Monday, December 12, 2016
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Mexican Corn Inspired Chicken Salad
I saw a picture of grilled Mexican corn walking home from work... you know the kind where it's slathered in mayo and cheese lime juice (Yum!), and was inspired to incorporate that into my dinner. Lucky for me I had fresh corn in my fridge, but I also had squash I needed to eat. So the following dinner is sort of a fusion of flavors and the end product was rather delicious!
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Corn (fresh corn on the cob is the best!)
Red Onion
Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
Mayonnaise
Lime Juice
Summer Squash
Olive Oil
Goat Cheese
Put a pot of water on to boil. (You could put two pots on to boil so you can do your corn and poach your chicken at the same time, but I just did my corn first and chicken second)
While you wait for it to boil, shuck your corn and set aside. Since that doesn't take more than a minute, you can also use this time to prep the rest of your corn salad ingredients. Dice some red onion and cut your tomatoes into smaller chunks and put it all into a mixing bowl and set aside. If your water hasn't come to a boil yet, you can also cut your squash into thin slices so it's ready for later.
Place your corn into the pot of water and let boil for 3 minutes. As you wait, you can prep your chicken breast (on a separate cutting board!!) and season both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Remove your corn from the water with a pair of tongs and set aside to cool.
Stick the seasoned chicken into the still boiling water, and reduce to a simmer. Let it poach for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the heat off and let the chicken sit in the water for another 5-10 minutes.
While the chicken is doing its thing, take your corn (if it's still too hot to touch, run it under some cold water) and cut the ears of of the cob and put it into the mixing bowl with the red onion and tomatoes.
If you haven't yet sliced your squash yet, do so now. Put a pan on medium heat with some olive oil and wait for it to heat up. Saute your squash, tossing it occasionally, for 7-10 minutes. You want to make sure the squash isn't too firm, but don't overcook it or else it will be soggy. Transfer your squash to a plate and crumble the goat cheese on top.
Remove your chicken from the water and shred it using a fork. Place the shredded chicken into the mixing bowl with the corn, red onion, and tomatoes you set aside earlier. Add mayo and lime juice to the mixture and toss to coat all your ingredients. Plate on top of your squash and eat!
I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it's really just simple multitasking. Plus, I stuck to (almost) my ten ingredient rule so extra points for me! If you are using 2 pots of water, you can enhance your poaching liquid to make your chicken more flavorful. You can also set the chicken salad in the fridge so that the flavors have time to meld together. I'm usually too impatient for that, but I also tend to have leftovers... no wonder it's always tastier the next day! You also don't have to do the squash as a base, you could put this on top of mixed greens, toasted bread, or just eat it straight out of the bowl!
Mexican Corn, Chicken Salad, Summer Squash
Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Garlic Powder
Salt & Pepper
Corn (fresh corn on the cob is the best!)
Red Onion
Grape or Cherry Tomatoes
Mayonnaise
Lime Juice
Summer Squash
Olive Oil
Goat Cheese
Put a pot of water on to boil. (You could put two pots on to boil so you can do your corn and poach your chicken at the same time, but I just did my corn first and chicken second)
While you wait for it to boil, shuck your corn and set aside. Since that doesn't take more than a minute, you can also use this time to prep the rest of your corn salad ingredients. Dice some red onion and cut your tomatoes into smaller chunks and put it all into a mixing bowl and set aside. If your water hasn't come to a boil yet, you can also cut your squash into thin slices so it's ready for later.
Place your corn into the pot of water and let boil for 3 minutes. As you wait, you can prep your chicken breast (on a separate cutting board!!) and season both sides with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
Remove your corn from the water with a pair of tongs and set aside to cool.
Stick the seasoned chicken into the still boiling water, and reduce to a simmer. Let it poach for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, turn the heat off and let the chicken sit in the water for another 5-10 minutes.
While the chicken is doing its thing, take your corn (if it's still too hot to touch, run it under some cold water) and cut the ears of of the cob and put it into the mixing bowl with the red onion and tomatoes.
If you haven't yet sliced your squash yet, do so now. Put a pan on medium heat with some olive oil and wait for it to heat up. Saute your squash, tossing it occasionally, for 7-10 minutes. You want to make sure the squash isn't too firm, but don't overcook it or else it will be soggy. Transfer your squash to a plate and crumble the goat cheese on top.
Remove your chicken from the water and shred it using a fork. Place the shredded chicken into the mixing bowl with the corn, red onion, and tomatoes you set aside earlier. Add mayo and lime juice to the mixture and toss to coat all your ingredients. Plate on top of your squash and eat!
I know it seems like a lot of steps, but it's really just simple multitasking. Plus, I stuck to (almost) my ten ingredient rule so extra points for me! If you are using 2 pots of water, you can enhance your poaching liquid to make your chicken more flavorful. You can also set the chicken salad in the fridge so that the flavors have time to meld together. I'm usually too impatient for that, but I also tend to have leftovers... no wonder it's always tastier the next day! You also don't have to do the squash as a base, you could put this on top of mixed greens, toasted bread, or just eat it straight out of the bowl!
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Poached Eggs and Spinach Salad
This one will be a quickie, but I wanted to finish the rest of the mango-avocado salsa I made the night before, so I poached some eggs and put it all on top of a bed of spinach leaves. Violà! Healthy Sunday brunch for me!
Friday, March 30, 2012
Spring Scallops
I'm waiting for the MegaMillions drawing and hoping that I win the $640 MILLION jackpot!
To kill time, I opened up a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir and started on dinner. Since it's Lent and I can't eat meat on Fridays, I bought some scallops to make for dinner.
Inspired to make something new but still healthy, I decided on scallops with mango-avocado salsa and a side salad of spinach, strawberries, and goat cheese.
This dish turned out so beautifully! I couldn't be happier!
Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
Mango-Avocado Salsa
1 mango
1 avocado
1/4 red onion
1/2 lime
season with salt
Scallops
10-12 medium sized Dry Scallops
season wit salt and pepper
You definitely want to get DRY scallops, not wet. You will actually get more for your money with dry scallops as wet scallops are... well wet. Not only are they full of water, but the extra moisture will prevent them from getting that nice brown color on the outside when you cook them in the pan.
I started with the salsa and cut up my mango, avocado, and red onion. Depending on how you want your salsa to taste you can play with the ratio of your ingredients (add more mango if you want it sweeter, more avocado if you more creamy, etc.). I did equal portions of avocado and mango with a little less red onion, seasoned it with some salt, and added the juice of half a lime. Gently mix your ingredients together. To preserve the texture of your ingredients mix with a light hand. You don't want to mash it together like you would a guacamole. Set your salsa aside to let all the flavors meld together.
I put together my salad next, but I won't go into how to make it since it's just spinach, cut up strawberries and crumbled goat cheese. I dressed my salad with balsamic vinegar, but waited until right before I was ready to eat so it didn't get all soggy.
Scallops are ridiculously quick and easy to make. I like eating my scallops in as natural a state as possible, so I just seasoned both sides with some salt and pepper. I heated my stainless pan on high heat and added some olive oil. You can tell when the oil is ready because it will look ripply in the pan when you move it around.
Remember when I said cooking scallops was quick? Place your scallops in the pan one-by-one starting at the 12 o'clock position and working your way around. This makes it easy to remember which you put in first. Don't play with them when you put them in but wait until you have a nice brown crust before you flip them over. Depending on how thick your scallops are, you're looking at 1.5-2 minutes on each side and they're ready!!
Put a few spoonfuls of salsa on the plate to act as bed for your scallops, put some more on top, and you're ready to eat!!
To kill time, I opened up a bottle of New Zealand Pinot Noir and started on dinner. Since it's Lent and I can't eat meat on Fridays, I bought some scallops to make for dinner.
Inspired to make something new but still healthy, I decided on scallops with mango-avocado salsa and a side salad of spinach, strawberries, and goat cheese.
This dish turned out so beautifully! I couldn't be happier!
Ingredients (makes 2 servings)
Mango-Avocado Salsa
1 mango
1 avocado
1/4 red onion
1/2 lime
season with salt
Scallops
10-12 medium sized Dry Scallops
season wit salt and pepper
You definitely want to get DRY scallops, not wet. You will actually get more for your money with dry scallops as wet scallops are... well wet. Not only are they full of water, but the extra moisture will prevent them from getting that nice brown color on the outside when you cook them in the pan.
I started with the salsa and cut up my mango, avocado, and red onion. Depending on how you want your salsa to taste you can play with the ratio of your ingredients (add more mango if you want it sweeter, more avocado if you more creamy, etc.). I did equal portions of avocado and mango with a little less red onion, seasoned it with some salt, and added the juice of half a lime. Gently mix your ingredients together. To preserve the texture of your ingredients mix with a light hand. You don't want to mash it together like you would a guacamole. Set your salsa aside to let all the flavors meld together.
I put together my salad next, but I won't go into how to make it since it's just spinach, cut up strawberries and crumbled goat cheese. I dressed my salad with balsamic vinegar, but waited until right before I was ready to eat so it didn't get all soggy.
Scallops are ridiculously quick and easy to make. I like eating my scallops in as natural a state as possible, so I just seasoned both sides with some salt and pepper. I heated my stainless pan on high heat and added some olive oil. You can tell when the oil is ready because it will look ripply in the pan when you move it around.
Remember when I said cooking scallops was quick? Place your scallops in the pan one-by-one starting at the 12 o'clock position and working your way around. This makes it easy to remember which you put in first. Don't play with them when you put them in but wait until you have a nice brown crust before you flip them over. Depending on how thick your scallops are, you're looking at 1.5-2 minutes on each side and they're ready!!
Put a few spoonfuls of salsa on the plate to act as bed for your scallops, put some more on top, and you're ready to eat!!
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Dessert Madness!
My friend Jessee used to cook for me ALL THE TIME when she lived around the corner from me. But then she had to move to a different state and I was afraid I would starve to death! Okay, maybe I'm being a little melodramatic... maybe a lot.
The solution to my hunger pangs? A quickie weekend trip via BoltBus and dessert making!!!
The solution to my hunger pangs? A quickie weekend trip via BoltBus and dessert making!!!
Lemon Meringue Pie
Bonus Desserts
FYI: keep in mind these are BONUS desserts and were NOT made at the same time as the pie! Although there's NOTHING wrong with that...
 |
| Lemon curd macaron compliments of Ms. Jessee |
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| The cheesecake is from Juniors, so it's cheating a little, but I made the sauce myself! |
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Giant(s) ticker tape parade
Forgot this happens downtown this morning. Picture of the crowd as I scrambled to the subway to get to work before everything shut down.
Go Giants!?
Monday, January 30, 2012
Happy 2012!
With the holidays, and craziness finishing the last few things for work before I transition to a new position, cooking has been kind of haphazard and lazy. Mostly super quick and easy foods... I don't know what inspired me today, but I went all out!
Starter: Arugula salad, cucumbers, yellow bell pepper, strawberries, and goat cheese with oil and balsamic dressing.
Main: Pork chop marinaded in olive oil, soy, rice wine vinegar, garlic, and some honey topped with crispy caramelized onions.
Not quite dessert, but had some extra crispy onions (slow cooked down with salt, olive oil and a tab of butter) that I definitely finished eating because they were totally delicious!
Starter: Arugula salad, cucumbers, yellow bell pepper, strawberries, and goat cheese with oil and balsamic dressing.
Main: Pork chop marinaded in olive oil, soy, rice wine vinegar, garlic, and some honey topped with crispy caramelized onions.
Not quite dessert, but had some extra crispy onions (slow cooked down with salt, olive oil and a tab of butter) that I definitely finished eating because they were totally delicious!
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