Chinese Chicken Salad - This Week's Ungirdled Recipe!

This is not the most Ungirdled recipe, as it involves a number of steps, but it’s easy and a real winner. My friend introduced it to me a few years ago when she brought it to a party I was hosting and just about stole my thunder with it.  I forgave her, as she turned me onto one of my all-time favorite recipes. 

It’ll make YOU a star at your next summer picnic or luncheon.  It’s from Ina Garten, better known as Food Network’s “Barefoot Contessa.” Plan plenty of time in advance of your event to make it.  You can even make it the day before.  It almost tastes better the next day.  It makes, as my mother says “a gracious plenty,” which is a good thing, because people will be shoving each other to get to the bowl.  Ina says it serves 12.  To me, it could serve more.  This is wonderful served on it’s own in a buffet, over salad greens as a main dish, or on toasted wheat bread for an amazing sandwich.  I’ve added my own notes from my experiences making it.  The photo above is courtesy of a beautiful recipe blog called Aggie’s Kitchen which I encourage you to visit (click here).  If I could cook as well as Aggie, I’d weigh all of 500 lbs!  Thanks, Aggie! 

Ingredients

4 split chicken breasts, bone-in, skin-on (8 of the breast pieces you typically found in the meat case)

Good olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally

1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded

2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally

1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil

1/2 tablespoon honey

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger

1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

2 teaspoons kosher salt (I don’t usually add this much, as the soy sauce is pretty salty to me, so you may want to go easy and adjust to your tastes.)

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.  (In a pinch for time, I have used frozen chicken breast halves cooked with little olive oil and minced garlic in a covered skillet set on medium low.  Saves time and effort.)

Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.

Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Make sure you have band-aids on hand, 'cause it's likely to get ugly after this hits the buffet table.

 

 

Chipotle Tamale Pie - Ungirdled Recipe Of The Week!

If you're like me, you are always in search of an easy (UNGIRDLED), tasty, nutritious, and budget-friendly recipe. Well, here’s one!  It comes from Ingrid Hoffmann at Food Network (check out their helpful site.  (I have made it several times in the last couple of months and my family loves it.  Currently, this recipe has a five star rating out of 222 reviews on Food Network's site!)  Ingrid hosts FN's Simply Deliscioso – you gotta love that title, and when you watch, you can’t help but love Ingrid.  She is one cute tamale!  Here's her recipe with my suggestions based on my experiences making it:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound, lean ground turkey (sometimes all I can find at my grocery are 20 oz. packages which I use just fine.)

1 medium yellow onion, chopped  (I used the frozen chopped onions you buy in bags to make it super easy)

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 garlic cloves, finely minced

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 (15-ounce) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 (8-ounce) can diced tomatoes (I can’t find a can this small, so I use the regular size and drain it – works out well)

2 chipotle chiles, plus 1 teaspoon adobo sauce, from can chipotle in adobo  (You can find these in the Mexican foods aisle of the grocery in small cans.  My family likes things hot, but if you don’t, you might want to use ½ or 2/3 this amount until you discover how much heat is right for you.)

1 cup grated Cheddar  (I have used the Mexican cheese blend when that’s what I have on hand and it works well, too.)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1 (8.5-ounce) package cornbread mix (I always use Jiffy)

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Grease an 8-inch baking dish with the butter and set it aside.

Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the ground turkey, the onions, green peppers, and garlic and cook until the turkey is no longer pink and is cooked through, about 8 minutes. Drain off any excess fat and sprinkle the meat mixture with the cumin.

Add the beans, tomatoes, chiles and adobo sauce to the skillet and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer until heated through and slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from the heat and stir in the cheese and cilantro.

Spread the turkey mixture in the prepared baking dish, pressing down on it with the back of a spoon to make an even, compact layer.

Combine the cornbread mix with milk and egg. Spread the cornbread batter over the turkey mixture and bake until the cornbread is golden-brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Let the tamale pie stand for 5 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

I like to top this with a dollop of sour cream – adds a cooling taste and texture - and serve with a salad of crisp romaine, corn, avocado, black beans, chopped tomato and onion with ranch dressing.  Enjoy!!

Prep Time:  20 min

Cook Time: 40 min

Difficulty Level:  UNGIRDLED!

Serves:  Ingrid says 8, but if you have any teenage-type boys in you house , you're gonna need a margarita or two with this and you need to know this won't feed 8 of those type of creatures, I mean people.  our family of four (including two of the aforementioned teenagers) leaves no more than two servings of this yummy stuff which makes for a wonderful lunch the next day.

 

Ungirdled Celebrity Of The Week:

Paula Deen is the Ungirdled Celebrity of the week!  (You’ll see why she was chosen for this particular week tomorrow.)

Most of you know Paula is an accomplished restaurateur, cookbook author and Emmy-winning star of several Food Network shows.  She even co-starred in the movie Elizabethtown with Orlando Bloom and Kirsten Dunst!  She has recently announced she will have her own syndicated talk show beginning in September 2009.  You can read and learn more about Paula at her website.  If you read her autobiography, It Ain't All About the Cookin', you’ll learn, in Ungirdled (and I mean UNGIRDLED) detail all about her Ungirdled ways.  The really cool thing about Paula (and there are many cool things) is that she is a self-made woman who achieved all her success later in life.  She survived some turbulent times (again, read her book for more – wikipedia also has an informative entry on her) and she came out a fighter, earning every bit of her many achievements.  Here’s what makes Paula Ungirdled:

 •  She ain’t afraid of no stinkin’ calories.  Or fat.  Or cholesterol.  Or added sugar.  When asked if she’s worried about the generous amount of fat and calories in her dishes (“a stick of butter, always a stick of butter,” is an ingredient in most of her recipes), she is known to happily reply, “I’m your cook, not your doctor!”

•  She always seems determined to have the most fun of anyone in the room and makes it a party wherever she is.  She seems to genuinely like everyone she meets.

•  When asked what the worst part of being a celebrity is, she answered, “When you don't look your best and someone recognizes you and all you can do is say ‘Oh, crap’ and go on.”

•  Like me, she knows Harry Connick Jr. is all that AND a box of hot Krispy Kremes.  (OK, that doesn’t qualify her as Ungirdled so much as it does really,  really, really smart.)

•  She does what she wants to do, without worrying what people will say.  See the accompanying video clip for proof: (I choose this clip from many of her on YouTube because it is especially appropriate for this week on Ungirdled Passion.)

Click Here For Paula - Living With Ungirdled Passion!

Oh, YES SHE DID!

If you didn't catch her on The View earlier this year, check this out (about six minutes):

Paula Ungridled on The View!

Don't you wish she was your neighbor!