Barefoot Bloggers: Chinese Chicken Salad

It has been declared salad week in my household. I made the decision last week for various reasons: hoping to help the weekly grocery budget and my reclaimed weight gain after the breastfeeding ceased. Naturally, I was very excited that McKenzie of Kenzie's Kitchen chose the first recipe this April: Chinese chicken salad.

I did make a few changes:

• 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Green pepper instead of red
• Omitted sesame oil

The recipe was ridiculously easy to follow. I baked off the chicken earlier in the day and allowed it to cool before assembling the rest. The green bell pepper didn't deter from the flavor, but rather made the whole dish less appealing to the eye. Too much green. I tried toasting the sesame seeds but they seemed to clump together rather than toast. I left out the sesame oil due to budget constraints - $8.99/bottle! I did add just a teaspoon of a new bottle of 18 year old balsamic vinegar. I did feel 1/2 cup of vegetable oil was a bit much. I would have been satisfied with 1/4 cup. I served this up with a hunk of freshly baked bread.

Results: My husband and I loved it! The only thing that was missing was some good crunch. Perhaps some fried wontons, chopped peanuts, or even broken up ramen noodles would suffice. I think the dressing alone was good had I reduced the amount of oil. A jalapeno would have added nice spice. I can see this fitting easily into our weeknight rotation for an easy fix. We have most of these ingredients on hand all the time.

Final Grade: A-

(now if the Croque Monsieur will be so figure friendly....)

Barefoot Bloggers: Chicken Piccata

Lindsey of Noodle Nights and Muffin Mornings chose Chicken Piccata for the recipe this week. I've always wanted to try it - so here was my big chance!

The recipe from Food Network, courtesy of Ina Garten, of course.


The chicken was easily pounded to 1/4-1/2". I find the breading process tedious and time consuming, however that has much more to do with my kitchen setup and lack of appropriate breading trays than the actual process. The chicken breasts cooked quickly in the pan and then moved to the oven for a final heat through while I made the sauce.

Oh, the sauce. I reduced the amount of lemon from the start knowing my husband is not fond of lemon, but holy cow! That was one tart sauce. I added in capers and a small garlic clove. After tasting several times, I smoothed it out with a touch more butter. I tossed capellini quickly in the sauce and served the baked chicken on top with a touch of the remaining sauce.



Results: My husband wasn't fond of the sauce on the pasta, but loved it on the chicken. I thought the sauce tasted much better on the food than alone - it reduced the tartness. The chicken, though, was superb! The breading was perfect. The chicken moist and delicious. I can't wait to use it for chicken parmigiana. I'm not sure I'll make the "piccata" part again.

Final Grade: B