Gluten Free Artichoke and Tomato Pasta Recipe

Gluten Free Artichoke and Tomato Pasta

Today was flea market day. I have been looking for a new dresser for our bedroom and I refuse to buy anything new unless I have to. Growing up my mother loved garage sales, but there were few (if any) flea markets. When I moved to West Virginia I discovered quickly there is a whole culture of flea marketing. I felt like a fish our of water at the first few that I went, but now that I have lived here almost 11 years I have grown to love them. The same people often go every weekend; there is food, great treasures and they are the best place to find anything you need for your house. After some bargaining I was able to find two great dressers which I am going to restore and they will look great in our house. I love projects and they help to keep my sanity while staying home with my two boys. Since I have been busy with various house projects I made sure that the meals that I prepared last week were quick and easy. One of the recipes that I tried was for Artichoke and Tomato Pasta from the May 2013 issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 25 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First since I eat gluten free I used gluten free ziti. Second it is finally vidalia onion season so I used one for my sweet onion. I purchased a 14 ounce can of artichokes so I used the whole can instead of the 6 ounces suggested by the recipe. Finally after I added the tomato mixture to the pasta I allowed it to cook for an additional 5 minutes.

My family normally is not big fans of gluten free pasta. However, they all loved this recipe. It worked very well to being made gluten free and the use of additional artichokes worked deliciously. I found that I didn't have to add much salt to the tomato mixture since there was already salt in the artichokes.

For the recipe go to Artichoke and Tomato Pasta Recipe.

Taste of Home Mediterranean Chicken Bake

Chicken breasts have never been a family favorite. My family loves chicken thighs and will eat them happily, but normally groan and complain when dinner includes chicken breasts. I tend to agree with them for the most part, chicken breast oftentimes turns out dry and unappetizing. It doesn't help that my mother rarely made chicken breast growing up and when she did it had the texture of rubber. Luckily for me she only served it once in a blue moon. She was a great cook, chicken breasts just weren't her forte. When my husband and I first got married I tried making chicken breasts a few times and each time it ended in disaster. Due to this less than stellar history I literally stopped cooking chicken breasts until my kids starting eating solid foods. Once my kids were regulars at the dinner table I slowly started trying new recipes using chicken breasts. Some had the expected dried out taste that I grew-up eating, but other such as the recipe for Mediterranean Chicken Bake from the April/May issue of Taste of Home magazine turned out delicious.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of prep and cook time and makes four servings. I did have to go to multiple stores to find sun-dried tomatoes, but that might be a specific problem in my area. For the herbes de Provence I lucked out and found some on clearance. I found that it took less than the 15-20 minutes for my chicken breasts to fully cook in the oven. I temped my chicken at around 12 minutes and it was done. I did pound out my breast relatively thin and that might be why the cooking time was decreased. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Everyone in my house loved this recipe. My husband in particular thought this was one of the best chicken breast recipes he has ever had and for him to like a chicken breast recipe is a feat. I loved the blend of artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and feta cheese. This will definitely be a recipe that I would try again.

For the recipe go to Mediterranean Chicken Bake.