Chicken Tzatziki Salad

Chicken Tzatziki Salad with goat milk yogurt.

Last week I bought a large tub of goat milk yogurt. While I love the stuff I just don't normally eat yogurt straight out of the container so I still had most of the tub left.

I was using it as a vehicle for my Udo's oil and green powder but that was making a very small dent. 

So yesterday I noticed the lemon cucumbers (pictures of those coming tomorrow) that my neighbor gave me needed to be used up - enter chicken tzatziki salad.

I added enough yogurt so that there was plenty of extra creamy goodness to coat the lettuce.

The key to this recipe is to make the yogurt/lemon/cucumber mixture ahead of time so that the flavors have time to develop while it hangs out in the fridge.

Chicken Tzatziki Salad

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped

4 cups of spring salad mix 

1 cup of goat milk yogurt

1 lemon cucumber, chopped

1 tbsp of lemon juice

1 shallot, minced

1/2 tbsp of fresh chopped parsley

1 clove of garlic, minced

black pepper to taste

1 pinch of salt

1 small sweet red pepper, chopped

Instructions:

Combine the yogurt, cucumber, lemon juice, shallot, parsley, garlic, black pepper and salt in a bowl. Mix well, cover and store in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

Just before eating, take the tzatziki mix out of the refrigerator. Chop the chicken into bite size pieces. Dice the sweet red pepper. Add the chicken and sweet red pepper to the tzatziki mix.

Add 2 cups of salad mix into each bowl and top each with 1/2 of the tzatziki mixture.

Enjoy!

Cravings - how to beat them

Home fries with crispy potato skins.

This morning I woke up craving potato chips. It was the kind of craving that I know if I didn't satisfy it, I would end up 2 hours later clutching a super sized bag of potato chips.

Not a good thing.

Since salt was out of the question, I thought about what else I craved about potato chips. I definitely wanted something that was crunchy but I also wanted some grease - the kind you only get when something is fried.

Enter the home fries.

No formal recipe today but this one is super simple.

Slice a large russet potato. Par boil the potatoes (this should take around 4-7 minutes depending on the size of the slices).

Drain the potatoes and cut them to the desired size (smaller if you want super crunchy - larger if you like them more tender).

Put some coconut oil in a pan and put on med-high heat.

Carefully place the potatoes wedges into the pan (mind any oil splatter) and let cook until golden brown.

I topped mine with paprika and parsley.

Craving successfully demolished? Check!

The apples and eggs connection

What do apples have to do with eggs?

Ta da!

An egg coddler with pretty pictures of green apples.

My sister is moving soon and she is clearing out her kitchen. When I was over visiting the other day she offered me a couple of egg coddlers. 

Since coddled eggs was on my re-make list, I said, "Yes!"

I like my coddled eggs extra cheesy and extra herby (I am officially making that a word, if it isn't already).

First, I put in some mozzarella and a pinch of chopped fresh basil and chopped fresh parsley.

Then one egg went into the coddler.

This is when I realized that my old egg coddler must have been a small size because one egg would fill it up all the way. So, the coddlers my sister gave me were definitely medium sized - that or somehow I managed to buy the teeniest, tiniest eggs on the planet...

So, in went egg number 2.

A little more mozzarella and herb mixture on top.

This is the point where most cooks add in cream but I just whisked together 1tsp of unsweetened soy milk, 1tsp. of Tofutti cream cheese and 1/2 tsp. of Tofutti sour cream. I added in a pinch of the herb mixture and a dash of salt.

With this much 'cream' added the eggs, the eggs will have more of a loose custard-like texture. If you like your eggs more set add less of the soymilk mixture.

I screwed the lid on the coddler and set it in a pan of boiling water (covered) for 6 1/2 minutes. Leave it in for 7-8 minutes if you like your eggs more set.

This dish was outstanding!!

The white stuff running over the yolk - that is not egg white - that is melted mozzarella - Yum!

 I also grabbed one of the tortillas from the leftover taco and crisped it up in a skillet and then dusted it with Parmesan.

You can either scoop out the eggs with a spoon

Or use the tortilla strips for dunking and scooping

Five minutes later it looked like this:

All gone!

I always like to enjoy some kind of fruit with my breakfast so this morning I ate this succulent beauty.

A juicy red pear.

 Happy Saturday everyone!

Coddled egg for one

Coddled egg for one with buttered toast.

 
This morning I wanted coddled eggs. 

Coddled eggs is a dish that seems very indulgent and in the traditional version it is since it uses butter and cream.

I still wanted all the texture and flavor but made in a way that trimmed down the heaviness of the dish.

The first step to trimming down the recipe was using a sandwich thin instead of regular bread to line the ramekin and using Earth Balance spread instead of butter to coat the inside of the ramekin.

Next I used some finely shredded cheese so I could get good coverage over the bread without using a lot of cheese.

 And keep in mind that this ramekin is small.

To replace the cream, I combined 1 tsp. of Tofutti cream cheese and mixed it with 1 tsp. of unsweetened soymilk. 

2 tsp. of the 'cream' mixture went on top of the egg along with some fresh chopped parsley, a pinch of salt and some black pepper.

 

Then I placed the dish in a shallow pan that I filled with 1/4" of water. The steam from the water is essential in making these eggs. 

Then the whole thing went into a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes. Cook for a little less or a little more depending on if you like your eggs runnier or firmer.

This dish turned out great! 

The egg was cooked through but still had a silky texture. The combination of the gooey-ness of the cheese with the richness of the 'cream' and the bright herb flavor of the parsley made this dish a winner.

Coddled egg for one
 Serves 1

Ingredients:  

1 egg
1/2 of a sandwich thin
1/2 tsp. of Earth Balance spread
2 tsp. of shredded cheese
1tsp. of Tofutti cream cheese
1 tsp. of unsweetened soy milk
1 tsp. of chopped fresh parsley
1 pinch of salt
ground black pepper to taste


Instructions:

Line a single serving size ramekin with the Earth Balance spread. Cut the sandwich thin to fit the bottom of the ramekin. Press the bread into the bottom of the ramekin.

Top with the cheese and crack one egg on top.

Whisk together the Tofutti cream cheese and the soy milk until the mixture is smooth. Spoon 1 - 2 tsp. of the mixture over the egg, depending on how rich you want the dish. Sprinkle the top with the parsley, salt and pepper.

Place the ramekin in a shallow baking dish and fill the bottom of the baking dish with 1/4" of water.

Cook in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Bottomless hats

I bought these on my trip:

Sombreroni pasta.

I boiled them in salted water for 4 minutes, then I put them on a paper towel to drain.

I combined 2 cups of ricotta with one beaten egg, chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.

This mixture went into the little hats.

The stuffed hats in a pan lined with tomato sauce.

All covered in sauce.

Parmesan on top.

Cover with tinfoil and pop into a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Hot out of the oven.

 I also made garlic bread for one:

One dinner roll cut in half.

Minced garlic and melted butter spread over the roll.

Some parmesan on top.

 

I put the rolls under the broiler for 5 minutes.

As I was eating my dinner, I was contemplating why someone would make a hat pasta that was so difficult to stuff when I spied something at the bottom of the bag.

Yes, there are bottoms for the hats - Doh!!!

Oh, well, it still tasted delicious - I will use the hat bottoms next time :-)

What's for dinner?

Since I was still nursing my poor injured finger - I kept things simple for dinner. The dogs had to make do with plain kibble.

I steamed up some broccoli.

Then I tossed mushrooms, garlic powder, basil, oregano with some olive oil and sauteed them till they browned. Next, I poured in some spaghetti sauce (from a jar) and added some cubed tofu. I let it cook down for a while and then the cooked spaghetti went in.

Fresh chopped parsley on top.

 

And on the side

Ok, this is why caffeine should come before photographs - I forgot to include a picture of my side dish of protein. 

I whisked together 1/2 an egg yolk and 2 egg whites with a pinch of salt, some black pepper and a pinch of dried basil.

When the eggs were almost done (cooked on low heat) I folded in a few pieces of the leftover ham and then sprinkled some fresh parsley on top. 

Note that the portion size is small - the plate the eggs are sitting on is not much bigger than the saucer for a tea cup.

And, no worries, a couple of teeny, tiny pieces of ham managed to fall into the beasties gaping maws:-)

Parsley to the rescue

I should mention that cause of Abby's stomach ache is no mystery. Abby has a very unladylike obsession with eating cat poop. Yup, that is the horrible truth.

While on our evening walk yesterday - she took advantage of my momentary lapse in attention (while I was talking to a neighbor) and she dove on her prize and gulped it down with speed of a raptor.

And even though she is feeling better - I took the opportunity to make some tummy soothing snacks.

In a addition to being a great source of vitamin C - parsley has a wonderful stomach soothing effect.

I added two large handfuls of chopped flat leaf parsley to the rest of the turkey meatball mix.

 

Keep in mind that I have no intention of eating these - this is just a way of getting a good dose of parsley in a palatable form for dogs.

I sauteed them until golden brown.

The dogs gobbled them down with enthusiasm!

I was in the mood for a big salad.

Red leaf lettuce

Some chopped mushrooms along with whatever parsley was left on the cutting board.

Sliced cucumber.

Some shredded carrot.

And the idea for this dressing comes compliments of my friend Leslie. Mix 1/2 Tablespoon of blue cheese dressing with 1 Tablespoon of fat free raspberry vinaigrette. I know it sounds a bit odd - but it is delicious.

Some crumbled blue cheese and chopped pear (forgot to take a picture of that).

Tomorrow is Friday! I only have one more day of constant construction noise and then two days of blissful quiet....