Peggy's Thai Chicken Pasta Salad

For a recipe to make it into The Nelson Family cook book, you know it's going be good. The Nelsons love food, and they love good food. This is Peggy's famous Thai Chicken Pasta Salad. It's a wonderful cook ahead meal that refrigerates well and makes delicious left overs. Its full of healthy vegetables and proteins and has a subtle asian flavor to it. 

Ingredients: 

Marinade: 

1 tbs seasame seed oil

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 clove garlic

1 tbs grated ginger root

1 tbs lime juice

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Dressing: 

1/2 cup oil 

2 tbs soy sauce

1 tbs sesame oil

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 clove garlic, minced

 1 tbs fresh grated ginger

1 tbs peanut butter

2 tsp fresh lime juice

10 drops hot sauce (optional)

Salad: 

8 ounces vermicelli

1 bunch green onions (sliced) 

1 ted pepper (thinly sliced) 

1 cup carrots (shredded)

1/4 cup roasted peanuts

Directions: 

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken for 1 hour. Cook chicken until juices run clear or until white inside. Chop into small pieces and chill. Make dressing and mix well. Refrigerate and allow flavors to blend. Cook pasta, drain, and run cold water over the pasta to cool. Combine noodles, veggies, chicken. Just before serving, mix in the dressing and peanuts. Makes 6 servings. 

Tico Black Beans

During our many visits to Costa Rica, one of my favorite things to eat was what they called a "tico breakfast". A tico is someone who is native to Costa Rica, so their tico breakfast is what all the natives preferred to have each morning. 

I've been on the hunt for a healthier breakfast routine for awhile. Something low in fat, full of protein, that won't have me hungry before lunch time. A tico breakfast is black beans mixed with white  rice to make a dirty rice, served with tortillas and a fried egg. Yum. 

Below is a combination of like 3 of my favorite black bean recipes. Perfect for my tico breakfast. 

2 cans black beans

1 bell pepper chopped

1 SMALL onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 bay leaves

2 garlic cloves

2 tsp dried cilantro

1/4 tsp red pepper

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp cumin 

1 tsp sugar

2 tsp white wine vinegar 

Salt 

Pepper

Heat olive oil in large skillet. Chop your onion and bell pepper and add to skillet. Once the onions are translucent add your garlic (minced). Then add your beans and all your spices. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes. Use a potato masher to break up the beans just a bit. Let beans simmer until they reach desired thickness. Salt and pepper to taste. Would be great topped with a Latin queso fresco. 

Yum! Pura Vida! 

Cayman Fish

Tonight my husband cooked me dinner. He cooked me a dish that he first had in the Cayman Islands. Captain Marvin served it to my husbands family on the beach after an excursion at sting ray city. I was a little worried this dish wouldn't be good because we all know food tastes better on vacation and maybe all this was was a fond memory for my husband. But this dish is quick, easy, and very unpretentious. 

Can't you picture this dish simmering in a pot on a cayman woman's stove? 

Warm 4 tbs olive oil in sauté pan 

Caramelize 1 chopped onion 

Along with 2 chopped bell peppers

Add 3 tbs pickapeppa sauce*

Add 3 tbs ketchup 

Add 1 Tsp salt 

Add 1/2 cup water 

Add 2 tsp honey 

Then add 4 mahi mahi filets (6oz each) or any white fish you'd like. These should be cut in half before you add to pan. Then reduce sauce for about 15 minutes or until fish cooked. 

Then add 2 tbs fresh lime juice and salt and pepper to taste. 

Serve with rice, some steel drum music, and a drink with an umbrella in it and your night is made! 

Costco Quinoa Salad

Last week my husband and I were sampling while shopping at Costco when a certain sample stopped us both in our tracks. It was a crunchy tart fresh quinoa veggie salad. The sample was so good that the costco employee admitted that we were eating the very last batch of it and that they were sold out. Bummer. We decided to try to recreate it. Here is our first attempt. I'm sure it will keep getting modified until we nail it perfectly.

1 1/2 cups cooked red quinoa

3/4 cup red lentils cooked

1 cucumber peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces 

2 Roma tomatoes chopped into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup scallion or red onion chopped

1 yellow bell pepper chopped 

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/3 cup olive oil

Zest and juice of 1 small lemon 

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste 

Make sure your lentils and quinoa are cooled and mix all together and serve at room temperature.