Saturday, July 3, 2010

Oh, The Acid!

Today decided to be a very acidic day - and my mouth is feeling it! But the recipes are yummy, fresh, and wholesome.
My friend and I decided to do chicken (that she had been marinating forever, not on purpose) with brown rice, grilled pineapple, and fresh tomato salad.  Having the ripe tomatoes that I bought at Earth Fare definitely inspired me to grow my own tomatoes next summer. I'm not a big tomato person, but they are definitely growing on me.  I'm a texture eater, and tomatoes have a really awkward texture, so I am having to get past it. I really do like the flavor - so we'll see where this goes! I think I just need to continue cooking with them and working with them.. become one with the tomato!

Fresh Tomato, Basil, and Feta Cheese Salad
Ingredients:
1 dry pint of grape tomatoes
20 leaves of fresh basil (they can vary in size), ripped
1/4 cup feta cheese crumbles
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 packet of splenda (about 1/4 tsp)

Slice the tomatoes into circles, about 3-4 parts per tomato. Put in a medium sized bowl and toss with feta cheese.  Add about 2 tbsp olive oil and balsamic vinegar, or until taste, and stir.  I like mine with a little more balsamic flavor.  Add in lemon juice and splenda and stir.  Before serving, stir in the basil.  You can let it set, but try to avoid letting the basil wilt.  Garnish with a little bit of feta crumbles, basil leaves, and some fresh parsley.

I am loving my little porch full of fresh herbs! It makes me so happy. I love to be able to go outside, pick off some basil for a dish, and walk back in and voila! Fresh herbs. Love it :) I'll probably do a post soon, when I decide to get some more (due to a bad mold that killed off my oregano... which was a sad day). But I'm going to become a little gardener on my teeny, tiny porch. :)

Garlic-Balsamic Chicken
Ingredients
2 chicken breasts
Salad Dressing
Pineapple, brushed with olive oil

Use the salad dressing above (it is listed as a strawberry balsamic, but you can just not add the strawberries and that is what was used) and make at least 2 servings of it (enough to cover the chicken).
The salad dressing is really useful - you can make it in advance and have it for quite a while. Because it really doesn't have anything in it that spoils, it can stick around. But anyways!
Marinade the chicken for at least 24 hours.
Grill or pan fry the chicken on both sides until thoroughly done. I honestly wasn't paying attention the whole time, so I don't really know how long it took. But it obviously depends on the size of the chicken, too! Haha. Then grill/fry the pineapple until tender.
Bring the marinade to a boil and add in a little flour that has been mixed with either more vinegar or water (to prevent clumping). Stir it in until it is thickened, and let it simmer.  Strain and place on top of the chicken and pineapple. Garnish with torn parsley leaves.

We served it with some brown rice. Yummy! It was a great way to end the day - nice, fresh, and wholesome food.  I had some good olive bruschetta today, too, which has possibly inspired me to make some myself? Hmmm. We'll see!

2 comments:

  1. That tomato salad looks divine. Anything with basil and cheese makes me smile. I hope you have a lovely fourth of July...I wish I could dip into some of your delicious eats!

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