ArcaMax

St. Patrick's Day...

St. Patrick's Day lands on a Wednesday this year. In most cities that would mean a pretty quiet St. Patrick's Day celebration because it does not come on the heels of a weekend. Not so, when you live in Chicago. It doesn't matter what day St. Patrick's Day lands on. This town rocks for a week.

This year the big dyeing of the river will land on the Saturday before St. Patrick's Day. That's an electric green site to behold. At noon the big parade starts. That's become a bit of a drunken festival and too much for me. I am not interested in watching intoxicated people ride floats...and sometimes fall off.

Once you get into the neighborhoods the bars all have green decorations, green beer and plenty of Irish music. This goes on for days. Because St. Patrick's Day will be on Wednesday it will stretch at most places from one weekend through the next. It's ridiculous, but parts of it sure can be fun.

I have one friend who owns an Irish bar. His name is Kevin. He has a friend who's a "little person". Wayne is his name. Wayne loves to dress up every year as a leprechaun and ride around on Kevin's shoulder. He dances on the bar and kisses all the pretty girls. This guy is normally an executive with an insurance company but for a few days a year he gets to play as an Irish character and he's paid handsomely for his efforts. I have had great conversations with him. He's a family man with 2 children. One is small, (like him) and one is of regular stature. They live a perfectly normal life in the suburbs with dad tossing the baseball to his son on most spring weekends; except at St. Patrick's Day.

On the day, I take, usually, half the day off. I try to find a place where there will be Irish music and red heads doing Irish dancing. I've always threatened to learn those dances. I'm more than a bit old to be doing that stuff, but it could be a blast learning it. For now I just tap my feet under the table along with the music. We go from location to location having a bit of a drink and laughing along with the music.

St Patrick's Day is a very special holiday for me. One side of my family left Ireland in 1837. I'm not sure when the other half left but I carry my heritage proudly.

I'll be out and about on St. Patrick's Day for sure.

Speaking of out and about, if you live near Chicago and would like to meet, I will be doing a Zola Diet Presentation in Chicago on Mar 27. You can check out the details at www.zoladiet.com. I'd love to meet you. Look for the feature at the top of the page that says "See Zola Live at Soulistic Spa". Pass this along to relatives and friends who also might live in or near Chicago. The more the merrier.

In the meantime if you'd like a recipe for some healthy food, check out this recipe. I picked this one cuz it has a green surprise stuffing and I thought it might be a treat for you to make it for St. Patrick's Day. This meal is allowed when you are on The Zola Diet, so it's extra- good for you too!

Basil-Stuffed Chicken

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 skinless chicken breast halves

1/2 tsp of minced garlic (jar garlic will do)

2 Tbl of basil chiffonade (chiffonade is really just basil sliced into very thin strips)

Salt and Pepper

Olive oil spray

1 large onion sliced into thin rings

16 cherry tomatoes cut in half

1 cup of organic chicken broth

One head of garlic, with cloves separated and sliced very thinly.  Use a mandolin if you have one on level one.  Be careful not to cut yourself.  You want slivers of garlic. You don't need to use the whole head if you are nervous about too much garlic.  Just do what looks good to you.

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

This simple, two pan meal, is easy to prepare and clean up.  It's gourmet Italian without the girth.

Take your skinless chicken breast and cut an opening to stuff it. All you really need to do is cut an opening in the shape of a smile in the top of the breast.  You are not going to be putting in a lot of stuffing and the smile should not be cut all the way through.  You're just making a pouch.

Open the pouch and put in a quarter teaspoon of the minced garlic.  Spread it around.  Now take a tablespoon of the shredded basil (the chiffonade) and place that inside on top of the garlic. Close the "lid"  Do this with both chicken breasts.  Grate on salt and pepper to taste

Take out a large sauté pan. Spray a bit of oil on the surface and put in your chicken breasts top-side down.  Saute them for three to five minutes until you get a nice, light brown coating on the one side.

While the chicken is browning, take out a 9 by 13-inch ovenproof pan.  Place the onion rings on the bottom. Separate them so they are scattered around.  Then toss in the cherry tomatoes and spread those around.  Pour in the chicken broth.

Take your other garlic cloves and slice them very thinly.  Scatter the garlic cloves around the onions and tomatoes.  The garlic will roast and lose the hot bite.  You will end up with smooth tasting garlic slices.

When the chicken is browned on the one side place it raw side down on the onions and tomatoes.  Bake the chicken and onion/tomato mixture for 25 to 30 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink in the middle.  Cut a small opening to check and make sure, then serve.

Serving Suggestions:

To plate, remove the chicken and place it on a dinner plate.  Spoon the onion, tomatoes and broth with the garlic slices around one side of the chicken.

I served this with roasted asparagus and enjoyed a simple, tasty meal.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola

Send email to Zola at zolacooks@gmail.com.