BBQ Chicken Salad

For the last couple posts, I have been trying to come up with a clever anecdote, or funny story, or something besides just a recipe. Unfortunately, since my life is really just reading cancer biology (and that it not really very funny...) right now, I can't come up with anything. So just a recipe it is.

This recipe was loosely inspired by Two Peas and Their Pod, but I changed it up enough to call it my own. :) Their version sounds delish, but P won't eat Blue Cheese.

To serve 4:
Salad:
mixed greens (enough for 4 servings!)
1/2 cup black beans, canned, rinsed and drained
1 ear corn, kernels removed
1 t butter
1/2 c grape or cherry tomatos, halved
1 lb chicken tenders
BBQ sauce
French Fried onions (the green bean casserole kind!)

Dressing:
1 avocado
3 T honey
1/2 shallot, chopped
1/3 c white vinegar
2/3 c olive oil

This was a really tasty salad. The warm corn, BBQ sauce, cool avocado dressing, with crispy French Fried Onions. Yum!

To make dressing:

Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend until smooth. I once again used my Magic Bullet (I even like the name!) I am such a dork. And I am not employed or endorsed by the Magic Bullet, but I should be. The dressing doesn't look so good, but just trust me, OK?

For the salad, top greens with tomatoes and black beans. Cook corn kernels in 1 t butter over med heat for 2-3 minutes until tender and warm. Place on greens.

Cook chicken on grill or grill pan until done, covered in BBQ sauce. I used my Pampered Chef grill pan. I think a real grill would be better, but you gotta use what you have, right? Chicken took about 5 minutes on each side over medium heat.

Top greens with 2-3 chicken tenders and sprinkle with French Fried Onions, drizzle with avocado dressing.
Yum!

Yes. Observant people will notice I just used the same picture twice. :) I didn't take enough photos of the finished salad. Oops. :)

General Tso's chicken-sort of....

Having seen this recipe on the blog My Adventures in Food...I decided to give it a try. I have not had luck in the past trying to imitate General Tso's chicken. Not sure why, since every Chinese restaurant, even the bad ones, seem to have this down pat. Not me!

What I will say about this recipe is that is is very good. But doesn't taste like General Tso's chicken. :) The chicken is spot-on, but the sauce was to sweet and didn't have the right taste. Worth trying as a not-so-General Tso's chicken. I tweeked the recipe a bit, and added more vegetables.

Sauce:
½ c hoisin sauce
¼ c white vinegar
3 Tbs soy sauce
3 Tbs cornstarch
1 ½ c water
1 Tbs vegetable oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs fresh ginger, minced
½ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Bag of precut stir fry vegis

Coating and frying

1 ½ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
3 large egg whites
1 ½ c cornstarch
½ c all purpose flour
½ tsp baking soda
Vegetable oil for frying

To make the sauce, whisk together the hoisin sauce, white vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and water in a bowl. Set aside. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the hoisin mixture. Stir until the sauce is dark brown and has thickened. Remove from heat and cover.

Cut chicken into 1-inch chunks. Whisk the egg whites in a shallow dish until foamy. Combine cornstarch, flour, and baking soda in a separate shallow dish. Toss half the chicken into the foamy egg whites until well coated, and then dredge the chicken in the cornstarch mixture, making all sides are coated. Transfer chicken to a plate and repeat with remaining chicken.

Heat oil in a fryer (or Dutch oven, or a large wok) until it registers 325ºF. Fry the chicken in batches until golden brown, about 3 minutes, turning pieces over halfway through cooking. Transfer cooked chicken to a paper towel-lined baking sheet to drain.

While frying, heat vegetables in a large skillet coated with cooking spray until tender.

Re-warm the sauce over medium heat until bubbling. Add the chicken pieces and sauce to vegi pan and toss to coat. 

Oregano Chicken and Potatoes

I finally purchased Vefa's Kitchen. I am so excited about this book. It is the bible of Greek cooking, and Vefa is the Julia Childs of Greece. Yay!
Take a look in all its loveliness:

It even looks Greek! All I need to do now is spray some Windex on it.

I decided to try two simple recipes for my first (of many!) out of this book. The Chicken With Fresh Oregano and Potatoes Roasted With Lemon. Simple, classic Greek flavors. Nothin' fancy. I changed the recipes slightly, my adaptations are listed below.

Potatoes:
4 lb yellow potatoes, cut into wedges
5 T lemon juice
pinch of dry oregano
1 garlic clove, chopped
salt and pepper
5 T olive oil
5 T butter

Place potatoes, lemon juice, oregano, garlic in 9x13 pan. Season with salt and pepper. Let stand 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 350. Drizzle potatoes with oil, dot with butter. Cover with foil, roast 1 hour. Uncover, roast and additional 1/2 hour until tender and slightly browned. This says it serves 6, but it made a boat-load of potatoes!

Chicken with Fresh Oregano:
2 boneless chicken breasts (Vefa calls for a whole chicken, cut up)
1 lemon, cut into wedges
salt and pepper
5 T olive oil
1 cup white wine
3 T chopped fresh oregano
2 T lemon juice

Rub chicken with lemon wedge, season with salt and pepper. I cut the chicken breasts into large chunks. Heat oil in pan. Add chicken and cook over medium heat for 8-10 minutes, turning a few times until lightly browned. Pour wine over chicken, cook for a few minutes to evaporate alcohol. Add oregano and lemon juice, cover, simmer about 40 minutes. Chicken will be tender.

Veggies:
I served this with roasted carrots and zucchini. Drizzle veggies with olive oil and lemon pepper, roast in 350 oven for 30 minutes.

The final meal

Yum! Next to try: Phoenician Honey Cookies!

Chicken and (Maple) Waffles

I grew up outside of Atlanta (or HOTlanta, The ATL, A-Town, whatever you want to call it). Having lived in the South the vast majority of my life, I enjoy southern cooking. This means I heart things like creamed corn, fried chicken, hush puppies, pulled pork BBQ, pimento cheese, and, oh wait, fried anything. The things about southern cooking I do not heart are mushy vegetables, any gelatin salads, and most coleslaws.


Today, I would like to share a Great Southern Tradition, Chicken and Waffles. If you ever find yourself in the ATL, I recommend visiting Gladys and Rons Chicken and Waffles and trying the Midnight Train. Four glorious fried chicken wings with a waffle. Amazing.


I decided to recreate that moment for dinner-for-breakfast this week at American Idol night (see previous post for latkes). Instead of frying my own chicken, we cheated and purchased chicken tenders. But we made our own waffles! I decided to add some maple syrup into the waffle batter instead of sugar.


Maple Waffles


2 Eggs
2 cups All-purpose Flour
1-¾ cup Milk
½ cup Canola Oil
3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
¼ teaspoons Kosher Salt

Preheat waffle iron. Beat eggs until about double in size. Beat in the remaining ingredients until the batter is well mixed, light and fluffy.

Spray waffle iron with cooking spray. Pour about  enough batter until the batter barely covers the raised waffle indentations on the waffle iron. Close cover and cook until the waffles are golden brown (according to your waffle iron's instructions). 

To assemble your plate-of-amazement, top the waffle with butter, 2 chicken tenders, and liberally applied maple syrup. I will admit, we ate these so fast I was only able to snap a blurry shot:

Also please note the Texas-shaped waffle maker. I love it!

Skeptics: do not knock it till you've tried it! It is a glorious experience.