It had been storming since early morning and around the time I was getting ready to leave for work it had gotten worse. I was in my living room getting ready for the day when I heard a loud bang accompanied by a huge flash of light just outside, near our front yard.
A few minutes later it settled down and I set off for work - as I was walking towards my car my neighbor was out side and I asked if she knew what happened and she pointed to her tree. Lightening stuck it and left a narrow stripe of stripped bark all the way to the ground.
I am glad nothing caught on fire and no one was out side when lightening struck. It also looks like the tree is going to be OK. A pretty neat way to start my week.Other Firsts: Tonight I made a simple, healthy & delicious dinner and I thought I would share the recipe with you.
A favorite of Q & mine in the summer is tomato and mozzarella salad (with fresh basil, olive oil & balsamic) so tonight for dinner I took that idea and tried something new.
Tomato, Mozzarella, Chicken Salad (with some other stuff too)
Ingredients: (for 3 servings or mix with pasta for 5-6 servings)
6 Medium tomato's (I used Roma)
1 - 8 oz. container of baby Portabella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced (these where on sale today, so I got these but regular mushrooms would be fine)
6 Large Fresh Basil Leafs, chopped
Red Onion, diced (I used about 1/4 of a large onion)
4 oz. Fresh Mozzarella, cut into small cubes (I went to a great cheese shop in my neighborhood, Better Cheddar and got the good stuff)
1 lb Chicken tenderloin (I accidentally bought this and had never cooked chicken tenderloin before - another first, you could just as easily use a chicken breast - enough for about 1 cup)
Olive Oil
Balsamic
Salt
Cracked Black Pepper
*optional pasta* (whole wheat rigatoni would be great)
I came up with the whole idea because we had a few tomatoes that have been in a bowl for about a week now and I am not a fan of eating mushy tomatoes, but I also hate to waste. Luckily I remembered the roasting technique I used for my tomato soup a while back and decided to try that. First I set the oven to 400F and then prepared the tomatoes.
I first quartered them and removed the seeds then I cut each quarter in half and tossed them all into my dutch oven
I sprinkled with salt & some cracked pepper and then drizzled with equal parts olive oil & balsamic (about 1/4 cup each) and toss it all together
Roast for 1 hour at 400F. I covered the tomato's for the first 30 minutes and then took the lid off for the next 30. After they have cooked for an hour, remove from the oven and let cool (I put them in a new bowl so the heat from the dutch oven would slow down the cooling).
I also cooked the chicken and let cool. Once cool to the touch I shredded it by pulling it apart with my hands. The only other cooking was the mushrooms. I set a pan on the oven at medium-high heat with just a tiny amount of olive oil (about 1 tablespoon) and added the mushrooms. There is a lot of water in mushrooms (I think they are like 80% water), so the only other thing I added was a sprinkle of salt and then just left them alone for about 6 minutes to cook. I tossed them once and cooked them for another 5 minutes.
I let all the ingredients get to room temperature and then combined them. To recap, I added the roasted tomato's, chicken, mushrooms, red onion, mozzarella and basil then a bit of cracked black pepper and a pinch of salt to a bowl. I tossed it all together and then I enjoyed this yummy twist on an old favorite.
I think for tomorrow night I will cook some whole wheat pasta and add that to the mixture.*Also if it seems to dry just add more olive oil & balsamic to taste.
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