Chicken Salad with Herb Mayonaisse

This chicken salad takes on extra fresh flavor with roasted chicken breasts, a little lemon, and fresh chopped herbs. Serve this lively chicken salad in sandwiches or in lettuce cups for a delicious lunch or light supper.

Ingredients:

3 to 4 chicken breast halves, boneless, skin removed
salt and pepper
1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dillweed or about 1/4 teaspoons dried dillweed
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano or basil, or about 1/2 teaspoon dried
3 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Line a baking pan with nonstick foil. Heat oven to 400°.
 Arrange chicken on the baking pan and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 20 minutes. Turn and continue baking for 15 to 20 minutes longer, or until chicken is thoroughly cooked. Remove from the oven, let cool, and chop.
 Combine 1/2 cup of mayonnaise with the herbs and lemon juice. Mix with the chopped chicken and add more mayonnaise, as needed, to taste. Stir in salt and pepper, to taste.

 Serve in sandwiches or on lettuce with avocado slices or sliced tomatoes.
Serves 4 to 6.

Chicken Burger with Tropical Fruit Salsa

There’s no need to give up burgers just because you’re on a heart-smart diet. These juicy chicken burgers, topped with a Caribbean-inspired tropical fruit salsa, are absolutely delicious. Complete the meal with oven-baked chips.

 

Ingredients:

1 small pineapple
 1 small mango, peeled and finely chopped
 1 small red onion, finely chopped
 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander
 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
 1 teaspoon canola oil
 500 g ground chicken
 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and shredded
 1⁄4 cup dry breadcrumbs
 4 thin slices reduced-fat Cheddar cheese
 4 hamburger buns or soft rolls, preferably whole wheat, split
 4 lettuce leaves

Peel, core, slice and chop the pineapple (you need 2 cups) and place in a bowl. Mix in the mango, onion, coriander, lemon juice and oil. Cover and set aside.
Mix the chicken, apple and breadcrumbs in another bowl until blended. Divide the mixture into 4 equal portions and shape into patties about 1 cm thick. Place the chicken burgers on a plate, cover, and place in the freezer for 20 minutes.
Preheat the broiler or barbecue. Cook the chicken burgers until browned and cooked through.
For each chicken burger, place a slice of cheese on the bottom of a hamburger bun, cover with lettuce, add a patty, top with about 1⁄2 cup tropical fruit salsa, and crown with the top of the bun.
 

Preparation time: 20 mins
 Cooking time 15 mins, plus 20 mins chilling
 Serves 4

Tip: To help patties keep their shape during cooking, mix and shape them from cold meat, then firm them up by chilling in the freezer for 20 minutes or in the refrigerator for 1 hour. 

 Source: Cook Smart for a Healthy Heart, Reader's Digest Canada

Stir-Fried Honey Ginger Chicken

Ingredients:

1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
1/4 cup minced peeled fresh ginger
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 red, orange, or yellow bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
Cooked rice, for serving
Fresh cilantro leaves, for serving

Method:

In a small bowl, stir together honey, vinegar, and soy sauce. Heat a large skillet or wok over high until hot. Add 1 tablespoon oil and swirl to coat skillet. Add chicken and stir until opaque but not cooked through, about 3 minutes; transfer to a plate.

Add 1 tablespoon oil, ginger, and garlic to skillet and stir until fragrant, 30 seconds. Add peppers and stir 2 minutes. Add soy mixture and bring to a boil. Return chicken to skillet and toss until sauce thickens and chicken is cooked through, about 3 minutes. Serve over rice, topped with cilantro.

Parmesan Chicken Sticks

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breasts (3 to 4)
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 extra-large eggs
1 cup seasoned bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
Unsalted butter
Good olive oil
Bamboo skewers (6 to 10 inches long) or ice-cream sticks

Method:

Lay the chicken breasts on a cutting board and slice each diagonally into 4 or 5 large strips.
Combine the flour, salt, and pepper on a dinner plate. Beat the eggs with 1 tablespoon of water on a second plate. Combine the breadcrumbs and Parmesan on a third plate. Dredge the chicken breasts on both sides in the flour mixture, then dip both sides into the egg mixture and roll in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly to coat.
Heat 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saute pan and cook the chicken strips on medium-low heat for about 3 minutes on each side, until just cooked through. Don't crowd the pan. Add more butter and oil and cook the rest of the chicken breasts. Serve each strip on a skewer or stick.
 You can keep the chicken breasts warm for about 15 minutes on a sheet pan in a preheated 200 degree F oven.

Jalapeno Crusted Tilapia

Ingredients:

Bread crumbs, dry, grated, plain, .25 cup
Onion powder, .25 tsp
Jalapeno Peppers, .25
Savory dash
Mozzarella Cheese 1 oz
Romano Cheese, 1 oz
Pepper, black, 1 dash
Water, tap, 1 fl oz
Salt, 1 dash
Margarine, soft, 1 tsp
Tilapia filet, 8 oz

Take all ingredients minus the tilapia and mix in a bowl until smooth. Place tilapia in a baking sheet, apply mixture to top of tilapia spreading thinly and evenly. Bake at 400f for 16 minutes.

Number of Servings: 2

Minutes to Prepare: 5
Minutes to Cook: 16

How to make Cheese at Home in 10 simple steps

You can make cheese using ingredients and equipment found in most kitchens. This boiled milk, acid-precipitated cheese is known as paneer. If made with carabao milk, it's kesong puti. Most cheese involves bacterial acidification, rennet coagulation, and pressing.

Ingredients:

2 cups of milk(powder or cows milk)
10 tsps vinegar or lemon juices
Salt
Margarine or butter
Sugar

Method:

1. Place the two cups of milk in the saucepan with pepper, margarine, sugar and then slowly bringing the milk to a boil while stirring constantly. It is very important to constantly stir the milk or it will burn

2. Turn the burner off once the milk is boiling, but leave the saucepan on the element or gas grate.

3. Add 10 teaspoons vinegar/lemon juice to the boiling milk, at which point the milk should turn into curds and whey. Curds are the solid part, whey is the liquid part

4. Stir well with spoon and let it sit on the element for 5-10 minutes.

5. Pass the curds and whey through cheesecloth or a handkerchief to separate the curds from the whey. The curds will be the cheese.

6. Drain and press the cheese using the cloth to get most of the moisture out

7. Open the cloth and add a pinch of salt if desired.

8. Mix the cheese and salt and then press again to remove any extra moisture

9. Put the cheese in a mold or just leave it in a ball type form. Leave it in ball form for putting in fresh green salads and in a mold to make sliced cheese for example.If you put it in a mold do it fast so that the cheese will mold easier otherwise it will harden and not mold as easily.

10. Refrigerate

Chocolate Strawberry Mousse

Ingredients:

100g good quality chocolate
50ml milk
4/5 cup (200ml) thickened cream
100g strawberries, sliced

Method:

Melt chocolate in a bowl over a saucepan of simmering hot water. Heat the milk until boiling then whisk in melted chocolate. Leave to cool.
 Whip 3/4 of the cream until soft peak stage then fold into cooled chocolate.
 Reserve 6 strawberry slices for decoration, place remainder into 6 serving ramekins or small bowls. Evenly spoon in the chocolate mixture. Chill until firm; about 2 hours.
Whip remaining cream and use to decorate top of dessert with remaining sliced strawberries.