Hot Chicken And Vegetable Salad

Is this really a salad though?

I've gone back and forth trying to decide what else I could call this meal. I'm sticking with salad because it has a dressing. It is a very filling meal; full of flavors and textures so your taste buds definitely won't be bored! With the chicken and egg it is also full of protein to keep you full longer. I love this for meal prepping...

A quick pop in the microwave and *boom* you are good to go. Of course, you can also eat it cold if you prefer. As written below, it makes 4 servings but is super easy to double if you have company. 

Hot Chicken And Vegetable Salad

Ingredients

Dressing

4 Tbsp lemon juice

4 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp chopped parsley

1 Tbsp chopped chives

1/ 2 Tbsp chopped dill

1/4 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 Tbsp prepared mustard

1 tsp sugar

Salad

4 chicken breasts (boneless & skinless)

1 lb green beans

2 cups diced beets

1/2 cup olive oil

salt & pepper

2 cups cherry tomatoes

4 hard boiled eggs

Directions

Prepare dressing - whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, parsley, chives, dill, onion powder, mustard, and sugar until well combined. Chill until ready to use. 

Prepare salad - Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. 

In a bowl, toss the chicken breasts, green beans, and beets with the olive oil and salt & pepper. 

Spread the green beans and beets on the prepared cookie sheet and roast in preheated oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, and then place chicken breasts on to the cookie sheet as well. Place back in oven and continue to cook for another 20 - 30 minutes or so - until vegetables are soft and chicken is cooked. 

Remove from oven and divide among 4 serving dishes, slicing the chicken before placing it on the dish. 

Divide the cherry tomatoes evenly among the dishes and place a boiled egg on each dish as well. Note - If you want your boiled egg hot then cook it after you place the chicken on the cookie sheet in the oven. If you don't mind it cold - then you can cook the eggs earlier and have them in the fridge until ready to use. 

Drizzle with the dressing. 

One of my favorite meals! Other than peeling and dicing the beets, there is very little prep involved. 

The dressing provides a lovely bright flavor without covering up the taste of the vegetables. 

Technically, this also works as a Christmas dish because of the red and green. Just saying. 

Like I said above, I'm not really sure if this should be called a salad or not... but it is full of veggies and other good things AND it does have a dressing so...... that's what we're sticking with. 

Hot salads are totally a thing. Right? 

Asparagus and Beet Salad with Feta and Pumpkin Seeds

I'm really not one for salads. And by salads I mean big boring bowls of lettuce. 

Just....blah.

But make it look pretty, fancy it up, and *voila* suddenly it's not just a salad it's a magical dining experience. I mean.... who would have thought roasting veggies makes them magic? Not me. Not until now. 

Completely by accident I discovered the secret of the tastiest salad in the universe. 

I realize I say that a lot; the whole "best in the universe" thing. Bear with me. It's just that it's kind of true. Unless the martians have come up with an even more amazing dish. Which may or may not be something that exists. Who am I to say?

For now though, until we have proof otherwise, this one rules the universe. 

Asparagus and Beet Salad with Feta and Pumpkin Seeds

and Lemon Garlic Vinaigrette 

Ingredients

Vinaigrette

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 Tbsp chicken (or vegetable) broth

1/8 tsp dried rosemary

salt & pepper

Salad

2 cups coarsely chopped beets, peeled

4 cups chopped asparagus

2 thin slices onion

4 Tbsp crumbled feta

2 Tbsp unsalted pumpkin seeds (shelled) 

Directions

Prepare vinaigrette - whisk together minced garlic, oil, lemon juice, broth, rosemary, and salt & pepper. Set aside until ready to use. (Can be made a day ahead for flavors to get stronger, if desired. Simply whisk again just before serving.)

Prepare beets and asparagus - Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside. Peel and cut beets and place on prepared cookie sheet. Bake in 425 oven for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and stir the beets on the cookie sheet. 

Place chopped asparagus on cookie sheet with the beets. Bake at 425 for approximately 10 - 15 minutes - until asparagus and beets are done. 

Assemble salads - When done, remove from oven and divide the beets and asparagus between 2 serving bowls. 

Drizzle each with 1 Tbsp of the dressing. 

Top each with 1 slice of onion, 2 Tbsp crumbled feta, and 1 Tbsp of pumpkin seeds. 

Lastly, drizzle each again with another 1 Tbsp of dressing. 

Look at all that craziness....

FYI - You can serve this warm or cold. I ate half the recipe for lunch on one day, warm, and then put the ingredients in the fridge until the next day. I assembled it the next day, cold, and it was also really good. 

Personally though, warm is the way to go. 

How gorgeous is that? I mean.... for a salad. 

And the good news just keeps coming - according to MyFitnessPal, one serving (recipe makes 2) is - 360 calories, 15 protein, 9 fiber, 24 fat. 

(Keep in mind you will have some of the dressing left over. You only use 2 Tbsp per salad.)

Of course, as always, you can add more or less ingredients as you please - it will just change the nutritional counts I have listed here. 

So, want a magic salad? Roast your veggies. Problem solved. 

Be sure to visit Carole's Chatter for lots of fun food links! 

People Sliders

Why am I posting a spooooky Halloween-ish recipe in the spring, you may ask. 

Well, truth is I completely forgot about this adorable little monster until going through my old photos. 

Once I saw him again I knew I had to post the recipe before I forgot about it again!!

I mean... you can eat people sliders all year long. You don't have to wait for Halloween. These would be perfect for a monster party.

Plus... they are vegetarian so you aren't even eating any meat. (Pssst - it's beets. For real.)

No people were harmed in the making of these burgers, I promise.

People Sliders (or Monster Burgers)

Ingredients

Ingredients for our Easy Bread Dough

Recipe HERE

1 cup shredded jalapeno jack cheese (optional)

Ingredients for our Beet And Quinoa Burgers

Recipe HERE 

sesame seeds

poppy seeds

white cheese

mustard

slivered almonds

blue food coloring or edible ink

Directions

Make slider buns - Prepare dough as per link HERE, (remembering to add the 1 cup of shredded jalapeno jack cheese, if desired.) up to the point where you let the dough rest for 15 minutes. 

After dough has rested, roll into slider sized buns, just a little larger than a golf ball. Place several inches apart on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and poppy seeds. Cover and place in a warm place to rise for about an hour. 

Preheat oven to 375. 

After dough has risen, bake at 375 until tops are brown and dough is cooked through, about 20 - 30 minutes - keep an eye on it.

Let cool. (Note - sliders can be made ahead of time and frozen until needed.)

Prepare people patties as per recipe HERE. Instead of forming into "regular" hamburger patty shapes, simply use a gingerbread man cookie cutter as a form to make your people patties. 

Try to use a cookie cutter a little smaller than your slider buns so the people fit in the mouths of the monsters. 

These can also be  made up a little ahead of time and kept, covered, in the fridge for a day. 

When ready to cook, simply preheat your oven to 400. 

Place people patties on a parchment paper lined cookie tray, and bake for 10 minutes. Very carefully flip the patties over and continue to bake at 400 for another 10 - 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and serve hot on slider buns. 

Decorate the buns with cheese cut into circles for eyes. The pupils are blue food coloring but you could easily use edible food pens. 

You can use slivered almonds for teeth, if you like. And a little mustard for "x"s for eyes. 

You can cut a slice of cheese to look like teeth.

Or stick a couple of thin cheese triangles on for fangs, using a teeny bit of mustard as the "glue". 

I made the slider buns from scratch as, living in the small town of Lillooet, we don't have access to store bought ones. If you have them available to you then by all means you can pick up a pack of tiny slider buns and save yourself the work of homemade bread (although, it does make them tastier, IMO). 

"So Many Vegetables" Soup With Sausages

I had a lot of veggies in the fridge that were on the verge of going bad. I'm terrible for that! I always over estimate how many veggies I'm going to eat during the week. 

Anyway, I decided to make the best of the situation and make a tasty, incredibly healthy soup. 

I have specified the measurements for the sake of the nutritional counts but feel free to add a little more of this or a little less of that as per your preference. (Just remember that it will change the nutritional count.)

I used Myfitnesspal to figure out the nutritional count:

208 calories, 27 carbs, 5 fat, and 15 protein. 

That is per serving. Serving size it 1/5th of the recipe OR approx 1 1/2 cups of soup, 1 sausage, and 1 Tbsp mozza. 

Trust me...that is a very generous amount. It is so nutrient dense that it is very filling. 

"So Many Vegetables" Soup With Sausages

Ingredients

3 cups broccoli (1 medium head)

2 cups zucchini (1 large)

2 cups squash (Delicata or acorn or similar)

1 large onion

2 cups carrot (2 large)

1 portobello mushroom cap

2 cups beets

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup fresh cilantro

2 stalks celery

2 tsp sesame oil

2 cups beef broth, low sodium

4 cups chicken broth, low sodium

2 bay leaves

salt & pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

5 turkey breakfast sausages

1/2 cup partly skim mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Prep all your veggies by coarsely chopping them (broccoli through celery). (The carrots and beets you should dice smaller than the others so they cook faster.)

In a large saucepan over medium heat, drizzle the sesame oil. Place all of the veggies into the pan. 

Cook and stir for about 10 minutes, until veggies start to soften. 

Add in the broth, bay leaves, and spices. 

Bring to a boil. Turn down heat, cover, and let simmer until veggies are tender, about 15 - 20 minutes. 

When cooked, remove from heat and let cool until no longer steaming.

Remove bay leaves. Place warm soup into a blender or food processor and process until smooth. 

Pour pureed soup back into the large saucepan and place back over medium heat. Cook and stir until hot again - about 5 - 10 minutes. 

While soup is reheating, cook the breakfast sausage links. Cut the 5 sausages into small, bite sized pieces.

Serve soup - Scoop about 1 1/2 cups of soup into a serving bowl.

Take a second to admire how amazing it looks and how fantastic it smells.

Ready?

Okay. Now top with a Tbsp of Mozza.

And finish it off with one of the diced sausages.

**A couple of notes**

-- I used beef and chicken broth but if you want to make it vegan then use veggie broth.

-- I had to cook my squash in the microwave for 10 minutes to be able to scoop out the guts into the soup. Keep that in mind - depending on what kind of squash you use, you may have to precook it to cut/scoop it.

-- I used turkey breakfast sausages to cut down the calories but you can certainly use any type of sausage you like or skip it altogether. 

-- Add more cayenne and/or a dash of hot sauce if you like it spicy. I'm not a fan of too much spice so I just gave it a good sprinkle of cayenne.

Need something that is filling and full of SOOOO much healthy good stuff that your insides will thank you?

This is the soup for you. 

Be sure to stop by Carole's Chatter and Hun... What's For Dinner? for tons of great links! 

Roasted Beets, Carrots, Zucchini With Stir Fried Barley

Sometimes you just want to eat something that looks really pretty. 

You know what I mean, right?

Something that is bright, colorful, and fancy schmancy. 

Of course, most of the time that means it is going to be finicky to prepare and take forever. 

And then this happened....

It's sooooo pretty. Like looking at art work. All those colors and textures. 

And, you know what it's NOT? 

It's NOT finicky and it does NOT take forever. It takes about 30 minutes or so for the veggies to roast and you make the barley while you are waiting. So, from start to finish in about half an hour. 

My recipe makes enough for 2 servings but you can easily double or even triple it.  

Oh, yeah, and for those of you looking for healthy and low cal and high fiber and all that stuff, this is all of those things. 

It's win win, baby.

Roasted Beets, Carrots, Zucchini with Stir Fried Barley

Ingredients

Barley

1/4 cup barley, uncooked

3/4 cup veggie broth

1 button mushroom, finely diced

2 green onions, finely diced

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

Veggies

2 beets, peeled, sliced thin

1 large carrot, sliced thin

1 large zucchini, sliced thin

seasoning salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper. 

Spread the sliced beets onto a cookie sheet. Place in 400 oven for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and flip over. Place carrots and zucchini on the cookie sheets with the beets so they are not overlapping. Spray lightly with cooking spray and sprinkle with seasoning salt.

Bake at 400 for 10 minutes. Remove from oven and flip all veggies over. Cook for about 10 more minutes - until all veggies are done.

Meanwhile, while veggies are roasting, prepare your barley.

In a small saucepan, place the uncooked barley and broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer until all liquid is absorbed and barley is tender, about 20 - 25 minutes. 

Once barley is cooked, take a non-stick frying pan and spray with cooking spray. Dump in the cooked barley, the diced mushroom and onion, and the spices. Cook and stir over medium-high heat  until onion and mushroom are soft and barley is starting to brown a little, about 5 - 10 minutes. 

Layer veggies on a serving plate and top with the stir fried barley. 

You can make is fancy schmancy like this...

Or, if you are going to be having it the next day for lunch you can put it in a container like this...

Still looks pretty, if you ask me.

For one serving (half the recipe), Myfitnesspal says the nutritional counts are: 171 calories, 40 carbs, 1 fat, and 7 protein. *whoot whoot*

A couple of notes - 

1. The first time I made this I put all the veggies in at one time and the beets were under cooked. It is better if you let them cook for 10 minutes first before you add the other veggies onto the cookies sheets. 

2. Try to get all your veggies the same thickness. 

3. You can drizzle with olive oil instead of spraying with cooking spray but that will change the nutritional values. 

Looking for some tasty and crafty links? Head over to Feeding Big and Memories By The Mile and Anyonita Nibbles and Hun...What's For Dinner! and Carole's Chatter

Beet Wraps With Cranberry Garlic Cream Cheese Spread

Every year for the last couple of years a lovely blogger named Jen over at Beantown Baker runs a Power Of Pink Challenge to help promote breast cancer awareness.  

Sue and I have entered our Roasted Beet Bread, Feta, Turkey, and Roasted Beet Sliders and our Beet Cake and Pink Grapefruit Cream Cheese Frosting in the past. 

This year we are, once again, using beets to come up with pinker-than-pink veggie wraps and cranberries to create a savory spread. 

Please click over and visit Jen and read about her Power Of Pink Challenge and then come back and read our Beet Wraps and Cranberry Garlic Cream Cheese recipe! You won't want to miss out! :)

Beet Wraps with Cranberry Garlic Cream Cheese Spread

Ingredients

Beet Wraps

2 - 3 large beets, peeled

3 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp onion, finely diced

1/2 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup Mozza cheese, shredded

1 egg

Cranberry Garlic Cream Cheese Spread

1/2 brick cream cheese (4 oz), softened

1/4 cup cranberry sauce

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Tbsp onion, finely diced

Filling

lettuce, shredded

turkey sausage, sliced thinly

feta cheese, crumbled

onions, thinly sliced

Directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, set aside.

Take peeled beets and process in a food processor until finely shredded. Take the shredded beets and, using a cheesecloth or clean piece of material, squeeze as much liquid out of the beets as possible. 

You will need approximately 1 1/2 to 2 cups of beets after draining.

Place beets in a bowl and add in garlic, onion, jalapeno, Mozza cheese, and egg. Stir to combine well - use your hands if necessary. 

Pat out two 8 inch circles on the prepared cookie sheet.

Bake at 425 for 15 minutes. Remove from heat - the crusts should look fairly dry, if they don't cook another 4 - 5 minutes.

If they look dry enough - carefully flip the wraps over onto another piece of parchment paper, return to the cookie sheet, and bake another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, use the parchment paper to slide the wraps off the cookie sheet onto a wire rack. Slide the parchment paper out from under them and let them cool completely. You can slip them into the fridge for a few minutes to speed this along.

Prepare the cranberry garlic cream cheese spread - Beat cream cheese until smooth. Beat in the cranberry sauce, garlic, and onion until well combined and smooth. 

Chill until ready to use. 

Assemble the wraps - Spread the wraps generously with the cranberry garlic cream cheese spread. Top with some shredded lettuce, turkey sausage, feta, and onions down the center of the wrap.

Roll up and secure with a toothpick - if necessary. (Mine were okay without a toothpick as the cranberry spread helped it stay rolled up.)

Can't get much more pink than that - dark pink beet wraps, light pink cranberry spread, and medium pink turkey sausage!

To come up with these wraps Sue and I re-worked our Beet Crust Pizza recipe. Either way you want to prepare this recipe, you will end up with tasty, healthy, uber pink, cooler-than-cool meals. 

Don't forget - October is Breast Cancer Awareness month. 

The Power of Pink Challenge is just one way you can help to raise awareness about breast cancer. 

Visit Or So She Says and Horrific Knits and The Chicken Chick and Ms. enPlace and The Velvet Moon Baker and Carole's Chatter for more great links!

10 Fun and Funky Salads

We thought we would share a collection of ten of our salads that are a bit more fun than the usual green salad. 

Myself, I do not like green salad. Sue must have been a bunny in a previous life because she can eat salad like nobody's business. 

We both agreed though that these 10 salads could convince even the most die-hard salad hater to give salads another chance. 

Just click on the name of the salad - above each photo - to get to the recipe.

1. Broccoli Salad

Hearty and delicious. Looking for a good crunchy salad that will fill you up and not leave you wanting more? Give this tasty broccoli, cashew, and bacon salad a go!

2. Carrot and Green Grape Salad

This one is definitely funky. Don't be scared though! The combination of carrots, grapes, poppy seeds, and cheddar cheese is surprisingly tasty.

3. Spicy Chinese Chicken Salad

Who says salads have to be boring?

Spice things up with some Chinese Chili Garlic Paste in a fantastic homemade dressing and some crunchy noodles. This can be a side or it can be your complete meal!

4. Israeli Couscous Salad With Lime Curry Dressing

This is one of those recipes that will make you the hit of the party. 

Seriously.

Bring this to your next gathering and you will have everyone asking you for the recipe. The Lime Curry Dressing is crazy good!

5. Cucumber Salad

Our dad created this recipe years ago and apparently it is very similar to some old Eastern European/European recipes. This has turned into one of our site's most visited recipes. 

Taste it and you will understand why!

6. Spinach Strawberry Salad With Pecans And Sesame Seed & Poppy Seed Dressing

Normally I am not a fan of fruit in my salad but this combination just works.

There is only 3 ingredients to this salad BUT the flavors and textures are amazing.

7. Beet And Carrot Slaw With Poppy Seed Vinaigrette

I'm always impressed by how colorful this salad is. Put this on a table full of food and I guarantee that it is the one people will be talking about. 

First for the appearance...and then for how crazy good it tastes!

8. Layered Macaroni Salad

Here's an idea to fancy up your regular macaroni salad. 

You can use whatever your favorite veggies are but present it layered, in a bowl or serving dish, and suddenly everyone's asking "Ooooh! Who made this dish?"

9. Quinoa Salad

What's that? You want a super simple salad that takes about 2 seconds to make.

How about this delicious quinoa salad?

Simple, quick, tasty - everything you could ask for in a salad. Oh yeah, it's good for you too!

10. Apricot Couscous Salad With Spicy Apricot Vinaigrette

Last, but certainly not least, of our 10 fun and funky salads is this funky concoction of couscous, apricots, veggies, and a to-die-for vinaigrette. 

You definitely have not had anything like this before. You should probably make it right now. :)

Drop us a comment and let us know if you have tried any of our salads. We would love to hear from you.

 

Be sure to stop by The Mandatory Mooch and Adorned From Above and Blissful and Domestic for some great links!