Strawberry Spinach Salad

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Dressing:
1 lemon
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
1/3 c sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon poppy seeds

Salad:
¼ c sliced almonds, toasted
8 ounces (1 ½ c) strawberries, hulled and quartered
½ medium cucumber, sliced and cut in half
¼ small red onion, sliced into thin wedges (1/4 cup)
1 pacakge (6 ounces) baby spinach

1. Zest lemon to measure ½ tsp zest. Juice lemon to measure 2 tablespoons juice. Combine zest, juice, vinegar, sugar, oil and poppy seeds in a small bowl. Whisk until well blended. Cover, refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. For salad, spread almonds in single layer on a baking sheet. Bake 10-12 min or until lightly toasted. Remove from oven; cool almonds.

3. Meanwhile, hull strawberries and cut strawberries into quarters.

4. Slice cucumbers and toss with remaining salad ingredients.

I had this at a Pampered Chef party. The dressing is awesome, so I thought I'd post it. Enjoy!

Chicken Saltimbocca

Tried this chicken marsala recipe today out of the New Best Recipe family cookbook. Great dish, and quite a bit easier than the chicken marsala recipe we posted earlier. The trick is finding good proscuitto. We used the stuff from Costco, which is a bit of a splurge ($12 for 12 oz; the recipe uses 4-6 oz.) Also helps to have huge fresh sage leaves from the garden, which we have in abundance.

Won't repost the recipe, since I assume you all own that cookbook. We varied the recipe a bit by adding fried mushrooms and a little more fresh sage right to the reduction right at the end. The chicken plus proscuitto plus sage is da bomb, though. Make sure it browns well, which makes the proscuitto and sage a bit crispy. Yum.

Hi-Speed Asparagus

If you like stir fried asparagus--the smoky, roasted kind Janet likes to make--we've discovered a way to shorten the process from 10-12 minutes to about 5. Wash and dry the asparagus, then put it in a glass bowl, pop it in the microwave uncovered and set the microwave to cook "fresh vegetable" "less done." (Those are the settings on our microwave, you may have to adapt to yours.) From there, pop it into a hot, lightly oiled pan and finish it. Salt and pepper to taste. Takes just a few minutes in the pan to basically sear the outside of the asparagus (the microwave takes care of the inside), and voila! Please note: one can screw this up by overcooking the asparagus in the microwave, which we did recently when Nate, Jeni, and the kids were over for dinner. That time, however, we covered the asparagus with plastic wrap and did not remove the wrap as soon as the microwave finished up.

steak fajitas and cilantro dressing

Hi all --

This is our latest favorite company dinner because it feeds a *lot* of people w/out too much meat. We got the steak so-easy-it's-not-really-a-recipe from "New Best Recipes: International" Incidentally, their tomato salsa recipe is also tasty and practically fool-proof. Let me know if you'd like it.

Flank Steak
for half a flank steak:
pat completely dry
put steak on preheated grill at med / med-high heat
drizzle 1-2 T lime juice over entire surface
sprinkle generously w/ salt and pepper
grill 5 ish minutes, flip, and repeat on other side
let stand at least 5 min before slicing very thin

Chicken Tenders
marinate 6-8 tenders in 2-3 T balsamic vinegar and 3 T McCormick Taco Seasoning
grill 3-4 min/side

Cilantro Dressing
1/2 c cilantro
3 T lime
3 T almonds
3 T water
1 jalapeno, no seeds or membranes
1 clove garlic
1 t cumin
1/2 t salt
process above in cuisinart til smooth, then add 2 T sour cream

Black Beans

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 T lime juice or red wine vinegar

to-taste amounts of the following:

minced garlic or garlic powder

minced onion or onion powder

cumin

ground coriander

plenty of cilantro

Can also add 1 can Ro-Tel tomatoes, or corn, or whatever you have in the pantry. Serve cold as a salsa or warm w/ fajitas

Cilantro Lime Rice
1 cup uncooked rice

1 teaspoon butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon lime zest

1 can (15 oz) chicken broth

1 1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice

2 teaspoons granulated sugar

3 tablespoons fresh chopped cilantro


In a saucepan combine rice, butter, garlic, lime peel, chicken broth and water. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook 15-20 minutes, until rice is tender. Remove from heat. In a small bowl combine lime juice, sugar and cilantro. Pour over hot cooked rice.


Serve the above with those scrumptious Tortillaland tortillas from Costco we can't get here in PA, salsa or pico de gallo of your choice, black beans, cheese, Cholula (not optional!), and sour cream. You won't be able to close your tortilla, but you'll enjoy every scrumptious bite :)

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits

This is by far my favorite way to do strawberry shortcake these days. The biscuits are tender and tasty and I like them far better than angel food cake or any other alternative. They're quick and easy as well--a simple drop biscuit. Enjoy!


1 ½ cups flour
¼ c sugar
1 tsp baking powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp baking soda
1/3 c cold butter
1 egg slightly beaten
½ c sour cream
2 T milk


3 T sugar
Strawberries

Preheat over to 400 degrees. Lightly great baking sheet. Combine flour, ¼ c sugar, bp, salt and baking soda. Cut in butter. Combine egg, sour cream and milk in small bowl and add to flour mixture stirring w/ fork until just moistened.

Drop dough into 8 mounds onto prepared sheet. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden. Cool on rack.

Combine 4 cups of strawberries with sugar. Top biscuits with berries and cream .

Roasted Portobello Caprese Salad

From Martha Stewart Living
Makes 4 servings
We made this a while back and are making it again tonight. Super tasty vegetarian option. We really enjoyed it!

8 portobello mushroom caps
2 garlic cloves, halved
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons coarse salt
Freshly ground pepper
3 medium tomatoes, sliced 3/4 inch thick (8 slices total)
1 bunch fresh basil
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced 1/2 inch thick (4 slices total)
4 cups arugula
Toasted bread, for serving (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place mushrooms and garlic on a rimmed baking sheet; coat with oil and vinegar. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, and season with pepper. Roast, shaking sheet occasionally, for 20 minutes. Flip mushrooms and garlic to recoat with oil. Add tomatoes; flip to coat in oil, sprinkle with remaining teaspoon salt, and season with pepper. Roast until mushrooms are tender and tomatoes are soft, 20 minutes more.

Rub softened garlic onto mushrooms. Place 1 mushroom on each of 4 plates, and top each with some basil. Stack another mushroom and 1 mozzarella slice onto each. Layer more basil, 1 tomato slice, more basil, then another tomato onto each. Divide arugula among plates, and drizzle with pan juices. Serve with bread if desired.

Chicken Marsala

We tried this recipe from Epicurious.com today. Prep time was long, but the result was excellent. Similar to the traditional pork tenderloin recipe we all know and love, though the sauce--if possible--is even better. Be sure the chicken is browned well, and that you use either low sodium or no sodium chicken broth. (Also, though this likely goes without saying, under no circumstances should you ever use "House" or any other brand "cooking wine" in a reduction--except possibly, to add flavor at the very end when you have no other options--as it will concentrate the salt until it's unpalatable or nearly so. We say that from long and sad experience.) I'm sure you could use this sauce and the pork tenderloin just fine. I like the addition of sage and lemon.

Ingredients

1 and 3/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth (14 fl oz)
2 tablespoons finely chopped shallot
5 tablespoons unsalted butter
10 oz mushrooms, trimmed and thinly sliced
1 and 1/2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup all-purpose flour
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves (2 lb total)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons dry Marsala wine
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Preparation

Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 200°F.

Bring broth to a boil in a 2-quart saucepan over high heat, then boil, uncovered, until reduced to about 3/4 cup, about 20 minutes.

Cook shallot in 3 tablespoons butter in an 8- to 10-inch heavy skillet over moderate heat, stirring, until shallot begins to turn golden, about 1 minute. Add mushrooms, 1 teaspoon sage, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated and mushrooms begin to brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

Put flour in a wide shallow bowl. Gently pound chicken to 1/4 inch thick between 2 sheets of plastic wrap using the flat side of a meat pounder or a rolling pin.

Pat chicken dry and season with salt and pepper, then dredge in flour, 1 piece at a time, shaking off excess. Transfer to sheets of wax paper, arranging chicken in 1 layer.

Heat 1 tablespoon each of oil and butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté half of chicken, turning over once, until golden and just cooked through, about 4 minutes total. Transfer cooked chicken to a large heatproof platter, arranging in 1 layer, then put platter in oven to keep warm. Wipe out skillet with paper towels and cook remaining chicken in same manner, then transfer to oven, arranging in 1 layer.

Add 1/2 cup wine to skillet and boil over high heat, stirring and scraping up brown bits, about 30 seconds. Add reduced broth, cream, and mushrooms, then simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons wine and 1/2 teaspoon sage.

Serve chicken with sauce.