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. 

Thai Chicken Pasta Salad

This is a lovely savory half salad half pasta dish. I love when a pasta dish is full of veggies and I love when it has a dressing that makes it really satisfying. This salad is served cold and is very easy to whip up. 

Chicken Marinade:

1 tbs. Sesame seed oil

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Garlic clove

1 tbs grated ginger root

1 tbs lime juice

(Or if your feeling lazy, you can use any teriyaki marinade you have on hand. Just don't tell my mother-in-law.) 

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken for 1 hour then bake chicken till 180 degrees. Chop chicken into small pieces then chill. 

Salad Dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tbs soy sauce 

1 tbs sesame oil 

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 clove garlic minced 

1 tbs grated ginger root

1 tbs peanut butter 

2 tsp lime juice

Make dressing, mix, chill.

Salad:

8 ounces vermicelli (or whatever pasta you choose. Tonight I used Asian corn noodle.)

1/2 bunch green onions chopped 

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced

1 1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/3 cup roasted peanuts 

Cook pasta, drain, run under cool water to chill. Combine all ingredients and mix and serve. Serves 6. 

Braised Cinnamon Pork with Prunes

Let me just put this out there - I am not a pork fan. It's usually dry, fatty, salty, just doesn't hit the spot. Tonight I finally tried this "pork and prune" dish of my mother-in-laws that my husband has been asking me to make. I wasn't very excited about making it. Pork? Bleh. Prunes? Gross. But being my mother-in-law's recipe, I should have known it would have been good. I ate my entire serving of pork, when usually I can only stomach a bite or two of the stuff. It was great. 

1 Loin Pork Roast, pulled and tied (2.5 lbs)
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Tbs Butter
2 Medium Onions finely chopped
1 Cinnamon stick 2 inches long
1.5 cups chicken stock (about 1 can)
1 cup dried pitted prunes
2 Tbs mild honey
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Heat oil and butter in a heavy le creuset type dish
Pat your loin dry with paper towels
season all sides with salt and pepper
Brown on all sides in pan
Remove from pan, add onions and sauté (season onions with salt and pepper as well)
Return pork back to pan, add water and cinnamon. 
Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 90 minutes (turning meat from time to time)
Add prunes to liquid, cover, and continue to simmer for 30 minutes
Stir honey into liquid, basting pork as you go for about 5 minutes
Transfer meat to plate, remove prunes to a bowl
Cook sauce until thickened, add lemon juice, add prunes back to sauce and season to taste
Arrange pork slices and spoon sauce over pork
Enjoy!

Orange Marmalade Chicken

The other day I was making orange rolls (that turned out terrible by the way) when I realized I have a whole jar of "orange marmalade" in my fridge. I made a mental note, then this week while going through my mother-in-laws cook book I found a recipe for "orange marmalade chicken". It actually seemed like an easy dish, with mostly pantry ingredients - which I love. My mother in law had noted that it was an impressive yet easy dish for company. I love it when I find a dish that is easy to make, but with complex flavors that don't taste like it's an "easy meal". I adjusted a few things in my rendition but this dish did not disappoint. I would make this for company anytime. It was so easy! 

3 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 Tablespoons butter
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg (to taste)
2 Tablespoons orange marmalade
1 green onion sliced (I ydidn't have green onion, so i used a slice of a regular yellow onion and browned it in the butter before I cooked the chicken)
1/2 tsp dried french taragon
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream (I didn't have cream so I used whole milk)

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In large skillet melt butter (and brown onions if you are using yellow onions), brown chicken on both sides, add marmalade, onion if you haven't already, tarragon and wine. Cover and reduce heat, simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet, add cream or milk until sauce is thickens. I added a tsp of flour to help mine thicken. Salt and pepper as needed. Cover chicken is sauce. Delish!

Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies

These are a classic all American chewy oatmeal cookie.  Sorry again that my blog photography is not very beautiful. When I'm done cooking I'm more interested in eating vs photo-ing. 

2 sticks butter

1/4 cup white sugar

1 1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs 

3 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp salt 

1 3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp baking soda

3/4 tsp baking powder

3 1/2 cup oats 

1 cup chocolate chips

1 cup chopped walnuts 

  

Bake at 350 for 12 minutes

Chinese Teriyaki Chicken Salad

Sorry I didn't get a better picture. I was hangry (hungry/angry) when I made this salad and I pause for no man. 

This is a yummy little Asian Salad. Very filling, quick, reminds me of chopped lettuce wrap almost. 

Mix together:

1 head iceberg lettuce (or 1/2 head iceberg and 1/2 head napa Chinese cabbage) 

4 chicken breasts sliced and pan fried in 3 tbsp olive oil, then warmed in a few tablespoons of teriyaki sauce. 

Chinese noodles for crunch or wonton skins cut in strips then fried

Orange slices 

3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1 cup (2 cans) water chestnuts 

1/2 cup chopped cilantro 

4 green onions 

Dressing:

4 tbsp sugar

2 tsp salt 

8 tbsp rice wine vinegar 

1/2 cup vegetable oil 

Kitchen Sink Cookies

So these cookies have a million ingredients in them, hence their name "kitchen sink cookies" because they pretty much have everything but the kitchen sink in them. 

When I first married my husband, he was always begging me to make his moms kitchen sink cookies. Well they sounded gross, and they had cornflakes in them, eww! What kind of weird cookie is this. But when I finally relented and made them, I was hooked. They aren't super beautiful but they are super delicious. 

Kitchen Sink Cookies

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup butter room temp

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups Cornflakes or Branflakes 

1 cup coconut 

1 cup chopped nuts (I like walnuts)

6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Cook at 350 for 10 minutes. You want them just barely golden on the outside edge. Yum!!!