Crunchy Thai Chicken Salad

I was lucky enough to be selected to try the Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken through the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program.  Sometimes things around here get busy on weeknights so I was really looking forward to having an easy go-to food like this to create  recipes for the family.

We love Thai Peanut Chicken  and this recipe would work well not just as a salad but also a pasta dish or even just the chicken mixed with the peanut dressing over rice.  The ease of the Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken makes it very versatile.

CRUNCHY THAI CHICKEN SALAD

Ingredients for Dressing:

1/2 Cup Peanut Butter

Juice and Zest of 1 Lime

2 Tsp Dark Sesame Oil

3 TBS Mirin

2 TBS Soy Sauce

3 TBS Light Coconut Milk

3 Cloves of Garlic, minced

1 TBS Ginger, minced

1/3 Cup Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped

1 TBS Sriracha (or less to suit your spice tolerance)

Water

Directions for Dressing:

1.  Add all ingredients to blender and blend until smooth.  Add water a little bit at a time to thin the dressing out to desired consistency.

Ingredients for Salad:

1 Package of Tyson Ready and Grilled Chicken

2 Cups Iceberg or Romaine lettuce, chopped

2 Cups Napa Cabbage Chopped

3 Carrots, Shredded

1 Cucumber, seeded and diced

3 Hearts of Celery, diced

Black Pepper Roasted Almonds (Available in produce section)

Ginger Garlic Wonton Strips (Available in produce section)

Directions for salad:

1.  Add lettuce, cabbage,carrots, cucumber and chicken to a large bowl.

2.  Add dressing a little bit at a time and toss so salad is lightly coated throughout.

3.  Top with desired amount of almonds and won ton strips before serving.

Spicy Pork – Korean Style

This isn’t really a recipe post.  Primarily because I did not make the spicy pork and have been sworn to secrecy about the recipe.  My recent food obsession is Korean food for some reason and I am lucky enough to have a friend that is not only Korean but also a lover of food whose family owns a catering business.  Talk about knowing the right people… She took pity on me since she knows Mr. Foodie does not love Korean food and I always want to eat it and brought me over some of her native dishes.  (The spring rolls pictured are also her creation, just maybe not so Korean!)  I’m not allowed to tell you the recipe but I can give you a list of ingredients, hopefully you can play with it and figure out the measurements.  I had to give my friend some props on this blog for feeding me a good meal!

SPICY PORK – KOREAN STYLE

Ingredients:

Sriracha

Sambal

Korean Fermented Pepper Paste

Corn Syrup

Dried Pepper Flakes

Sugar

Ground Ginger

Ground Garlic

Salt

Pepper

Lemon Juice

Sesame Oil

Soy Sauce

Directions:

1.  Call good Korean girlfriend and have her make this for you.

New Belgium Mighty Arrow Beer Bread Monte Cristo

I was recently selected to be a part of the FoodBuzz Tastemaker Program for New Belgium Brewing Company.  I was excited to create a recipe using one of their brews – many thanks to FoodBuzz and New Belgium Brewing Company for the opportunity!

I decided to make a Monte Cristo Sandwich using beer bread I made with their Mighty Arrow Pale Ale.  This product appealed to me because of its honey malt base (and who can resist a beer made in tribute to a dog?!?!?)  I knew the slight sweetness of the brew would go well with the sweet-savory combo that the Monte Cristo offers.

Both Mr. Foodie and I were pleased with the results.  The Mighty Arrow gave the beer bread a slightly sweet flavor and a nice, dense texture that held up well to the batter and pan frying. A winner for us!

NEW BELGIUM MIGHTY ARROW BEER BREAD MONTE CRISTO

Ingredients for Beer Bread:

3 Cups All Purpose Flour

4 TBS Granulated Sugar

1 Tsp Baking Powder

1 Bottle of New Belgium Mighty Arrow Pale Ale

1/4 Cup Butter, melted

Directions for beer bread:

1.  Grease a standard size loaf pan and pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except melted butter.

3.  Pour batter into greased loaf pan and top evenly with 1/8 cup of melted butter.

4.  Bake for 45 minutes, baste with remaining butter and bake an additional 10-15 minutes.

5.  Remove loaf from pan and let cool completely on wire rack before slicing fairly thin to assemble sandwiches.

Ingredients for Sandwich:

2 Thin Slices of Beer Bread

1 Tsp Mayonaise

2 Thin Slices of either Black Forest Ham or Turkey (I made sandwiches with both, Turkey is pictured above.)

1 Slice of Havarti Cheese

3 Eggs

1/3 Cup Milk

3 TBS Butter

Mascarpone Cheese

Strawberries, slices thin

Powdered Sugar

Directions for sandwich:

1.  Spread each slice of beer bread lightly with mayonaise.  Layer ham (or turkey) and Havarti in between the two slices.

2.  Heat and melt butter in a skillet over medium heat.

3.  In a small bowl, beat eggs with milk.

4.  Dip assembled sandwich into the egg mixture.

5.  Fry dipped sandwich in butter until golden brown on both sides.

6.  Remove sandwich to plate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Add a dollop of mascarpone cheese and sliced strawberries and serve.

Creamy Mashed Cauliflower

I recently made this as an accompaniment for fish.  I am not a big fan of mashed potatoes in general and certainly not served with fish but both Mr. Foodie and I agreed that the mashed cauliflower went pretty well with it.  I love cauliflower so I may be a little bit biased.  If you are looking for a mashed potato substitute, I do not think this will do – it is definitely mashed cauliflower!

CREAMY MASHED CAULFLOWER

Ingredients:

1 Large Head of Cauliflower, Chopped into Florets

1/2 Chicken or Vegetable Broth

1 TBS Cornstarch

1/3 Cup Heavy Cream

1 Tsp Sugar

1/4 Tsp Each White Pepper, Garlic Powder and Onion Powder

1 Tsp Salt

More Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

1.  Steam cauliflower until it is soft enough to mash with a potato masher, about 15 minutes.

2.  Mash drained cauliflower with 1/4 Cup Chicken (or Vegetable) broth to your desired consistency, mine was fairly smooth.

3.  Add cauliflower to a saucepan over medium heat.

4.  Make a slurry with cornstarch and remaining broth then add to cauliflower mixture.

5.  Add the remaining ingredients and combine well.

6.  Keep mixture on medium heat, stirring frequently until thickened, about 10 minutes.

7.  Individuals should add salt and pepper to taste once served.

Grilled Vegetable Sandwich

This is great if you are looking for a meatless meal.  It tastes great and is rich and satisfying without being too heavy.  We use a variety of vegetables for this – red peppers, zucchini, eggplant, yellow squash, etc…  I always serve this on ciabatta bread as I find it holds up and tastes the best.  We were not big fans of it on a whole grain bread.  We tried it with halloumi cheese once.  Halloumi cheese is a grillable cheese that originated in Cyprus that is VERY expensive.  Although we thought it tasted fine, it didn’t really add anything to the sandwich so ultimately, we decided it was not worth the hefty price tag.

GRILLED VEGETABLE SANDWICH

Ingredients:

Olive Oil

Ciabbata Rolls

Vegetables of Your Choice for Grilling, prepped/chopped for grilling

Salt & Pepper to taste

Basil Pesto (store bought or homemade)

Directions:

1.  Toss chopped vegetables with olive oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

2.  Grill vegetables using an outdoor grill or a grill pan on the stove top.  I like to get them a bit soft and charred, but grill to your preference.

3.  Brush ciabatta rolls lightly with olive oil  and grill (or broil) until lightly toasted.

3.  Spread pesto on bread and layer grilled vegetables on top.

Shortcut Chocolate Guinness Cake

In an effort to use up some of our St. Patrick’s Day Guinness stash so Mr. Foodie did not drink it all, I thought I would make one of my most favorite cakes – a chocolate Guinness cake.  Pictured above is one of my best gal pals at a Girls Night Out Baby Shower.  She requested a post baby shower so she could have a beer  –  the cake went well with the theme.  (Excuse the beautiful iPhone photo!)  You can make this cake from scratch or from a box mix.  Honestly, it is good either way and people will gobble it up.  I’m including the recipe for a doctored cake mix because, well, it’s that kind of day around here…

CHOCOLATE GUINNESS CAKE – THE SHORT CUT WAY

Ingredients:

For Cake

1 Box of Dark Chocolate Cake Mix (extra moist with pudding preffered)

1 Bottle of Guinness Stout

1/2 Cup Canola Oil

3 Eggs

1/2 Cup Bittersweet (or Semi-Sweet if you prefer) Chocolate, chopped

For Ganache

6 oz. Semi-Sweet Chocolate

6 TBS Heavy Cream

3/4 Tsp Instant Espresso

Directions:

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and coat a bundt pan with cooking spray.

2.  Combine cake mix, stout, oil and eggs in a large mixing bowl and use electric mixer on medium to beat until combined.  Pour evenly into bundt pan.

3.  Bake 35-40 minutes until toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

4.  Remove from oven and allow cake to cool in pan for about 15 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack.

5.  To make ganache, heat chocolate, cream and espresso in a double broiler and combine until smooth.

6.  Drizzle ganache over cooled cake.

Rub-a-Dub-Dub for Ribs

Raw Ribs with Rub

Grilled!

We like to BBQ year round at our house.  (BBQ’ing around here usually goes something like this:  I prepare all the foods and bring them to Mr. Foodie to put on the grill and then he diligently asks me if I think they are done yet.  When I say yes, he takes them off and I put them on the table.)  One of my favorite things to BBQ is baby back ribs, the only ribs Mr. Foodie will eat.  I always use a rub on the rack and let it sit in the fridge overnight.  While cooking, we baste with our favorite BBQ sauce towards the end of cooking to get a nice glaze.  This is my rub recipe, it’s a little spicy for some but we like a little heat.  This makes enough for two racks of baby back ribs.

RIB RUB

Ingredients:

6 TBS Brown Sugar

3 TBS Each Salt, Black Pepper and Paprika

2 Tsp Garlic Powder

Directions:

1.  Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly.

2.  Remove the membrane from each rack of ribs.

3.  Generously rub mixture into the rib racks, on both sides.

4.  Cover each rack with foil and refrigerate overnight.

5.  Grill as you would your normal ribs, basting several times towards the end of cooking with your favorite bbq sauce to get a good glaze.

Lime Chicken Soft Tacos

It’s been a while since I posted.  There was a mishap with Foodie Jr. and my camera…long story short:  regular lens went caput.  So, I have been documenting my food life from Mr. Foodie’s iphone, which takes pretty decent pictures, until a new lens is purchased.

This is actually one of Mr. Foodie’s favorite dinners and when pressed for his choice on the weekly menu, I would say that 8 times out of 10, he picks this.  It is not complicated, but I would say it is unique, not your typical taco flavors.  Something about the way the ingredients come together gives it a great flavor.  Nothing is overpowering and it is not spicy, so it is also very kid friendly.  I don’t measure this anymore, I just sort of eyeball everything. I encourage you to do the same and play with the flavors to your family’s liking.

LIME CHICKEN SOFT TACOS

Ingredients:

1 lb. Chicken Breast meat, cut into small pieces

1/8 Cup + 1 TBS Balsamic Vinegar (I like to use a fruit flavored one, like blackberry or black currant – I always have these on hand.)

2 Tsp Sugar

Juice from 1/2 Large Lime

2 Generous Pinches each of Salt & Black Pepper

1 TBS Roasted Garlic Paste (I like the Tra Vigne brand) or 2-3 Cloves of Fresh Minced Garlic

1 Tsp Dried Oregano ( I would not use fresh for this recipe)

Flour Tortillas and Your Preferred Taco Fixin’s

Directions:

1.  In a skillet over medium heat, cook chicken through, but not totally browned.

2.  Add vinegar, sugar, lime juice, salt, pepper, garlic and oregano and blend until chicken is coated.

3.  Cook until it is reduced down, the vinegar mixture will make a sort of glaze.

4.  Remove from heat and use meat mixture in tortillas to build your taco with whatever toppings you prefer.