This was a super easy dish! I was excited to be able to use up some more goodies from our CSA box (lettuce and cucumbers this time). I’m a big fan of easy, no-fuss dishes in the summer. What made this dish even better is that I had every single ingredient in my kitchen already! I love it when I don’t need to make a trip to the store to make a dish 🙂
I was impressed with how long the lettuce from our CSA lasted. They sent it to us with roots (and a little dirt) still attached and wrapped in some plastic wrap. It didn’t look wilty or sad when I finally got around to using it a week and a half later. I wish all lettuce looked this good after such a long time!
PS – Mike and I are en-route to Myrtle Beach today! I’m so excited for a week of sun and relaxation. There are some new recipes scheduled to be posted during the week I’m gone. Hope you all enjoy 🙂
Chicken Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing
1 head lettuce or salad greens of choice
2 limes, juiced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups diced cooked chicken
1 cucumber, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 red onion, minced
1 large mango, diced
In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, mayonnaise, honey, mustard, salt and pepper. Slowly add in oil, whisking constantly.
In a large bowl, toss chicken, cucumber, bell pepper, onion, and mango with the dressing.
Place greens on plates and top with chicken salad. Serve immediately.
I had said yesterday that I’ve only made one meal in the last week. I now have to admit that the only reason I made this was because I had signed up for a vegetarian recipe swap and the reveal is today. If it weren’t for this, I probably would’ve survived on random junk in my fridge and Sour Patch Kids. So, thank goodness for this tasty meal because it fed us for a really long time!
The recipe I was assigned was Eggplant Parmesan from Tasty Treats by Tina. The last time I had made eggplant parm was just over 3 years ago. Holy smokes! I love how Tina’s version is unbreaded. It cuts down on the prep and I think that her recipe is to die for!
1 large eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 1/2 tablespoons salt
4 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces fat free ricotta cheese
6 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 ounces Parmesan cheese, grated
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup basil, chopped
4 cups tomato sauce (recipe follows)
 Sprinkle both sides of the eggplant slices with salt. Place slices in a colander, and place a dish underneath the colander to capture liquid that will sweat out of the eggplant. Allow to sit for 30 minutes – 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
In a medium bowl, mix the ricotta, mozzarella, and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Mix in egg and basil.
Rinse the eggplant in cold water until all salt is removed. In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat. Place one layer of eggplant in the pan, brown each side. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices, using additional oil if necessary.
In a 9×13 inch baking dish, evenly spread 1 1/2 cups of pasta sauce. Arrange a single layer of eggplant slices on top of the sauce. Top the eggplant with 1/2 of the cheese mixture. Repeat layering process until all the eggplant and cheese mixture is used. Pour remaining sauce on top of layers, and sprinkle with remaining Parmesan cheese.
Bake 30 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until sauce is bubbly.
I had previously said that I don’t really like kale. I would like to take back that statement. It turns out that I just didn’t like whatever dish I had made with kale. I really really like this chicken and kale dish!
I ended up throwing this together after I spent a good 5 minutes staring at our (empty) fridge. I pulled out a few things that we did have (chicken, scapes, and kale for starters) and got cookin’!
Spicy Chicken with Kale
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shao Hsing rice wine
1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon cornstarch
salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1/2 – 3/4 inch pieces
2 teaspoons olive oil
5 garlic scapes, chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
1 bunch kale, stemmed and washed
2 teaspoons sesame oil
In a small bowl, combine soy sauce, rice wine, chicken broth, cornstarch, salt and pepper.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink in the middle and juices run clear.
Add in garlic scapes and jalapeno and cook for 1 – 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
Add in kale and cover, stirring occasionally for an additional 3 – 5 minutes, or until kale is cooked.
Add the soy sauce mixture and sesame oil and stir fry for one more minute.
Remove from heat and serve immediately with steamed rice.
It’s swap time again! This is my third swap and I’m officially addicted. The other two times I have participated it was Blogger’s Choice and I got to choose whatever I wanted from the assigned blog. It was kind of nice having a dish just given to me – it means I don’t have to spend hours deciding what dish to make!
This time, I got the Prosciutto TBM Sandwich from Does Not Cook Well With Others (DNCWWO). She was inspired by the TBM sandwich at Cosi, a sandwich chain that originated out east. Lucky for me, there was one in Madison, WI as well so I have had the opportunity to eat there. I don’t recall ever ordering the TBM, but next time I’m in Madison I will put it on my must-try list!
Apologies in advance for the picture – I rushed through this so I could get the sandwich from the plate and into my mouth as quickly as possible. It was late, and I was hungry 🙂
Prosciutto TBMSandwich very slightly adapted from DNCWWO
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper, to taste
1 loaf sourdough bread
3 ounces prosciutto
1 pound mozzarella, sliced 1/4-inch thick
3 vine-ripened tomatoes, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
15 basil leaves
In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil and red wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper
Slice the loaf of sourdough bread into 6 – 1/2 Â inch slices. Brush one side of each slice of bread with vinaigrette with a pastry brush.
On three slices of bread, layer on prosciutto, mozzarella, tomato, and basil. Place second slice of bread on top.
I make a lot of food that I love, but I try not to make repeat dishes. This dish is an exception. I keep shrimp in my freezer for one reason – salt and pepper shrimp that I can whip up in n a half hour. It’s delicious with the cabbage or served with plain steamed rice. I choose the rice-only route when I’m running short on time. I just add some extra bell peppers into the shrimp itself to boost up the veggie count in the dish.
Salt and Pepper Shrimp
1/4 cup lime juice
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon sugar
1 small head napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder
1 pound raw shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 large onion, sliced
1 jalapeno pepper, thinly sliced
steamed white or brown rice, optional
Whisk lime juice, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add cabbage and bell peppers and toss to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Combine cornstarch, salt, pepper, white pepper, and five spice powder in a medium bowl. Add shrimp and toss to coat.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 3 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook, stirring often, until pink and curled, 3 – 4 minutes.
Add jalapenos and cook until shrimp are cooked through, about 1 more minute.
Serve immediately with the slaw and rice if desired.
This salad is perfect in its simplicity. I’ve been eating it for about 5 days straight now (we got a lot of greens from the CSA!) and I still have a little more to eat up. Not that I mind. I could eat this day after day for a very long time.
I used up some strawberries that my mom had picked in this salad (the rest went into the strawberry rhubarb crisp). It doesn’t get much better than fresh picked mixed greens and strawberries!!
Strawberry and Goat Cheese Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette
1 bag of mixed greens
1 cup strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup sliced almonds
4 ounces goat cheese
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a small skillet over medium heat, toast almonds until a light golden brown.
Place greens, strawberries, toasted almonds and goat cheese in a large bowl. Toss to combine.
To make the vinaigrette, combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, brown sugar, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a screw-top jar and shake vigorously until well combined.
Today’s recipe is for the Blogger’s Choice Recipe Swap I participated in with a handful of wonderful and talented food bloggers. I received Eva Bakes for my blog and after looking through all her recipes, I finally settled on the da bing, or large Chinese scallion pancake.
I’ve had many scallion pancakes over the years, but I’ve never had one this… big. I decided to give it a try and I’m so glad I did! I served this with low sodium soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, and a black bean chili sauce.
Large Chinese ScallionPancake recipe slightly adapted from Eva BakesÂ
2 cups milk
5 cups all purpose flour
1 packet of yeast (not the instant kind)
1/2 teaspoon sugar
salt
1 bunch of scallions, chopped
oil
Warm the milk in the microwave so that it’s no longer cold. Do not scald or boil the milk.
Add sugar to the milk and stir. Then add the yeast and let it proof for about 5 minutes. You should see the top get foamy.
Add the milk mixture to the flour and mix until just incorporated. Set it aside and let it rise for about 10 minutes.
Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1 cm thick. Then, using a brush, coat the top of the dough with some oil. Sprinkle the surface with salt and chopped scallions.
Roll, jelly-roll style into a long rope. Coil the rope into a circle and flatten/roll out with a rolling pin. Cover with a damp towel and let the dough rise for another 2 hours. Your da bing should end up being about 10 inches in diameter and at least 1 inch thick.
Lightly oil a large nonstick skillet or pan. On LOW heat (do not turn this to medium or high heat!), slowly pan fry the dough. Once the bottom starts to get crispy and the dough looks done on one side (about 10 minutes later), flip the pancake over and brown the other side. This pan-frying step should take about 20 minutes total – 10 minutes on each side. Remember to go low and slow!
Once done, the top and bottom of the pancake should be crispy and the inside should be fully cooked. Cut into pie-sliced wedges and serve.
Mike has been an absolute lifesaver on Mondays and Wednesdays. Why? Because he cooks, folks. He cooks and it’s dang tasty. These two days are go go go for me. I’m in rotation from 8 – 4:30, go for a run, and then go to Pilates Reformer. I don’t get home until close to 8 on Mondays and Wednesdays and it’s so nice to come home to a delicious meal.
I don’t always know when I’ll need him to make a meal, so I try to menu plan easier dishes. This particular stew came from Food & Wine’s 2008 annual cookbook. I’m trying to get a good mix of internet and cookbook recipes into our meals just to mix it up a bit. After all, I do have a lot of cookbooks and I should probably use them instead of letting them collect dust on my bookshelf.
This particular dish was phenomenal. I loved the tanginess of the red wine in it. I honestly could have eaten the entire pot.. don’t judge me – running makes me hungry! I’ll probably try making it in the slow cooker next to make it even easier.
Beef Stew in Red Wine Sauce slightly adapted from Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2008
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pounds lean beef chuck roast, visible fat trimmed, roast cut into 8 pieces
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon flour
1 bottle dry red wine
2 bay leaves
1 thyme sprig
1 5-ounce piece of pancetta
2 1/4 cups water
20 pearl onions, peeled
15 cremini mushrooms, wiped clean
15 baby carrots
Dash of sugar
Chopped fresh leaf parsley, for garnish
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large cast-iron pot over moderate heat, belt butter in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Arrange the pieces of beef in a single layer in the pot and season with salt and pepper. Cook beef over high heat for about 8 minutes, turning to brown pieces on all sides.
Stir in onions and garlic. Reduce heat to moderate and continue to cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the flour, stirring well so it doesn’t form lumps, then stir in the red wine. Add bay leaves, thyme sprig, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Stir well and cover the pot.
Transfer the pot to the oven and braise for about 1 1/2 hours until the meat is soft and tender and liquid is reduced to a thick sauce.
Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, cover the pancetta with 2 cups of the water and bring to a boil over high heat. Simmer over moderate heat for about 30 minutes and then drain. Cut pancetta into 1/2 inch slices, then cut the slices into 1-inch wide strips.
Combine the pearl onions, mushrooms, baby carrots and pancetta strips in a skillet with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/4 cup of water and a good dash of sugar, salt, and ground pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer, covered, over moderate heat for 15 minutes, until most of the water has cooked off. Uncover and cook over high heat, sauteing the vegetables until well browned all over, about 4 minutes.
Stir some of the vegetables and pancetta into the stew and sprinkle the rest on top. Discard bay leaves and thyme sprig before serving. Garnish with parsley and serve immediately.
I don’t think I have ever, in my 24 years, had Chicken Waldorf Salad before. Ever. Not in a restaurant, at a friend’s house, at a picnic, at a pot lock, and any other scenario you can think of. I’ve heard of it, I’ve seen it on menus, but I’ve never eaten it. I don’t know what overcame me to make it at home, but boy am I glad I did! I loved this dish. It was a nice break from all the “heavy” winter foods I’ve been eating and it was so simple to put together. I based it off a recipe I found on Eating Well. I think this will be my go-to recipe for using up  leftover chicken from now on!
Chicken Waldorf Salad serves 6
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
2 tart apples, diced
2 large celery stalks, diced
1 cup red or green seedless grapes, halved
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup fat-free mayo
2 limes, juiced
4 teaspoons honey
salt and pepper, to taste
baby spinach
Combine chicken, apples, celery, grapes, and walnuts in a large bowl.
In a small bowl, whisk together mayo, lime juice, honey, salt and pepper until smooth. Pour dressing over chicken and toss to combine.
It’s crazy how fast time flies when you’re running on fumes. I cannot wait for the dietetic internship to be over. Working, homework, and trying to find time to work out and cook is leaving me with very little time to sleep. What has been keeping me so busy? On top of the work we have to do in rotations 8 hours a day, we have additional projects, homework, readings, etc. to keep us busy. I had the great honor to be one of the managers for cooking demos we held in late January and early February.
The interns presented 6 dishes total; I had a blast making this Brown Rice California Roll with a fellow intern for our audiences! It’s so simple and so good that I just couldn’t resist sharing the recipe that we came up with!
Sushi is one of my favorite foods in the world. No lie – I could eat it for every meal, every day and not get sick of it. As much as I love going out for sushi, it can get a little pricey. So while it’s nice to dine out once in a while, it makes a lot more sense to just make it at home! I can’t recall how long I’ve been making sushi. I do remember my mom making rolls for parties growing up, and I’m fairly certain I just picked up the skill from observing her. I still think observation is the best way to learn how to roll sushi, but I had Mike document the process and I hope that these pictures will help!
Cook rice in rice cooker and medium pot with 4 cups water and 2 teaspoons of the soy sauce.
When rice is cooked, transfer to a flat, non-metal bowl. Sprinkle remaining soy sauce and seasoned rice wine vinegar on top and toss to coat. Cool rice about 15 minutes, tossing occasionally.
Add 2 tablespoon mayo to imitation crab and stir to combine.To roll the sushi:
Set bamboo mat on flat surface with slats running crosswise.
Arrange nori shiny-side down on mat.
Using damp fingers, press 3/4 cup rice onto nori in 1 layer, leaving a 1 3/4″ border on the side of farthest from you.
Arrange 1/4 of the carrots in an even strip horizontally across rice, about 1″ from the side closest to you.
Arrange 1/4 of the cucumber in the manner, just above the carrots.
Arrange 1/4 of the avocado slices just above the cucumber.
Evenly distribute 1/4 of the crab on top of the carrot, cucumber, and avocado.
Beginning with the edge closest to you, lift mat up with thumbs, holding filling in place with your fingers.
Fold the mat over the filling and gently squeeze firmly along the length of the roll, tugging on the edge of the mat farthest from you to tighten.
Continue to roll, by lifting up the mat, rolling the sushi forward, and squeezing. Be careful not to roll the mat into the sushi!
Open mat and roll log forward to seal completely.
Transfer roll, seam side down, to a cutting board. Slice into 9 pieces with a wet serrated knife.
To make the dynamite sauce, mix together 1/2 cup mayo, Sriracha, and sesame oil together in a small bowl.
*You can find these items at an Asian grocery store. Larger grocery stores may carry these as well.
DoughSeeDough 