bloglovinBloglovin iconCombined ShapeCreated with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. rssRSS iconsoundcloudSoundCloud iconFill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch. Fill 1Created with Sketch.

Tag: guitar case greens

Chicken, Beet, and Grapefruit Salad #8.10

I eat so many versions of this salad that I decided I would add the date to the title. Do you have a salad that you can eat every week…sometimes twice a week…and not get tired of it? This is mine.
Anyway, I get all of the chicken that I eat these days from Lola Farms and it never disappoints. Again, you could use any chicken that you like or not…This one has the yummy dark thigh meat. I batch cook a few pieces at the beginning of the week and then take the meat off the bone and jar it in 4oz portions. Some weeks, it’s breast and thighs, sometimes it’s quarters…It’s all delicious and, for every day meals, it all gets the same preparation. I thaw it in the fridge and then remove it from the package and put it on a normal dinner plate. I season it liberally…I mean, would I do it any other way…with sea salt and black pepper on both sides. I cover it with another plate and put it back in the fridge until the next day. I roast it in the Ninja at Bake/400 until it hits 165 degrees. The dark meat likes to go just a bit longer so that more of that collagen breaks down, but I don’t get too crazy because a lot of the time I reheat it. Her product is so great, though, that I have never one time been disappointed…even when I KNOW I overcooked it.

Before
After

The beets roast in the Ninja, so while it is a bit time consuming on that side, it’s all inactive and it doesn’t even heat up your house. You can, of cook them in the oven, buy them already cooked, or use your slow cooker. Come to think of it, you could probably steam them…hmmm… As with most things, I usually cook two or three at a time and keep them in the fridge or freezer. This go around a decided to use my vegetable peeler to shave pieces off the whole, peeled beet. There are many days when it all gets mixed together and turns into an entirely pink dish, but I kept them fairly segregated today. I splashed a bit of champagne vinegar and sea salt on the shaved pieces in a small bowl so that they were seasoned, but I dressed the rest of the components together.


The greens came from the my balcony garden Guitar Case Greens collection. 🙂 I can’t get enough of growing lettuce. I get the perfect amount of sunlight for it and there is nothing better than picking greens right before you eat them. This plate was made mostly from the arugula growing in the neck of the case, though there were a few mixed lettuces thrown in for texture. Also, my arugula is INTENSE in flavor, so it really does well as part of a mixed green plate and standing up to a pretty full bodied dressing.


For the dressing today, I used about a tablespoon of the grapefruit juice, a splash of champagne vinegar, a teaspoon of Dijon, a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt, and black pepper. I had a half of a sliced and sautéed white onion in a small jar in the fridge, so I added the ingredients to that jar, re-lidded it, and shook it up. I popped it in the fridge for awhile to meld those flavors. Because I am taking a break from dairy this month, I omitted my usual goat cheese and tried to get just a little twang with the Dijon. I feel like that, plus the umami from the onions, and the juicy chicken made me not miss the goat cheese at all. You will have extra dressing, so go lightly and dress it immediately before you plate it. Though, here’s the truth about how I ate it…

Eat the rainbow, y’all!

Salmon Salad with Beet, Cucumber, and Balcony Greens

I did it!!! I finally found the right combination of recipe, gear, and ingredients to successfully make mayonnaise. I know that I should have gone to Martha from the beginning, but I blundered through whisks and bowls, blenders and lots of wasted oil…which splattered EVERYWHERE, mind you…before I remembered to check her website for a recipe and, voila. I am very excited and, to be honest, a little bit nervous. Mayonnaise is a condiment that I gave up back when I lost my first large amount of weight. It was one of those mind games, though, where I told myself that I didn’t like it knowing all the while that it was untrue, but it made me not miss it. Then, came my real food guidelines and that kept it away for the most recent past. Well, my inability to make it keep it away, but it’s a product that can have a lot of additives.

I don’t miss it often, obviously, but I am trying to eat more fish and I definitely miss it when it comes to canned salmon and tuna. I didn’t use much and also added Dijon mustard and caper brine, along with celery and sea salt, but it makes a big difference. As if I didn’t have enough beets earlier in the week…I served it along with some roasted beets tossed with champagne vinegar, salted English cucumber slices, and Balcony Garden Greens. Perfect on a hot summer day.

Eat the rainbow, y’all!