Kale with Crispy Salami

This is a super quick as well as super nutritious side dish ... not to mention super tasty!!!  ENJOY!!

KALE WITH CRISPY SALAMI

Ingredients:

1 tbsp honey or maple syrup

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Pinch cayenne

3 tsp sea salt

5 cups of kale leaves, torn into bite-sized pieces

2 tbsp olive oil

3 large shallots, peeled and sliced into thin rings

8 thin slices of salami, cut into narrow strips (Italian or Hungarian are our faves!)

Black pepper

• In a small bowl, whisk together honey, vinegar and cayenne.  Set aside.
• Add about 3" of water to a large pot, add salt and bring to a boil.  Toss in kale and parboil about 3 minutes.  Drain, and let kale dry out in sieve.
• In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add shallots and stir-fry until they start to colour (approx 5 minutes).  Remove to a small dish.  Increase heat in skillet to medium high and add salami strips.  Cook until crisp.  Transfer the salami to another dish.
• Add kale to skillet and toss quickly.  Kale should just be heated otherwise it will overcook and become soggy.  Remove from the heat, add honey mixture and shallots and toss.  Season to taste with pepper.  Transfer the kale to your serving bowl or platter and garnish with the salami.
• ENJOY!

Ensalada Grangero (Mexican Farmer's Salad)

Cinco de Mayo was this past Saturday and our friends, Michelle and Sean and their children, joined us in a veritable feast honouring our newly adopted homeland of Mexico!  We took our recipes from the Better Homes & Gardens "Mexican" magazine (on stands till July 2012) and were super impressed with the results!

This salad was made by Michelle and is delicious and beautiful in its simplicity.

ENSALADA GRANGERO

Ingredients:

3 ears of fresh sweet corn, husks and silks removed

1 1/2 lbs of fresh green beans, trimmed

3 cups grape tomatoes

1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup snipped fresh cilantro

1/2 cup olive oil

3 fresh jalapeno chile peppers, stemmed, seeded and chopped*

2 shallots, chopped

3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 1/2 tsp bottled minced roasted garlic

1/4 tsp salt

• In a Dutch oven, cook corn in a large amount of boiling water for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender.  Remove corn from Dutch oven, and set aside to cool.  Add beans to the boiling water in Dutch oven;  cook for 3 to 4 minutes or just until crisp-tender.  Drain beans in a colander; rinse with cold water and drain well.  Cut kernels from corn cobs.
• In a large bowl combine corn kernels, beans, tomatoes and onion.  Toss to combine.
• For dressing, in a food processor or blender, combine cilantro, oil, chile peppers, shallots, vinegar, garlic and salt.  Cover and process or blend until nearly smooth.  Drizzle dressing over vegetables; toss to coat.
• ENJOY!

Chicken Noodle Soup with Lemongrass

I wanted to add a bit of an exotic flavour to my regular chicken noodle soup as the kids absolutely love it, but my palette was growing weary of the same old recipe.  Everyone loved it (although Devon told me that I am not allowed to stop making plain old chicken noodle soup! LOL!)  This reminds me of a Thai or Vietnamese-style soup (or pho as it is called in Vietnam)!  Hope you enjoy the medley of flavours while getting the goodness of homemade chicken soup!!!

CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP WITH LEMONGRASS

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tbsp coconut or grapeseed oil

2 small boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, butterflied*

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

3 medium shallots, peeled and thinly sliced into rings

2 stalks of lemongrass, trimmed, outer layers discarded, halved lengthwise and bruised with the back of a chef's knife

1 tbsp minced fresh ginger (I use my rasp)

2 tsp packed light brown sugar (I used maple syrup)

5 1/2 cups homemade or low sodium chicken broth

1 1/2 cups stemmed and quartered shiitake mushrooms

9 oz fresh udon noodles (these are made of wheat so substitute rice noodles if necessary)

1 small Serrano chili pepper finely diced

8 large fresh basil leaves, torn (either Thai or Italian basil)

1 lime, half juiced and half cut into wedges

1 tbsp soy sauce (or gluten free Bragg's)

2 green onions, finely sliced

1 carrot, grated (for garnish)

1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves (garnish)

• Heat 1 1/2 tbsp of oil in a large Dutch oven or stock pot, over medium high heat, until hot (the oil shimmers when ready).  Season the chicken with 1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper, and saute until both sides are evenly browned and almost entirely cooked through.  Transfer to a cutting board and allow to cool.
• Add the remaining 1 tbsp oil to the pot with the shallots and sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt.  Reduce heat to medium and saute until they start to become translucent (approx. 2 minutes).  Add the bruised lemongrass, ginger, and brown sugar and stir constantly until the ginger becomes fragrant and lemongrass sizzles (1 minute).  
• Add chicken broth and scrape up any browned pieces off of the bottom of the pot.  Bring to a boil and them reduce to simmer.  Add the mushrooms and simmer for 5 to 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a medium-sized pot of water a boil and cook the noodles until al dente (still a little undercooked in the centre).  Drain and run under cool water to stop the cooking process.  Leave to drain well.
• Either finely sliver or shred the chicken breasts.  Add the chicken and noodles to the broth and cook for a further 3 to 4 minutes.  Discard the lemongrass.  Stir in the chilies, basil, lime juice and soy sauce.
• Portion between 4 large warmed soup bowls.  Garnish each with shredded carrot, green onions, and cilantro.  Serve with a lime wedge for squeezing.
• ENJOY!

Trinidadian-Style Chicken

I created this dish a while ago and then when I went searching on my blog for the recipe, I realized that I never posted it - and that is a HUGE oversight because this dish is packed with flavour and definitely one I want to repeat!  The recipe comes from "Everyday Exotic" which is hosted by Chef Mooking.

TRINIDADIAN-STYLE CHICKEN

Ingredients:

Amise marinade ~

1 bunch green onions, chopped

2 shallots, roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, chopped

1 bunch parsley, leaves & stems, roughly chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Trini Style Chicken with Plantain ~

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces

Amise Marinade (above)

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 white onion, small dice

1 green chili, sliced in half lengthwise (optional, but worth it!)

1 semi-soft plantain cut in half, lengthwise and chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1/2 cup chicken stock

1 cup cilantro, leaves picked off stems

Salt

Pickled Topping ~

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 stick cinnamon

1 shallot, sliced in 1/4" pieces

2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced in 1/4" pieces

1 tbsp sugar

Salt

• 
  
  Amise Marinade ~ Place all ingredients in a food processor and puree.  Place in a large bowl or container, and set aside.
• 
  
  Trini-Style Chicken with Plantain ~ Marinate chicken in 1/2 Amise Marinade for a maximum of 24 hours.
• 
  
  In a large skillet, heat sugar and vegetable oil over medium high heat.  Swirl until sugar caramelizes and turns brown, approx. 7 to 10 minutes.
• 
  
  Add chicken, skin side down.   Allow chicken to brown on all sides, approx. 5 minutes.  Add onions, chili, plantain, tomato and Worcestershire sauce.  Stir.
• 
  
  Add chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Add the remaining 1/2 of the Amise Marinade, stir and reduce to medium heat.
• 
  
  Cook for 30 to 40 minutes, season with salt and remove from heat. 
• 
  
  Garnish with cilantro and pickled topping before serving!
• 
  
  Pickled Topping ~ In a small pot, heat white wine vinegar, water and cinnamon stick.  Bring to a boil.
• 
  
  Add shallot, jalapeno and sugar, remove from heat.
• 
  
  Season with salt, hold in vinegar for 10 minutes.  Discard cinnamon stick and strain liquid, reserving pickled shallots and jalapenos.

*Plantains look similar to bananas, but are larger and generally darker in colour (sometimes a deep brown - which means they're ripe!)

Backyard Edibles!

In my quest to serve a variety of vegetables that we don't normally eat, I picked up a bunch of dandelion greens in the grocery store yesterday. I wasn't too sure what to do with them, but decided to go onto trusty Recipezaar.com and found this fantastic recipe! The whole family gobbled it down (okay, so three out of four isn't bad...India just ate the potatoes and bacon!)

DANDELIONS WITH FINGERLING POTATOES

Ingredients:

1 lb fingerling potatoes, halved lengthwise

4 tbsp EVOO

dried thyme

salt

1 bunch of dandelion greens

1 cup fresh parsley

3 tbsp sherry wine vinegar (although apple cider or rice wine works great!)

12 oz bacon, cut into 1/2" dice

1/4 cup shallots, diced

• Preheat oven to 4ooF. Mix the potatoes in a bowl with 2 tbsp EVOO, thyme (to taste...I added approx. 1 tbsp), and 1 tsp salt. Roast on a baking sheet with foil over top for 40 minutes (or until potatoes are soft). I took the foil off for the last 5 minutes so that the fingerlings were golden brown.


• Whisk vinegar, EVOO together in a small bowl and set aside.


• Saute bacon until crisp. Add shallots and potatoes. Add the vinegar and saute till all are heated through.


• Season with salt and pepper if you feel it's necessary.


• Gradually add handfuls of the dandelion greens to the saute pan - I cut the leaves into thirds. Stir until wilted down.


• Serve and grate parmesan-reggiano over top!

PLANTAIN GRATIN

I was watching "Everyday Exotic" hosted by Roger Mooking on the Food Network the other night and he created this dish which is so colourful and SO different from anything that I have cooked in the past, that I just had to try it! I have never eaten, nor cooked with plantains so unfortunately my first attempt was disasterous as the plantains were too unripe. However I persevered, bought more and let them blacken on my countertop...the results were miles better!!

PLANTAIN GRATIN

Ingredients:

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup water

1/2 stick of cinnamon

1 shallot, sliced into 1/4" pieces

2 jalapenos, seeded and sliced into 1/4" pieces

1 tbsp sugar

salt

4 ripe plantain, peeled, and sliced in half lengthwise

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 cup aged white cheddar, grated

3 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup cilantro leaves (optional garnish)

salt

• In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, water and cinnamon. Bring to a boil and boil for approximately 1 minute. Add the shallot, jalapenos, sugar and salt to taste. Take off the heat and let sit for 15 minutes before removing the cinnamon and draining. Set aside the pickled topping.
• Preheat oven to broil
• Place the halved plantain in a baking dish, drizzle with the vegetable oil and season with salt. Broil for 5 to 7 minutes until slightly caramelized.
• Place the cheese and green onions over the plantains, broil in the oven for an additional 3 to 4 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
• Garnish with pickled topping and cilantro.
• ENJOY!

**This is a really unique side dish that held up fabulously against the meatloaf leftover from dinner a few nights ago!