What I've been cooking....

It's been awhile since I posted anything about cooking, so here is a little catch up of what I have been up to lately:
Following up on the roulade Scott and I made a while back, I created an asian-inspired chicken roulade. I julienned carrot, red bell pepper, and green onions. Then I quickly sauteed the vegetables with ginger and sesame oil. Once cooled, I mixed in a little panko (Japanese breadcrumbs...available at Trader Joes, like breadcrumbs but lighter and flakier). This ginger/vegetable/panko mixture was my filling. I butterflied and flattened some boneless skinless chicken breasts, spooned the mixture down the middle, and rolled it up. However, instead of tying the meat and pan roasting it, I tightly wrapped the roll in plastic wrap and poached it in simmering water. It came out beautifully, and I served it with steamed Japanese broccoli (from the Farmer's Market), coconut rice, and a ginger-hoisin sauce. On a side note, cocnut rice is a super easy side dish that pairs well with any asian dish: For 2 servings, boil 3/4 cup light coconut milk (also available at Trader Joes) and 1/4 cup water. Add 1/2 cup white rice (I like Jasmine). Cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.
Last week Scott and I did a pizza and movie night. We created 2 pizzas from scratch and watched Blades of Glory. Scott made a black pepper crust, but if he wasn't around, I would have bought the pizza dough at Trader Joes (wow, this post is becoming quite a plug for TJs!). Our first pizza creation was zuchinni, salami, basil, and chedder cheese. The second was artichoke hearts, pancetta, and smoked gouda. Both were "molto buono!"