Last evening’s dinner was my favorite kind of meal. Even though the market is just starting and the farmers don’t have their summer bounty, spring in NJ is a wonderful thing.
It was raining Saturday morning in Collingswood. But as we know, the best way to show your farmer some love is to come to the market even if it rains.
Our market has a tremendous variety of vendors…lots of farmers, bakers, ice cream, Italian specialties, coffee. At the first market of the season I was looking for asparagus and spinach and strawberries. And I wasn’t disappointed.
Many of the farmers had asparagus. I bought a bunch from each of them. Some very skinny, some thicker. I keep them in water until I use them. It keeps it very fresh if you can’t use them the day you buy them.
For the first dinner of the new market year I made chicken cutlets (from Hillacres Pride), asparagus (from Springdale, Vireck, Buzby…..), and a pink pasta sauce from Villa Barone. My daughter and I split a loaf of Villa Barone bread and I was set.
After the chicken cutlets were thawed I pound them with the flat side of a meat mallet until they were about a 1/2 inch thick and even. I dropped the cutlets into a bag with about 2 tablespoons of mustard and 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise. I let the chicken marinate in the bag while I washed the asparagus and put it in a steamer. I also started to slowly heat the pink pasta sauce. Then I took the chicken cutlets from the bag and placed them on a foil covered sheet pan. I sprinkled them with some parmesan cheese. I put the sheet pan of chicken into a 350 degree F oven for about 25 minutes. Keep an eye on them. The chicken is done when it is firm and a little golden. While the chicken baked I continued to steam the asparagus until it was firm but tender and boiled some ravioli. When everything was done…about 30 minutes total. I served the chicken and ravioli with the pink sauce and I served the asparagus on the side. Delicious. Nutritious. And very easy!
yellow room upstairs 