Quick Chicken Soft Tacos

I've been doing a lot of variations on salsa this summer. In the winter I sometimes find salsa to be too light and unsatisfying, but in the hotter months I find I'm using it left and right, on eggs, on top of fish, and this time, to fill a soft taco.

For this dish I used a little leftover basmati rice for The Hubs, as he likes more of a burrito than a soft taco, but I made mine using just the chicken and Corn & Black Bean Salsa.

First I took two chicken breasts and cut them into bite-sized pieces. I sprinkled them with salt, ground cumin, and chili powder and rolled them around until evenly coated. (About 1/2 tsp each.)

Then in a non-stick pan on medium-high heat and with a bit of olive oil, I cooked the chicken until opaque, about 5-7 minutes.

This salsa is really the clincher of the dish, as it has the most flavor.

A little sautéed shallot, corn, 1 pat of butter, black beans (from soup), and a heap of fresh cilantro.

Sweet, savory, and bright all at once.

This would also taste fabulous with some of my Avocado Purée slathered on the tortilla before filling it (which is how I ate the leftovers for lunch the next day!) but all told this dinner took under 20 minutes start to finish. 

And The Hubs had seconds, so you know it was pretty good.

Breakfast Zucchini Pizza

Take home your leftovers whenever possible.

Because really, you've paid for your meal, you may as well get to eat it all!

Granted, some things are harder to rejuvenate the next day, but in general, I'm all for doggy bags. Especially as I am more of a Grazer than a 3-Squares-A-Day type of gal.

Below see a gorgeous half zucchini pizza from Franny's that I just could not finish the night before.

Now known as Breakfast Pizza.

I opted to add a poached egg because I like the runny yolk and soft white, but if that's not your style an egg fried in bacon fat would be a perfect topper for this (including some crumbled bacon, of course.)

You've got carbs, vegetables, and protein ready to go.

Just make sure to use a skillet to re-crisp your pizza crust while your egg is cooking.

I do not understand countries that don't believe in doggy bags.

Like my dear beloved Italy, a country that knows not to waste stale bread because they can thicken soups with it or make a panzanella salad, but they don't believe in taking home leftovers.

Luckily I'm writing this in the USA, so doggy bags are go!

Get creative with your leftovers next time.

Linguine a la Cioppino

This is an alternate use, or use for any leftover Cioppino base that you may have on hand.

Lately I have been devouring cioppino, a.k.a. Italian fish stew. I just love it as a light dinner of fish poached in a light but flavorful tomato base with a hunk of bread to sop up the remains.

Also, once you have made the base and have it in your fridge, dinner only takes 10 minutes.

And as previously stated, in the summer, having any source of heat at a minimum is best.

This time around I only had enough for one, so I decided that just using it as a base for pasta and clams might be good.

And it was.

Above you see the sand and grit that was expelled from the clams when I put them in a bowl of cold salted water for half an hour. 

Do not skip this step, as you definitely do not want all of that crud in your food!

With the pasta already dropped into boiling salted water, I brought the leftover cioppino stew base up to a simmer and added the cleaned clams.

Put the lid on the pot and let it bubble for 6-7 minutes, or until all the clams have opened.

Give the pot a jiggle every few minutes if the clams are cramped for space to open.

I prefer to remove the shells before serving so there's less mess while eating.

Discard any clams that do not open.

Add the cooked pasta to the cioppino sauce for the last minute of cooking.

This really could have served two people in the end, so I'll remember that for next time.

But it turned out quite nicely, kind of like a cross between red clam sauce and marinara, but with the undertone of fennel.

Nice change-up from the usual fish stew.

Cilantro & Lime Chicken

It's a fiesta in your mouth!

Or, you know. Dinner.

My thanks to Google and MyRecipes.com for helping me find this dish.

To start with, create the marinade.

1/4 cup lime juice, 1/2 cup chopped cilantro, 6 cloves of garlic (yowza!), 1 TBSP honey, 1 TBSP evoo, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper.

And as I had a leftover jalapeño, I threw that in for good measure as well.

Place your chicken (I had 5 boneless chicken thighs, the recipe suggests 4 chicken breasts) in the marinade and allow to soak for about an hour.

This recipe said anywhere from 30 minutes to overnight, but I find anything that sits in citrus too long starts to cook like a ceviche and break down, so I just went with an hour or so.

Prep your pan with a bit of olive oil on medium-high heat and drop in your chicken.

(Tho if you have access to a grill, that will give this dish a much richer flavor.)

Make sure you discard the marinade as you do not want to eat anything that has had raw chicken soaking in it.

This is a nice change-up from the usual things I make, with a decent tang and a bit of zip from the jalapeño I added.

Give it a whirl!

Rosemary, De-Thorned

If you don't cook with rosemary that often, you probably just have some dried rosemary in your pantry for those rare occasions a recipe calls for it.

Or maybe that's just me, but I use it in such small quantities here and there that I never use up all the fresh rosemary I would buy, and I can only infuse so many bottles of olive oil with leftovers!

Unfortunately, dried rosemary is immensely prickly, and you can't chop it up the way you can with fresh (tho frankly even fresh rosemary is quite prickly!) so you probably end up with spiky twigs in your finished dish.

Here is my forehead-slapping-ly obvious solution:

The good ol' Mortar & Pestle.

Place however much dried rosemary you need at the bottom, and add a pinch of kosher or sea salt (not table salt, as that is too fine to assist in breaking down the rosemary.)

Give it about a minute or so of really solid grounding, rubbing it against the sides as if stirring vigorously.

There may be a few stubborn twigs left (probably stems anyway) but you should be left with an only slightly coarse yet pungent powder that will dissolve nicely into gravy, or that you can use to stuff a roll of pork, chicken, or lamb, and not worry about anyone getting stabbed in the tongue.

It seems obvious, but if you don't use your mortar and pestle that often, you can forget that you have one!

Turbot with Avocado Purée & Pineapple Salsa

OK, I have come up with the finishing element to round out my previously posted meal:

avocado purée.

1 ripe avocado, 2 TBSP fresh lime juice, 2 TBSP diced shallot or red onion, 1/4 cup cilantro, 1 seeded jalapeño pepper, and salt to taste.

Place everything in a food processor and blend until smooth.

If your avocado is still a bit under-ripe, you can add 1 tsp of low-fat mayo or greek yogurt to help bring about a creamier consistency.

This meal was made with 2 rather huge turbot filets, which I seasoned with salt and a bit of chili powder before sautéing in a combination of butter and olive oil.

I had issues turning the huge filets over. 

So much for presentation.

I added a splash of white wine to the pan after turning the fish, for just a little extra touch of flavor in the fish itself.

As the side dish (tho the Hubs preferred it on top of his fish) I made what was almost my new favorite pineapple-mango salsa, except I didn't have any ripe mango, so it's just 1/3 of a cored pineapple with 1 seeded jalapeño, half a medium shallot finely diced, the juice of one lime, salt, and a little drizzle of agave.

It's best to let the shallot and jalapeño mellow in the lime juice and a couple pinches of salt while you dice up the pineapple, so they are not as sharp when bitten into.

This salsa is better if you make it a few hours ahead as well, so the flavors and juices can really combine.

Not-so-sexy shot of the avocado purée on the plate, awaiting the hot fish on top.

Drizzle any pan juices over the fish.

The richness and zing from the avocado purée is exactly what this meal was missing before. 

Fish with fruit salsa may be great hot weather food, and even diet food, but I needed a little something more substantial to round everything out, and I was quite pleased with this finished dish.

Try it out!

Black Bean & Corn Salsa

I think I selectively forget how delicious black beans and corn can be, as corn is technically a carb and not the healthy vegetable we all wish it to be.

The side dish is really the star of this meal, so forgive me if I glaze over the chicken a bit.

Well, I guess I should tell you something.

I took three (rather small) chicken breasts and seasoned them with a bit of ground cumin, chili powder, salt, and a very small dusting of ground cinnamon. 

Sauté in olive oil until opaque in the middle and remove. Optional spritz of fresh lime juice once off the heat.

Toss in some diced shallot and garlic, deglaze the pan with some chicken stock, increase the heat to reduce and form a quick pan gravy.

Some of the seasoning from the chicken should be left in the pan to flavor the gravy, so just a little salt should round it out.

Spoon a little over each breast and the chicken is done.

Now for the good stuff.

Now I know a proper cook would use dried beans and soak them and then cook them and season them accordingly, but frankly, there's a reason there's a market for canned beans.

We're in a rush!

Also, it's summer in New York and we've had almost a solid week above 90º and no one wants to be cooking anything for more than five minutes.

As it is summer while I am typing this, you can find lovely fresh corn everywhere.

However, should you be making this in the dead of winter and the bag of frozen corn you found on the door has serious freezer burn, fear not. There's a way to resuscitate your desiccated corn.

Simply place it in a hot pan with a pat of melted butter and a splash or two of water, season with a pinch of salt, and bring the whole mess up to a simmer. Allow the corn to cook in the buttery liquid until it has largely been absorbed, 2-3 minutes, and you should have sweet and plump kernels once more.

For THIS dish tho, I used half a medium shallot, diced and lightly cooked in a bit of olive oil.

Next I threw in the corn and a pat of butter.

My SUPER cheat for this recipe, and I feel no shame in it, is that I use Goya black bean soup instead of regular black beans. I just strain (and reserve) the soup liquids and throw the already cooked and seasoned black beans into my dish, and I'm DONE!

Well, a few tablespoons of chopped fresh cilantro, taste for salt, and then I'm done.

And it is delicious!

Sweet and savory and bright and perfectly balanced.

This by itself would make a great picnic side, or even a vegetarian lunch by itself, as it works just fine at room temperature.

The Hubs greatly approved of this meal as corn is one of his favorite foods, but I don't serve it that often as it is largely devoid of nutrition, so he gobbled this down in no time.

If you want to be a bit healthier, go 2-1 beans to corn for more protein and fiber. I went about 1-1 because that's just how much I had on hand.

Also, the leftovers when it hits 96º tomorrow will be delicious and completely effortless!

Scallops on White Bean Purée

As per my current norm, I had these delicious Garlic White Beans made and in my fridge for snacking and side-dish purposes. 

Then, there was a special on diver scallops, which are always good for a meal since they cook in under 5 minutes.

You can see where I'm going with this...

Hot pan with a bit of olive oil, add lightly seasoned scallops.

(Do not rush the pan. Wait until it has gotten fully hot, or you will not get a nice crust on your scallops!)

2-3 minutes on the first side, and flip.

About a minute into cooking the second side, add a pat of butter to the hot pan.

Swirl/spoon the melted butter over and around the scallops for another minute.

Done.

Place on a plate with puréed garlic white beans, drizzle the now browned butter from the pan on top, and call it an appetizer.

Of course, the dish above has WAY more bean purée than you would normally serve with 3 scallops, but as this comprised the entirety of my lunch, I needed more beans to round out the meal.

But throw in a nice crisp baby-greens salad with a lemony vinaigrette and you might have a lovely light dinner for a hot night.

Pineapple-Mango Pollock

It is currently "99º feels like 112º" at noon in NYC.

Cooking is at a minimum.

I made this delicious pineapple-mango salsa again and used it over some very quick-cooking pollock.

(Or tilapia, flounder, turbot... whatever has a good price.)

Minimal stove time is a plus right now.

That said, it was nice, but maybe missing a little something.

I have an excellent idea for the next time I make this.

Which if this heatwave continues much longer, may be in just a few days.

Stay tuned... and cool if you can.

Milanese Into Meatballs

I do suggest cooking your meatballs... and I did. 

I just forgot to take an "after" photo.

I don't know about you, but whenever I'm breading anything I tend to have a ton of leftover flour and breadcrumbs in my assembly line.

I came up with a solution the other day when I was making Pork Milanese: meatballs!

I got the hubs to pick up a pound of pork and a pound of beef on his way home, and once I was done cooking our dinner, I mixed up a batch of meatballs with the leftover breadcrumbs (complete with grated pecorino), beaten egg, and used the leftover flour to dust the outsides before cooking.

Ready to go.

Start by mixing all your breadcrumbs, cheese, herbs, and optional egg together before adding the meat, so you do not overwork the meat and make it tough.

These meatballs were made entirely off the cuff, so I have no measurements.

Luckily, it all worked out and they were quite tasty.

I chose to bake these in the oven since I made so many (and then they could bake while I was digesting my dinner instead of having to cook them in sauce on a stove and then clean even more pots and pans.)

I think it was about 20 minutes or so at 400º and they were nicely cooked through without being dried out.

Hint: roll the meatballs in flour and shake off excess before pan-frying. If you do that before baking in the oven, you will just have white crusty crud on the outside. Either douse with olive oil before baking, or skip the roll in the flour completely.

No matter how you cook them or how you season them, meatballs are a great solution to excess breading station leftovers!

(Just make sure to make them all the same day.)

5

While I could probably post the promised clever solution to leftover breading stations, instead I am gussying up and off to see the final "Harry Potter" movie in IMAX, followed by a delicious dinner at Boulud Sud that may or may not send me into a delightful food coma.

Which is to say, it is the hubs' and my Fifth Wedding Anniversary, and every year we like to combine a little bit of nerd with some very tasty food.

For the past four years Gordon Ramsey's underlings have fed us at his restaurant Maze at The London hotel in midtown NYC (conveniently down the block from the Ziegfeld Theater), but as the service there is quite so cold, even if the food is good, we have opted to go elsewhere this year.

It's also incredibly convenient that the new Daniel Boulud restaurant is only 2 blocks from the IMAX theater by Lincoln Center.

Proximity and tastiness!

5 years ago today!

Pinkies up!

(I really love that dress... damn!)

Pork Milanese

Anything "Milanese" really just means breaded, and possibly pounded out flat.

So this time it's pork loin chops, not pounded out, because I prefer there to be more meat than breading in each bite.

But to each their own.

Standard lineup of flour, beaten egg, and then a combination of panko bread crumbs with a bit of grated parmigiano reggiano mixed in.

Room temperature one inch thick pork loin chops, which I season with salt and a bit of dried ground sage before going through the breading process.

In a skillet on medium high with a tablespoon or two of olive oil in it, cook in batches, making sure not to crowd the pan so the chops get crispy rather than steamed, about 3-4 minutes per side.

You may have to add more oil to the pan when you flip, as the breadcrumbs will absorb some of it as they cook.

Hideous photo, but tasty food.

Finish with a spritz of lemon juice and a side of vegetables, and dinner is done.

Stay tuned for my clever use of the leftover breading assembly line!