Chinese Chicken Salad

As you probably know, I love entrée salads!  And now that warmer weather has returned, I can start serving them for dinner!

The inspiration for this dish came from the Okami Chinese Style Salad Kit that Costco carries.  It is really good, and actually not that expensive ($8.99 for a two-pack).  But I can do it slightly cheaper ($5.36) and keep the ingredients on hand by buying them separately.

The kit comes with grilled chicken (8 oz.), wonton strips (1 oz.), sliced almonds (2 oz.), crispy noodles (2 oz.), and sesame dressing (2/3 c.).  (Amounts are approximate, according to my kitchen scale.)  It contains two of each item so you can make two family-sized salads.

According to package directions, you are supposed to add ten ounces of lettuce.  I always use romaine hearts from Costco.  It comes in a six-pack for only $2.99.  I usually use about 1½ hearts of romaine per salad, which comes out to about 12 ounces of lettuce.

I purchase the crispy noodles and almonds from the bulk bins at WinCo.  They don’t carry the wonton strips in the bins, so I have to get them from the salad dressing section when I want them.  I usually just omit them and add more crispy noodles since they are cheaper and contribute a great crunchy texture.

My current go-to Asian dressing is made by Ken’s Steakhouse.  It is called Asian Sesame with Ginger and Soy and is one of their “lite” dressings.  I only buy dressing when it is on sale and usually combine the sale with a coupon, keeping the price down.

You can use any chicken.  I like to use sautéed chicken breasts or chicken that is leftover from other dishes.  Sometimes I buy a Costco rotisserie chicken and use the breast meat.

I normally don’t buy pre-cooked meat from the store, but Costco’s chickens are just so good.  Plus, they only cost $4.99 and are at least 3 pounds!  Grocery store rotisserie chickens cost anywhere from $6 to $8 (over $10 at Whole Foods) and are usually only 1½ pounds, 2 if you’re lucky.

Sometimes I add mandarin oranges to the salad.  Not only does it add some sweetness, but also some great color.

Chinese Chicken Salad (amounts are approximate—just toss some in and adjust accordingly)

12 oz. lettuce, torn

8 oz. chicken, diced

2 oz. sliced or slivered almonds

2/3 c. Asian-style dressing

1 oz. wonton strips

2 oz. crispy noodles

1 can mandarin oranges (optional)

In a large bowl, toss together lettuce, chicken, almonds, and dressing.

Lightly toss in wonton strips, crispy noodles, and mandarin oranges, if using.  Yield:  lots!  (about 25 oz.)  Total cost:  $6.36.

You can also just toss the oranges on top rather than
mixing them in.

I like to send Robbie with salads for lunch.  I just package up the components before I mix them all together.  Be sure to keep crispy items separate from moist ingredients and moist ingredients separate from the lettuce.

Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Pasta

Back in February I wrote about a delicious chicken and sun-dried tomato pasta and mentioned that I was working on a version of it that had a little more sauce.  It just so happened that I had some fresh basil leftover from something else I made and some heavy whipping cream left over as well.  Since I had most of the ingredients on hand, I decided I'd try a creamy version of the recipe.  The results were delicious, though definitely not low in calories.

Creamy Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Pasta
1-2 Tbsp butter
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
Salt and pepper to taste

Garlic powder to taste

1-2 Tbsp olive oil
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup tomatoes, diced
2 Tbsp fresh basil, minced
3 Tbsp sun-dried tomatoes, sliced (I used sun-dried tomatoes that weren't packed in oil)
3/4 cup heavy whipping cream
Fettuccine, cooked according to package directions

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.  Season both sides of the chicken breast with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Place seasoned chicken breast in skillet and cook on both sides until cooked through.  Remove chicken from skillet.  Dice chicken and set aside.

In the same skillet you cooked the chicken, heat olive oil over medium-low heat.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.

Add tomatoes and basil; cook for another 30 seconds.

Add sun-dried tomatoes and chicken; cook for a couple minutes.

Add cream; heating until warmed through and the flavors have penetrated the cream.

You can either toss pasta with the sauce or just spoon some sauce on top of noodles.

A Sunday Post? Yup! One More Tip from My Meat Manager!

As our regular readers will know, we rarely post on Sunday.  A Sunday post means there is something important that we think you need to know ASAP.  Well, that’s the case today!

If you did not read Friday’s “Getting the Most from Your Meat Counter” post, go back and read it now before you continue.

I returned to my Raley’s meat department on Friday in order to pick up my knives.  (Don’t know what I’m talking about?  Go back and read Friday’s post.)  While I was there, my amazing meat department manager told me another great money-saving tip!  He said all grocery stores are lowering the price of hams right now.  As summer approaches, demand for hams decreases.  Consequently, stores want to get rid of all those hams to make room for more summery meat (steaks, ribs….BBQ meats), so the price of hams will keep going down until the stores’ inventory of hams is cleared out.  I imagine these prices wouldn’t be advertised, as they would be dependent upon each store’s inventory.  So be sure to check next time you’re at the store.

A good-priced ham is definitely something we Near to Nothing girls can’t pass up.  You can easily get multiple meals and lunches out of one half-ham.  What can you do with a ham?  We have a few suggestions:

• Quiche
• Ham and potato soup
• Split pea soup
• Grilled ham and cheese sandwich
• Ham and cheese quesadilla
• Omelets

Oh, and my knives are wonderful!!  My utility knife sliced right through a tomato yesterday.

Baby Food: Beef and "Casseroles"

April’s been eating chicken for a few weeks now.  I can tell you I have definitely noticed a change in her diapers.  Fortunately God created a mother’s love stronger than the smell of a poopy diaper.

Since she has now successfully gone through all the food groups, I can start making baby “casseroles.”  Not only does this get multiple food groups in one bowl, but it also allows me to feed her from what we’re eating.

The other day I made taco salad for dinner.  Obviously, April can’t eat taco salad.  But she can eat parts of it.  I threw some black beans, corn, and chicken into the food processor attachment of my immersion blender along with some of the corn cooking liquid.  She devoured it!

April thought it was finger-lickin'-good!

One of the great things about homemade baby food is that you can tell what it is by smelling and tasting it because everything is fresh.  One sniff of April’s dinner and you’d be able to tell that it had beans and corn in it.  Not so with jarred baby food.  Keanna and I recently went to a baby shower.  We played a game where we had to smell six jars of baby food and guess what they were.  I only got one right.  Keanna put pumpkin for just about every one.  She was wrong on all of them.

This past week I introduced April to beef.  I had cooked a cross rib roast in the crock pot to make chili, so I kept some cooked meat aside for April.  I tossed it into the food processor attachment with some pasta, peas, and pea cooking liquid.

Another feeding success!

Getting the Most from Your Meat Counter and a Sweet Deal

Yesterday I went to Raley’s (Nob Hill, Bel Air) to take my knives to be sharpened and prepare for this post.  My plan was to publish it in the next couple of weeks.  But the meat department manager told me of an up-coming e-coupon that I just have to tell you about now so that you can take full advantage of it if you have a Raley’s nearby.  (If you don’t have one, keep reading as there are some great general tips applicable at most major grocery stores.)  So I apologize in advance if this post is a little scattered.  I also don’t have all the pics I wanted to include, but we’ll just have to do without.

My original intent was to talk to someone in the meat department and find out all the services that are offered for free that I’m sure a lot of people never think to take advantage of.  A couple years ago, I was at Raley’s do to a great meat sale.  As I was browsing the meat case, I discovered a container of knife sleeves.  You simply place your non-serrated knives into the sleeves and drop them off in the meat department.  Twenty-four hours later, you can pick up your knives, sharpened!!  And it’s absolutely free!  The only limitation is that you can only drop off three knives at a time.  As I write this, my chef knife, utility knife, and boning knife are at Raley's.  I can't wait to pick them up tomorrow!

Another service that is available is free marinades and rubs.  They don’t just give you a packet to take home with you; they will actually rub and start marinating your meat for you.  Just pick out your meat and give it to a meat counter employee.  This is especially helpful if you plan on cooking your meat that day or the next.

Keep in mind that this is no extra charge to you.  Being me, I never take advantage of the rubs and marinades because I rarely serve meat as the main part of the meal.  But if you do use store-bought rubs and/or marinades, this service can save you quite a bit of money.  Curious to see what the value of these might be, I strolled on over to the BBQ sauce section.  This is what I found for marinades:

Lawry’s marinade packet—$1.59/1.06 oz.

McCormick marinade packet—$0.89/1.06 oz. (on sale)

KC Masterpiece bottled marinade—$3.19/16 fl. oz.

Kinder’s bottled marinade—$4.99/13 oz.

Raley’s bottled marinade—$1.99/12.25 oz. (on sale)

If you buy bottled marinades or marinade packets, you could save a lot of money.  Not only do they give you the marinade for free, but they start it for you!  You can find a list of available rubs and marinades here.

After my experience today, I am convinced that we have the nicest meat department manager there is.  He told me about a number of services they offer:

They will cut roasts into steaks for you.  This is often a more inexpensive way to buy steaks.  If you have a large order, simply call ahead.

If you want a specific type of fish, they can order it for you.  This of course depends on availability.

They will also grind anything from the counter.  This is often a cheaper way to buy ground beef if a piece is on sale for a good price.  You could, for example, pick up a chuck roast when it is on sale and have it ground up for tacos or hamburgers.

They will also trim up a piece of meat for you, though trimming is not always desirable.  Our dad prefers untrimmed tri-tip because the layer of fat helps seal in the juices.

My meat manager also gave me a great tip about beef grades.  The USDA grades beef as Select, Choice, or Prime.  All other factors being equal, a Prime steak will taste better and be more tender and juicy than a Select or Choice steak.  Here’s the key:  this only matters on cuts that come from the middle of the animal (find a beef map here).  Because you “cook ‘em to death” (in the words of my meat man), the grade doesn’t make a difference for tough cuts that come from the shoulder or hind region.

Now for the savings!  Raley’s has an on-going special on meat.  If you buy 6 or more packages of beef or pork, you save 10%, even off the sale price!  (Details here.)  Now, six packages is a lot of meat.  But meat is super freezable.  The idea is to give customers the family pack price without having to buy a lot of the same kind of meat.

And here’s the sweet part:  next week they will be offering an e-coupon for 20% off beef and pork.  Buy 6 packs, you get 30% off—even if it’s already on sale!  Now is the time to stock up the freezer for summer BBQs!

Next time you’re in your grocery store, stop by the meat counter and find out what services they offer.  Then take advantage of them to save you money!

Great for Cinco de Mayo: Chicken and Bean Casserole

Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo.  If we had been more organized, we probably would have more recipes taylored specifically to Cinco de Mayo.  However, with the busyness of life, it snuck up on us and we weren't ready!  I do have one recipe that would be fitting to serve on Thursday: Chicken and Bean Casserole.  While it may not be authentic Mexican fare, it is tasty and has a Mexican flare (I honestly wasn't trying to make that rhyme). 


Chicken and Bean Casserole
1 Tbsp canola oil
2 cups diced chicken
1/2 cup diced onion
3/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup kidney beans
1 cup pinto beans (really, you can use whatever beans you happen to have on hand)
4.5 oz diced green chiles, drained
10 oz enchilada sauce
7-8 corn tortillas
1 cup cheddar cheese
1 cup Monterrey jack cheese
3/4 cup sour cream

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat.  Saute the chicken and onions along with the cumin, coriander, and chili powder until the chicken is cooked through.

Remove from heat.  Add the beans and chiles.  A note on the chiles: I bought a 4.5 oz can of whole chiles and diced them myself.  They were cheaper than diced and I actually got more chiles out of it, since there was less juice than in the chopped cans.  Mix to combine.

Spread 1/3 of the enchilada sauce over the bottom of an 8-in square baking dish.  Place a layer of tortillas over the sauce, followed by half of the chicken mixture, half of the cheese (combine the two types of cheese), and half of the sour cream.

Add another 1/3 enchilada sauce, tortillas, remaining chicken mixture, followed by the remaining 1/3 of the sauce.

Cover tightly with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove the foil; add the remaining cup of cheese and dot with the remaining sour cream.

Bake an additional 5-10 minutes.  Allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before serving.

Garnish with additional sour cream, olives, cilantro, green onion, and/or crumbled tortilla chips, if desired.

We didn't put any garnishes on ours, but I would have liked some olives and green onions.  Also, note that this isn't the most aesthetically appealing dish there is!

More Cinco de Mayo ideas:

• Taco soup
• How to roast your own chiles
• Bean and cheese burritos
• Chicken quesadillas
• Sweet tortilla soup
• Barbacoa
• Enchilada casserole
• Pico de Gallo
• Tangy chicken tortilla soup
• Bapa's bean dip
• Chimichangas
• Refried beans
• Taco salad
• Beans and rice

Whatever you decide to serve tomorrow, we hope you have fun with it!

Tilapia with Lemon and Capers

We don’t eat very much fish in our house, simply because it is almost always over my two dollar per pound limit on meat.  I know.  A lot of people consider seafood a separate category than meat.  Meat is muscle that comes from an animal.  Seafood is muscle that comes from animals that live in the water.  I’m just not willing to pay more because it doesn’t live on land.

Anyway, a few weeks ago, Safeway had 2-pound bags of frozen tilapia fillets on sale for $5 each.  That’s still more than $2 a pound, but that week’s ad also had a coupon for $5 off if you purchased at least $15 worth of any frozen food items in the store.^*  The sale, combined with the coupon, meant I could buy six pounds (three bags) of tilapia for $10—that’s only $1.67 per pound!  So I stocked up my freezer with tilapia.

I have some grand plans for that fish in my freezer.  But first I would like to share a super simple way to prepare tilapia.  You could use the same method with other types of white fish.

The easiest way to thaw fish is to get it out of the freezer the day before and let it thaw in the fridge overnight.  If you need it sooner, simply submerge it in some cold tap water until it is thawed, about half an hour for thin fillets like mine.

Yup, that's the little basin from the hospital.  It is so useful!

This recipe calls for capers, the bud of a Mediterranean plant.  They are available in most grocery stores.  Look for them near the olives, pickles, or other Mediterranean foods.  They can be quite pricey, especially when purchased in small jars (pictured here).  I have found the most economical way to buy them is in a large jar at Costco.  Because they are pickled, they have a long shelf life.

Tilapia with Lemon and Capers

2 Tbsp. butter

Tilapia fillets

2 lemons

2 Tbsp. capers, drained and rinsed

In large skillet, melt butter over medium heat.

Before adding fillets, test pan by just touching the tip of one fillet to the skillet.  If it immediately sizzles, the pan is hot enough.  Arrange fillets in single layer, allowing room between.

Cut lemons in half and remove seeds; squeeze over tilapia.

Cook 3-5 minutes per side or until just about done (total cooking time will depend on thickness of fillets and temperature of pan). 

When fish is cooked thoroughly, it should flake off.

Add capers to pan and turn off heat.  Allow a couple minutes for carry-over heat to finish cooking tilapia and heat capers.

Yum!

*When I went to pay, the register didn’t take off the $5.  I was told that’s because the frozen tilapia is considered “seafood” and not a frozen food.  Since the coupon said, “…ANY frozen item sold in the store” (emphasis not added), I wasn’t going to let it slide and I demanded to talk to a manager.  I got my $5.