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• 1 28 ounce can of whole San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 1 medium carrot, peeled and cut into 4 pieces
• 1 small red onion, peeled and halved
• 2 stems of basil
• 3 ounces of  parmesan rind
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil, plus 1 tablespoon for the dish
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 17.5 ounce package of gnocchi
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese, divided
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions 

In a nonreactive dutch oven, combine the tomatoes, carrot, onion, basil, parmesan rind and olive oil. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low and maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer, stirring often with a wooden spoon for 40-45 minutes or until slightly reduced and the carrot is beginning  to become tender. You should have just about 2 1/4 cups of sauce. If you are short, add some chicken broth. Season with the salt. Remove and discard all of the vegetables, herbs and rind from the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease an 8 inch baking dish with the remaining olive oil.

Add the gnocchi and 1/2 cup parmesan cheese to the sauce. Stir well to combine. Pour the mixture into the prepared pan.  Sprinkle to top with the mozzarella and the remaining parmesan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until the cheese is browned and the sauce is bubbly. Allow the gnocchi to cool for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6; prep time 10 minutes; cook time 1:20  hours; total time 1:30 hours.

Ingredients

• corn tortillas (you will want two layers, so decide tortilla size and do the math to fit your baking dish
• 2 cups enchilada sauce (I always make and use green sauce, but you can use red, if you like it better)
• 3 cups cooked chicken (go to Safeway or nearest grocery store and buy a ready-to-eat rotisserie chicken that you can shred)
• 1/4 cup diced onion
• 6 cups or more of Mexican blend cheese
• 2 cups of sweet corn (frozen is fine)
• 1/3 cup of caned, diced, mild green chiles if you are using red enchilada sauce

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Put a few spoonfuls of your sauce on the bottom of your baking dish so tortillas won’t stick.
3. Place half your corn tortillas, slightly overlapping, on top of your thin layer of sauce
4. Layer with half of your shredded chicken
5. Add half the corn kernels
6. Top with 1/2 cheese and 1/2 the remaining enchilada sauce
7. Repeat layers beginning with corn tortillas
8. Complete the enchilada with the Mexican cheese
9. Bake at 350 degrees for30 – 40 minutes (cheese should be melted and bubbly)
10. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting and serving
11. Topping ideas: cilantro, sliced avocados, guacamole, tortilla chips

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 cup of white rice
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 bunch of cilantro
• 1 teaspoon of salt

Squeeze the limes to make lime juice. After washing the cilantro chop both leaves and stems. (If you plan to finish this the next day, then save a little of the cilantro so that it can be chopped fresh right before dinner.)  Combine all the cilantro stems, 1 teaspoon of salt and most of the leaves with all except 3 tablespoons of the lime juice. Place the chicken breasts into a plastic sandwich bag. Add the cilantro lime mixture to the bag and make sure all the chicken is coated. Place the chicken in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour (can be left for up to 24 hours).

Either grill the chicken or bake it at 350 degrees for 40 minutes, or until the chicken is white, all the way through (no pink meat!) While the chicken is baking or grilling, cook the rice according to the package directions. When rice is cooked, stir in the last 3 tablespoons of lime juice, the rest of the chopped cilantro leaves and a pinch of salt if you haven’t already added salt to the rice.

Now you are ready to plate the chicken and rice!

Serving suggestions:

Black beans, chopped avocado and green salad are great with this meal.