"Hotdish" and Blackberry Chèvre Salad

Actually, I don't like the word hotdish. I prefer casserole. It's kind of like my inner struggle with "supper" versus dinner. I prefer dinner. I think I'm resistant to being completely Minnesotan. I have California roots!

Anyway..

I'm done with the Pioneer Woman. I still follow her blog and I bookmarked this recipe. I bought all the ingredients but didn't end up making it last week. My broccoli was on the verge of expiring so I pulled out the recipe for tonight's dinner. I read through the reviews and saw many people proclaim this casserole bland and fussy. I proceeded knowing I should add salt and love to make it right.

I say I'm done because I haven't had much luck with her recipes lately.

So this Broccoli Wild Rice Casserole was okay. Just okay. It happens. It was a lot of chopping and prep, so it's not worth a repeat performance.

 

There is a layer of wild rice, blanched broccoli, cooked chicken (my addition), and then a homemade cream of mushroom type sauce (with a pound of diced mushrooms, some carrots and celery). Oh, and then a layer of panko crumbs tossed with butter.

 

OMG. We have TONS left. I was going to half the recipe, I really was, but I had so much broccoli to use. I did add chicken so I did reduce the amount of rice and broccoli, just slightly. I worried about another ingredient soaking up the sauce so that was my adjustment.

 

Truly, the star of the meal was the Blackberry Chèvre Salad. I am in love with goat cheese. I couldn't find honey chèvre at my local grocery store so I used plain goat cheese drizzled with honey. I toasted the pecans in butter and spices, and I blended some fresh blackberries with red wine vinegar, honey, olive oil, and S&P.

 

F@$% yeah! I'm really glad I liked this because this is the start of our week of salads. Side salads and main dish salads. It just feels right.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Wild Rice Broccoli Casserole.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Blackberry Chèvre Salad.

 

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Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad

I must have a million pins on Pinterest, most of them cupcakes and delicious desserts though. I was really stumped the other day when I was planning my week's menu and what I can make that actually excited me.

I never really venture on to my "Salads" Pinterest board but summer is all about healthy vegetables and eating right, right? So I saw this salad recipe and it didn't look too bad!

My husband's verdict? "I'd make this again. I mean, I'd have YOU make this again."

 

I love all of these ingredients. I used canned corn (called for by the recipe) but only because sweet corn isn't too in season yet AND because I have a brand of corn that I really truly like. Delmonte's Summer Crisp. It is not like the others!

 

I didn't even mind this green leafy stuff. It gets covered in the creamy chipotle dressing and you can barely taste the healthy parts. :)

 

The best way I've found to make the precooked chicken is to wrap the breasts in a foil packet, baking at 375 degrees for about 35 minutes. I lightly salt and pepper it and it always comes out smelling divine. I made the chicken this morning and it made for easy assembly later.

I didn't even use all of the dressing and it was plenty. It was smoky and spicy, just a nice kick. The recipe is originally from Cooking Light and it says that it tastes just as great the next day. I have some fresh, dry lettuce leftover in case it's a wilted mess but I don't think we'll mind!

I didn't have taco bowls so I just spread a few tortilla chips on the bottom of each plate.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad.

 

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Lighter Thai Inspired Wraps & Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad (repeat)

I really love this picture. You can't get any more colorful than that!

 

This is a great combo! Some of the same ingredients are in each food, but it made it easier for chopping.

The peanut sauce in the wrap sandwich is awesome! I actually made a 1 1/2 recipe so we could enjoy it a bit more. (Good decision, Lisa. *pat on the back*) The sauce ingredients are all staples in our household, so even better. -lime juice, peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, ground ginger-

I think we got all of our vitamins through vegetables in just this one meal! No complaints from the husband. He really did dig this meal.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Lighter Thai Inspired Wraps.

I've made the Crunchy salad before. This is the post where I wrote about it.

 

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Bacon and Brussel Sprout Salad

I KNOW Jim is sold on brussel sprouts now but I always try and include bacon when possible. I enjoy them that way too, so no harm done!

For this meal I made a roasted chicken, Thai style.

And the brussel sprout salad was plenty as a side. It was full of texture and tasty bits. Bacon, parmesan cheese, citrus, shredded sprouts, crunchy almonds, and a bit of olive oil.

 

It made a huge amount so I would scale this back a bit when I make it again. Or maybe not? I'm pretty sure we finished it all. The sprouts wilt a bit with the citrus and olive oil by the next day, but it was still good eating!

 

MUST MAKE THIS AGAIN SOON. My husband will kiss me to thank me, I'm sure!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Bacon and Brussel Sprout Salad.

 

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Update: Grilled Corn Salad

I've blogged about a corn salad. I love it. I've made it several, several times since but it wasn't until just today that I've made a few changes.

I make half the amount now. Duh. It was just way too much for two people.

AND I added an ingredient that we've discovered that Jim really loves. Cotija cheese. It's a salty, crumbly Mexican cheese that my big sister introduced us to. The recipe has always stated that Cotija or Feta cheese were optional. I guess I just chose to NOT include it. Silly me.

I hope it makes a huge difference! It is getting happy in the fridge for tomorrow's dinner. I go back to work and I'm making a few things ahead of time so I don't get overwhelmed by being a Super(Working)Mom.

 

 

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Bacon Ranch Potato Salad

I made this for the 4th of July. It is exactly what you think! Lots of green onion, chives, bacon, and potatoes in a creamy dressing. I did under-salt, as I tend to do, but that was easily remedied at the table.

How can you go wrong with bacon?

Click here for the stolen recipe for Bacon Ranch Potato Salad.

 

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Cranberry Almond Chicken Salad

I didn't plan on making this. I had some spare breasts (ha!) in the refrigerator and most/all of the ingredients for this recipe that I had bookmarked on Pinterest. I'm not a pecan fan so I was okay with substituting sliced almonds in this recipe.

I did wish I had some romaine lettuce or even some spinach leaves to bulk up the sandwich but we hardly missed it. This chicken salad was pretty tangy due to the Greek yogurt (healthy replacement for mayo) but there was also sweetness due to the diced apple and craisins. Yum.

Sandwich thins = 100 calories. I hardly miss regular bread!

 

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cranberry (Pecan) Almond Chicken Salad.

 

Grilling- Asian inspired meal

Jim received a great grilling cookbook from my sister Ana for his birthday. It is called The Cook's Illustrated Guide to Grilling and Barbeque. The first page that I opened the book up to called our names.

We made Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts with Spicy, Sweet and Sour Dipping Sauce, Coconut Curried Fried Rice, and Sesame Lemon Cucumber Salad.

I almost think we had too many flavors on our plate. They were all VERY good. Everything smelled AMAZING too. I am nuts for coconut so the rice really, really appealed to me. It was also a bit spicy from the curry paste so that was great too.

I did prep everything- the brine, the chicken rub, the sides- but Jim gets lots of credit for the grilling because I don't know even know how to turn it on :) Without Jim this meal wouldn't have been possible.

Lots of spice in the rice. My rice cooker bowl is permanently stained yellow I think. Oh well. The rice cooked with coconut milk... mmmmm......

This dipping sauce was THE BOMB. So easy.

The rub was also pretty easy. I always thought rubs were dry ingredients, but this was one was really wet with lots of lime juice, oil, and spices. Jim said it flared up a bit in the grill but luckily enough of the rub was also placed under the chicken skin. It was really flavorful and MOIST (Ana!) because of the brining.

James stole his Daddy's seat at the table. Too bad he didn't try the grub.

The recipes for the Chicken and then the Cucumber Salad were both from the cookbook. I did find the recipes online and they are linked below. The rice recipe is from a trusty food blogger.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Thai Grilled Chicken Breasts with Spicy, Sweet, and Sour Dipping Sauce.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Sesame Lemon Cucumber Salad.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Coconut Curried Fried Rice.

Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Fancy lunch today! This was an easy recipe to whip up today for lunch.

The coconut chicken was great. The breading was easy enough to mix up, and dipping the chicken pieces in egg whites and then the breading, and then spraying lightly with cooking spray. Easy.

I do think that the best part of the recipe was the vinaigrette. And wow, just a few ingredients to make that goodness. The recipe only made enough for two servings. After we ate our salads I promptly made a quadruple batch for the rest of the week.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Coconut Chicken Salad with Warm Honey Mustard Vinaigrette.

Grilled Chicken (and shrimp) with Lemon Basil Pasta

Dinner last weekend was a collaborative effort. My sister brought over some wonderful wine and an interesting shaved asparagus salad (I can post later if there is a request for the recipe- I think shaved asparagus, olive oil, shaved parmesan, pepper?) . I swear, I learn the best kitchen tips and ideas from my sister. I would never have thought of using asparagus this way but I'm going to have to try it soon!

We made a Pioneer Woman recipe because you just can't go wrong with that. I prepped the cheese and squeezed the lemon juice (4 lemons) early and that made it a lot easier. The sauce pulled together quickly and the chicken was great (salted and peppered only, not following the PW directions), and the Garlic Butter shrimp from the butcher was an impulse buy that worked out well! We don't deal with uncooked shrimp around here, and now I just don't know why we haven't. They are so much better than the precooked stuff I usually make!

The pasta was so lemony and fresh. The basil came from my basil plants. Everything was really good!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta.

Buttermilk Broccoli and Carrot Slaw & Grilled Pork Chops with Rhubarb Honey Sauce

I cleaned out my refrigerator today and it felt good. I actually know what's in there! So I started to look for recipes that would make use of what I had. I bought bone-in pork chops yesterday that were on sale (buy one, get one free), but I had no idea how to make them. I used my trusty Google Reader to do a search for "pork chops" within my favorite cooking blogs. Sure enough, one of my blogger friends had recently grilled pork chops and the word "rhubarb" popped out at me! I was thrilled. We have so much rhubarb and to find a way to use it in something that is not baked or with lots of sugar- SCORE!

So I set to work on making the citrus mint brine that the recipe suggested. I didn't have orange pineapple juice but I did have orange juice and some pineapple tidbit cups. So I used 4 ounces orange juice and an entire pineapple cup with the juices and fruit. I figured the fruit would add a little extra something something. And lucky me that I had just frozen my fresh mint! It was only $1 for the entire bunch but I hated to waste it. I read one one of my other blogs about how to freeze herbs, and so I was trying it out. I didn't know it would only freeze for a day before I'd use it though.

So as the pork chops sat in the refrigerator, doing their thing, I made this coleslaw. I really just found a recipe for the basic idea of coleslaw. I had a head of broccoli that was beginning to wilt so it was perfect for a slaw. I really really loved this buttermilk dressing! (And wow, I actually had buttermilk in the fridge!) The little bit of cider vinegar was awesome. Who knew that coleslaw dressing is just buttermilk, mayo, apple cider vinegar, and salt and pepper?

Other refrigerator/pantry items that I used: chopped red onion, baby carrots (shredded), sliced almonds.



So I didn't really follow the recipe exactly. Smitten Kitchen didn't use carrots. She also added dried cranberries but I didn't have those.

Back to the chops- I made the rhubarb sauce ahead of time. It was easy enough but it took longer than I thought. It didn't demand constant attention, but I needed to stir it every 4-5 minutes for a total of like 20 minutes I think. I liked the sauce but I think I would take it easy on the cinnamon and allspice if there is a next time.

The porkchops cooking on my grill pan-



Dinner!


Jim and I liked the porkchops but we really liked the slaw. We had second helpings of it!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Broccoli Slaw.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Pork Chops with Rhubarb Honey Sauce.

CSA Farm Share Box #1

The farm sent an email that the first boxes would be light. The rain really did a number on their harvests- I guess some of the lettuces were beaten to the ground. It's still pretty early for most vegetables but I'm glad to start slow so I can get a feel for what I know and don't know. I did refer back to their email to identify two of the vegetables in here.

Clockwise from top left: Swiss chard, leaf lettuce blends, pea shoots (I think), and baby radishes and green onions.


I'm assuming these are all salad items. I'm going to research what I can do with the swiss chard and the pea shoots (both new to me!) I'm also not a big fan of radish but I have to admit I haven't had them for years. My grown up self might like them now :)

We didn't have much of a dinner planned for tonight, and I had picked up a rotisserie chicken so I just shredded some chicken on our salads. I think the lettuces were noticably different from store-bought lettuce. I think they were the freshest we've ever tasted (picked this morning! delivered this early afternoon for a 4:00 pick-up!) and they were bright tasting and a little spicy, maybe.

We had the carrots and mushrooms. What a nice start! I think every other week is not often enough now :) But we'll see.

Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad

The cabbage salad is the only "homemade" thing here. The chicken was grilled on my trusty grill pan after it marinated for an hour in Target brand asian grill paste, and the pasta is basil garlic (dry) pasta that I bought at a farmer's market. It was the first time I used the pasta and we agreed that it needed a sauce or something, besides just the flavoring. Too dry. Anyway, the cabbage salad was great. I didn't find it particularly crunchy but it had a great flavor and it was no fuss. The blogger suggested that this is a perfect picnic salad because it doesn't have any mayo, just various oils and flavors.

I think I was too enthusiastic with the lime juice, which watered down the flavor. Next time I would stick to the proportions of soy sauce and sesame oil. It needed a heavier dose of something something.

We will definitely be making this again! It's a great way to use cabbage!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Crunchy Asian Cabbage Salad.

Tequila Lime Chicken & Grilled Corn Salad

If you know me, you know my love of tequila. It's a new love. I love tequila and tonics especially. Haha. But when I saw this recipe from the wonderful Pioneer Woman, I knew that I had to try it. I actually printed the recipe out at work and I think one of my co-workers saw it at the printer (or maybe she saw the update on PW's blog) but she told me that she was trying the recipe too. So my friend made the chicken before me and she told me that it was fabulous.

I knew it would have to be good after bathing in a marinade of tequila, lime juice, garlic, and cilantro!

My husband was kind enough to make the grilled corn salad during the day. I LOVE this salad. I had three helpings and didn't feel guilty because it's full of yummy vegetables. Grilled corn, zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, jalapeno... mmmmmmmmmm. I've made this often but I decided that we're going to make this again and again and again this summer- all of the vegetables are farmer's market staples.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Tequila Lime Chicken.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Grilled Corn Salad.

So the verdict is that the chicken was very good. The tequila was very prominent which is a good thing :) I made this recipe this week because I was planning on making this for a dinner party next week. I like it but I decided that it wouldn't taste right in the way that I had planned- cut into strips on a salad of greens, avocado, tortilla strips, pico de gallo, etc. Oh well. We have a great way to use up my tequila so I don't just drink it all!

Tuna and Artichoke Pasta Salad

Man, I can't rotate this picture to save my life. I don't know what's up with it!

Well, this is the Tuna Artichoke Pasta Salad that I make ahead when it's a hot day or I don't feel like cooking. It comes from a Cooking Light cookbook and I'm so glad I found it!

I've typed the recipe as I found it so many years ago but I tweak it to my liking whenever I make it. Some of my changes: I add more lemon juice and tuna. I also use whole wheat pasta or pasta with added protein. Oh, and I also use bottled ginger- actually a tube. We tend to use a lot of it in various recipes.



Tuna and Artichoke Pasta Salad

2 t. grated lemon rind

3 T fresh lemon juice

3 T olive oil

1 T peeled, minced gingerroot

2 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups cooked elbow macaroni (8 oz.)

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup chopped green onions

1/3 cup flat leaf parsley

1- 6 oz can albacore tuna, drained

1- 14 oz can quartered artichoke hearts, drained

Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add pasta and remaining ingredients; toss gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.