Grilled Chicken Salad

So it is finally feeling like spring in Juneau, so I thought I would submit a nice, summery dinner idea. This recipe comes from the Fiddlehead Cookbook, which is a mainstay in Juneau kitchens. The Fiddlehead was a cozy restaraunt with a creative menu in Juneau which closed a few years ago. The dressing is what sets this salad apart - and the fact that you get to light rum on fire, which is so much fun! I have also used the chicken and dressing in a pita with some of the salad veggies. Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken Salad
Serves 6

Marinade
1/4 cup dark rum
1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
3 whole chicken breasts

Chili-Cumin Dressing
1 egg
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 cup corn oil
2 tsp ground cumin
1.5 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp minced garlic (1 clove)
1/4 tsp cayenne

Salad
9-10 cups torn mixed greens
1 carrot peeled and grated
12 tomato wedges (1.5 tomatoes)
1.5 avocados sliced
1.5 cup very thinly sliced red onion
6 warmed flour tortillas folded into quarters

1. To prepare marinade: In a small pan, warm rum slightly over low heat. Remove pan from heat and ignite rum with a match. Let alcohol burn off, gently shaking pan occasionally until flame dies.
2. In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, combine rum, soy sauce, and lime juice. Using a large spoon, stir in chicken breasts coating each with marinade. Cover and marinate in refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours, or up to 6 hours.
3. To prepare dressing: Put egg in a blender or food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add vinegar and blend briefly on high. While blender is running, add oil slowly, 1 tsp at a time at first, then 1 tbl at a time. (Do not add oil too fast or the dressing will break down. If it does, start over with an egg yolk and slowly add broken dressing.)
4. When all oil has been added and dressing is smooth, add cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic, and cayenne. Pour into a 2 cup container, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
5. To assemble salad: Preheat broiler or bbq.
6. BBQ or broil chicken until no longer pink inside. Remove from heat and slice thinly on the bias.
7. Divide mixed greens evenly among plates and sprinkle with grated carrot. Arrange tomato wedges, avocado, and red onion slices on half the greens; fan out chicken slices on other half. Spoon 2 tbl dressing over salad and serve immediately, accompanied by warm tortillas and remaining dressing.

Two for the Price of One!

I came on to post my review of the Jambalaya and realized that although I made the Garlic Pepper Chicken and Carrot Salad on time, I never posted a review! So...
The Garlic Pepper Chicken was a hit! The carrot salad was so-so. I have already made the chicken a second time. The salad was gone at the end of the meal but I don't see it being a regular.
The Jambalaya was soo good too! Eva is hear and we made it together. That was fun! I will make it again, everyone liked it! Next time I will make the rice separately because we used 4 more cups of broth and spent more than double the cook time waiting for it the rice to finally be done. That is my only complaint. Otherwise it was yummy!
Thanks Gals!

Chicken and Sausage Jambalaya

In looking for my recipe this time I wanted something different then we have seen before. I don't recall doing any cajun cooking so thought I would go with this one. It is a bit more work then other recipes but I find it to be worth it!

1/8 c. oil
1/2 lb. raw chicken ( I use skinless breasts and thighs)
3/4 lb. andouille sausage (or if in a pinch kielbasa), cut into rounds
1/2 c butter
1/2 c. flour
2 c. chopped onions
1 c. chopped celery
1 c. chopped green pepper
2 tsp. chopped garlic
2 c. long grain white rice
2 1/2 c. chicken stock
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 tsp cajun seasoning or to taste ( I love to make the one from Emeril but guess any the store bottles would be fine, or you can use 1 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, 1 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp white pepper)
1 c. chopped green onions

Brown chicken in oil over med-high heat in large stock pot

Add sausage and saute with chicken until chicken is cooked through. Remove both from pot.

Saute onions, celery, peppers, and garlic to tenderness you prefer and then remove from pot ( ok to add to meats)

Roux- melt butter in pot with heat at med low. once just melted add flour and stir CONSTANTLY until the flour is completely absorbed by the butter and begins to lightly brown 3-5 minutes is common for me.

Add liquid to roux slowly ( about 1/2 cup at a time) still stirring constantly to keep lumps out of your mixture don't add more until completely absorbed. Once all liquid has been added add your seasoning and the meat and veggies.

Bring everything to a boil. Add rice and return to a boil. Cover and let cook 30 minutes stopping every 10 minutes to give it all a good quick stir moving rice from bottom to top.

Once rice is tender add green onions and serve.

I hope you enjoy!

Well...

I was going to take my picture as usual but realized only too late that I had been so excited to eat when my meal was finished that I forgot to take the picture! So here is an "aftermath" picture I thought I'd share. And this is an "aftermath" picture of what Anders was doing while I was cooking dinner.

On to my review... I made the carrot salad as written but forgot to add red chili to my list so I ate it w/o the chili. The spiciness of the chili really makes this salad extra yummy so I don't recommend leaving it out BUT it tasted good without it too so if you really hate anything spicy I still think you should try it. I left the cashews out (so it didn't get soggy) when I put it in the fridge overnight and added the chili the next day--so much better!

The chicken was great, too. I love garlic so this tasted heavenly!! I used too much oil which was a shame because it was so greasy and I used white pepper. I have suspected that I don't like white pepper and this confirmed that. It tastes so yucky to me, the only way I can explain how I think it tastes is horse hooves. Does anyone else get what I mean?? Next time I will most definitely use black pepper!

Happy Birthday Chic Chef Tisha!

Yum! Yum!

I don't think I've ever been the first to review! One thing I loved about these recipes was I had all the ingredients but the cashews on hand already. I thought the chicken was so easy and I loved the flavor, I've become a big fan of pepper since having babies, weird huh?, I admit I was a little skeptical at the vast amount of garlic I used for doing 4 chicken breasts, (it seemed enough to ward off the whole Cullen Family! :) that's for you Twilight fans) but it was great. I served it with Jasmine rice. I LOVED the carrot salad I have now finished off the whole thing, the girls pulled out the cashews and J wasn't home for dinner so I had it all to myself. The girls ate some of the chicken but labeled it "too spicy" :) I will be making this for myself again for sure I think it will be a great and easy lunch! Thanks Alissa!