Lemon-Thyme Green Beans

As a nice winter pick-me-up surprise, my mum dropped off a little bundle of summer greens that she`d kept frozen from her beautiful vegetable garden. Included were some "fresh", crunchy french green beans. We made them up with some fresh thyme and freshly squeezed lemon juice. So delicious - such a nice, easy side dish. Be careful not to go overboard on the thyme - just use a sprinkle ... you can easily taint your beans by going 'over thyme'. Bon appétit!

Ingredients
Coarse salt and ground pepper
Big pile of green beans, ends trimmed
Freshly squeezed lemon juice + zest from 1 lemon (? about 3 tbs. maybe?)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

Directions
1. In a large skillet with a tight-fitting lid, bring about 1/2 inch water to a boil; salt generously.

2. Add green beans; reduce to a simmer, and cover skillet. Steam beans, tossing occasionally, until crisp-tender, 5-6 minutes.

3. Drain off the water and then add your butter to pan-fry the beans for a minute or two. Throw in your zest/thyme and season with salt and pepper, and toss to melt butter. At the last second, squeeze in your lemon juice and remove from heat. Enjoy!

Oven-Baked Zucchini Chips

The temperature in our house is currently 16C. Brrr. Our furnace seems to be slowly dying so it feels so good to be working in the kitchen and opening a 425F oven for these little guys. This is definitely a different, fun-for-the-little-guys way to make zucchini. Usually I just pan fry my zucchini with a little bit of olive oil so this was quite the experience! Very yummy. Bon appétit folks :)

Ingredients
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs

1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

sprinkle of fresh thyme

2 tablespoons milk
2 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) slices zucchini (about 2 small)
Cooking spray

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 425°. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Place milk in a shallow bowl.

2. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on an ovenproof wire rack coated with cooking spray; place rack on a baking sheet. Bake at 425° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Chicken & Kale Flaky Hand Pies

Holy crap these were tasty little buggers. Go Martha go! Definitely a kick in the butt to get them out and on your plate, but the end result was so darn good. I had this big plan to go on a 'kale kick' after having tasting it as a delicious side prepared by my bro' in law's lovely gf over Christmas, but was super bummed to discover that the grocery store was fresh out. So, in the end, these ended up being "Chicken & Spinach" hand pies. Going for fresh thyme is a MUST. The pastry turned out beautifully but with a lot of huffing and under-breath cussing on my part, hence the "I bleepin' hate making bleepin' pastry. Bleep bleep" FB post. I actually also forgot to add the cheese when making the pastry but it was delish nonetheless. Bon appétit!!

Ingredients
Flaky Pie Dough recipe doubled and 1 cup shredded cheddar added with flour, or store-bought
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 leek (white and light-green parts only), halved lengthwise, cut crosswise 1/4 inch thick, and rinsed well
1 small bunch black (Tuscan) kale, tough stems removed, coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, leaves
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 splash of whipping cream
1 cup cooked chicken, torn into bite-size pieces (about 5 ounces)
1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Divide dough in half. On a floured sheet of parchment paper, roll out one half to a 14-inch round. With a knife or biscuit cutter, cut out six 4 1/4-inch circles (rerolling dough once if necessary) and transfer, on parchment, to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, cutting out six (larger) 4 1/2-inch rounds. Chill rounds on sheet until ready to use.

2. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add leek and cook, stirring, until soft, 3 minutes. Add kale and thyme, season with salt and pepper, and cook until kale wilts, 3 minutes. Sprinkle flour over mixture and stir to combine. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cook, stirring often, until mixture thickens, 2 minutes (I added that splash of whipping cream here). Transfer to a medium bowl, season with salt and pepper, and stir in chicken. Let cool slightly.

3. Place a heaping 1/4 cup chicken mixture on each of the smaller dough rounds, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Brush edges with egg and top with larger dough rounds; using fingers, press edges firmly to seal. Cut a small vent in each pie. Bake until browned and crisp, 30 minutes, rotating sheet halfway through. Let cool slightly on sheets on a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.