Chicken with arugula pesto (aka: salad in a blender)

For some reason I've been incapable of making a salad since we moved to the east coast. Actually I do know the reason....it's cold here, and when I'm cold I want to eat warm things. I will probably get over it eventually (just like I learned to enjoy chili in Arizona even when it was 90 degrees outside), but for now I'm just not feeling the salad thing.

That's why this recipe from Food Network magazine seemed like a winner. I've made, bought, and eaten plenty of pesto before, but because this recipe calls for pesto made from arugula and almonds, it occurred to me that pesto is basically like a salad thrown in a blender. Or like a shot of salad. Either way, it's taking lots of the healthy stuff I haven't been eating enough of and putting it into a form that is yummy and winter-friendly. And because the recipe includes tomatoes, green beans, and pasta, it is a fantastic well-rounded meal. Obviously you could just make the chicken and pesto, and serve it with a different side dish, but the lazy side of me loved that it was a recipe for a whole, well-rounded meal and I didn't have to spend time figuring out a side dish. Plus, the extra pesto tastes great with the veggies and pasta so it all comes together nicely.

The other reason I like this arugula pesto is that it's a great way to use up arugula and almonds that you might already have sitting around your house. My issue with making homemade pesto has always been that fresh basil and pine nuts are so expensive, unless you grow your own basil. So this seemed like a cheaper alternative, and was every bit as delicious as regular pesto in my opinion.

You'll notice that I used cherry tomatoes instead of roasting regular tomatoes...that was just because I had them on hand and didn't feel like going to the effort of roasting tomatoes. But I bet the roasted ones would be yummy.

Here you go:

Chicken with Arugula Pesto (and green beans and pasta and roasted tomatoes).

(From Food Network Magazine)

Ingredients:

Kosher salt

6 ounces orecchiette (about 1 1/2 cups)

1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into pieces

1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest

3 cups baby arugula

1/2 cup firmly packed fresh parsley

2 tablespoons almonds or hazelnuts, toasted

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

4 small skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pounds)

2 medium tomatoes, halved

2 teaspoons whole-wheat breadcrumbs

Directions

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook as the label directs; about 3 minutes before the pasta is done, add the green beans. Drain the pasta and beans and rinse under cold water. Toss with half of the cheese, 1 tablespoon olive oil, the lemon zest and salt.

Preheat the broiler. Puree the arugula, parsley, nuts, lemon juice, 3 tablespoons water, the remaining cheese and 1 tablespoon olive oil, and salt to taste in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl.

Place the chicken breasts between two pieces of plastic wrap and pound to about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet and season with salt. Rub all over with 1/4 cup of the arugula pesto and broil, turning once, until cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes per side.

Arrange the tomatoes cut-side up on another baking sheet and broil 2 minutes. Spread each with some pesto and sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Broil until golden, 1 more minute. Serve the chicken, tomatoes and pasta salad with the remaining pesto.

Buffalo Chicken Salad (aka: How to satisfy your chicken wing craving without guilt)

A few weeks ago I was sitting on the couch while my girls were taking a nap, wondering whether I could come up with a buffalo chicken recipe that would actually be healthy. See, I love me some really crispy, spicy chicken wings, but the main reason I crave them is the buffalo sauce. And buffalo sauce itself isn't unhealthy--it's just some vinegar and chili peppers. It only becomes unhealthy when you combine it with tons of butter, a deep fryer, ranch dressing, or mounds of cheese (as in my favorite recipe for buffalo chicken dip).

As I was sitting there pondering potential recipe ideas, I heard a voice say: "Buffalo chicken salad." God? I thought, looking upward. Then I realized that the voice belonged to Ellie Krieger, who was speaking to me from the TV. Well she wasn't actually speaking to ME, but it felt that way. It was as if she'd read my mind.

Ellie is known for putting healthy spins on traditionally unhealthy dishes, so I was excited to see what she whipped up. The trick to her salad was to make her own blue cheese dressing, which uses fat free yogurt as a base in place of tons of mayonnaise. She also used plain chicken breasts doused in buffalo sauce and broiled in the oven.

I made the recipe ASAP, and it turned out great! Here is a link to the recipe on the Food Network site.

A few things I did differently:

1) Instead of spending money on buttermilk for one recipe, I created my own using vinegar and milk. To do this, just place 1 tbsp of white vinegar in a 1-cup measuring cup. Fill the cup to the top with milk. Let stand for 5 minutes: Voila! You've got buttermilk!

2) To boost the flavor of the dressing, I added about half a packet of dry ranch dressing mix in place of the sugar.

3) Instead of using just romaine hearts, I used a mix of romaine hearts and a darker leafier green (to boost the nutrients)

Also, unless you're partial to a certain buffalo sauce, I definitely recommend using Frank's Red Hot. It has great flavor that can't be beat (in my humble opinion). This is a recipe I will be making again and again. It's great for a light weeknight dinner or for entertaining. Your guests will love you when you tell them that it's guilt free.

Warm goat cheese salad (aka: an easy way to make a regular salad look & taste fancy)

I've been having some fun with salads lately. Two of my latest inventions, which I will be posting soon, include a chopped brussels sprouts, spinach, and bacon salad, and a smoked salmon and corn nut salad (I know you'll be on the edge of your seat waiting for that one).

There are just so many interesting combinations of ingredients that can go into a salad, and yet we  continue to eat the same old tried and true bland salads: lettuce, tomato, carrot, cucumber, croutons, balsamiccccccca8979wjrl;l...

Sorry, I just fell asleep on the keyboard because that salad makes me so bored.

This little trick I learned from Ina Garten is super-easy, but in a matter of minutes it turns a boring old "greens and vinaigrette" salad into a decadent gourmet treat. You simply pan fry a little disc of goat cheese and slap it on top. That's it! Unless you hate goat cheese, I promise this will turn your salad from the "Let's get it over with" course to the "Can I have seconds, please?" course.

Here's how to do it in a simple 4-step process:

Step 1: Toss some baby greens of your choice with a tangy vinaigrette of your choice. I prefer this homemade version: Whisk together some champagne vinaigrette, a few squeezes of lemon juice, salt, a dollop of good dijon mustard, and EVOO. Place the dressed greens on individual salad plates so that they will be ready for the addition of the goat cheese.

Step 2: Take a log of goat cheese and slice it into rounds using a piece of string or unflavored dental floss (In the interest of full disclosure, I actually used minty dental floss to do this once and I promise it didn't make the goat cheese taste minty).

Step 3: Fill one shallow dish with some egg whites, and another shallow dish with some panko bread crumbs. Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a saute pan. Dip both sides of each goat cheese round into the egg, then the panko, then pan fry until the breadcrumbs are golden brown and crisp. Using a spatula, plop the goat cheese rounds directly onto the salad.

Step 4: Eat!

Roasted beet chopped salad with citrus vinaigrette

Up until a few years ago, I had a serious aversion to beets. If anyone even asked me to try one, I would scrunch up my nose like a whiny little kid and yell "Ewwwwww...gross!"

Then everything changed. My husband and I were at an elegant restaurant, celebrating a birthday, and I couldn't help but notice a gorgeous concoction being delivered to the table next to us. "What is that?" I asked the waiter as he passed by. "It's our roasted beet salad," he replied. "It's one of our best dishes."

"Beets? Yuck!" screamed the voice inside my head. But then the rational adult voice stepped in, reasoning that if I was ever going to learn to like beets, this would be my chance. I ordered it.

When it arrived at the table, I spent a few minutes admiring it before I dug in. It was so artfully arranged: a perfectly round bed of goat cheese, topped with thin slivers of beets, standing on end and wrapped around each other to look almost like a tulip with a hollowed out middle. In the middle was some frisee lettuce dressed with a tangy orange vinaigrette. All three components of the dish complemented each other perfectly. The sweetness of the beets (which is what I don't like) was tamed by the tartness of the dressing and the sour tanginess of the goat cheese. I know I ordered some sort of expensive entree that night, too, but all I remember about the restaurant was that beet salad.

I've yet to replicate the exact salad I had that night, but I've come up with a similar, easier version. Aside from the flavors and the health benefits, the great thing about this dish is that it's beautiful to look at. As they always say, "We eat with our eyes first."

Ingredients:

2-3 roasted red beets* diced into small cubes
1 cucumber, diced into small cubes
2 handfuls of greens, chopped (I used spring mix lettuce, but you could experiment with almost any type of green)
crumbled goat cheese
shelled, chopped pistachios (if you want extra crunch, toast the pistachios in a dry pan before adding them to the salad)
Citrus vinaigrette (below)

*To roast the beets, wrap them in aluminum foil and roast in the oven at 375 degrees until tender (usually takes about an hour). Peel them after they've been roasted.

For the vinaigrette: Combine several splashes of champagne vinegar and orange juice in a bowl. Add salt, a few squeezes of fresh lemon juice, and a dollop of dijon mustard. Whisk in some olive oil until it forms a nice consistency. Adjust ingredients/seasonings to taste. You want it to have some bite, but not be overly vinegary.

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a bowl, except the pistachios. Add just enough vinaigrette to lightly coat. To serve fancy restaurant style: fill a small cup or glass with several scoops of salad, place a plate on top, and overturn. Lift up the cup and...voila! Sprinkle the chopped pistachios on top.

My favorite "I really need some greens" salad

I recently had the good fortune of traveling to Costa Rica for a friend's wedding (which is why I've been so neglectful of my poor blog). It was an amazing trip, but I don't think I ate a vegetable for five days, unless you count salsa. Between snickers bars at the airport, breakfast croissants heaped with cheese, bacon and eggs, and mountain-sized piles of rice, beans, and chicken, I wasn't exactly doing my best to eat healthy, well-rounded meals. Hey - that's what vacation's about, right?

So when I returned home, I found myself craving a giant bowl of greens. Enter my favorite salad: the arugula & spinach cobb salad. I love this salad because it contains good healthy greens (arugula and spinach vs. iceberg), as well as some decadent ingredients (bacon and avocado) that make it feel like a meal instead of a side dish. It's a good way to detox from decadent eating without getting too crazy on the healthy stuff.

This cobb salad can take on different forms, depending on what you have on hand. Here is a breakdown of what a typical "I really need some greens" cobb salad consists of:

Must haves:

Lots of baby arugula
Bacon, cooked well-done and crumbled.
Chopped avocado
Chopped hard-boiled eggs

Might haves:

Chopped tomato
Baby spinach
Sliced red onion
Meat/seafood such as turkey, chicken or shrimp

Dressing:

Some champagne vinegar
A few squeezes of fresh lemon juice
A healthy teaspoon of dijon (I always use Grey Poupon)
Some sprinkles of salt
Some dashes of pepper
Good olive oil

*I believe the correct ratio is 1 part vinegar to 2 parts EVOO. Whisk it all together and adjust ingredients to taste. It's OK if it tastes pretty tart - it just means you'll need less of it.

After eating this salad, I feel ready to face the world, and the gym, again. With Christmas approaching, I plan to fit this salad into heavy rotation over the next few weeks.