Let's keep this thread going. We enjoy Lidia's Family Table/ Italian-American shows. She featured an easy recipe using chicken breasts, capers, red wine vinegar. She said it could be made using pork chops. This appealed to hubby so he made it for dinner one nite this week, using boneless pork chops. It's a delicious sauce. Skillet Chicken Breasts Aglio e Olio source: Lidia's Italy 6 chicken breast halves, skinless and boneless, about 2 pounds (we used boneless pork chops) 3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more as needed 1/2 cup flour, for dredging the chicken 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 tablespoons butter 8 garlic cloves, sliced 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 3 tablespoons capers, drained 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar 1 cup vegetable broth 3 tablespoons Italian parsley, freshly chopped 1 tablespoon bread crumbs Trim the chicken breast halves of all bits fat, skin or connective tissue with a paring knife. Do not cut off the tenders-the small loose flap of muscle on the underside of each half-but flatten them firmly against the larger piece, to form a neat oval. Sprinkle both sides of the breasts with salt, using about 1/2 teaspoon in all. Spread the flour on a piece wax paper and press and toss each breast to coat lightly on all surfaces; shake off excess. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil and all the butter in the pan over medium heat. When the butter is almost completely melted, lay the breasts in the pan, with space between them. Let them cook in place, without moving them, until they're sizzling. After 2 minutes or so, lift the first breast you put in the pan and check the underside. You want it to be lightly tinged with brown (not merely pale, but not brown all over either). Cook longer if needed, and then turn all the breasts over when they've just begun to color. Quickly scatter all the garlic slices into the spaces between the chicken, turn the heat up slightly, shake the pan and stir the slices around in the hot fat so they separate. After a minute or a bit more, when the garlic has begun to sizzle, sprinkle the red pepper flakes in a hot spot; toast for a minute; then spill the capers in several hot spots around the pan. Give the skillet a few good shakes to distribute the seasonings and run the hot juices all around the breasts. Raise the heat another notch: when everything's sizzling hard, pour the red wine vinegar into the open spaces and shake the pan to spread it. Let the vinegar sizzle and reduce for a 1/2 minute or so, then pour in the broth. Cook at full blast now, quickly bringing the liquid to a boil. As it cooks, drizzle the remaining two tablespoons of oil all around the pan and sprinkle on another 1/4 teaspoon of salt. Let the sauce bubble and reduce for a couple of minutes, shaking the skillet frequently, then sprinkle the bread crumbs into the sauce (not on the chicken) and stir and shake to mix it in. Within a minute or two, the crumbs will thicken the sauce visibly; cook, shaking the skillet, until it has the consistency you like. Turn off the heat, scatter the parsley over everything-and shake the skillet again. Serve immediately.

Oh wow, just noticed you are making all of these yourself? They all would benefit from a few things waiting until the heat and serve time...a half hour before party time. (keeps cooking during the party even on a simmer) Cheese, cream/milk, coconut milk, herbs, etc. Basically anything that is added last in the recipe that says "add last and bring to temp and serve". Canned corn is kinda dead tasting and usually full of sugar. Frozen, added morning-of, would be better. Puree half of it for creamed corn. Side bowls of fresh herbs, limes, cilantro, grated cheese, croutons, toasted slices of baguettes, tortilla chips...even if it is already in the soup, folks like to customize their bowl, :) (tortilla added to the soup gives a nice flavor and breaks down in the broth and really good, but adding half later is nice for the texture) Almost all soups freeze just fine as leftovers cooked all the way as a recipe even with a pasta or rice...but do taste like a leftover. Holding off an ingredient or two will give it some freshness, like the chopped kale or fresh chopped tomatoes. When i thaw leftover soups, i always dig in the fridge and look for something fresh to add, like a fresh frozen salsa, pesto, shelled edamame... You are on the right tract by holding off what makes sense. Keeping the list and menu planned and organized for what goes into where and when can be tricky. (imagine what a restaurant chef goes through all day, every day! yikes) -don't mean to be anti-canned goods, but most of those recipes passed around are coming from the big manufacturers of processed foods, so the same flavors can be made with much fresher ingredients without the chemicals and fake flavors.

Azzalea, I didn't know you could freeze cheese sauce! I should do that since it would be so handy for broccoli--which we love. Learn something new everyday at the KT! Georgysmom, you had another busy and fun-filled day, you lucky girl!! Cheryl, I've never made Mulligan stew. I'll have to google a recipe unless you want to share yours :-) Hellion, it's your dinner that sounds delicious. Did you save us some of thos banana bars? Yum! Monica, I wonder why I think sliders are better tasting than regular sandwiches? Those sound good! Luckygardnr, I read your recipe yesterday. It sure sounded good, but then I would eat a cow patty with bacon on it :-) Now, OnAHolliday, you still haven't told us what you had for dinner. 'Fess up!

It's such a power food, we bought some recently. Like you I didn't know what to do with. It's very strong to eat on it's own, so we like it chopped fine into mixed salads. Yesterday we juiced up some kale, carrots and apples and drank the juice. The "leavings" I mixed into the meat loaves for extra nutrition and fiber and it was awesome. Kale added to any soup is good. Take the tough rib out and just use the leaves. They soften if you massage them with oil. Funny thing, years ago I got some boxes of old produce from our local grocery store. They used to give it away to people with guinea pigs, rabbits etc. I do worm composting and came home with "gold" for them. I chopped up all the food and froze it. Months later I would thaw the kale and it thawed exactly like it went in.......it didn't break down at all. That's when I decided I didn't like cilantro. I couldn't stand the smell of it when I was chopping it. I was afraid my "little guys" wouldn't like it either, but they did!