Not Shrimp Scampi

Really, it's not shrimp scampi. It's all the elements of scampi but different. Scampi is lemon, garlic, butter, and parsley. This is similar but I used lime and cilantro. I exchanged scallops for shrimp. I always put a pinch of cayenne pepper in my scampi but since I was going in a different direction with the lime and cilantro, I traded the cayenne in and used a pinch of chipotle chili powder. It turned out great. Everyone at dinner that night raved about it.



My favorite Shrimp Scampi recipe can be found here.

Park City Cashew Chicken

This is another Rachael Ray 365 meal. It is a favorite around here. It is spicy and a little sweet, plus the cashews add a wonderful crunch. I have said before how much we love stir fries and this resembles a stir fry but with less Asian flavors. It may seem like the chipotles and maple syrup should not go together, but they do.

I have made this recipe many times because everyone here loves it. One change I have made is Rachael's recipe calls for more chipotles than I use. The first time I made it, I cut back a bit on the chipotles and it was too hot for us and we love spicy food. Once we cut it back, it was much better.

The recipes I have found online for this is different than the one in the 365 book. Most of the online recipes include water chestnuts and garden peas. I think those added ingredients makes it more Asian. I choose to leave them out and follow the recipe in the book.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
2 cups jasmine rice
4 cups chicken stock or low-sodium chicken broth
2 pounds chicken meat (tenders; skinless, boneless breasts; skinless, boneless thighs), cut into 2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons grill seasoning blend, such as Montreal Steak Seasoning blend by McCormick
2 to 3 tablespoons dark soy sauce, such as tamari (eyeball it)
4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
3 tablespoons canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, finely chopped (available in the international foods aisle), or 1 1/2 tablespoons ground chipotle powder **if you don't want super spicy food, cut this back to 1 tablespoon. You can always add more if you need more heat**
1 tablespoon ground cumin (a palmful)
2 to 3 tablespoons honey (2 healthy drizzles)
1/4 to 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (eyeball it)
2 to 3 tablespoons cilantro (a handful), chopped
1 cup raw cashews

1. Start the jasmine rice. Follow the directions on the bag.

2. While the rice cooks, make the chicken. Heat a large skillet over high heat. Season the chicken with the grill seasoning. Add the vegetable oil (2 turns of the pan) and then the chicken. Brown the chicken on both sides, season with the soy sauce, then move the chicken to 1 side of the pan. Add the sliced onion, garlic and bell pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, then mix the vegetables and chicken together. Add the chipotle chiles and cumin. Toss to coat. Glaze the chicken mixture with the honey and maple syrup and turn off the heat. Add the chopped cilantro and the cashews.

3. Spoon the rice into bowls, top with the cashew chicken and serve.

Asian Turkey Salad; A Quick and Cool dinner for summer

What could be a better dinner on a hot and humid July night than a loaded salad? It's full of great vegetables, a tangy dressing, and leftover turkey breast. The original recipe which came from Everyday Food used a rotisserie chicken but I had grilled a turkey breast yesterday so we used some of the leftovers instead of chicken. It was quick, cool and delicious.

Ingredients

Serves 4

* 2 cups fresh cilantro leaves and soft stems
* 1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)
* 1/4 cup vegetable oil
* Coarse salt and ground pepper
* 1 rotisserie chicken (about 2 1/2 pounds), skin and bones removed, meat shredded (about 4 cups)
* 1/4 medium red cabbage (8 ounces), cored and thinly sliced crosswise
* 1 red bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
* 2 scallions, thinly sliced
* 1 large head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
* 1/2 cup cashews

Directions

1. Make dressing: In a blender, combine cilantro, lime juice, and oil; season with salt and pepper. Blend until smooth.
2. In a large bowl, combine chicken, cabbage, bell pepper, and scallions; season with salt and pepper. In another large bowl, toss lettuce with 1/2 cup dressing. Divide among four bowls, and top with chicken mixture. Drizzle all with remaining dressing, and sprinkle with cashews.

Chicken quesadillas from leftovers

Remember the margarita chicken? We had half a chicken left over after and I can't let it go to waste.
I pulled the skin off and shredded what meat was left. The dark meat was put in a food saver bag and tucked in the freezer. It will probably be added to soup later. The white meat was frozen to make chicken quesadillas.

These quesadillas are regulars at our house. I always have cheese and tortillas in the house. We usually add whatever leftover meat is in the refrigerator or freezer. Sometimes we just have them like grilled cheese.

If you can make grilled cheese, you can make quesadillas.

Place one tortilla on your work surface. Sprinkle with cheese. Add chicken, bacon bits and more cheese. Top with another tortilla. Butter the top lightly. Toss into pan and butter the other tortilla. I cover my pan with a lid so the cheese melts quicker. Flip and cook other side until lightly browned.

Cut the quesadilla in half and each half into thirds. Serve with your favorite sauces (we had taco sauce and salsa verde with this), sour cream, cilantro and jalapenos.

Fun with leftovers: Chicken Taco Cornbread

It's just the two of us here and we love roasted chicken. The only problem with roasting a whole chicken is all the leftovers. It's not really a problem because we like leftovers. I hear there are some people who will not eat leftovers. They would not fare well in this house. We really try not to waste anything.

I did a Mt Dew can chicken (we don't usually have beer here) on the grill a couple of weeks ago and after dinner, picked the chicken and froze it in a food saver bag. I figured there would be chicken soup or chicken casserole in our future until I came across this recipe. We love all the flavors so we decided to give it a try, even though earlier this week we had a new recipe flop.

The recipe's official name is Chicken Taco Cornbread Wedges with Ranchero Cilantro Drizzle. It won the 2007 National Cornbread Festival Cook-off sponsored by Martha White, Lodge Cast Iron and Brown Stove Company. I pretty much followed the recipe with a few changes.

Dressing
1/2 cup ranch dressing (I used Marie's Jalapeno Ranch)
1/2 cup salsa verde
1 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves

Filling
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper
1 tablespoon finely chopped jalapeno pepper
2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
3 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14 1/2 oz.) can diced tomatoes with green chilies
(I added a couple handfuls of real bacon bits and a little taco seasoning. Next time I'll probably add a bit of chipotle in adobo for some added heat and flavor)

Crust
1 egg
1 (7 oz.) pkg. Martha White® Sweet Yellow Cornbread Mix
1/2 cup milk
3/4 cup crushed corn tortilla chips (I didn't love the chips in the bottom but hubby did, maybe next time I'll crush them up more and see if I like it better)

Toppings
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
3 cups shredded romaine
1 cup chopped tomatoes (the tomatoes looked horrible at the store so I left them off and we added a sprinkle of chopped black olives)

Heat oven to 400° F. Combine ranch dressing, salsa and 1 cup cilantro leaves in small food processor or blender. Process until well blended. Cover and refrigerate.

In 10-inch Lodge® cast iron skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and jalapeno pepper; cook 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring frequently. Stir in chicken, 3 tablespoons cilantro, salt, cumin, pepper and tomatoes with green chilies; cook 5 minutes. Remove from skillet. Wipe out skillet with paper towel; grease.

In large bowl, beat egg. Add cornbread mix and milk; mix well. Place tortilla chips in greased skillet. Pour cornbread mixture over chips. Spoon chicken mixture over cornbread mixture; sprinkle with cheeses.

Bake at 400º F. for 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cut into wedges. Top with romaine and tomatoes; drizzle with dressing.
6 servings

We both agreed this will be added to our rotation for when we have leftover chicken. It'll be easy enough because I almost always have all the ingredients needed, but even if you didn't and left out or switched out something I think it would be equally as tasty.