Garlic Parmesan Chicken Salad

Are you a browser in the grocery store? I totally am. I could roam around the store taking a look at this and that. Adding new products to my cart and acting like I have no where to be … which could be because I don’t have anywhere to be. This is your heads up 7Up; if you want to get in and out of a grocery store – don’t take me.

Little known fact: I have been grocery shopping by myself since I have been about 10 or 11. Long story but needless to say I love grocery stores.

Another reason to grocery shop — the potential to meet my Mr. Gosling-Vartan- Walker-Rheon-Reynolds. I am single and not really ready to mingle but I hear from all the 1001 magazine articles that the grocery store is a great place to meet a man. Uh-huh.

Anywho, on one of my excursions I was in my favorite aisle, condiments, and these new sandwich spreads from Hidden Valley Ranch caught my eye. I instantly grabbed the Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sandwich Spread and Dip. The idea was to add it to my burgers to make it sang – which it did.

However, what am I to do with this stuff when not using it for burgers? So the brain starts churning and the idea comes to add some of this goodness to some chicken salad I was making.

It was dang delicious! “DANG DELICIOUS,” I’m telling you! It upped the flavor factor in my chicken salad and had me coming back for seconds, thirds, fourths, and fifths. Yeah, I kind of ate it all in a matter of a day.

I love chicken salad. As you can see with this being the third recipe I have for some type of chicken salad. It’s a great go to dish in the hot months. Great as a sandwich or paired with fruits or topped on a bed of mixed greens. Chicken salad is also simple to make. It’s a 30 minute meal or less with the help of precooked chicken. Grocery store Rotisserie Chicken is my weapon of choice.

By the by, I was not compensated or sponsored by Hidden Valley Ranch for this post. I simply love grocery store browsing and shopping.

Until Next Time,

Garlic Parmesan Chicken Salad
“A Licious Food Original”

Makes 4 cups

Ingredients
4 cups rotisserie chicken breast, finely chopped
1/4 cup green onions/scallions, sliced
1/4 cup Hidden Valley Ranch Oven Roasted Garlic Parmesan Sandwich Spread & Dip
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
Dash of cayenne pepper

Directions
In a medium to large bowl add finely chopped (aka using food processor and pulsing about 10 to 12 times) chicken breast, sliced green onions, HVR Garlic Parmesan spread, lemon juice, mayonnaise, lemon pepper seasoning, and cayenne pepper.

Mix all items together until fully blended/incorporated with a mixing spoon. Wrap bowl and let mixture refrigerate for at least 15 minutes and serve.

The longer you let it refrigerate the better it is … if you can wait that long. Serve chicken salad with your favorite crackers, pita chips, bread, fruit …

Home Field Advantage Wings

I was suppose to post this wing-mazing recipe prior to Superbowl and it didn’t happen.

Take this as a lesson. Don’t. Put. Off. I had planned to compose this post and have it publish on the Friday before the big game but I said, “naah, I can do it in the wee hours of the morn and still accomplish my goal.” Yeah, about that.

FFWD TO NOW: I am just posting this wingtastic recipe due to the putting off and other things. So let’s pretend that Superbowl hasn’t happened and the winner of the game is still TBD. My twitter timeline and instagram feed is not full of how great Beyonce is …yada, yada. Seriously, if they decide to make a Wonder Woman movie and they cast Beyonce as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman. I will be “pised” (if you have ever watched “The Sweetest Thing” you will understand “pised”). She’s a great singer and I will leave it at that.

So back to the Superbowl preparation; you know you want to serve some wing-a-lings. What’s a Superbowl party without those delish fingerlickin’ toe tapping bits of deliciousness?! These wings are double cooked so they can be doubly awesome. Bah-zing!

The sauce is sweet yet tangy. The sauce contains a favorite Trader Joe’s product that I have stumbled across, their Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar along with some other ingredients that you will reduce in a saucepan.  Another great thing about the sauce is that you can give it another notch of heat on the kick barometer by adding more hot sauce to the mix, if you prefer.

Remember a recipe is simply an outline. You adapt and make changes where you see fit and make it yours.

Until Next Time,

 

Home Field Advantage Wings

“A Licious Food Original Recipe”

Yields: 12 Wings

Ingredients:

12 Chicken wingettes

2/3 cup Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar*

2/3 cup water

3 Tablespoons honey

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons garlic, minced

2 teaspoons hot sauce

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F.

Clean your wingettes and place on a baking sheet.

Bake wings in the oven for 30 minutes.

While your wings are baking start working on your sauce reduction. In a sauce pan add the vinegar, water, honey, soy sauce, garlic, and hot sauce. Cooking at a high heat you are going to reduce the liquids until it’s reduced in size along with resembling a syrup/glaze. It should take about the same amount of time that it takes to cook your wings in the oven.

Remove the sauce from the stove and let cool. Remove wings from the oven and let sit.

Set up your fryer and begin heating your oil to the proper temperature to fry your wings. I set my fryer to 375F.

Using a large ziploc bag pour the cooled sauce into it and set aside. Zip and prop it accordingly so it will not drip. Next fry your wings, I like to fry 4 at a time since my fryer is on the small side, but if you can do 6 at a time go for it. You will fry the wings to a nice golden brown color (about 5 to 7 minutes). You’ll know when to take them out since they will also begin to float to the top. Remove and place on a paper toweled lined plate to drain for about a minute or so.

While the wings are still somewhat hot you are going to want to add them to the ziploc bag and shake until the sauce completely covers the wings. Remove wings from sauce with tongs and plate to serve with your dipping sauce of choice.

*You don’t have a Trader Joe’s or you can’t locate a Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar then try doing 1/4c orange juice with 1/4 c. champagne vinegar.

Baked Spaghetti

Autumn is here! Well sometimes Autumn is here and sometimes it’s not. So needless to say I have been alternating between heat and air conditioning. I am looking for that happy balance, well at least inside the house but I don’t think that will happen but this girl can dream. Virginia weather can be so unpredictable at times. Today I am lucky not be using either the heat or a/c. Electricity and Gas can be a biznitch to pay.

I am ready to get in the kitchen to bake and cook but oh what’s that Mr. Refrigerator? Oh, you decided that enough is enough and you don’t want to cool properly. Of course, you don’t. I swear I am being tested but I am over being tested. I want to finally reap some rewards from all this testing but do I think that is going to happen … uh, no. So I continue to pull up my big girl panties and will go forth- upward and onward.

That was the bad so let me tell you about the cool! A few weeks back I attended my very first afternoon tea that was thrown by my friend, Teresa. It was soooo fun! Heck, anytime I can get outside and socialize it is a great thing. The tea was so relaxing and the food was extremely good. It was my first time sampling the delights of a scone and enjoying those dainty tea sandwiches and a variety of teas. The afternoon tea was to celebrate the launching of my friend’s mobile tea service, A Time for Tea. The premise is quite simple; it’s a tea party that comes to YOU with all the bells and whistles. It can be for one or it can be for more. Do you have a special one who could use some “tea therapy” then this would make a great gift! So if you live in the metro Richmond, Virginia area be sure to get in contact with A Time for Tea.

Ok, on to baked spaghetti – it can’t compare to Momma June’s “sketti” from “Here Comes Honey Boo Boo”. Yes, I watched and I was amazed and appalled, I was am-palled. It’s BETTER than Momma June’s Sketti – I am quite confident in that statement since the thought of Country Crock and Ketchup is not my idea of tomato sauce. BLECK!

This baked spaghetti is saucy, a requirement for me. I don’t care for dry pasta and I am sure you don’t either. It also has a great cheese filling that is a combination of ricotta and cottage cheese and of course pasta. I found this recipe initially on Pinterest and I made a few minor tweaks. Baked Spaghetti is a great casserole dish that freezes beautifully. It’s meant to be shared with family and friends. This dish is a “stick to the ribs” type that I typically crave in the fall and winter seasons. Baked Spaghetti – it’s what’s for dinner.

Until Next Time,

Baked Spaghetti

Adapted recipe from Salad in a Jar’s Scooter’s Spaghetti

Ingredients
8 ounces whole grain spaghetti, cooked and drained
1 pound ground turkey
1 large container of spaghetti sauce (26.5 ounces)
1 tablespoon of butter
1/2 cup green peppers, chopped
1/3 cup onions, chopped
8 ounces of Neufchatel Cheese, softened
1/2 cup low fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 tablespoons of milk
2 cups/ 1 8 oz package of Shredded Italian Cheese Blend

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 fahrenheit

Cook pasta according to box instructions; drain and set aside.

Heat skillet and melt butter and saute the onions and green peppers. Remove from skillet.

Brown and crumble ground turkey. Drain liquid from the turkey and add spaghetti sauce and let simmer.

While meat, veggie, & sauce is simmering you will need a large mixing bowl. In bowl you will mix the Neufchatel (low fat cream) Cheese, ricotta, onions, and green peppers, and milk. Combine until is thoroughly mixed (You can either mix by hand or use a mixer).

In a 12×8 or 13×9 inch greased baking pan you will begin the layer process. You should end with sauce and a layer of cheese, so my advice is to divide the meat sauce into three equal portions. Noodles divided into two equal portions. Cream cheese mix divided into two equal portions. Shred cheese into two equal portions. I know you all are smart people and know how to layer but I just wanted to write it out, just in case.

First Layer: Meat Sauce mixture. Second Layer: Noodles, be sure to cover the pan when laying out the noodles. Third Layer: Cream cheese mix, spread evenly. Fourth Layer: shredded cheese. Repeat Layers.

Bake assembled masterpiece in the oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Let casserole sit for approximately 10 minutes before serving.

Serving suggestion: a nice side salad or green beans and perhaps  some great garlic bread. Spaghetti and green beans reminds me of school food- ahhhh, memories. 

“Corny” Salmon Tuna Cakes

I have a new favey fave and it’s “Corny” Salmon Tuna Cakes! The title is a mouthful but what can you do?

Have you heard of Tasty Kitchen? It’s a community of cooks created by The Pioneer Woman; it’s pretty nifty. In my opinion there can never be to many social networks for cooks, it’s where recipes are shared and new ideas are born. Tasty Kitchen is where I stumbled upon this great dish. Craving Salmon Cakes but looking for a new way to make them, simply looking to be inspired. Inspired I was!

These cakes are flavorful and light; dare I say a perfect summer food. The corn and cheese compliments the salmon and tuna. While the touch of ranch seasoning gives the patty the needed oomph. The finish result is sublime! I can eat these bad boys every day … I kid you not however I don’t. I hope you will enjoy these “cakes” as much as my friends and I do!

Until Next Time!
Jennifer

Corny Salmon Tuna Cakes
Adapted from janabanana at tastykitchen

Ingredients
2 cans 6 Oz Each Of Boneless, Skinless Pink Salmon, drained and flaked

1 can 4.5 oz Albacore Tuna, drained and flaked

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1 cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese

1/2 cup frozen or canned corn kernels, drained if canned

1/2 cup of Mayo(nnaise)

2 Tablespoons Ketchup

1 Tablespoon Dried Ranch Seasoning

1 large egg, beaten

1 Tablespoon of Olive oil

Directions

In a large mixing bowl add drained and flaked salmon and tuna, panko, cheese, and corn and mix until evenly distributed.  Next add mayo, ketchup, ranch seasoning, and beaten egg to the mixture and mix until incorporated.

Refrigerate for at least one hour to allow the combination to “firm” up (After making these several times refrigerating makes the mixture easier to work with in my opinion).

After refrigerating take the mixture and form patties and set aside.  Next, in a frying pan add oil and let it get hot.  Add patties to the oil cooking approximately 4 to 5 minutes on each side.

Serving suggestion:  make it a “burger” and serve on a potato roll with fresh spinach and sliced tomatoes topped with an herb mayonnaise.

Touchdown Wings

Wings – magnificent wings.  I love wings!  I don’t like getting my hands dirty but for wings I am willing to make the sacrifice.   Chicken wings is a great social food – you can bond with friends and family over wings.  However, you must add some liquid refreshment whether it be alcoholic libations or an icy cold soda … Icy Icy cold Cherry Coke with two cherries is my poison.  Wings, Coke, and a smile.  It’s always the simple things – am I right?

Touchdown Wings are simply Mahogany Wings with a couple of extras.  They are simple and easy – baked and not fried!

The taste is sweet, garlicky, sticky, with a smidge of heat. The finishing touch for these wings is the broiler so you can achieve the crispiness like fried wings.

Touchdown Wings

Adapted from All Recipes: Mahogany Chicken Wings

2 lbs chicken wings, split (or wingettes if you can find them)

1/3 cup soy sauce, low sodium

1/3 cup honey

1/8 cup molasses

2 T. Barbecue Sauce

1 T. Sweet Chile Sauce

1 T. Rice Wine Vinegar

1 T. water

½ t. ginger, minced

1 clove of garlic, finely chopped

Directions

In a medium size bowl add soy sauce, honey, molasses, barbecue sauce, chile sauce, water, ginger, and garlic. Whisk until all ingredients are mixed together; set aside.

In a large size Ziploc bag place the chicken wings that have been split and cleaned.  Add liquid mixture and seal Ziploc and refrigerate for two hours.  Give the Ziploc bag a shake every 30 minutes.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

In a large baking dish ( you can either line baking dish in foil for easy clean up or not – your choice) place the wings along with the marinade/sauce.   Bake the wings for 50 minutes.   Every 15 minutes coat the wings with the marinade/sauce with either a spoon or pastry brush.  You want the sauce to adhere to the wings which will be easier since the marinade/sauce will thicken as it bakes.  Also during the baking process remember to turn the wings once.

After baking for 50 minutes remove wings from the oven and give the wings a final coat of the marinade/sauce.  Set your broiler to High.   Place the wings in the broiler for approximately 5 minutes … every broiler is different so you will need to monitor this process.  When the wings start to get a crispy finish you will want to remove from the broiler and turn the wings and place them back in the broiler for another 5 minutes before removing.

Serve your wings with your favorite sauce accompaniment.  I used a BBQ Ranch Sauce, which is simply one part BBQ sauce to two parts Ranch dressing.

Happy Eatings!

Sloppy Joes

When I think of my childhood, my mind drifts to sitting around the dinner table with my sister and Mom chattering and laughing.  Those were great times — simple times — oh to be a kid again!

Nostalgia and a touch of boredom hit me recently and the thought of “Sloppy Joes” struck.

Back then Sloppy Joes was simply adding Manwich to ground beef and there was no such thing as ground turkey (truly showing my age). I tried to recapture that Manwich feeling a few years ago and I’ll never do it again — stanks very much! Lets just say it did not bring back happy memories!

The recipe for Sloppy Joes comes from Rae Rae (Rachael Ray) and Food Network. It is a simple and easy recipe and yes it is Yumm-O!

This recipe is so easy; I am simply providing the recipe link for Sloppy Joes for you. Go forth and enjoy!

FYI: Instead of using ground sirloin and red pepper; I simply utilized a pound of ground turkey and green peppers. My nephew had no complaints so I always take that as a good sign. He can be some what of a food critic  for someone who is so young, LOL!

Until Next Time!