Category Archives: Salads

Chicken Kiev with Garlic Rosemary Potatoes & Walnut Apple Salad

Posted on August 9, 2009 by Veronica

On the recommendation of my dear friend, Jaci, I prepared chicken Kiev when my little sister and her family joined us for dinner last night. It was a raging success, even with all my mistakes (slightly burning the crust on the chicken (at least the inside was perfect), getting impatient with the potatoes and not waiting for them to get crunchy on the outside, putting too much vinegar in the dressing (that’s why the apples look brown–the balsamic dyed them!)), and my company is already looking forward to their next invitation for dinner. Thanks for the great recipes, Miss Jaci!

Chicken Kiev with Sautéed Garlic Rosemary Potatoes
Rachel’s Food for Living by Rachel Allen

4 Chicken Breasts-skinned
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Garlic Butter
4 oz butter, softened
2-4 garlic cloves
1 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley, thyme & rosemary and used more than recommended)
finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 a large lemon

Coating
2oz flour
1 lg beaten egg
6 Tbsp plain breadcrumbs
oil for frying

Potatoes
8 potatoes
2 oz olive oil
coarse sea salt
fresh ground pepper
2 garlic cloves
2 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Lay chicken breasts on chopping board; slit but don’t cut completely in half. Season with salt and pepper.

Cream butter & add garlic and herbs and zest and juice of lemon; mix well. Spread garlic butter out onto the center of chicken breasts leaving about 1/2 inch all around the breast. Fold chicken breast back to original shape.

Place flour,beaten egg and breadcrumbs on 3 separate plates (or shallow bowls). Toss each breast in flour,coat with egg and roll in bread crumbs until chicken is well covered. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 F.

Cut potatoes into slices or cubes,dry with paper towels if needed. Heat oil in frying pan, add potatoes,season with salt and pepper and cook on med low heat for 16-20 min until almond golden and crunchy on the outside but soft on inside. Toss in garlic,chopped herbs and a little more olive oil,cook for couple more minutes until garlic is golden. To keep warm, place in uncovered casserole in the warm oven.

Sorry no prep photos on the potatoes, just the finished product–it should actually look crispy and golden but I only cooked mine until tender b/c I had hungry people waiting.

For chicken, place 4 Tbsp oil of choice and 1oz of butter in frying pan–heat until hot. Add the chicken and cook about 2 minutes on each side until golden,transfer to the oven for about 8 minutes until cooked through, serve with sauteed potatoes and salad–Jacie’s recipe follows.

Jacie’s Walnut Apple Salad

One bag baby spinach (I used 1/2 bag butter lettuces and 1/2 bag spring mix)
3/4 c walnuts–toasted (I used some pecans too)
1 sweet apple, such as Red Delicious, cored and diced (I used Braeburn for crispness)
1/2 c feta cheese

Make a dressing with 4 parts olive oil to one part balsamic vinegar with one tsp of honey per 4 T of evoo. Toss with salad ingredients.

(If you don’t want to do the math, just mix 1/4 cup olive oil with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp of honey. Add more vinegar and/or honey to suit your tastes.)

2 Comments

Posted in Meats, Salads, Side Dishes and tagged apple, chicken kiev, garlic, potatoes, rosemary, salad, walnut. Bookmark the permalink.

Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad

Posted on July 20, 2009 by Veronica

You don’t have to sacrifice flavor in order to eat healthy. This salad is a wonderful blend of flavors with a nice dose of heart-healthy fat & good-for-you fiber. It is so good I could eat the entire recipe in one sitting, but since I’m on Weight Watchers, I measured out my portion like a good girl and managed to stick to it by eating fresh tomatoes (zero points!) on the side. Next time I’ll serve it on a lettuce leaf or even a bed of lettuce to make it even prettier.

Carrot, Dill & White Bean Salad

adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Dressing
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon fine grain salt
1/2 cup finely diced red onion

Salad
1 teaspoon vegetable oil for cooking
2 cups sliced carrots, cut 1/4-inch thick on deep bias
3 cups cooked white beans (I used 1 can Great Northern & 1 can Chickpeas, which equaled 2 3/4 cups)
scant 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill or 1 T dried
2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
1/3 cup sliced almonds, toasted (optional–I omitted to save calories)

Combine the olive oil, lemon juice, salt and onion in a small bowl. Stir and set aside.

In your largest skillet over medium high heat, toss the carrots with the oil. Let them cook in a single layer – they’ll give off a bit of water at first. Keep cooking, tossing gently every three or four minutes until the carrots are deeply browned. All told, about twelve minutes.

Add the beans and dill to the skillet and cook for a few more minutes, or until the beans are heated through.

Place the contents of the skillet in a large mixing bowl, sprinkle with the brown sugar and pour the lemon-olive oil mixture over the top. Toss gently. Let sit for ten minutes. Toss gently once again, taste and adjust with more salt or sugar or lemon juice if needed to balance the flavors. Serve warm or at room temperature and finish by sprinkling with the almonds just before serving.

Serves 6 – 8 as a side.

Veronica’s Notes: I didn’t have fresh dill and was only able to scrounge up 1 1/2 tsp of dried dill–it was still really good but I could tell it would have been even better with more dill so I left the original amount in the recipe. Also, for the few of you actually interested, I calculated that this dish (without the almonds) is 9 points if divided into 4 main-dish servings, and 4 points if divided into 8 side-dish servings.

Sunny Vegetable Salad

Posted on May 12, 2009 by Veronica

This is the type of dish I never make for my own family but always bring to (or find at) a potluck and can never get enough of. I brought it to a Church potluck last weekend only to find that Teri, our preacher’s wife, brought the same exact thing! Great minds think alike. :)

Sunny Vegetable Salad
Recipe from Char Holm, Taste of Home Magazine
“A terrific mixture of crisp, chewy, fresh and sweet ingredients makes this salad taste as good as it looks. A nutritious vegetable like broccoli is a lot more palatable ‘dressed up’ this way. -Char Holm, Goodhue, Minnesota”

Ingredients

5 cups broccoli florets
5 cups cauliflowerets
2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
2/3 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup raisins
1 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons cider or red wine vinegar
6 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/4 cup sunflower kernels

Directions
In a large salad bowl, toss broccoli, cauliflower, cheese, onion and raisins. In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, sugar and vinegar. Pour over salad; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 1 hour. Sprinkle with the bacon and sunflower seeds before serving.

1 Comment

Posted in Salads, Side Dishes and tagged bacon, brocolli, raisin, salad, sunflower seeds, sunny, vegetable. Bookmark the permalink.

Lighter Taco Salad

Posted on April 2, 2009 by Veronica

Have you ever had that wonderful white trash taco salad made with Doritos, taco meat, tons of cheese and an entire bottle of Catalina/French dressing? Oh yeah, I believe there may be some lettuce in there also. I personally love the stuff but DON’T love the calorie count. I prefer to splurge on dessert and tend to choose healthier options for my meals.

Well, I don’t see why I can’t have my cake and eat it too, so I took that atrocity of a “salad” and turned it into something I could feel good about eating on what is now almost a weekly basis. It has become one of my favorite go-to meals b/c it’s easy and so tasty. Plus, I like big portion sizes and the bulk of the lettuce allows you to get quite a big plateful for a fraction of the fat and calories in a teeny serving of the real stuff. That’s what I’m talkin’ bout.

Taco Salad

Serves 4

1 lb. ground bison
1 can dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 taco seasoning spice packet (or 3 tablespoons homemade seasoning)
1-2 bags of salad
4 oz. Guiltless Gourmet Mucho Nacho Chips or baked Doritos, crushed
1 cup 2% shredded Mexican cheese blend
1 cup light French or Catalina dressing
2 tomatoes, chopped (or 1 pint cherry/grape tomatoes)
salsa & sour cream for garnish, if desired

Brown the bison over medium heat, drain the broth and fat. Add the beans and taco seasoning, plus 3/4 cup water. Simmer on medium until the water has evaporated, about 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the meat with everything but the tomatoes and mix well. Divide between large plates and top with the tomato and serve with salsa and sour cream if you wish.

If you’re only cooking for one or two, just use a portion of the meat and halve/quarter the recipe for everything else. Save the meat mixture in the fridge for your next meal. If you make the whole thing and save it, you’ll have soggy chips the next time you dig in so I wouldn’t recommend that method unless you don’t mind soggy chips. Personally, I must have the crunch!

7-Layer Salad

Posted on October 5, 2008 by Veronica

When attending a potluck dinner, I try to bring a dish that does not need to be heated as there are usually so many others that do I’m afraid mine won’t fit into the oven. For the 31st annual Davis Family Pig Roast, I decided to bring a salad but needed one that didn’t requre squirting dressing on top since that would hold up the (very long) food line.

I settled on a recipe titled 7 Layer Salad but I of course turned it into my own creation with all sorts of plant life uncalled for in the original version. And it did not suffer for it. So feel free to play around and adjust this one to your tastes. And don’t freak out about the Miracle Whip like I did when I read the recipe. It actually tastes really good. But if you can’t stand the idea of Miracle Whip on salad, you could probably squirt some ranch on top to no ill effect. Except you’d lose the sweetness and that is always a downer in my book.

Update 11-24-09: I’ve now made this salad several times and the recipe below includes revisions I’ve made over time. It always goes over very well at potlucks. I’m bringing it to Thanksgiving (second year in a row) in a couple days.

7 Layer Salad
Adapted slightly from Recipe Zaar

Dressing
2 cups Miracle Whip
1/4-1/3 cup milk
2 teaspoons sugar

Whisk dressing ingredients together, starting with 1/4 cup milk and adding more if dressing is not as thin as you like. I like putting my salad in a 9×13 dish rather than a bowl so that you can get all the way to the bottom each time you scoop out the salad. If you decide to do this too, it makes it easier to spread the dressing if you add more milk. You don’t necessarily have to add any milk if you don’t have far to spread it, such as in a trifle dish.

Salad
Layer the ingredients, in this order, in your dish. Use a clear dish for a pretty presentation

1 head lettuce, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1 cup celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
1 cup frozen peas, uncooked
Dressing
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup crumbled bacon