Strawberry & Chicken Salad

I'm back! I haven't gotten around to uploading the pictures yet, but I'm sure I will soon do a recap of our fun trip to MN. For now, here is a recipe for a salad that I made for some quick, light dinners before our trip:

Shortly before I graduated from college, my mom discovered this recipe and it quickly became part of her regular dinner rotation - and then my own once I moved out. It's a refreshing, summery salad from Kraft - it's light and sweet, and even though it sounds like chick food, it tastes so good that even guys like it. In fact, Shaun is disappointed when we have any salad that doesn't involve caramelized almonds - and we don't even normally eat almonds! Here's the original recipe, and my version is below. (I omit the mandarin oranges and onions because I'm boring like that.)

Strawberry & Chicken Salad

Head(s) of green leaf lettuce, washed and torn
Chicken breasts, cut into small pieces and cooked
Sliced strawberries to taste
Sugar and sliced almonds for caramelized almonds (see below)
Kraft Creamy Poppyseed Dressing (I'm sure other brands or even homemade dressing would go just as well, but I'm addicted to the Kraft stuff)

Caramelized Almonds
Heat 1/2 cup sliced almonds and 3 Tbsp. sugar in nonstick skillet on medium-high heat for several minutes or until sugar is golden brown, stirring frequently (it doesn't take long - once the sugar melts they're almost done). Spread into a thin layer on baking sheet or sheet of wax paper; cool. Break into small pieces.

You can assemble everything in a large bowl like the Kraft website suggests to make it pretty, but since it's usually just the two of us, we take our lettuce and toppings buffet-style for individual servings. One head of lettuce, 2-3 chicken breasts, and the amount of almonds above will usually get us at least 4 servings.

Memorial Day Food!

For all the food we made (and ate) over Memorial Day weekend, it didn't feel like I spent all that much time in the kitchen - which is a good thing! Of course it helped that much of the work was on the grill, and Shaun took care of that. We got our grill as a wedding present from Shaun's parents and mostly stuck to pre-made burgers and hot dogs last summer, so we're really excited about learning and trying out all sorts of new grill recipes this summer. We started with basic burgers this time, trying out two different recipes for "The Perfect Hamburger" - one from Taste of Home and one from Williams Sonoma (via Annie's Eats). And no, we didn't reach a conclusion as to which was the true perfect burger - they were both pretty good!

On Sunday we had our friend Rich over for the second round of burgers. Since Rich is a chocolate lover like me, I knew I had to make an appropriate dessert. These brownies were one of my family's dessert standbys while I was growing up. I like the soft, fudgy texture and of course the sweet and creamy frosting - though I'm sure they're good plain as well.

Best Brownies (adapted from Hershey's)

1/2 cup butter or margarine, melted
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease 9-inch square (or 7 x 11) pan.

2. Stir together butter, sugar and vanilla in bowl. Add eggs; beat well with spoon. Stir together flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt; gradually add to egg mixture, beating until well blended. Spread batter evenly in prepared pan.

3. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until brownies begin to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Prepare Creamy Brownie Frosting; spread over brownies.

Creamy Brownie Frosting

3 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3 tablespoons cocoa
1 tablespoon light corn syrup or honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Beat butter, cocoa, corn syrup and vanilla in small bowl until blended. Add powdered sugar and milk; beat to spreading consistency. About 1 cup frosting.

I'd also had my eye on a cupcake recipe from Annie's Eats since she posted it back in February - I thought it looked like the perfect summer treat, and Shaun thought it sounded good when I mentioned it to him. I halved the recipe below and brought a dozen to the in-laws' family barbecue on Monday, and everyone who tried a cupcake seemed to like it. I definitely did! And usually when there are dessert leftovers I end up eating them myself (not good), but Shaun helped me out and ate a few of these, so that must mean something!

It was my first experience with Wilton gel icing color, since I wanted to get a bright pink shade like Annie did, and obviously it worked! Still not as pretty as hers, but I'm learning. :-)

Cherry Limeade Cupcakes
Yield: 24

For the cupcakes:
3 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. limeade concentrate
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk

For the lime syrup:
3/4 cup limeade concentrate
1/2 cup powdered sugar sugar

For the frosting:
3 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 tbsp. (or more) maraschino cherry juice
Red food coloring (optional)

For decorating (optional):
Fresh lime slices
Maraschino cherries

To make the cupcakes, preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin pans with paper liners. In a medium bowl combine the cake flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. Stir together and set aside. In a large bowl, cream the butter with electric mixer until smooth. Add the sugar and beat on medium-high speed until creamed. Add in the limeade concentrate and mix to incorporate. Add the eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl between additions. Add in the flour mixture in thirds, alternating with the milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture. Mix ingredients just long enough to incorporate but no longer.

Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pans for 5-10 minutes, then remove to a wire rack over wax paper to cool completely.

Once the cupcakes have cooled, whisk together the limeade concentrate and confectioners’ sugar in a small bowl to make the lime syrup. Poke several holes in the top of each cupcake with a skewer and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.

To make the frosting, combine the confectioners’ sugar, butter and maraschino cherry juice in a large bowl. Mix on low speed until sugar is incorporated, then increase to medium-high speed and beat until smooth. Add more maraschino cherry juice as needed to achieve desired texture. Add red food coloring if desired.

Frost cooled cupcakes. Garnish with lime slices and maraschino cherries, if desired.

Franks 'n' Beans Bread Bowls

If you're still looking for a Super Bowl food idea, these might be a good fit. They're tasty, hearty, and easy! I saw them on a Mr. Food segment awhile back and saved the recipe because it seemed like something Shaun and I would like.

Franks 'n' Beans Bread Bowls

1 pound hot dogs, cut into 1-inch pieces (we prefer thinner, roughly 1/2-inch pieces)
2 cans (16 ounces each) vegetarian baked beans, drained
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup chili sauce
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
5 kaiser rolls (we easily stretch this to 6)
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Cheddar cheese

In a soup pot, combine all the ingredients except the rolls and cheese; mix well and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice the tops off the rolls and hollow out each roll to create a bowl. Spoon the franks 'n' beans evenly into each bread bowl. Sprinkle each with Cheddar cheese, and serve.

NOTE: If you prefer the bread bowls toasty, warm these in the oven after filling. (we definitely prefer to do this!)


Mmmm, good stuff. These work out well for a regular dinner too, maybe with some veggies on the side. Shaun eats two bread bowls and I eat one in a sitting, so we have just enough for two nights. Not the fanciest meal in the world, but hey, we're not the fanciest people in the world.

Velveeta Nacho Bake

I didn't imagine that I'd be writing my first cooking-related blog post with the word "Velveeta" in the title, 'cause I generally try to avoid that stuff whenever possible. But most nights when I get home from work, I want to make something relatively quick and easy. We both like this meal - the ultimate comfort food mix of mac and cheese plus Mexican (sorta). Plus I had some extra sour cream from another recipe and some tortilla chip crumbs in the bottom of the bag just begging to be used! Here it is, straight from the Kraft website:

Velveeta Nacho Bake

Prep Time: 15 min Total Time: 35 min Makes: 6 servings

1 pkg. (12 oz.) VELVEETA Shells & Cheese Dinner

1 lb. ground beef

1 pkg. (1-1/4 oz.) TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Taco Seasoning Mix (I used one of the many homemade recipes out there)

3/4 cup BREAKSTONE'S or KNUDSEN Sour Cream

3/4 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

3/4 cup TACO BELL® HOME ORIGINALS® Thick 'N Chunky Salsa

1/2 cup coarsely crushed tortilla chips

Heat oven to 400°F. Prepare Dinner as directed on package. While Macaroni is cooking, cook meat with taco seasoning as directed on package.

Stir sour cream into prepared Dinner. Spoon 1/2 of Dinner mixture into 8-inch square baking dish; top with layers of meat mixture, 1/2 of Cheddar and remaining Dinner mixture. Cover.

Bake 15 min.; top with salsa, remaining Cheddar and crushed chips. Bake, uncovered, 5 min.

I ended up using an 11x7 pan since my square one was otherwise occupied. And obviously it doesn't really matter what brand of all that stuff you use. I also baked up a simple recipe for Cumin Cheddar Corn bread (basically you add 3/4 tsp cumin and 1/2 c shredded cheddar to a regular cornbread recipe or mix before baking), but I personally didn't think it was anything special or worth posting pics. Shaun didn't even know it was different than regular cornbread until I told him during dinner, lol.