Chicken Salad w/ Grape Tomatoes

I love chicken salad in all forms...well I love potato and tuna salad too...oh and egg salad. I think I just love adding mayo to things to be perfectly honest. It does need to be the right mayo though...I'm not big on things like miracle whip or "sweet" mayos. I like my Hellman's and there is another brand that use to be sold by the Winn Dixie grocery chain called Blue Plate Mayo that I liked too.

Anyway-this is not a blog about mayo its about Chicken Salad! You can make chicken salad 1843 different ways and its pretty hard to screw up. Throw what you like in a bowl and add mayo and you've got a great sandwich filler or lettuce topper.

This is a nice refreshing easy recipe that sounds somewhat similar to this Ina Garten recipe that I've yet to actually try. She has broccoli in hers and tarragon. YUM.

I used two boneless skinless chicken breasts that I baked in the oven in a mixture of olive oil, white wine black pepper, kosher salt and thyme.

Chicken Salad w/ Grape Tomatoes

-2 cooked boneless skinless chicken breasts, rough chopped or shredded

-1/2 cup halved grape tomatoes

-a pinch of fresh thyme leaves

-1 tsp spicy or whole grain mustard

-1-2 tbsp of mayo (depending on how moist you like it)

-about a tbsp of minced onion or chives

Mix all of the ingredients together and serve on bread, wrapped in a tortillas or lettuce leaves, or over some mixed greens.

Red Pepper Lemon Chicken

Ok...This is recipe gets four T's.

Totally Yum.

Totally Easy.

Totally Quick.

Totally Healthy.

I found it while searching on http://www.myrecipes.com/ . It was originally published in Sunset magazine.

The lemon that you add at the end really makes the dish. Its a clean tasting dish with inexpensive basic ingredients. Make it. Eat it. Enjoy it.

Red Pepper Lemon Chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 boned skinned chicken breast halves (8 oz. each)

2 large shallots, minced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken stock

1 jar (7 oz.) roasted red peppers, drained and sliced

1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

About 1/2 tsp. salt

About 1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Shredded zest of 1 lemon

1/4 cup freshly and finely shredded parmesan

1.Preheat oven to 375°. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy ovenproof frying pan (not nonstick) over high heat until oil is hot but not smoking. Add chicken breasts, top side down, and cook until golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Turn chicken over.

2.Add shallots and garlic to pan with chicken, stirring occasionally so garlic doesn't burn, until shallots are soft and translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Add chicken stock, roasted red peppers, cannellini beans, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, and red pepper flakes and cook until mixture begins to boil, about 1 minute.

3.Cover pan and put in oven. Bake 14 to 16 minutes, or until chicken is just cooked through (cut to check). Transfer chicken to a plate.

4.Season roasted red pepper-cannelini bean-stock mixture with salt and pepper to taste and stir in lemon juice and zest. Divide vegetables among 4 rimmed plates or shallow pasta bowls, top each with a piece of chicken, and spoon sauce over all. Garnish with parmesan.

Here's how I had to modify the recipe:

~I don't have real parmesan shredded cheese at home. Cheese is frackin' expensive right now-so we just aren't indulging in it much these days. I did although, have a container of the fake processed grated parmesan in the fridge. I used that and instead of putting it on at the end-I put it on before it went into the oven.

~I also did not have shallots-they are somewhat of a luxury produce item as well. I did have onions though so I chopped up about 1/4 of a small white onion and used it in place of the shallots.

Lunch. Yum.

Grilled Chicken and Pineapple Sammich

-Bread-wheat

-Chicken-Grill it with some chicken and rib rub

-Romaine Lettuce-break a leaf off the head and tear it in half-rinse it.

-Roma Tomato-slice it.

-Onion-slice it too.

-Pineapple-open the can. (Fresh pinepple would be better-but I'm po'. ie-"POOR")

-Stack it on bread.

-Add some kind of sauce if you want. Teriyaki, BBQ or even mayo would work well.

-Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

-Eat.

-Yum.

Baked Honey Nut Chicken

This is delicious. I modified it just a bit and made it with Panko instead of regular plain bread crumbs. Well, I think I used a little more butter to-but it was Blue Bonnet LIGHT margarine.

Baked Honey Nut Chicken

2 eggs
1/2 cup honey
1 cup finely chopped pecans or walnuts
1 cup dry bread crumbs
salt and pepper to taste
6 boneless skinless chicken breasts- sliced into smaller pieces
1/4 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
In a bowl, beat eggs and honey together until thoroughly blended. In a separate bowl, toss together pecans, bread crumbs, salt, and pepper.
Dip chicken pieces in egg and honey mixture, then dredge in pecan mixture, coating thoroughly. Arrange chicken side by side in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle melted butter evenly over chicken.
Bake approximately 40 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink, and juices run clear.

YUM! We are eating it plain, but I think it would taste great with a honey mustard or even a sweet BBQ sauce as a dip.