Shrimp and Quinoa Salad

I used to be a fool and pronounced quinoa as kwi-no-ah because I didn't know that ki-nwa was the correct way. Anyway, I walked around like an idiot saying KWI-NO-AH for the longest time and no one corrected me until someone laughed at me. I'm glad those days belong to the past now.

Hopefully, I helped someone step into the light on the pronunciation of this seed with this post. Let's move on to the actual food part.

Chicken Pasta Salad

This was one of those "I'm hungry and don't wanna walk to the store," sorta meals. Very easy.

What I had:

Greek yogurt
green onions
1/4 bag of wheat pasta
lettuce
frozen chicken
sandwich pickles

So chicken salad it is!

1st I cooked the chicken in the microwave and boiled the water for the pasta.

I sliced the green onion, 2 sandwich pickles, and the lettuce.

I placed the pickles and green onions in a mixing bowl. Added pasta to boiling water. Chopped the chicken into bite-sized bits, then added to the mixing bowl.

When the pasta was cooked, it went in to. I added a dash of garlic salt for taste, and tossed the mixing bowl contents with 1/4 cup Greek yogurt (-ish, sorry, I cook by instinct, not measurement), point is to coat, but not soak. Just a bit, not too much.

The lettuce I placed in the bottom of the bowl (sorry, can't see it in the picture) and scooped some of the chicken salad mix on top.

Very simple,. very yummy!

Caprese Salad

I used to think that caprese salad is the dumbest thing in the world. Why? I'll tell you why. I was watching an episode of Sex and the City and Charlotte was ordering a caprese salad. When her salad came out, it was one single slice of tomato, one slice of mozzarella, and one basil leaf! I was so perplexed. Why the hell would anyone want to eat that? It's so uninteresting! If I want to eat one slice of tomato, one slice of cheese, and one LEAF I wouldn't pay $5 for it!

Since I'm a grown up now, I decide to go back to all of the food I despised/thought was stupid as a child and try it again. Or else, I'd just be stuck in the child phase forever! Not that it's bad to be a child at heart, but it's pretty stupid to stay ignorant.

Let me tell you, I am a changed woman! ...as far as caprese salad is concerned, that is.

Meal Planning Part 2: Seasonings & Pesto Pasta Salad/Crepes

Awhile ago, I posted meal Planning Part 1 and then life, as it is wont to do...descended into chaos...

Which is the very reason I meal plan. Continuing with the topic, I'm going to suppose that the beginning meal planner has kept a food diary and knows his/her tastes. The next thing to do is research. What you want to know is how to flavor the dishes you want to make. There are 3 types of cuisines we eat in my house:

Asian
Italian
Mexican

All forms are intensely Americanized...no avoiding it. I'm white :P But I <3 learning traditional recipes...even if they degenerate into Americanized-whatevers as I become comfortable cooking the dishes. However, my neccesities are my oil and herbs and honey...and garlic....

From 2010-08-01

See?

So this (plus Mirin and Sherry, which I think are missing from this pick) are my essentials. These are what my meals start and end with. In differing quantities and mixtures, these oils, herbs, etc bring flavor to my meals.

My suggestion to the beginner is to choose a lot of recipes you like which require a selection of the same seasonings. Keep those seasonings on hand and develop techniques that use them to their full effect.

The next repertoire to build is based on your favorite (or edible) veggies/meats. Yes, this can be determined in part by budgeting. An example of our favorite dish this summer has been Chicken Pesto Pasta Salad.

First, you need the veggies:

From 2010-08-01

The artichoke hearts and olives came in cans, most of the rest was fresh.
Pesto came in a bottle, but if you have time and fresh ingredients Helen's Basil and Parsley Pesto would be a good addition :P

I used frozen chicken which I defrosted/slightly cooked in the microwave, cut into bite-sized pieces, then added to a pan that included: olive oil and balsamic vinegar. I cooked the mixture until the chicken was brown with the vinegar and flaky.

The eggplant and mushrooms were cooked separately in a similar mixture. The eggplant is done when browned by the seasonings and soft.

When done the veggies and chicken look like this:

From 2010-08-01

The salad is made by either
a) tossing the chicken with pesto
b) adding a portion of chicken, veggies and noodles (we use wheat noodles) together and tossing with pesto.

Or the same mixture can be added to a simple batter:

From 2010-08-01

made from flour, water, an egg and a touch of salt. Cooked like a pancake and then with the mixture added:

From 2010-08-01

You get chicken pesto crepes.

So the veggies and chicken (stored separately) can be made in large enough quantities to be eaten in different meals for 3 days.

This is why establishing precisely what you eat is important. If you love olives or tomatoes, you can create multiple dishes that use the same veggies in different ways. The seasonings will also be used differently.

What are your favorite vegetables? Have favorite ways of cooking them?

Baked Scallops

Garlic Shrimp Curry


Baked Scallops


Mixed Green Salad

Simple Chicken Salad

So I don't know about you, but most place's chicken salad is very goopy and tastes only like mayonnaise - or perhaps I should hang out at better delis. Today I decided to do my own (lighter) take on the very simple chicken salad.

Roasted Portabello Salad

Sorry for the lack of postings, but I was such a clutz and forgot the camera USB cable at my parents' house. Therefore, no photos can be transferred from the camera to the computer.

I made this salad after I finished the Nike's Women Half Marathon while my body was uber sore and I was limping everywhere. Basically, I was house-ridden, I couldn't go anywhere for lunch so the matter of going grocery shopping was also out of the question. But I was starving. What a girl to do? A girl is to raid her fridge and eat whatever she could find, of course, and she found: