ARCHIVED RECIPES.... If you recently saw a Recipe of the Week you were wishing to try, but came back too late to print it off, please peruse the recipes below. *************** Z’s HOT CHICKEN SALADServes 4 – 8Ingredients:6 BONELESS CHICKEN BREASTS (ORGANIC) skinned½ of one small ONION, diced ½ tsp. SEA SALT1 large CAN PINEAPPLE CHUNKS (not crushed) in juice, reserve juice2 – 3 cups WATER
1 small can sliced WATER CHESTNUTS, drained and roughly chopped 1 cup SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE, cut into ½” large chunks BLACK PEPPER to taste 2 Tbsp. MAYONNAISE or VEGAN MAYO1 1/3 cup plain YOGURT Procedure: 1. In a medium/large frying pan, simmer breasts, diced onion and salt in drained pineapple juice and enough water to cover breasts halfway, for about 20 minutes; remove breasts and reserve on a plate. Preheat oven to 350F degrees. 2. Turn heat under saucepan to medium –high and continue to reduce chicken and pineapple “broth” until half of the liquid remains; 3. In medium sized casserole, add: 2/3 of the pineapple chunks (more or less according to taste),1/2 of the can of water chestnuts (more or less to taste), cheese, and pepper; - in a small mixing bowl, combine and stir well: mayo, yogurt, and reduced chicken broth;
- Shred chicken with two forks or your fingers and add to mayo mixture, stir, and add to casserole and toss to combine all (this mixture should be quite loose, if more moisture is needed, add a bit of white wine or more juice or even a splash of water);
- cover casserole with aluminum foil and bake at 350F until bubbly, about ½ hour, serve at medium warm temperature. Reheats well and is great as a leftover!
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WATERMELON CUCUMBER SALAD
Chef’s Note: this recipe is easy and so very refreshing, plus it’s visually exciting! Use EITHER the mint or the cilantro, but don’t combine them in one salad, the combination of these herbs is not right for this recipe. Also, the seasoned RICE WINE VINEGAR has just the right taste for this combination. You can use other vinegars, but it’s just not the same, I’ve tried it.
Chef’s Tip: if you can, slice off the smallest slice off the underside of the watermelon, after washing the outside of the melon very well with a mixture of 1 Tbsp. vinegar and 2 cups water. Then use a thin sharp knife and embed the whole blade deeply into the melon and cut off the top 1/3 in an interesting shape. Remove the top of the melon and carve out all the meat in big chunks, using a large metal spoon. Cut your 1” cubes of melon, per recipe below, from those meat chunks. Then, continue to carve out the remaining meat from the melon and when the salad is finished, pour back into the bottom of the melon and serve from there, garnishing with large mint or cilantro fronds and perhaps some edible flowers for a spectacular presentation! 1 small WATERMELON, rinsed in mixture of 1/3 vinegar and 2/3 water, cut per instructions in Chef’s Tip above 2 CUCUMBERS, ENGLISH (seedless) or regular, peel if not organic and remove seeds from the regular cucumber using a large spoon, then cut into 1” square chunks to match size of watermelon chunks 1/3 cup SEASONED RICE WINE VINEGAR ¼ cup FRESH MINT or FRESH CILANTRO, washed and risnsed well, then pinched into small pieces using your clean thumb and pointer finger nails SEA SALT and freshly cracked BLACK PEPPER, to taste PROCEDURE: 1. Cut watermelon chunks and cucumber chunks to be the same size; 2. Place chunks in a non-reactive (glass or plastic) bowl and refrigerate until time to serve; 3. Remove from refigerator and finish with sprinkling of rice wine vinegar, salt and pepper and fresh herbs; 4. place all in the carved out watermelon carcass, if using, or in a pretty bowl if not using the melon carcass; 5. Finish garnishing with fronds of mint or cilantro and serve well chilled. This salad is just a fantastic summer salad and goes well with just about anything you would serve for dinner or lunch! | SOYBANZO-PECAN BURGERS ….so simply superb with Chimi-Churri and Vegan Mayo Chef’s Note: use any combination of beans, as long as they are organic. Rice Pilaf: use any combination of brown rice or Forbidden Rice. Boullion cube: I use the boullion cube so no extra liquid is added to the mixture, which would happen if I used vegetable stock or broth. Nuts: use any combination you like, just make sure to use raw and unsalted. Chef’s Tip: leftover burgers can be formed and stacked between layers of saran wrap or waxed paper, then set inside a freezer ziplock bag with all the air removed and frozen for 3 weeks. Thaw in the refrigerator for 4 - 8 hours, then cook as described below.
Makes 5 burgers
INGREDIENTS: 1 15 oz. CAN ORGANIC SOYBEANS, drained
1 15 oz. CAN ORGANIC GARBANZO BEANS, drained 1 cup COOKED RICE (I like the Whole Foods Wild Rice-Brown Rice-Orange Lentil pilaf)
SALT AND PEPPER TO TASTE
1 SALT FREE ORGANIC VEGETABLE BOULLION CUBE
½ cup RAW UNSALTED PECANS
½ cup RAW UNSALTED SUNFLOWER SEEDS PROCEDURE: COMBINE FIRST FIVE INGRDIENTS in a FOOD PROCESSOR AND PULSE UNTIL WELL COMBINED (do not use a blender as the mixture will be too soupy and lose the crunchiness you will want in the final product); ADD NUTS AND SEEDS AND JUST PULSE 2 or 3 times TO COMBINE; REFRIG at least one hour to harden AND form INTO 3/4" thick PATTIES; IN PREHEATED PAN, FRY IN GRAPESEED OR COCONUT OIL (these two oils are not toxic when heated. Olive oil is toxic when you cook with it, so make the switch to Coconut or Grapeseed or peanut oils); Get a nice brown on them before flipping, then flip onto other side and cook until heated through, about 4 minutes each side on medium heat; SERVE WITH CHIMI-CHURRI AND VEGAN MAYO on top
CHIMI-CHURRI: 2 Tbsp. MINCED GARLIC IN OIL or 6 large GARLIC CLOVES, minced 1 cup total volume of minced FRESH HERBS (parsley, cilantro, basil, mint, dill or any combination you like) 2 Tbsp. EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL or GRAPESEED OIL mince garlic and herbs and place in a small bowl. Add salt and oil and mix to combine, allow to sit at least 1/2 hour to allow the flavors to meld.
VEGAN MAYO: Refrigerate for 1/2 hour to slighly thicken mayo, which will not be as thick as regular mayonnaise, but you will soon LOVE THIS NEW SAUCE! makes 1/2 cup... IN LARGE BOWL, COMBINE: 2 Tbsp. DIJON MUSTARD and a pinch SEA SALT, using a fork or metal whisk to combine; Add: 3 Tbsp. OAT MILK and mix well;Drizzle by the drop full, whisking constantly: 1/4 cup GRAPESEED OR OLIVE OIL; Add: 1 tsp. VINEGAR (use any kind except balsamic); Finish with a squeeze of FRESH LEMON JUICE
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