My family is big on breakfast and not in a most-important-meal-of-the-day way, but in a special-occasions-call-for-special-breakfasts way. Every time I go home to Kansas City, my brother makes up a huge breakfast extravaganza for me, which must include at least one item from each of the breakfast groups (egg, meat, bread, potato, and gravy). It was at these extravaganzas that I learned to thicken gravy, flip an omelet, crisp hash browns, and mix pancake batter.
As special as extravaganzas are, I wanted to take it up a notch for my birthday. How can you do that? Have a brunch. What makes it a brunch? Salad. Who wants to eat salad when there’s quiche and potato pancakes and gravy? Lots of people. Trust me. These bowls were licked clean by the end of the morning.
The green salad was nothing special. I just threw together all my favorite ingredients: arugula, red onion, goat cheese, pecans, and dried cranberries. I tossed it with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (not even emulsified, just straight out of the bottle) and everyone loved it.
Hiding behind that green salad is a fruit salad like none other. I have been ogling this salad on Smitten Kitchen for more than a year and finally found the opportunity (and the ingredients) to make it. The fruit soaks overnight in a simple syrup spiced with a vanilla bean, star anise, and lemon zest. In the morning you drain it and toss the fruit with pomegranate seeds. I’m still looking for a use for the leftover simple syrup — a sweetener for tea, perhaps?
Stay tuned for the rest of the brunch recipes — I’ll be posting them throughout the week.
I think I’m going to convert to a new method of recipe organization. I used to get a recipe from a magazine or from a friend, make it, eat it, and file it away. No matter when Glenn asked, Can we make that Moroccan Chicken again? I’d say, We just had that! I like trying new things and I’m afraid of falling into my mom’s Midwestern casserole rotation.But there’s no real risk of that happening and there’s nothing wrong with making the same dish twice. Now that I’ve reopened my recipe box, it’s a disaster. So what now? A three ring binder? Mac Gourmet?
The inspiration for this change? These two old faithfuls that I dug up for my sister. This chicken is nothing special, but if you’re looking for chicken that’s tender and crunchy, this is it. The bok choy salad, on the other hand, blows any other Asian inspired salad out of the water. Sweet, salty, crunchy. Yum. It’s only good the first time around (the noodles and nuts get soggy overnight), so I guess you’ll just have to have seconds.
Panko and Ginger Crusted Chicken with Stir Fried Vegetables and Sweet and Sour Mustard
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/4 cup Chinese mustard
- 2 Tb rice wine vinegar
- Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for five minutes.
Chicken:
- 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 2 cups panko
- 2 Tb minced ginger
- 1 egg
- 2 Tb canola oil
- Cut each breast lengthwise into 4 strips. Combine panko and ginger in a bowl. Lightly beat egg in a bowl (I like to thin the egg with half a shell of water). Dip chicken in egg and coat with panko. Saute in oil 3 minutes on each side.
Vegetables:
- 2 Tb canola oil
- 1 Tb minced ginger
- 2 cups chopped bok choy
- 1/2 cup julienned leeks
- 1/2 cup sliced water chestnuts
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- Heat oil. Saute ginger 30 seconds. Add bok choy, leeks, and water chestnuts and saute for 3 minutes. Add bean sprouts and cook 2 minutes.
Serve chicken and vegetables on a plate drizzled with sauce.
Bok Choy Salad (from Glenn’s mom)
- 3 oz Ramen noodles
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup cider vinegar
- 2 Tb soy sauce
- 1 bok choy, shredded
- 6 green onions, chopped
- Crumble noodles. Roast noodles, sunflower seeds, and almonds 8-10 minutes at 350.
- Bring sugar, oil, vinegar, and soy sauce to a boil and let cool.
- Toss all ingredients and serve immediately.
The perfect end to any bad day: you don’t remember what was so bad, you just remember what made it better. Many of my bad days are made better by food, whether it’s pizza rolls or sushi rolls.
A week or so ago, I had such a bad day that it justified getting a $15 carryout lunch from Lucky 32. For $15, I got a paper grocery bag full of goodies. My bread came with four patties of butter — one for each slice. My Crab and Corn Soup came with three tiny little ramekins — crab meat, sour cream, and chives. My Southern Chopped Cobb Salad came with two ramekins of creamy herb dressing and lasted me two days. And there were crackers popping out of every box and bag. Who can be in a bad mood after that?
One of the problems with not posting regularly is that it’s hard to remember what some food is. Whatever this was, I’m sure it was delicious.
I’m going to take my best guess and say that this salad was apple, bacon, shaved parmesan, and scallions over spinach. I cut the bacon into squares rather than crushing it into bits, which made the salad seem heartier and more substantial. Same deal with shaving the parmesan instead of grating it. Based on these ingredients, I can tell you two things — I was out of walnuts and I used Newman’s Own Honey Mustard dressing. If you’re not going to make your own, Newman’s it definitely the way to go. They are delicious and I can pronounce all the ingredients. The Raspberry Walnut Vinaigrette is my favorite with Honey Mustard coming in a close second. Skip the Caesar.
Let’s be honest though, the bread was the star of this meal. Home-baked French baguette. Glenn made it for the day-before-school barbecue and hasn’t baked anything since. Is it Christmas break yet?
I was so, so proud of myself for this idea. Maybe proud is the wrong word. I was tickled. We made a pizza earlier in the week and had all the leftover fixin’s — bell peppers, red onions, pepperoni, and mozzarella. Put them all over lettuce with some garlic croutons and you have pizza salad! I used basic Italian dressing, but I think it ranch would be very tasty and appropriate. I was especially proud of myself for making it up like a pizza — croutons around the outside for crust, toppings over lettuce, and cheese on top.
