Spicy-Lime-Cilantro Sauce (or One Awesomely Versatile Sauce)

With the cilantro from last week's CSA share beginning the end of it's journey, I needed to find a way to use up the large untouched bunch sitting on my counter. In most culinary dishes I've made involving cilantro, a large bunch is way too much. I was about to settle on mixing up a cilantro pesto, and throwing it in a pan of pasta and shrimp when I came across a recipe on All Recipes for a Flank Steak Marinade. Hmm... Fajitas? I always buy bulk flank steak, wrap and freeze it, so I had that in the freezer... I had peppers I needed to use, and Boy Wonder (my 8yo)  loves fajitas. Sold!

I mixed up the ingredients in my Cuisinart mini-food processor...

And marinated the steak for twelve hours, making sure to reserve part of the puree as instructed...

As grillin' time grew closer, and I was digging out the fajita ingredients, I came across the CSA lettuce, onion, and squashes I'd been avoiding since picked up from the farm. Hmm... A fajita salad with a side of squash? Well, ok...

So the squashes were sliced and seasoned with a little kosher salt and homemade chili powder.  DH usually grills the steak, and I stay inside (where it's cool *insert devious laugh*), and sauté the onion and peppers for fajitas, but why not grill them too?

While the steak and veggies were grilling, I prepped the salad. Lettuce... arugula... What else? What dressing goes well with fajita meat? Oh yeah! The reserved puree! Why not just make a dinner salad out of everything? And so, another dinner salad was created...

The lime-cilantro puree was perfect as a marinade. It was perfect--PERFECT as a salad dressing. The boys even loved dipping their squash in it, so it was also perfect as a veggie "dip." How much more of a versatile sauce can you get?!?!

The original sauce/marinade is here, and my changes are below. I really only left out the thyme because I didn't have it, and after making it too spicy (for the kids) using canned hot diced chili's, added a little extra honey to offset the spice.

Awesomely Versitile Spicy-Lime-Cilantro Sauce
This makes just under two cups of sauce


6 cloves garlic
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 limes juiced OR 4 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs canned hot diced chili's
1 heaping cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
3/4 cup vegetable or canola oil
3 Tbs honey
kosher salt to taste

Throw everything in a food processor or blender, and puree.
***
7/15/10
Made this again tonight, but didn't have enough onion. Threw in a little onion powder, and still tasted great. I marinated a few chicken breasts then grilled, and also coated Magda squash rounds before grilling. Served them up with a plain ol' wild rice. Oh, and of course, we had more sauce on the side for dipping. Magnifique!

Green Dinner Salad with Pecan Chicken, Goat Cheese and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Two weeks ago I shared this picture of a salad I'd made with my garden blog readers, and promised to share the recipe...

Since then I've been pondering how to present it here. I've gone back and forth, deleted and restarted this post... I've wondered whether I can call this recipe my own creation, or to give you all three recipes that I've combined into one... When is a recipe changed enough to be considered a new recipe with a new creator? So I did what I always do when I have a question... I Googled it. har. "When is a recipe considered original?" My first result was thorough enough in answering the question, and I didn't feel the need to look further. I love Google... Anyway. An article in Washington Post titled, "Can a Recipe Be Stolen?" states...

 International Association of Culinary Professionals focus on giving proper attribution to recipes that are published or taught. The association advises using the words "adapted from," "based on" or "inspired by," depending on how much a recipe has been revised.... The only time a recipe should be printed without attribution, the association contends, is when it has been changed so substantially that it no longer resembles its source.

But what about combining parts of three different dishes that weren't significantly changed into one new dish? And so, I've decided to share the original recipe links with you, but I'm callin' the final result mine, unless someone says otherwise.

This salad has been adapted from Simply Recipe's Mixed Green Salad with Pecans, Goat Cheese, and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette recipe, Martha Stewart's Crisp Goat-Cheese Salad, and Laura G's Baked Honey Nut Chicken. I may not be great at creating new and original recipes, but I love modifying other's...

Green Dinner Salad with Pecan Chicken, Goat Cheese and Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette
This can be made well in advance, actually I recommend making it in advance to allow time for the flavors to blend. The dressing also makes enough for several salads/meals.

2 Tbs honey mustard*
1 to 2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (or regular if you can't find white)
3/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Whisk together honey mustard, garlic, red pepper flakes, and vinegar. Slowly drizzle the oil into the mixture, whisking constantly until incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.

*If you're like me and don't keep several different varieties of mustard in your fridge, here's an excellent honey mustard recipe: 1/2 Tbs yellow mustard, 1/2 Tbs honey, 1 Tbs mayo (or equal parts mustard and honey, double that amount of mayo).

Pecan Chicken
Marinating the chicken in the egg/honey mix isn't necessary, but it adds a sweetness to the chicken that simply coating the chicken won't provide.

2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 cup finely chopped pecans
1 cup Panko crumbs
4 chicken breats halves, thick part pounded slightly
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
olive oil (I use a spray)

1. In a bowl or ziploc bag, beat eggs and honey together until blended. Add chicken and marinate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
3. In a seperate bowl, toss together pecans bread crumbs, and salt and pepper.
4. Dredge the egg/honey soaked chicken with the pecan mixture, thoroughly coating. Place on a sprayed pan. Lightly drizzle or spray oil over tops of chicken.
5. Bake approximately 30 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, and coating is lightly crisp.
6. Let rest for 5 minutes. Slice into thin slices.

Crisp Goat-Cheese Rounds

I like making these in the toaster oven at the last five minutes the chicken is cooking. You can also make them in your oven while your chicken is resting.

1 egg

1 cup Panko crumbs

8 ounces goat cheese, in a log shape

salt and pepper to taste (optional)

olive oil (I use a spray)

1. Preheat your broiler. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

2. In a small bowl whisk the egg, salt and pepper. Place the breadcrumbs in a second bowl.

3. Slice the goat cheese into 6-8 rounds. Shape each into a disk. Separate each disk with wax paper or foil to prevent sticking.

4. Dip each disk first in the egg, then in the breadcrumbs, coating evenly. Place on prepared baking sheet.

5. Brush (or spray) disks lightly with olive oil, and broil until golden and crisp, about 5 minutes.

Salad Assembly

Salads, in my opinion, are open to interpretation, and personal preferences. I've always liked carrots, celery, and bell peppers in mine, but hate cucumbers (though I enjoy them overall). So, feel free to add or replace what you like to the ingredients listed below.

1 lb mixed salad greens. I recommend a bitter or bold green like arugula, endive, and/or raddichio, mixed with your favorite lettuce.

1/4 cup dried cherries

1/2 cup chopped baby carrots

1/2 cup chopped celery

1 red or yellow bell pepper cored, seeded, and cut into 1 inches pieces

Place lettuces in a large bowl or dinner plate, and top with desired salad ingredients. Add approximately half of a chicken breast halve to each salad, and goat cheese. Sprinkle with dried cherries, and drizzle with vinaigrette.

Momma's Slow Cooked Creamy Chicken Soup

In my last post I talked about the egg noodles I made to go with my chicken soup. I've been making this soup for years, and make it a little different every time depending on what's in my fridge that needs to be used up. I don't know what the original recipe is anymore. I just throw a bunch of things together, so I think I can call this one my own creation!

Throw all of your ingredients into your slow cooker. You can use frozen or thawed chicken breasts, but frozen makes for quicker prep work. Stir it all up, put the lid on, and let it cook.

 

Shred the chicken.

 

Put the shredded chicken back in your crock. If you're serving with dumplings, add them to the soup at this point.

 

 Nom!

 

*The quantities and ingredients for this recipe can easily be adjusted to meet your own chicken soup preferences*

Momma's Slow Cooked Creamy Chicken Soup
4 - 5 chicken breasts
2 - 10.5 ounce cans condensed cream of chicken soup (I use Campbell's Healthy Request soup)
Refill 1 emptied can of soup with chicken stock (I use Swanson's Natural Goodness broth), or water, or 1/2 stock or water and 1/2 white wine
3 celery stocks, chopped
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 large sweet pepper, chopped
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
a few dashes of black pepper
a few dashes of hot sauce or cayenne pepper (optional)
1 can Pillsbury Grands Buttermilk Biscuits, each biscuit quartered, or noodles or rice


Throw it all into your slow cooker, put the lid on, and cook on low for 8 hours, or medium-high for 4 - 5 hours.

When your chicken is cooked or 30 to 60 minutes before serving, take the chicken out and shred. At this point you can add the quartered biscuits on top of the soup. Replace the lid and let the dumplings cook. If you have an oven-safe crock pot, you can put the crock in the oven at 325 for 5 - 10 minutes to cook the tops of the dumplings. This will give them more of a biscuit-y texture.

As I mentioned in my noodle post, I'd never served them with this soup before, so to avoid ruining them, I cooked them separately. I put them in each bowl, and spooned the soup over the noodles.

Enjoy!