Wednesday, July 8, 2015

Unbeatable Eats-- Happy July!


Many good eats have taken place since my last post and I have been so giddy to share. Holiday weekends always create a monster out of me because I find an excuse to make an abundance of food.

 Starting on Thursday, I decided to make my own marinara sauce for the first time when my boyfriend came to visit. Canned sauce absolutely never compares to the taste of homemade sauce and meatballs (especially my moms). I have never been a fan of red sauce with ground beef mixed in, but I decided to use up some sausage that I had in my fridge. 

1) To add texture to the sauce, I sauteed green pepper and onions on a lower heat with a touch of 
olive oil
2) Seared two sausages in a separate pan that I would later cut into small pieces
3) Added crushed tomatoes to the vegetables and let simmer for fifteen or twenty minutes
4) Threw in chopped up garlic, parsley, and fresh basil from my pot
5) Lastly, I added the sausage to the sauce and VUALA.

BUT the meals of the weekend just keep getting better. On Friday night I tried another new recipe. I love the concept of wrapping anything in lettuce as a substitute for a bun, bread, or wrap. Therefore, I think whoever invented lettuce wraps is absolutely brilliant. I typically enjoy the Asian-style lettuce wraps, but I decided to try something different. 


[Baked buffalo chicken lettuce wraps]

Ingredients; Chicken breasts (we used three for two people), breadcrumbs, buffalo sauce, bleu cheese dressing, head of iceberg lettuce, cherry tomatoes, avocado, white beans (my addition). The original recipe called for quinoa which I did not have.




To begin, I marinated the thawed chicken breasts in buffalo sauce during the day

  • Added breadcrumbs to both sides of the marinated chicken
  • Baked the chicken in the oven for 30 minutes on 375 (I added a little extra buffalo sauce after I added the breadcrumbs)
  • Peeled apart the head of lettuce into lettuce wrap-able pieces
  • Diced the tomatoes and avocado
Once the chicken was ready, I sliced it into smaller pieces. 

Then came the fun part...adding everything together and drizzling bleu cheese on top. 



By far, this was the best simple meal I have ever made. The combination of heat from the sauce paired with fresh vegetables and bleu cheese brought together by the crunch of the lettuce was unbeatable. I highly suggest you try it for yourself! If you aren't a fan of buffalo sauce, or even bleu cheese, this recipe can be easily altered.






























The fourth of July menu was a winner as well. 


We made a rack of ribs,  sausage, hot dogs, roasted garlic & ricotta salad, accompanied by watermelon. I was so anxious about trying to recreate my mom's ribs which I have never made before but they fell right off the bone. My mom made it clear that I could not share her recipe with anyone and I'm obliging (but I will tell you they were not made on a grill). Everything turned out a success, but due to hosting people at our apartment, I was too distracted from taking pictures of the food. 








Happy 4th of July :)




Come Monday another new recipe was put to the test with the help of Alyssa. 

[Avocado & Lime Chicken Salad]

Our plan was to make the chicken salad and eat it as a cold, open-faced sandwich. 

It was a damn good plan. 

Ingredients; chicken breasts, avocado, lime, cilantro, green onion, mayo, salt & pepper, garlic.

However, we made slight changes. Instead of using mayo we substituted plain greek yogurt, and instead of lime we used lemon juice (just because we forgot to get a lime). 

To begin, we finely chopped the cilantro and green onion and diced the avocados.  

In a bowl I added about two cups of greek yogurt, 2-4 teaspoons of lemon juice, the chopped greens, avocado, garlic, & a pinch of salt & pepper. 

During this time, we pan cooked chicken breasts on low heat (keeping them tender). Once finished, I threw them in a pan and proceeded to shred them using a fork on a knife. 

Lastly, I added the chicken to the bowl of other ingredients and mixed everything together. I ate my chicken salad on wheat bread and added chipotle Tabasco on top. 

Incredible to say the least. 

The original recipe I found was found at: 

 http://sweettreatsmore.com/cilantro-lime-avocado-chicken-salad/


Bon Appetit-- Kyra




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