Peach Chicken Salad with Mint Vinaigrette

There was leftover grilled chicken in the house, and Dad wanted me to find a way to incorporate it into dinner.
So my plan was some form of chicken salad. But I wanted to try something new. My search led me here, to a salad that sounded perfect for summer.
Of course, being me, I didn't walk over to the fruit bowl until it was time for me to wash the fruit and dice it. It turned out that they weren't nectarines at all, so that's how the salad came to be different. From the original recipe that is.

Peach Chicken Salad with Mint Vinaigrette
Serves 5

Dressing:
1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup clear balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Salad:
2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
1 cup chopped seeded cucumber
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 tablespoons minced red onion
3 peaches, chopped
5 boston lettuce leaves

To make the dressing: place mint and sugar in a food processor; process until finely chopped, scraping sides of bowl. Add vinegar, juice, salt, and pepper, and process 30 seconds to combine.

To prepare salad: combine chicken, cucumber, pine nuts, onion, and peaches in a medium bowl. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss well to coat. Place 1 lettuce leaf on each of 5 plates; top each serving with 3/4 cup salad.

Serve with toast or crackers.

Beet Salad

Dad had roasted some beets, and so he wanted me to do something with them.

We ended up having some torn Boston lettuce leaves topped with beets, red wine vinegar, and orange segments.
We did have some other recreated leftovers later, but they didn't turn out how I wanted them to.

More Pea Salad Cups

I made the pea salad cups to take to a party.
They seemed to be well-received.

Baqali Polow

I made Baqali Polow using my dried fava beans (I think.)
I ended up using about 2 1/2 cups though once they were revived.

Chicken and Zucchini Salad

Dad brought home a large supply of food on Tuesday night. They're nice to have in the house when we're really busy, but right now I have time to cook, and only 12 more days until school starts, so I don't mind.

But I also don't want to throw it all out. So I found a recipe I could use the Lemon Chicken in. Because it took my so long to wrestle the jicama for the appetizer, dinner wasn't ready when Dad came home, and he decided that the zucchini would be better cooked and took over that, which ruined my flow.

But it was a delicious salad, one which I will try again sometime - with my raw marinated zucchini.

Wednesday Lunch

I felt like making a plated lunch for me and my grandparents. I used a Pantry Selects Trail Mix salad, some Chef's Kitchen Italian Pinwheels (which when putting the container back in the fridge, got my nail caught on it causing the remaining ones to spill all over the floor), and then, for the home-made portion, a Pea Salad cup on each plate.

Dainty Pea Salad Cups

I'm not quite finished with this yet. I'm going to make it again tomorrow and change the dressing, because it was too runny. And I still haven't figured out how many of the little cups it fills yet.


When I was visiting Granma, she took me to Willoughby House Cafe, Tearoom, and Gallery. Along with my sandwich and salad, there was a little cup filled with pea salad. Granma has asked what was in them before so she could try to make them for a party, so I did have some better information than my eyes, mouth, and memory. I set out today to recreate something similar to them.

Pea Salad in Cups
Makes ?.


For Pea Salad:
1 1/2 cups frozen peas, thawed
2/3 cup finely chopped celery (about two stalks)
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella (not fancy or finely shredded)

For Dressing:
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vinegar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried dill, crushed with fingers
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika

? wonton wrappers or round pasta wraps

Make dressing:
Whisk together all ingredients. Refrigerate 1-2 hours.
Makes approximately 1/2 cup.

Make cups:
Preheat oven to 325.
Place wrappers in a regular muffin pan. The wrappers should be a bit bunched up to form sides. Keep an eye on them the first couple of minutes in oven to make sure that the sides don't collapse.
Bake for 10 minutes or until golden.
Remove and cool.

While baking cups, prepare salad:
Combine thawed peas, chopped celery, and cheese in a bowl. Mix in 1/4 cup of dressing.

Note: Ranch Dressing can be used as a quicker and easier dressing.

Bell Pepper Focaccia

I made the Bell Pepper Focaccia out of August's Cooking Light.
I wasn't impressed by it. But that could just be faults with me, not the recipe. I think it may have been better if I had oregano, and rock or sea salt(which the recipe didn't call for, but I think it would have been better.)
I felt like trying something new, and I've never made any bread with yeast before. It didn't turn out to great, but that is partially because I misunderstood parts of the directions. Such as when I covered it for the first rise, a crust formed on it. I need to use plastic, not a cloth. I think I know what I did wrong for the most part. And I overcooked it just slightly.

Freeform Plum Tart!

Ever since I got home and saw my July/August issue of Everyday Food, I've had my eye on the Rustic Plum Tart. Yesterday I was debating back and forth between making it or Bizcocho de Naranja. Since I had everything for the plum tart except the plums, I decided if I could find some good plums, I'd make the tart. And I did. I just had to make some minor adjustments.
I took pictures. I just packed my camera before I copied the pictures onto my computer.

Plum Tart
Crust

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup yellow cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) cold butter cut into pieces

2-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling

1 1/2 lbs red plums, quartered, pitted, and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1 large egg yolk mixed with 1 teaspoon water (for egg wash)

In a food processor, pulse flour, cornmeal, sugar, and salt to combine. Add butter and pulse until it resembles a coarse meal. Add 2 tablespoons ice water and oulse until dough is crumbly, but holds together when squeezed.

Turn dough onto floured work surface. Knead once or twice. Flatten into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate at least an hour.

Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil. Flour a large piece of parchment (about the size of the baking sheet). Place dough on paper. Lightly flour dough and roll out into a 14-inch round. Put parchment paper with dough on the baking sheet.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss together ingredients for the filling. Pour into the center of the crust, leaving a two-inch border. Fold border over fruit and brush with egg wash.

Bake tart until crust is brown and filling is bubbling, about 35-40 minutes. Tranfer baking sheet to rack. Let cool 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Serves 6. (or 7)

Lime Meringue Baked Alaska

Today is National Ice Cream Day (or so I've heard). In honor of it, I decided it was the perfect day to try out the Lemon Meringue Baked Alaska Recipe that I'd been eyeballing ever since I saw it in the Cooking Light 2006 cookbook, but since we only have limes in the house, it seemed only logical to make Lime Meringue Baked Alaska instead.

Lime Meringue Baked Alaska
32 vanilla wafers
2 cups low-fat creamy vanilla ice cream, softened
2 cups lime sherbet, softened
4 large egg whites
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup water
grated lime rind from one lime

Line bottom and sides of a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate with wafers.

Place ice cream and sorbet in a bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth. Spoon mixture into prepared pie plate and place in freezer.

Place egg whites in large bowl and beat with a standing mixer at high speed until foamy. Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook, without stirring, until it registers 238 degrees Fahrenheit on a candy thermometer. Pour hot sugar syrup over egg whites in a thin stream, beating at medium speed (this is why you want a standing mixer). Increase speed to high and beat until stiff peaks form. Fold in lime rind. Remove ice cream from freezer and spread over ice cream Loosely cover and freeze 4 hours or until firm.

Using a blow torch (or small culinary butane torch), lightly brown the meringue before serving. (Or just be boring and use the broiler.)