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Grilled Chicken Salad with Jicama and Fresh Lime Cilantro Dressing…..

Posted by on May 5, 2010

This salad is delicious and satisfying.  There are many different flavors that come together beautifully with the lime cilantro dressing.   Elegant enough to serve guests for dinner.  Make the dressing, tortilla strips, and prep the salad ahead of time.  Grill the corn and chicken just before serving.  You can use frozen white corn, thawed, if you wish.  It seems there is always a few ears of corn leftover after a typical summer dinner.  Use them in this salad, deeeeelish!

Grilled chicken salad with jicama and lime cilantro dressing

For the tortilla strips:
8 corn tortillas, cut into ¼” strips
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 pinches salt

1) Preheat oven to 350’. Foil line a cookie sheet, place strips in center and drizzle with canola oil, toss gently. Sprinkle with salt and toss to evenly coat. Bake for 20-25 minutes, turning half way through.  Store in zip bag if you have any leftover.

For the salad:

1 head of romaine lettuce, thoroughly cleaned, drained, and cut into bite size pieces
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed and thoroughly drained
1 small jicama, peeled and diced
2-3 ears of fresh cooked corn, grilled and cut off the cob (directions below)
4 oz. montery jack cheese, shredded

1) Combine the vegetables in a large bowl. When you’re ready to serve, pour dressing over salad and toss gently to coat.  Top with shredded cheese, sliced cooked chicken and tortilla strips.  Makes four servings.

For the dressing:

1 small bunch fresh cilantro, thoroughly cleaned and chopped
1 cup fat free plain yogurt
½ cup fresh or bottled lime juice
1/3 cup honey
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend well.  Store in refrigerator until you’re ready to use.

FOR THE GRILL

2- 8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 ears leftover corn on the cob, or 2 cups frozen white corn, thawed
2-4  teaspoons canola oil
Salt and pepper

1)  Put 1 teaspoon of canola oil in your hand and rub evenly over corn.  Season with salt and pepper.  Grill over medium high heat about 10 minutes, turning often, just to give it some color and grill flavor.  When cool enough to handle, hold corn straight up over cutting board and cut corn off cob with a serrated knife. 

2)   Coat chicken breasts with canola oil, salt, and pepper.  Cook over medium heat until juices run clear or internal temperature reaches 170′.  Slice into thin strips.

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Tequila Lime Marinated Flank Steak with Chimichurri, my version….

Posted by on May 5, 2010
This is an incredibly delicious combination of heat, sweet and savory.  The steak is juicy and is very much complimented by the spicy chimichurri sauce.  The cool cucumber simple salad is slightly sweet and the roasted yuca is a very nice understated starchy vegetable.  Enjoy with a salted rimmed margarita on the rocks with fresh lime….mmmmm good!

Marinade:

2 large cloves fresh garlic
3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons tequila
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice or bottled
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 ½ lb. flank steak

Place all ingredients in a blender; blend until smooth.  Place flank steak in a large zip bag, pour marinade over steak.  Marinate in refrigerator for several hours or overnight.  Discard marinade, preheat grill, cook over medium-high heat medium to medium rare.  For one inch thickness, cook 7-9 minutes per side.  Cover loosely with foil and allow to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.  Slice thinly across the grain or on a diagonal.  Serve with chimichurri.

Chimichurri

3  tablespoons fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh parsley
½ medium sweet onion, coarsely chopped
½ medium sweet red pepper, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh basil
2 large cloves fresh garlic
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh oregano
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 jalepeno pepper, (or seranno pepper for more heat), seeds included
½ teaspoon cumin

Place all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator, allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes before serving.  Serve a generous portion over the grilled flank steak. Delish!

Cool cucumber salad

2-3 cucumbers, washed and thinly sliced
2-3 thin slices of red onion
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Slice cucumbers and  onion into a serving bowl.  Mix the vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper in a small bowl, stir often to dissolve salt and sugar.  Pour over cucumbers just before serving.

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Oven Roasted Yuca…..

Posted by on May 5, 2010

If you’re entertaining, you can prepare the yuca all the way up to seasoning and roasting.  Refrigerate until you’re ready to roast, then toss with oil and season.  Allow 8 oz. per serving when buying.

2 large yuca roots, about 2 ½ lbs.
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

1) Line a cookie sheet with non stick foil. Set aside.
2) Peel yuca, cut into 3” pieces and cover with water in a large bowl.
3) Bring a large pot of water to boil with 2 teaspoons of salt. Drain yuca from bowl and add to boiling water. Boil for 15 minutes, time from the moment all yuca is in the boiling water.   Drain and allow to cool until you can handle with your hands. Preheat oven to 400’.
4) Cut the pieces of yuca into quarters, exposing the very center of the vegetable.  Remove the fibrous center with a knife and discard. Place cooled yuca into a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over yuca, toss gently to coat. Add 1 teaspoon kosher salt and ½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper and toss gently to coat.  Spread yuca over cookie sheet. Roast for 20-25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

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Turkey Sausage and Tortellini Soup….

Posted by on April 30, 2010

In spite of the warm weather, as previously mentioned, I get “tastes” for things.  This soup is light and has a spring look to it.  The bright mixed vegetables and the flower looking tortellini remind me of spring.  It is simple and very delicious!  Freezes well.  Makes about 8 servings.

Turkey sausage & tortellini vegetable soup

1 lb. turkey sausage, casings removed
4 large carrots, peeled and sliced
4 stalks celery, coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, coarsely chopped
2 quarts homemade chicken stock or water with a couple of tablespoons of Better Than Bouillion
2 1-lb packages frozen mixed vegetables
1 lb. frozen tortellini
Salt and pepper to taste

1) In a large soup pot over medium high heat, cook sausage, breaking up into small pieces, until fully cooked. Drain if necessary. Add carrots, celery, and onion. Continue cooking about 15 minutes.
2) Add chicken stock and continue over medium heat for 30 minutes. Cook tortellini according to package directions, drain, set aside.
3) Add frozen vegetables, simmer another 5-10 minutes. Enjoy!

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Pumpkin Squares with Cream Cheese Frosting….

Posted by on April 25, 2010

This is one of those “go to” recipes for just about any gathering.  It is made in a jelly roll pan, so you get many servings out of the recipe.  This is another one bowl recipe that goes together in minutes and will become a family favorite, I promise!  There is nothing like your loved ones requesting something YOU make.  Again, this is a sweet treat that is made with REAL ingredients, so bake with love and enjoy!

Pumpkin Squares with Cream Cheese Frosting

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
4 eggs
1 15 oz. can pumpkin

1) Evenly coat a 18 x 13 x 1” jelly roll pan with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350’.
2) In a large mixing bowl, add flour through salt and mix well. Make a well in center of dry ingredients and add oil, eggs, and pumpkin. Mix well, do not over mix. Pour into prepared pan. Bake 20-25 minutes. Test with a toothpick for doneness.  Cool completely before frosting.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. package cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

With an electric mixer, beat butter and cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Add milk a teaspoon at a time until you get a good consistency to spread over cake. Ice cooled cake. Refrigerate.

**Note** you can lighten up the frosting by using only 4 tablespoons of butter and increase the powdered sugar by 1 cup.   You will need to add more milk at the end.

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Grilled Yogurt, Garlic, & Rosemary Marinated Chicken…..

Posted by on April 20, 2010
This is a very interesting way to marinate chicken.  The tang of the yogurt with the lemon juice really make for a tender result, and what’s not to love about rosemary and garlic?  Make it a day ahead for the best flavor.    
Grilled Yogurt, Garlic, and Rosemary Marinated Chicken

4-6 chicken breasts with skin and bone, or 2 lbs. chicken pieces of your choice with skin and bone
1 ½ cups plain fat free yogurt
5 large cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh or bottled
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
6-8 springs fresh rosemary
1-2 large zip bags for marinating

1) In a small mixing bowl, add yogurt through pepper and mix well.
2) Pull skin up from each piece of chicken creating a pocket. With your hands, put 1-2 tablespoons of yogurt marinade and a sprig of rosemary under the skin, rub additional marinade over the back side of the chicken, place in a gallon size zipper bag, add any remaining yogurt marinade to the bag. Place bag of chicken in a large bowl and marinate in refrigerator overnight.
3) Heat grill on high for 5-10 minutes and clean with grill brush. Turn heat down to medium. Place chicken pieces skin side down on the hot grill. Allow to cook for several minutes (5-8) before turning. Adjust heat if it is cooking too fast. Cook approximately 45-55 minutes.

If you’d like to spend less time at the grill foil line a cookie sheet and bake at 350’ for 35 minutes, then proceed to the grill. Cook an additional 15-20 minutes on heated grill.

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Fresh Pineapple Cake with Caramel Sauce…..

Posted by on April 15, 2010

This is soooo amazing!  This moist cake is a one-bowl recipe, so simple.  I used fresh pineapple in the cake and for the garnish.  Serve with a scoop of vanilla icecream and a drizzle of caramel.  So versatile, serve all by itself, as shown above, or with cream cheese frosting.  (recipe below)  Enjoy!

Fresh Pineapple Cake

2 ¼ cups flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 eggs, beaten
¾ cup vegetable or canola oil
¾ cup pureed fresh pineapple
1 cup finely diced pineapple
Caramel sauce, optional
Vanilla icecream, optional

1) Preheat oven to 350’. Coat a 9 x 13” pan with cooking spray, set aside.
2) In a large mixing bowl add flour through cinnamon and mix well.  Make a well in center and add the rest of the ingredients.
3) Mix until just blended, do not over mix. Pour into pan and bake for 45 minutes. When a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean it’s done. Cool completely.

Cream Cheese Frosting

1 8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 stick butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups powdered sugar

Beat cream cheese and butter until well blended. Add vanilla and powdered sugar. Add a small amount of milk if necessary to get the conistency you like.  Ice cooled cake. Refrigerate covered and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes before serving.

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Simple Supper-Rigatoni with Meat Sauce…..

Posted by on April 14, 2010

This is truly delicious.  You can use any combination of ground meat you like.  I recommend using hot italian sausage, after all ingredients are added, it has just a little kick.  Double or triple the recipe and freeze to enjoy on another hectic night.  Just boil pasta and dinner is on the table in minutes.  Serve with baby frozen peas, yummers!  

Simple rigatoni with meat sauce

¾ lb. lean ground beef
¾ lb. hot (or mild) Italian sausage
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon dried oregano
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
1 24 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 24 oz. can water
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons sugar
16 oz. package rigatoni
Parmesan cheese

1) In a large sauce pan, over medium heat, cook beef and sausage until cooked through, drain well. Add diced onions and cook until translucent, 7-10 minutes. Add garlic, cook about 2 minutes.
2) Add the tomato paste to the meat mixture, cook about 7 minutes, stirring often to caramelize the tomato paste. Be sure to stir often, it can easily burn. Add crushed tomatoes, water, salt, and sugar. Cook over medium heat until it comes to a simmer, allow to simmer about 20 minutes, stir occasionally.
3) Under cook pasta by 2 minutes. Put pasta back in the pan and add sauce, cook over medium heat for 2 minutes, stir gently.  Top with parmesan cheese, serve immediately. Enjoy!

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John Flanagan’s Beef Marinade…..

Posted by on April 7, 2010

This is an excellent marinade submitted by John Flanagan.  He recommends using flank steak, which is what I did when I first made the marinade…there was nothing left to photograph!  I made it again, this time with sirloin in the form of kabobs…delish!  I doubled the recipe so that I’d have enough to marinate the mushrooms and onions before grilling.  I skewer like vegetables and meats.  Everything cooks at a different rate, so I don’t like to put say something like tomatoes with onions or beef, they end up falling off before the meat or onions are cooked.  Serve with simple brown rice and grilled asparagus.   Tip-if using bamboo skewers, soak in water for at least an hour before skewering meats or vegetables.  This will prevent them from burning too quickly on the grill.  

John Flanagan’s Beef Marinade

¼ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon dried rosemary
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon ground pepper
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon onion, minced
1 large garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons vinegar
3 tablespoons honey
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup lemon juice, fresh or bottled

Put all ingredients into a blender and liquefy, reserve a couple of tablespoons before marinating to spoon over cooked meat.  Double the recipe to marinate vegetables.  (I do not recommend cooking this marinade after marinating over night, it breaks too much of the protiens down and will create a “curdled” sauce.)

For Flank steak:  John recommends marinating in the refrigerator overnight, the longer the better!  I suggest putting the steak into a large zip bag and add marinade.  Squish around several times to distribute marinade.  Grill to your preferred doneness.  Allow to rest for 15 minutes, loosely covered with foil before slicing.  Thinly slice against the grain.  Spoon reserved marinade over meat, enjoy!

For meat kabobs:  You can buy lean stew meat that is already cut up, or sirloin and cut it into cubes yourself.  Skewer the meat onto bamboo skewers before marinating, that way you can avoid the mess.  If you use sirloin, no need to marinade longer than an hour or two.  If using stew meat, marinate over night.  For medium cooked meat, grill on medium high about 10 minutes.

For vegetables-Into a large plastic zip bag, add cleaned whole mushrooms and onions cut into wedges.  Pour about 1/2 cup marinade into bag and refrigerate until you’re ready to grill. Give the bag a toss a couple of times to evenly coat veggies.  I use metal skewers for these as they take a bit longer to cook and the bamboo skewers often burn up.  You can marinate these anywhere from an hour to several hours.  To grill asparagus, no need to marinate, simply coat with a small amount of olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Grill on medium high heat about 6 minutes, rolling occasionally.

Cook the vegetables first, as they are excellent served at room temperature alongside the grilled meat.  

Thank you John, this one’s a keeper!

Angie

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars….aahhhhh….hello!

Posted by on March 29, 2010

What’s better than the smell of peanut butter whafting through the house?  Having Ryan, my aspiring baker by my side to help!  Truly, kids simply love to help in the kitchen.  It is so good for them and this recipe is a snap!  It goes together in about 10 minutes and baking time is only about 20 minutes.  The beauty of a bar cookie is that there is no chilling of the dough involved…instant gratification, yeah, that’s what I’m talkin’ about….

You MUST try these, good luck waiting until they’ve completely cooled!   Enjoy!!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bars

½ cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon water
1 egg
1 ¼ cups unbleached flour
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup semi sweet or milk chocolate chips

1) Preheat oven to 350’. Coat a 9x13x2 inch pan with cooking spray, set aside.
2) In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt, set aside.
3) In a medium mixing bowl, beat brown and white sugar, peanut butter, butter and vanilla. Beat in water and egg. Add flour mixture all at once and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Spread evenly into prepared pan.
4) Bake until light brown, 20-23 minutes. Cool and cut into bars.

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