Use What You Got

This past weekend my family travelled to Chicago to celebrate my dad's birthday in his hometown.  I was working down in Palm Desert all week, so when I got home late on Thursday night I still had to pack.  After a long day I wasn't too hungry and just wanted to use things from my refrigerator to make something light.  I had an apple, a pear, a rotisserie chicken and some lettuce.  With that, I made a beautiful salad with a recipe my mom gave me for an apple juice salad dressing.  It was fantastic!  Full of protein, greens and flavor.  The perfect thing to give me just enough energy to pack and then fall fast asleep before our very early flight!  We had the best time in Chicago seeing old friends and all the sights, but I am happy to be home today and back to my normal schedule.  I am currently counting down the days to Brian and my summer trip to Cabo San Lucas on Saturday!!

Apple and Pear Salad

Adapted from Cooking Light

Ingredients

1 cup Apple Juice

2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

10 cups mixed salad greens

1 cup seedless red grapes, halved

1 medium McIntosh Apple, cored and diced

1 medium Bartlett Pear, cored and diced

1/4 cup Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

2 cups shredded Rotisserie Chicken

Directions

Place apple juice in a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook until reduced to about 3 tablespoons.  Combine reduced apple juice, vinegar, oil, salt and pepper, stirring with a whisk.  

Combine grapes, apple and pear in a large bowl.  Drizzle with dressing; toss gently to coat.  Sprinkle with cheese.  

Enjoy!!

Summer Slaw

When browsing Bon Appetit the other day I found this recipe for Cabbage and Corn Slaw with a Cilantro and Orange dressing.  I have been thinking about making Turkey Burgers lately for dinner and it made the perfect compliment.  I just get so bored of the same old salads and there is nothing better than a nice refreshing 

side dish to mix up an otherwise ordinary dinner.  

Ground Turkey is an easy, inexpensive, versatile protein to buy and I always find myself recreating last night's dinner into something else the next day for lunch.  It cooks quickly and is low in both calories and fat.  Perfect for weeknights and quick cooking.  This week, I had actually bought it to throw into a quick pasta that I had been dreaming up in my head with roasted garlic and Parmesan cheese, but then when I saw this slaw recipe I changed my mind.  Note: If you are wondering why my turkey burgers in the background look like a hot dog shape, it is because they were.  I only had hot dog buns in the freezer so I just went with it! 

Cabbage and Corn Slaw with Cilantro and Orange Dressing

Courtesy of Bon Appetit

Ingredients

-1/3 cup frozen orange juice concentrate, thawed

-1/3 cup unseasoned rice vinegar

-1/3 cup canola oil or vegetable oil (I used about half the amount to cut the fat and calories)

-2 (8 oz) bags of coleslaw mix

 -4 ears of fresh corn, shucked, kernels cut from cob 

(I roasted mine on the BBQ for a few minutes to cut the raw taste)

-2 medium carrots, peeled and coarsely grated

-1 medium red bell pepper, stemmed, cored and cut into thin strips

-6 green onions, thinly sliced

-1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Whisk orange juice concentrate, rice vinegar, and oil in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.  Dressing can be made 1 day ahead.  Cover and refrigerate.  

Combine slaw mix, corn, carrots, bell pepper, green onion and cilantro in a large bowl.  Toss with enough dressing to coat.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

Let stand 15 minutes to allow flavors to blend. Toss again and serve. 

A Taste of the Past

Growing up in the South Bay, we had this favorite Mexican restaurant we used to go to that made the best tostadas.  It was the combination of the thinly shredded lettuce, the chicken that sprinkled on top and the homemade dressing was the ultimate.  Unfortunately, we moved and the owners sold the place...it just wasn't the same.  This tostada is just a taste of my childhood that I have been meaning to recreate.  It had to look the same, taste the same and bring back the same memories that I shared with my family at Arturo's in Harbor City.

After some research online about traditional Mexican salad dressings and the ingredients used, I managed to come up with something really similar.  I knew that it consisted of three main ingredients: Oil, Red Wine Vinegar and Sugar.  After looking at some recipes for things that seemed similar, I decided that I was right, but other people had also used Apple Cider Vinegar, Honey, Olive Oil and Water.  I had to try it a couple different ways to make sure, after all, it has been at least 10 years since I last ate this!  

Tostada Salad

A Recreation from Arturo's

Ingredients

1 head Iceberg Lettuce, shredded very thin

4 Chicken Breasts, roasted simply with Salt and Pepper, shredded

1/2 cup Black Olives, sliced

1 cup Red Onion, diced

1 cup Tomatoes, diced

4 dollops Sour Cream (I used non-fat Greek Yogurt)

1 Avocado, sliced

1/4 cup Red Salsa, Mild

1 can Refried Beans (I used the Vegetarian kind, but you could use what you want)

1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar

1/4 cup Vegetable Oil

4 tablespoons Sugar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

In a small pot heat up the refried beans until heated evenly.  Spread an equal amount of the beans on the 4 plates in the middle.  Top with a mound of lettuce.  Sprinkle tomatoes, black olives, red onion over lettuce.  In the middle top with one shredded chicken breast per plate.  One dollop of sour cream over chicken, then 1 tablespoon of salsa and 2 slices of avocado per plate.  

Combine red wine vinegar, oil and sugar in a small bowl and whisk till combined.  If you have a small squeeze bottle pour the mixture inside so you can shake the dressing easily.  Otherwise, just drizzle from the bowl over the salads and serve!  

I hope you enjoy this taste from my past!  When you start eating the salad you get little bites of beans, lettuce chicken and all the other things mixed together.  The dressing really completes the whole thing.  

What is your favorite food memory from your childhood?

A Fresh take on Cucumber Salad

We went to a new Japanese Sushi Restaurant the other night and when perusing through the menu I saw something interesting.  Plum and Cucumber Sushi.  At first I thought it sounded weird, but then I started thinking it would probably be a really lovely combination.  One of Brian and my favorite things when we are going for Sushi is the cucumber salad which I also make at home fairly often.  I have tried rolling my own sushi at home and it just never comes out exactly like the professionals so I wasn't going to embark on that again.  Not to mention buying all the necessary tools to make sushi is more expensive than going down to the restaurant and paying the whole $5 for the roll.  

Anyways, below I made my own rendition of Cucumber Salad with Plums.  It turned out beautiful and the flavors were perfect together.  This is the season to make it too with Plums so ripe and gorgeous right now.  Just looking at the picture is making my mouth water because it was so fresh and light!

I know this picture isnt that attractive, but I had to show you how to best sliver the plums.  Using a mandolin, slice the plums into fairly thin slices (upper right).  Then using your knife, stack a couple plum slices together and sliver them vertically (lower left).  I also used my mandolin to slice the cucumbers since I already had it out.  Usually I am so lazy to wash it I just use my knife!

Cucumber Plum Salad

Ingredients

2 cups Cucumber, thinly sliced

1 cup Plum, thinly sliced and slivered

1/4 cup Red Onion, thinly sliced

1/4 cup Carrot, match-stick cut

1 tablespoon Sugar

1 tablespoon Cilantro, fresh and chopped roughly

2 tablespoons fresh Lime Juice

2 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar

1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

1/8 teaspoon pepper

salt to taste (won't need hardly any)

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl and toss gently making sure to combine all ingredients.  Enjoy!