Lemon Chicken and Spinach Salad April 9, 2008

I’m not sure how I found this recipe, but it turned out I had everything I needed in my fridge or freezer. The chicken turned out great and would be tasty with a lot of other things. My salad had a bit too much lemon juice and not enough oil, because I don’t measure things. Oops. It was still a good and fairly healthy dinner.

2 chicken breasts, boneless, skinless – Cut into two pieces
2 T. flour
1 T. brown sugar
1 T. paprika
1 T. olive oil
1/2 C. white wine
2 T. fresh lemon juice

1 bag spinach – cleaned thouroughly
4 green onion – sliced
2 T. fresh lemon juice (I probably ended up using more like 3-4 T.)
1 T. olive oil (I probably only used 1/2 T. oil)

Mix flour, paprika and brown sugar. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet. Dredge the chicken pieces in the flour mix and brown on each side in the pan. Turn the heat down and add the juice and wine. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.

Heat 1 T. oil in a separate pan. Saute the green onions and then add in the lemon juice. When chicken is done, pour left over juice into this smaller pan and heat through. Pour over spinach to wilt slightly. Serve chicken with spinach salad.

Notes: Next time I may cut the chicken into smaller slices. I may also change up the dressing for the spinach as it was a bit too lemony for me.

Servings: 2 big salads

Favorites: Lemon Juicer April 4, 2008

This shiny yellow lemon juicer is one of my favorite kitchen utensils. It’s just so efficient at what it does, juice lemons. There are many other juicers to choose from, but they are all inferior. Let me explain why.

Exhibit A: Hand held juicer

This juicer is cheap, so cheap! But say you are in your kitchen, whipping up some dressing and you need the juice of two lemons. By the time you are done with this piece of crap, you are going to be covered in juice and the lemons will only be half juiced.

Exhibit B: Electric juicer

If the hand held wooden juicer was cheap and inefficient, this is the exact opposite. Over $400, this electric juicer can juice about a billion lemons, or oranges, in mere minutes. But really, who wants to spend that much money? Not me. And I also never need a billion lemons juiced. Just one or two.

Exhibit C: Table top juicer

This is probably the most common juicer, besides my favorite one above. It’s cheap, can come in plastic or metal, has some sort of juice capturing device and can come in many colors. It’s not too difficult to use, as you can use gravity to help you, but it may splatter a bit. It won’t get as much juice out of the lemon as, say, the electric juicer, but it’s better than that crap hand held device. It’s just an average juicer.

So why is my beautiful yellow juicer the best? Because it’s cheap, very effective at getting out all the juice, does not splatter all over as there are only a few holes in the bottom, cleans up fast, will last forever (cast iron) and is easy to use (leverage!). You can buy it here, if you’re so inclined. I’m sure it’s at lots of kitchen supply stores.

Leek and Asparagus Frittata April 2, 2008

This recipe came from my April Bon Appetite magazine.  I used this recipe, cut back on the cheese and cooked it in the oven instead of mostly on the stove. It was fast and so flavorful and delicious. Especially with the pumpernickel bread I picked up from Cafe Selmarie on my way home.

1 C.  leeks – sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1 bunch thin asparagus – trimmed and cut into one inch pieces
1 C. small portobello mushrooms – sliced
8 large eggs (four whole eggs, four egg whites)
3/4 C.  Fontina cheese – diced into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 C. Parmesan cheese – grated

Heat a non-stick skillet with a little oil and toss in the cleaned and rinsed leeks. Make sure to clean them well as sometimes dirt hides in there. Saute for about 5 minutes before adding the asparagus and mushrooms. Season with a little salt and pepper. While they cook, mix four whole eggs and four egg whites with salt and pepper. Whip together and then stir in the fontina cheese.  Pour vegetables into a square baking pan and top with eggs and cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Top with the parmesan cheese and broil until nice and brown on top.

Notes: This was so very good. The leeks and asparagus pair well together and the cheese. The cheese! So good. Very fast dinner to prepare and bake.

Servings: 4-5 big servings

Spicy Tofu Tacos with Corn Salsa April 1, 2008

I’ve made this recipe before based on this All Recipes version.  I used some sort of white fish, I can’t remember what exactly, and it worked really well. I made it again last night but used tofu instead, as the fish at Harvestime stinks and I did not have time to stop by another grocery store.

1 cup corn – I used frozen corn and let it thaw
1/2 cup red onion – diced
1 cup jicama - pealed and diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper – diced
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves – finely chopped
2 limes – zested and juiced
Salt and Pepper

1 package firm or extra firm tofu
Cayenne pepper & oil
10-12 corn tortillas

Start by draining the tofu and slicing into about 8-9 slices. Lay flat on a stack of paper towels, top with more paper towels and set something heavy on top, like a heavy skillet, to press out excess water. After about 10 minutes, spray each side with a little olive oil, sprinkle, depending on your taste, with cayenne pepper and bake at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes. This helped to dry out the tofu and get it ready for the grill pan.

Once done in the oven, spray a grill pan with oil and grill each side of the tofu, giving it grill marks and making it a little crispy. Slice into strips.

To make the salsa, combine the corn, jicama, red pepper, onion, cilantro, zest and juice in a large bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Warm the tortillas, either in the oven or the microwave. Top each tortilla with the salsa and then the tofu and enjoy.

Notes: I really enjoyed how the tofu came out and I think it would be good on something else, maybe salad or a sandwich. In this recipe it was just too dry. I highly recommend using fish instead, as the moisture is needed with the chunky, crunchy and dry salsa. Prepare the fish with oil and cayenne and grill until finished.

Servings: 10-12 tacos