Baked Halibut with Mushroom Rice Pasta

Last night we had a sick dog (her name is Maggie) in our house, she still isn't 100% but she is getting better.  We have her on a diet of cooked white rice and boiled chicken.  Not very exciting but for her it is bland and it will help for her to get better.  So because of that I did not cook, instead we opted to eat out (as in go pick it up and bring it back) which made it much easier to keep an eye on her.  What I had planned on having for last night's dinner turned into tonight's dinner.

Baked Halibut
Place 2 halibut steaks onto a cookie sheet (I covered it with foil to make clean-up easier), squeeze lemon juice over, sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Place into a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for about 15 minutes (it will depend on the thickness of your halibut).  If you want it to be a little more brown on top, turn broiler on until brown, but don't overdo it.

Mushroom Rice Pasta
The other night I made Stir Fry Chicken and Vegetables and had some leftover rice noodles (I had cooked too much) so I decided to use it in tonight's dinner.  The amount that was leftover was about 1 cups worth.
1 package of mixed mushrooms (oyster, button, etc)
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
6 calmata olives
olive oil
leftover rice noodles
In a skillet over heat some olive oil over medium high heat.  Add mushrooms and garlic and stir.  Cook until mushrooms have browned slightly and softened.  Add noodles and olives, toss.  Sprinkle with a little bit of salt.  Serve

Fried Plantains
To cook them peel the outside off, slice the plantain.  Add slices to a warm skillet that has a little bit of olive oil.  Add plantains to skillet and cook, flipping several times until they reach a golden brown.

Spinach Feta Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I had what I will call a brilliant idea, stuff chicken breasts with spinach and feta cheese.  Well I did do that but it didn't work like I thought it would.  I figured that when I pounded the chicken breasts flat that I could easily spread my feta spinach mixture on it and roll it up with no problem at all and that they would be perfect.  Well I did spread the mixture on the chicken breasts but it wasn't as easy and they were somewhat messy.  But in the end they turned out fantastic and were absolutely delicious.

Spinach, Feta Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts
3 chicken breasts, pounded flat (I flattened mine to about 1/2 inch)
Spinach Feta Cheese Mixture
Cooking twine
Flour, I use my gluten free flour mixture (I think it helps to make a crisper crust)
Egg Wash
Bread Crumbs
For the spinach mixture:
In a blender add about 1 cup of spinach, 1/4 cup feta cheese (I used fresh feta cheese from a local farm), blend until somewhat smooth, it may be a little chunky in places (but that is okay).  You may need to add just a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.  You want a thick paste. Depending on your feta cheese you may want to add salt.  Add fresh ground pepper to taste.
Spread spinach mixture to each chicken breast.  Roll up as best you can and add cooking twine to hold the chicken breast together.  I used about 3 pieces of twine.  Place chicken breasts into a coating of flour, then egg and then bread crumbs.  Make sure that each coating has a coating all over.  Heat a skillet over the stove with olive oil and some butter or ghee (I used ghee instead of butter).  Add chicken breasts to a hot skillet.  Cook until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes total depending on the heat of your stove.

Fried Plantains
Have you ever wondered what those funny looking bananas are in the vegetable section of your grocery store?  Ever wondered what do I do with these.  There are many things that you can do with plantains.  My husband and I love them but just haven't had them in a while so I decided to pick some up the other day.  You want to make sure that they plantains are yellow to black when you buy it.  If it is still green you can let it sit as it will ripen (just like a banana).  I like mine leaning more toward black with yellow.  The blacker they are the sweeter.   To cook them I peel the outside off, slice the plantain into slices.  Take those slices and add to a warm skillet.  I add about 1 tablespoon of butter to the skillet and let it melt before adding the plantains.  Add plantains to skillet and cook, flipping several times until they reach a golden brown.

Along with our meal we had cooked asparagus.  I cooked the asparagus in boiling water for about 5 minutes at the most.

I served the meal with a 2010 Chardonnay from Savoy Lee Winery.