Southern Broccoli Salad
If you're from the South,
you've probably had some variation on this classic picnic salad. It
goes great alongside sandwiches or steaks and it keeps very well in the
fridge all week as a go-to side for lunch or dinner.
What You Need:
3-4 heads of broccoli - washed and chunked into bite sized pieces
2 bell peppers - washed and chunked into bite sized pieces (Again,
I was using up crisper ingredients - Any kind salad veg that isn't
going to be easily waterlogged will work here - cherry tomatoes, sliced
carrots, radishes, etc...)
6 pieces of bacon - crispy and chopped up
small tub of blue cheese (or gorganzola) - crumbled or cut in small pieces
1 cup of toasted, chopped walnuts
*1/2 onion - small dice
*1/2 c. raisins (golden, preferrably)
* = optional ingredients
Dressing:
1/2 c. mayo
1/2 med. tub of sour cream (about 1 1/2 c.)
2 t. of white vinegar
3 T. of white sugar
2 t. salt
1 t. pepper
I
had broccoli and a head of cauliflower to use up, so we went that
direction. Put all of your veges and bacon in a large bowl. Combine the
dressing ingredients in a separate bowl - taste and adjust seasonings.
Pour dressing over veges and toss to coat. Serve chilled.
This
makes a very large bowlful - cut the recipe in half if you are just
making it as a single meal for a small number of people.
Sunday, May 5, 2013
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Pesto Sauce, Gazpacho, and Chicken Cutlets...I should have been Italian!
Why I have never made these meals before, I will never know. It's insanely easy and requires almost no actual cooking.
Pesto Sauce
This classic Italian pasta sauce can also be used as a flavorful dip for chicken, topping on wraps, or even as a replacement for tomato sauce on pizza. It's packed with "good fats" and anti-oxidants, so despite the high fat content, you can still feel good about eating it too! This recipe makes about 2 cups of sauce (which is A LOT because a little goes a seriously long way), but it can be frozen in smaller containers and pulled out or gifted when needed. If you have a green thumb and can grow basil, this is a must-have recipe:
What You'll Need:
1 1/2 c. shelled walnuts (that's one of the "chocolate chip" size bags)
if you want to use pine nuts, go ahead, but walnuts are cheaper and easier to find
3 c. basil leaves (limit the number of woody stems that get in there)
1 c. olive oil (maybe more if you think it needs to be thinned out)
1/2 avacado
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
Put everything EXCEPT the oil in a food processor (or blender - I had to use a blender). Pulse a few times to make a walnut-basil slurry and then let the processor run as you drizzle in the olive oil. The sauce should come together on its own, but you can always stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides and make sure it's combined. Taste and adjust the flavors - adding more salt, pepper, or cheese. You may also want to thin it out some with a little cold water (a couple tablespoons at a time - don't go nuts!). That's it! By the time I was done, the pasta had finished boiling and was ready to come off the stove.
Gazpacho
When it's summer and your crisper is full of cucumbers or your counter has a small den of tomatoes, I frequently find that a lot of them end up rotting before I get the urge to eat a salad. Gazpacho is an easy way to use up some of those leftover salad veges AND it's healthful. Oh, and it's also ridiculously easy to make:
What You'll Need:
3 c. -ish of tomatoes (whatever kind you have lying around and if they are close to death a/o already there, just trim off the bad spots and chuck them in - it actually helps the gazpacho out)
1 stalk of celery
1 clove of garlic
handful of herb of your choice (I had extra parsley to use up)
1 cucumber skinned and de-seeded
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 avacado (leftover from the pesto!)
1/4 red onion (leftover from the guacamole and black bean salad earlier this week)
Other summer veges of your choice: I had 1 1/2 ears of corn leftover from a few night ago, so I threw the kernels in, but bell pepper, radishes...really anything that is either a really "watery" vegetable or one with a very clean flavor would do nicely)
Other additions: Depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes and the sourness of your lime, you may want to add a tablespoon or so of either a mild vinegar or sugar to balance things out. WAIT UNTIL YOU TASTE IT THOUGH - #1 rule of cooking: you can always add, but you can never take it away.
All you do is put everything in a food processor and chop to your desired consistency. Serve it chilled with some warm, garlicy croutons on top! Yummmmmmm.....
Italian Fried Chicken
This is one of those dishes that you make for people when you're not sure what they like. EVERYONE likes breaded, fried chicken. And this is so cheap and easy that it's a great "look at me cook" weeknight meal. It's also EXTREMELY kid-friendly - even Gabe likes this one!
What You'll Need:
B/S Chicken Breast (you can, of course, debone and deskin your chicken breasts in order to save money. However, it's never seemed like THAT much of a savings to me when you take into account how much you are paying in weight for those bones and that skin)
Seasoned Italian breadcrumbs (I used Kroger's "garlic seasoned" crumbs - they were on sale for a dollar)
2 eggs + a splash of water
frying oil (I like Canola, but it really doesn't matter)
Salt
First, butterfly the chicken breasts all the way through so that you have nice thin cutlets. If you don't have knife skills yet, or you just don't know what I'm talking about, then go ahead and just buy chicken cutlets instead of breasts - they're slightly more expensive, but not nearly so much as the bill you'd get from the ER when you sliced your hand open. Use a food mallet (or in my case, a heavy ramekin inside of a plasic bag), and beat out each cutlet so that they are of even thickness, about 1/4" thick each.
Crack the eggs into a pie plate (or similar vessel) and beat together with the water. Pour the breadcrumbs in another similar dish. Heat about 1/2" of oil in the bottom of a high sided frying pan over med. high heat. Don't get it too hot or it will burn the chicken before it can cook through.
Start the assembly line: dip chicken in egg wash, roll around in bread crumbs, place in oil. Fry on each side for a few minutes (2-3) until it is a deep golden brown. Transfer them to a paper towel lined baking dish and set them in the oven on warm until you're done frying. While they are warm, sprinkle them with a nice pinch of salt.
That's it! Tonight, I ate mine over a mixture of rotini with cherry tomatoes and chunks of mozzerella cheese and drizzled with pesto sauce. DE-LI-CIOUS.
Pesto Sauce
This classic Italian pasta sauce can also be used as a flavorful dip for chicken, topping on wraps, or even as a replacement for tomato sauce on pizza. It's packed with "good fats" and anti-oxidants, so despite the high fat content, you can still feel good about eating it too! This recipe makes about 2 cups of sauce (which is A LOT because a little goes a seriously long way), but it can be frozen in smaller containers and pulled out or gifted when needed. If you have a green thumb and can grow basil, this is a must-have recipe:
What You'll Need:
1 1/2 c. shelled walnuts (that's one of the "chocolate chip" size bags)
if you want to use pine nuts, go ahead, but walnuts are cheaper and easier to find
3 c. basil leaves (limit the number of woody stems that get in there)
1 c. olive oil (maybe more if you think it needs to be thinned out)
1/2 avacado
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 c. parmesan cheese
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
Put everything EXCEPT the oil in a food processor (or blender - I had to use a blender). Pulse a few times to make a walnut-basil slurry and then let the processor run as you drizzle in the olive oil. The sauce should come together on its own, but you can always stop and use a spatula to scrape down the sides and make sure it's combined. Taste and adjust the flavors - adding more salt, pepper, or cheese. You may also want to thin it out some with a little cold water (a couple tablespoons at a time - don't go nuts!). That's it! By the time I was done, the pasta had finished boiling and was ready to come off the stove.
Gazpacho
When it's summer and your crisper is full of cucumbers or your counter has a small den of tomatoes, I frequently find that a lot of them end up rotting before I get the urge to eat a salad. Gazpacho is an easy way to use up some of those leftover salad veges AND it's healthful. Oh, and it's also ridiculously easy to make:
What You'll Need:
3 c. -ish of tomatoes (whatever kind you have lying around and if they are close to death a/o already there, just trim off the bad spots and chuck them in - it actually helps the gazpacho out)
1 stalk of celery
1 clove of garlic
handful of herb of your choice (I had extra parsley to use up)
1 cucumber skinned and de-seeded
juice of 1/2 a lime
1/2 avacado (leftover from the pesto!)
1/4 red onion (leftover from the guacamole and black bean salad earlier this week)
Other summer veges of your choice: I had 1 1/2 ears of corn leftover from a few night ago, so I threw the kernels in, but bell pepper, radishes...really anything that is either a really "watery" vegetable or one with a very clean flavor would do nicely)
Other additions: Depending on the sweetness of your tomatoes and the sourness of your lime, you may want to add a tablespoon or so of either a mild vinegar or sugar to balance things out. WAIT UNTIL YOU TASTE IT THOUGH - #1 rule of cooking: you can always add, but you can never take it away.
All you do is put everything in a food processor and chop to your desired consistency. Serve it chilled with some warm, garlicy croutons on top! Yummmmmmm.....
Italian Fried Chicken
This is one of those dishes that you make for people when you're not sure what they like. EVERYONE likes breaded, fried chicken. And this is so cheap and easy that it's a great "look at me cook" weeknight meal. It's also EXTREMELY kid-friendly - even Gabe likes this one!
What You'll Need:
B/S Chicken Breast (you can, of course, debone and deskin your chicken breasts in order to save money. However, it's never seemed like THAT much of a savings to me when you take into account how much you are paying in weight for those bones and that skin)
Seasoned Italian breadcrumbs (I used Kroger's "garlic seasoned" crumbs - they were on sale for a dollar)
2 eggs + a splash of water
frying oil (I like Canola, but it really doesn't matter)
Salt
First, butterfly the chicken breasts all the way through so that you have nice thin cutlets. If you don't have knife skills yet, or you just don't know what I'm talking about, then go ahead and just buy chicken cutlets instead of breasts - they're slightly more expensive, but not nearly so much as the bill you'd get from the ER when you sliced your hand open. Use a food mallet (or in my case, a heavy ramekin inside of a plasic bag), and beat out each cutlet so that they are of even thickness, about 1/4" thick each.
Crack the eggs into a pie plate (or similar vessel) and beat together with the water. Pour the breadcrumbs in another similar dish. Heat about 1/2" of oil in the bottom of a high sided frying pan over med. high heat. Don't get it too hot or it will burn the chicken before it can cook through.
Start the assembly line: dip chicken in egg wash, roll around in bread crumbs, place in oil. Fry on each side for a few minutes (2-3) until it is a deep golden brown. Transfer them to a paper towel lined baking dish and set them in the oven on warm until you're done frying. While they are warm, sprinkle them with a nice pinch of salt.
That's it! Tonight, I ate mine over a mixture of rotini with cherry tomatoes and chunks of mozzerella cheese and drizzled with pesto sauce. DE-LI-CIOUS.
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