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It's really popular now to grill the romaine lettuce before adding it to a Caesar salad. Unfortunately, I don't have access to a grill. I still made a wonder Caesar salad yesterday. It was light and crisp and the dressing was full of flavors.
Cesar dressing
about 1/2 cup high quality or homemade mayonnaise
2 anchovies, in oil
juice of 1 lemon
2 teas Worcestershire sauce
1 teas dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients in food processor and mix until smooth. Add about 2 tbs water and process again. The mixture should be somewhat thin. Add water if needed.
For the salad, chop three hearts of romaine and place in large bowl. Add about 1/2 pound cooked and cooled shrimp, 1 cup croutons and about 1/3 cup parmesan cheese. Mix well. Add dressing and mix well again.
Chicken puttanesca is a simple meal that is just basically spaghetti with some extra ingredients thrown in. It didn't take much longer than the time it takes to boil spaghetti and warm tomato sauce and it was wonderfully full of flavor.
Angel hair pasta, cooked
jar of tomato sauce
1 lb chicken, cut into pieces
1 medium shallot, chopped
about 1/2 cup pitted olives
2 tbs capers, rinsed
1 tbs garlic, minced
1/2 teas cayenne pepper
basil leaves and Parmesan cheese, for garnish
Cook chicken in cast iron skillet. Remove chicken from pan. Add shallot and cook a few minutes. Add tomato sauce and remaining ingredients. Lower heat to medium low, cover pan and simmer about 10 minutes. Return chicken to pan and cook until heated through.
These are my favorite doughnuts yet. I used the baked buttermilk doughnut recipe, but replaced some of the sugar with dark brown sugar. I also added some chai spices to the mix- ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, nutmeg and allspice. For the icing, I brewed a cup of chai tea and added a few tablespoons to the powdered sugar. The doughnuts really did taste like little bit of chai heaven.
I've had this idea in my head for awhile but it took a few tries to finally get it right. Crepes are pretty easy, but it was difficult for me to get the consistency right. Since they are so thin, it's important to have a thin batter. Once I pour the batter in the pan, I swirl the pan around to thin it out even more. I filled the crepes with chicken and broccoli. For a sauce, I made an easy creamy mushroom sauce.
Rye crepes
3/4 cup white flour
3/4 cup rye flour
2 eggs, beaten
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 teas salt
2 tbs melted butter
Combine ingredients to make a thin batter. Cook as thinly as possible on a hot pan.
We love kale in this household. D requests the kale salad from Super Natural Everyday almost weekly. We also love the kale salad at Green restaurant. Kale has been a popular vegetable for awhile now and with good reason. It's ridiculously healthy and very versatile. I used it here as the base for a simple garden salad. I used a box of baby kale greens topped with some toasted pecans. For the dressing, I reduced a cup of apple juice by half, then added a bit of cider vinegar, salt and pepper and whisked in some olive oil. The salad was delicious, with very subtle flavors.
I also made grilled cheese sandwiches with homemade bread. I made a simple half whole wheat half white mix with some dried potato flakes. Homemade bread makes great grilled cheese because it can be a little flimsy and grilling it helps it holds a nice shape. It made for a very simple and filling dinner.
I found a recipe for hummingbird cake in a Southern Living magazine. I'd never heard of it, but I thought it was such a lovely name that I had to bake one. I found a light version, which replaces most of the oil with applesauce. Hummingbird cake is very similar to banana bread, just in a pretty cake form with cream cheese frosting.
lightened hummingbird cake
D said he wanted some chocolate chip cookies. It's been years since I made some. In fact, last time I made them I wasn't a very good cook and they burned on the bottom. I've since learned a lot of cooking and baking and I have to say, these were some of the best chocolate chip cookies ever. The chocolate chips were also amazing. Whole Foods' brand are melty and nearly perfect.
2 cups flour
1 teas baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup regular sugar
4 tbs butter
2 eggs
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350. Cream together butter and sugars. Add eggs, one at a time. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Slowly add to butter mixture, beating well. Add chocolate chips. Bake 12-15 minutes. Makes about 24.
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