Thai Stir Fry

...okay, so I had my leftover Thai peanut sauce that I had made for the Chicken Satay Salad sitting in the refrigerator. my mom had the great idea of making a stir fry with it. this sounded fairly easy so i went out and bought some snow peas, carrots, an onion, a red pepper, and broccoli. i heated up some olive oil in a large skillet and then added the chicken and onion. meanwhile i had the broccoli steaming in a pot on the stove. after the chicken was cooked through i added the carrots, red pepper, and snow peas. i sauteed that for a bit and then added the sauce. once the broccoli was drained i added it to the stir fry and voila! supper was served! Oh yeah, i also cooked up some rice in the rice cooker to go with it.

Chicken Satay Salad

...once again, a few tuesday nights ago, i turned to my Food Network magazine. once again, it did not disappoint. whenever i look through their magazine i find my mouth watering and all of a sudden getting the urge to cook and bake all day. i found an easy 25 minute recipe for Chicken Satay Salad. in the recipe,  it called for 7 tablespoons of Thai peanut sauce. i looked for the sauce at walmart in the asian section, but i couldn't find any. i then resorted to the internet for help. i found a recipe for Thai peanut sauce and it turned out just fine. i actually even had some sauce left over, which i used up another night to make a delicious stir fry. so stay tuned for it on my next post later on this week.

Recipes: 
Chicken Satay Salad
Active: 25 min [Total: 25 min] Serves: 4
 Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 pound)
7 tablespoons (about 1/2 cup) Thai peanut sauce
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 head romaine lettuce, sliced
1/2 English cucumber or 2 Persian cucumbers, cut into matchsticks
1 medium carrot, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
1/4 cup roughly chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for topping
3 tablespoons chopped roasted salted peanuts

Directions: 

Preheat a grill or grill pan to medium high. Slice the chicken breasts 1/2 inch thick and toss with 2 tablespoons peanut sauce, 1/2 tablespoon vegetable oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste in a bowl. Grill the chicken until just cooked through, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a plate.

Whisk the remaining 5 tablespoons peanut sauce and 2 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, the lime juice and 2 tablespoons water in a large bowl. Add the lettuce, cucumber, carrot, bell pepper and cilantro and toss. Season with salt and pepper and divide among bowls. Top with the chicken, peanuts and more cilantro.

Thai Peanut Sauce
Ingredients:
1 c. unsalted peanuts
1/3 c. water
2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
2 tsp. sesame oil
1-2 Tbsp. brown sugar, to taste
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
1/2 tsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 c. coconut milk
Directions: 
Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor. Blend or process until sauce is smooth.

Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa

So a few Tuesday nights ago…okay, so really it was more like a few Monday nights ago... I was perusing around online, trying to come up with a new recipe for my Tuesday night dinner. I ended up on my cousin Rebecca’s blog, What's for Meat ? And her latest entry was for Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa.(Click here for recipe) Now it just so happened that we had an avocado sitting in our fridge. This is a rarity as our local IGA does not usually carry them, and when they do, they aren’t too good. But this one, I think, was from Wal-Mart. I immediately asked my mom if anyone had dibs on the avocado in the fridge (this is how it works when you have such a rarity as an avocado). she said no, so I went and put a sticky note on it saying it was mine and to back off! Seriously, I did. So the next night my family and I sat down to a delicious meal of Grilled Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa. It was soo good!

Summer Squash, Bacon, and Mozzarella Quiche

a few tuesday nights ago i made quiche... now, whenever i think of quiche, i always think of my dad. every year for his birthday, when my mom asks him what he wants for his birthday, he always replies, quiche. i happen to like quiche quite a bit too ( wonder who i got that from?) but sadly for some reason the only time we eat it is once a year at my dad's birthday party. so when i stumbled across this recipe in Cooking Light, I just had to try it! it was delicious; my dad (who i consider a quiche king) even approved.

 Summer Squash, Bacon, and Mozzarella Quiche

Ingredients:

Crust:
6.75 ounces all-purpose flour (about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup ice water
Cooking spray
Filling:
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 cups (1/8-inch-thick) slices yellow squash
2 cups (1/8-inch-thick) slices zucchini
1/4 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
1 cup 2% reduced-fat milk
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4 slices center-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled $
3 large egg whites
3 large eggs
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions: 1. To prepare crust, weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a food processor, and pulse 2 times or until combined. Add butter and shortening; pulse 4 times or until mixture resembles coarse meal. With food processor on, add ice water through food chute, processing just until the mixture is combined (do not form a ball). Press mixture into a 4-inch circle on plastic wrap, and cover. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400°.
3. Slightly overlap 2 sheets of plastic wrap on a slightly damp flat surface. Unwrap and place chilled dough on plastic wrap. Cover dough with 2 additional sheets of overlapping plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into a 12-inch circle. Place dough in freezer 5 minutes or until plastic wrap can easily be removed. Remove top sheets of plastic wrap, and fit dough, plastic wrap side up, into a 9 1/2-inch deep-dish pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove remaining plastic wrap from dough. Fold edges under, and flute. Pierce bottom and sides of dough with fork. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
4. Reduce oven temperature to 350°.
5. To prepare the filling, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add squash, zucchini, shallots, and thyme; saute for 5 minutes or until squash and zucchini are tender, stirring frequently. Cool the squash mixture slightly.
6. Combine 1 cup reduced-fat milk and the next 5 ingredients (through eggs) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Arrange squash mixture evenly over crust, and sprinkle with 3/4 cup mozzarella cheese. Pour the egg mixture over cheese. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until filling is set. Cool for 15 minutes on a wire rack.