Chutney and Chicken Salad!!!!!

I don't want to forget to post the chutney I made the other day - we were working in the garden and picked a LOT of tomatoes and big apples, so I went looking for a recipe that combined both tomatoes and apples. I found one! "Tomato-Apple Chutney" which was a huge hit! In saucepan combine diced tomatoes and apples, chopped onion and lemon zest and juice with some light vinegar and cook on low about 1/2 hour till soft and chunky. This is a great condiment with roast meat, fish and just about anything I can think of! You can even make a huge batch and can it in jars.

For lunch today, I poached a chicken breast and combined it with red grapes, quartered, cantaloupe, diced, chopped celery, green onion, diced jalapeno, diced cucumber and mixed it all up. For the dressing, I mixed a little low-fat mayonnaise with fst free sour cream and tossed it with ( this is my special secret ingredient) pickle juice from a jar of bread and butter pickles! It makes a much lighter dressing than mayo alone. I served it on a plate of sliced tomatoes. This was a big hit for lunch.

Yummiest Split Pea Soup!

I made a real CHEAP lunch today and it was delicious! I took a bag of split peas, added water, chopped onion, carrot, celery and garlic, and an hour later it was SOUP! Then added half bag of frozen peas and some 2 percent milk. I used my old immersion blender stick to whirl it all up into a semi smooth consistency. At the very end I added bacon (center cut, the only stuff to get) baked in the oven and chopped into tiny pieces. This was a GREAT SOUP! Really ! Hubby and I had just that for lunch and we were full! YUM! The frozen peas added a sweetness that we both really enjoyed.

Indian for dinner tonight.

Report on Indonesia - YUM!

Well, last night's Chicken Satay went very well! I marinated the chicken breast in a paste of ginger, garlic, turmeric, red pepper flakes and a little oil. Then put the chicken strips on bamboo skewers and baked in the oven. It was too windy here to use the bbq. I made some Ginger-Coconut Milk Brown Basmati Rice to go with it and put together a salad of grated cucumber and carrot, jalapeno pepper and rice vinegar. I made a dipping sauce of peanut butter, pepper flakes and soy sauce in the microwave to melt the pb, and it really went together well!

What is for dinner tonight? Well, I have a piece of leftover steak, so I guess a Beef and Broccoli Lo Mein is on the menu.

Indonesian Tonight!!

I heard that there was a big earthquake in Indonesia today, so I got out my Indonesian cookbook called Cradle of Flavor and found a recipe for Chicken Satay! So I am defrosting a chicken breast and soaking some bamboo skewers. I plan to make a salad of shredded cucumbers and carrots with a little red pepper flakes dressed with some rice vinegar, and complete the dinner with a pilaf of brown basmati rice. YUM!

As for the BROWN basmati rice, I have been using more whole grains and avoiding stuff like white rice since my stroke. I can hardly believe that it has been almost 2 years (Sept. 22nd)since the stroke! I am so blessed that there were no problems or after-effects.

My Middle Eastern Feast!

I made Taboulleh the other night, and a batch of hummus from scratch. I wanted something else to round out the meal. Here is what I came up with: I split some pita breads in half, into 2 rounds - like pizza crusts. I spread some hummus on them, drizzled a little olive oil over it, sprinkled some Zatar (a mixture of ground sumac, thyme leaves and sesame seeds) on top, and topped it all with some fat free feta cheese! I baked them in the 350 degree oven for 10 minutes. They were absolutely ADDICTIVE!!! What a great dinner! Hubby loved it too!

I love to cook! I have always loved to cook. I collect and read cookbooks, and have 2 large bookshelves full of cookbooks. Thank goodness my hubby is a good "guinea pig"!
One of hubby's favorite stories to tell iswhen he comes down and asks what is for dinner, and I say"I don't know yet" and he is so happy because I might be at the stove or chopping veggies and partway through preparation! I really like being creative when I am cooking. I will add more later. Bye.