Eye for a Recipe

If you’re in the mood for comfort food, try this sausage and squash with farro, a form of wheat that is nutty and slightly chewy when cooked. Sauté the squash, toast the farro, add fresh sage and stock and then bake until the farro is tender and the liquid is absorbed. Meanwhile, cook the sausage. When the farro is ready, add the cream and half the cheese. Serve topped with the sausage, cheese and sage.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

I use Imagine brand chicken stock, which is additive-free, and President’s Choice Free From sausages, which are preservative-free. Genuine Parmesan contains no additives or colour.

Farro is a type of wheat that is nutty and chewy when cooked

Sauté the squash

Toast the farro

Bake the squash and farro in stock

Cook the sausage on top of the stove until cooked through

Serve the farro topped with sausage, cheese and sage

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons (45 ml) olive oil, divided

1 small butternut squash (about 2 lb/1 kg), peeled and cut into ¾-in/1.9 cm cubes (about 4 cups/ 1L)

2 cups (500 ml) farro

1 teaspoon (5 ml) chopped fresh sage, plus more for garnish

4 cups (1 L) unsalted chicken stock

1 teaspoon (5 ml) kosher salt

½ teaspoon (2.5 ml) reshly ground black pepper

½ pound (250 g) sweet Italian sausage, casings removed

⅓ cup (75 ml) heavy cream

½ cup (125 ml/about 2 oz/57 g) grated Parmesan, divided

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 300ºF (150ºC).

Heat 2 tablespoons (30 ml) oil in a Dutch oven or wide, heavy pot with lid over medium-high. Add squash and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl; set aside.

Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and farro to pot and cook, stirring occasionally, until farro is toasted, about 5 minutes. Add sage and cook 30 seconds more.

Return squash to pot; add stock, salt, and pepper. Bring to a simmer, cover, and transfer to oven. Bake until farro is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed, about 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook sausage in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high, breaking it into small pieces with a wooden spoon, until browned and cooked through, about 8 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside.

Remove farro from oven and stir in cream and half the cheese. Serve topped with sausage and remaining cheese; garnish with sage.

From Real Simple

This recipe from Williams Sonoma Grilling would be a great summer dinner party entrée. Chicken breasts are butterflied, stuffed with fresh sage and mozzarella cheese, and grilled. The cooked chicken is topped with a sage-garlic butter. Cook’s note: Toss the extra sage-garlic butter with cooked pasta for a delicious side dish.

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

Make sure the cheese and butter do not contain colour or any other additives. The cayenne pepper should be free of colour and anti-caking agents.

Place sage and cheese on one side of a butterflied chicken breast

Grill over medium-high heat

Turn chicken once and grill until it is just cooked through

Ingredients:

For the chicken

Olive oil for coating

4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves

4 slices mozzarella cheese

8 fresh sage leaves

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the sage butter

½ cup (125 g) salted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon (15 ml) chopped fresh sage

2 cloves garlic

¼ tsp (1.25 ml) cayenne pepper

Preparation:

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill over medium-high heat and oil the grill rack.

Using a long, thin, sharp knife, butterfly the chicken breasts: Cut horizontally into the thickest part of each breast to within ½ inch (12 mm) of the other side. Open the breast like a book and place it between sheets of plastic wrap. Pound lightly with the flat side of a cleaver or knife to flatten and even out the thickness. Remove the top sheet of plastic wrap and lay 1 slice of cheese and 2 sage leaves on one half of the flattened breast. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and fold the chicken over the cheese. Coat with oil and sprinkle both sides with salt and black pepper. Repeat with the remaining chicken breasts and filling.

To make the sage butter, with a fork, mix together the butter, sage, garlic and cayenne in a small bowl and blend well. Set aside or form into a log in waxed paper and refrigerate until ready to use.

Grill the chicken on one side directly over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes, then turn carefully with a spatula. Grill on the second side for 3 minutes. Check for doneness by cutting into the centre of one of the breasts. There should be no pink showing. Cook longer if necessary, but be careful not to overcook them.

Top each breast with 1 tbsp (15 ml) or more of sage butter and serve. Serves 4.

From Williams Sonoma Grilling

Paillard is a term used for meat, usually veal or chicken, that is pounded thin and then quickly seared on top on the stove. This recipe for chicken paillards from Martha Stewart Living is healthy and quick to make for a weeknight supper. In addition to the chicken, it includes roasted squash and onion, and a garnish of fried sage leaves and baby spinach. And, if you’ve had a tough day, pounding the chicken can be very therapeutic!

Avoiding Additives and Preservatives

The only thing that may contain artificial ingredients is the butter, which can contain colour. Look for a brand of butter that has only one ingredient: cream.

Toss the squash and onion with oil and put in the oven to roast.

Pound the chicken to a thickness of about a quarter-in

Fry the sage leaves

The sage should be crispy

The thin paillards sear quickly on top on the stove

Chicken paillards with squash, onion, fried sage and spinach

Ingredients:

½ small kabocha or acorn squash, unpeeled, seeded and cut lengthwise into ¾ -inch (1.9 cm) slices

1 small red onion, cut into wedges, root end attached

2 tablespoons (30 ml) extra-virgin olive oil

Coarse salt

4 skinless, boneless chicken-breast halves, 4 to 5 ounces each, (113 g to 141 g each), butterflied

Red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon (15 ml) unsalted butter

16 fresh sage leaves (from about 4 sprigs)

1 cup (250 ml) baby spinach leaves

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C). Distribute squash and onion evenly on 2 rimmed baking sheets. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon (15 ml) oil, season with salt, and toss to coat. Spread in a single layer and roast until squash is tender, about 15-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, pound chicken to a 1/8 to ¼ -inch (0.3 cm to 0.6 cm) thickness (use the smooth side of a meat tenderizer, a rolling pin or a heavy pot). Season on both sides with salt and red pepper flakes. Heat a large skillet to medium-high heat. Swirl in remaining tablespoon (15 ml) oil, then butter. Fry sage until just crisp, about 1 minute; let drain on a paper towel.

Working in 2 batches, add chicken to pan and cook until golden and cooked through, about 1 minute on each side. Divide chicken among 4 plates and top with spinach, squash, onion, and sage. Serves 4.

From Martha Stewart Living