Tag Archives: chicken

Peachy Keen Chicken Salad

Peachy Keen Chicken Salad

This salad!!! Oh my! New family favorite. I love to cook using ingredients in their peak season and right now peaches are perfection. Mmmm! This salad is our only meal of the day…it’s that hearty and satisfying!

The base flavors of this salad are peaches, goat cheese, blueberries and basil. These flavors compliment each other with sweet, savory and tangy tastes.

Salad notes – I always try to add a hidden vegetable to bump the nutritional value and the hidden jem here are green beans. They don’t change the taste but add nutrition and pack a crunch.

Bacon and peaches play off of each other with salty & sweet flavors and give this extra layers of YUM!

Compote note – Leeks add a savory tang to the sweet peaches and sugar in the compote. Balance is key to a yummy dish.

Marinade note – I always use grapeseed oil when I can. It’s better for our hearts than other oils and can handle heat up to 500 degrees which makes it perfect for the grill to help keep proteins from sticking when flipping.

Peach Compote:

6              fresh peaches; peeled and sliced

1/4c         sugar

1              leek; white part only finely sliced

Chicken marinade:

4 -6         chicken breasts (# of pieces depends on # of servings)

4T           balsamic vinegar

3T           garlic powder (not garlic salt)

1T           Herbs de Provence

4T           grapeseed oil

Salt & pepper to taste (be a little generous with the salt)

Dressing:

1/2c         balsamic vinegar

1/2c         extra virgin olive oil

2              fresh peaches; peeled and Sliced

2T            good white wine (preferably not “cooking wine”)

1/4c         sugar

1/2t          salt

1T            Herbs de Provence

Salad:

10oz       spring lettuce

5oz         baby kale

1/2c       fresh basil; finely chopped

2c            fresh green beans; ends cut off and beans cut in thirds

1c            green onions; chopped

4oz         goat cheese; crumbled

1c bacon; cooked and crumbled

1c            cranberries (50% less sugar)

1pint      blueberries

1c            pecan pieces

3              fresh peaches; peeled and sliced

1c            red pepper; diced

1              avocado; sliced

Peach compote topping

Directions:

1. Begin the peach compote. Place 6 sliced peaches and sugar in small saucepot and cooking on medium heat, stirring often so it doesn’t burn.

2. Once bubbling, turn down the heat to low and add sliced leeks. Simmer on low until sauce becomes translucent and compote is loose-jam consistency. It will take a good 20 minutes so start this step first.

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3. While compote is reducing, prep chicken by rinsing the chicken then the trimming fat and cutting breasts in half lengthwise.

4. Add chicken halves to a gallon plastic bag and then add the marinade ingredients.

5. Massage the bag gently and thoroughly to coat the chicken pieces evenly.  Set aside.

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6. Now make the dressing by blending all dressing ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pour into a serving bottle and chill until ready to use.

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7. Place cut green beans in a small pot with enough water to cover and boil for 5 minutes (set a timer!).

8. Immediately remove beans from heat and dunk them in an ice bath (a bowl with enough ice and cold water to cover the beans). This is called blanching. Boiling will slightly cook the beans, and the ice water bath shocks them so they stop cooking and keep their crunch and color. Keep them in the ice bath until ready to use.

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9. Heat grill and place chicken halves on the grill. Cook thoroughly. (You can also bake the chicken in the oven or air bake for approx. 20 minutes @ 350 turning halfway through- in lieu of grilling.)

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Time to assemble the salad…

10. Compote should be finished. Once it is thick, pour into a bowl and let cool on the counter while making the salad.

11. Keep checking on and turning the chicken, then remove from heat.

12. Assembling the salad – plate the ingredients per their list order beginning with lettuce and ending with avocado. (I always put the green items on the bottom so the colorful items pop on top.)

13. Drizzle dressing over top. (Leftover dressing makes a great marinade for chicken or pork – or more salads!)

14. Place two grilled chicken halves on top of each salad. Evenly spoon compote over all chicken pieces. Serve immediately.

Lemon Chicken with Lemon Basil Salad

As temperatures climb, we crave the light, fresh flavors of summer. Lemon and basil are two of those addictive tastes and are key ingredients to making this dish pop!

Packing this salad with extra proteins, like pepitas and nutritional yeast, makes this meal satisfying, even as its taste leaves us wanting more. Mmmmm!

Lemon Chicken with Lemon Basil Salad

Ingredients: serves 4

Chicken –                                                                    

4                             chicken breasts; halved longwise

1 1/4c                    Panko plain breadcrumbs

3T                            nutritional yeast (for parmesan flavor and additional protein & vitamin Bs)

3                              lemons’ zest (zest 3 lemons, then juice them for the dressing)

1                              lemon; juiced (zest first, then save zest for dressing)

2t                            Herbs de Provence

2T                           oil (olive or avocado)

                               salt/pepper to taste (use black pepper generously)

                               pump, not aerosol, spray oil (Pam cooking spray with coconut oil)

Salad –                                                                     

5oz                          baby kale                                                              

5oz                          arugula lettuce                                                                 

1 ½ c                       fresh basil; finely chopped                               

½#                           fresh Brussel sprouts; thinly sliced                 

1c                            green onion; diced                                             

1                              female red pepper; diced                                               

1 pint                      cherry or grape tomatoes; halved                   

1c                            carrots; thinly sliced (I like rainbow carrots for color)

1c                            pepitas (a.k.a. pumpkin seeds)

Lemon Dressing –

1/3c                        plain (unseasoned) rice vinegar

1/2c                        fresh lemon juice (about 3)

1/3c                        canola or vegetable oil

1/4c                        sugar

1/2t                        salt

1                             garlic clove; minced

1                             lemon zest

Directions:

1. Trim chicken and place halves in a gallon Ziploc bag with all chicken ingredients. Massage until well coated. Place on greased cooking tray and spray pump oil top to top help crisp the breadcrumbs.

2. Bake at 350 for 20 min or until cooked through. Or air fry at 400 for 20min (flipping halfway through). Or pan fry in extra oil on medium heat until cooked through.

3. Prepare dressing – combine all ingredients in a bottle/bowl with lid & shake well until sugar dissolves or blend in food processor/blender.

4. Divide salad ingredients in fourths. Plate the salad in order from bottom up: lettuce, basil, Brussels, onion, pepper, tomatoes, carrots, pepitas. Drizzle dressing over salad. Place chicken on top and drizzle dressing over chicken. Serve immediately.

Cooking note – use a female pepper because they are sweeter and better for eating raw. Male peppers are better for cooking. Female peppers have 4 bumps on the bottom. Male peppers have 3 bumps. You can taste the difference! 😊

Winter Salad

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If you can name the ingredients in a typical salad, then it’s time to change what’s in the bowl.

I was craving a new salad this week, and after concocting this one it is now one of my all-time favorites! It’s not a light, sweet summer salad. Although a chilled salad, the eclectic collection of tangy, tart and savory ingredients makes this winter salad perfect for cold weather or any time of year.

The smoky bacon pairs perfectly with sweet green peas. The crunch of walnuts plays off the soft quinoa. Tangy pickled onions and zesty blue cheese spice up the light tomatoes. The dressing has warm, layered flavors of balsamic vinegar, red wine and spicy brown mustard – and a little will go a long way. It adds just the right amount of zip without dominating the salad’s flavor. Add chicken for an entree salad, or omit it for a lighter side side.

If you’re looking for a salad to IMPRESS, this is it. Pull up a seat at the adult table and enjoy this awesome, healthy, hearty meal!

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SALAD INGREDIENTS:

2, 5oz bags of mixed greens for 4 entree salads

3c of Brussel sprouts; raw chopped thin with stalk ends cut off

2 handfuls of petite peas; frozen

Quinoa; plain, cooked per bag directions with salt & pepper to taste; COOLED (about 1/2c cooked for each salad)

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes; halved

Half-handful of green onions; chopped

2 handfuls of pickled onions – for recipe click HERE (I’ve tried several recipes and this one is by far my fav – and one batch will last a month!)

2 handfuls of pumpkin seeds; roasted, shelled

2 handfuls of walnuts (or pecans); chopped or pieces

2.5 oz blue cheese; crumbled

2 handfuls of bacon (I use the Kirklands precooked & crumbled and keep it in the freezer so I can use any amount and throw the bag back in the freezer for later.)

Chicken; Rotisserie cooked, pulled and chopped

DRESSING INGREDIENTS:

1c Olive oil

5T Balsamic vinegar

4T Spicy brown mustard

3 Cloves fresh garlic; mined

1T Agave syrup

1T Red wine

1T Red wine vinegar

Pinch of salt

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DIRECTIONS:

Salad: Divide ingredients into 4 bowls. Wrap each bowl with plastic wrap and store in fridge. Just before serving, take 1 bowl at a time and dump that bowl’s ingredients into a large mixing bowl and toss thoroughly. Add the tossed salads back into their respective serving bowls.

*The quinoa can be cooked the day or two before. Add the peas & bacon frozen, they will be thawed by the time you’re ready to serve the salad.

Dressing: Add all dressing ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until thoroughly combined. Let dressing warm to at room temperature to avoid the olive oil from thickening once refrigerated. Blend dressing into the bowls when tossing. You will have dressing left over. Yay!!

Enjoy! 🙂

 

Mexican Chicken Salad

50/50 Spring greens and baby spinach
Grilled chicken; chopped & seasoned w/salt, pepper and garlic powder
Sauteed yellow onions, red & orange peppers; chopped & sauteed in grapeseed oil
Green onions; chopped
Grape or cherry tomatoes; halved
Canned corn; no salt added, drained
Canned black beans; no salt added, drained and rinsed
Canned pinto beans; no salt added, drained & rinsed
4-cheese Mexican blend shredded cheese
Avocado; sliced
Salsa; drained
Tortilla strips (optional)
Sour cream (optional)
Guacamole (optional)
Best paired with a Mexican ranch or jalapeno vinaigrette dressing
Splash of plain rice vinegar

If there is a Chuy’s restaurant nearby, their creamy jalapeno dip is awesome on this salad!

Sweet Fruit with Chicken Salad

I’m obsessed with salads! They are probably my favorite food because of their diversity. Unfortunately, they can get a boring wrap. Not so! Start with a green base and salads can take on any flavor and any culture. They can be served warm or cold, spicy or sweet – the possibilities are endless!

This week I made two different salads: Mexican and Sweet Fruit.

Sweet Fruit with Chicken Salad

50/50 mix of spring lettuce and baby spinach

Grilled chicken breast; chopped, seasoned with salt, pepper & garlic powder

Green onions; chopped

Grape or cherry tomatoes; halved

Canned mandarin orange slices in water, not syrup

Crumbled blue cheese

Pecans

Roasted pumpkin seeds

Seneca Granny Smith apple slices

Dried cranberries; 50% less sugar

Best paired with Panera’s Fuji Apple Vinaigrette Dressing or Brianna’s Blush Wine Vinaigrette

Splash of plain rice vinegar (My secret sauce to give salads, especially those on the sweeter side, a zesty kick as well as thin out thick dressings.)

Enjoy!!

 

 

Culinary Quest #13 – Chicken & Grape Salad

There is something really fresh about chicken salad.  It screams summer!  The only bummer is the nutrition factor which gets shot out of the water with mayonnaise.  😦 I discovered a mayo-less version in Dean & Deluca, but was very skeptical – so I bought some out of curiousty.  Wow!  It was so good!  I had to be convinced…and I was.

Below is my version of chicken & grape salad.  Although consideration needs to be given to refrigeration due to the chicken content, without the mayo I am a little more relieved when taking it to picnics, parties, etc.

The citrus really makes this salad pop, but it doesn’t dominate the flavor.  Also, when shopping, look for firm grapes.  Too soft and it makes the salad texture mushy.  The celery is the crunch; the chicken is the soft; and the grapes are the Goldilocks – just right in the middle.

This cool, summer salad can be served in a bowl on its own, or on a croissant, in a pita or between slices of bread.  The photo above shows this salad with hearty sourdough.

The vinaigrette makes more than enough for this recipe.  Depending on your preference, save some vinaigrette for later (great on lettuce salads or as a marinade) or use it to wet the salad almost like a citrus au jus.  Either way, it’s this easy recipe is a great way to beat the summer heat.  Enjoy!

Chicken & Grape Salad

Ingredients:

3              Chicken breasts

3c            Red grapes

4              Celery stalks

1/4c         Italian (a.k.a. flat) parsley; diced

salt, pepper, and herbs de provence to taste for the chicken

Citrus Vinaigrette

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Citrus Vinaigrette:

2T           rice vinegar

4T           fresh squeezed lemon juice w/ pulp

7T           frozen orange juice concentrate

4T           canola oil

2T           granular sugar

1/2t          salt

1/4t       pepper

Directions:

Trim fat from chicken and rinse under water.

Bake seasoned chicken in a foil-lined baking dish in oven @ 350 for 20 minutes or until done (do not over cook or it will dry out).  OR, boil in a large pot on the stove until done.  (Boiled will produce a milder flavor.)  When I bake, I use a dish that squishes the chicken close together so it doesn’t dry out.

While the chicken cools, prep the grapes and celery (wash first, then cut in large pieces).  Chop parsley.

Make the vinaigrette.

While chicken is still warm, cut into cubes.

Toss everything together in a large bowl. (The warm chicken helps absorb the vinaigrette.)

Let it sit several hours or overnight before serving.  Stir well before serving.

Culinary Quest #6 – Pasta Marinara with Parmesan Panko Chicken

Chow!  It’s time for our weekly culinary quest!  Last week we cooked up cool couscous salad.  This week we travel to Italy for food so good all you’ll need to go with it is a nap, seriously.

One of my favorite things in the whole wide world of food is quality marinara.  However, I cannot stomach paying exorbitant restaurant prices for simple noodles and sauce.  On the other hand, I find store-bought, jarred sauce to be mass-produced tasting with undesirable ingredients lurking on the label.  So I set out on a quest to make it myself.

My husband says the same thing every time after this meal, I need a nap.  My teen son calls it a tranquilizer dart dinner for the same reason. 🙂

Two things to mentions about this recipe:  #1 – The sauce is thick.  That’s because, when serving a breaded meat like chicken with a runny sauce, the breading gets soggy.  Eww.  This thick sauce leaves the chicken alone and makes for a nice crunch of chicken with every bite.

#2 – Speaking of crunch, the reason why I cut the chicken into strips is the crunch to chicken ratio.  I could’ve left the chicken breast whole, but for one, that’s a lot of chicken!, and two, there isn’t much crunch.  Cutting it into strips makes the chicken go farther (yeah! economical!) and there is more panko to enjoy.  All this talk is making me hungry, so let’s get to it!

This recipe isn’t difficult to make.  Just know you’ll have 3 things cooking at the same time. 🙂

Pasta Marinara with Parmesan Panko Chicken

Serves 6-8

1#                           box thin spaghetti

4                              boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1/2c                       flour

2                            eggs

1box                      Italian Panko bread crumbs

1/4t                        black pepper

1t                            garlic powder (not garlic salt)

1/2c                       parmesan cheese; grated (or Romano)

2 x 28oz cans        petite diced tomatoes; slightly drained

12oz                       tomato paste

6                            fresh garlic cloves; crushed

1 bunch                  fresh basil; chopped

2t                            dried oregano

1/4t                        salt  (plus more for the pasta water)

4T                           olive oil (plus more for frying)

Sauce:

In a large skillet, empty both cans of tomatoes (slightly drained) & tomato paste.  Add 2T olive oil, crushed garlic, salt, oregano & basil.  Stir until blended.

Cook on medium, stirring to prevent scorching, until water from tomatoes cooks off and sauce thickens.  Let this simmer covered on low, stirring occasionally, while chicken and noodles are being prepared.

Chicken:

Pour flour into a gallon-sized Ziploc bag.

Crack eggs in gallon Ziploc bag, mush the bag until mixed.

Pour box of Panko, parmesan cheese, pepper and garlic powder into another gallon Ziploc bag.  Shake together.

Rinse chicken under water.  Trim any fat.  Cut each chicken breast into 4 strips.

Coat the chicken fillets, one at a time: first in the flour, then the egg, then shake egg-coated chicken in Panko bag.

Place chicken on a lightly greased, foil covered 9×13 dish.

Bake @ 350 20 minutes until done.

Remove chicken and place in hot skillet (4-6 at a time) with olive oil.  Fry all sides using a Diavola press.  If you do not have a Diavola press, try using the bottom of a clean, weighty sauce pan.  The frying only takes a couple of minutes because the chicken is already cooked.

Pasta:

Cook box of spaghetti noodles al dente (10 min in boiling, salted water).  Drain, mix with 2T olive oil to keep noodles from sticking together.

On plate- layer noodles, then sauce, then Panko chicken on top.

Buon Appetito!

Here, the chicken is raw.  I put the chicken strips in a slightly greased 9×13 dish so they are close together and won’t dry out in the oven.

Just enough hot olive oil to fry

Almost done!

Time to enjoy!

Culinary Quest #4 – Greek Chicken Salad

I have always dreamed of being a part of a huge Greek or Italian family.  You know, ten brothers and sisters and so many cousins you can’t name them all. (Okay, I’m exaggerating, but you get the point!)  And, I love Greek and Italian food!  Honestly, I think there must be someone in my ancestry who is one or the other, but we’ve yet to discover them.  So to get that big family feel, I love to cook Greek and Italain food.  Today…we’re going Greek!

Below is my version of Dean & Deluca’s salad that is oh so good!  Beware…this is not a quick prep.  It takes a little time, but every minute of labor rewards you with a dense, full-bodied flavor that zings your taste buds.  It’s not difficult at all, just prepping the the veggies takes a little time.

This salad is a hearty meal in itself, and only needs tea and a pita pocket to stuff it into!

The work pays it forward because you get 12 full servings out of this delectable dish!  If you’d like, you can half the ingredients for a smaller portion.  Either way, it’s fresh, healthy and totally savory & delicious.  My teenage son picked this, of all things, for his lunches this week.  Score one for a seasoned palette!

This salad is great to take to a picnic, work or block party.  Enjoy!

Kristi’s Chicken Greek Salad

(yields 12 cups)

Ingredients:  

4          Chicken breasts; cooked (w/salt & pepper, garlic powder & Italian seasoning), cooled & chopped

1c        Pepperoncini peppers; hulled & chopped

1 med  Red onion; chopped

10 oz    Sun-dried tomatoes; jarred in oil; drained & thinly sliced

3c        Artichoke hearts; drained & chopped

1c        Kalamata olives; pitted & diced

1          Cucumber; peeled, quartered & chopped

1T        Oregano

1c        Italian (a.k.a. flat) parsley; fresh, diced (about 1 bunch)

1          Lemon zest; whole large lemon

1c        Feta; crumbled

Feta vinaigrette (see below)

 

          Feta Vinaigrette

1/2c    Canola oil

4T        Rice vinegar

2T        Shallots; finely diced

1/8t     Black pepper

1t         Oregano

1t         Thyme

3/4c     Feta; reduced fat; crumbled

1oz       Lemon juice; fresh

2t         Lemon zest; fresh

1/8t     salt

2          garlic cloves; fresh & pressed

Directions: 

Bake seasoned chicken in preheated oven @ 350 for about 20min or until done.  Set aside to cool.

While chicken is cooking, prepare remaining ingredients (except vinaigrette) in a large bowl. (Tip – to hull the pepperoncini, simply pull on the stem and the entire middle should slide right out.)

Once chicken has cooled, dice and add to bowl.

Make vinaigrette and toss everything together.

Cover and marinate several hours or overnight before serving. Can be made a day ahead. Before serving, using a large spoon, stir it well so the vinaigrette is mixed well in the salad.  Serve chilled with pita bread or baguette.