Tarragon Chicken Salad

I'm going to be completely honest, I thought I hated tarragon before I even tasted it. It was one of those herbs that just sounded overpowering and unpleasant, so I avoided it whenever I saw it in a recipe.

My suspicions about not liking it where further confirmed when I smelled it for the first time. It was musky, bitter, and smelled like licorice—and I'm not talking about the delicious cherry-flavored vines you get at movie theaters; I mean the black, anise-flavored licorice, which is not my cup of tea.

The first time I eventually tried it was at my friend's house for lunch. I winced and pleaded with her to only add half the amount in the chicken salad in case I ended up actually hated it. Since it was her first time trying it, too, she happily obliged and added less than half than what the recipe called for. When we tasted the salad we both had one of those "AHA!" moments. It was delicious. So fantastic that we didn't just put in the missing half of the herb, but added more.

The scent of tarragon turns out to be absolutely nothing like the actual taste of it when it's mixed with poultry and fish. It completely enhances the flavor of the chicken salad and takes that simple meal to an entirely new level. Mixed with chicken it becomes peppery, sweet, tangy, and completely addicting. It also goes great with tuna salad, and I'm anxious to start using it in other recipes.

Made with a few less ingredients than below (only what I had on hand) and served on Wasa Flatbread with avocado. Yummy.

Tarragon Chicken Salad

adapted from Life with the Cappellano Family

Ingredients 

1 pound cooked chicken breast, shredded or diced

½ cup mayo

¼ cup sour cream

¼ cup fresh tarragon

2 celery stalks, diced

¼ cup onions, diced

½ pint cherry tomatoes, cut in half

4 oz. red or green grapes, cut in half

½ teaspoon garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste
1 tablespoon green chile or jalapenos, diced (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together, chill and serve!

(Use this recipe as a starting off point! If you like creamier chicken salad, add more mayo or sour cream. If you want to be a bit healthier, use the low-fat varieties. Skip the onions and tomatoes if you don’t like them, and don’t fret if you’re out of grapes! Use what you have on hand, just don’t forget the tarragon!)   

{Head on over Jessica Lynn Writes for your chance to win a Barilla pasta-sauce pack! Deadline to enter is tomorrow night!}

I'm back, with Salmon :)

Where in the world have I been?! That's a good question! You're probably thinking that I'm not the most reliable person in the world, that's alright, I look like a flake. Really it's just been a season of non-cooking. Dieting and hot weather definitely doesn't make me want to cook. So I got in a slump. But I'm here! Don't let me fail!! Hold me to it, I wanna be here!!! So on to the food. Considering it's blazing hot here in Albuquerque I absolutely don't want to turn on the stove or oven. This is the time of year I'll grill everything.... or get take out. Instead of take out I turned on the grill and made the EASIEST salmon I've ever made. You could do this with any fish really, but salmon is just so wonderful! And very very diet friendly. So if you managed to sit through that entirely too long blog post and are still interested here's the recipe!!

Salmon a La Easy

Ingredients:
1 large salmon fillet- cut into 4 steaks
1 lemon- sliced and seeded
Garlic- 2 Tbsp minced
Salt- to taste
Pepper- to taste
Olive Oil- 2-3 Tbsp
Fresh Basil- handful chiffonade (long strips)

Directions:
Season the salmon steaks with salt and pepper. Cover each steak with a generous amount of olive oil and rub them with garlic. Sprinkle the basil over each one and place a lemon slice on each steak. You can let this sit in the fridge all day or 1/2 an hour, your choice. If they look dry put more oil on, you can't hurt em! Make four foil packets. Fold three edges of a square piece of foil, leaving one end open. Pour a little oil in the packet so the fish won't stick. Place a piece of salmon in each packet and close it up! When your grill is hot and ready take each salmon packet and place them on the grill. I grilled mine on low for about 8-10 minutes. Close it up and leave it alone! Take them off the grill when the meat is still pink but firm. If you overcook them the meat will be dry and lacking in flavor. Take them out of the foil, pour the juices out of the foil onto the fish and ENJOY! I served mine with brown rice and green beans. I cooked the green beans in foil packets on the grill as well!!! Easy peasy!!!!

Marinate

Place salmon in packet

Close it up.

Put on the grill until cooked!

Easy easy easy!!

Summer Berry Tart

I have a confession to make. Well, it's not really a confession, but more like a fact: I only like to make something if it's simple. I'm still learning my way around the kitchen and I'm still figuring out what works well together, so if something's too difficult, my eyes glaze right over the directions and I forget about making it.

I always see pretty-looking desserts floating around the Internet, but thought they were way above my baking league. But when I saw a version of this tart on Pinterest I couldn't get over how light and refreshing it looked and knew I wanted to try it. Then I discovered the recipe was from Real Simple and breathed a sigh of relief knowing it had to be easy to make. Luckily, it was extremely simple—just like the magazine claims—and I had the perfect place to take it: a 4th of July barbeque.  

You can use cream cheese, but we really like marscapone (Italian sweet cream cheese), so that's what I used. You can also top it with whatever berries you want. The one shown here is clearly decorated like a flag, but I also made one with a mixture of blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries. Frozen puff pastry is my new favorite ingredient and I'm already dreaming of other things to make with it.

Sweet Berry Tart

adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients:

2 8-ounce sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed
1 egg, beaten  
2 tablespoon granulated sugar 
8 ounces marscapone (or cream cheese, softened) 
1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest 
6 tablespoons confectioners' sugar
3 cups berries

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 375° F. On a lightly floured surface, unfold the sheet of pastry and roll it into a rectangle, smoothing out creases. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet.
2. Using the tip of a knife, score a 1-inch border around the pastry without cutting all the way through. Brush border with egg and sprinkle with granulated sugar. Bake until golden and puffed, 17 to 20 minutes.
3. Using the tip of a knife, rescore the border of the cooked pastry without cutting all the way through. Let rest until cool to the touch. Gently press down on the center of the pastry sheet to flatten it. Let cool to room temperature, 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, with an electric mixer, beat the marscapone until smooth. Add cream, vanilla, lemon zest, and 5 tablespoons of the confectioners’ sugar; beat until smooth (will thicken up over time). Gently brush flakes from the center of the pastry off; spread mixture evenly within the borders of the pastry.
5. Arrange the berries on cream mixture and sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of confectioners’ sugar.

Berry Rhubarb Pie

My husband and I went to Costco last week—a big deal since the closest one is an hour away—and we went to town buying fruits and veggies. With an abundance of strawberries and blueberries, we knew we needed to make something with them other than plopping them in our morning smoothies. So we (or I should say my husband) made what he makes best: pie!

Last year we really wanted to make a rhubarb pie, but we procrastinated and missed rhubarb season. Whoops. This year we didn't take any chances and bought rhubarb the second we saw it, and since we had a plethora of berries on hand, we decided to make a Strawberry Blueberry Rhubarb Pie. Or a StrawBluBarb Pie, if you will. As with most berry pies, the fruit will release a lot of liquid, so it's best to let it sit and thicken a bit before digging in...if you can wait that long

I'm pretty sure this is my new favorite pie, especially for the summer. The blueberries popped with sweetness, the strawberries tasted like snozberries...naturally, and the rhubarb complimented the berries sweetness by making my cheeks pucker just a bit. Do yourself a favor and make this pie—or a variation of it with whatever berries you have on hand!

Berry Rhubarb Pie

adapted from All Recipes

Ingredients

• 3 cups fresh strawberries, hulled and cut (if needed) into bite-sized pieces
• 2 cups blueberries
• 2 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp cinnamon  
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon melted butter or butter spray
• 2 tablespoons white sugar
• two prepared pie crusts

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. In a medium bowl, combine berries and rhubarb. In a separate small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon. Sprinkle over fruit mixture and stir gently. Let sit for about 15 minutes. Gently stir again, making sure flour and sugar mixture isn't clumpy.
3. Mix lemon juice into fruit filling, then spoon into pastry-lined pie pan. With the other crust, either make a lattice top (in photo) roll completely out and place over filling. Crimp edges and cut steam vents in top. 
4. Brush lightly with butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar.
5. Bake for around 40–50 minutes, or until filling is bubbling thick and crust is golden brown.

Fish "Tacos"

My husband and I have been on the South Beach diet for about 2 weeks now. The first 2 weeks eliminates all grains and fruit, needless to says it's been hard. Also the food has become rather monotonous. Most dinner's consist of a protein and a mound of veggies. Not that it's tasted bad but it's BORING. Which is where these fabulous fish "tacos" come into to play. I certainly can't have tortillas (corn or flour) so I substituted the tortilla with lettuce. I wasn't too optimistic about this but I couldn't stand one more night of grilled fish and a mound of green beans. To my surprise they turned out amazing! I would eat these even if I could eat carbs. SO GOOD! Give these messy (you'll need a few napkins) "tacos" a chance. You'll be a believer.

Fish "Tacos"

Ingredients:
5-8 Fillets white flaky fish (I used Dover)
Cilantro- 1/2 a bunch roughly chopped
Garlic- 2 Tbsp
Onion Powder- enough to season each fillet
Seasoned Salt- To taste
Tequila- 4 Tbsp
Lime juice (2-3 small limes)
Sugar 1 tsp or substitute (I used 1 pkg Truvia)
Olive Oil- Start with a 1/4 cup + more for fish
Diced Tomatoes- 1 15 oz can rinsed and drained
Black Beans- 1 15 oz can rinsed and drained

Directions:
Season each fillet with Olive oil, Onion powder, Seasoned salt, and lime juice. Grill or pan sear each fillet. Set aside. In a small bowl whisk together the juice of two limes, tequila, garlic, 1/2 of chopped cilantro, olive oil and sugar (add more oil and sugar to taste). Set aside. Add 1/4 cup of the vinegarette to a pan over medium heat. Once heated through add rinsed tomatoes and black beans. Once cooked through add another 1/4 cup of vinegarette and flake the fish into the pan. Cook for 5 minutes or until heated through. Spoon the mixture into rinsed romaine leaves and top with reserved cilantro. Enjoy!