Yesterday made me smile to myself... a lot.
It started with my sweet old dog, Myrtle, running like a puppy in the cold morning air, and me running to keep up with her.
Then I sliced open a perfect avocado.
Then after a great swim in a warm pool, I listened to elementary girls talk about magic on the other side of the locker room. One little girl started the conversation with,"Only God has magic... well God and Santa Claus. Santa has a little bit of magic." The other girl chimed in,"What about Mother Earth? She has to have a little magic too." "Ok," the first girl conceded, and then the other added,"Mother Earth and people in heaven." The verdict was decided that God, Santa Claus, Mother Earth, and people in heaven have magic; this is all, of course, the good kind of magic.
And then after all of that, a friend stopped by for a chat... more smiling to myself... and then and then and then... a stunning dinner.
Stephen and I wanted to plug along on the final touches of the aforementioned clothesline, and dinner needed to sort of fix itself... And boy oh boy did it ever. I want to share it with you because it was beautiful, delicious, looked so fancy, and was desperately simple.
It started with cipollini onions.
Even if I did not like onions I would like these. Look at them... precious. They seem to be around the grocery store during the holiday season. Grab a handful and try this at home:
Cut off the top and bottom. Peel off the outer tough skin. Toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper. Bake on a lined baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for about 45 minutes. Their flesh becomes entirely smooth, sweet, and begging to be eaten. They will love you for it.
For dinner, I sliced an acorn squash into wedges, tossed with olive oil, salt , and pepper, and roasted it on the same baking sheet with the onions.
It is not that often that the ease of a nearly hands-off meal is stunning from eye to mouth, but this was one of those meals. We came in from the yard---cold and hungry--- and were greeted at the door with the sweet smell of roasting onions. That is a lovely way to be greeted.
Give this one a try if you like... Here is how you do it.
Roasted Chicken breasts over acorn squash and cipollini onions topped with feta, balsamic, and a hunk of sourdough bread...
1. Heat the oven to 375
2. Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out seeds, slice into 1 inch thick wedges, toss in bowl with olive oil, salt, pepper and spread on lined baking sheet
3. Cut top and bottom off of onions, peel off outer skin, toss with olive oil, salt, pepper (use the same bowl for squash and onions to save a dish), spread on lined sheet with squash
4. Rub 2 boneless chicken breasts with a bit of olive oil and salt and wrap in foil. Place in a baking dish and set in oven with vegetables
5. Go play... work... read... and come back in 45 minutes to an hour. Pull the vegetables and chicken from the oven. (chicken should have an internal temp of at least 165) Turn the oven off and set your slices of bread on a rack in the hot oven. Place a few slices of squash on your plate. set a few onions beside it. Lay a piece of chicken over both. Drizzle balsamic over chicken and onions and sprinkle with feta or goat's milk feta. crack some black pepper over all and grab your bread from the oven. if you have a bit of fresh rosemary, mince some for the top. it is divine with balsamic and feta
6. enjoy it... maybe this is magic too.
P.S. I smiled to myself also when I thought of all the whiskey cakes that could be waiting in Soup Spoon's readers fridges by now. please do tell if you have one tempting you like I do...
