Chinese Chicken Salad

A family friend sent me this recipe years ago after my Mom raved about it.  Since we're still enjoying salads during our heat wave in Texas, I thought I'd share it with you.  It's so full of crunchy goodness!!

I'm giving ingredients for a two person salad:

1 head of Romaine lettuce
2 chicken breasts, cooked
1-2 green onions
2 T. Sesame seed
1 t. poppy seeds
1/2 cup slivered almonds
Rice noodles (found near the chow mein noodles)

Cut up the lettuce, chicken & onions & place in a bowl.

Toast the almonds, Sesame & poppy seeds.

Dressing

(You will have some left over for another salad.)

1/2 c. vegetable oil
1/2 c. sugar (I used 1/4 c. of sugar substitute)
1 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper

Mix all in a blender.

Assemble the salad

Pour enough dressing over salad & mix.  Sprinkle the almonds, Sesame & poppy seeds & Rice noodles on top.  I also added some grape tomatoes to my salad.  I think sliced strawberries would be delicious, too.

Now, enjoy a bite of crunchy goodness!!

I'm sharing this with Full Plate Thursday at Miz Helen's & Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

If you're looking forward almost instant gratification cinnamon rolls, you need to try this yummy recipe.  I saw it awhile ago on www.joythebaker.com & she got it from http://bakingbites.com.  I adapted it slightly & hope you give it a try!

1 1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 t. salt
4 t. active dry or rapid rise yeast
2/3 c. warm milk (100-110 F.)
3 T. oil
1/2 t. vanilla
1 egg

Filling

2 T. butter, room temp
2/3 c. brown sugar
3/4 t. cinnamon

Icing

1 c. powdered sugar
1-2 T. milk
1/2 t. vanilla

In a large bowl (I used my Kitchen Aid mixer), combine the flour, sugar & salt.  Dissolve the yeast in a small bowl with 1 T. sugar & the warmed milk.  Stir the milk mixture, oil, vanilla & egg into the flour mixture.  Mix well, until very smooth.  Let rest for 15 minutes.

As the dough rests,  mix the topping ingredients together in a small bowl until crumbly. 

Divide the batter between 12 greased muffin cups.  Sprinkle the topping evenly on top of the batter & press the mixture down into the dough with your fingertips.  ( I forgot to do this because I was talking on the phone with my daughter!!!  You know how that goes...we all try to do two things at once!)

Place pan into COLD oven, then set the temperature to 350 degrees.

Bake for 20 minutes, until lightly browned & the center of the muffin springs back when lightly pressed.

Cool for at least 30 minutes before mixing the icing together.  Drizzle the icing onto the muffins.

Now have yourself a delicious muffin.  Leftovers can be frozen  & reheated.

I'm sharing this with Muffin Monday & Tea Party Tuesday & Pink Saturday.

Potato, Ham & Swiss Frittata

I wanted a quick meal for dinner & thought to whip up a frittata, which is really quite filling & a one-skillet meal.  You can vary the ingredients on this to what you like.  I happened to  have some ham, baby dutch potatoes & Swiss cheese.   I served it with Caprese Towers from Stonegable, which are such a beautiful addition to a meal!   Here's the recipe for the frittata,  slightly adapted from Cook's Illustrated.

6 large eggs

1 1/2 tablespoons milk
 1/2 cup chopped ham

1 cup potatoes, cut in 1/2" cubes

1/3-1/2 cup Swiss cheese, cut up

2 scallions , sliced thin on the bias

Instructions

 Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, about 5 inches from heating element; heat broiler. Whisk eggs, milk,  1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in medium bowl until well combined, about 30 seconds. Set eggs aside.

Heat about 2 t. olive oil in a 10-inch nonstick ovensafe skillet & brown the potatoes over medium heat until golden brown & tender, about 10 minutes. Stir Swiss, scallions, and ham into eggs; add egg mixture to skillet and cook, using spatula to stir and scrape bottom of skillet, until large curds form and spatula begins to leave wake but eggs are still very wet, about 1 minute. Shake skillet to distribute eggs evenly; cook without stirring for 30 seconds to let bottom set.

 Slide skillet under broiler and broil until frittata has risen and surface is puffed and spotty brown, 1 & 1/2 to 2 minutes.   When cut into with a paring knife, eggs should be slightly wet and runny. Remove skillet from oven and let stand 5 minutes to finish cooking.   Using spatula, loosen frittata from skillet and slide onto platter or cutting board. Cut into wedges and serve.

NOTE:  I covered the rubber handle of my non-stick skillet with a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil to protect it from the heat under the broiler.

I am sharing this with On the Menu Monday at Stonegable.