Seven Layer Chicken Taco Salad

A while ago I picked up a used copy of Mexican Light Cooking, but had not yet had a chance to break it open until last night. Last night I made the book's Seven Layer Chicken Taco Salad. I think I used more chicken than recommended, but even still it was probably close to 400 calories (the recipe as published is 332 calories).

Flavor and texture wise, it was very good. Not the best ever, but still very good. Next time I will likely do even more lettuce and tomato and less beans. Oh, and more avocado if I feel like more delicious guac flavor :)

Seven-Layer Chicken Taco Salad
6 servings

• 1lb skinless boneless chicken breasts
• 2 cups fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• (I added 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, divided)
• salt and pepper
• 3 cups (I'd use more) shredded lettuce
• 1 lb tomatoes, diced
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 large avocado, diced
• 1 cup finely diced onion (preferably red onion)
• 1 cup shredded reduced fat Monterey Jack or cheddar cheese
• 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• (I added some lime juice)
  

1. Trim visible fat from the chicken, place in medium sauce pan, add chicken broth and enough water to cover by 2 inches. Bring to simmer over medium high heat, reduce heat to medium low and cook until chicken is cooked/white throughout, about 15 minutes. Let chicken remain in the liquid until it is cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes.
2. Remove the chicken and shred it (I cubed some because it was easier). Reserve 1/3 cup of the broth. In small bowl, combine shredded chicken with parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper and 1 tablespoon cilantro.
3. In a wide (preferably clear) bowl, layer lettuce, tomatoes, black beans, chicken, avocado, onion, and cheese.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together vingar, olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt,1/4 teaspoon pepper, reserved 1/3 cup chicken broth, remaining cilantro and a dash of lime juice. Drizzle dressing over salad and serve.
   

Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

This one was such a winner. I want to send a HUGE thank you to Smitten Kitchen for this delicious and healthy side dish idea. I served it alongside baked ziti and home made bread. The bread with the salad was delicious. I used it to soak up all the extra dressing. If I was not serving with a crusty bread, I would likely halve the dressing recipe, because it was far too much dressing for JUST the veggies. So great and easy, you have to try it!
I am submitting this wonderful recipe to Joelen's Tasty Tools roundup because you need your whisk to get the dressing right. I reccomend using a very small whisk because of how little you need to mix up.
Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

1 pound green beans
1 pound cherry tomatoes
1/4- 1/2 an onion
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Top and tail the beans (I also halve the big ones at this stage), and parboil them in salted water until tender (2-4 min). Drain and immediately spread them out to cool. Stem the cherry tomatoes and cut them in half. Can do up to here in advance, but do not move ahead before you are ready to eat.

For the vinaigrette, dice the onion fine and put it in a bowl with the vinegar and salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil. Taste and adjust the balance with more vinegar, oil, or slat, as needed. Toss the cherry tomatoes in with the vinaigrette; this can sit for a while. Do not add the green beans until just before serving or they will discolor. Toss and serve.

It's a Triple, or a Home Run

Today you get not one, not two, but three recipes! I decided to participate in the weekend cookbook challenge. This time the theme is Dinner and a DVD.

Hmm, but what dvd should I use as inspiration? There are my classic chick flicks (breakfast at tiffany’s with pastries? French kiss with a french salad and cheese platter? My big fat greek wedding with spanikopita?). Or there are The action movies I am coerced into watching (The good, the bad and the ugly with cowboy spaghetti [spaghetti western, get it?!]? Old Boy with dumplings?) No, none of these worked for me or were listed in my cookbooks.

A quick rummage through the unused pages of Rachel Ray 365 gave me the perfect inspiration! Baseball movies! Her Chicago Dog Salad made me immediately think of a dressed up ball park frank!

At this point, I feel it is crucial to mention that I was raised on baseball. Cal Ripken was a God in my family. I have seen The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown as well as the Little League Hall of Fame. I was not raised on soccer, basketball or football (though I have grown to love them all in their own way). My dad loved baseball. He even has a hilarious story about an all-star game he tried to attend, though he would likely not enjoy me posting it on the internet. It is with this background in mind, that you should understand why I can reference many a baseball movie. Ok, so the recipe was a CHICAGO hotdog turned into a salad, so I decided to pair it with Rookie of the Year. The story of a kid whose arm becomes a fast-pitch machine after an injury. He is then recruited by the cubs.

Larry Fisher: Hey, kid! How'd you like to play for the Chicago Cubs?

Henry Rowengartner: Great! But I gotta ask my mom first.

The salad was great! So simple and easy! I will definitely repeat. AND, a bonus, I think the boy would like it as long as I add some ketchup to the dressing!

Tips and Changes for Next Time: Use a lot less vinegar. Use a lot of good tomatoes. I used grape which was fine, but mine were losing their freshness, so that didn’t help. Plus I should have added a lot more. I would sear hotdogs longer next time, until very dark since I like crispy dogs. I will also try to remember to drain them! Maybe add ketchup to the dressing.
Rookie of the Year’s Chicago Dog Salad from the Rachel Ray 365 Cookbook
1/4 cup yellow mustard

2 tablespoons vinegar, eyeball it (I used 1 TBSP)

1 rounded teaspoon sugar

4 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used a little less)

1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced (I used ¼ of a white onion chopped since I am not a huge raw onion fan)

1/2 of a 16-ounce sack shredded cabbage blend for slaw salads

1 romaine heart, shredded

2 vine ripe tomatoes, diced (I used a very large handful of grape tomatoes chopped up)

3 large half sour or garlic pickles, chopped (I used 2 or 3 scoops of relish)

Salt and pepper

8 pork or beef hot dogs, cut into 1-inch-thick slices on an angle (since it was just for my dinner and my lunch, I only used 4 and I used chicken dogs)

In the bottom of a large bowl, combine mustard, vinegar, sugar, and about 3 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Add the onions, cabbage, romaine, tomatoes, and pickles and toss the salad. Season with salt and pepper, adjust seasonings, and reserve.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add in remaining 1 tablespoon vegetable oil (1 turn of the pan) then arrange the sliced dogs in a single layer. Sear them a couple of minutes on each. Remove to paper towels to drain (forgot this step! Showed, but wasn’t horrible).

Mound up the salad on plates, top with seared dogs, and serve

Then, I took this dinner a step further with a baseball movie themed side dish. Field of Dreams revolves around a farmer who hears voices coming from his cornfield. They tell him to build a baseball field in the field. He does build it, and “they” come. The field becomes populated by the ghosts of past baseball players. Got me thinking about corn…

Ray Kinsella: It's okay, honey. I... I was just talking to the cornfield.

So, for this one I tried my Joy of Cooking cookbook, but wasn’t happy with what I found. I then Turned to my Pillsbury cookbook and decided on Roast Corn on the Cob.

I will definitely repeat this one, but I will make a few changes. I wasn’t pleased with the paprika taste on the corn. I also wasn’t crazy about the Tabasco, but I could deal with that as it gave it a nice touch of heat (though it could be replaced by a little LITTLE bit of chili powder or cayenne maybe?). The corn was perfectly cooked though. Very juicy and tender, but not mushy. Just need to work on the flavoring.

Tips and Changes for next time: Remove paprika. Possibly replace Tabasco with a touch of another spice? Or maybe try garlic powder.
Field of Dreams’ Roast Corn on the Cob adapted from “The Pillsbury Family Cook Book,” 6th printing, 1970
1 ear of corn
1 ½ tsp softened butter
Pinch salt
Pinch paprika
Pinch pepper
1 drop hot pepper sauce (used Tabasco)
Heavy foil

Pull corn husks away from cob but do not pull off completely.Remove corn silk. Spread corn with mixture of butter, salt, paprika, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Fold husks over cob. Wrap corn in foil. Place directly on coals or in a 350 degree oven). Roast 30 minutes until corn is tender, turning occasionally.
Finally, for dessert, I turned to a combo chick flick and Baseball movie. A League of their Own is about the time during WWII when a professional women’s baseball league was created because most male players were at war. In the movie, and in real life, one of the league’s teams was the Rockford Peaches. This movie is based on real events, and at the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is an exhibit for the league and they sell Rockford Peaches jerseys.

Helen Haley: This is you! You're with us! You're a Rockford Peach!

This recipe was a little harder to come by. I wanted one that could be brought to work the next day since I have had too many sweets recently (this way I can pawn them off on coworkers who need a sugar fix). Peach cobblers dominated my books, but I wanted a cupcake or muffin. I turned to my new muffin book, but found nothing. So I improvised. I turned a banana nut muffin into a peach and seed muffin.

It was hard to get the right consistency within the muffin. I baked for 20 minutes and realized that the peaches had made the inside soggy, even though it was cooked and golden brown. I then baked for another 5 minutes, then (because I like my muffins firm) I turned them upside down in the tins to bake the bottom a few minutes. That did the trick. Still soft, but much better. In my opinion, the texture was better the next day, though. Taste was fantastic! Just need to fix the texture. Tips and Changes for next time: Work on the baking time. I’d bake for 25 minutes, then flip them bottom side up, bake about 2 minutes then remove. I’d also put some sunflower seeds on top as they bake so that they stay on top and people can see what is in it. I keep fearing someone isn’t going to realize there are seed in them and then break out in hives, but so far so good!
A League of Their Own’s Peach Sunflower Seed Muffins, Adapted from Banana Pecan Muffins in “Muffins: 40 Tantalizing Recipes for Tasty Muffins”
Generous 1 cup flour
1 ½ tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup shelled sunflower seeds
2 ripe peaches diced
5 TBSP milk
2 TBSP butter, melted
1 large egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract
Pinch cinnamon

1) Preheat oven to 375. Line 12 muffin cups.
2) Sift together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add sugar and seeds and stir.
3) Use a mixer to combine peaches, milk, butter, egg, cinnamon and vanilla. Add to dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined
4) Divide batter between 8-12 muffin liner to get them about 2/3 full (number of muffins depends on the size of the peaches).
5) Bake for 20-25 min (then maybe turn them upside down in the tins to bake the bottoms more)