Tempting My Palate

Monday, April 19, 2010

Mango Chicken Salad

This recipe is adapted from a Cooking Light recipe. I believe the first time I made it was in one of my college cooking classes, still good after all these years!

Ingredients

3 1/4 cups chopped ready-to-eat roasted skinned, boned chicken breasts

1/2 cup diced peeled mango

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/4 cup sliced green onions

1 tablespoon hot mango chutney

1 tablespoon light mayonnaise

1 tablespoon low-fat sour cream

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger

1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Combine chutney and next 6 ingredients (chutney through pepper) in a small bowl, and stir chutney mixture into chicken mixture. Serve in whole wheat pita for a delicious sandwich!

Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Spring Carrot Cake

This is a recipe out of a Good Housekeeping magazine from 2000. I never make any changes and it always comes out perfect!

Ingredients for cake

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

½ tsp ground nutmeg

4 large eggs

1 cup granulated sugar

¾ cup packed brown sugar

1 cup vegetable oil

1 can crushed pineapple ( 8-8 1/4 oz )

1 Tbs vanilla extract

3 cups loosely packed shredded carrots ( about 6 medium )

1 cup walnuts, chopped

¾ cup dark seedless rains

Ingredients for frosting

1/2 cup softened

1 package (8-ounce) cream cheese, softened

2 tsp vanilla extract
1 package(s) (16-ounce) confectioners'

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 2 9” round pans. Line bottom with parchment paper; grease paper and dust pans with flour.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

In large bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat eggs and granulated and brown sugars until blended, about 2 minutes, frequently scraping bowl with spatula. Beat in oil and vanilla. Reduce speed to low; add flour mixture and beat until smooth, about 1 minute, scraping bowl. Fold in carrots, pineapple, walnuts and raisins.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until toothpick comes out almost clean 55 -60 minutes. Cool on wire rack 10 minutes.

Meanwhile prepare cream cheese frosting. .In large bowl, with mixer at medium-high speed, beat butter, cream cheese, and vanilla 2 minutes or until light and fluffy. Reduce speed to low. Beat in confectioners' sugar until blended. Increase speed to medium-high; beat 2 minutes or until light and creamy and decorate your cake.

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Kale Chips

I have heard about these for awhile now but never made an attempt to try them until recently. All I can say is they are amazingly delicious!

Ingredients
1 bunch kale
2 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs red wine vinegar

sea salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Wash kale and dry completely. I used the salad spinner.

Cut kale away from stem and chop into "chip" size pieces.

Lay kale on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar, sprinkle with sea salt.

Bake for 15 minutes. Check to see if they are crispy, if not turn over and continue cooking for 5 more minutes or until crisp.

Eat immediately or allow to cool and keep in air tight container.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Chicken Enchilada Casserole Recipe

This original Cooking Light recipe uses Salsa Verde instead of enchilada sauce and great northern beans instead of black beans. I have made this dish a lot, it's an easy way get my Mexican fix without blowing up the calories. And it feeds us for days! This time I tried it with the enchilada sauce and it was just as good. Either way, red or green it's a "sure to please" go to dish!

Ingredients

1 tablespoon canola oil
1 cup prechopped fresh onion
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
Dash of ground red pepper
2 (15.5-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
2 cups shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken
1 cup thinly sliced green onions, divided
1/2 cup sliced ripe olives, divided
18 (6-inch) corn tortillas, divided
Cooking spray
2 cups (8 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese, divided
1 cup non-fat milk
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (16-ounce) can enchilada sauce

10 tablespoon reduced-fat sour cream

Cilantro sprigs (optional)

Directions

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add prechopped onion; cook 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in cumin, chili powder, garlic salt, and pepper; cook 1 minute. Stir in beans; cook 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add chicken, 1/2 cup green onions, and 7 tablespoons ripe olives; stir well.

Preheat oven to 350°.
Layer 6 tortillas on bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Spread 2 cups chicken mixture over tortillas; sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese. Repeat layers once. Top with remaining 6 tortillas.

Combine milk, chopped cilantro, and enchilada sauce in a blender, and process until smooth. Pour over top of tortillas.

Cover and bake at 350° for 35 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese, remaining 1/2 cup green onions, and remaining 1 tablespoon olives. Bake for 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Serve with sour cream. Garnish with cilantro sprigs, if desired.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Homemade Granola with Olive Oil

After trying a friends delicious homemade granola at our "brunch" theme, I knew I had to make some. I searched and searched for the "perfect" recipe but couldn't find it. So I had a little fun of my own using an Alton Brown recipe as a base. I wanted to add flax seeds to this but I didn't have any left, so that will be added to the next batch. It turned out just as I had imagined and I can't wait to try it with my Greek yogurt and berries for breakfast!

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats

1 1/2 cup raw cashews

3/4 cup shredded sweet coconut

2 Tbs brown sugar

1/4 plus 2 Tbs real maple syrup

1/4 cup olive oil

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 cup raisins

Directions

Preheat oven 250 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, coconut and brown sugar.

In a seperate bowl, combine maple syrup, oil, cinnamon and salt.

Combine both mixtures and pour onto 2 sheet pans.

Cook for 1 hour and 15 minutes, stirring every so often. Remove from oven and transfer into a large bowl. Add raisins and mix until evenly distributed. Store in air tight container.