Sun-Dried Tomato Wonton Party Bites #Bella Sun Luci

 

It's no secret here on JD that I adore using sun-dried tomatoes in my cooking whenever I can. So, I was thrilled when Mooney Farms offered to send me a shipment of several of their fabulous Bella Sun Luci sun-dried tomato products a couple of weeks ago.

 

I've been experimenting with their different varieties in my cooking recently and hope to have more recipes to post in the near future, but I wanted to share this simple take on a previously posted JD recipe (my Fresh Veggie Pizza Wonton Cups). For this version, I utilized a similar cream cheese base recipe, but made these into mini wonton cups. I crowned the tops with chopped sun-dried tomatoes and scallions.

These mini appetizers are quite simple and uncomplicated, yet pack a major flavor punch. These are great for parties since almost all of the prep work can be done in advance (prep ahead instructions can be found at bottom of post). Guests seem to love wonton cup appetizers, so these just may be the perfect flavorful bites to serve at your next gathering.

Yields 24 bite-size cups.

Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

Sun-dried tomatoes are one of my favorite ingredients.  When I cook with them, I inevitably eat several of them as-is just like they were candy. I just love the sweetness and chewiness of them. I enjoy using them in a variety of dishes and we just love incorporating them into pasta recipes.

This pasta dish is a fabulous go-to dinner option for us.  We enjoy it with a simple salad and some garlic bread. It's a great vegetarian dish to make and is super economical.

Yields 4 servings.

Sun-Dried Tomato and Parmesan Focaccia Bread

Let me be honest.  When my children all leave on the bus for school around seven each morning, I often crawl back into bed with the t.v. remote in hand, flip through some morning news channels and, inevitably, doze back off to sleep for a couple of hours.  It is the most marvelous thing in the world.  As a self-proclaimed and self-diagnosed "night owl," my mind and body never seem to quite settle down at night until well past one or two.  And, a morning person I am not, although I do have to rise around 5:30 a.m. to get my children ready for school. 

So, that bit of extra snoozing after my kiddos leave is pure bliss!

This week, however, I have been up and at 'em (and raring to go) all morning long and have not went back to sleep!  It's amazing how productive I have been - with my cup of coffee in tow - in these quiet, early morning hours this week.  Laundry is getting done well before lunch.  My housework is done and out of the way early-on.  And, I have been able to spend more time working on my blog and all that having a blog entails.

And, the biggest plus - I have been spending more time in the kitchen.  Quiet, peaceful, therapeutic, uninterrupted cooking and baking while Christmas songs play in the background.

As I begin typing up this post, a lovely roast with potatoes and carrots is cooking away in the slow cooker, scones are cooling on the counter and the dough for this focaccia bread is proofing by the oven.  And, it's not even ten o'clock.

In regards to this recipe, if you've never made focaccia, let me encourage you to try it!  I have made this many times and I think I love it more and more each time!  Focaccia is a flat Italian bread that is usually seasoned with olive oil and herbs.  Because the dough bakes atop an olive oil base and is rubbed on top with olive oil, the outside of the bread becomes a bit fried.  My version has the addition of sun-dried tomatoes, slivered onions and some shaved Parmesan.  Any herbs, toppings or cheeses can be used.  You can keep it super simple ... just a little olive oil and fresh, chopped rosemary. Or, you can spruce it up a bit with whatever your sweet, little heart desires.

Sun-dried Tomato Chicken Over Pasta

 

It was Sunday.

It was cold and rainy.

I was thinking soup for dinner.

Then, I came across this recipe on Little B Cooks' blog.  What a fun blog to browse!  Her recipe for Sun-dried Tomato Chicken was my inspiration for dinner. 

I made a few changes to the original recipe.  And, I served my chicken and sauce over pasta.

As a person who blogs about food and recipes, there are times when I try something new and then, later wish I had done the recipe a different way.  This dish was one of those instances.  Both my hubby and I agreed that using this exact sauce recipe with homemade meatballs would be killer!  The chicken was good, but this sauce is somewhat similar to say, a Swedish meatball sauce ... just infused a bit with the flavor of the sun-dried tomatoes.  So, I plan to try it with meatballs soon!

And, by the way ... if you think you don't or won't like sun-dried tomatoes, I urge you to try it in this recipe.  The flavor combinations are lovely and I know I will be making this sauce again many times in the future!

Stuffed Chicken Marsala

 

This recipe is inspired by The Olive Garden's version of this dish.  I always order it when it's on the menu there. It is absolutely scrumptious! And, this version does not disappoint! 

I often stuff the chicken breasts several hours in advance and store them in the fridge to lessen the amount of work come dinnertime. 

If you don't have marsala, beef stock works great, too.

Yields 4 servings.