Tag Archives: quick

Baby Kale, Strawberry, Chicken Salad with Candied Walnuts and Raspberry Vinaigrette 

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This salad is incredible and comes together so quickly. It’s perfect for lunch or dinner on a hot summer night. It’s a restaurant quality salad on the table in less than 10 minutes.

And it’s healthy.

Kale is packed with vitamins K, A and C, (a serving has more than 800 percent of your daily vitamin K needs);  walnuts have Omega 3 fatty acids, and the nuts and chicken give it protein to keep you full longer.

However, sunflower seeds do add a lot of calories and fat, so if you’re watching your waistline, you may want to omit those and double up on strawberries.

A sprinkle of goat cheese crumbles is great on this salad, too.

If you can’t find baby kale, you can substitute spinach or arugula. I bought baby kale in a plastic tub next to other salad greens.

It’s important to use honey roasted sunflower seeds as it adds sweetness. I used applewood smoked chicken, but that is not available at all stores, so regular is fine. I would stick with traditional and not use a lemon-pepper chicken.

Dress this salad with your favorite raspberry vinaigrette. I used Walmart’s generic brand, Great Value, and it was awesome. Enjoy this healthy, EASY meal.

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Baby Kale, Strawberry, Chicken Salad with Candied Walnuts and Raspberry Vinaigrette

3 cups baby kale greens

2 tablespoons honey roasted sunflower seeds

2 tablespoons candied or glazed walnuts

4 strawberries, hulled and sliced

1/2 cup to 2/3 cup chopped rotisserie chicken

1 tablespoon dried cranberries (optional)

Your favorite raspberry vinaigrette

Spread kale on a large plate. Top with all the other ingredients. Toss with vinaigrette and serve.

I like this with a crisp white wine.

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

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I can’t believe it’s been a week since I posted anything, but I have been buried in snow and also had a ton of deadlines. The family were all home with snow days, which meant I couldn’t get anything done. But I did create this fantastic, one pot dish on Friday.  One of my best friends came over for dinner, we opened a bottle of wine, and savored this. It’s wonderful, easy, and delicious. What more can you ask for?

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous

2 teaspoons canola oil

1 medium red onion

1 red bell pepper

1 heaping teaspoon cumin seed

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/3 cup Pomegranate infused dried cranberries

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 box garlic flavored couscous

½ cup chopped cilantro

3 cups chopped rotisserie chicken

Zest from half an orange

This one pot dish is absolutely delicious and comes together in 20 minutes. It’s packed with flavor

Chop onion and red bell pepper and set aside.  You can use a food processor, just keep the bell pepper a little more chunky.

Remove skin and chop chicken breasts and either leg or thigh meat. Depending on the size of the bird, this should yield enough chicken.

Take about 2/3 of a bunch of cilantro and chop it. Set aside.

Zest your orange and set aside, too.

In a large nonstick pot, heat oil over medium heat. When hot, add onion and cook until almost tender. Add red bell pepper, cumin and cinnamon and cook 2 minutes.

Then add as much water as required to make the couscous (it will say on the back of the box and you’re making the entire box), and flavor packet and dried cranberries.

Basically, you are making it according to package directions but you cut amount of olive oil in half because you already used canola in the vegetables.

When water comes to a boil, add couscous, stir, cover with a tight lid and let it rest for 5 minutes.

NOTE: If your chicken is fresh from the store, you will add it at the end. If it’s been refrigerated, then you should add it with the couscous before you put the lid on.

When couscous is ready, fluff with a fork and toss in cilantro, chopped chicken and orange zest.

Serve immediately.

The orange zest and red bell pepper are a great source of Vitamin C in this dish.

NOTE: if you don’t like using flavored couscous, you can use plain, but I suggest cooking it in reduced sodium chicken broth instead of water. You use the same measurements.

Creole Fried Rice

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I love fried rice and this is my Southern version.

This rice is flavored with Cajun seasoning, oregano, Andouille, chicken, and the “Trinity” is still crunchy, adding depth to the texture.

If you’re not familiar with the “Trinity” or “Holy Trinity” term, it’s a combination of onion, bell pepper and celery. This is the foundation of Cajun and Creole cooking and a staple in our house. I am married to a Louisiana man.

There’s a lot of differences between Cajun and Creole cooking, but the biggest one is tomatoes. You will notice I called this dish “Creole Fried Rice” and that’s because I use tomatoes in it. If you’re down South and have a jambalaya or gumbo with tomatoes, you’re eating a Creole-style dish.

Cajun food is considered to be more from the country. Creole cuisine is considered more city food.

Here’s a very condensed history. The word Cajun comes from “les Acadians” which were French colonists who settled in Canada. After British conquest of that area, those French descendants settled in Louisiana in the region now called Acadiana. This was a swampy region and what evolved in terms of food was incredible fare using local resources. Rice is a staple and so are spices and seasonings. There’s a lot of one-pot dishes and just down home comfort. Plus, I am amazed at what humans can create when they don’t have much.

The “Creoles” lived in New Orleans and were upper class descendants of settlers. The influences in that cuisine were largely Spanish, French, and African slaves, so there’s more fusion in this cooking. Also, the Creoles had more money to buy ingredients and import ingredients so dishes can be a little more complicated.

In general, I prefer Cajun food, and I use more Cajun ingredients like Andouille, Boudin, and Tasso.

Of course, this is an over-simplification and both styles of food have evolved. My husband stays true to Cajun cuisine and if I try to put a modern or “Yankee” twist on that fare, he tells me I am “bastardizing” his food.

So I can say it’s a big compliment that he loved this dish – although it’s my Creole version, not Cajun.

Be careful when using Cajun seasoning in this recipe because a lot of grocery store brands are terribly salty. I use Joe’s Stuff, which I discovered at the New Orleans School of Cooking: http://www.neworleansschoolofcooking.com/

Just be sure you taste your Cajun seasoning before adding it to the dish.  If there’s another one you’d recommend, let me know. I am always interested in trying new foods. To date though, Joe’s Stuff is the best (you can order it online).

By the way, if you’re ever in New Orleans and enjoy cooking, take a cooking class at New Orleans School of Cooking. It’s fun and educational. I learned a lot there and will definitely take another class. Take a class with Kevin, if you can. He’s a riot and great teacher.

Now, back to my dish. This fried rice came together in about 15 minutes, which is perfect on a busy weeknight (and it was a busy weeknight when I created this).

It’s a great way to use up leftover white rice or if you plan ahead and are making rice on Monday, make a double batch and have leftover rice ready to go on Tuesday.

I hope you enjoy it.

Creole Fried Rice

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 medium red onion, chopped

1 cup chopped celery

2/3 cup chopped green bell pepper

2 Andouille sausages

2 cups day-old rice

1 cup chopped rotisserie chicken

¼ teaspoon Cajun seasoning

¾ teaspoon oregano

1 cup canned tomatoes with celery, onions and peppers

Chop all vegetables (or use a food processor). If you’re using a food processor, coarsely chop the vegetables.

Slice Andouille in half and then chop into bite-size pieces.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. When it’s hot, add onions and cook 2 minutes. Then add celery and Andouille and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While that cooks, chop your chicken and set aside.

Add bell pepper and cook 1 minute (you want it to still be crisp). Now add rice, chicken, Cajun seasoning, oregano and tomatoes to the dish and cook another 3 minutes. You want to toss the rice so it’s coated in tomatoes, but don’t over-stir the rice or it will become gummy. Taste and add salt and pepper, if needed. Serve.cajun rice2

Chicken Tostadas with Lime Slaw

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I became addicted to lime slaw on a trip to Nicaragua. They serve a lime slaw, like a salad, on top of yucca and topped with pork rinds. Sounds awful, but it’s really good. Anyway, the healthiest part of that dish was the lime slaw and I started using lime to dress cole slaw instead of mayonnaise and just use very little oil.

Tostadas traditionally have a fried shell, but I often just lightly pan fry the shell to make it healthier. I prefer corn tortillas, but if you want a faster assembly, just use premade tostada shells.

For the healthiest option, skip the sour cream and pan fry the corn tortillas instead of using tostada shells.

Chicken Tostadas with Lime Slaw

Serves 2

4 corn tortillas or tostada shells

¾ cup sliced, skinless rotisserie chicken

1 cup cole slaw mix

½ teaspoon cumin seed

1 teaspoon sugar

½ teaspoon canola oil

1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste

Refried beans

Sliced avocado

Salsa (red or green is good)

Sour cream

Tomato slices (optional)

Directions:

First, whisk together sugar, cumin, oil, lime juice and cilantro. In another bowl, add this mixture to cole slaw mix, stir to thoroughly coat slaw, and set aside.

Slice your chicken and set aside. Slice avocado and set it aside.

Place desired amount of refried beans, about 1 tablespoon per tortilla, in a bowl, cover and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir and heat more, if necessary.

If using corn tortillas, use a large non-stick skillet and head the pan over medium heat. Add cooking spray or a little canola oil. When hot, add tortillas and cook about 3 minutes per side.

Then assemble tostadas: spread beans on the shell, then chicken, salsa, slaw, sour cream and slice avocado.

I added tomato slices but it was more for the photo. With the salsa, you don’t really need more tomato.

Enjoy. Look how beautiful this is … They say you know you’re eating healthy, when you’ve got a rainbow of colors on your plate and you sure do here.

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Chicken and Andouille Po’ Boy with Horseradish Slaw

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This was one of my favorite inventions of 2014.

This photo does not do the level of deliciousness justice. The chicken is hidden under the slaw and sausage is never sexy to photograph.

BUT, the recipe is FABULOUS!

If you like a little kick, and it’s only a little, you have to try this!

I love Louisiana food. My husband is from there and we visit every year, but long before I met him, New Orleans was one of my favorite food cities.

So last summer, I wanted to invent an easy Po’Boy, which is one of my favorite sandwiches.

All my favorite Po  Boys are fried and I wanted something lighter, so I decided to mix lean chicken breast with spicy Andouille and top it with a spicy slaw.

The horseradish slaw makes this dish!!! It’s fantastic. You will have leftovers of this slaw, so I often plan either a barbecue meal the next day or even a salmon sandwich. This slaw is great on pork, brisket or salmon. The slaw is best made 2 hours in advance to let the flavors marinate. If you don’t have that time, make one and a half times the dressing recipe for the slaw so there’s more sauce on it.

Andouille is a smoked, pork Cajun sausage and it’s traditionally spicy.  If you or your children don’t like a lot of spice, you could use Johnsonville New Orleans style Andouille, which is not very spicy; or even use kielbasa. If you do like a little kick and you’re in the Springfield area, try Circle B Ranch’s Andouille. Circle B. Ranch is a humanely raised certified hog farm in Seymour. I’ve been there and the hogs graze freely. I like that. You can find the product at Harter House or the Greater Springfield Farmers Market. One bite and you can tell there are not fillers, but it is spicy, so keep that in mind, if you’re sensitive to heat because the slaw has a little kick. You can find more information about Circle B Ranch and where to buy their pork: http://www.circlebranchpork.com

Chicken and Andouille Po’ Boy with Horseradish Slaw

1 (14-ounce) bag cole slaw mix (I like the tri-colored, but plain is fine)

½ cup mayonnaise

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons Sandwich Pal Woeber’s horseradish sauce (if you substitute another horseradish, just taste as you go because sauces vary a lot in terms of heat)

1 tablespoon, plus 1 teaspoon sugar

Salt and pepper to taste

Assemble

6 hoagies or sausage rolls

6  Andouille sausages

2 breasts from the rotisserie chicken, sliced and skin removed

For the slaw: in a small bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, apple cider vinegar, sugar and horseradish. Salt and pepper to taste and cover and refrigerate 2 hours.

Remove the chicken breasts from the rotisserie chicken and cut into slices.

Cook Andouille according to package directions. I often slice it in half just so it lays flat in the bun.

I like to heat my hoagie rolls or sausage buns (I prefer sausage buns), but that is up to you. If you do heat them, I would put them in a 400 degree oven, keep the bread closed, and toast for 3 minutes.

When done, place Andouille in hoagie, top with sliced chicken and then add a big pile of horseradish slaw.  Enjoy! This is a delectable sandwich.DSC_0713 (2)

Quick Posole

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If you have 15 minutes, then you can have dinner on the table. That’s right, from start to finish, this soup will only take you 15 minutes.  Here’s another piece of good news: this flavorful soup boasts only 220 calories a bowl.

Posole is a stew popular in Columbia and Mexico that is slow cooked and contains hominy. While Posole is traditionally slow cooked, I don’t have time for that so I came up with this snappy version. It’s actually inspired by a slow cooker pork posole one of my girlfriend’s makes.

It’s flavored with broth, green enchilada sauce, cilantro, cumin, salsa and then a squeeze of lime. The shredded chicken is so tender in this dish.

It’s not my best soup, but it’s very good, especially when you consider how quick it comes together.  So pop a beer and dinner will be done before you can even finish your brew (well, I guess that depends on what type of day you’ve had).

I assume everyone has a food processor, but if you don’t, then add a couple extra minutes to the cooking time (and then go buy yourself one). I have a cheap one that I paid $10 for at Walgreens or Walmart in 2000. I am not kidding. So there’s no need to save up for a good one; this has served me well. I always use it to chop onions. You only need to chop an onion and cilantro for this dish, so there’ s not a lot of chopping anyway.

Quick Posole

Makes 4 servings

1 teaspoon canola oil

1 yellow onion

1 bunch cilantro

½ teaspoon cumin seed

¾ teaspoon ground cumin

1 (15-ounce) can reduced sodium chicken broth

1 (10-ounce) can green enchilada sauce

2 cups water

1 can yellow hominy

2/3 cup salsa (red or green will work; I prefer red)

2 cups skinless, shredded rotisserie chicken

1 lime for serving

Chop onion and cilantro set aside. When chopping cilantro, I just keep it as a bunch, chop the stems off where the leaves end and then chop that part, including stems. Some people take the time to pick off leaves, but not me. That takes forever. Stems are fine in the soup.

In a medium pot, heat oil and add onion and cumin and cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Add cilantro, broth, enchilada sauce, water, hominy, salsa and cook 5 minutes. While that cooks, shred your chicken and then add it to the pot and cook 5 more minutes.

Note: the easiest way to shred is pull of the skin, pull the chicken off the bone and shred it by hand. I always save the skin and bones for stock. You can freeze that if you won’t have time to make it this week. I find two birds boiled together makes a better stock anyway.

Serve with a lime wedge. If you want add more vegetables, you can serve this with chopped avocado and tomatoes.

Nutritional Information: Calories: 220; 24 g protein; 19 carbs; 1,175 ml sodium

Mexican Lasagna

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Mexican Lasagna

1 package soft yellow corn tortillas (you will not use them all)

1 tablespoon canola oil

1 very large yellow onion

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 ½ teaspoons cumin seed

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 can seasoned black beans, drained

4 cups chopped skinless rotisserie chicken (1 whole chicken or 2 if just use breast meat)

2 ¾ cups chunky salsa or picante sauce (that’s more than a regular size jar, so buy a big jar or two regular ones)

Dash of garlic salt

½ cup cilantro (optional)

3 1/2- 4 cups of shredded cheddar, Monterey Jack cheese blend (or Mexican- cheese blend)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Note: This calls for 4 cups of rotisserie chicken, which is the whole chicken. If you don’t like dark meat and want only white, you will need to buy two chickens and just use the breast off both.

This makes a large batch (13” x 9” pan), but the recipe can easily be halved. This is an economical dish when entertaining and absolutely delicious. This lasagna explodes with flavor.

Helpful hint: If you’re watching your weight, you can use less cheese in this dish by skipping the middle layer of cheese.  This has such powerful flavors, you really won’t miss it too much (and if you don’t try it that way, you won’t even know what you’re missing).

Directions:

Put onion through a food processor and chop bell peppers and set aside.

If you plan to use cilantro, gather the leaves in a bunch and cut off stems at the base of where the leaves start. Chop the leaves and set aside.

Chop your chicken and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat. When oil is hot, add onion, cumin powder and cumin seed and cook 6 minutes.  Then add chopped bell peppers and cook 2 minutes. Stir in beans, chicken, salsa, dash of garlic salt and cook 2 minutes.  If you plan to add cilantro, stir it in now. Turn off heat and let mixture rest.

Spray a 13” x 9″ pan with cooking spray. Line the bottom with corn tortillas, overlapping in spots so that the bottom is covered. I tear tortillas into desired sizes to make them fit. You will not use the entire package, you just want enough to make layers.

Take half your chicken mixture and spread it evenly over the first layer of tortillas.  Top that mixture with about 40 percent of your cheese. You want a little extra cheese on top. Then repeat and make another layer or tortillas over the mixture. Make sure it’s all covered, even if you overlap tortillas. Then top that with the rest of the chicken mixture. Cover chicken with remaining cheese.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheese bubbles. Slice and serve. I hope you enjoy this; I absolutely love it.