What's for Dinner Tonight? Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms

My daughter and her boyfriend come over for dinner every Wednesday night, so dinners are usually kicked up a notch (consider it a bribe to keep them coming back, lol).  

Tonight's menu: Arugula Caprese Salad, Chicken Marsala with Mushrooms, Mushroom Risotto, and Gingersnap Cookies

Arugala Caprese Salad

No complicated recipe needed for this one. We just put a small handful of baby arugula greens on a salad plate, added some small round pieces of mozzarella cheese, a few cherry tomatoes, sprinkled on some salt and pepper, and served it with a drizzle of olive oil and aged balsamic vinegar.

Chicken Marsala

I usually just wing it when it comes to Italian food, because I am a full-fledged Italian-American and that style of cooking is just intuitive for me after all of these years. This recipe from Once Upon a Chef is pretty close to the way I make Chicken Marsala, but I like to use a mix of different mushroom varieties (button mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms, and shitake mushrooms) and a little extra garlic and butter. I didn't use any thyme because I find it overpowering in a dish like this. 

Mushroom Risotto

I was feeling lazy so I actually used a store-bought brand rather than making the risotto from scratch, but I did add a little bit extra to it to give it a "homemade" flavor. I chopped up a few extra shitake mushrooms, sauteed them in butter with a heaping teaspoon of chopped shallots, and added it to the saucepan at the same time I added the rice. I melted in one extra pat of butter just before serving. I didn't do it this time, but I usually add a little grated parmesan cheese as well. 

Gingersnap Cookies

It snowed here today, so it put me in the mood for some wintry comfort food. My daughter has been trying to stay away from chocolate lately, so I opted for gingersnap cookies for dessert.  I used this easy recipe from Preppy Kitchen and they turned out great.