Raspberry Almond Chicken Salad

I am not very good at coming up with my own recipes.  Almost all of my recipes come from a hand-me down from a friend or an auntie, or I skip around the internet and find them on other blogs.  Something I can figure out though, is how to improve a recipe.  I just add some bacon or double the chocolate.

Another thing I have a hard time with is coming up with “healthier” versions of the things I love.  My Twitter profile says, “I run so I can eat pie for breakfast”, and I am totally not kidding.

So lately, I have been trying to come up with my own recipes and have also been trying to be a bit healthier.  It’s rare, but this is a recipe I came up with myself.   It’s no bacon and double chocolate celebration for your taste buds, but it’s pretty good and good for you too.

Raspberry Almond Chicken Salad

Ingredients: 

·        Shredded chicken (I use the chicken in a can)

·        ½ cup fresh raspberries

·        Toasted sliced almonds that are lightly salted

Concentrate here.  This is hard.  Put all the ingredients in a bowl and stir it together.  Fill up a whole wheat pita pocket or serve on lettuce or whole grain bread.    

Yes, this is it and no I don’t really have any measurements for you.  If you force me, I will say use one small can of chicken (maybe one shredded chicken breast), eye the ½ cup raspberries, and maybe about a Tablespoonish of the toasted almonds.

Here is my toasted almond recipe which you should always have on hand for salads and snacks. Toasted Almonds

Lastly, if you want people to take a bite, and exclaim with joy, “OMG, you have to give me this recipe!”…..just add some mayo and serve it on flakey  croissant. 

 

Broccoli Cheddar Soup - Panera Style

Living so far away from the conveniences of America, we sometimes have to come up with substitutes for the things we like and miss.  For instance, this year’s live Christmas tree was replaced by a fake one.  We tried the real ones that were sold last year, but when we brought it home it was dead.  Sagging branches.  Brown needles.  Major fire hazard. Dead.  So when the store had a 90% off sale the week after Christmas, we jumped on the fake tree wagon and went FULL TILT ARTIFICIAL with this bad dog…..

Geez.  I hope I don't scare people away from my blog by posting that!  I can't get a good picture of it no matter how hard I try. I promise it looks much much better in real life.

Another thing I miss about America is the food.  Although I don’t need it, I dream of things like Olive Garden and Chik-fil-A.  Back in the states I would be a mad-woman shopping right now.  We would go to Panera Bread I’m sure, because it is right across the street from Target. (Oh Target I miss you too!)   I would get the Broccoli Cheddar Soup in a sour dough bread bowl and I would be happy.  I deserve to be happy right?

So I caved, and I made Broccoli Cheddar Soup.  I resist the copy-cat recipes because really????  Is that copy-cat Iced Lemon Pound cake really as good as a cup of coffee with your BFF and the REAL Starbucks pound cake?  I think not.  But recipe was good.  Very very good. 

Now if only I knew how to make sourdough bread bowls.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup – Panera Style

Recipe adapted from www.myblessedlife.net

Ingredients:

• 2 T. Butter, melted
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/2 c. butter, melted
• 1/2 c. all purpose flour
• 4 c. half and half
• 4 c. chicken broth
• 1 lb. fresh broccoli
• 2 cups, julienned carrots
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 t. nutmeg
• 16 oz. sharp cheddar cheese, grated

Saute onion in butter. Set aside. Whisk butter and flour over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and slowly add half and half. Add chicken stock, still whisking.

Simmer 20 minutes.  Do not cover! (Only say this because I might have covered it, tried to start some laundry…..until I heard frying sounds and saw smoke coming from the kitchen!)

Add broccoli, carrots and onion. Cook over low heat until veggies are tender – about 20-25 minutes. Add salt and pepper. The soup will have thickened by now.

Carefully transfer soup mixture to blender and puree. Return soup to pot (or crockpot) over low heat. Add cheese. Stir until well blended. Add nutmeg right before serving.

Makes 8-10 servings.

Enjoy!

Spicy Honey Grilled Chicken

What can I say?  It’s summer and my wonderful husband has made a zen oasis out of our backyard.   Daily, I am being called out to our back porch to relax, have a beer, and grill.

Okay, that’s not really our backyard.  It’s a picture I took in Kyoto, Japan of the Shogun's backyard.  But our backyard is practically as nice…..after a beer or two….and I love it. 

I have also fallen in love with boneless, skinless, chicken thighs (the ones in the giant plastic bag in the freezer section).  I’ve always been a little snobby about my chicken.  I usually only buy breasts, and only use the fresh ones.  But, when our grocery stopped getting shipments of fresh chicken for awhile, I was forced to buy the bulk frozen chicken. 

The recipe mentions that you can use breasts but PROMISES that it will be better with the thighs.  I caved and bought some dumb thighs. To my surprise, the thighs were much juicier and tender than the breasts.   

Yay for thighs!  You beat out breasts any day!

Spicy Honey Grilled Chicken

(Recipe adapted from Our Best Bites….those girls rock!!!)

 

Ingredients:

·        2 tsp garlic powder

·        2 tsp chili powder

·        ½ tsp onion powder

·        ½ tsp coriander

·        1 tsp kosher salt or sea salt

·        1 tsp cumin*

·        8 boneless/skinless chicken thighs

·        2 tsps oil (I used olive)

·        ½ cup honey

·        1 Tablespoon cider vinegar

Put all the spices in small bowl and mix together.  Next, pat the thighs dry and plop them into a big bowl.  Slather them with the oil.  Yes, I said, “oil your thighs”.  (Imagine if I would have told you to oil your breasts!)  Now toss the spices into the chicken thighs until they are coated well.  It helps if you use your hand for this.

Put the thighs on the grill for about 3-5 minutes on each side.  Warm the honey a little bit in the microwave and add the vinegar.  

Before taking the thighs off the grill, marinate each side and grill for about 1 minute longer.  Reserve a couple of tablespoons of the marinade and drizzle it over the chicken after you have taken it off the grill.

Mmmmmmmmmm.   It is some good grilling.  Guaranteed to change even a breast man into a thigh man..wink wink.

*Note:  This recipe is spicy, but not too spicy, but maybe too spicy for the kiddos. (Mine thought so.)  If you need to take away some spice but keep most of the flavor, simply eliminate the cumin.

I am sharing this recipe with:
This Chick Cooks

Turkey & Garlic Bread Sandwiches with Caesar Spread....Rockin' Those Leftovers!

What’s better than sliced bread?  Sliced bread with garlic, butter, and herbs, toasted to a golden brown of course.  Unfortunately, the Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast box already made that statement clearly on the back of their packaging, and so I had to come up with something better.  So what is better than sliced bread with garlic butter and herbs on it?  An entire sandwich made with the buttery herby bread goodness!    What’s even better than that?  You can use your leftover turkey from Thanksgiving to make this AMAZING sandwich!!! 

Turkey & Garlic Bread Sandwiches with Caesar Spread

 



 Ingredients:

·        1 package frozen Texas toast (8 slices)

·        Leftover turkey from thanksgiving or fresh deli turkey

·        ¼ cup mayonnaise

·        ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

·        1 tablespoon lemon juice

·        1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

·        1 clove garlic crushed

·        Lettuce and tomato

Obviously, I used the Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast (aaaah…yumm!) for my sandwiches.  Bake the bread according to package directions.  I actually baked them a tad bit longer to make them crispier.

   While the bread is baking mix the mayo, parmesan, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, and garlic for your Caesar spread.  This might be a great time to teach your kids the snobby Grey Poupon commercial.  They will roll their eyes at first, but ever so gradually they will catch on to the humor of it.

After the bread is cooled, put together your sandwiches.  Spread each slice with the Caesar mixture, then add the turkey, tomato, and lettuce.

These sandwiches turned out awesome!  You know when you start to debate with yourself… “I think we should throw out some of these leftovers….” and you know you should make turkey stock or soup or whatever and you just want to puke thinking of turkey?  Well, you need to make these.  They are the same sandwiches you would eat inside the Grey Poupon limousine.  Enjoy!

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