Ummmm well the least I can do is say Hi and welcome back to what I would call a fun 48-72 hours.  I have officially upgraded servers and moved to a different hosting company due to “my” issues that I have been dealing with due to the excessive growth with Zesty…ya right.  Anyway moving on and I am happy so far with the new host provider, Media Temple, and I look forward to growing with them and hopefully not having any major issues.  With that said, my next tasks are going to be focusing on the outstanding work on the blog consulting side of things, growing Open Sky which I have terribly neglected lately as well as revamp Zesty’s approach and look moving forward.

Some things will never change.  I will continue to cook fun, easy and idiot proof recipes for you to “hopefully” enjoy and document them along the way with pictures to aide in your at home preparation.  I think today will not disappoint.  What do you get when you take roasted mushrooms with Parmesan cheese, pan seared chicken breasts with balsamic and orange reduction, fresh spinach and some whole wheat pasta?

Answer = YUM

This dish was actually quite tasty and as I was evaluating it last night – the one thing I would alter was the amount of sauce.  I had very little as it reduced so much so in the ingredients below I will display what I did but you may want to increase the amounts if you are a sauce lover.

Ingredients

• 2 Boneless Chicken breasts ( sliced)
• 2 Cups Whole button mushrooms
• 2 Large handfuls of spinach
• 1/4 Cup Orange Juice
• 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil
• 2 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
• Parmesan Cheese
• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Penne Pasta

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Cook pasta according to directions
3. Line baking sheet with parchment paper and arrange mushrooms on sheet



4. Coat with one tablespoon of olive oil, balsamic vinegar and some Parmesan cheese; toss to coat evenly
5. Roast for 20 minutes turning occasionally





6. In a saute pan, turn to medium heat and begin to cook the chicken with the remaining tablespoon of oil.  Once the chicken begins to brown toss in the roasted mushrooms, orange juice, remaining balsamic and let reduce for 4 minutes



7. Add spinach and cook until spinach is wilted





8. Add noodles, mix thoroughly and dress with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.





9. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: For me this tip is all about balance.  Use the balsamic and orange juice to balance themselves but be sure you have enough sauce.  This was my only mistake in this dish.  I feel it would have been even better with more sauce.

OK  – so here we go.  Finally I feel like zesty is back to normal.  Get ready for some exciting stuff to come and I want to hear from you.  Tell me what you think of the recipes, what recipes you would like to see, whether you would like to participate by doing a zesty post or if you just like stopping in here each day to check things out.

I am wide open and very flexible and there is nothing I will not answer.  Have yourself a great Wednesday!

Take care

zesty

Let me start off by saying that viewer discretion is advised for today’s post.  OK now with the story that preludes possibly the greatest brownie I have ever sunk my teeth in thus far in my life.  Last Saturday Mrs. Zesty had a baby shower to attend and she was designated for a dessert/sweet treat for the girls.  Last week was a bit of a zoo and I think I forgot about prepping this dessert until Friday afternoon at work.  After work I did a quick scan for some ideas and came up with a chocolate caramel brownie.  I figured that would be a hit with a “bunch” of girls.

I knew time was tight and I didn’t want to spend all night Friday night to prep a dessert.  With that said, I counted on Google and did a quick chocolate caramel brownie search.  At that point you can say my life may have changed forever.  See below for all the details.

This recipe, I cannot take any credit for and nor will I try as it is compliments of Nestle Toll House and as you can see from the reviews…. I am not the only one that liked them.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. (18.25 oz.) chocolate cake mix
• 1 cup chopped nuts ( Optional )
• 1 cup Evaporated Milk
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, melted
• 35 (10-oz. pkg.) caramels, unwrapped
• 2 cups (12-oz. pkg.) NESTLÉ® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350° F.
2. Combine cake mix and nuts in large bowl. Stir in 2/3 cup evaporated milk and butter (batter will be thick). Spread half of batter into ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.



3. Bake for 15 minutes.
4. Heat caramels and remaining evaporated milk in small saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly, until caramels are melted. Sprinkle morsels over brownie; drizzle with caramel mixture.







5. Drop remaining batter by heaping teaspoon over caramel mixture.





6. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until center is set.
7. Cool in pan on wire rack.



8. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: The only tip I could recommend for this recipe is too make it at least in double batch form.  It is absolutely amazing.

If you like gooey, chocolate, caramel and oh did I mention brownies…. if so you have to make these TODAY!  As I know a lot of people have great brownie recipes from scratch but too follow this recipe which literally takes 10 minutes to prep, the results are so satisfying.  Girls if you are reading from the shower, let me know what you thought of the brownie in the comments.

Have an awesome Wednesday and let me know if you have any questions concerning this recipe or any other recipe that you see here.

Thanks

zesty