Farm Stand Chicken

Is it Friday yet? This week is dragging on and If I don't get to the beach soon, I am going to turn into the biggest grump around...even bigger then I already am being. Which is quite scary.
I am excited because I ordered some new cooking tools. I am anxiously awaiting my corn de-cobber and my ginger grater. Man do I love Williams Sonoma. I try to stay away because I dont have any room in my over packed kitchen as it is, but If I ever need a job, I am going to run not walk to my local WS!!!
I could have used my corn de-cobber for dinner tonight. I never ever used fresh corn for things. I don't know why, just didn't. My lovely cousin informed me a few weeks ago that you can use it practically raw when taken fresh off the cob and I had no idea. I thought you needed to boil it first and then take it off the cob which seemed like an awful lot of work when you could just pull it out of the freezer. That little tidbit has changed my world. I stick fresh corn in everything now. I buy ears of it on Monday and try to figure out where I can add it into my meals. So YAY to fresh corn!!!

Farm Stand Chicken
adapted from Dinners for a Year and Beyond

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt
pepper
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs
2 eggs
olive oil
1 cup corn, fresh, canned, or frozen/thawed
1 cup tomato, diced
2 scallions, sliced thin
***I added an additional grated fresh zucchini****
drizzle of olive oil
about 1/2 cup cheddar cheese, or substitute your favorite cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

****before I started I pounded the breasts so that they were a bit thinner and they were even. If not I feel like the thinner part gets too dry trying to cook the thicker part*****
Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.
Set aside.
Combine flour and bread crumbs in a shallow dish.
Beat eggs in another shallow dish.
Heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan.
Dredge chicken in flour mixture and then in egg and saute for about 3 - 4 minutes per side until nicely browned.
Remove from pan and place on a paper towel lined plate.
If chicken is not cooked through at this point finish cooking in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine corn, tomato, scallions, zucchini, a drizzle of olive oil, and a little salt and pepper.
Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. ***I used a baking dish***
Top each one with about 1/4 of the corn mixture and 1/4 of the grated cheese.
Bake in oven for about 5 - 8 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Note: This meal can be made ahead of time. Saute the chicken, let cool and package for the frig. Mix up the corn mixture and keep in the frig. At dinner time, preheat the oven, assemble the chicken breasts and bake. Viola! It's just dinner.

Without the cheese, pretty colors huh?

With the cheese all nice and baked
oh and I had leftover mixture because I wasnt sure if Jackson wanted to have it all farm standish & cheesy so I just put the rest in the pan.

VERDICT:

HELLO YUMMY CHICKEN, meet my happy belly.

I really enjoyed this dish. I had never mixed flour and bread crumbs together and then fried. I guess that is how they make chicken francaise in the restaurants huh? Never knew. Anyway, I loved it. I also loved how easy this dish was and you could easily serve it for company because its colorful, flavorful and so easy. I think I might to Italian up the farm stand next time with a similar idea, stayed tuned for that. I had an awesome zucchini side dish I had been waiting to make with just the right meal and this was it....only when I looked at the recipe it needed to sit overnight and it was 6:00 pm already so I now have a ton of zucchini waiting to be side dished. Hopefully since it was from the farm stand it will be fresh enough that it will keep until next week. I will need to find another perfect meal to make it with. Having the for thought to cook anything a day ahead isn't likely going to happen with my 2 crazy monkeys in the house.

Rachael Ray Chicken Salad Sandwich

Cooking dinner nightly with 2 small kids being pretty demanding just got easier with the introduction of puffs. Miss Puff Princess Amelia Grace could eat them for hours upon hours and be perfectly content. She is quite good at delicately placing them in her mouth...only 1/2 of them end up on the floor or down her shirt

So you are wondering where August 10th went huh?

I was going out with the ladies so I cooked the guys some quesadillas again. Recipes already on here so no need for a re-post

Onto dinner...from last week shhhhh I am still playing catch up

Here is another Rachael Ray Day. Again I find her pretty annoying but I am always on the look out for new inspiration and I had not tapped into her magazine yet. I refuse to call a sandwich a Sammie, I will put that out there from the beginning so I have to change the name of this recipe but if you would like to see the given name, click on the link for now I will simply call it

Rachael Ray Chicken Salad Sandwich
Adapted from the lady herself Rachael Ray

INGREDIENTS

1 large shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar or white balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper
3 cups shredded poached chicken or skinned rotisserie chicken
3 ribs celery from the heart, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped or grated
A handful of butter lettuce leaves, torn or chopped ** I love Boston Bidd for Sandwiches**
4 sprigs tarragon, leaves stripped and chopped **After I bought it and chopped it I omitted—I HATE tarragon**
1 large Pullman-style white or whole wheat bread loaf, unsliced ** I used ciambatta rolls** a nice Italian loaf will do.


In a bowl, combine the shallot, vinegar, mustard and honey.

Whisk in the EVOO and season with salt and pepper.

Add the chicken, celery, carrot, lettuce and tarragon; toss.

Trim the ends off the loaf of bread, then slice the loaf into six 2-inch-thick slices.

Using a serrated knife and starting at the top, cut a pocket into each bread slice.

Fill the bread pockets with the chicken salad….Or just use a roll and eat dinner like a normal person

VERDICT
While I find her annoying, If I ever meet her I will thank her for hiring people who can write such great recipes. This salad is amazingly delicious. I love that it is no mayo. It is so fresh tasting and really delicious. I forgot to take a picture of it last night when we ate it, but thankfully we had a bunch leftover so I could recreate the picture….and eat the extremely yummy sandwich again. I think this would be a great addiction to a brunch buffet, tail gating, the holiday leftovers, just make it and you will get what I am saying. I have a favorite chicken salad recipe that is my old faithful but I have to say this one might be taking over the top spot! It scores high marks for using ingredients I usually have in the house.

Oh and I didn’t use the tarragon because ew! I don’t like tarragon. I wasn’t sure but when I chopped it and smelled it and then put a small bit in my mouth I remembered I don’t like it. It smells like black licorice or anise and I don’t like either of those things. I almost added it to be fair to the recipe but I was really hungry and didn’t want ruin a whole giant batch of yummy goodness. So if you like it use it, I am sure you will be happy with the end result. Come on, I like cilantro now, so I had to find another offensive herb to protest against.

And I didn’t get the whole stuffed Sammie thing. I just used a normal ciambatta roll (which I love) and it worked out just fine. No need to stuff anything or make it harder then it needs to be. It’s a sandwich not an art project. Shoprite makes the most delicous Ciambatta rolls which is why I use them often. Its hard to believe they make the best rotisserie chickens AND the best rolls right in my local grocery store

I paired with this

Summer-Strone

adapted from a Rachel Ray recipe--I added to it and I think made it better

Ingredients:
1/2 cup Israeli Couscous **I used small little tube pasta because I couldn't find this kind of couscous**
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound kirby cucumbers—peeled, seeded and sliced **I used English seedless**
One 15-ounce can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
2 cups vegetable broth
1 zucchini, shredded
1 cup loosely packed flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped **could also use basil**
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Grated peel of 1 lemon

optional--I also used 2 ears of fresh corn off the cob

Directions:
In a pot of boiling, salted water, cook the couscous (or pasta) until al dente, according to package directions.

Drain and rinse with cold water.

Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over high heat.

Add the cucumbers and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes.

Stir in the tomatoes and paprika.

Using a food processor, and working in batches, puree the mixture. **I used my immersion or hand blender if you don't have one its a kitchen must have in my house**

Return to the pot and stir in the vegetable broth, couscous and zucchini. AND fresh corn if you would like to make it even better

For cold soup, refrigerate until chilled. I liked it hot with cheese on top

In a small bowl, combine the parsley, Parmesan, lemon peel and remaining 1/4 cup olive oil.

Serve the soup drizzled with the parsley pesto. **I skipped this step because I was starving and didn't think Jackson would like it and didn't feel like cooking anymore**

VERDICT:
Loved this soup. As I have said before I could eat soup everyday and this one is sure to please. Jackson loved it and so did I. It was heavy enough to make a meal out of as well. I loved the corn in it and was glad I thought to add it. I also liked the veggies grated up so it wasn't too chunky. It is the perfect light lunch soup too. Will be making this one again soon. Never did find the right couscous and I am glad I didn't use the regular small grain one, I think that would have ruined it. You could use ditalini, pastina, or achi de pepe also.

California Chicken Salad and Summer Soup

ALL THE PRETTY COLORS

Tonight's meal was an array of beautiful colors. I am not sure how it happened but I picked a lot of veggie filled recipes this week and we have 2 recipes tonight PACKED with veggie goodness
First up
SUMMER SOUP
I tried to find out the origins of this recipe but I have no idea where I copied it from

INGREDIENTS

4 cups fresh corn kernels or two 10 oz. packages frozen corn, thawed **you don't need to cook the corn before you de-cob it, I did but a contributing chef Lauren said I didn't need too--
thanks L***
2 cups non-fat milk
1 tbs. olive oil
1 large onion, diced (about 2 cups)
1 medium red bell pepper, seeded and diced (about 1 cup)
1 small zucchini (about ½ lb.), diced
2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable broth
2 plum tomatoes, seeded and diced
¾ tsp. salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
½ cup fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons

Put 2 cups of the corn and the milk into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
Heat the oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, bell pepper, and zucchini and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.
Add the remaining 2 cups corn and the broth and bring to a boil.
Add the pureed corn and the tomatoes and cook until warmed through but not boiling.
Add the salt and season with pepper.
Serve garnished with the basil ribbons.

VERDICT
This soup was....good. Healthy, full of veggies, and Jackson and Doug really liked it so that says something. I wish I knew I didn't have to boil the corn 1st because that would have cut down on my cooking time. I had 2 servings of this soup. The 2nd had cheddar cheese added and I liked it more with the cheese. I also think it would be great with some toasty croutons. I think I needed to add more fresh basil then I did also. Overall it was a good quick, healthy soup and I will make it again for a perfect lunch. It did pair nicely with the next recipe for........


California Chicken Salad
borrowed from the blog Delicious Meliscious

INGREDIENTS

4-5 cups mixed salad greens

5 large strawberries, sliced

1 mango peeled and sliced

1 avocado peeled and sliced

2 chicken breasts, grilled & diced ** I used Monterrey Chicken Seasoning**

Directions: In a large bowl, place salad greens, then add all other ingredients. Serve drizzled with the poppy seed dressing below, or the dressing of your choice.

Balsamic Poppy Seed Salad Dressing

Source: Adapted from a post on the CookingLight.com Community

Ingredients:

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1 tsp. splenda or sugar

1 tbsp. fat free mayo (optional)

Directions:Whisk together all the ingredients

VERDICT

I really liked the freshness of this salad. I loved the combo of the fruit and the avocado, it looked beautiful on the plate. And would be perfect to serve for an Easter brunch or shower luncheon. I wasn't so crazy about the dressing. It was kind of bitter because of the balsamic and I think there are much better poppy seed dressings out there (and on this site) This is my least favorite of the 3 poppy seed dressings I have made in the past 2 weeks. But if you like Balsamic I would give it a try because maybe it was just me and my tastes. I think I need to take a break from the poppy seeds in case I need to take a drug test.