Recipes, etc.

Dave keeps saying we should post some of our current favorite recipes. Now that I sit down to type, I can't think of any! They'll come in a few minutes, I'm sure. Feels similar to when you walk into a room and can't remember what you went in for.

My favorite salad at the moment is very easy to make. I don't have a name for it. I saw someone eating it at a pilates workshop and decided I could duplicate it at home. It's supposed to be full of arugula but they were out of it at the store so I substituted baby spinach. (Hopefully E.Coli-free). Anyway, it's just the greens and then you add sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts, and chunks of fresh mozzarella. I'm sure you could use chunks of regular mozzarella, but it doesn't have the same ambiance. Fresh mozzarella comes in these gooey looking balls and it's just darn intriguing...for cheese. For the dressing, I don't know what you're supposed to put on it but I use a balsamic vinaigrette because that's what I have in my fridge. Dave and I both love this salad!

Speaking of Dave, he's become a master at homemade salsa. We don't cook it, can it, and store it. We're talking FRESH salsa. Unfortunately we've become addicted to it and can't seem to eat the canned stuff now. Anyway, we've discovered the secret is to roast the vegetables before blending them. You can stick them on the grill 'til they turn mushy and kind of blackened or if you don't happen to have the grill fired up you can put them in the oven under the broiler. Anyway, here's the ingredients:
2 medium tomatoes
half of a large Vidalia onion (very important that it is vidalia)
one fourth of a green/bell pepper
1 small to medium jalapeno pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp. white vinegar
1 tsp. fresh black pepper
fresh cilantro to taste
Okay, so you roast the first four ingredients. You have to watch them closely and turn them over when they start to blacken a little bit. When the other side starts to blacken then they are done. Then throw the tomatoes in a blender with the salt, lime juice, vinegar, black pepper and jalapeno. Blend a little bit and then add the onion and bell pepper and set the blender to chop. Use your own discretion when blending. I like it nice and smooth but other people like it chunky; it's up to you. AFTER it cools, add some fresh cilantro leaves...again different people like different amounts so just play with it. If you don't wait 'til it cools then it will sort of cook the cilantro which is not a good idea. We usually double this recipe, at least. Especially since our kids practically drink it, too!

Dave also made some pork chops that looked like A LOT of work to me, but he didn't seem to mind AND they, I swear, tasted like they were from a FANCY restaurant. Luckily he got the recipe off the internet so you can just click on this link if you want to see it.

He also has been able to duplicate a pasta recipe that we've had a lot at Macaroni Grill, Johnny Carino's, Zio's, etc. I don't know what it's called but it has the bow tie pasta (I've always been a big fan of the bow tie pasta. They're so cute!), chicken, pine nuts, sun dried tomatoes, etc. I'll have to wait 'til he gets home and then I'll add the recipe below. 'Til then, happy eating!

p.s. the picture of Peter has nothing to do with any of this...I just thought it was funny because he was trying to show me how girls are "supposed to stand".

Dave’s unnamed italian chicken recipe:

3-4 chicken breasts, cut into strips 1x2 inches, coat with mixture of flour, paprika, and garlic salt
Cook 1/3 lb bacon until crisp...set aside
in remaining fat, add 1-3 tlbs butter, cook coated chicken until slightly crisp on both sides (cooked all the way through)
remove from pan and add 6 tbls butter, 2 tbls flour and mix together thoroughly, scraping the bottom of the pan to loosen bacon and chicken bits
whisk in 1 1/4 cups heavy cream, then whisk in 3/4 cup white cooking wine and 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (or you could use 1 cup white cooking wine that has lemon already in it), and add salt and pepper to taste
when thickened, add chicken, bacon, and any combination of the following ingredients: fresh or sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, capers, pine nuts
serve over bow-tie or angel hair pasta