Chicken Salad with Raspberry Balsamic Dressing

I've been making this salad pretty consistently this summer. It's sweet and salty with a bite of Parmesan and crunchy toasted pecans. Mmm. I found a recipe for Arugula Salad with Figs, Prosciutto, Walnuts, and Parmesan in the Cook's Illustrated Cookbook and doesn't that sound dreamy? All but the walnuts, yes ;)  I never have figs or prosciutto on hand, and my fridge was bare of arugula, so this salad was born. I basically took their dressing and subbed raisins for figs, and onion powder and garlic powder for a shallot then poured it over a ton of veggies and chicken and said "Voilà! Dinner." So thank you, Cook's Illustrated, for a delicious dinner! I love the leftovers from this. I know, weird, to love leftover salad that could possibly be wilty. I think I mostly just love sitting down to something yummy I didn't cook myself that same day. The best combination on the fork, I think, is a piece of chicken, celery, raisin, Parmesan, and pecan, all in one bite. Yumm 

You can use pretty much any veggies you have on hand and I think any flavor of jam would go too. It's just the sweetness you're looking for. 

Chicken Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette 

Adapted from The Cook's Illustrated Cook Book, Arugula Salad with Figs, Prosciutto, Parmesan, and Walnuts 

Serves 4 as a main dish

Ingredients 

1/4 c balsamic vinegar 

1 heaping Tbs raspberry jam (any jam really)

1/2 c raisins

1/4 c canola oil

1/8 tsp onion powder 

Dash or 2 of garlic powder 

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

2 heads romaine hearts, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, diced

2 celery stalks, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

1/2-1 cup sliced cucumber 

1/2 cup pecans, coarsely chopped 

1 cup shaved Parmesan 

3 chicken breast 

Directions 

In small bowl, combine vinegar, jam and raisins. Cover with plastic wrap and puncture a few holes for ventilation. Microwave about 30 seconds-1 minute just until raisins are plump. 

Add oil, salt, pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix well with fork until oil is evenly dispersed. 

If your pecans aren't already toasted, heat a small pan over medium heat and toast them until they are slightly browned and fragrant. 

In a large bowl combine veggies.

Heat medium pan over medium high heat. Spray with oil. 

Dry off and salt and pepper the chicken and cook about 8 minutes per side. (Or grilled on a preheated grill sprayed with oil) 

Pour dressing over salad and top with sliced chicken, pecans, and Parmesan. 

Serve immediately 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

How many variations of of banana bread can you have? Clearly not enough.  So far we have 3 different kinds on this blog and I'm pretty sure there will be more. But this one, this banana bread is simple, clean, and completely banana. No cinnamon to hide behind and with the occasional hit of chocolate.  I think this banana bread could also be called Bluth banana bread in honor of Arrested Development.  Unless you can cover a whole loaf of banana bread and chocolate.Yum :) And remember, "There's always money in the banana stand."

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread 

Makes 1 8x4 inch loaf

Ingredients 

2 c flour 

1 Tbs baking powder 

1/2 tsp salt

Juice of half a lemon

1/2 c unsalted butter

1 cup sugar 

2 lg eggs

1 1/2 c (~3) mashed over-ripe bananas 

1 Tbs vanilla

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Grease or line an 8x4 inch loaf pan with parchment.

Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.

In a stand mixer cream butter and sugar.

Add eggs, vanilla, bananas, and lemon juice and mix well. 

Add flour to butter mixture slowly. 

Stir in chocolate chips. 

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake at 350 for 50min - hour. Insert and remove toothpick to make sure the middle is done and batter isn't pulled out with the toothpick. With this banana bread I check a few times. The top will be golden brown and maybe a little darker than you're used to. 

Allow to cool for 20 min in pan on a cooling rack then remove it from pan and finish cooling on the rack. 

Chicken and Chickpea Yellow Curry

Curry is a favorite of ours when we go out to eat. I've tried making it on the past but it's all been a little 'meh'. This recipe from the Pioneer Woman is quiet delicious. You'll find yourself going back for seconds and even, um, ehem, thirds. I added veggies and replaced a can of chickpeas with chicken breast.  I'd squeeze potatoes in there too if I could but that would add cooking time and this curry is whipped up pretty quick. Curry in a hurry, if you will. 

Chicken and Chickpea Yellow Curry

Adapted from The Pioneer Woman's Chickpea Curry

Serves 4-6

Ingredients 

2 cups jasmine or basmati rice 

2 tsp vegetable oil

1/2 onion, diced

2-3 carrots, diced 

1 red bell pepper, diced

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tsp yellow curry powder 

2 chicken breast 

1, 15 oz can chickpeas drained and rinsed 

1, 13.5 oz can coconut milk 

1.5 cups chicken broth

Squirt of sriracha 

2 Tbs honey 

 

Directions 

Cook rice according to package directions.

Heat oil in a large pan over medium low heat. 

Add onions and veggies to the pan with some salt and pepper and cook until onions are translucent and soft. 

Stir in garlic and curry powder.

Pat chicken dry, salt and pepper it and add to the pan. 

Allow to cook for about 5 minutes or so.

Flip chicken and add coconut milk, chicken broth, chickpeas, sriracha, and honey. 

Keep pan on medium low and allow to simmer about 10 minutes.

Remove chicken and slice then add it back to the pan. 

Salt to taste. 

Serve with rice. 

Oven Dried Tomatoes

Pretty much the only thing my garden was good at producing this year was tomatoes. I didn't want to waste so much and at the same time try something easy. Just having a baby makes me a whole lot less ambitious. I figured this was my answer. And who doesn't love sun dried tomatoes? I tried two different ways, leaving the seeds in with a higher oven temperature and squeezing the seeds out with a lower oven temperature. They actually took about the same amount of time and it the only difference seems to be the seed-in high temp version came out a little darker in color. I was hoping they would dry out faster with the higher temperature but they didn't really. 

Oven Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients 

Couple pounds of Cherry tomatoes 

Salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 degrees. 

Halve the tomatoes and lay cut side up in one layer on a cookie sheet with edges aka jelly roll pan.

Sprinkle with salt. 

Bake for about 8 hrs. Checking every few hours removing any tomatoes from the pan that have dried and taken on a leathery feel. 

When all have dried place in freezer ziplock bag and freeze. 

 

Or if you don't want seeds, 

Squeeze out seeds from cut tomatoes. Lay cut side up

Bake at 150 from 6-8 hrs. Checking every couple hours. 

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Herbs

This year I have had tons of tomatoes from my 2 ginormous plants. They are monsters. It's my first time growing them here and they have done great but since the middle of June they have started to get some dried leaves and branches. 100 degree weather will do that I guess. I think they are either about done giving tomatoes or just slowing down for a bit. I guess we'll see. But anyway, all these tomatoes I were going to go to waste so I decided to dry them in the oven. Worked out pretty well and I think I plan on doing it again. It's super simple, just takes a bit of time drying in the oven.

Now that I had all these dried tomatoes I needed to try them out to see if it was worth it, and they were delicious (I'll have to post about those too). So here is this weeknight meal that was the product of all these tomatoes. It could easily be served when company is over too. Lots of flavor and pretty easy.  I made mine all in one pot and could be even simpler without adding any protein. So good. 

Pasta with Sun Dried Tomatoes and Herbs

Serves 4

Ingredients 

1 lb pasta (penne, spirals, bow ties, etc) cooked according to package directions and drained

2 Tbs olive oil

1 lg chicken breast 

3 Tbs unsalted butter

3 Tbs flour

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 small clove garlic minced

1/2 tsp dried basil*

1/4 tsp dried oregano* 

1 tsp dried parsley* 

2 cups (one can) chicken broth

1/4 cup grated Parmesan 

salt and pepper

Pinch red pepper flakes

3/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes 

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Directions

*Fresh herbs would be ideal, chopped very fine and added at the end instead of dried herbs added at the beginning, but all my herbs died. Some things get forgotten after you have a baby... oh well.

In the same pot that you cooked the pasta, heat olive oil over medium heat. 

Add chicken with some salt and pepper and cook. To make things super simple I often cut the chicken in the pan while it's  cooking with my spatula . Shh don't tell anyone. 

Remove from pan, add butter and flour.

Whisk well to make a roux. 

Add cream, garlic, red pepper flakes, and herbs and allow it to get fragrant. 

Add chicken broth and Parmesan and turn heat up to medium high heat for a few minutes to reduce slightly. Whisking occasionally to keep from sticking to the bottom.

Salt to taste. 

Turn off heat and add noodles, chicken, tomatoes, and pine nuts. 

Serve immediately.