Chicken Salad

I wanted a nice light salad while the weather is hot and my kitchen is super-duperty hot, and so I came up with this salad.  We all really liked it. and you could double the dressing to have a saucier salad if you desired, I just don't like a lot of dressing.  The guys all topped theirs with lime chicken, but I just ate mine with cheese and bacon and beans for protein :).  We all really liked this, we gave it a 9.  Here's what to do, and the calories depend on the dressing and what you put in:

1 bag (about 1 head) romaine lettuce, chopped
2 tomatoes
2 14.5 oz cans beans, I used black and kidney
2 oz Monterey Jack cheese, diced
4 slices thick cut bacon, cooked and chopped
1 avocado
1 can corn, rinsed, or even better 1 ear fresh corn, corn chopped off
2 T cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, chopped

1/2 lime, juiced
2 T white wine vinegar
1/2 t honey
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
1 dash cumin
salt
1/4 c olive oil

Whisk together the lime juice, vinegar, honey, jalapeno, cumin and salt.  Whisk in the olive oil until emulsified.
Mix together all the salad fixings and toss with the dressing.  Serve.

Bobby Flay's Crab Salad

So we are finally coming near to the end of my Bobby Flay marathon :), and Noah and I are going to maybe try to develop some recipes together, we'll see how it goes ;).  Today's salad was super delicious, it received a 9 from Aaron, Noah and me, and Owen gave it a 7.  Each serving was 428 calories the way I made it, and I found this recipe in Bar Americain cookbook.  Here's what to do:

3/4 c mayonnaise
2 T red wine vinegar
2 T paprika
1/8 t cayenne
salt and pepper
24 oz crab (Krab) meat
1 avocado, diced
1/2 c pitted Kalamata olives, chopped
1 c cherry tomatoes, chopped
1/4 c green onions, chopped
1 bag arugula

Dressing
1/4 t lemon zest
2 T lemon juice
1 T orange juice
1 T mayonnaise
1 heaping t whole grain garlic mustard
1 t honey
salt and pepper
1/4 c olive oil

Mix the dressing ingredients together, whisking in the olive oil slowly to the rest of the ingredients to emulsify properly.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside, or refrigerate to use later.

Mix the Mayonnaise, vinegar, paprika, cayenne, salt and pepper together, then add in the Krab.  This can be made ahead.  When ready to serve, add in the avocado, olives, tomatoes, and green onions. Salt and pepper to taste.  Toss the arugula with the dressing, then top with the crab mixture.

Lauren's Latest's Dorito Southwest Salad

So this salad was really great, and I found it on Lauren's Latest.  Here's the link to the original recipe, and I will share what we did.  The boys and I gave this a perfect 10, and Aaron gave it a 9, because he doesn't love salads, but enjoyed this anyway.  I used my own recipe for the pork, we didn't use chicken, but you could use any meat, we used pork with Mexican seasonings.  Here's what I did, and the calories are about 500 per serving, depending on the amount of dressing you use.

3 c lettuce, washed and chopped
2 cans beans, rinsed and drained
Mexican blend cheese
Seasoned pork
tomatoes
1 avocado, chopped
Doritos, broken into small pieces

Dressing
3 T honey
3 T lime juice
1 small garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 t cumin
chopped cilantro to taste

Mix the dressing ingredients together, mix your salad ingredients, then toss with the dressing.  Serve and enjoy.

Absolutely Avocado's Cucumber Salad

We ate this with our Krab avocado sandwiches the other night, and we all enjoyed this so much.  I found this recipe in the Absolutely Avocado cookbook.  Each serving, for six servings, was 165, and Noah and Aaron gave it a perfect 10, Owen gave it a 7, and I gave it a 9.  Here's what to do:

2 T olive oil
2 T balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 cucumber, chopped
2 avocados, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt and pepper

Mix together the oil and vinegar, season to taste, and set aside.  Assemble the vegetables together with the garlic, and then toss with the dressing, serve.

Jonah really loved this too :)

Michael Symon's Apple and Celery Root Salad

This is one of those recipes that surprised me.  It sounded pretty good, and Michael Symon recommended it with pork, so when I made some porchetta, I decided to have this on the side.  I found it in Michael Symon's Carnivore cookbook.  It is such a great complement to rich ham/pork, and very easy to put together.  I bet it would be even easier if one had a mandolin, which I don't, because the most time-consuming part was the chopping.  This made eight servings, and each serving was 161 calories.  This also still tasted great the next day, so we could have it as leftovers with our pork.  Anyway, here's what to do:

2 Granny Smith apples
1 celery root, peeled and cored
1/4 c cider vinegar
salt
1 shallot, minced
2 T whole grain garlic mustard
1/2 c olive oil
2 T chopped fresh tarragon
1 c baby spinach

Slice the apples and celery root into thin match sticks.  Toss with the vinegar and a large pinch of salt.  Mix together the shallot and a large pinch of salt in a small bowl.  Whisk in the mustard, olive oil, and tarragon.  Pour the dressing over the apple mixture and toss to combine.  Let the mixture sit for about 20 minutes.  When ready to serve, add in the spinach.

Absolutely Avocado's Mexican Chopped Salad with Crab

This was going to be a side dish salad from the Absolutely Avocados cookbook, but the recipe I was going to make with the Krab didn't happen because I forgot one of the main ingredients, sigh :).  Anyway, I changed this recipe a little to make it a main dish, and it was super delicious.  We all gave this a 9, it was super great.  Each serving was 578 calories, and it came together really quickly.  Here's what I did:

2 avocados, peeled and chopped
4 ears corn, cooked and cooled, then cut off the cob
3 scallions, chopped
1 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 bag romaine lettuce, chopped
chopped cilantro, to taste
1/2 c olive oil
1 lime, juiced
1 t honey
1 T mayonnaise
1/2 t salt
5 oz pepper jack cheese, grated
1 lb Krab (fake crab meat, use the real stuff if you can :))

Mix together the olive oil, lime juice, honey, mayonnaise, and salt.  Set aside.  Mix together the avocados, corn, scallions, black beans, bell pepper, lettuce and cilantro.  Add in the cheese and Krab, then toss with the dressing and serve.

Yum, yum, yum!  This was a great, cool salad, and a really good summer meal, even if we had it in October :).

Michael Symon's Marinated Chicken Tenders and Feta and Cucumber Salad

So this was a hit at our house.  I didn't like either of these recipes as well by themselves, but together these were awesome.  I didn't just come up with this pairing on my own, Michael Symon made this suggestion, and I'm so glad I followed it.  We made some changes to the chicken, so I will post what I did.  This is a 30 minute dinner, and Owen, Aaron and I all gave it a 9, while Noah gave it an 8 because it was too spicy for him.

The calories for this are super duper low, for the serving pictured above, the calories are only 275, and that just makes life easy :).  

Marinated Chicken Tenders

1 1/4 lb chicken tenders

salt

1 c Greek yogurt

3 garlic cloves, minced

Grated zest and juice of 1 tangelo

1 T coriander

2 t cumin

2 t paprika

2 t chipotle powder (here's where the spice is, cut back if you want a little less spice)
1 c chopped parsley

Rinse, dry and salt the chicken thoroughly.  

In a gallon bag, mix together all the rest of the ingredients, salting more if desired.  Throw in the chicken, and shake it/mix it well to distribute the ingredients.  Marinate for about 4 hours.

Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray (I used olive oil spray), remove the chicken from the marinade, and cook for about 3 minutes per side.  Serve with the cucumber feta salad.

Cucumber Feta Salad

3 cucumbers

salt

1 garlic clove, minced

1 shallot, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and minced

2 T fresh oregano leaves

Grated zest and juice of 2 lemons

1/4 c olive oil

6 oz crumbled feta cheese

Slice the cucumbers as thinly as possible (wishing for a mandoline here :)).  Toss the cucumbers with a large amount of salt and let them sit in a colander.  (I underdid the salt, don't make the same mistake :))

Whisk together the garlic, shallot, jalapeno, oregano, salt, lemon zest and juice, and then add in the olive oil.  Drain off and discard any water that the cucumbers have released.  Add the dressing and toss to combines.  Just before serving, add the feta.  Serve with the chicken.

Yummy!!!

Michael Symon's Tomato Salad with Red Onion and Dill

So although I didn't love the way the meat turned out, and you can tell from the picture the meat wasn't great, the delicious salad from Michael Symon really hit the spot for us.  We love heirloom tomatoes anyway, and having the onions, cucumbers, peppers, and fresh dressing was great.  This was an easy salad to put together, let set while making the meat, and then have the salad and meat come together at the same time.  Anyway, each serving was 221 calories, and we all gave this a 9.  Here's what to do:

1 c thinly sliced red onion
1 lb heirloom tomatoes
1 garlic clove, minced
salt
1/4 c red wine vinegar
1/2 c olive oil
1 red bell pepper, cut into chunks
1 c thinly sliced cucumber
1/4 c chopped fresh dill
1/4 c chopped fresh mint

Cut the tomatoes into bite sized chunks.  Combine the garlic, salt, and the vinegar in a large bowl.  Whisk in the olive oil in a slow stream.  Add the onion, bell pepper, cucumber, dill and mint.  Let marinate for 15-20 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and toss gently to combine.  Season with salt to taste.  Serve immediately.

Absolutely Avocado's Cowboy Caviar Couscous Salad

This was a really good salad!  Absolutely Avocado came up with another winner for us, this was fast and easy, and everyone liked it.  I used homemade salsa, like always :), and used more corn than the recipe called for.  We had 10 servings out of this, and ate ours with cheese crisps for a complete meal.  Each serving was 183 calories the way I made it, and Aaron and the boys gave this an 8 and I gave it a 9.  Great summer meal idea, definitely give this a try!

1/2 c couscous
2 c chicken stock
2 avocados
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1 14.5 oz canned black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
4 ears fresh corn kernels cut off the cob
1/2 c diced red onion
2 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 c salsa
3 scallions, chopped
3 T cilantro, chopped
1 lime, zest and juice
some red pepper flakes and salt

Cook the couscous with the chicken broth until the liquid is absorbed.  Set aside to cool.  Mix everything together, then season to taste.  Serve.

Picky Palate's South West Quinoa Salad

For my birthday I received Picky Palate's cookbook, and we have been enjoying the food we have tried.  This salad was great to make in the morning, then eat for dinner with some pork quesadillas.  This is quick and refreshing, and pretty healthy.  I added some chicken broth and avocados to the original, and cut down on the dressing a little.  We split this into 10 servings, and each serving was 310 calories.  Aaron gave this a 6, Owen a 7, I gave it a 9, and Noah gave it a perfect 10.  Here's what I did

1 1/2 c quinoa
2 c chicken broth
2 c water
15 oz canned black beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz canned corn, drained
1 roma tomato, chopped
20 olives, sliced
1/2 chopped green pepper
1/2 c cilantro leaves
3/4 t salt, divided
scant 1/2 c (a little less than that really) olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
pinch of sugar
1/4 t ground cumin
1 avocado, diced

Rinse the quinoa in warm water and bring chicken broth and water to a boil.  Add the quinoa, bring it back to a boil, and cook until the liquid is absorbed.  Let sit for 15 minutes, then fluff with a fork and place in a bowl.  To that bowl add beans, corn, tomato, olives, green pepper, cilantro, and 1/2 t salt.  In a small bowl whisk together the olive oil, lime, sugar, cumin, 1/4 t salt, and cumin.  Pour it over the salad ingredients, and place in the fridge to serve.  When ready to serve, add the avocado and mix it all together.  Serve.

Grilled Corn Salad

We had this grilled corn salad the other night, along with some delicious crepes.  I will post that recipe tomorrow.  Anyway, this comes from Michael Symon's Carnivore cookbook, his newest cookbook.  This is a great, fresh corn salad, but we didn't grill it since we don't have a grill, and it's cold right now.  I just boiled the corn on the cob like normal.  We liked this, Aaron and I more than the boys, we gave it an 8, the boys gave it a 6.  Here's the recipe:

4 ears of corn
salt
1 anchovy, minced
1 garlic clove, minced
1 jalapeno, seeds and ribs removed, minced
grated zest and juice of 3 limes
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
1 ripe Hass avocado, diced
1 c halved cherry tomatoes (I used 2 roma tomatoes)
6 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
3/4 c chopped fresh cilantro

Cook the ears of corn.  In a large bowl, combine the anchovy, garlic, jalapeno, and a large pinch of salt.  Add the lime zest and juice and whisk in the olive oil.  Add the avocado, tomatoes, scallions, and cilantro and gently toss.  Over the bowl, cut the kernels from the cobs and add them into the salad.  Toss to combine, and season to taste.  (I liked mine with more salt, Aaron thought it didn't need anymore salt.)

I'm a dork, but I think it is so cool how an acid and an oil emulsify and make a really cool dressing.  I love that :)  Anyway, this salad would be better in the middle of the summer or late summer when all the veggies are super fresh, but this was still great.

Broccoli Salad

Here is a broccoli salad recipe that I had in a church meeting and I really liked it.  I hope you enjoy it, too.  Bonnie, Vicki’s mom

 

 

Broccoli Salad

 

4 cups fresh broccoli, chopped small     2 cups green grapes cut in half

2 cups red grapes cut in half

2/3 cup sliced almonds

1 small bag sunflower seeds (@1 cup)

1 bag craisins (@1 cup)

1 cup Mayo with 1 Tb red wine vinegar and ½ cup sugar for dressing

 

Combine all ingredients and toss with dressing. 

 

Another option for the dressing is to use a coleslaw dressing with the mayo and add sweet onion.

 

We made this for a party, so did not taste it.  I think I would prefer using something besides the mayo.  

People at the party seemed to really enjoy it, so we gave it an 8.



Greek Style Chicken and Potatoes and Salad

Tonight we had Greek Style Chicken and Potatoes from tastykitchen.com, and we all enjoyed this.  We gave it an 8, and the calories for 1/4 of it, since we only used 4 thighs, and 3 T of olive oil was 423 calories per serving.This is a great recipe, but I like to add about 4-5 cloves of garlic along with the olive oil and lemon juice, and I brine the chicken for at least 1/2 hour in salty water to add more flavor. 
For our salad, we had a recipe from Giada de Laurentiis's Everyday Pasta cookbook called Anytime Vegetable Salad.  We made 6 servings out of this, and each serving was 156 calories.

Anytime Vegetable Salad

2 c frozen edamame, shelled (I used steam in the bag, so I'm not sure how much I used)

8 oz thin green beans, trimmed

9 oz yellow wax beans, trimmed (i just used more green beans)

1/3 c red wine vinegar
1 t salt, plus more to taste
¾ t freshly ground black pepper
3 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ c halved cherry tomatoes
2 t chopped fresh basil or tarragon
1 t chopped fresh thyme leaves

Cook the edamame in a large pot of boiling water until crisp-tender, about 3 minutes.  Drain.  Rinse under cold water, then drain well and pat dry.  Repeat with the green beans and yellow beans.  Leave the green and yellow beans whole or cut them crosswise into 1 to 1 ½ inch pieces.

Whisk the vinegar, salt and pepper together in a large bowl.  Gradually whisk in the oil.  Add the beans, tomatoes, basil, and thyme, and toss to coat.  Season the salad to taste with more salt and pepper, and serve.

 

We thought this was only okay.  Aaron and I gave it a 5, and Owen and Noah gave it a 6, but neither one enjoyed it very much. 

Tomorrow we're having rouladen and rotkohl.  Yummy!!!

Cornbread Panzanella

We tried this cornbread panzanella recently, and we really enjoy bread salad.  The cornbread added a different element, and although we enjoyed this, I like traditional panzanella better.  I thought this dressing was a little lemon heavy.  This is an easy salad to make, and very summery with fresh tomatoes and basil. This comes from Giada's cookbook Everyday Pasta.

Cornbread Panzanella from Giada de Laurentiis

1 lb cornbread, cut into cubes

1 c halved cherry tomatoes

1 c cubed fontina cheese

½ hothouse cucumber, quartered and sliced

½ c chopped fresh basil

Dressing:

2/3 c extra-virgin olive oil

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of 2 lemons

1 t kosher salt

1 t pepper

Combine the cornbread, tomatoes, cheese, cucumber, and basil in a large bowl. 

Ina small bowl, combine the olive oil, lemon zest, and juice, salt and pepper.  Stir together and pour over the salad.  Toss very gently to combine.  Serve immediately.

 

This is 452 calories per serving when you split it into 8 servings, which is about a 1 to 1 1/2 c serving.  We all gave this an 8.

The shrimp recipe I mentioned yesterday will be up soon, but tomorrow we're trying chicken shawarma.

Roasted Corn Salad

Today we had Pioneer Woman's Roasted Corn Salad and we had high hopes for this.  You can find the recipe in her first cookbook.  Our high hopes were not fulfilled.  We scored this lower than anything we've ever had, only a 2.  We grilled everything just like the recipe said, the only change I made was to cut everything in half, and it was just not enjoyable.  We had to make ourselves force it down.  We couldn't even taste the corn, and the onions overpowered everything, as did the balsamic vinegar.  I'm not going to post the recipe, because I don't think anyone should make it.  Sorry PW, I love almost all of your recipes, this one just didn't cut it for me. :( 
For 1/6 of the total, the calories were 208.
Tomorrow we're having a pasta bake.

Roman Style Chicken and Heirloom Tomato Salad

Our dinner tonight was found at www.foodnetwork.com and it was Roman Style Chicken from Giada de Laurentis.  The boys really liked this, and I thought it had nice flavor, but it's not really my kind of chicken, nor is it Aaron's.  He gave it a 6, I gave it an 8, and Owen and Noah gave it a perfect 10, because they love eating their drumsticks.  The calories for a thigh were 297, with 1/4 of the sauce.  I cut the recipe in half, using only 2 drumsticks and 2 thighs.  This was a simple, quick dinner, and makes a great family meal.  This however, was not the highlight of the meal.
Anne Burrell's Heirloom Tomato Salad with Warm Goat Cheese was the real star.  The recipe I linked to is just a little different from the one I used in her cookbook, in the cookbook she uses basil instead of oregano, and she doesn't use the baguette, just smears the goat cheese that has been warmed in the oven for 8-10 minutes on the top of the salad, as you see in my picture.  The calories for a cut in half salad with four servings out of it were about 200/serving.  We LOVED this.  I can't tell you how much we ate of this.  Aaron said he wishes I hadn't made any chicken, and to have Aaron wish for no meat in our dinner has never happened, not once.  So yeah, make this salad.  Even the boys liked the salad, they thought the goat cheese was really good.  Aaron and I gave the salad a perfect 10, Owen gave it a 7, and Noah gave it an 8.  I didn't have any arugula, so I just used romaine, arugula would look prettier and taste great.

Tomorrow we're having a blueberry cake and some avocado enchiladas.

Chili-Lime Steak Salad

We had Chili-Lime Steak Salad tonight, and it was delish! This was a fast, fresh meal, and I love the crisp veggies with the really juicy, flavorful steak.  The steak was my favorite part, and we just really enjoyed it.

Aaron gave it an 8, Noah and Owen and I gave the salad a 9 and the steak a perfect 10. This salad, which we split into 6 servings, with all the dressing and everything was 499 calories/serving. If you don't like ranch, like I don't, the dressing won't be a big hit, but Aaron and Noah both really liked it.


Tomorrow we're having a pasta dish.

Chicken Salad and Apple-Cinnamon Rolls

We had some yummy recipes today! For breakfast we had some apple stuffed rolls from Ourbestbites.com, and the recipe is a take on their pizza rolls.  It's found in their cookbook, but here is the recipe.
Stuffed Apple-Cinnamon Rolls

1 package refrigerated pizza dough or 1 recipe homemade (I used homemade) pizza dough
2 c shredded green apples, about 3 apples
3 T brown sugar
1 t ground cinnamon
1 T flour
1 T butter, melted
1 T sugar
1/4 t cinnamon
6 T powdered sugar
1 T butter, melted
1/4 t vanilla
1-2 t milk
Preheat oven to temperature specified in pizza recipe.  Spray a baking dish.  Roll out the pizza dough, and cut into 3 inch squares.  (I had 25 squares at the end, because I can't roll out a perfectly straight rectangle :))  Combine the shredded apples, brown sugar, cinnamon and flour.  Divide it evenly between your squares, and roll them up with the seam side down in the plate.  (I ended up having less filling than dough, so I made a few with some prunes.  If you like prunes, these are fabulous, if you don't try some other fruit).  Combine 1 T butter, sugar and cinnamon, then crumble over the rolls.  Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the rolls are golden brown on top.  Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes.  While the rolls are cooling, mix together the powdered sugar, 1 T butter, vanilla and milk.  Drizzle on top of the rolls and serve.  These are best served warm, but they are great after cooling too.

We gave these an 8, and with the addition of 1/2 c prunes, the calories were 111/roll for 25 rolls.

Dinner was delicious, and also from the Our Best Bites cookbook.  It was a Spicy Honey Chicken Salad and it was fabulous.  The chicken had so much flavor, and the salad ingredients all went together really well, especially with the dressing.  We gave this a 9, and the calories for 6 servings were 456/serving.  We will definitely be having this again.  The most time-consuming part was boning and skinning the chicken, and if you bought it already boned and skinned, you would have a dinner that only took about 15 minutes.  Delicious and fast, my favorite :)

We are having some chicken and cheesecake tomorrow. 

Thai Chicken Salad

Tonight we had Thai chicken salad from Ourbestbites.com.  This is the last of our Mexico meals, and probably our least favorite.  We gave it a 6 only, and it just didn't inspire us.  The calories were around 400 calories for 6 servings, and although the boys liked the noodles, the rest just didn't make it for us.  Oh well.  New recipes coming on Saturday.

Greek Couscous Salad with Chicken

Although I have no pictures for you, this recipe was fabulous!  We had a Greek couscous salad from Our Best Bites cookbook, it was fast, filling, and super easy.  I made some chicken in the crockpot, and then just added it to the salad for a main dish.  It was couscous cooked with herbs, then chicken, olives, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions, feta cheese, all covered in a light lemon dressing.  Really delicious. We gave this a 9, Noah ate his so fast and said he wanted couscous all the time.  There are 300 calories per serving for 6 servings.  Tomorrow we're having Italian crockpot meatloaf.