• 24Jun

    With the weather getting hot here (high of 91 F today), I’m searching for dishes that don’t involve a lot of cooking, or can be cooked on the grill. This dish certainly fit the bill. It’s based on the Cajun Chicken Salad recipe from 500 Low Carb Recipes by Dana Carpender. It’s ideal, I think, for a picnic or other summer meal, as it’s got an oil and vinegar dressing, rather than mayo, so you don’t have to be quite as concerned abuot it sitting out.

    The recipe as I have it below makes the perfect amount for a single meal for my family – two adults and two monkeys children. It tastes great with the chicken fresh off the grill, but we suspect it will be even better if made in the morning and then allowed to chill in the fridge until supper.

    Summer Chicken Salad

     
    Serves 2 adults and 2 kids

    3 chicken breast halves
    your favorite grill seasoning
    1 green bell pepper, sliced thin
    1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
    1/2 a small red onion, sliced thin
    2 tbsp dijon mustard
    4 tbsp wine vinegar (I used half white wine, half red wine)
    2 heaping tsp minced garlic
    2 tsp dried tarragon
    1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
    salt & pepper to taste

    Season the chicken breast halves with your favorite grill seasoning and grill, broil or saute the chicken until cooked through.

    Put the bell peppers and onion in a large bowl.

    In a medium sized bowl, combine the mustard, vinegar, garlic and tarragon. Add the oil, whisking so that everything combines.

    Slice the chicken into 1/4″ strips and add to the bell peppers and onion. Pour the dressing over everything and mix well.

  • 25Jan

    Sorry about the double posting for those who come here from Twitter. I had some technical difficulties.

    Anyway, this salad was big surprise hit with my family. Ari always iffy about vegetables and Matt’s iffy about sweet stuff. Not only did they both like it, they said I should make it again, and Ari said she would eat it if i did make it. That last bit, about her eating it, is the most important part. I suppose we should have known she liked it, given how she fought to get every little piece of the salad stuck to the side of the bowl onto her spoon.

    This recipe is part of a Rachael Ray recipe, Rollover Jerk Chicken Quesadillas with Slaw Salad – I’ll talk about the quesadillas some other day.

    1 lemon, juiced
    2 tablespoons rice wine or white wine vinegar
    2 tablespoons Tamari (dark soy sauce)
    A dash of hot sauce
    3 tablespoons honey
    3 tablespoons canola oil
    Salt and black pepper
    1/2 English (seedless) cucumber, cut into matchsticks
    3/4 cup scallions, thinly sliced
    3/4 pound slaw mix

    Preparation

    In a large bowl, mix together the lime juice, vinegar, Tamari, hot sauce and honey, stream in the canola oil and season with salt and pepper. Add the cucumber, scallions and the remaining slaw mix and toss slaw.

    And that’s it! A really simple salad, and very tasty. Despite there being 3 tbsp of honey, you really don’t taste it at all – you just get the sweetness, and it balances out the tamari nicely. The original recipe calls for the juice of one lime, but I didn’t have one so I used a lemon instead.

    The salad sat for about 15 or 20 minutes before we ate, and it was still nice and crisp. There was some left over, which I packed up and put in the fridge. We’ll see how it holds up. If it does well, being able to make it ahead, or make it to take somewhere (like a potluck, picnic or packed in a lunch) is great, and since there’s no eggs or mayo in it, you really don’t need to be worried too much about refrigeration.

  • 11Nov

    To say Ari can be picky and stubborn about what she eats is putting it very nicely. When she finds a new food, or food combination, she will eat, it’s a cause for celebration. She created this recipe last night, and I thought I would share it with you. :)

    Ari’s Cheese Salad

     

    Take one big handful of shredded lettuce and put it on your plate. Take one small handful of shredded cheese and sprinkle it on top of the lettuce.

    Eat with a fork.