Weekend Cooking- Trying To Eat Healthier

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We're trying to eat healthier in our household, something that has been hit or miss. My husband is out to business dinners two to three nights a week and I don't cook on those nights for just myself. I'll eat leftovers or cereal.

I did come across two recipes recently that worked well. One is Chicken Cacciatore with Peppers, Onions and Mushrooms that I saw on the Today Show, made by Anthony Scotto of Fresco by Scotto, a restaurant here in NYC. My husband loves peppers and onions (me, not so much), but I'll eat them in a dish like this.

The recipe calls for using a entire cut-up chicken, but I substituted chicken thighs and drumsticks because my husband prefers those. It also called for using 1/2 cup of olive oil to saute the chicken in, and I cut that back.

It takes about 45 minutes to cook on the stovetop, so this is a recipe that can be made on a weeknight. It was full of flavor, and adding red wine to deglaze the pan added a nice touch to this dish. I will be making this one again now that cooler is (supposed to?) be on the way. I served it over angel hair pasta with a salad on the side.

You can find the recipe for Chicken Cacciatore with Peppers, Onions and Mushrooms here.

I also made an Apple, White Cheddar and Spinach Salad with Honey-Apple Cider Vinaigrette one night, a recipe I found on Pinterest.  It's a simple salad, and the honey-apple cider vinaigrette was a huge hit, one I will make for other salads.

Apple White Cheddar Spinach Salad with Honey Apple Cider Vinagrette
For the salad:
6 cups of spinach (a package of fresh spinach that you find in the produce section works perfectly)
1 large apple, thinly sliced (I used a Fuji)
1 cup grated cheddar cheese (I had Havarti on hand so I used that)
1/2 dried cranberries
1/2 cup sliced almonds (we omitted this)

For the dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tsp. dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Layer the salad in a large bowl. For the dressing, in a small glass jar with a lid add all the ingredients and shake well. Pour the dressing on the salad, toss and place the salad on a platter immediately.

You can find the recipe on Averie Cooks.

Have you made any healthy recipes that you'd like to share? Tell me about them in comments.