Chicken Salad with Radishes

So I had it planned that I was going to make chicken salad with the celery in the fridge.  After putting the chicken into the food processor and adding the mayo into it, I went to the fridge to get the celery. Big disappointment because my celery was dead! I sometimes just make the chicken without the vegetable but since I had radishes I decided to add it in.  If you want the fresh crunch, I suggest add the radish right before you serve because it looses some of its crunch if you add it in and serve later. It is tasty and I love the pop of color from the radish.


Ingredients

• 2 chicken breast
• 3 radishes, diced
• 1/2 cup mayo
• a pinch of cayenne
• 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil
• salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Sear the chicken in oil and cook until the juices runs clear.
3. When the chicken cool, dice the chicken into small pieces. Or you can put it into the food processor until the consistency you like.
4. If the dripping on the pan is too watery, keep it on the heat until the dripping is can coat the back of the spoon evenly. If you add watery dripping to the mayo, the mayo will become too watery.
5. After adding the dripping to the mayo, add paprika, cayenne, a dash of salt and  pepper to the mayo and mix.
6. Add mayo mix to the chicken and mix. Then add radishes into the chicken and mix.

Scallops on a bed of Spinach

Season the scallops with paprika, salt and pepper.

Since I am using a cast iron pan, I am able to sear all the scallops without steaming it. The cast iron pan retain the heat and sear it very well without lowering the pan temperature.

The spinach was amazing! I will cook it just the spinach just as it is and serve as a side dish.

Ingredients

• 10 scallops
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 5 cups of fresh baby spinach
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoon white wine
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• Hungarian Sharp Paprika
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Season the scallops with paprika, salt and pepper on both sides.
2. Sear the scallops in oil over high heat for 6 minutes on each side.
3. Set aside, in the same pan add onion and garlic to saute for about 6 minutes. 
4. Add the wine to deglaze the pan, then add the mustard. 
5. Since I was making the good in an 8 inch pan, I cooked the spinach in increment. As soon as the spinach start to wilt, add more to the pan until all the spinach is cooked.

I love cooking with my cast iron pan, I am able to sear 10 large scallops without steaming it.  I once used a non-stick pan and sear about the same amount of scallops and it ended horribly! I ended up steaming the scallops instead of giving it a nice tasty crust. The cast iron pan retains the heat beautifully and I was able to sear everything without steaming it.  I highly recommend a cast iron pan.

Calbee Seaweed & Salt Potatoes Chips

I was at a Japanese market called Sunrise Mart looking for some junk food.  I came across these seaweeds flavored potatoes chips.  If you like to munch on seaweed, then you would like this potato chips.  The flavor of seaweed first hit your tongue and it was quite surprising. I will definitely get this again when I stop by.

Fish Stew

Cut Tilapia into bite size chunks.

Toss in this amazing marinate.

Ingredients

• 1 pound Tilapia
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice concentrate
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon Hungarian Sweet Paprika
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground fresh pepper
• 1 teaspoon chilli pepper
• 1/2 onion chopped
• 1 16 oz canned diced tomatoes, drained
• 1 1/4 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a bowl combine lemon juice concentrate, water, cumin, paprika, garlic, salt and pepper.
2. Cut tilapia into bite size chunks and add it into the bow of marinate for about half hour. Toss every 10 minutes so it is evenly coated.
3. In a large pot cook the onion for about 5 minutes with oil.
4. Then add the fish and marinate into the pot.
5. On top of that, add tomatoes, chilli pepper, chicken stock, and coconut milk and stir.
6. Bring to a boil and simmer for 20 minutes.
7. Add cilantro and cook for another 5 minutes until all the flavor is combined.

Serve over rice.

This fish stew is amazing.  I got the recipe on Allrecipes.com but changed a lot of the ingredients to what I have and what I like. The original recipe asked for a whole can of coconut milk, that is just too heavy to me.  So I used a portion of it and added chicken stocks. I did not have fresh lime but always have concentrated lemon juice so I used that instead.  I did not have peppers on hand so my recipe has none. Still, this is a an amazing fish stew and will definitely make it again.

 I absolutely love the marinate and is currently pondering what else I can use it on.

Apple, Pork, and Fennel Salad

Ingredients

• 2 pork cutlets
• 1/2 apple, thinly sliced
• fennel, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup romaine lettuce
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

1. Season the pork cutlets with salt and pepper, then sear it for 5 minutes on each side.
2. Toss everything else together and serve with Apple Vinaigrette.

Apple Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1/2 ripe apple - peeled, cored, and chopped
• 1/4 cup white wine
• 1/2 clove garlic, chopped 
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoon Balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Directions

1. Blend everything with the exception of olive oil together in food processor until it is well combined.
2. Drizzle the olive oil into the mixture in a thin, steady stream while continuing to blend until the salad dressing is thick and creamy.

This is exactly the same recipe as the pear vinaigrette except that it is apple! I loved the pear vinaigrette so much that I decided to use apples.