Committed to not wasting time feeling guilty about my procrastination - I have chosen one recipe from April and one recipe from May and combined them into one very late June meal. I chose the chicken recipe from Gal #2 and the quinoia recipe from Gal #3.
One of the great things I did for this recipe (unintentionally) was to buy chicken cut for stir fry. This translated to a fry time of about 4 minutes total. I knew from past experience that I don't like celery seasoning and so I left that out. I also did not have enough bread crumbs and ended up crushing the remains of a bag of stuffing to make up the right amount. They were delicious.
Guy #1 ate alot. Always a good sign.
On to the salad:
I'll stop the photo shoot here to make my most important comment concerning this recipe - fresh, ripe fruit is absolutely essential. My mango was borderline. It didn't have a pretty color and was hard to cut up. The blueberries were a gorgeous color, but had no flavor. It's interesting that this salad was still wonderful...but my mouth just wanted those fruit flavors to come through - and I think the basil seasoning has to have that partnership to keep it in check.
Guy #1 didn't eat any of this. Not really an indication of how good it is, however. He couldn't get past the quonia looking like...well, never mind. I enjoyed it and must say that it would be a wonderful summer lunch item for work. It would definitely be something to look forward to.
WELCOME JUNE!
I found this new cookbook...and I'm in love:
Obviously the word "Simply" had its appeal for me...and the fact that it's organized seasonally. It is put together by a Mennonite group and everything in here is healthy, economical and completely doable. It's not on-line, however...so I can't link the entree recipe. So here it is:
Sesame Chicken Couscous Salad
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1 tsp soy sauce
1 tsp seseame oil or olive oil
· Combine and bring to a boil
1 cup uncooked couscous
· Place in large bowl and stir in boiling broth. cover and let stand 5 - 8 min. fluff with fork.
2 green onions sliced
1 large red pepper (chopped) optional
· Stir in. Cover and refrigerate until chilled.
1 1/2 cups sugar snap peas or snow peas
3/4 cup brocolli florets
· Steam peas 1 minute.
· Add broccoli and steam 2 more minutes or until crisp-tender.
· Rinse in cold water and drain.
1 cup cooked chicken chopped
· Add to couscous with broccoli and peas.
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon sesame oil
· Combine and mix into couscous mixture
1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
1 Tablespoon sesame seeds,toasted
· Mix in immediately before serving.
Serve chilled or at room temperature.
It's an all-in-one meal. All it needs is fruit - melon salad, perhaps? Grilled peaches? YUM.
And for dessert:
I found a new King Arthur Flour recipe for blueberry pie that requires wine! How could you go wrong?
http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/blueberry-pie-with-a-twist-recipe
Better late than never! Have fun!
