First CSA Challenge recipe: Tex-Mex Salad

I loved LOVED this salad! My favorite salads are the ones with all the goodies like chicken, high quality cheese, something crunchy. I especially love salads with a Tex-Mex theme.
So I created this recipe, using three different salad greens from our wonderful CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) share. (To read more about my CSA self-challenge, click here.)
I wanted a BIG SALAD, just like Elaine on Seinfeld. So this recipe is for two main entree salads.

Ingredients:
5 small corn tortillas, cut into strips
Corn oil for frying
Dressing:
1 chipotle pepper
2 tsp adobe sauce
1/2 cup whole milk plain yogurt
1/3 cup mayonnaise
juice of 1 lime
pinch of salt, ground pepper
1 shallot
1/2 up lightly packed cilantro

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
A variety of salad greens, about 4-5 cups
Shredded sharp, aged cheddar cheese
1/2 cup canned corn or Mexicorn

Directions:
First, make the fried tortilla strips. Ever since I fried my own tortilla chips, I am addicted. I don't make them a lot, but they taste so much better than bagged chips!
First, heat up your corn oil in a small skillet to about 350 degrees. Drop your tortilla strips in in small batches, stirring then removing with a slotted spoon after they start to calm down and darken. It doesn't take long at all, just a minute or two so don't walk away from the stove! Place them on a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt before putting in the next batch.

These are the strips before they have "calmed down." They are excited and bubbly when you first put them in.

Continue until you fry all the strips.

Then, try not to eat all of them before the rest of the salad is done!

Preheat the oven or toaster oven to 400 on broil. (I used the toaster oven, less heat in the kitchen to cook one little bitty chicken breast.)
Then, make the dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients except cilantro in a food processor or blender, mix just a little bit to incorporate the chipotle pepper and shallot. Put 1/3 cup of the dressing in a small bowl, set on the counter. You're gonna use this in a minute. Chop the cilantro, then add to the larger amount of dressing and put in the fridge until everything else is ready.

Now, take the chicken breast and season it on both sides with salt and pepper. Then, dip it in the reserved 1/3 cup dressing (or use a brush to coat both sides of the chicken.) Put the chicken on a wire rack, with a tray beneath it. Broil until internal temperature is 175F, flipping once. I think it took mine about 20 minutes total to cook.

The yogurt prevents the chicken from drying out. It had a great flavor!!

Rinse your salad greens and put on two big plates. To highlight the greens I used from Goldfinch Farms.....

First, my favorite from Goldfinch-arugula!! I have never tasted a more peppery arugula anywhere else. The flavor knocks my socks off. I can eat it plain, and I am not normally someone who nibbles on any variety of plain, raw greens. But this...this is something I look forward to every year now.

We also received a bag of mixed baby greens. They are tender, and include a wider variety than pictured here. Very, very good.

This, I think, is a type of red romaine. I could be wrong here. I liked the more sturdy nature of this lettuce for my salad, because of all the heavy toppings.

Add your desired amount of shredded cheese, and the corn. Slice the chicken and put half on each salad. Add the tortilla strips and drizzle with half the dressing.

Mmm I could eat this salad every day. Well, at least every week for awhile!

I served mojitos with this! Margaritas also acceptable.

Barefoot Bloggers Budget Challenge!!

I was really intrigued by the new Barefoot Blogger Challenge-take one of Ina Garten's recipes, and overhaul the recipe to make it cost less. The recipe chosen to overhaul was Lobster Cobb Salad Rolls.
And boy, this recipe would have cost a pretty penny had I made it as written. It calls for 1 1/2 lbs lobster meat, which would cost a lot. If I went to Giant, it would cost over $60 dollars to get the amount of lobster meat required. I usually halve the recipes, since it is just for me and my husband but I would still end up spending $30-40 on the lobster meat alone for 3/4 of a pound.
I read a lot of the comments for the recipe on the TV Food Network website. Many people commented that the bacon and blue cheese made it overly salty. I decided to get rid of the blue cheese, since that is also pricey. I used a few shavings or parmesan, which I always have on hand.
Someone also commented that with all the other stuff going on (the vinaigrette, the bacon, etc) you might as well use turkey instead of lobster. So I decided to do that! I used a turkey tenderloin that cost me exactly $3.64! How is that for saving?
I also turned it into a pasta salad, using 100% whole wheat rotini. Other changes include using pancetta instead of bacon, sun-dried tomatoes instead of cherry, (not in season yet!!) and a slightly altered vinaigrette. So you can check out the original recipe here but I recommend my version :) I'm not biased at all!It is very different from the original recipe, but I really really enjoyed it. It is one of the tastiest dishes I have made in a while!
Turkey Cobb Pasta Salad Serves 3
Ingredients:
1/2 lb whole wheat spiral pasta (such as rotini)
about 1 lb turkey tenderloin
6 slices (medium thickness) pancetta
1 small bunch organic arugula
1 organic avocado
lemon juice
1 small handful sun dried tomatoes
Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons sherry vinegar
salt and pepper
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 shallot, roughly chopped
1 garlic clove, roughly chopped
1 tsp honey
juice of 1/2 a large lemon
salt and pepper

Directions:
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for the pasta. While the water heats up, season the turkey tenderloin with salt and freshly ground pepper on all sides. Put on a tray in a toaster oven at 400 degrees F for about 25 minutes, or until no longer pink inside.

The cooked turkey tenderloin. I got this from "The Turkey Lady" at Central Market in Lancat

Cook the pancetta in a skillet over medium heat until crisp, remove to paper towels to cool.

I just loooooove pancetta. It has a great flavor.

After the pasta is cooked until al dente, drain and rinse in cold water to cool down. Dump in a large bowl.
Rinse the arugula and rip larger leaves in half. Add to bowl.

This organic arugula from market was tender and much better than the supermarket variety nowadays.

Cut the avocado in half, remove pit, and peel off outer skin. Cut into a 3/4 inch dice. Sprinkle with lemon juice, then add to pasta.

This avocado, from the organic produce stand, was also labeled "Fair Trade Certified"!!! It was beautiful and delicious.

Roughly chop sundried tomatoes and add in. Crumble pancetta and also add into the salad.
Meanwhile, make the vinaigrette. Blend the olive oil, vinegar, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a blender, or use a container and an immersion blender (This is what I did, less clean up.) Then add the shallot, garlic and honey and blend until shallot and garlic are incorporated.

This organic lemon was HUGE!

Cut the turkey into bite sized pieces and cool. Add to the pasta mixture, then mix in the vinaigrette. Serve with freshly shaved parmesan on top.

Approximate cost of this dinner: $17.00 (including mostly organic ingredients)
Approximate cost of original recipe (cut in half to serve two): $58.00

Barefoot Bloggers: Chinese Chicken Salad

This week McKenzie of Kenzie's Kitchen chose this lovely salad from the Barefoot Contessa.
This meal was healthy and delicious! I wanted to use asparagus, I really did. But here in Lancaster, PA asparagus is not in season quite yet. It should be very soon. But asparagus is one of those vegetables I am very picky about eating only local and in season. It is just not very good shipped in from thousands of miles away, I think.
So I used snow peas, and they worked very well. I also used rice vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.
Other than that I halved the recipe and I felt really healthy about eating this dinner!!
Until I had a few glasses of wine with it. Whoops!
Hey, I'm on Easter break, I don't need to work tomorrow. So it's all good.

nocoupons

• Ingredients

  nocoupons

  • 4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on)
  • Good olive oil
  • Kosher salt
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally (Or snow peas, cut in half diagonally)
    
  • 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
  • 2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
  • 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted

  For the dressing:

  nocoupons

  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar (or rice vinegar)
    
  • 3 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon honey
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
  • 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
  • 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  Directions

  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper.
  

• Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.

• Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.

  Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing

• 

• Pour the dressing over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

  
  

Barefoot Bloggers: Chicken Piccata

I love chicken piccata! So a big thanks to Lindsey of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings for picking this Barefoot Contessa recipe this month.
My deviations from the posted recipe: I added a handful of capers to the sauce.
I used small, chicken breast "tenders" instead of half of a whole breast.
tried to use my own home made bread crumbs, but thought it wouldn't turn out right. So I used panko bread crumbs, seasoned with some dried Italian spices. I tried one tender with the homemade bread crumbs. Since they weren't as fine, it didn't look quite as nice, but tasted good.
Also, I boiled some angel hair pasta to serve this over. I loved the strong lemon flavor!
Oh....and I used a cast iron skillet to flatten the chicken tenders. Worked great!!

Chicken Piccata Ina Garten

• 2 split (1 whole) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 extra-large egg
• 1/2 tablespoon water
• 3/4 cup seasoned dry bread crumbs
• Good olive oil
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature, divided
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons), lemon halves reserved
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• Sliced lemon, for serving
• Chopped fresh parsley leaves, for serving
• I added about 1/4 cup capers, and half a pound of angel hair pasta.
  

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.

Place each chicken breast between 2 sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap and pound out to 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper.

Here are the tenders post-flattening.

Mix the flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper in a shallow plate. In a second plate, beat the egg and 1/2 tablespoon of water together. Place the bread crumbs on a third plate. Dip each chicken breast first in the flour, shake off the excess, and then dip in the egg and bread crumb mixtures.

Here you can see the panko coated pieces, and on the right the homemade bread crumb piece. I felt it didn't coat as well but they pieces did stick on and it was alright. Panko looked better.

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan over medium to medium-low heat. Add the chicken breasts and cook for 2 minutes on each side, until browned. Place them on the sheet pan and allow them to bake for 5 to 10 minutes while you make the sauce.

For the sauce, wipe out the saute pan with a dry paper towel. Over medium heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and then add the lemon juice, wine, the reserved lemon halves, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Boil over high heat until reduced in half, about 2 minutes.

Here is where I added some capers in, while the sauce is reducing.

Off the heat, add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and swirl to combine. Discard the lemon halves and serve 1 chicken breast on each plate. Spoon on the sauce and serve with a slice of lemon and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.

Eat and enjoy!

Thanksgiving Leftovers: Post 1

November was not a good month for me, blogging wise. I am here to make that up with several posts on how to use Thanksgiving leftovers.
I made a turkey this year, so I had plenty to use up. This first recipe also has the bonus of using leftover mashed potatoes to make a shepherd's pie. I love shepherd's pie, but on a regular weeknight making a dinner that also requires making mashed potatoes doesn't happen. So this is a nice use of leftovers. I even used leftover white wine from Thanksgiving dinner!


Thanksgiving Leftover Shepherd's Pie

1 onion, chopped
1 bulb fennel, cored and chopped into bite sized pieces
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 TBSP butter
1 TBSP olive oil
2 carrots, halved and cut into 1/4" slices
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup dry white wine
3 TBSP butter
3 TBSP all-purpose flour
1 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper
1 1/2-ish cups diced leftover cooked turkey
Leftover mashed potatoes (about 1 1/2 cups)

Pre-heat the oven to 350.

Here is the chopped onion and fennel. I just love fennel, it gives winter food a Je ne sais quoi.

Melt 1 TBSP butter and olive oil in a large skillet. Add onion and fennel. Saute on med-high about 5 minutes or so, until they start to get soft. Then add the gah-lic and cook for another minute or two. Then add the other veggies and the sage.

You could use any other veggies you have lying around that you want also. I think a red bell pepper would be nice.

Turn down and let it cook a little, adding some salt and pepper.
While the veggies finish cooking, add the 3 TBSP of butter to a saucepan. Once it is melted, whisk in the flour to make the base for your sauce. This is what will make it thick. After the flour and butter come together cook it for about a minute.

Here is the butter and flour getting cozy. For this, you can't cut down the amount of butter, or it won't work. You need an equal amount of fat and flour to make this base.

Then slowly add the broth and wine, whisking it in to combine.

I didn't measure exact amounts of wine and broth, to be honest. Just keep adding until you get the consistency you want in your sauce

Add a little salt and pepper. My sauce tasted pretty salty when I tasted it, but once I ate the final product it didn't. Remember, the sauce will be with all those veggies and it will balance.



Add the turkey to the veggies, then stir in the sauce. Pour it all into a small casserole dish.

then top with the mashed potatoes.

Then top with the mashed potatoes.

Sprinkle on the grated parmesan or romano cheese.

Put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until the potatoes look a little browned.

Barefoot Bloggers: Vegetable Pot Pie

So I liked this pot pie a lot. I changed up several of the ingredients so I don't know if the integrity of the recipe is still there. Ok the integrity might be gone since I added chicken that I stir-fried in a pan before baking. It is now a chicken pot pie. But the husband wanted the chicken. What can you do?
Other changes:
-All butter for the the crust. Shortening is not all-natural and offends my sensibilities. Or something like that.
-Veggie changes galore: I used sweet potato, butternut squash, onion, carrots, and fennel. They are seasonal, asparagus isn't.
-I used some wine instead of Pernod. Although now I wonder what the extra licorice taste would be like. Next time I will try it.
-Finally I halved the recipe.
I liked making the crust in the food processor. Much faster! And it was a great crust. I have made crust with only butter for pies before. I think it turns out well.
I thought the sauce was well seasoned, but maybe it could have been even more. Once you add all the veggies you need the salt.
Here is the original recipe.

Vegetable Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions)
• 1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups good chicken stock
• 1 tablespoon Pernod
• Pinch saffron threads
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound)
• 1 1/2 cups asparagus tips
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound)
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley

For the pastry:

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/4 pound cold unsalted butter, diced
• 1/2 to 2/3 cup ice water
• 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
• Flaked sea salt and cracked black pepper

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes.

Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod, saffron, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned.

Here is the highly seasoned sauce. Even if it tastes salty don't be shy. The veggies soak it up.

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions, and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls.

Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot. (It did not take one hour for mine to be done.)

Chickeny-goodness

I am trying some chicken recipes. I am considering entering this one in a contest. It was inspired by an appetizer I ordered in a restaurant last weekend. It was asparagus wrapped in prosciutto. The appetizer wasn't so hot (the asparagus was totally dried out, definitely needed some olive oil.) I made this for my husband and another couple. As you can see from the picture, I tried putting the prosciutto inside and outside the chicken. The consensus was that it is better outside. I think I will also try to use more cheese next time, or maybe even grate a little on top to brown!!

Asparagus Chicken Roll-ups

1/4 cup olive oil
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
fresh ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt
8 pieces chicken breast tenders (about a pound)
1 bunch asparagus
6 oz. Fontina cheese, cut into 4 pieces
8 slices prosciutto

In a large plastic zip baggie, lay each chicken tender flat. With a small heavy pan, pound the chicken tenders until they are thin. Pour the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, oregano, basil, salt and pepper into the bag with the chicken. Close and shake to mix. Refrigerate for 2-3 hours.
Pre-heat oven to 375 F.
Cover a baking sheet in foil. Lay the eight pieces of prosciutto on the sheet. Place a chicken piece on top of the prosciutto. Then put the fontina and three pieces of asparagus on top. Then roll the chicken and prosciutto around cheese and asparagus, and secure with a toothpick. Drizzle some olive oil over the roll-ups, especially the asparagus ends sticking out of the roll-ups. (I used a pastry brush to really make sure the asparagus was coated in oil.)
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink inside.

I also served crostini with a olive tapenade-type dish. I found citrus-stuffed green olives at Giant (made by the Simply Enjoy brand). I chopped these up then added:
a squeeze of lemon juice
a little lemon zest
olive oil
balsamic vinegar
lots of fresh ground pepper

It was pretty tasty. The citrus olives had a lot to do with that, they had a lot of flavor. My husband also enjoyed them in his martini!!

Filling Southwest Turkey Soup

Usually I am a planner-aheader. I like to know what meals I will be cooking all week long. And usually I get the recipes from a cookbook or magazine.
I am trying to make up more of my own though. And today provided a good opportunity. I thought we were going to have dinner out, but when we did not I looked at what I had already and came up with this soup. Originally might have been nachos or a rice-turkey-cheese casserole. But the discovery of a little box of Campbell's Southwest Corn soup in the pantry turned it into.....soup!
NOTE-I get the habanero cheese from S. Clyde Weavers, a local store here in Lancaster, PA. They have some high quality cheese. Pepper jack would be a good substitute.
Ingredients: Serves 3-4 people.

1/2 cup Texmati (Basmati) rice
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 medium onion
1 hot pepper (I used serrano)
1/2 lb-3/4 lb ground turkey
a few shakes of chipotle powder (or cayenne pepper)
1/2 tsp cumin
1 small box (18.3 oz) Campbells Southwest Corn soup
Toppings (Optional, select the ones you like)
fresh cilantro
hot sauce
sour cream
tortilla chips
grated cheddar cheese (I used spicy Habanero cheese.)

Directions
Put the rice and broth in a medium pot. Bring to a boil, then turn down, put the lid on and simmer for about 15 minutes.
While the rice is cooking, chop the onion and the pepper. Spray a non-stick pan and saute for a few minutes, then add the ground turkey. Season with salt, pepper, the chipotle and cumin. Cook until turkey is no longer pink.
When the rice is done, add the turkey mixture to the pot. Then add the box of soup. Cook for a few minutes, until heated through.
Spoon into bowls. Top with whatever combination of the toppings you like!!!

This was a very thick soup. You could add more soup or add some chicken broth to thin it out also.
If you like things spicier, try using a hotter pepper. Maybe half of a habanero!
Or if you don't like spicy food just use a red bell pepper instead.