Tasty Pallets: Grilled Chicken Sliders w/ Apricot Spread

Pic and recipe courtesy of The Cooking Photographer.

I've never tried a lunch or dinner which uses fruit in it. I mean NEVER. I've been a picky eater since I was a child and fruit in salty meals is one of those things I've always thought was weird. (Imagine if you will the child from the Domino's pizza commercial running away from the Hawaiian pizza. Yes, that was me.) But since I'm slowly but surely experimenting with different pallets I thought I'd give this a try. Verdict: Not bad. Not bad at all!

Note: I don't own a food processor. I just throw things in the blender and go from there

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
• Cooking spray
• 3 apricots, halved and pitted
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 1/2 clove garlic, pressed through a press
• 8 (1.3-ounce) mini sandwich buns

Directions

1. Spray the grill with cooking spray and heat to medium high heat.

2. Combine first 4-ingredients in a small bowl. Spray chicken with cooking spray and rub with the paprika mixture. Set aside.

3. Grill chicken and apricots about 5 minute per side until the chicken is cooked through. The apricots may finish a little sooner.

4. Cool chicken slightly and shred with forks. Place the apricots in a food processor with mustard and garlic. Process until smooth.

5. Warm the buns in the microwave. Spread a little chutney on buns. Add chicken and sandwich together.

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Turkey, Brie and Pesto Panini

Recipe and Picture courtesy of What's Gabby Cooking. Tons of great recipes! Check it out.

Ingredients

• 2 slices bread, whole grain preferred
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp homemade pesto
• 1 small handful arugula
• 4 slices Brie
• 3 slices oven roasted turkey

Directions

1. Plug in your panini press and let is get hot.
2. Brush the olive oil on one side of each piece of bread. These are the sides that will be touching the panini press.
3. Place a piece of bread on a plate, olive oil side down. Spread on the pesto and then layer on the turkey, brie and arugula. Top with the remaining piece of bread.
4. Place into panini press and close. Let it toast for about 5 minutes until its golden brown on the top and bottom. Remove, slice and serve.

Tasty Pallets: Shrimp Fried Rice

Pic and Recipe courtesy of simplyrecipes.com

This is a favorite of mine when there's leftover rice in my fridge (which is almost always). The slight different between this recipe and my recipe is that I don't use sesame seed oil or cornstarch, but I do use a pinch of ginger. So if you don't have cornstarch and sesame seed oil laying around in your cabinet, you can omit those and use a pinch of ginger instead.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces small raw shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cooking oil, divided
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 2 stalks green onion, minced
• 4 cups leftover rice, grains separated well
• 3/4 cup frozen peas and carrots, defrosted
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if you are making a gluten-free version)
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

Directions
1 In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt, pepper and cornstarch. Let marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a bead of water to instantly sizzle and evaporate, add just 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

2 Add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the cooking surface area so that they are not overlapping. Let fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

3 Turn the heat to medium, let the pan heat up again. Add the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the pan into the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

4 Use paper towels to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok.

5 Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas and carrots, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: BBQ Chicken Pizza

All pictures & recipe courtesy of The Pioneer Woman. Her website is amazing!

I saw this recipe for a CPK (California Pizza Kitchen) BBQ chicken inpired pizza and was immediately salivating at the propect of eating it. Literally I could taste the crunch of the crust, sweetness of the bbq sauce and smell of bubbling mozzerella. Yum! I just had to make it!

The first time I made it I messed up on the pizza dough. I only had 2 cups of flour so I had to cut the recipe in half but for some reason that didn't really work out. I ended up creating a sort of flat pizza. Tasted ok, but I went back and did it again with the right amount of ingredients. I used this video to help me. Note: Make the dough about 2 hours before you make the pizza

You only need half the dough once you're finished to make the crust.

Ingredients:

• 1 whole Recipe For Pizza Crust
• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1/2 cup Barbecue Sauce
• Olive Oil, For Drizzling
• Salt For Sprinkling
• 16 ounces, weight Fresh Mozzarella Cheese, Sliced Thinly
• 1/2 whole Red Onion, Cut In Half And Sliced Very Thin
• Chopped Cilantro, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Salt chicken breasts on both sides, then place in an ovenproof dish. Pour BBQ sauce over the breasts and turn them over to coat. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Remove from oven and cut into a fine dice. Set aside.

Increase oven temperature to 500 degrees.

Roll/stretch out one pizza crust. Lay it on a sheet pan drizzled with olive oil. Drizzle a little olive oil on the crust, then sprinkle on a little salt.

Spoon a couple of tablespoons of extra BBQ sauce on the crust and spread it evenly. Top sauce with half the sliced mozzarella. Sprinkle on half the diced chicken and thinly sliced red onion.

Sprinkle again with a little salt, then bake for 15 to 17 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and toppings are bubbly.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle on plenty of chopped cilantro. Cut into squares and serve immediately. Repeat with other crust and other ingredients, or save for another time

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Grilled Chicken Ravioli

I randomly grabbed this at the grocers the other day and loved it! If you go to the supermarket you'll find the ravioli somewhere in the section near the vegetables and packaged salads. I grabbed this brand, but I'm pretty sure it's different at each store.

Ingredients:
1 package Grilled chicken Ravioli
2 tbsp of Parmesan cheese*
2 tsp basil*
1 tbsp olive oil
Tomato Pasta Sauce (optional)

*only use if Parmesan package is not included with the ravioli

Directions:

• Bring a pot full of water to a boil. Be careful not to use too much watter. Depending on the size you purchased 3 cups should be enough.
• Add ravioli and allow to cook for 3-4 minutes
• Drain water
• Drizzle with olive oil and toss with Parmesan & herbs

You can eat it just like this, but I find it's more flavorful when you add the tomato sauce.

Tasty Pallets: Lemon Blueberry Pancakes

Recipe via [1]
Greetings darling! I really wish I took picture of every meal I made verses looking for them online. But I came up with a recipe very similar to this one day and to my suprise found it online! The link above has some really great images so feel free to check it out. It's such a tasty breakfast treat.

Side bar: If you ever wonder why I put up recipes it's because I believe it's every hungry person's obligation to learn how to feed themselves (especially if you're single!).

Ingredients

• 1-1/2 cup Cake Flour
• 1 Tablespoon (additional) Cake Flour
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1 Tablespoon (heaping) Baking Powder
• 3 Tablespoons Sugar
• 1-1/2 cup Evaporated Milk (more If Needed)
• 1 whole Lemon (more If Needed)
• 1 whole Large Egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted
• Zest From 1 Lemon
• 1 cup Heaping Blueberries
• Extra Butter
• Maple Or Pancake Syrup

Preparation Instructions

Heat heavy skillet or grill over medium low heat.
In a medium bowl, mix flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, mix evaporated milk, juice of 1 lemon (more if lemon isn't very juicy), and lemon zest. Allow to sit for five minutes, then add egg, vanilla, and melted butter. Mix to combine.
Pour wet mixture into dry ingredients. Stir gently to combine. Splash in more evaporated milk if mixture is overly thick. Stir in blueberries. Again, check to make sure mixture isn't overly thick.
Melt butter in heated skillet. Drop batter by 1/4 cup measures and fry pancakes on both sides until golden.
Serve with softened butter and warm syrup.

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Lime Sorbet Margaritas

Lime Sorbet Margaritas:

Serves 8 | Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 10m
Ingredients

    * 1 lime, cut into 8 wedges
    * 1/4 cup sugar
    * 2 pints lime sorbet
    * 1/2 cup tequila

Directions

   1. Rub the lime wedges around the rims of 8 stemmed glasses. Place the sugar on a small plate. Turn each glass upside down and dip the rims in the sugar to coat.
   2. Place 2 scoops of sorbet in each glass and pour 1 tablespoon of tequila over the top of each. Serve with a spoon. (via)
Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Chili Lime Salmon

pic home
Ingredients

• 4 salmons
• 4 - 6 lime wedges
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp honey
• 1/4 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• Salt & pepper to taste
• fresh cilantro

 Directions

• Preheat grill to medium high (you can substitute by using a Forman grill or skillet lightly coated with olive oil)
• First marinate by placing salmon in a shallow pan and add spices, honey, & garlic to the fillets. Make sure to properly coat each salmon.
• Place salmon skin side down on grill for about 20 minutes (do not turn the salmons on grill)
• When finished place salmon on plate and squeeze lime juice over
• Sprinkle cilantro for final touch

Suggestions: Serve with brown rice or grill red skinned potatoes

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Penne with Spinach Sauce

Pic Home

I was about to cook and realized I haven't made a food post in a while. I love Italian, so here's a quick meal to fix. If you're really hungry you can add a little chicken. I only takes about 20 minutes to make!

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 chopped onion
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped garlic
• chopped spinach
• Alfredo Sauce to preference (I know some people don't like too much sauce)
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt to taste
• 1 box Penne

Directions

1. Cook pasta to specified direction on box
2. In a large bowl lightly mix a handful of spinach, Alfredo sauce and Parmesan cheese. Set aside
3. In a new pot, bring Olive oil and butter to medium heat. Add pasta, salt, spinach sauce and remaining spinach

Don't forget the garlic bread!

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Lemon Herb Chicken w/Yellow Rice

 

pic home

Ingredients

• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1 lemon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pinch dried oregano
• 2 sprigs fresh parsley, for garnish

Directions

1. Cut lemon in half, and squeeze juice from 1/2 lemon on chicken. Season with salt to taste. Let sit while you heat oil in a small skillet over medium low heat.
2. When oil is hot, put chicken in skillet. As you saute chicken, add juice from other 1/2 lemon, pepper to taste, and oregano. Saute for 5 to 10 minutes each side, or until juices run clear. Serve with parsley for garnish.

pic home

Ingredients 

• 2 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 garclic clove
• 1 1/2 cup long grain rice
• 2 1/4 low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp tumeric or curry

Directions

1. Heat oil over medium high. Add garlic and sautee until brown.
2. Add remaining ingredients and reduce heat to medium low.
3. Allow to simmer until liquid is absorbed.

Recipe from Allrecipes.com

Tasty Pallets: Snickers Pancakes

I came across this idea at breakfast restaurant near my neighborhood and decided to give it a try. It is so delicious! It's so good I don't need to add an syrup to it. There are two different ways to make snicker pancakes. So I'll list them both.

INGREDIENTS

1. 1 1/2 cups flour
2. 1teaspoon baking powder
3. 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
4. 1/4 teaspoon salt
5. 2 tablespoons sugar
6. 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
7. 1/2 cup whole milk
8. 1 large egg
9. 2 tablespoons butter, melted
10. Snickers candy bars cut into small pieces(however many you’d like)

DIRECTIONS

1. Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar in a large bowl.
2. Measure the buttermilk and whole milk in a large measuring cup; add the egg and beat slightly with a fork just to break up the yolk.
3. Stir in the melted butter.
4. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until incorporated; don’t worry if there are some small lumps.
5. Stir in the snickers; let the batter rest for 10-15 minutes.
6. Grease a griddle or frying pan; heat over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to medium.
8. For each pancake, ladle about 1/4 cup of the batter into the pan and cook until tiny bubbles form at the surface and the bottoms are golden, about 2-3 minutes.
9. Flip pancakes over and brown the other side, about another 1-2 minutes.

The second method is to use the same method of making buttermilk pancakes. Skip adding the snickers. Once you've finished making the pancakes pour chocolate syrup, melted caramel, peanuts, and snicker pieces atop the stack. You can add a little whip cream on top for and extra treat!

Enjoy
xxx

Tasty Pallets: Jamaican Fried Dumplings

Pic home

A while ago I took a trip through the Caribbean and came across this delicious treat. Upon first bite, I realized I was truly in heaven because my mouth salivated at the idea of a second bite. Dare I say it, but I think I would have died a happy woman that day. I had almost forgotten about the dumpling until one day I was starving and craving something with Caribbean flare. Viola! My memory of my Caribbean cruise came back to me. So I googled the ingredients.

Jamaican Dumplings are so simple to make and taste great. It almost reminds me of fried dough with no sugar added.

2 Cups of Flour
1 Cup of Cold Milk or Water
2 Tsp Butter
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Honey
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Cup Oil for frying

Directions:

• In a large bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, honey and salt. Rub in the butter until it is in pieces no larger than peas. Mix in water/milk 1 tablespoon at a time just until the mixture is wet enough to form into a ball. The dough should be a firm consistency. Knead briefly.
• Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat until hot. Break off pieces of the dough and shape into a patty - kind of like a flat biscuit. Place just enough of the dumplings in the pan so they are not crowded. Fry on each side until golden brown, about 3 minutes per side. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels before serving.

Enjoy

xxx