I made a couple of tasty and healthy dishes this past weekend that I wanted to share with you all.

First, since we had two pints of sungold cherry tomatoes from our CSA, as well as a wealth of basil, I had an idea. I heated some olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, threw in a handful of the sungolds, shook the pan a few times and let them roast for a minute or two. Then I scrambled 3-4 eggs with salt and pepper and poured those into the pan. I swirled the pan around a bit and once the eggs were just about set, threw in a couple tablespoons of feta cheese, and a sprinkling of chopped basil. I cooked for another 30 seconds or so and then transferred to a plate, cutting the omelet into two servings (you can also use more eggs and cut into four wedges).

The other thing I had a taste for was fried rice. I like to make mine with pork, but it’s always difficult or next to impossible to make the kind of red-tinged barbecued pork you see in Chinese restaurants. So I did the sensible thing and picked up a container of roast pork at our local Chinese takeout joint. They call it “boneless spare ribs,” but it’s basically strips of barbecued roast pork (and it’s freaking delicious). So here is how I made my fried rice–I took a bag of frozen bag brown rice from Trader Joe’s (this is the best tasting quick brown rice you will find anywhere–I guarantee it), nuked it for three minutes and set the bag aside. I heated a couple tablespoons of canola oil in a large nonstick skillet with a splash of sesame oil. I threw in some finely chopped onion, carrots, sweet pepper, shelled edamame, and a small bit of minced fresh ginger — and stir fried that for 3-4 minutes. Then I dumped in the cooked rice and maybe 1/2 cup of diced roast pork and stir fried for another minute. Then I added a few sprinkles of Kosher salt, some shakes of black pepper; and a sprinkling each of teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and Korean barbecue sauce, stirring for about a minute. Meanwhile, at about the same time I added the sauces, I heated a small nonstick skillet sprayed with cooking spray, and dumped in one scrambled egg. Instead of stirring, I just let that set, and slid onto a plate, cutting into small pieces and adding to the fried rice, stirring another 30 seconds and then sprinkling with chopped cilantro. After dividing among two plates, I sprinkled mine with a few drizzles of chili oil.

You can make this rice with whatever you have on hand. Green onions are typical but I don’t like them and they don’t like me. You can also use peas, corn, bok choy or whatever you can find. It’s fun to try different combinations, but trust me — the pork is what makes it. My wife says it’s better than takeout, and who am I to disagree? So maybe you should try it and see if you like it too. But I already know you will.

Every once in a while, my wife and I decide it’s time to take inventory of what food we have in our house, because it tends to start overflowing in the refrigerator(s) and pantry(ies). And by -ies I mean in bags on a shelf in the basement. So I went and took inventory and one thing we had overstock in was frozen chicken breast. I asked my wife what we should make — let’s call my wife Jenny, because, well, that’s her name. She said, “How about we pound the chicken flat, stuff with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes and roll them up? I thought for half a second and said, “Brilliant!”

I’ve been the main cook in our house, but Jenny has been cooking 1-2 times per week lately. Still, this recipe was all on me to execute, while she made the sides. Jenny wrote on a little chalkboard, “Tonight: Chicken with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes with a nice array of vegetables.” She was in charge of the vegetables–roasted asparagus and red and yellow bell peppers. I set out to make the main event.

So I cut the chicken breasts into 3-4 oz. pieces and then pounded them flat in a large zip-lock bag. I sauteed some spinach in olive oil and added salt, pepper, garlic powder and onion powder, and when cool enough added about 1/4 cup of slivered sun dried tomatoes (from a jar packed in oil). Then I placed a small mound of spinach mixture on each chicken breast piece, and rolled them up, securing with a toothpick. Obviously you cannot pan fry them with toothpicks sticking out, so I only used the toothpicks to hold the chicken momentarily together. And it worked!

I heated some olive oil in a large non-stick skillet, and cooked the chicken rolls on each side over medium heat (maybe 8 minutes total) until browned and cooked through. Then I attempted to put the dish over the top. I melted a pat of butter in the pan, added a teaspoon or so of olive oil, then added a little white wine, scraping up the brown bits in the pan. Then I added a little chicken broth and some salt and pepper. As the sauce reduced down, I then added some water and let it reduce more, and then added some lemon juice and parsley, pouring the sauce over the chicken rolls on the plate. Jenny added the “nice array of vegetables” and a new dish was born in Mikey’s (and Jenny’s) Kitchen.