Grilled Chicken Salad

We enjoy making our own salads at home.  The most frequent one I make at home is grilled chicken salad.  Sometimes I use drumsticks; and some other times I use chicken breasts.  

For chicken breasts：

2 pieces of chicken breasts
freshly ground black pepper
2 to 3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice cooking wine
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1/4 teaspoon McCormick grill seasoning of your choice
salt to taste

 

For the salad：

Romaine lettuce
1/2 to 1 avocado
walnuts
almonds
sunflower seeds
dried cranberry
grated parmesan cheese

 

For salad balsamic vinaigrette dressing：

1 part of honey
2 to 3 parts of aged balsamic vinegar
2 parts of extra virgin olive oil
freshly ground black pepper
salt to taste

 

Directions：

In a large bowl, add chicken breasts, along with black pepper, soy sauce, rice cooking wine, sesame oil, grill seasoning and salt.  Rub the chicken with spices until it is evenly coated. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple days.

I don’t remove the skin because chicken skin can help chicken meat to stay tender and juicy.  You can remove it after the cooking if you like.

Take the chicken out of refrigerator an hour prior grilling.

Preheat the oven to 450F/232C. I use a toaster oven here because it heats up faster and more efficient.

Heat a cast iron grill pan  over high heat until it gets really hot.  Add chicken breast to the grill pan, skin side down.  Grill for 2 minutes.

That is the good thing about chicken skin for grilling.  I don’t even need to grease the pan or chicken and they don’t stick to the pan.

Flip them over.  See how beautiful the grill marks are? O(∩_∩)O~

Grill for another 2 minutes.

Send the chicken along with grill pan to oven to bake for 6 to 12 minutes depending on the sizes and thickness of the chicken.

When the chicken is in the oven, I resemble my romaine salads.

Add honey, balsamic vinegar, salt, black pepper and extra virgin olive oil to a small bowl or jar.  Whisk until everything is well combined.

Dice the grilled chicken breast and add to salads.  Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.

Add salad dressing and these amazingly delicious grilled chicken salads are all done!

 Bon appétit O(∩_∩)O~

Diced spinach and dried smoked tofu salad

中文：香干拌菠菜

It is a very easy and simple Chinese side dish.  The most popular versions are made with wild vegetable found in the field in spring season.  I made simpler by using spinach because it is more accessible in America. 

Ingredients：

2 pieces dried smoked tofu (available in any Asian grocery store and some American grocery stores too)
1 bunch spinach
1/3  to 1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2  to 1 teaspoon sesame oil
salt to taste
water for blanching spinach

Directions：

Dice the smoked tofu into small pea size pieces. 

Rinse the spinach under running water.  Blanch it in boiling water for 5 seconds and then shock it in icy or cold water.  The vibrant green color can be kept by doing so.

Add spinach, tofu, sugar, sesame oil and salt to a medium bowl.  Mix well with a fork or wooden spoon until everything is well combined together. 

It can be served immediately, but the longer it sits, the better it gets. 

Garlic Croutons

 中文： 蒜香面包块

One of the must-haves when I make salad at home is croutons. The garlicky and crunch croutons add so much flavors and textures to the salad.  I can’t have enough of them! O(∩_∩)O~

You can buy your croutons from store, or you can spend several minutes to make a large batch of your own. 

Ingredients：

1 loaf of French bread
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil (preferably in spray bottle)
1 to 2 teaspoons garlic salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325F/ 163°C

Dice up French bread into little bite size cubes, around half by half inch. 

In a large bowl, add bread cubes, shake while spraying the bread with olive oil.  Try to coat bread cubes as evenly as possible.  Sprinkle with garlic salt, shake well again and spread cubes onto a large baking sheet.

Bake the croutons for 20 to 24 minutes or until they are golden brown.  Cool completely on the baking sheet.  Store in airtight zip-loc bag or container. 

Lentil Bean Sprouts Salad

中文菜谱：扁豆小芽菜苗沙拉

I don’t really need to tell you bean sprouts are nutritious, healthy, and good for your body, do I?  I love to grow myself lentil bean sprouts at home.  All I need is quart size mason jars.  It is easy and fun to do so.

My sister and brother-in-law introduced black lentil bean sprouts to us when we were visiting them for thanksgiving holiday.  Black lentil bean sprouts taste better than the yellow one.  They are nutty, crunchy and very refreshing.  I love adding them to my salad, flat bread wraps and sandwiches.  They greatly improve the taste, texture and flavor. 

For each quart size mason jar (which you can buy from amazon),  I use 2 tablespoon black lentils. 

Soak them overnight. Drain well. Cover with cheesecloth or anything you have at hand that can let air in and out.

Rinse and drain the lentil beans once or twice per day.

You will see the sprouts in 2 to 3 days. 

In another 2 to 3 days, they grow longer and bigger.  

In about a week, you can harvest your very own lentil bean sprouts. 

I mostly use them in salad.

Ingredients:

1 tomato, sliced
romaine leaves
1 avocado
A handful lentil bean sprouts
dried cranberry
sliced almond

 

For salad dressing：

2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 and 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoon honey
salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper

 

Directions：

Combine balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, salt and black pepper in a bow.  Whisk until well mixed.

Remove avocado’s skin and core, dice avocado and cut or tear romaine leaves into bite size.

In a big plate, layer the tomato, romaine, avocado, lentil bean sprouts, dried cranberry and sliced almond. Sizzle with balsamic vinegar salad dressing.

Enjoy！