green onions

Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing

This Chinese Chicken Salad takes the healthier high road than the heavier versions I always see at those popular food chains that everyone loves. But this one with crunchy romaine, wontons, and an almond crunch, topped with protein-packed chicken breast, pasta noodles, and a flavor-flav sesame dressing.

Lighter fare that totally satisfies is what I’m craving now. And as summer’s flowy skirts and loose-fitting shift dresses morph into fall’s jeans and thigh hugging pants, it seems lighter food is part of my weekly anthem.

Goodbye my fave potato salad and chocolate drizzled ice cream cones dripping down my chin. Hello meal planning, gym going, and my fave weight loss plan.

And that’s where my all-time favorite—and healthier—Chinese Chicken Salad comes in.

I’ve updated this recipe post because I refer to it all the time and it needed some updated love.

I CRAVE this salad, and it’s one I love to make for ladies lunches or for a simple, and lighter meal for a crowd. Because who doesn’t love a good Chinese Chicken Salad anyway?

continue to the recipe… about Chinese Chicken Salad with Sesame Dressing

Lime and Chile Butter Chicken Skewers

Please, please, please! Say it ain’t so! But yes, it’s true, we’re headlong into the wind down of summer.

Sniffle here and sob there, I’m harboring some serious resentment at the fact that summer is quickly fading into fall. This is mostly due to the fact that in mid-July I broke my wrist and the elbow of my other arm (of which I’ve lamented about my gimpness on the blog and you’re sick of hearing about since it happened) and that the wrist required surgery to give me a fancy new metal plate and 10 screws surgically inserted into my limp old wrist. Yep, I’ll be the one setting off the alarms, bells and whistles at the airport security line.

It also turned most of my summer of bar-b-ques on the deck and hostessing of summer fun into a self-imposed 3 week marathon of feeling-sorry -for-myself-BRAVO-watching-reality-show-obsession because I couldn’t chop, cook or even pull my hair into a top knot. And if any of you know me in person, the top knot is what really put me under.

But, I gave myself ’til this week to finish my sulk and now I’m back at ‘em, working the wrist so it doesn’t turn into a stiff log of a limb and I even took off my bandages all by my-freak-out-at-any-medical-condition-that-may-result-in-blood-self. I was happy and surprised to see a completely healed 3-inch scar.

Friends, I’m back.

And it’s a good thing too, because yesterday, when Smudge asked me why we haven’t had any parties with and of our friends who are parents of her friends who we would usually have summertime parties with, I knew I wasn’t the only one feeling the lack of party pain. Remedy solved, we’re having a party tonight and putting our summer party slump to bed.

This recipe doesn’t require a party to make it special. In fact, if you’re in need of a fast dinner with minimal effort but big flavor, this chicken skewer recipe is a keeper.

continue to the recipe… about Lime and Chile Butter Chicken Skewers

Roasted Potato Salad with Bacon Dressing

Who is ready for summer? Who is ready for summer fun? And summer trips? And who wants to go on trip with me and a few other bloggers to see where the food on our tables actually comes from? I’ll fill you in on that opportunity right after this potato salad fills you up. Memorial Day conjures up a serious craving for barbeques and deck time. Which translates to grilling and potato salad for most any red-blooded American. And even a few border straddling Canadians. It’s the start of summer so let’s ring it in right.

This recipe is an adaptation of one my sister in law makes for nearly every BBQ feast at their house. While Chad is busy pulling his smoked salmon or ribs out of the smoker, Audrey has usually whipped up a simple, roasted potato salad that is supremely delish.

G Dawg and I were craving something similar last weekend when we had a few friends over for eats and sips. With a few errant strips of bacon languishing in the fridge, he got all inspired to create a riff on Audrey’s recipe, sans the mayo. Why no mayo? Probably because we’re a house divided on mayo/Miracle Whip preference and he didn’t want me giving my two cents on what tastes better. However I did lend my opinion on his recipe documentation skills as he scribbled his notations on a napkin. He’s a mad scientist in the kitchen with no time to dawdle around looking for paper.

Napkin notations or not, his potato creation was spot on: Create a hot bacon dressing to be soaked up by crispy, roasted, bacon spruced potatoes. Inspired it was, leftovers it was not. These babies went fast and hard and happily so.

To ring in barbeque and picnic season, I’m going to be featuring several of my favorite potato salads perfect for every occasion from canyon cookouts to luncheon main dishes. There’s so many options you’ll be potato-sized in no time.

continue to the recipe… about Roasted Potato Salad with Bacon Dressing

Hot Crab Dip and Friday Faves

Yes sir! It is FRRRRIIIDAY! And that means my work is just about to begin.

This weekend will be jam packed: A photo shoot on the mountain (snow, skis and sunscreen), a video shoot with kids and dogs (what was I thinking?), green food eating—and drinking—and somewhere along the line the toilets need to get cleaned. I bet I can find volunteers for just about everything on my to-do list the above minus the last item. Which is the only one I REALLY don’t want to do. So, maybe I won’t!

Life is about living, not about toilets. It’s about dressing up dogs in funny outfits—in video shoots with kids. Oh, poor Pippa. And who is the tween who took over my daughter’s room and threw-up teen dreams all over it? That’s why you spend time living, not doing toilets, because it goes way, way too fast.

How did a week go by, or maybe even two, where I haven’t posted a recipe with cheese? Let’s remedy that toot sweet. And how about we add some crab? Now there’s an idea.

I’m heading to a St. Paddy’s day party on Sunday and will be taking my Stout Brownies, as requested, but thought I better bring a little something more in hand besides my green chardonnay.continue to the recipe… about Hot Crab Dip and Friday Faves

Seared Ahi Tuna with Asian Avocado Salsa

Are you a dinner recipe planner or do you fly by the seat of your desires once your cute striped TOD’s hit the front door of your favorite grocery store?

I wish I was a better grocery shopping planner. But then if I was, I wouldn’t have found these amazing tuna steaks at the good old Costco. And because I would have had a list I was compelled to follow, I probably wouldn’t have deviated from said written word. And then, I wouldn’t have shared these lovely meaty fishes with you. Meaty fishes? Oxymoron. But still.

When we lived in Venice, we didn’t have to buy fish from the good old Costco. We had Santa Monica Seafood which for anyone who has a crush on fish is like a the sparks that fly between Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper in Silver Lining Playbook. Why oh why did he not win Best Actor. His baby blues deserve their own award, stat.

SM Seafood had a plethora of fish, every single day. Stuff you’ve never heard of. But the tuna was crazy good. But given we were on the pacific coast, we didn’t always have to get our tuna from the store.

Nope, we had Jimmy for that.

continue to the recipe… about Seared Ahi Tuna with Asian Avocado Salsa

Kale and Cabbage Coleslaw with Marcona Almonds

I’m into layering. Not just in my clothing options—yes, I’m a big fan of piling on the tank, then the shirt, then the sweater, jacket or blazer—but also when it comes to cooking.

Layering flavors and textures in a dish—and even an entire menu—is the sign of an adventurous and accomplished home cook. The cook that takes the uneven path and changes our anticipated cravings with a little extra crunch or flavorful zing is the cook that delivers memorable meals. And by memorable I do not mean complicated or over worked. Just. Good. Food.

I’ve been partial to this mindset ever since I can remember when my favorite after-school snack was crunchy Triscuits topped with creamy liverwurst—hey, I’m German, what can I say? A tuna fish sandwich wasn’t complete without a layer of crunchy potato chips and puckerey kosher pickles. It was all about the texture combos for me, and it still is.

Cabbage is the perfect example of an ingredient that can use an extra oomph, a little push to the flavorful side.

continue to the recipe… about Kale and Cabbage Coleslaw with Marcona Almonds

Grandma’s Scrambled Egg Recipe and 6 Ideas for Brinner

I have a love/hate relationship with Daylight Savings Time.

I love it for giving me more time to do “fun stuff”—verses “boring stuff”—with Smudge, like flying kites or taking the dogs for walks. I hate it for making me get up earlier than my body wants to and making me eat my breakfast at work because I’m running late.

But one thing that comes of missing my breakfast routine is that since I still have the craving, why not switch it up and serve up a little breakfast for dinner? Or as I recently learned via some of my Twitter friends, brinner anyone? And that’s a meal that always throws me back to my youth.

When my dad would get a March hair and decide to take over the dinner cooking duties, he had four recipes he rotated in and out: Pheasant, nachos, daddy’s hamburgers and my Grandma’s Scrambled Eggs.

continue to the recipe… about Grandma’s Scrambled Egg Recipe and 6 Ideas for Brinner

Lobster Etouffee and 5 Cajun Crustacean Recipes

Baby its cold outside and I’m ready for some heat. So this big mama is pointing my cookin’ compass to ‘Nawlins baby!

My first intro to real New Orleans cooking was years ago thanks to my little sister and bro-in-law, both oil execs who were working just outside New Orleans, who had invited us for a visit and our first Jazz Festival excursion—which if you haven’t experienced is a bucket list must do if only to try Crawfish bread. That’s all it took to become big fans of the little suckers.

A couple of years later, and after a transfer to Houston, bro-in-law treated us to another crawfish tastey, his recipe for Crawfish Etouffee. To some cooks, this dish seems out-of-your-league-fancy just by looking at the spelling of its name, what with it’s double ff’s and ee’s and sounding all French and haute.

But here’s the secret: it isn’t fancy, or hard. It’s just good. Spicy and good.

photo > FoodieCrush

So when G and I were recently perusing the lovely aisles of Au Costco, we jumped at the seafood bait when we discovered langostinos in the seafood case.

No they weren’t fresh crawdads like you’d find on the coast, but any quality frozen nugget of the sweet crustacean style is all this recipe needs. So use what you can find: crawfish, shrimp or like us, little lobster longostinos. continue to the recipe… about Lobster Etouffee and 5 Cajun Crustacean Recipes

Stuffed Pasilla Peppers Recipe for Cinco De Mayo

I have a theory about Cinco de Mayo: It’s a holiday that was created purely to celebrate and satiate our cravings for Mexican food. What the?? What about winning wars and Mexican independence and all that history stuff? Well, contrary to what many believe, Cinco de Mayo isn’t actually celebrated in Mexico and was created in California. And what do Californians love? They love to eat good Mexican food.

My default stand-by order at any Mexican restaurant is whatever dish they serve with peppers. Chile peppers, Pasilla peppers, Hatch peppers, Anaheim. As long as they deliver the heat I crave.

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, I’m excited to share one of my favorite pepper recipes and go-to entertaining dishes, Stuffed Pasilla Peppers. It’s easy to prep and always a crowd fav. And if you’re looking for a few dishes to add to your Cinco de Mayo fiesta, check out the muy bueno menu of recipes from some estupendo food bloggers below and olé, you have a party on your hands. Piñata not included.

3.25 from 8 votes

Stuffed Pasilla Peppers

Ingredients

6 pasilla peppers
4 cups or 16 oz. grated cheese I use a combo of monterey, cheddar, jack and feta or cotija (Mexican cheese)
4 oz. can chopped black olives drained
1/2 cup roasted red pepper drained and chopped
5-6 green onions white and green parts chopped
juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon to taste
1/4 cup olive oil
1 T red vinegar
1 tsp sugar

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
With a sharp knife, cut a T shape in pepper: short top of T cut at top rim of pepper and the long body of the T in flattest part of face of pepper from top to bottom, leaving enough room to remove seeds and make room for cheese stuffing. Rinse inside of peppers and set aside.
Combine cheese and next 4 ingredients. Stuff peppers with cheese mixture. In a separate bowl, mix olive oil, vinegar and sugar and set aside. Place peppers on cookie sheet lined with foil. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes or until peppers are blistered and cheese is melted.
Serve each pepper with a tablespoon or two of the oil and vinegar mixture or prepared Italian dressing as desired.

Green Chile Posole from Foodjimoto