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Chicken Cutlets with Arugula Salad, BLTs, My Favorite Turkey Chili (again), and the best Cheesy Garlic Bread you ever had

The dinner gods smiled on me this week. Or maybe I just got lucky, but my family expressed preferences about what we should have for dinner enough in advance that I could make it happen for them (as opposed to arriving at the dinner table with an “oh man, this is not what I feel like.”)

While chatting with my husband one afternoon, he asked, “remember that chicken at Bar Pitti that was so good, with the arugula salad on top?” Yep, I sure do. Then my daughters asked for turkey chili the other night and again, I was happy to oblige, AND I made a double batch and put half in the freezer—highly recommend. After pulling a bunch of tomatoes off of our falling over tomato plants I realized I should make BLTs while the tomatoes are still so good, and it’s just an excellent sandwich, IMO. And lastly, I fielded a request for garlic bread, but we had a boule of sourdough to use up, so I switched up my garlic bread technique and made it pull apart, and um, added cheese, because why not. It was buttery and gooey and garlicky, and maybe just what you want to make for one of these football Sundays. All of these are kind of no recipe recipes, except the chili, so just scroll on down.

Quick: Chicken Cutlets with Lemony Arugula Salad

There’s not much of a recipe here. Pound your chicken thin (I do this in a ziploc), a few whacks, just so it’s even. Set up your three step dredge—add some all purpose flour to one plate, beat a couple of eggs in a shallow dish, pour some panko mixed with grated parm on another plate. Season everything with salt. Coat each piece of chicken in flour, then egg, then panko/parm. Lay on a sheet tray lined with parchment (easy cleanup). Repeat until you’ve coated all the chicken (you can do this part up to a few hours in advance, it helps the coating set). In a wide skillet, heat half an inch of neutral oil (canola, veg) over medium heat. Shallow fry the chicken until it’s golden on both sides, moving the finished cutlets to another sheet tray lined with paper towels. Season with flaky salt. If you want, you can preheat your oven to 200F and keep them warm while you’re working, but I think the dish is still great even if the chicken is not piping hot. Lastly, in a salad bowl, add arugula and some very thinly shaved fennel, or pears, or halved cherry tomatoes, or nothing, season with salt and a few grinds of pepper, squeeze half a lemon over, drizzle with olive oil, toss, and then using a vegetable peeler, add strips of parm. Cut up the rest of that lemon and serve the cutlets with the wedges on the side and the salad piled on top.

Sheet Pan: Late Summer BLT

Um, there’s no recipe here. I like to make my bacon on a foil lined sheet tray. A pan on the stove works, too. This just very squarely fit in the ‘put what you want on a plate and eat it’ category for me. Also, one of the best parts of making BLTs at home? You can put as much bacon as you want.

Make Ahead: Turkey Chili

I’ve posted this recipe a few times before. The win/tweak in this batch is that my grocery store was out of chipotle peppers in adobo (which is the real secret to this chili), so I wound up subbing in smoked paprika and a little extra tomato paste. It worked great, and I’ve added that substitution to the recipe below. If you have members of your family who can’t handle (or just don’t like) the heat, this was a nice way to add smokiness without spiciness.

Go-To Turkey Chili

I first started making this chili in 2008 when my husband and I had just started dating. It’s stood the test of time and is quick, super satisfying, and easy to scale up for a crowd. Now I almost always have some in the freezer and it’s seen us through many Halloweens and chilly days.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb ground turkey
1 tablespoon kosher salt
2 teaspoons chili powder or less for a more mild version
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 chipotle in adobo, coarsely chopped, with one tablespoon adobo sauce OR 1 tablespoon smoked paprika and an additional tablespoon tomato paste
1 12oz beer
1 14.5oz can whole peeled or crushed tomatoes
1 14.5oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
Optional Garnishes: Avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, tortilla chips, pickled onions, scallions, cilantro

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until softened, about five minutes. Add the turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, and cook until the meat loses its raw color, about 3 minutes. Add the chili powder, oregano, tomato paste, and chipotle chili and sauce and cook for about a minute until it smells fragrant and the tomato paste darkens. Add the beer and simmer until reduced by about half, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes--crushing them through your fingers into the skillet--along with their juices and the beans; bring to a boil. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until thick, about 10 minutes.

Ladle the chili into bowls and serve with the garnishes of your choice.

For Fun: Pull Apart Cheesy Garlic Bread

If you couldn’t tell, I avoid going to the grocery store as much as possible. Somehow I still wind up going all the time, but if I can help it, I don’t. So when my oldest requested garlic bread one day and I had this boule of sourdough instead of my usual Italian loaf or baguette, I knew I was just going to make it work. Then I remembered way back to 2017 or 2018 when we had some friends over for the Superbowl and one of them brought this cheesy pull apart bread from Chrissy Tiegen’s cookbook Cravings. Well, this is my version of that. Normally when I make garlic bread, I melt half a stick of butter with a bunch of finely chopped garlic (maybe 10-12 cloves), and then spoon that on a long, splayed-open loaf. I bake that for 10 minutes or so at 375, sprinkle with flaky salt and maybe some chopped parsley, cut into pieces and serve. This is basically the same, except you cut your bread into this crosshatch pattern, spoon your garlic butter in between all the cuts, season with salt, and if you’re feeling cheesy, cut up some mozzarella (tbh I used chopped up string cheese sticks, because again, not going to the store if I can help it) and stick that between the cuts, too. Preheat the oven to 375, wrap your loaf in parchment and foil, set on a baking sheet and bake for 30 minutes. Then open the packet and bake uncovered for another 15 minutes until golden. Serve with lots of napkins.

(You could also totally prep this in advance and then just pop it in the oven when you’re ready to eat).

Okay, that’s all for this week! Happy cooking : )