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Lentil Bruschetta Dip

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We would like to introduce you to our latest creation, lentil bruschetta dip.  It’s literally the easiest, most delicious, crowd pleasing and knock your socks off recipe you’ll ever taste.  It’s a perfect appetizer.  Just serve with your favorite chips, crackers or pita bread.  You could even just eat it with a spoon!  We don’t ever judge for those kinds of things.

Now I’m not kidding when I tell you this dip is easy to make.  All you really need to do is head to your local Trader Joe’s for the following ingredients.  If you don’t have a Trader Joe’s by you, I am sure you can find these items at your local grocery store.  I mean, I really hope you can.  If not, you can improvise and cook your own lentils and make your own bruschetta but we clearly didn’t do any of that for this recipe.  We let our friend TJ do all the work!

All you need is steamed lentils.  (They come in this fabulous vacuum packed casing) TJ’s pre-made bruschetta (if you’ve never had this, you will freak out, it’s so dang good),  Feta cheese, kalamata olives, fresh basil and a cucumber.  In our true GTK fashion, we like to keep our recipes really simple and this one is no exception.

All you are going to do is add all of the ingredients to a bowl and stir it together.  Seems easy enough right?  Add this one to your list for your next entertaining event and your guests will love you forever!  This is also delicious to have on hand in the fridge for a couple days for some healthy snacking.


Lentil Bruschetta Dip
 
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Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 lb package Trader Joe’s steamed lentils
  • 14.5 oz prepared bruschetta sauce - we used TJ’s
  • 1 english cucumber, seeded and chopped
  • 1 C kalamata olives, halved
  • ½ C crumbled feta cheese
  • ½ C fresh basil, juilienned
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl add lentils. Use the back of a spoon to separate and break apart. Add bruschetta, cucumbers and olives and stir to mix. Gently fold in feta and basil.
  2. Serve with crackers or eat on its own!

Sheet Pan Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Green Beans & Tomatoes

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Once again, we bring you yet another super easy dinner!  This sheet pan balsamic roasted chicken with green beans and tomatoes is an absolute must for a busy weeknight.  Is there anything better than placing all of your ingredients on one pan and tossing it into the oven, only to have it all come out at the same time and ready to eat?  Well, no.  There really is nothing better!  If you are anything like us, you have a lot of stuff going on during the week…I won’t bore you with the details but we’ll just say “mom taxi” and that should sum it up.  Anyway, sheet pan dinners are where it’s at so let us just take a quick minute to share with you how simple this recipe is to make.

Start by making the delicious balsamic marinade.  We use this on pretty much everything…once you try it, you will know why.  It might be the easiest marinade to make but it’s also the most flavorful.  It’s literally dijon mustard, balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil.  I like to make mine in the blender but you could just whisk it up or use an immersion blender too.  I always make extra and use it throughout the week for green salads or a yummy quinoa salad.  Yum!

You’ll want to marinate the chicken in the fridge for at least 4 hours so it has time to become one with the delicious flavors.  We suggest doing this part in the morning before you head out for the day.  Then, when you get home and it’s time to make dinner, the chicken is ready to go.

Just pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment.  Place the chicken breasts, tomatoes and kalamata olives on the sheet pan.  You will be adding the green beans a little later as they don’t need as long to cook so make sure you leave some space for them on the pan. Pour the remaining marinade over the tomatoes and olives and season with salt and pepper.

While the chicken is cooking, toss the green beans in a bowl with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  After 20 minutes, place the green beans on the sheet pan and let everything cook for another 10 minutes.  Then remove the pan from the oven and serve up your super simple, one pan dinner!  Total WIN!!!


Sheet Pan Balsamic Roasted Chicken with Green Beans & Tomatoes
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
For the Balsamic Marinade:
  • ¼ C balsamic vinegar
  • 3 Tbsp dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 chicken breasts, trimmed
  • cherry tomatoes or strawberry tomatoes on the vine
  • ½ C kalamata olives, pitted
  • 12 oz green beans, trimmed
  • 2 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • kosher salt
  • cracked pepper
  • *Optional - mozarella or burrata cheese, ciabatta bread, balsamic glaze
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl whisk all ingredients together for the balsamic marinade.
  2. Add chicken to a large ziploc freezer bag. Pour balsamic marinade into bag and massage into chicken. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
  3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper. Arrange chicken on pan and place tomatoes and olives around pan (leave room for green beans, they will be added later). Pour remaining marinade over tomatoes and olives. Season with S&P.
  4. Set timer for 20 minutes.
  5. While chicken is cooking toss green beans with olive oil, season with S&P. After 20 minutes add the green beans to the sheet pan, set the timer for an additional 10 minutes.
  6. Remove from oven, slice chicken and serve.
*Optional - serve with sliced ciabatta bread, fresh mozarella or burrata and drizzle with balsamic glaze.

Whole Foods Cooking Class & Wine Pairing

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Another awesome cooking class at Whole Foods Market in Scottsdale on the books!  A fun time was had by all,  you can never go wrong when you mix French wines with great food.  Food + wine + friends = the best night ever.  Just saying….

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Our first course was our roasted carrot ginger coconut soup.  I know, I know,  the flavors might sound like a bit of a random mashup, but you’ve got to trust us…..this soup is out of this world!! We showed the group just how easy the soup is to throw together and several told us they are going to add this recipe to their Thanksgiving menu.  This soup was a definite crowd favorite, most of the audience helped themselves to seconds.  It was a great pairing with the champagne that was served.

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Next in the lineup was our balsamic roasted pumpernickel sandwiches with chive cream cheese.  Wooah, holy yum…the flavor from roasting veggies in a marinade of balsamic, dijon, garlic and olive oil is ridiculous.  Assemble the veggies  with creamy (yes I just said creamy) chive cream cheese and pumpernickel bread and you’ve got yourself an appetizer to be excited about.

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Good thing we made a lot of these guys because they went fast.  The people just kept wanting more!  That’s always a win in our books.  The sandwiches were paired with a delicious pinot which complimented each other perfectly.

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Moving on in the cooking class to the quinoa and Italian sausage stuffed mushrooms.  If you’re a stuffed mushroom lover then you have to make these!!  Filled with sweet Italian chicken sausage, ricotta, quinoa and parsley and topped with parmesan cheese.  Are you even kidding me???  Yep, they are pretty much the bomb.  Oh, and paired with a light red wine….a match made in heaven!

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Last but not least we featured our tomato and olive tapenade bruschetta.   Think rustic bread grilled to perfection topped with roasted cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, feta, rosemary and basil.  Mouth watering yet?  A simple appetizer that’s always a crowd pleaser.  This appetizer was paired with a chinon wine, which was definitely the winning wine of the night.

Stephanie Heymann Photography

As you can see there was no shortage of laughter, delicious food and fabulous wine at our cooking class.  It’s always a good thyme at our events!!  A big thank you to our good friend and talented photographer, Stephanie Heymann, for snapping all of these awesome photos as well.

We have some exciting events coming up that we will be announcing soon so stay tuned!!

See below for links to all of the recipes featured at the cooking class.

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/roasted-carrot-ginger-coconut-soup/

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/balsamic-roasted-veggies-pumpernickel-chive-cream-cheese/

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/quinoa-italian-sausage-stuffed-mushrooms/

http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/tomato-olive-tapenade-bruschetta/

Stephanie Heymann Photography

Tomato & Olive Tapenade Bruschetta

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We know, you saw this recipe and you were like, “Wait, What???”  Then you told yourself, “I have GOT to try this!!” We absolutely don’t blame you.  Is there really anything better than deliciously sweet roasted tomatoes, tangy kalamata olives, fragrant fresh basil and rosemary and creamy feta cheese?  Pile this off the hook mixture on top of some grilled artisan bread and you are not going to believe how happy it makes you!  Some people happen to get a little over excited about food and I might be one of them.  Not even worried that you might be judging either.  Just take my word for it on this one…add it to your list. Wanna know the best part?  This tomato and olive tapenade bruschetta happens to be super easy to make!  Yay!!

So in a few simple steps you too can be in tomato and olive tapenade bruschetta heaven.  Toss baby heirloom or cherry tomatoes in a bit of olive oil and kosher salt and roast until they get all squishy and broken down.

While the tomatoes are getting all hot and bothered you can chop your other ingredients and do a little mix-mix in a bowl.

You can also work on toasting up artisan bread slices in a skillet until they turn a little crispy and golden brown.  If you can handle those few steps then you are in luck, because it’s that easy!

Add the tomatoes to the bowl and drizzle a bit more olive oil to the mixture and season with S&P.  Now comes the fun part….start spooning the tapenade on the bread.  I’m in love with the pretty bright colors of the tapenade.  Not only is this creation pretty on the outside, it’s pretty on the inside too….when you actually try it you are going to freak out!   Don’t just take our word for it, go try it for yourself….like now.

Check out other bruschetta recipes by clicking on the link below and have yourself a full on bruschetta party!! http://www.goodthymekitchen.com/bruschetta-3-ways/


Tomato & Olive Tapenade Bruschetta
 
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Serves: Approx 16 bruschetta servings
Ingredients
  • 2 C multi-colored hierloom baby tomatoes - or cherry tomatoes
  • good quality olive oil
  • ½ C kalamata olives, pitted and quartered
  • ¼ C feta, cubed
  • ¼ C chopped basil
  • 2 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
  • 1 small loaf artisan bread, sliced
  • kosher salt & ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 425.
  2. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Toss tomatoes in 1 Tbsp olive oil to coat. Arrange tomatoes on baking sheet and sprinkle with kosher salt. Roast for 20 minutes.
  3. In a medium bowl combine olives, feta, basil, rosemary, tomatoes, 1 Tbsp olive oil and S&P to taste. Fold ingredients together until combinesd.
  4. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cut sliced bread in half. Drizzle skillet with approx. 2 Tbsp olive oil. Add bread, brown each side until lightly toasted. Arrange bread on a serving platter, top with tomato and olive tapenade and serve.

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken

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How can you go wrong with stuffed chicken? Well, we happen to think that you really can’t! We have made a lot of stuffed chicken recipes in our time but this one is a current stand out. The combination of these ingredients is just so perfect and the best part is, it’s super easy to make! This is one of those dishes that can be an easy weeknight dinner for the family yet it’s pretty enough to serve to friends if you are entertaining. That’s a total Win in our books…it’s like a two for one! We are just so into the combination of tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, feta and fresh herbs and quite frankly, we were totally inspired to make this dish because these were ingredients that we had on hand.

mediteranina

How lucky for us right? Sometimes you just have to get those creative juices flowing and you may surprise yourself! We assure you that you are going to want to make this dish soon! Like, this week. Or, tonight. Or right now!

stuffedchicken2

 

 

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken
 
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Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 portabello mushrooms - stems removed and chopped
  • ⅓ C chopped kalamata olives
  • 1 C cherry tomatoes halved
  • ¼ C chopped basil
  • 1 sprig rosemary, stem removed and chopped
  • 2 oz feta cheese
  • 4 skinless, boneless, preferably organic chicken breasts pounded out
  • 1 Tbsp good quality olive oil
  • S & P
Instructions
  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a skillet over medium heat, add butter until melted. Add mushrooms and tomatoes, sautee for 5 minutes. Add olives, basil, and rosemary and sautee for an additional 2 minutes. Remove from heat and add feta. Season with pepper to taste - no need to salt because of the salt in the olives.
  2. Lay pounded chicken on wax paper. Place ¼ of mixture on the chicken and roll, secure with a toothpick. Follow same steps with remaining chicken breasts. Salt and pepper both sides of chicken.
  3. Heat 1 tbsp of olive oil in ovenproof skillet over medium high heat. Place chicken on skillet, flip after 3 minutes or until golden brown and cook the other side equally. Transfer chicken to oven for an additional 10-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
Good Thyme Tip - You can modify this recipe by grilling or roasting chicken and placing the olive/mushroom mixture over the top instead of stuffing the chicken.