Thanksgiving 2015

It's done and over, Thanksgiving 2015 is now nothing but another wonderful memory. This is one of my favorite holidays and so I've been looking forward to it for weeks. This year certainly did not disappoint. In fact, the entire weekend was simply wonderful. Thursday morning consisted of Lara and I in the kitchen, steaming up the windows as we roasted up the turkey for the family and put together a handful of other dishes to bring to my grandparent's place for the midday meal. We tried out a new turkey recipe this year which turned out awesome and received rave review from the family. Since we roasted the turkey at my place, it was quite the adventure getting it over to my grandparent's condo in time for dinner. But we made it, turkey, turkey gravy and all, without any misadventures!

Other menu items included my favorite soft dinner rolls which have pretty much become tradition for winter holiday parties now. They are always met with great celebration. In order to accommodate a few food sensitivities I made them dairy free by just using water in place of the milk and choosing the vegetable oil instead of the butter for the fat. They turned out great, there were none left over by the end of the day. 

We also whipped together a pan of stuffing that was full of my favorite fall vegetables, caramelized onions, butternut squash and kale, all mixed together with cubes of my absolute favorite sourdough bread from the best local bakery. A fantastic combination in my book. (Adapted from this recipe, we just couldn't resist adding some butternut squash).

Finally, we brought a big bowl of a delicious Brussel sprout and brown rice salad with dried cherries, blue cheese, cinnamon almonds and cocoa nibs. This was a new recipe that I wanted to try and I ended up really loving it a lot, especially the blue cheese!! (Adapted from this recipe)

There were a lot of other delicious salads on the menu from various family members, a really yummy caramel apple sangria, and my mom's famous mashed potatoes with butter AND cream. A meal to remember for sure. 

For dessert Lara made a beautiful apple cake that was stuffed full of fresh apples (based on this recipe). I find cake easier than pie, and I love it more anyway, win-win!

 A few of the many farmer's market purchases 

 My nephew Tyce was able to help my mom pick up the turkey from the farmer's market on Wednesday, fun times with grandma

 Going for a little drive!

 Turkey carving time; now that's what I call a leg

 Turkey for all, with some stuffing on the side

The whole gang, this is what I give thanks for the most, my wonderful family

 Leftover sandwiches at night, perhaps my favorite part of the whole day And a few pictures from the rest of the weekend: 

 Dad loves to "help" with Christmas decorations

 Topping the tree is always exciting

♥ Family! ♥

Went to the beach on Saturday, it was an absolutely gorgeous day to walk along the water 

 Peek-a-boo

 Heading to the end of the pier

 Sisters!

 Contemplating either life or the mansion on the hill

The three girls

Glazed and Lacquered Turkey
Adapted from Bon Appetit
Ingredients

• 1 15-20-pound turkey, neck and giblets removed, patted dry
• 6 dried bay leaves
• 2 teaspoons black peppercorns
• ½ teaspoon allspice berries
• ½ cup kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons dried sage
• ½ cup (packed) brown sugar, divided
• ¼ cup Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons olive oil

Directions
Remove wishbone from turkey by lifting neck skin to expose meat and cutting along both sides of bone with a small paring knife to separate flesh from bone. Pull firmly on both sides to snap out (if bone does not come out in one piece, grip remaining fragments with a paper towel and pull out). This will make carving the breast much easier later.


Grind bay leaves, peppercorns, and allspice in a spice mill until very fine; toss with salt, sage, and ¼ cup brown sugar in a medium bowl. Generously sprinkle dry brine inside cavity and rub all over skin, packing on until you’ve used entire mixture. Chill turkey on a large rimmed baking sheet uncovered 8–12 hours. 


Thoroughly rinse turkey to remove brine; pat dry. Let sit on baking sheet 3 hours to bring to room temperature. 


Meanwhile, bring vinegar, soy sauce, and remaining ¼ cup brown sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until mixture is thickened to the consistency of molasses (it needs to be very thick to adhere to the turkey; if glaze is too thin, keep simmering), 5–8 minutes. Let glaze cool.


Preheat oven to 325°. Starting at neck end of turkey, gently slide your fingers between skin and breast to loosen skin. Drizzle olive oil underneath skin, spacing evenly over breasts. Coat a piece of foil large enough to cover turkey breast with nonstick spray. Cover breast with foil, coated side down, avoiding thighs and tucking end inside cavity (foil will protect skin from tearing during first stage of cooking). Place turkey, breast side down, on a V-shape roasting rack set inside a large roasting pan. Roast until back side of turkey is golden brown, 50–60 minutes.


Remove turkey from oven and transfer to a clean rimmed baking sheet with oven mitts or 2 pairs of tongs. Turn bird breast side up and transfer back to rack in roasting pan; discard foil. Pour any juices collected on baking sheet into pan. Roast turkey until breast is golden brown and skin is crisp, 35–45 minutes. 


Remove turkey from oven and brush all over with glaze. Continue to roast, checking temperature every 5 minutes, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into thickest part of breast near neck registers 150° and no more (temperature will rise as the bird rests), 15–25 minutes. (I honestly pulled mine at 145° after listening to the Bon Appetit podcast when they talked about this recipe, if you choose to do this, which I recommend, do so at your own risk!) Transfer turkey to a platter and let rest 1 hour. 


Increase oven to 450°. Brush another even layer of glaze over turkey. Roast, watching closely in case glaze starts to burn, until turkey is deep golden brown and skin is shiny and crisp, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a clean platter and let rest 30 minutes before carving.


Do Ahead: Turkey can be brined 2 days ahead. Brine on Tuesday, then rinse on Wednesday and chill overnight so you are ready to roast on Thursday.

Red Lentils and Spinach in Masala Sauce

It's been a cold and rainy weekend here so far - fall has definitely arrived. With the falling temperatures and the cloudy skies I have been craving warm and comforting foods. This recipe for red lentils in a masala sauce fits the bill perfectly. Tender red lentils in a thick and spicy tomato sauce finished off with spinach, cilantro and coconut milk. This may not be your traditional fall dish, but why not give something new a try. It's healthy and delicious, perfect for curling up on the couch with and listening to the rain falling. 

I had to adjust the original recipe to fit the ingredients I had on hand and it turned out deliciously. It's not a difficult dish at all. Once you mix up your spice mixture all you need to do is sauté some onions and garlic, add the spices followed by tomatoes and lentils and cook until the flavors have melded and the lentils are tender. Red lentils tend to turn to mush when cooked, but for this recipe you keep an eye on them and finish the dish before they completely disintegrate. Finished it off with a few handfuls of spinach and some creamy and delicious coconut milk. Spoon into a bowl over rice, or eat on it's own like a stew. It's filling and satisfying in whatever form you choose.

Red Lentils and Spinach in Masala Sauce
Adapted from Naturally Ella
Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander 
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garam marsala
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1⁄3 cup packed cilantro leaves ­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14 ounce can whole (or diced) tomatoes
• 1/2 can full fat, unsweetened full fat coconut milk
• 1 cup (~190 grams) red lentils
• 3-4 handfuls spinach 

Directions
In a small bowl, mix together the cumin, coriander, ginger, cayenne, paprika, garam marsala and salt. Set aside.

In a large skillet or sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until translucent and just beginning to brown, 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add in the spice mixture and stir to coat the onions. Add the tomato paste and stir again to evenly mix. Cook for a few minutes to heat the spices and tomato paste, then add in the tomatoes and coconut milk. Stir together and bring to a boil. 

Add in lentils and cilantro leaves and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring often (they tend to stick to the bottom of the pan), until lentils are tender, 20-­25 minutes. Fold in spinach and then remove the pan from heat.

Garnish with more cilantro, and a dollop of Greek yogurt. 

Caponata

I buy almost all of my produce at the farmers market during the summer. I love my Saturday mornings at the market, walking up and down the long row of produce, flowers, baked goods, meats and cheeses and anything else that might be there, deciding what I must have for the coming week. However, I was at the grocery store to pick up a few things the other day and I made the requisite trip through the produce section, just in case. There I found a single eggplant, forlornly sitting on the "seconds" shelf. One pretty nice sized eggplant for sale for 60 cents. I couldn't just leave it there, it looked absolutely fine still, nice and firm with no obvious bad spots at all. So into my cart it went. I didn't know what I was going to do with it, but I knew I could figure that out quite quickly once I got home. 

After a quick search online, it became obvious to me what I should make, caponata. This is not something I had made before, but I had a couple of recipes pinned, and had just watched an episode of the Barefoot Contessa where she served caponata on an antipasto platter. So after I looked through a couple of recipes, I went to work creating my very own caponata using the ingredients I had in the fridge. In the end it turned out absolutely delicious! While I don't know what a good Italian would say about my caponata, in the end I don't really care. I loved it, and when cooking for yourself that's really all that matters. 

I wasn't sure what caponata was exactly when I decided to make it, so I did a little online research. It is apparently a sweet and sour Sicilian eggplant dish typically served as an appetizer or side, but can make a wonderful vegetarian main dish as well. (If I'm getting any of this wrong, please let me know!) Along with what is in my version, most of the recipes I looked at had celery and capers, neither of which I had, so I went without. I also threw in some cilantro which I'm sure is not Italian at all, but I had some in the fridge and I love it so in it went. If I'd had parsley I would have added that, but not this time! I'm sure I missed other "essential" elements of a traditional caponata as well, but again I don't really care as long as my tastebuds are satisfied!

Caponata

From Jana

Ingredients

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 eggplant (about 1 pound) cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1/2 sweet bell pepper cut into 1/2 inch dice
• 1/2 red onion cut into 1/4 inch dice
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 6-8 olives, coarsely chopped
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1-2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• Salt, to taste
• Cilantro, to finish

Directions

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium low heat. Add the eggplant, bell pepper, and red onion. Saute for 8-10 minutes, until everything is starting to wilt an brown just a little. 

Add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant. Then add the tomato paste and let it caramelize for 1-2 minutes before stirring into the vegetable mixture. Add the olives and stir again. 

Pour in the chicken stock and cider vinegar and stir it all to combine. Taste the mixture and then add the sugar, cayenne and salt to taste. Let the caponata bubble away over medium low heat until thickened and everything is cooked through. 

At the end of cooking add in the cilantro for a fresh finish. 

Simple Spaghetti Sauce

A week ago I ran my first race of the year, the Gazelle Girl Half Marathon. It's an all female half marathon run in Grand Rapids, MI. This is the third year for the race and I've run it all three years now. It's fun race and I've really enjoyed being a part of it over the past few years. This year the race turned out the best yet both due to the weather and some course changes they've made. The first year of the race the weather was just awful, it was super cold (in the low 30s) with rain/sleet/snow the whole race along with a nice strong wind. Last year the temperature was okay, but I was scared it was going to rain the whole time. This year however, the sun was out the whole race and the temps were in the mid 40s or so. There was a little wind, but it was mainly a cross wind and not too bad, definitely could have been worse! The race organizers have also tweaked the course every year and this year it was by far the best yet. All in all a really nice spring run that I hope to be a part of for years to come. 

Although I'm not a big believer in the need to truly "carbo load" the night before a half marathon, I like to just pretend that it's necessary so I can whip together a big bowl of pasta and feel like it's a requirement that I eat it all! For this race a simple meat sauce was calling my name. This is the type of spaghetti sauce that my mom would make all the time when I was growing up, so for me this is true comfort food. It is so quick and easy to throw together and it always turns out simply delicious. Honestly, this is one of my favorite meals of all time, it will never get old, something I will return to over and over again. The perfect pre-race dinner for my first race of the year. 

There's no need to follow a recipe like this exactly, it's really easy to mix things up based on your preferences and what you have in your fridge/pantry. So don't feel tied to the recipe. You can use your favorite herbs and spices, the type of meat you prefer and really any type of canned tomatoes, whole, diced, or crushed. Other than that all a simple sauce like this needs is some onions and garlic and you're all set. In all honesty, this is one of my favorite meals of all times, and also a perfect pre-race pasta dinner. 

A few race pics; here's me at the finish, very happy that I'm almost done! And below me with some friends and fellow race participants, all glad to be finished!

Simple Spaghetti Sauce

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound Italian sausage (can use turkey, chicken, or beef)
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 28 ounce can whole tomatoes
• 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
• 1-2 tablespoons dried oregano (or more if you like!)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• Red pepper flakes, to taste
• Olive oil 
• Salt
• Pinch of sugar

Directions

Brown meat in a large skillet. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel if desired. Add a couple teaspoons of olive oil to the pan and add the onions and a couple pinches of salt. Cook over medium to low heat until beginning to wilt and starting to turn slightly golden, about 8-10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until nice and fragrant, a minute or two. Add the tomato paste and let it cook and caramelized for a few minutes without stirring, then mix it into the onion/garlic mixture. 

Add both cans of tomatoes and the meat back to the skillet and stir to combine. Add in the oregano, rosemary and red pepper flakes and stir again. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce to medium-low and let simmer. Taste, and add salt and a pinch of sugar as needed. You can eat it right away if in a hurry, but it tastes better the longer it can simmer and thicken, letting the flavors blend into a perfect sauce. I recommend at least 30 minutes but it will still be delicious if you can't wait that long. 

Serve over spaghetti and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and some julienned basil leaves or minced fresh parsley. 

Warm Brown Rice, Sweet Potato and Roasted Cabbage Salad with Tahini Yogurt Dressing

This is one of those meals that I wasn't really planning on being anything extra special or turning out as well as it did. That is one of the things I love so much about cooking, coming up with new combinations that surprise me with how good they are. Taking a couple of ingredients that I have never really put together and creating a whole new dish out of them that just works, at least for me anyways!

The other night I just happened to have a few leftovers and random ingredients hanging out in my fridge and thought I better use them up or freeze them before they went bad. I had a general idea about what I was going to do with them, but it sort of evolved as I went along and turned into this wonderfully warm and filling salad, perfect on a rainy and chilly spring night. Sweet and creamy baked sweet potato combined with chewy brown rice, and roasted cabbage, topped with pecans for nuttiness and some dried cranberries for sweetness. A quick dressing of tahini and yogurt finishes the whole thing off and brings it all together. 

I decided to use zaatar for flavoring this salad. I've really been liking zaatar recently. If you don't know what zaatar is, it is a really nice mixture of dried herbs (dried thyme mostly I think), sesame seeds and sumac that is used in the Middle East. If you haven't tried it before I highly recommend it. But this is not a recipe that is set in stone so if you don't have any zaatar go ahead and use something else, you're favorite herbs or spices, whatever you have on hand. I also thought this would be good with a Mexican twist, using chili powder and cumin and throwing in some fresh cilantro, yum! Switching out different dried fruits and different nuts would also be be fun to play with. Cooking is just a great way to let your imagination go wild, so go ahead and have some fun!

Warm Brown Rice, Sweet Potato and Roasted Cabbage Salad with Tahini Yogurt Dressing

Ingredients 

• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1/4 head cabbage, sliced thin
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced thin
• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup brown rice (or 1-1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice)
• 2 tablespoons Zaatar spice mix
• Cayenne pepper, to taste
• Plain yogurt
• Tahini

Directions

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place sweet potato on a baking sheet and baked until tender, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes, depending on the size of the sweet potato. Set aside until cool enough to handle. 

Thinly slice the cabbage. toss with a little olive oil and some salt. Place on a baking sheet and broil until starting to wilt and char, stirring occasionally to evenly cook. This can take anywhere from 10-30 minutes depending on how charred you like your cabbage, and how hot your oven gets. 

While cooking the potato and cabbage, sauté sliced onions in a pan over medium to low heat until very soft and tender. When onions are caramelized to your liking, add the garlic and cook until fragrant. 

Cook the brown rice according to package instructions. Or even better, if you have some leftover rice use that in instead. Add the cabbage and brown rice to the onions and garlic mixture. 

Cut the cooled sweet potato into bite sized chunks. Add to the sauté pan along with the zaatar and cayenne. Give the whole thing a nice stir, adding some water to the pan if needed. Drizzle tahini over the whole mixture to taste and add a couple spoonfuls of yogurt. Stir again to combine well. Taste and season with salt if needed. 

Spoon salad into bowls and top with pecans and dried cranberries. 

Grilled Chicken Legs with Barbecue Sauce

During the summer I grill pretty much every day, you can grill just about everything and it is always delicious. I grill burgers, steak, vegetables, bread, pizza, fish, anything! While I love it all and could never pick a favorite, I will always have a special place in my heart for grilled chicken. I don't know what it is about the smell of chicken cooking on the grill that is so intoxicating, but whenever I smell it I want to stop whatever it is I am doing and eat. 

This past week Lara and I were driving home from Holland and we stopped by Kapenga Farm to pick up some chicken. We had never been there before, but Lara had read about the farm online so we decided to check it out. There was a sign out from that said 'chickens for sale' so we stopped in. We walked in to the barn and were greeted with a freezer full of packaged frozen chicken, and a walk-in cooler with several buckets of fresh chicken. There was a sign that told us what to do and how to pay if no one was there, which they weren't. So we grabbed a couple packages of chicken legs, made out a check, dropped it in the drop box, and we were on our way. 

I love buying local, and supporting the farmers in my own community. Buying fresh, local chickens directly from the farm is my favorite way of doing business. And the chicken was delicious! We took it home and grilled it up the next day. It doesn't get better than that. 

I didn't really follow a recipe for the chicken. After looking around the internet at several different recipes to get some ideas I just did my own thing. First, I rubbed the legs with a mixture of chile powder, cumin, coriander, paprika, cayenne and salt. I gave them a drizzle of olive oil and threw them on the grill over medium to high heat. Right away I turned the grill down to low and grilled them for about 25 minutes, turning every 5 minutes or so. After 25 minutes I increased the heat of the grill and started basting with barbecue sauce. I kept basting and turning, basting and turning, building up the flavor of the sauce, and letting it caramelize over the heat. I continued this until the chicken reached an internal temperature of 170 degrees, another 5-10 minutes. Overall the legs took 30-35 minutes.

This is what summer is about. Grilled chicken with barbecue sauce, one of my favorite things. It makes great leftovers too, cold, straight out of the fridge. Easy and oh so good. This will be on the menu at least a couple of times this summer, and I can't wait!

Spinach and Mozzarella Stromboli

Homemade pizza is one of my favorite meals. While I love making a traditional pizza with mozzarella and tomato sauce, I also love using homemade pizzas as a perfect way to finish off some leftovers. Leftover taco meat, make a pizza. Leftover roasted vegetables, throw them on a pizza. A few extra pieces of lunchmeat, on the crust they go. That grilled chicken you just couldn't quite finish, on the crust it goes. You can really put almost anything on a pizza, and it's always delicious. Sometimes I like to change it up and instead of making a pizza, I'll take my pizza dough with all it's yummy fillings and roll it up into what I call a stromboli. It's just a different take on the normal pizza, it's just as tasty, and fun for a change. And again, you can throw anything at all inside. I've done ham and swiss, sausage and cheese, salami and mozzarella, you get the idea. For this particular stromboli I went very simple with fresh spinach, a little garlic, and some mozzarella. So easy and so good!

Pizza Dough

Adapted from

500 Pizzas and Flatbreads

by Rebeca Baugniet

Ingredients

• 1 cup bread flour
• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon instant yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
• 3/4 -1 cup warm water

Directions

Mix together flours, yeast and salt. Add in the honey, olive oil and water. Knead together until you form a soft, smooth dough, adding more water if the dough is too wet, and more flour if the dough is too dry, this will probably take 4-6 minutes using a stand mixer with a dough hook. 

Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl and let rise until double in size, about 1-1 1/2 hours. 

Take dough out of bowl, split in two, and you are ready to make your pizza, or stromboli, or whatever it is you want to do with your pizza dough! 

Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Fennel

For Easter last week, my sister Lara and I decided to break from tradition and try something new. Instead of serving ham or lamb with potatoes and a basic vegetable, we chose to go with an Israeli inspired feast. I mentioned previously that this past Christmas my sister-in-law gave me the cookbook Jerusalem by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. Now that I've made a handful of recipes from this book I can say with confidence that it is a great cookbook, I love it. Everything I've made has been absolutely fantastic. 

We decided on the recipe for Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Arak for our main dish. The photo in the cookbook was mouth watering, and the ingredients didn't look too exotic so I thought it wouldn't be too scary for the less adventurous eaters in my family.  The end result was outstanding, the flavors of fennel and clementine shined through in perfect balance in this beautiful and colorful dish. 

This recipe really couldn't be simpler. Mix together a few simple ingredients and let marinate in the fridge overnight. The next day the work is minimal. Just throw it all in a big roasting pan and stick it in the oven. That's it. So easy and so good. 

Once it comes out of the oven pour all the cooking liquid into a pan and reduce to make a nice flavorful sauce. Pour it over the cooked chicken and serve! You won't be disappointed. 

And here's the entire feast. I thought it was an absolutely fantastic meal. Along with the chicken the rest of the menu included: 

Fresh homemade pita
Homemade hummus
Spinach salad with prunes and almonds
Yogurt pasta salad with basil, pine nuts and feta
Simple rice pilaf
Clementine and almond syrup cake

Roasted Chicken with Clementines and Fennel
Slightly adapted from Jerusalem by Yottam Ottolenchi and Sami Tamimi
Ingredients

• 6 1/2 tablespoons dry white wine (or Arak, Ouzo or Pernod if you have it, I didn't)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
• 3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons grainy mustard
• 3 tablespoons light brown sugar or honey
• 2 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 medium fennel bulb, cut into chunks
• 1 or 2 medium onions cut into chunks
• 3 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken pieces (I used thighs and legs)
• 4 clementines (14 oz), unpeeled, sliced thin
• a few sprigs of thyme
• 1-2 teaspoons fennel seeds, lightly crushed 
• Chopped flat-leaf parsley, to garnish

Directions
In a large mixing bowl whisk together the wine, olive oil, orange juice, lemon juice mustard, sugar, salt and pepper. Add the fennel, onion, chicken, clementines, thyme and fennel seeds. Stir well with your hands, then leave to marinate in the fridge for a few hours or overnight (you can also skip the marinating step if you are pressed for time).

When ready to roast, preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Transfer the chicken and its marinade to a baking sheet large enough to accommodate everything in a single layer. Place the chicken skin side up. Roast the chicken for 35 to 45 minutes, until colored and cooked through. 

Life the chicken, fennel and clementines from the pan and arrange on a serving plate; cover and keep warm. Pour the cooking liquid into a small saucepan, place over medium-high heat, bring to a boil, then simmer until the sauce is reduced by one third, so you are left with about 1/3 cup. Pour the hot sauce over the chicken, garnish with parsley and serve.