Mixed Greens with Apples and Cranberries and Cranberry Vinaigrette with Chicken Scampi Penne

We had a blast in Boston, but I sure am glad to be home. I missed my kitchen and all of you!

Tonight I did a pasta dish and a side of salad. It came out quite nice, very light. 

I'll start with the salad. This was my favorite part. The recipe called for mixed greens, I just picked out a spring mix because it was on sale. I picked out all of these pieces, I'm wasn't sure what it's so I googled it. It's frisee, a type of endive. I'm not a fan. Is there anyone out there who actually likes it? This is a pic of me throwing them in the garbage.

So this is a salad with dried fruit, red onions, mixed greens and a few other ingredients. Everyone's probably had one similar to it, but you haven't had the dressing that goes with it. It's unbelievable. You don't put any sugar in it! All of the home made Vinaigrette's that I've ever made called for outrageous amounts of sugar which makes you feel guilty about putting it on your healthy salad. There's a secret ingredient in it that is pure genius that complements the toppings on the salad. I recommend not eating the dressing in the winter when your lips are dry. It burns your lips, but it was so worth it.
Here's a pic of the dressing, it doesn't look good because I couldn't get the yogurt to dissolve, but don't let that fool you.
That's the dressing in the bowl to the left.

Here's a close up of the salad:

 Soux Chef gives the salad:

(We decorated the tree tonight. There's lots of Christmas cheer in our little home.)

For the main dish we had the Chicken Scampi Penne. I tried to figure out the true definition of scampi. I thought it meant white sauce, but the dictionary says shrimp. Who knows. This is a nice healthy substitute for a white sauce. I used whole grain pasta, giving the dish loads of fiber. The sauce wasn't difficult to make, but you have to have all of the ingredients measured and ready before you start because you add them in one at a time. It came out rather delicious. I topped it off with avocado and grated parmesan just like the recipe said to do.
A close up:

And the dish as served:

Soooo.....Yummy!

The pasta gets:

Soux chef had a request for a more enthusiastic rating, that's about as enthusiastic as it gets!

Tomorrow night we'll be having leftovers. The recipe says 4 servings, but we have about 6.
The total cost for the ingredients was about $16 (the feta cheese on the salad was the most expensive ingredient). I also had a lot of the ingredients at home already. So the total cost per serving was about $2.60.

Clean up was not so fun. There were a lot of ingredients between the salad dressing and the sauce for the pasta. There were also a lot of bowls, cutting boards, and pots to clean. I had to do it in shifts because there wasn't enough counter space. 

Special breakfast muffins are in store for our Saturday breakfast. Sleep tight and see you in the morning.