a bit of white flour and taking a fork, whisk it with some of your warm stock or drippings. Once it’s incorporated, slowly drizzle it into the pan while whisking so you get gravy instead of dumplings. Once it’s thickened to your liking, set it aside.
5. Make mashed potatoes by adding cleaned and cut up potatoes to a pot of boiling, salted water.
6. Once fork-tender, drain your potatoes.
7. Add butter and sour cream to your pot, whatever feels right. Start with 2 Tbsp of butter and work up as needed.
8. Now add a little milk, just a little bit, a few tablespoons at a time. There is nothing worse than runny mashed potatoes.
9. Using an old school potato masher, go to town on your potatoes until they reach your desired consistency. If you like them lump free, you should probably bring in an electrical gadget so as not to get carpal tunnel.
10. Season as needed with salt and pepper.

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Leanne Penny is a wavering hope ambassador, reluctant pastor’s wife, and intentional mother of 3 lovelies. Long on words, short on grace, in love with redemption. She blogs at LeannePenny.com.

I put out a call for recipe guest posts and was delighted when my friend Frank answered the call. He has shared some of his recipes with me in the past and as a New Orleans native you just know they are good! I’m a huge fan of soup so I was happy that he chose to share this one. We don’t have access to fresh oysters here in my neck of the woods but I’m going to be in the city next week so I’m hoping to at least find some in a glass jar as he mentions for a substitute.

Oyster-Artichoke Soup

By Frank Maier

This is a new-ish New Orleans favorite. My momma used to make us oyster soup fairly often when I was growing up but it was chef Warren Leruth who invented this variant for the famous LeRuth’s restaurant calling it “potage LeRuth.” His recipe was for a commercial operation; this is my home variant. Any recipe that starts with a pound of butter hasta be good, huh?

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Oyster Artichoke Soup ~ by Frank Maier

Ingredients

• 1 lb. butter
• 1 cup flour
• 2 bunches green onions - chopped
• ½ of a whole garlic – chopped fine
• 1 qt. heavy cream
• (some) chicken stock
• (some) sherry or similar (I use Courvoisier VSOP)
• 1 pt. (more, if you like oysters as much as I do) oysters, hopefully with their liquor – use the smallest oysters you can get. If they’re medium-sized or bigger, cut ‘em into smaller piece. If you have small ones, use ‘em whole. Fresh is best. The kind from a glass jar at the grocery is a possibility if you’re not in a place where you can get fresh oysters. Naturally, the original recipe calls for Gulf (of Mexico) oysters, substitute as necessary.
• 1-1/2 pounds fresh-cut artichoke hearts. Substitute 2 9-oz. packages frozen artichoke hearts, defrosted and quartered or 2 (10 oz) jars of artichoke hearts, washed, drained, and quartered. Save using canned hearts as a last resort, of course.
• (a few) Bay leaves
• salt, pepper (I like to use white pepper for this dish), cayenne – to taste
• parsley – chopped
• crackers, French bread, etc. – server’s choice

Instructions

1. Put butter and flour in a (I use cast iron) pot and make a blonde roux. A dark roux is too strong and overpowers the delicate oyster flavor. Add the green onion and garlic and sauté a few minutes. Add the cream, some chicken stock (I don’t use a lot.), and some sherry (Courvoisier VSOP). Add Bay leaves. Bring back to a simmer for 10 minutes. Add oysters and oyster liquor and the artichoke hearts. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add spices to taste and correct liquid with chicken stock to desired thickness. Maybe a little more sherry (Courvoisier)? Remove Bay leaves. You’re done.
2. Put some fresh parsley on each bowl as you serve it. Serve with your choice of crackers, toast, French bread, whatever. We always used Leidenheimer’s French bread which is, sadly, unavailable outside of New Orleans.
3. Enjoy!

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