Recipe: Chicken Pho Salad

There's nothing like creating a recipe when you clear out your fridge!  This past weekend,  I had pho broth, pho noodles, leftover rotisserie chicken, a cucumber, and mint leaves in the fridge.  Unfortunately, Southern California started to heat up this weekend so I was not in the mood to eat a hot soup.  I always associate cucumbers with a refreshing salad....so why not make a pho salad?

The Vietnamese have a dry egg noodle dish where broth is served on the side.  It's served with a smorgasbord of protein such as ground pork, bbq pork, shrimp, chicken etc.  It's "dressed" with a soy sauce based dressing.  This dry Vietnamese pho salad takes on a similar concept.  I was quite pleased with the end result as well as quite relieved because I was too lazy to leave the house. 

As usual, I eyeballed all of the ingredients so this is as best as I can remember

Ingredients for the Vinaigrette
1/2 cup of pho broth
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp minced garlic
3 tbsp soy sauce
white pepper

Ingredients for the salad
pho noodles (as much as you desire)
1/3 of a cucumber - ran through a mandoline for thin even slices
fried shallots for garnish
roasted peanuts for garnish
sliced red chili peppers for garnish
mint leaves for garnish
1/2 - 1 cup of shredded chicken

Directions
1. Cook the pho noodles per package instructions.  Drain and set aside
2. Combine the vinaigrette ingredients.  Warm the sauce so that the honey is completely melted and mixed with the vinaigrette
3. Plate the cucumber slices in a circle on the plate
4.  Add the pho noodles in a pile over the cucumber slices
5.  Add the shredded chicken
6.  Add the peanuts, mint leaves, fried shallots, and sliced red chili peppers to garnish
7.  Drizzle the sauce over the deliciousness.

Bon appetite!

Recipe: Sesame Soba Noodles

Soba noodles - an underrated Japanese noodle that doesn't get enough love.  Made from buckwheat, soba noodles can be served hot, cold, dry, or in a soup.  Even better, soba noodles have great health benefits.  It contains all 8 essential amino acids, Thiamine (aka vitamin B complex), manganese (supports your nervous system, bone health, glucose metabolism), protein, fiber, free of gluten if it's made from pure buckwheat, and low in fat! 

Ingredients
3 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp Maggi Sauce
2 tbsp tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp Lee Kum Kee Satay Sauce

Directions
1. Cook soba noodles according to package direction.  Drain and rinse with cold water.
2. Mix all of the above ingredients together.  Warm the sauce mixture to ensure the honey dissolves.
3. Toss the sauce and soba noodles.

Throw julienned carrots, edamame, tofu, or any other protein and you can make this into a filling meal.

Bon appetite!

Recipe: Chicken Piccata

I was never much into Chicken Piccata.  This is likely due to restaurants making this dish too tangy for my taste.  This past year, my boyfriend asked that I make this for him.  The beauty in being a home cook is that you can control the taste of a dish to your liking.  This is one of my go to dinner entrees now since the boyfriend loves it.  Without further ado, here is my less tangy version of Chicken Piccata.

Ingredients
2 chicken breasts, butterflies
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
Juice of half a lemon...
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp unsalted butter
4 tbsp all purpose flower
Garlic salt
Handful of capers
lemon slices for garnish

Directions

1. Butterfly the chicken breasts so that you have 4 equal halves
2. Season the chicken with garlic salt.
3. Dredge the chicken in the all purpose flour and shake off the excess.
4. In a medium high skillet, melt the butter and olive oil.
5. Add two pieces of chicken to the pan and brown both sides. Remove and let rest on a plate. Add the other two pieces of chicken and brown both sides. Remove from pan and rest on the same plate as the other two pieces.
6. Add the stock, capers, and lemon juice to the pan. Scrape the brown bits.
7. Add all 4 pieces of chicken to the pan and simmer. If you desire a thicker sauce, you can add in a half teaspoon of the leftover flour from the dredge.

Serve with pasta or rice. Drizzle the sauce over the chicken and garnish with lemon slices.

Bon appetite!