In the midst of an everyday sort of setting, I had a moment today when I thought I’d burst with love for my family. I was sitting next to Chris on the sofa.  Anderson was crawling around the living room after one of the cats yelling “cat” at the top of his lungs (which sounds more like cah).  Maybe it was the James Taylor song playing or the look on Anderson’s face?  I don’t know.  I just sat there smiling and thanking my lucky stars.  I love them so much that my heart feels like it will explode sometimes.

Today was really slow and sweet.  We didn’t even talk much and we didn’t  have anything on the agenda other than some cleaning and grocery shopping, so we just sortof hung out.

I also made a new dish inspired by “Rustic Chicken Tart with Spinach and Brie” from The America’s Test Kitchen Quick Family Cookbook.  I don’t like Brie and we don’t cook with chicken, but the concept seemed really easy.  I just adapted the ingredients from Brie to Feta, chicken to Morningstar “Chicken” Patties and nuggets, chicken broth to veggie broth, spinach to tomatoes, and I added other things that sounded yummy like wine, onions, and garlic.  Ok, so basically I rewrote the entire recipe, but it was definitely a winning combo.

Ingredients
1 pie crust (I bought mine just to make it that much easier)
2 small tomatoes or 1 large tomato
2 cups of “chicken”
6 oz feta cheese
1 clove of garlic
1/2 onion
1/4 cup veggie broth
a pat of Earth Balance/margarine
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper to taste
If I had parsley on hand, I would have definitely added it.

Bake your chicken.  I used Morningstar Farms, but you could use any brand.  I also love Quorn, for example.

Adjust your temperature to 425 degrees.

Coarsely chop onion and garlic. Also dice your tomato.

Sautee onions and garlic in Earth Balance for 2-3 minutes.  Add wine, broth, tomatoes, salt, and pepper.  Simmer for 5 minutes.

Remove from heat and stir the feta in.

Scoop mixture onto pie crust and spread it out, leaving a 1 inch crust border.

Fold the edge of the dough over in pleats.

If you are wondering what the textured “thing” under the tart is, it is called a Silpat. This handy invention is a non-stick baking mat, perfect for things like pies and cookies.  It takes the place of parchment paper, for example.

Bake for about 20 minutes or until your crust starts to turn golden.

It doesn’t look like a huge dinner, but it is rich and the one tart fed all three of us with a piece to spare.

If fake-o chicken isn’t your thing OR you need a lighter appetizer, I’d suggest eliminating the chicken and making it a feta/tomato tart.

Here are a few pictures from our day!  Enjoy the rest of your weekend.