Tag Archives: green beans

Peaches n’ Chicken + Kombucha Cherry Green Beans for the Virtual Progressive Dinner

main dish lilly's table

We are over halfway through the Virtual Progressive Dinner and I hope you enjoyed the Seasonal Veg Head’s gorgeous drinks: Watermelon Rum Fizz and the Peach Cucumber Basil Infused Water.

After those opening drinks, Laughing Lemon Pie shared a luscious Ratatouille Crostini with Goat Cheese, which is the perfect bite of summer to tantalize our appetites.

Yesterday, Nourish Real Food presented her lovely Grilled Halloumi & Zucchini Salad. Check out this salad that serves perfectly as a salad course or main dish.

Today, I am going to share a simple dish with barely any ingredients, which means you will want to start with the highest quality chicken and the most delightful peaches or nectarines that you can find.

Chicken on the grill is quintessential summer. Add some grilled corn, a salad or more and you have the easiest summer cookout. This recipe adds just one simple layer of luscious flavor with one of my favorite fruits of the season.

In my Rocky Mountain state, we wait breathlessly for our Palisade Peaches that we claim are better than the famous Georgia peach. By no means is a contest required, but having nearly local access to the juiciest, packed with aroma stone fruit makes me pretty darn happy. Find the best stone fruit that you can for this dish. This may be peaches, nectarines or this time of year cherries are more likely.

Speaking of cherries! I made this simple dish that could happen on the grill or in the oven. My children actually ate three servings each! The sauce was insanely simple to blend up with a few ounces of kombucha (or substitute water + vinegar) a drizzle of honey and a small handful of cherries. Meanwhile, green beans were roasted after being tossed with olive oil, salt and pepper. Then five minutes before they were done, I tossed the green beans with the sauce and even more cherries.

Seriously, my children were addicted and fought over the last few green beans much to our surprise.

Continue the Virtual Progressive Dinner on Friday, by tuning into Lynn with Order in the Kitchen as she presents a dessert that will take us throughout the entire summer.

 

peaches n' chickenPeaches n’ Chicken

Plan on about 3/4 pound of chicken including the bones and one peach per serving. Ask your butcher to help cut your chicken in half or simply buy your chicken in your favorite parts. 

1 Bone-in Chicken, cut in half + spine removed or your favorite pieces with the skin + bones still on
2-4 peaches, depending on the number of servings
1-2 teaspoons salt
freshly ground black pepper

Heat a grill on high until the griddle is piping hot. Cut the chicken in half, along either side of the spine if not already done by a butcher. The spine can always be used to make chicken broth. Alternatively, if the chicken is cut into pieces that works too.
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Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper, creating a thin, even layer. Reduce the grill to medium-high heat. Place the seasoned chicken skin side down first on the grill for about 8-12 minutes until golden on the under side.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the peaches and place in a cast iron or another oven safe skillet or baking dish. Arrange them as the picture shows, slightly overlapping in a fan.

Flip the chicken over and sear on the other side for about 5-10 more minutes just until the chicken is seared and golden. It should not be cooked through the center yet. Place the chicken on top of the arranged peaches and return to the grill, covered. Alternatively, place in the oven set to about 350. When the chicken is about 170 degrees the dish is done cooking. Remove from the oven and cover with foil or a lid. Allow the chicken to continue to come up in temperature for about 5 minutes.

Serve the peaches + juice on top of the chicken.

Kombucha Cherry Green Beans

1 pound green beans
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 pound cherries
1/2 cup kombucha OR 1/4 cup vinegar + 1/4 cup water (red wine or apple cider vinegar are ideal)
1 teaspoon honey, or your preferred sweetener, more to taste, if desired
salt + pepper to taste

Heat the oven to 375 or a grill over high heat. Trim the green beans on each end, toss with the olive oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Spread on a baking sheet and place in the oven or the grill for about 10-15 minutes until they start to become tender.

Meanwhile, place about 8 cherries in a blender with the kombucha or the vinegar + water. Blend up until smooth, drizzle in the honey, adding more to your desired taste. Add a pinch of salt + pepper.

Cut up the remaining cherries.

Once the green beans are nearly done, toss with the cherry sauce and the remaining cherry pieces. Place in the oven/grill and bake for 5-10 more minutes until the cherries are slightly tender and the sauce is starting to stick to the green beans.

Serve together as the main course!

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well,

Chef Lilly

progressive dinner pic-2

Please note, Nourish Real Food and this main course switched days as I had a family emergency. Remember to check out all of the beautiful courses in the Progressive Dinner!

Naked or MarshmallowsMy senior year of college, we found out a few of our friends were not going home for Thanksgiving. It seemed a crime for them to not enjoy a turkey feast, so we decided to have a pre-holiday meal altogether. There were about 20+ of us in our circle of friends and I went to task finding out everyone’s must-have T-day dishes.

Since I was a vegetarian at the time, I had no interest in cooking the turkey, but a couple of friends signed up for that job. So, other than the mashers, which arrived fluffy with beautiful red skins throughout, I made the rest of the meal.

I remember a few items being requested that I had never actually made before such as Green Bean Casserole, Sweet Potatoes with Marshmallows and Creamed Corn, but they were requested and thus I worked on figuring out how to make them. Please note, this was long enough ago that the internet was not swarming with information, so many phone calls later I figured it all out.

While the college crowd was thrilled, I found myself pleased and grateful for my incredible friends, but not completely satisfied with the canned food-centric feast I had prepared. The years of Thanksgivings that followed became an unraveling of that meal.

Thanksgiving can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but I also see no excuse to eat processed food. Not just because I prefer the flavor of real food, but most sides are easier to prepare than most of us believe.

Here are a few ways to create an unprocessed, easy as pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving:

1. Fresh not Canned Sweet Potatoes (aka Yams)

The last time I opened a can of sweet potatoes (possibly that day back in college), I was amazed by the slightly syrupy, super starchy, lacking in flavor nuggets that were inside. No wonder you need marshmallows! Oh, and yes, they were called yams, (except they are not actually yams unless they are white, not sweet and all starch) but that is another story for another day.

The can-free, tastier, easier method: Scrub your sweet potato, prick all over with a paring knife, and toss in the oven alongside whatever is cooking. A temperature between 325-425 will be sufficient to roast them. Once you can squeeze the sweet potato and it feels soft, about 25-60 minutes depending on a number of factors such as the sweet potato’s size and the oven temperature, then it is ready. Chill it outside or in the fridge until it is cool enough to handle them and then peel off the skin. They will be crazy sweet from roasting and can be chopped or smashed from this point forward to be used with your favorite flavors or toppings.

What is your favorite sweet potato topping? We do this Streusel Topped Sweet Potato at home, but do you prefer Marshmallows?

2. Green Bean possibilities beyond the tins

Since the Green Bean Casserole is such a classic, try this simple enough version including my own homemade creamy mushroom sauce and crispy, oven baked onion strips. While I love dairy, I found myself wanting to explore the vegan possibility and recently created this Creamy Cauliflower Green Bean Casserole.

Typically though, I keep it simple with steamed green beans, maybe a squirt of lemon, a generous dollop of butter and toasty almonds, aka Green Bean Almandine.

3. Veggie Time

Turkey’s don’t make people sleepy. Turkey’s starchy buddies exhaust us.

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Chopped Kale & Pomegranate Salad
Creamy Roasted Potato & Apple Salad
Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Florets

But, you can also make it crazy simple with your favorite salad mix, a crumble of dry cheese (maybe blue or feta?), pecans or other toasted nuts, and generous splash of a good quality balsamic and olive oil. This Balsamic Dressing recipe is what I use when my balsamic is not rich and aged. Follow the season’s abundance- it will not let you down!

IMG_18884. Skip the Pre-made Gravy

Here is the deal. If you are already making a turkey, the gravy is simple to make delicious and amazing. You have all of the ingredients, most likely. Flour (all-purpose or gluten-free rice flour both work) and butter (or your fat of choice- ghee? bacon? olive oil?) are critical. A box of good quality chicken broth is about as ‘processed’ as I would go if you want to cut corners. We make homemade broth at our house after roasting chicken or turkey wings and I try to always have some available before Turkey day. Here is my gravy recipe and I will keep it up and available to you until after T-day this year. If you have never made it before, this is your year. Grab a whisk and let’s make a delicious gravy.

If you have vegetarian guests, this vegan Mushroom Gravy will satisfy your entire crowd. I say this as a non-mushroom eater. They are pretty much my least favorite veg, but this gravy surprisingly makes me happy.

5. Stuffing? 

I know Pepperidge Farm and Stove Top sold us all a long time ago with their ‘easy’ take on stuffing. But, your favorite bakery fresh bread chopped into pieces and dried out will give you all that love without the processed ingredients. You can also go crazy with any combination of carb-rich bread: whole-grain, studded with dried fruits, pumpernickel, gingerbread, cornbread, panettone, and more! Here is my recipe for drying out the cubes yourself, but really it is quite simple. If you do it a few days before you won’t even need an oven. 😉

Gluten-free? There are certainly lots of possibilities these days for that, but last year I did this Herb Polenta Stuffing and it kind of rocked. This year the Roasted Root + Polenta Stuffing is rocking my world.

Your turn! How do you un-process Thanksgiving? Or are there a few dishes you prefer to have out of a box or can, otherwise it just doesn’t taste like turkey day.

Comment below and let me know!

Cook seasonally. Eat consciously. Live well!

In gratitude,

Lilly