Poblano Chicken Salad

I was never one to go for chicken salad. I thought it too mushy, too mayonnaise-y and bland. This was my stance on the ubiquitous cafeteria fare until I got to college, where there was a sandwich place on campus that was only open for lunch. They made all kinds of sandwiches to order and the line was generally out the door. Bored of turkey and tuna, I bravely ordered the chicken salad after much urging from my friends. That sandwich was a revelation. Yes, it was chicken salad, but it was made with pieces of real chicken and studded with slightly crunchy celery and red onions. Sure it was covered in mayonnaise, but it was delicious with some salt and vinegar chips and a Diet Coke. This lunch sustained me for 4 years in Boston and fueled many afternoon shifts at the Student Services counter.

Fast forward an undisclosed number of years and I still don’t really like chicken salad all that much. Unless it’s made right, I don’t want it at all. Though I loved my college lunch, this poblano chicken salad has nothing to do with the standard cafeteria fare. It all starts with real chicken. Chicken thighs, to be exact. I rub them in olive oil and chili powder and roast them alongside whole poblano peppers. The chicken emerges from the oven juicy and flavorful, poblanos soft and smoky. The peppers’ skin is removed, seeds discarded and the flesh is blended with just a little bit of mayonnaise and lime juice. This spicy, creamy and tangy sauce is mixed with red onions (for crunch) and the shredded chicken into the most wonderful salad.

Squashed between two slices of whole wheat bread, it’s lunch nirvana, something to sustain me through long afternoon meetings.

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Wheat Berry Greek Salad

Earlier this week, I asked you guys what you wanted to see more of on the blog. I got quite a few requests for salads, in-season produce and vegetarian dishes among others. It’s a total coincidence, but I already had this recipe ready to go. It’s a salad, cucumbers and tomatoes are in season and it’s vegetarian – 3 for 3.

I hope this one makes it into the rotation for a lot of you. For me, it’s the perfect salad to pack for lunch. It’s easy to make, travels well and keeps for a few days. It’s your basic Greek salad: tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and feta, but I used wheat berries instead of lettuce and added chickpeas to make it even more hearty. I didn’t have any olives, but they would be a very welcome addition and I recommend you add them if you’ve got them.

The dressing is made with fruity olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, oregano and tahini. It’s light and bright and refreshing. I also sprinkled the top with Za’atar, a Middle Eastern condiment made with sumac, thyme and sesame seeds, for a little bit of that exotic flavor, but that’s totally optional.

This salad is also versatile. Use your favorite grain – spelt, wheat berries, farro, couscous – or a combination of your those. It’s a dish that Tom and I both love and I think you’ll love too. It also makes you feel better about eating way too many of those Banana, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Chip cookies.

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Roasted Baby Artichokes with Lemon and Pecorino

Hello everyone! I’m back from my trip and I’ve missed my little blog so very much! While I was away, I sampled some of the most delicious food I’ve ever tasted (a long post about that later this week). And I waited in line. Oh boy, did I want in line! Some of you may remember the Evil Ash Cloud that made air travel in Europe impossible a few weeks ago. I’m here to tell you – it was truly a nightmare.

I was supposed to leave for Paris on Friday, April 16. On Thursday, all airports in France closed. My flight was canceled and I had to kiss my plans for Paris (and the all money for my rental apartment … and all my croissant-filled plans) goodbye. Since we were only supposed to stay for 4 days before heading to Rome, I told myself all was not lost. We were confirmed on a flight into Rome for Tuesday. I would only lose 3 days of my vacation. But the Evil Ash Cloud was spreading and I was getting nervous. What if my flight to Rome was canceled? I had to get myself to Europe.

So we showed up at the airport Saturday morning and begged and pleaded our way onto a flight to Madrid that evening. I don’t know how we did it, but a very very nice lady named Maria helped us and we got on the standby list. We waited several long hours and somehow, we made it onto the flight! I jumped for joy like a little girl when they called our names and we were on our merry way to Spain. After we landed, we spent about 4 hours trying to figure out how to get to Rome. There was a lot of standing in line and I thought my feet were going to fall off by the end of it. In the end, we got a flight to Rome for Tuesday and spent 2 nights in Madrid. I know that we are some of the luckiest people on the planet for making it as far as we did when nothing in Europe was flying, trains were booked and rental cars were non-existent. It was hard to get there, but I am so glad we did!

Spain was wonderful, Italy was insanely delicious. And let me tell you about the markets. Wonderfully fresh fish, mountains of baby purple artichoke hearts, white and green asparagus and zucchini flowers. I very badly wished I had a kitchen so I could buy up all that amazing produce, but I contented myself with eating everything I could get my hands on. (If you need to get a hold of me this month, you can find me at the gym.)

Still, I couldn’t get those baby artichokes out of my mind, so I bought up the best ones I could find here. Prepped and sliced, I just drizzled them with olive oil and roasted them. Toss with lemon juice and Pecorino cheese, salt and pepper and you’ve got a very simple, very delicious spring side. You can also toss them with pasta, couscous or your favorite grain for a nice little side salad.

On a side note: I embellished the blog design a bit by adding that background picture. What do you guys think? Is the image too much? Let me know!

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Garlic & Cashew Noodle Salad

Spring is here! Soon I’ll be overdosing on asparagus and peas and all those spring vegetables that I’ve been missing for months. It’s finally starting to warm up. And warm weather means salads. Green salads, vegetable salads, grain salads and, my favorite, cold noodle salads.

This particular salad is something I could eat every week. The noodles are slick with sesame oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar – toasty and tangy. Baby bok choy is sauteed with garlic, cashews and tofu (chicken or steak if you prefer). Everything is tossed together with fresh garlic chives and mint leaves. It’s a delightfully refreshing salad that you can eat again and again. It just tastes like warm weather and sunshine to me. Hello, Spring!

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Chickpea & Orzo Salad with Piquillo Pepper Vinaigrette

I love recipes that taste better the next day and the day after. I bring my lunch to work, so if I can make a big batch of something on Monday and enjoy it for the rest of the week, I’m happy. This is one of those salads. The chickpeas and orzo absorbs the tangy, peppery vinaigrette until they’re tangy and peppery themselves. A little slice of prosciutto (or Serrano ham if you can afford it) and it’s my idea of a perfect lunch.

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Warm Winter Vegetable Salad (with bacon!)

We’re in the throes of winter! Actually, we’re not here in Miami. After the ridiculous cold last week, it’s been a crisp and beautiful 70 degrees every day. This is why I live here! But enough bragging. For most of you, it’s still freezing outside and that makes salads really unappealing. Cold vegetables? No thanks. You want something warm and rich, like a lasagna. Or like this warm winter vegetable salad.

You start with rutabaga (or potatoes), carrots, leeks and brussel sprouts. Those get roasted with some olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh herbs and just a little bit of applewood smoked bacon. You know, because it’s winter and you need bacon in the wintertime. Once they’re caramelized and delicious-looking, you toss everything with some whole wheat orzo and drizzle with a balsamic reduction.

This salad doesn’t mess around – it’s bold and rich from the roasted vegetables, woodsy from the herbs and a little smoky from of the bacon. It’s everything you could ever ask for in a salad – except for lettuce.

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Spinach-ful Egg Salad

I was going to make Braised Beef & Butternut Squash for today’s post. Really, I was! I had all the ingredients bought and ready to go. I just couldn’t summon any effort to make it last night. We had leftover meatloaf instead. But I did make a delightful little egg salad this morning, so I’ll share that instead.

Personally, I love eggs. I could eat them every day (and I usually do). When I was wondering what to make for lunch this morning, egg salad sounded perfect. I chopped a ton of spinach for color and healthiness, celery for crunch and stirred in plain Greek yogurt, lemon juice, tahini, salt and hot sauce. It’s eggy and tangy, a little spicy, and delicious between two slices of toasted whole grain bread. If you’ve got a tomato, add a thick slice. A simply awesome lunch.

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Tom’s Favorite Vietnamese Noodle Salad

I rarely make the same thing twice in a month. Even rarer for me to make something four times in a month. And it’s quite possibly unheard of for me to serve the same dish to guests twice in a week. Well, I think I’ve made this salad five or six times in the last month. And since it’s become Tom’s favorite, he’s been asking for it constantly, and I’m finding myself more than happy to oblige.

So, what is it about this salad that makes it so irresistible? I think it’s the bright and slightly sweet dressing, the freshness of the mint and cilantro and the fact that you can eat a whole heap of it and still feel really good about yourself. It’s one of those rare meals that is immensely delicious and really healthy. Best of all, it keeps in the fridge for a few days, even after it’s been dressed, making for some tasty leftover lunches.

I like top mine with some sliced steak, but it’s equally good with grilled chicken, pork or shrimp – just use whatever you happen to have on hand. It’s the ideal salad for the end of summer heat.

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Pasta Salad w/Steak & Blue Cheese Avocado Dressing

I don’t want to get into a whole thing about girly foods versus manly foods. As a woman, I do love my salads, dainty cheese tarts and chocolate. But not any more than I love big, beefy burgers, buffalo wings and nachos. Food is delicious and I will not take sides!

Even after all that, I have to say, this pasta salad is a manly salad. It’s hearty and bold and full of freshly grilled steak. It is not a side dish. It’s an aggressive, filling entree. The first time I made this, I tossed everything with a little vinaigrette and topped it with diced avocado and crumbled blue cheese. It was good, but it was missing something to tie it together.

I tried again, this time making a creamy dressing with the avocado and blue cheese and … success! The dressing pulled everything together like mayonnaise usually does. The rest of the ingredients – pasta, tomatoes, red onion and steak – completed the salad.

I loved it, Tom loved it. This is a salad for all the sexes.

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Grilled Summer Squash Caprese

Right around this time every year, people start scouring around for new zucchini recipes to get through what is usually an abundance of summer squash. Zucchini muffins, zucchini bread, ratatouille and zucchini pasta abound. Fortunately for me, I love the stuff and can’t get enough.

One of my favorite preparations is on the grill. Marinated and grilled summer vegetables are so good in pasta, salad or as a simple side. This time, I sliced some zucchini and yellow squash very thin, sprinkled with salt and pepper and quick-grilled them. Stacked with fat tomato slices and topped with a thick hunk of fresh mozzarella cheese, they made a very delicious and very pretty caprese salad.

But what really made it special was the good olive oil and and balsamic reduction I drizzled over the top. I’d never made a balsamic reduction and was pleasantly pleased by how utterly delicious and simple it was. I just simmered some aged balsamic vinegar in a little pot for awhile and it became an intense, slightly sweet syrup that’s insanely good with vegetables and creamy mozzarella.

A beautiful appetizer and an even better sandwich squished into a fresh baguette. Yum, yum and yum!

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