Recipe of the Month: Chicken Stir-Fry with Broccoli, Tomatoes and Creamy Feta Dressing

Just when I was thinking salads, filling stir-fries, and creamy dressings, my mom made this stir-fry from a recipe on a cooking show she watched. I really like chicken. And Broccoli. And tomatoes. And Feta!

This was the perfect dish to come home to after a tough day at work! 

Chicken Breast Stir-Fry with Broccoli and Tomatoes

120 g chicken breast
200 g broccoli florets
100 g tomatoes
1 teaspoon oil
salt and white pepper to taste

Peel and chop the chicken breasts, season with salt and white pepper.

Pour oil in a small saucepan, warm the chicken breasts and fry until the meat turns white. Throw in the broccoli, cover and let simmer at a lower temperature.

When almost done add the tomatoes, cover, and allow to soften with the chicken and broccoli for a few minutes.

Take the lid off and fry for a few more minutes, then serve as is, or with a creamy Feta dressing.

 

Creamy Feta Dressing

200 g Feta cheese
70-100 g yogurt
lemon juice
white pepper
garlic
balsamic Vinegar

Mix all the ingredients together, until light and creamy. I used only about 70 g yogurt. Start with 50 g and work up from there, depending how creamy or flat you like your dressing to be.

Serve with the Chicken Stir-Fry, or with any type of fresh salad.

Bon appétit!

PS: stay tuned for next month’s recipe, as I’ll be sharing a recipe my friend Trisha and I made when she visited Romania this April!

Recipe of the Month: Summer Salad with Creamy Mayo Dressing

I LOVE salads! In any amount. I can not get enough of them over spring/summer when all the fresh ingredients are available to me from the farmer’s market.

So in anticipation of a new spring rolling in with its first fresh vegetables, I’m sharing a salad and dressing recipe. This is our go-to dressing, the Chef’s and mine.

I deliberately left out measurements this time. But only because it all depends on each of our individual taste and family demands

Summer Salad with Creamy Dressing

Salad: lettuce, tomato, cucumber, onion, radish, capers, chicken strips.

Dressing: homemade mayonnaise of one egg yolk, sour cream, salt, white pepper, grated Parmesan cheese.

Chop all the vegetables, add to salad bowl.

Cook the chicken in a little olive oil, after cutting it up in strips.

Add it to the salad.

Mix together the ingredients of the salad dressing, by adding them all depending on your own taste.

Pour on salad when serving.

Bon appétit!

Recipe of the month: Creamy Dill Sauce

I read a recipe for Parmesan-Crusted Fish with Creamy Dill Sauce back in February I think. I never got around to making it. Then, a few weeks ago, my mom asked if we were going to have fish for lunch (a friend of hers suggested to try it out with corn flake crumb breading)?

Of course I was all IN, it gave me the opportunity to try the dill sauce! And let me tell you something: it was absolutely delicious and super flavorful!

Creamy Dill Sauce

• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• splash heavy cream or half and half
• one lemon
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill, plus more for serving

To a bowl, add the sour cream, mayo, and heavy cream.  Then, using a teeny grater, grate in the garlic and lemon zest.

If you don’t have a handheld grater you can zest the garlic and lemon on the side of a box grater or just mince it really finely – no worries either way.

Save the lemon for serving, and mince up lots and lots of dill – it’s the star of the show here! Add the dill to the lemon/garlic/cream mixture with a sprinkle of salt and pepper, then stir everything together.

Taste your dip and add more of whatever you’d like, though!  Keep in mind that the garlic flavor will get a lot stronger as the dip sits, so don’t add more of that.

Yum.  Keep the dill sauce in the fridge while you get the main dish ready.

 

* Make the sauce first (like in the morning or even the night before) so it will get super duper flavorful for awhile before you eat.

* This dill sauce can also be used as a veggie dip – who needs packaged ranch when you have THIS?

* Recipe originally posted by FunnyLove ~ Eating our feelings, one kitchen disaster at a time.

Bon appétit!

PS: tried this with grilled fish as well – it was possibly more yummy than before

Recipe of the month: two Beet Salads

Did you know beets are good for digestion and blood flow? I don’t generally eat beets, so I wasn’t aware of this before a friend mentioned it, but I’ll be making this salad more often from now on that’s for sure.

 

Beets Salad

1 small onion
30 dkg beets
2 average sized pickles
10 dkg homemade mayonnaise
1 dl sour cream
2 spoons horseradish
salt, white pepper

Boil the beets for 20-30 minutes until they’re tender.

Chop all the ingredients finely, combine with the homemade mayo and sour cream, then season to taste.

Serve as a salad with fish or different kinds of meat.

This is how I usually prepare my beets salad, but I actually turned it into a simple salad from the below recipe I once saw.

Pickled Herring and Beets Salad

1 small onion
30 dkg beets
2 average sized pickles
10 dkg homemade mayonnaise
1 dl sour cream
2 spoons horseradish
salt, white pepper
2 eggs
30 dkg pickled herring

Boil the beets for 20-30 minutes until they’re tender. Hard boil the eggs.

Chop all the ingredients finely, combine with the homemade mayo and sour cream, then season to taste.

Serve as a main dish.

Bon appétit!

Recipe of the month: Easy Mushroom Casserole

This is one of my favorite recipes as far as casseroles go. I often prepare this when wanting to empty out my fridge.

Mushroom Casserole

2 cans mushrooms
5-6 eggs
1 small onion
garlic
bacon, ham, sausage, salami, etc.
spices
bread
milk
(mostly eyeball the amounts according to your need)

Chop the onion, garlic, mushrooms and  bacon, ham, sausage, salami, etc. (what ever you have left over in your fridge) and then braise them in a bit of oil for a few minutes (preferably in a larger pot, that way you won’t need to wash two when you’re done).

After braising is done, beat the eggs, combine with milk, add it to the mix and then add crumbled bread. Mix well.

Transfer the mixture into a buttered pan, sprinkle cheese on top and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes on 150-180C.

Tip: serve with Baby Spinach salad with Mandarin Oranges and Red Onion

Bon appétit!

Recipe of the month: Baby Spinach salad with Mandarin Oranges and Red Onions

When my mom walked up to me with a huge bag of spinach, excitedly telling me how cheap it was and that she planned to make Spinach Cream Sauce, asking me if I’d eat it… I answered just as excitedly that there was absolutely no chance I would. I don’t like spinach (or other vegetables for that matter) once boiled.
But then, you could’ve almost seen a light bulb over my head lit up!

Last Thanksgiving in Sicily, I had the opportunity to sample a lot of yummy American and Italian food. One of my very favorites was the Baby Spinach salad with Mandarin Oranges and Red Onions.
Just like Pineapple Chicken, I wouldn’t have thought to mix these three together and have them result in such a flavorful dish.

I immediately searched for the recipe for this salad, and as great as it seemed, I made some substitutions here and there for the dressing.
So here’s my adapted version of Rachael Ray’s Baby Spinach salad with Mandarin Oranges and Red Onions.

Baby Spinach salad with Mandarin Oranges and Red Onions

7 cups baby spinach 
2 cups mandarin oranges, drained
1 cup chopped red onions 
5 tablespoons Orange Syrup
1 teaspoon orange peels (leftover from when making the syrup)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
Salt and pepper

Arrange spinach leaves on a large platter or individual salad plates. Top with mandarin orange sections and chopped red onion.

Whisk together the orange syrup, orange peels and balsamic vinegar. Stream EVOO into dressing while continuing to whisk.

When you are ready to serve, pour the dressing over the salad and season with salt and pepper.

Bon appétit!

PS: Not to brag or anything (okay, maybe just a little), but I impressed a chef with this salad! *feels all proud of her cooking expertise*