Pineapple Chicken Salad

May 21, 2012 by · 5 Comments

Pineapple Chicken Salad

I’m trying to come up with healthy meals that I can make ahead of time so that we  different options on activity nights. I love a nice family sit down meal,  but some nights it just isn’t possible.  So I am trying to figure out lots of meals that we can either pack up and go or eat quickly when we get home  later than usual.

Jim and I recently started playing squash at our gym and I am kind of obsessed.   My plan is to play every Thursday night and bring dinner to eat out by the pool afterwards (in order to get the kids to happily agree to our new plan.) We also have gymnastics on Tuesdays which makes for a late dinner.  I found myself eating some strange meals (like eggs and canned collard greens) on a few nights that I wasn’t prepared, so I decided to start a list of options for these types of evenings.

Enter the Pineapple Chicken Salad.

I was surprised how much everyone liked these. My oldest daughter, Ella particularly loved them and I think she was even surprised how much. The first night we had them I served them in warmed whole wheat pitas and the second night we had them in wraps. Both were good, but I particularly liked the pitas.

The great thing about these is that you get everything in one shot. Lean Protein – check. Complex Carbohydrates – check. Fruits and Veggies – check. Yumminess – double check. The creaminess comes from a combo of greek yogurt and light mayo and there are some sliced almonds for that nutty crunch that I just love in chicken salad.

If I was going to take these to the pool I would probably stuff the pitas ahead of time and wrap them up in some foil for everyone. Throw some grapes or carrots in a plastic container and we can call it a meal.

Enjoy!

PS….I am starting a new tag for Busy Night Meals. I would also love to hear any suggestions for meals for busy nights.  I need to be able to make everything ahead of time and ideally it should be portable or easy to reheat.

Source:  Cooking Light via MyRecipes.com

Pineapple Chicken Salad
 
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Ingredients
  • 2½ cups chopped cooked chicken breast (about 1 pound)
  • ½ cup matchstick-cut carrots
  • ⅓ cup sliced almonds, toasted
  • ⅓ cup light mayonnaise
  • ¼ cup finely chopped green onions
  • ¼ cup plain fat-free yogurt (I used Greek)
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
  • 4 (6-inch) whole wheat pitas, each cut in half
  • 8 Romaine lettuce leaves

Instructions
  1. Combine all the salad ingredients in a bowl and combine thoroughly. Allow to chill for at least one hour. Line each pita with a romaine leaf and stuff pita with about ⅓ cup of chicken salad.
  2. Enjoy!

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Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Kabobs

May 15, 2012 by · 8 Comments

We grill a lot.  With the warmer than usual winter this year, we grilled all the way through the winter.   I should actually clarify – when I say grill I mean Jim grills and I usually prepare whatever we are about to grill.  So this year I decided to start skewering food in an attempt to change things up a bit.

The best thing about kabobs is that you get your veggies (fruit) and meat cooked all in one shot.    Plus since they all marinate together the flavors go together better than if they were all cooked separately.  You can serve this over rice and if you want some extra flavor you can make a little extra marinade and warm it up before serving.  Yum!

I added the chopped jalapeño to the recipe, but I will admit that I didn’t use it in this particular recipe because the kids were eating it with us.  I do try to get them to eat some spicy foods, but jalapeño can sometimes be too much for them.   Jalapeno and pineapple taste surprisingly great together and I think they would taste even better with the Teriyaki and cilantro….Kind of like the salsa in this fish recipe.

I will definitely be making variations of this recipe all summer.   I’m sure this won’t be the last kabob recipe on the blog.  Enjoy!

 

Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Kabobs
 
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Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 10 ounces boneless skinless breast cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 8 ounces pineapple chunks with juice
  • 2 red peppers – cut into 1 inch squares
  • 1 sweet onion – cut into 1 inch pieces
  • ¾ cup teriyaki sauce
  • 2 cloves garlic – minced
  • 1 good handful of cilantro – coarsely chopped
  • 1 jalapeño finely chopped with seeds and membranes removed – optional

Instructions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a Ziploc bag and let marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes but as much as overnight.
  2. Drain in a colander and reserve the marinade for basting. Thread the chicken, pineapple, onion and peppers alternately on a skewer. (Its great if you can get some cilantro and jalapeno to stick to everything.
  3. Over a medium hot grill cook the kabobs turning frequently. Cook for about 15 minutes until chicken is no longer pink in the middle. Base the kabobs with the reserved marinade while cooking.

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Slow-Cooker Thai Coconut Chicken Curry

March 26, 2012 by · 6 Comments

By now you know how much I love Thai food and this recipe is no exception. There is so much great flavor going on here I almost don’t know where to start. This made my taste buds very happy.

A while ago I was reading an article that talked about why Asian food is so yummy. Apparently this has been studied and the reason is that one dish can have so many different flavors going on at once. Take this dish for instance. There is sweet (the sweet potato and sugars.) There is salt (the fish and soy sauce). There is hot spice (from the curry and chili.) There is nuttiness (from the coconut and the brown rice.) There are herbs with their own flavors (basil and cilantro). There is tanginess (from the limes.) Plus you have the texture of the chicken, the rice and the veggies and they all have their own flavors. All of these flavors and textures come together to make this wonderful dish. And that, my friends, is why this is so good – proven fact!

I wonder what adding some different flavor dimensions would do to some of our typical American fare?

So anyways. If you haven’t gotten my point, this dish is A-Mazing. There are so many flavors and they come together to form this addicting sweet, spicy coconut curry. Seriously yum.

Plus it’s quick and easy! What’s not to love about a recipe like that?

This could easily be a vegan or vegetarian recipe if you left out the chicken (and maybe the fish sauce.) It would be a shame to leave out the fish sauce, but I could eat it without chicken and I don’t think I would miss too much.

You could also lighten this up by using light coconut milk. I didn’t just because the coconut is the only fat in this dish and I have read such great things about the fat from coconuts that I didn’t feel bad using the real deal.

One of the surprises in this dish was the sweet potato. I love them, but don’t usually add them to other dishes. Wow. I will be adding them to more dishes from now on!

So if yo are looking for a super easy, healthy and tasty dish with some exotic flavors give this curry a try. Your taste buds will be very happy you did. Enjoy!

Source:  Adapted from Stephanie O’Dea via the Rachael Ray Show

Slow-Cooker Thai Coconut Chicken Curry
 
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Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
  • 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Thai Red Curry Paste
  • 1 tablespoon Thai red or green chili paste
  • 2 teaspoons fish sauce
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 to 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped or grated
  • 1-inch knob ginger, peeled and grated or 2 tablespoons crushed ginger
  • 2 red bell peppers, seeded and chopped
  • 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
  • 1 cups frozen peas
  • 1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs
  • Rice (I used brown jasmine which is my favorite)
  • 1 lime, cut into wedges, to garnish
  • 2 scallions, thinly sliced, to garnish
  • ½ cup chopped cilantro, to garnish
  • ½ cup chopped basil, to garnish

Instructions
  1. In a small bowl combine the coconut milk, sugar, soy sauce, curry paste, chili paste and fish sauce. Whisk to combine. Add mixture to the bowl of your slow-cooker.
  2. Add onion, garlic, ginger, peppers, sweet potato, peas and chicken to the slow-cooker. Cook for 4 hours on high or about 6 on low. Serve over rice. Top with lime juice, cilantro, basil, scallions.
  3. Enjoy!

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Thai River Noodles with Chicken (Pad See Ew)

March 19, 2012 by · 5 Comments

If you read my blog often, you know that I love the flavors of Thai Food.  Crave may be a more accurate word.  One of my newest obsessions around Thai food are the wide flat rice noodles.  OMG, they are amazing and they are so nice and light and they just soak up whatever flavor is in the dish.    The Thai/Sushi restaurant near my house serves them with their Spicy Basil Chicken and I have to stop myself from eating too much.  So when I ,went to my local Asian grocery store in Cary a few weeks ago I was on a mission to get two things.  First, was some good Oyster Sauce and second were fresh wide rice noodles.

Actually, this post is kind of hard to write because I want some of these noodles now:-)

From what I can understand, this dish is called “river noodles” because the noodles are broad and flat like a river. Makes sense, right?  This is a popular dish among the Thai people and I also understand that this is the type of food you could buy on the streets in Thailand from vendors known as hawkers.   The hawkers cook it in the wok right in front of you and apparently the street smells amazing from the smell of the woks.  I can just imagine. Here is some info on Thai hawker food….I want to make all of these dishes right now. I have had the papaya salad before and that is amazing, too.

I used my new wok for this dish and I can’t wait to use it again….it might even be to make these noodles again, they were that good!

I found this recipe  on About.com and I thought this was perfect because it includes both oyster and fish sauce which is the flavor I was going for with this.  One of the reviews said it was restaurant quality and I completely agree!

The noodles that I used were frozen and I wasn’t completely sure how to thaw them so they wouldn’t get sticky.  However, the package tells you to microwave them which is what I did and they turned out fine.  I microwaved them for 2 minutes @ 50 percent and then I took them out of the package and plunged them in hot water.  Then I could separate them pretty easily with my hands.  Once they were separated, I placed them on paper towels (or you could use a tea towel) to dry out.  Since they are going to get fried in the wok you want to get as much of the water off as possible.

This is a fun dish to make and once you get the noodles situated it comes together in no time.  My girls loved it too.  I used chicken and green beans, but you could also use beef or shrimp and swap the beans out for broccoli  or red pepper.

Enjoy!

Thai River Noodles with Chicken (Pad See Ew)
 
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Recipe type: Main

Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. fresh broad flat rice noodles
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ pound of fresh green beans, trimmed and blanched
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts sliced into thin strips
  • 2 Tbsp. oil, plus ¼ cup sherry (OR chicken/beef broth) for stir-frying
  • 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 1 heaping tsp. brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. regular soy sauce
  • 3 Tbsp. fish sauce
  • 2 tsp. brown sugar
  • ½ tsp. white pepper
  • handful of fresh thai basil or cilantro
  • Bean sprouts optional

Instructions
  1. For the marinade combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar. Pour over the chicken and let marinate while you prepare the rest of the dish.
  2. Prepare your noodles according to package directions. If they are packaged and fresh you can microwave them until warmed through and then drop in some warm water. Gently separate with your hands. Dry on a tea towel or paper towels.
  3. For the stir fry sauce combine the 1 Tablespoon dark soy sauce through pepper and set aside. You can also add a tablespoon or two of Thai Chili paste at this point or some sriracha if you would like some heat. I added mine at the end because I was serving this to my girls.
  4. Place a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add 2 Tbsp. oil and swirl around.
  5. Add the garlic and briefly stir-fry until fragrant.
  6. Add the chicken and stir-fry 2 minutes or until cooked through. Add the sherry or broth as needed to keep your wok from drying out..
  7. Add the beans and bean sprouts (optional) and continue stir-frying for one more minute.
  8. Push ingredients to the sides of the wok creating a hole in the center. Break the egg into the center of the wok or pan. Quickly stir-fry to cook the egg (like making scrambled eggs).
  9. Add the noodles and the stir fry sauce and gently toss until everything is combined. Let the noodles cook and soften for about 2 more minutes. When noodles are soft, remove from heat. Taste for salt and add more fish sauce if needed. Toss with fresh basil or cilantro (I used Thai basil.)
  10. I also add Thai Chili paste to my individual serving and then I can adjust the heat to my liking. Sriracha would be good, too.

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Lunchbox Chicken Noodle Soup

February 19, 2012 by · 11 Comments

When I was young my favorite soup came in a red box. It consisted of two things….salty broth and vermicelli noodles. To this day, if I am sick the first thing I want to eat when I start to feel better is Lipton’s Noodle Soup. I have never looked at the sodium count, but I’m sure it’s through the roof. Still, it’s good and it makes me feel better. So there.

When I was in the store the other day I came across a package of short vermicelli noodles and I grabbed it. My first thought was that I would recreate Lipton’s Noodle soup and the kids would love it. Somewhere along the way I decided to make it a true chicken noodle soup with the carrots, chicken, celery and parsley. However I decided to chop everything up very small just like the noodles. I also added some bouillon to the broth to make it taste even more like my favorite soup in the red box.

Perfect for little mouths to eat and carry to school in a thermos in their little lunchboxes. I honestly think the fact that everything was cut up so small made it easier and more appealing for them to eat.

The girls loved it and happily ate it three days in a row – no complaints. I was worried that after the first two days they might grow tired of it. However, the only complaint was that it wasn’t hot enough on day 2. Oh well, it was still gone.

I decided to buy each of the girls a Thermos last year so that I could send them some different foods in their lunches. We probably use them 2-3 days a week. Sometimes I will send leftovers and some days we will pack it with a fruit salad and yogurt. I know people are always looking for different lunch ideas for the kids and if you don’t have a Thermos I definitely suggest purchasing some. Having these increases your lunch possibilities threefold…maybe even one hundred.

Plus, how cute is Hello Kitty?

Enjoy!

Lunchbox Chicken Noodle Soup
 
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Ingredients
  • 2 carrots
  • 2 stalks of celery
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil (can use half butter if you would like)
  • 1 32 ounce box of low sodium chicken broth
  • 4 cups of water
  • 3 tablespoons of chicken base (I use Better Than Broth and you can use this to taste)
  • 2 cups cooked chicken – cut into small cubes (1/4″ is what I did)
  • 6 oz. short vermicelli noodles (you can use more or less depending on your preferences, however if you add more you may need to add additional liquid.)
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. Chop celery and carrots into a small dice about ¼ inch. Saute in olive oil in a soup pot for several minutes until tender. Add remaining ingredients through chicken and simmer for 20 minutes. Turn heat up and bring to a gentle boil. Add noodles and cook until tender. Turn soup back down to a simmer and add parsley flakes. Simmer for 5-10 minutes more and serve.

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