Roast Chicken Salad with Feta

I roasted a chicken in the "cool" of the morning today and put this together for lunch.

Look yummy?

It was!

Chicken, avocado, tomato, feta, spinach, bacon and a few other odd and ends made up this healthy, tasty, warm summer salad. It was only warm because the chicken was less than an hour out of the oven, but it would be just as good if I'd pulled the chicken out of the fridge to build this.

Starting at the bottom of the bowl, here's what's in it.

• 1 roast chicken thigh
• 1/2 tomato, diced
• 1/2 avocado, sliced
• 1 sliced green onion
• 1 handful torn spinach
• 1–2 T Athenos Feta
• 1 slice crispy bacon, crumbled
• fresh cracked black pepper

Here's the meat from one cooked chicken thigh.

Add about a half a tomato, diced, and half an avocado, sliced and fanned out.

Next add slices of a green onion and a handful of torn spinach.

Feta and crispy bacon make up the next layer.

Sweet and spicy vinaigrette.

I made the dressing in a recycled pimiento jar. It's the small jar, the two ounce size I think.

Pour fruit vinegar into small jar with tight fitting lid. I used homemade Cranapple Cider Vinegar. (The red layer in the middle.)
Add an equal amount of olive oil. (Top layer.)
Next add about a teaspoon (or so) of honey mustard, and about a tablespoon of honey. (The botttom layer.)
1/2 teaspoon your favorite herb/s, finely ground.

Tightly cap the jar and shake well. I used about 1/2 of it on this salad. The other half will go on another salad in a couple of days.

A Brown Bag Salad

One Brown Bag Salad

When I want something healthy for lunch and end up grabbing a salad from a fast food place I'm always disappointed. The lettuce is mostly spine and rusty on the edges, carrots are pale and dried, and there are usually only 4-5 ingredients.  The tiny cubed croutons are prepackaged and practically melt in my mouth. The dressing is also prepackaged and no matter what flavor I get, too middle-of-the-road for my taste.  And after all that it's also way more expensive than I could have made at home.

I'm sure everyone would agree a salad is best when made with bright fresh crunchy vegetables with a variety of colors, flavors and textures. Here's the version I had for lunch today.

 3 leaves of romaine lettuce

8-10 large leaves of spinach

1 inch of zucchini

1 carrot

3-4 red radishes

3-4 button mushrooms

3-4 green onions

1-2 T Craisins

1 T slivered almonds

3/8" slice feta cheese

6-8 large crunchy homemade croutons

Janz Cranberry Honey Mustard Dressing*

I assembled this last night in a to-go salad bowl I saved from a store-bought salad. 

First a pile of torn romaine and spinach. I used a potato peeler to make paper-thin slices of zucchini, carrot and radishes. I sliced the mushrooms almost as thin. Next came green onions and almonds. Then I put the lid on it and put it in the fridge. 

This morning I added a thick slice of feta cheese and the craisins. I packed it with a separate bag of croutons and my own salad dressing. When I was ready to eat, I crumbled the feta, added croutons and poured on the dressing. 

I tossed it with the fork as I ate. The paper-thin slices of veggies are great for stabbing a and getting lots of variety in every bite. The craisins can soak up moisture and turn back into cranberries if I add them too soon which I why I add them at the last minute. 

*The dressing was made in an almost empty bottle of Cranberry Honey Mustard. I added some red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, a little garlic, and voila!

Larrupin!

Janz Hungarian Mushroom Soup

Mushroom soup is one of my favorites, especially since it's so easy to make from scratch.

Saute a few mushrooms in butter or olive oil and add a splash of white wine or a squeeze of lemon juice for a little tartness. Add chicken broth, or water and chicken bouillon and let it simmer. Thicken with cornstarch if you want, add milk, cream, sour cream or even cream cheese to make it more creamy than brothy if that's what you like. 

Garnish with fresh grated Parmesan or a slice of provolone, maybe some avocado slices, a dollop of sour cream and a generous sprinkling of fresh ground pepper blend... mmmm. A splatter of sliced almonds would add a tasty crunch. 

A few days ago I had some mushrooms I wanted to use, but I wanted something different. So I did some searching and came across a Hungarian take on mushroom soup which of course I had to tweak.

Janz Hungarian Mushroom Soup

1 T olive oil
1/2 C thinly sliced yellow onion
1T butter
 8 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced
1/2 C white wine
1/2 T dried dill weed
1/2 T paprika
1/2 T soy sauce
1 C chicken broth
1 C milk
1 T cornstarch
1 t salt
Ground black pepper to taste
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 C chopped Italian parsley
1/4 C sour cream
Seasoned croutons
3-4 slices of crisp bacon
Feta, crumbled
Green onions, thinly sliced

Saute onions in olive oil until tender, about 5 minutes
Add sliced mushroom, butter, and wine. Saute 5 more minutes
Stir in the dill, paprika, soy sauce and broth. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 15 minutes.
Combine milk and cornstarch in a pint jar with a tight lid and shake well to mix. Pour this into the soup and stir well to blend. Simmer 15 more minutes stirring occasionally.
Finally, stir in the salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley and sour cream. Mix together and allow to heat through over low heat, about 3-5 minutes. Do not boil.
To serve, place several large seasoned croutons in the bottom of a shallow soup bowl. Ladle a serving of soup over the croutons. Garnish with crumbled feta, crispy bacon and green onions.

Larrupin!

PS: This is a larrupin good brown bag lunch.

Put a meal size portion in a plastic container, the croutons and bacon go in another container and use another small container for the feta and green onions. At lunchtime put the croutons and soup in a microwave-proof bowl (one that won't get hot when you take it out), and when it's hot, garnish with the bacon, feta and green onions. 

Mad Men Tuna Casserole

I am hooked on Mad Men. This Emmy Award winning AMC original series seems to capture the feel of the early 60s. Before Viet Nam, before the hippies, it was known as the Days of Camelot. I love the styling of the sets, the fashions, the two-martini lunches, not to mention the characters and the stories. The dialog is filled with anecdotal comments that evoke the attitudes of the early 60s. I was just a kid, but it reminds me of Doris Day movies and the fashions of my original Barbie doll.

Much has been made of the cocktails of the 60s, a Manhattan, Gimlet, Old-Fashioned… but not much has been said about the food. A few weeks ago Don Draper came home from work and his wife Betty offered him a late supper. “Hot or cold?” she asked. The options were chicken salad or tuna casserole.

I looked up tuna casseroles in The Joy of Cooking, and The Modern Family Cookbook, as well as a Good Housekeeping cookbook, all with late 50s copyrights. These are cookbooks Betty might have in her kitchen.

It was interesting that all the recipes called for 7 ounce cans of tuna while the cans in my cabinet are only 5 ounces. One simple recipe with only 3 ingredients called for tuna, noodles and white sauce. Simple except the white sauce was homemade, which requires standing over the stove and stirring until the butter, flour and milk are combined to the right consistency. Toppings included corn flakes, potato chips and buttered breadcrumbs. One called for buttered cornflakes. How do you butter a cornflake? Seasonings included Worcestershire, sherry, or curry powder to name a few.

Some recipes layered the ingredients into the casserole dish, others mixed them first. I used a combination of methods, layering and combining, when I came made my casserole this morning.

Here are the ingredients you'll need.

• Noodles
• 2 cans Tuna
• 2 cans Celery Soup
• Onion
• Celery
• Red Pepper
• Olive Oil
• Frozen Peas
• Milk
• Asiago Romano Cheese
• Seasoned Bread Crumbs
• Almond Slivers
• Green Onions
• Green Olives
• Tabasco Sauce (optional)
  

1. Boil water for noodles and preheat oven to 375°.
2. Dice equal amounts onion, red pepper and celery—about 1/2 C each—and sauté in a splash of olive oil, preferably in an iron skillet.
3. Drain noodles/pasta and rinse in cool water. Drain again.
   
4. Pour a splash of olive oil into the casserole and brush to cover bottom and sides.
5. Put the noodles/pasta in a layer on the bottom of the dish.
6. Spoon the sautéed veggies on top of the noodles.
7. Sprinkle a layer of frozen peas over the top of the veggies.
8. Open the soup and tuna and dump them into pasta pan to combine. Don’t drain the tuna and add a splash of milk if the mixture is too thick.
9. Pour the combined soup/tuna mixture on top of everything in the casserole. Spread to cover all the edges.
10. Sprinkle a topping of almond slivers/crumbs over the top of the casserole.
11. Top it all with a layer of dried seasoned breadcrumbs.
    
12. Bake about 30 minutes until heated through.
13. Remove from oven and garnish with grated Asiago Romano cheese, diced green onion, and sliced green olives.
14. Wait at least 15 minutes before serving,
15. Top each serving with more cheese, a sprinkle of almonds and fresh grated black pepper.
    

This casserole can be made a day ahead and refrigerated. Warm to room temperature and add the almonds and breadcrumbs before placing in the preheated oven.

Make individual portions by assembling in mini loaf pans. To freeze, press plastic wrap to the surface of each casserole and seal each tightly with aluminum foil.

If desired, splash each portion with Tabasco Sauce before serving.

Divide leftovers into serving size containers for brown bagging. Heat in the microwave, but don't over cook or the noodles may end up tough and dry. Top with fresh garnishes and it will look and taste fresh from the oven.

Janz Catalina Mayo Turkey Sandwich

This blog has been dormant for a while, but it's time to restart.
I've been eating fast food for lunch way too often the past few months so my plan is to refocus on homemade food and save money while avoiding unnecessary calories.

Even though turkey is a fairly plain lunch meat, I dress up this sandwich with veggies and flavors that give it a lot of texture and zest.

Here it is.

• 2 slices 100% whole wheat bread, in a zipper bag
• Romaine lettuce, just enough for one sandwich, in a fold-top sandwich bag
• Small plastic container layered with the following:
• Deli sliced turkey
• Bread & butter pickles
• Very thin slivers of onions
• A few rounds of banana peppers
• Half a dozen grape tomatoes (it's all I had)
• Small jar of Janz Catalina Mayo

I usually make turkey sandwiches with mayo on the bread and a drizzle of Catalina Dressing on top of the tomatoes, but when I assembled this last night I decided to combine the Catalina and mayo to make the prep easier when I got to work. I put about a tablespoon of mayo in a small jar (I think it was a 4 ounce deli mustard jar) and stirred in Catalina dressing until it tasted just right. It’s about equal parts of each.

Viola! Janz Catalina Mayo. I don’t know why I never thought of this before. Added bonus: I don't have to put a diaper on my sandwich to keep the Catalina from dripping down my shirt, in my lap... or (Nooooo!) on my keyboard! :-)

I put everything—except the bread—in the fridge when I got to work. When I got a chance to eat (I think it was about 2:30) I smeared the bread with Janz Catalina Mayo, topped it with turkey, pickles, banana peppers, onions and lettuce. Usually tomato slices go on top of the pickles and peppers, but grape tomatoes don't make very big slices, so I popped them in my mouth while I put the sandwich together.

Presto! Crunchy sweet, hot, and tangy all add up to a great tasting sandwich.

Now that I think about it...

• Jalapeno slices
  
• A splash of Tabasco in Janz Catalina Mayo

What do you think? Anything else sound good on this?