Tropical Chicken Salad

Our In Store Special this month is the Blood Orange Olive Oil and the White Pineapple Balsamic. I thought that I would make something with them to go with that!

This salad is fantastic. I've been enjoying it for a couple days now. And I will definitely make it again!

Tropical Chicken Salad

1 cup cooked, shredded chicken

1 small can mandarin orange slices

1 small can chopped pineapple

1 can water chestnuts

1 tbsp Blood Orange Olive Oil

1 tbsp White Pineapple Balsamic

1 pinch powdered ginger

a handful of cashews

chow mein noodles

Drain the fruit and the water chestnuts and toss everything together. If you are not serving it right away, leave the chow mein noodles off. They can get soggy pretty quickly.

If you don't like water chestnuts, I think that chopped celery would be very nice in this as well!

Scallop and Tomato Pasta

This easy dish was created by my father because my mother wanted a light seafood dish. I got a little bite, it was great!

Scallop and Tomato Pasta

1 pk linguine noodles

1 small package of scallops, fresh or thawed

1 pint cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp Greek Olive Oil

Cook the linguine until it is al dente and set aside.

Warm the olive oil in a saute pan to medium high heat and saute the scallops until they are almost done, about 1 minute. Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the pan. Saute for another minute. Add the linguine and toss. Cover and let cook for one more minute. 

Zesty Lemon Strawberries

I had some strawberries in the fridge that were just begging to be eaten.

So eat them I did!

Zesty Lemon Strawberries

1 pint strawberries

1/4 cup cream cheese(or marscapone)

2-3 tbsp Zesty Lemon Balsamic

Chop off the greens and take the center from the strawberries. This leaves a little cup that is perfect for a little dollop of your cream cheese.

Drizzle with Zesty Lemon Balsamic. 

Eat.

Guacamole with Bacon and Roasted Tomatillos

Ah, bacon. Glorious bacon. Thick-cut heavily peppered bacon. Mmmm, paired with creamy avocado and tart tomatillos...

Ah, guacamole. Yay!

Guacamole with Bacon and Roasted Tomatillos

1 small Jalapeno, seeded and halved
4 medium tomatillos, halved
3 avocados
4 slices thick bacon
1 tbsp lime juice
3 tbsp Jalapeno Olive Oil
4 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
pinch of Applewood Smoked Sea Salt
tortilla chips or toasted pita bread

In my BLT post recently, I told you about the best way in the world to cook bacon. So line a baking sheet with foil and lay out your bacon. Place in the oven and turn to 400 degrees. Take out when done, about 20 minutes.

On another sheet lay out the tomatillos and the jalapeno. Rub the tomatillos with the Jalapeno Olive Oil and sprinkle with the sea salt. Once the oven is preheated and the bacon is done, put them in and roast for about 25-30 minutes.

Dice your avocados and place in a bowl. When the tomatillos and jalapeno are done, they should be nice and collapsed. Let them cool a little bit until you can handle them. Scoop all the flesh away from the tomatillo skins and add to the bowl. Dice the jalapeno and stir it all together. Add in the lime juice.

Mash with a basic potato masher for chunky style guac like I like, or pulse in a food processor for a smoother guac. Stir in the cilantro and crumble the bacon and add, saving a little bit of each for garnish.

Blood Orange Chocolate Confetti Cake

So, our store is 2. Right now at 2pm. Lets break out the balloons!

Some of the employees here are vegan, so I made a vegan cake. I wanted to be sure that we could all eat! The batter is really thick and sticky, and makes a dense and moist cake with a slightly fudge-y crumb. If you aren't vegan and would like the cake to be more fluffy, go ahead and add an egg.

And the frosting... The frosting recipe is after the pictures!

Blood Orange Chocolate Confetti Cake

3 cups flour
6 tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking soda
pinch or two of salt
2 cups sugar
3/4 cup Blood Orange Olive Oil + some for greasing the pan
1 cup Tofutti Sour Cream
1 cup Almond Milk
1 container hard sugar sprinkles

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Use a drizzle of the Olive Oil to grease an 11x14 pan.

Combine the sugar, Olive Oil, sour cream and milk in a large bowl. Stir to combine. In another bowl, stir the four, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt together.

Stir them together in batches, slowly. Mix well, until everything is moistened. Pour the sprinkles into the batter and stir to distribute.

Turn out into the pan. The batter is very thick and sticky, so smooth it out as best as you can. If it is too thick and sits in a lump, try mixing in a couple extra tablespoons of Almond Milk.

Bake for 35-45 minutes. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean.

Cool. Drizzle with frosting before serving.

Orange Frosting

3/4 cup confectioner's sugar
3 tbsp Mandarin Orange Balsamic
1 tsp vanilla extract
Water as needed

Stir the ingredients together until it makes a smooth paste. Add water, by teaspoon as needed until you reach a consistency that you can drizzle.

You don't need a lot, just a little drizzle on each piece before serving will do you. I also think this would be great using the Vanilla Balsamic, and a touch of orange juice instead of water.

Lemon Pepper Kebabs

Remember the Red Pepper Bruschetta Pasta from last week? The marinaded chicken I was talking about was this one! I finally got to the grocery store and here you go!

Lemon Pepper Kebabs

3 large chicken breasts
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tbsp Meyer Lemon Olive Oil
1 tbsp fresh minced thyme
1 tsp fresh black pepper
zest of one lemon
juice of 1/2 lemon
bamboo skewers

Cube the chicken. Stir all the marinade ingredients together and toss the chicken in it.

Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours or overnight. Soak you skewers in water or use metal ones. Slide the chicken on and give them an extra sprinkle of pepper.

Grill. Cooking time depends on how thick your chicken cubes are, but mine took about 5 minutes. Makes about 6 skewers.

BLT's with Fresh Basil Aioli

I got some bacon for a recipe later this week. It was beautiful thick-cut peppered bacon. I was so excited I decided to make BLT's. Since we have had them every day for lunch and dinner for the past 3 days, now I need more bacon for my recipe later this week. OOPS!

BLT's with Fresh Basil Aioli
(makes 2)

4-6 pieces thick-cut pepper bacon
4 ribs Romaine lettuce
2 medium sized campari tomatoes
2 tbsp Basil Aioli, recipe follows
4 pieces toasted bread

The easiest way to cook bacon without splattering yourself is this. You bake it. Space it out on a foil lined baking sheet and put in the oven. Turn the oven to 400 degrees, don't preheat, and wait 20 minutes. If your oven heats up faster, check after 15 minutes. It should be nice and crispy without being burnt and without splattering you.

While that is cooking, you can make the Basil Aioli.

6 Leaves fresh basil
pinch of fresh tarragon (optional)
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 egg
1 tsp salt
1 cup Basil Olive Oil + 1 tsp
1 tsp fresh lemon juice

Place the tsp of olive oil in a small saute pan and heat to medium. Cook the basil leaves and the garlic until the basil has softened and wilted. Place in a food processor.

Add in the lemon juice, salt and the egg. Pulse until smooth. Add the oil in a drizzle until is is this, creamy and comes completely together.

Scrape into a bowl and refrigerate for about 10 minutes before serving. It will keep for 3-4 days in a well covered container and makes a bit over a cup.

(Would be amazing to serve with fish too. Ooo! I know what I'm making on Friday now!)

Assemble your sandwich and serve!

Lemon Pepper Squash

I got all my ingredients ready for last night. I made sure my grill had enough propane, I found and cleaned my grill basket. I got everything all together...

And as I walked down the stairs to start the grill, it started pouring! And not little rain. Big, crazy, put out the grill type of rain. Strangely enough, the sun was still shining. I changed my plans, made this inside, and before I was finished, so was the rain. What was that?

Moral of the story: Summer rains are weird.

And they mess up my grilling plans! So, here is the stove-top version of this dish. I suggest you grill it. Darn that weather!

Lemon Pepper Squash

1/2- 1 Yellow Squash per serving/person

1 tsp Lemon Pepper Seasonings per serving

1 tbsp Meyer Lemon Olive Oil per serving

Slice your squash thinly. Toss in a bowl with the seasoning and the Olive Oil. Spread evenly over the surface of your grill basket. Or your saute pan. 

The cooking time will depend on your heat source and how much squash you are making. It takes about a minute or 2 on each side if you you want to brown it, 1 minute each side if you are just softening them up.

Serve.

I made this for my dinner, but it would make nice side dish as well.

Red Pepper Bruschetta Pasta

Today's post was supposed to be a marinaded chicken skewers. But I did not get to go to the grocery store so there was no marinade. So I am sharing what I had for lunch yesterday instead. Marinaded chicken breasts soon.

Microwave Pasta Meal- Redo

1 pkg Microwave pasta meal

3-4 mini meatballs

Red Pepper Bruschetta*

1 tsp Italian Herb Olive Oil

Microwave your pasta according to the directions, but save the sauce for another time. Stir the pasta. Toss on the mini meatballs and the Bruschetta and pop it back in the microwave for 30-40 seconds. Drizzle with the Italian Herb Olive oil.

I had some crackers on hand, but it's probably better with bread!

*Bruschetta available in store or by phone only. Sorry!

Fireworks Chicken Salad

I grilled chicken with the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil a couple days ago. They were spicy and delicious, but  there were some leftover chicken breasts. I thought they would be eaten by now, but they are still around, so I made chicken salad!

I love each of these ingredients individually, but together they are just scrumptious! I'm taking this to a party tomorrow if I don't finish it all!

Fireworks Chicken Salad

2-3 grilled chicken breasts
1 can black beans
1/4 cup Piquillo Pepper Tapenade
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 yellow or orange pepper, diced
1 tsp Greek Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Mineral Salt
Extra Citrus Habanero Olive Oil for drizzling

Chop or shred your chicken. Place in a large bowl. Rinse and drain the black beans and add them. Stir in the edamame and the bell pepper. If it needs a little extra spice, drizzle with a little bit more of the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil. Stir in the Piquillo Pepper Tapenade and sprinkle with the salt.

Serve!