Curry Chicken Salad with Pears, Pecans and Raisins

Let the summer lunches begin! Alex A-L-W-A-Y-S wants a sandwich. Maisie usually wants peanut butter and marshmallow fluff. But today my little sweetie was clamoring for chicken salad. The last one I made was my regular Awesome-est Chicken Salad, so I decided to mix it up this time and make one with curry. Alex and I loved it - Maisie ate half... I think she was just sleepy!

Curry Chicken Salad with Pears, Pecans and Raisins

Ingredients:

2 - 10oz cans - Valley Fresh Organic Canned Chicken Breast In Water, drained
1/3 cup - Pears, diced small
1/4 cup - Green Onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons - Pecans, chopped
3 tablespoons - Raisins
3 teaspoons - Curry powder
1/2 teaspoon - Salt
1/2 teaspoon - Black
2/3 cup - Kraft Mayo With Olive Oil Reduced Fat

Mix it all up! I started with a 1/2 cup of mayo and then added more, since the kids like it a little creamier. We also like green onions around here, so reduce that amount if you want.

This chicken salad is great served in a pita! If you make it, enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Lots of love,

Curried Shrimp with Tomatoes and Spinach

I have been craving shrimp lately. I got a Fitbit and have been VERY motivated to change my diet/exercise lifestyle. I am being intentional about the foods I am buying and cooking, and wanted to see if I could make a curry that would keep in line with clean and low-fat eating. I served this over basmati rice tonight and Jeff loved it! I will definitely be making this one again!

Curried Shrimp with Tomatoes and Spinach

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup thinly sliced white onion (halve, then slice from stem to root)
1/2 thinly sliced sweet bell pepper
1 thinly sliced small yellow squash (4-5" in length)
3 teaspoons curry powder
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 small package of spinach
1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 1/2 to 2 c water
Juice of 1/2 large lime juice 
1/4 cup Greek non-fat yogurt

Add the oil to a pan on medium heat and saute onions and sweet bell pepper for a couple minutes, then add the squash. Saute them until they start to soften, about 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, curry powder, ginger, salt and red pepper flakes and continue to stir, breaking up the paste. 

After a minute, add the tomatoes, and stir for a minute or so until they start to release their juices. Stir in your spinach. (I didn't have fresh, so I used a small package of frozen spinach, thawed, drained and pressed to remove any liquids.) Stir in your water, start with a cup and a half, and add more if needed. (I like mine a little soupier when served with rice!) Simmer for a few minutes to break down the tomatoes, then add your shrimp and simmer another 3 or 4 minutes until the are opaque and fully cooked.

Remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice and the yogurt. Serve as is, or over rice.

If you want it a bit spicier, you can add more red pepper flakes. Also, for the fresh grated ginger, I keep a ginger root in my freezer in a freezer bag. I pull it out when I need it, grate it with a fine micro-plane grater, and then pop it back in. Ginger is very fibrous if grated at room temperature, but grates easily if frozen.

If you make it, enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Lots of love,

Pineapple Chicken Salad

Hello! I hope you had a wonderful Easter! After all the indulging lately, I felt like making something quick & light, so of course I reached for a couple cans of chicken. Yes, cans. I pick up 2 large cans of chicken breast and tuna every time I go to the grocery. I do LOVE chicken salad made from fresh chicken, but let's face it - sometimes there just aren't enough hours in the day!

Anyway, I was looking around for something different than the AWESOME~est Chicken Salad that I usually make. I found this recipe on MyRcipes.com and made a few changes.

Pineapple Chicken Salad

2 - 12.5 oz cans of chunk chicken in water

2/3 of a 15 oz can of crushed pineapple, drained

1 small grated carrot

1/3 cup sliced almonds

3 or 4 green scallions finely sliced

1/3 cup mayonnaise ( I use Hellman's Olive Oil Mayo)

1/3 cup greek yogurt

1 tbsp worcestershire sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 or 2 tsp McCormick Steakhouse Seasoning Grinder (or regular pepper)

1 tsp McCormick Sea Salt Grinder (or regular salt)

Drain chicken, and mash it with a fork to shred it up. Add the pineapple, carrot, almonds & scallions and mix. Whisk the mayo, yogurt, worcestershire and spices, then mix it into the chicken mixture. Chill and serve.

Servings: 8
Per serving: Calories - 196, Carbs - 10g,  Fat - 9g, Protein - 22g, Sodium - 806g, Sugar - 6g

The grated carrots make the chicken salad look "tropical" - LOL! Actually my tiny shreds made it look like salmon salad, a light orangy-pink color. Use larger shreds if you have an aversion to gaudy cuisine!

Let me know if you make it (and like it)!

Have an awesome day!

Chili Lime Veggie & Chicken Soup

I absolutely LOVE soups!!! I would/could eat soup every day of the week! After researching a few soups yesterday, I decided to jump in the kitchen this morning and run with some of the things I had learned. I was in the mood for a chicken~y and tangy little soup that I could use up some veggies and garbanzo beans in... (how did I end up with 7 cans of garbanzo beans in my pantry?)... so here's what I ended up with... 

Chili Lime Veggie & Chicken Soup

Ingredients:

3 or 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 diced chicken thighs (1/2 in. cubes)
1 cup thinly sliced white onion (half, then slice from stem to root)
1/2 diced sweet bell pepper
1/4 head of thinly sliced cabbage
1 cup diced zucchini (1/2 in. cubes)
1 cup diced yellow squash (1/2 in. cubes)
2 large minced garlic cloves
2 15-ounce cans garbanzos, drained and rinsed
1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, not drained
6 cups chicken broth
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of one lime juice
Zest of one lime

Saute the chicken, remove from pan and set aside. Add more olive oil if you need, and saute onions and sweet pepper for a couple minutes, then add cabbage, zucchini and squash. Saute them until they start to soften and then add garlic. After 2 or 3 minutes add the garbanzos, tomatoes, broth, chicken and spices and simmer for about 20 minutes. Prior to serving add the cilantro, lime and lime zest.

Now remember, I just "cook"... I don't pay attention to exact times and such, so these are approximate. Also, you can definitely turn up the heat a little by adding more garlic, chili powder and pepper... since one of my goals was that my kids would eat this (and they did without too much prodding), I used the amounts listed. But it would have been out of this world with a 14 oz can of plain tomatoes and a 14 oz can of Ro-tel! And maybe some white shoepeg corn... (darn - I meant to add corn!)

If you make it, enjoy! And let me know what you think!

Lots of love,

SALAD SATURDAY: Chopped Asian Chicken Salad

Happy Salad Saturday! A few weeks ago Mom and I were in Sam's Club and found this awesome Asian Chopped Salad Mix by Taylor Farms. While it was very fresh, yummy and certainly convenient, you could easily make your own, so I have put the approximate ingredients in my recipe. I didn't use the dressing that was in it, I decided to make my own.

Chopped Asian Chicken Salad
Serves 4

For the salad:

1 pint of cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 small bag of snow peas - 1/4' slices
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
3-4 sliced green onions
1/3 bunch roughly shopped cilantro
2 c shredded Napa or Savoy cabbage
2 c shredded green cabbage
1/2 c shredded carrot
1/2 c shredded red cabbage
2 grilled, shredded chicken breasts
1/2 cup roasted, chopped peanuts

For the dressing:

2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c orange juice
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp dry mustard

1 - Mix all the salad ingredients, except chicken and peanuts.

2 - Mix all the dressing ingredients in a jar, seal it & shake it baby!

3 - Now assemble your salad by placing your veggies a bowl, add some of the dressing and toss. Top it with chicken and peanuts.

You're drooling now, right? This is one of the freshest, cleanest tasting salads - I love how the dressing sparkles with the orange juice! And the peanuts put it over the top!!! Of course you can use fresh ginger and garlic in the dressing, it would only make it better! If you do, let the dressing sit a bit to absorb those flavors.

Love and hugs,

FOODIE : Another Name for Myself...

This post might not really be educational on a process, but it is educational about my passion for cooking. 

Day 2, Thursday: Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at. Take any approach you'd like (serious and educational or funny and sarcastic)

      

I love love love to cook! Especially soups and stews. I have tons of recipes books, and watch Food Network like a dude watches sports. Coming from the south, you'd expect we eat a lot of grits and gravy, and deep fried everything here, but actually I don't cook southern food much at all! Jeff is Dutch-Indonesian, and a lot of what I cook is Asian influenced. Soba noodles, miso paste, fish sauce, bonito flakes - anything exotic, can always be found in my pantry. 

Luckily, we live in an area close to an army base, with a substantial population of Koreans, and therefore, Korean markets! If you know what you're looking for and don't mind digging around food packaging that may or may not contain English, you can find tons of wonderful things! I like to go and buy all kinds of items and then play in my kitchen! One thing I have found that I love is Bulgogi sauce.... a steak marinaded in this stuff is the BOMB... now I don't want to eat a steak any other way!

Well, I could drone on and on about food, but I won't. I'm hoping to start including more pics and recipes from my culinary adventures here. See that tab up there that says "Foodie"? I've been working on setting it up, so stay tuned!

      

Bye for now,

The AWESOME~est Chicken Salad

Who doesn't love a good chicken salad? So this is a variation on a chicken salad recipe that my mother-in-law served in her cafe years ago. I helped her make it once, so that's why I call it a variation - LOL! I love it served on Pepper and Olive Oil Triscuits, or on flatbread crackers topped with a slice of avocado - YUMMM! I also throw in a 1/4 of chopped pecans occasionally to "dress it up" for showers or parties. 

The AWESOME~est Chicken Salad

2 - 12.5 oz cans of chunk chicken in water

1/2 cup mayonnaise ( I use Hellman's Olive Oil Mayo)

1 small apple, finely diced

3 or 4 green scallions finely sliced

1 tsp dill

1 or 2 tsp McCormick Garlic Pepper Seasoning Grinder

Drain chicken, and mash it between your fingers to shred it up. Add the other ingredients and mix until well blended. As far as the dill and garlic pepper, add those to your tastes. I love them both, so I tend to be heavy handed with them! Refrigerate for an hour and then serve.

Servings: 6
Per serving: Calories - 212, Carbs - 6g,  Fat - 10g, Protein - 24g, Sodium - 757g, Sugar - 2g

Let me know if you make it (and like it)!

Hugs,

YOU'RE JAM~TASTIC / CQC #179...

Me again... miss me? LOL! We started a new colourQ today... I am in love with these colors!!! I know, I say that a lot... I just LOVE yummy colors! I dug out an older set from The Alley Way Stamps, Kitchen Gadgets, and paired part of one of the sentiments with part of a sentiment from Mustache Mania.

I stamped and cut out the jam jar as a mask using a post-it note. I stamped it close to the top so I could use the sticky on the note to secure it to the paper when I stamped. But silly me, I didn't trim the very top of the jar, so when I pulled it off after stamping, I had missed the very top little edge of the other 2 jars - oops! so I trimmed it and then tried to re-stamp the missing bits. It worked pretty well on one side but was a little off on the other. Oops again! Oh well, I just went with it anyway...

          

Today was a crazy day in the kitchen.... I made lunch, Thai Basil-Coconut Chicken over Soba, and dinner, Red Beans and Rice, (So Jeff wouldn't eat out while at work) before noon. And this afternoon the kids and I made Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies.

 

 

Have a great night!