Mondays are for roasting chickens in my house. Most of the time it’s a whole chicken (sometimes just the breasts — see my quick recipe below). I’ll roast on Mondays and we have it for dinner that night. The rest is “featured again” later in the week (don’t tell my husband — he hates leftovers). Often, round two of the roast chicken becomes taco night or quesadillas con pollo, but if there’s enough I’ll make chicken salad.
I love chicken salad. It’s pure comfort food– a surge of protein with a mayo chaser, what’s not to love? Here’s my latest take on this classic, inspired by the green spring onions and basil in my garden. The Mediterranean twist is so satisfying, fresh, light and totally delicious. I’m hosting a luncheon here soon and you can be sure this will be on the menu.
Mediterranean Chicken Salad
Salad:
2 cups roasted chicken breast (see below for recipe)
1 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup green onions
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/8 cup chopped basil
Dressing:
1/4 cup mayo
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon red chili flake
1/2 tsp salt
Garnish:
Sea salt
Small basil leaves
Mix the ingredients for the dressing in a medium bowl and combine it with the salad ingredients. Serve immediately or store in the fridge until you are ready to eat. Right before serving garnish with a sprinkle of sea salt and some small basil leaves.
Easy Roasted Chicken Breasts
I love the flavor of these chicken breasts. For chicken salad I bake the breasts with the skin on. When they are cooked through I peel the skin off and then pull the meat off the bone. The result is super succulent meat that is tasty and easy to dice.
Preheat oven to 375
2-4 chicken breasts split with skin and bones
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & pepper
Place the chicken breasts on a cookie sheet and splash olive oil on each of the pieces — cover evenly. Then sprinkle your desired amount of salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Roast for 40 minutes.
Note: I usually roast 4 breasts at a time so I have leftovers. Two breasts will yield what you will need for the chicken salad.
It’s perplexing that the colorful (red, orange and yellow) bell peppers at Trader Joe’s right now taste fantastic; I can’t figure out how this summer staple is so good right now, but I’m going with it.
“I say they should put more meats on a stick, you know? They got a lot of sweets on sticks—popsicles, fudgesicles, lollipops—but hardly any meat.”
—There’s Something About Mary
Welcome to a week of appetizers! This is the time of year when we are often opening our doors to guests or asked to bring something to an event or party. The best appetizers are quick to make, tasty, and can hold their own for a decent Continue reading…
Because good fruit is abundant and majorly in season right now, I usually offer to bring a fruit platter. A plate lets guests take what they want, and gives you some creative leeway with the arrangement.
Over the years, I have made crostini in many different ways: in the broiler, in the over oven, and on the grill. The thing is, you don’t want to overcook the bread so it’s hard to bite into, but you also don’t want to cook it so lightly that it falls apart or is soggy. I’ve discovered that my favorite way to cook crostini is with my grill pan.
Since I have been harvesting Black Mission Figs for the last week, I thought I would share this fig and prosciutto appetizer recipe. It only has a few ingredients, is simple to prepare, and yet has a very elegant (almost decadent) flavor. These bite-sized morsels are great passed on a tray, or you can serve them with beautiful greens and herbs to make a lovely fall salad.
Today is the first day of fall! In preparation, I made a big batch of lentil soup this morning so we could just heat it up whenever we’re ready to eat. For me, nothing says “fall” quite like a hearty bowl of soup. It seems strange to me that this is the first day of fall.
I have been meaning to share this recipe for whipped feta since the inception of http://eat-drink-garden.com. Kim Schiffer shared this recipe with me years ago, and it has been in rotation as one of my favorite dips ever since. We laugh that it is the “Montecito” version of pimento cheese and practically everyone who tries it wants the recipe.
