bb: Jalepeno Cheddar Cornbread

On the menu tonight:
Crock pot Calypso Beans from Rancho Gordo. I made these with caramelized onions and served them with raw onion, sliced avocado and BBQ sauce on the side.
Watermelon Salad: greens and basil from Needle-lane, watermelon, feta, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Barefoot Contessa's cornbread

The beans were the highlight, the salad refreshing on a hot day, and the cornbread... well it was fine, rich cornbread. I halved the recipe to fill a 9x9 pan and added the kernels of one corn ear. The cornbread was better after cooling than before, certainly buttery and quick to make. I might turn to this recipe again when I feel compelled to make cornbread. For serving with Chili, however, I recommend Cooking Light's Sour Cream Cheddar and Green Onion Drop Biscuits.

BB: Parmesan Chicken

Meal planning is easy when others tell me what to cook. I've got several of Ina Garten's cookbooks, so adding a few of her dishes to my repertoire is easy. I've made the Parmesan chicken before, always with good results, and this dish travels well. Rather than pounding out my rather large chicken breasts, I sliced them in half horizontally, creating thinner pieces. I also dredged them in panko bread crumbs, which create a super crispy crust. To the greens, I added some avocado slices .
Alongside, we had our favorite watermelon salad: watermelon, basil, goat cheese, salt, pepper, olive oil and balsamic vinegar.