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Mystery Dish: Kale Salad with Sesame-Lime Dressing

September 30, 2014December 14, 2015 Sarah

Kale salad is made over with a tangy and nutty sesame-lime dressing!

Welcome to another edition of Mystery Dish! This month, Zainab from Blahnik Baker was our host and she gave us a fabulous list to make one great dish with, including: sesame seeds, green chiles, green tea/matcha powder, cardamom, ginger, feta, lamb, pinto beans, white wine, prickly pear cactus, and apples. We were supposed to use three ingredients, and I immediately thought of a few directions I could go: an apple dessert, a Mexican dish, or something Asian-y. To me, making an apple dessert [which I’d make anyway countless times this fall] was the easy way out. So was Mexican. That left Asian. What to make, what to make. OH! Sesame. I had sesame seeds and sesame oil… and somehow made an awesome awesome kale salad that has been a constant in our fridge for the past three weeks. Seriously!

I would say that the dressing in all its nutty sesame, citrusy tart lime, intense fresh ginger, and salty soy is the best part of the salad. But then I’d be doing a disservice to the crunchy toasted sesame seeds [I used white AND black] and the dried sweet apples. That’d be so sad. This salad keeps well in the fridge over the course of the week. The dressing softens the kale more and more over time, and is just so fragrant and flavorful! One might think that if you’re making the salad ahead of time it would be better to add the sesame seeds and dried apples just before serving. But surprisingly the sesame seeds stay nice ‘n crisp, and the apples take on a great salty-sweet flavor once they’ve bathed in the dressing for a day or so. Obviously the ultimate choice is up to you–assuming the salad lasts long enough for leftovers–but I highly recommend just tossing it all together and enjoying dish after dish in your lunch all week long.

I’ve never had a salad I’ve had to fight Ben for…this is a first. I mean, he likes salad and kale but this kale salad is out of this world amazing! Enjoy!!

one year ago: Maple Apple Pie-Crisp with Cheddar Crust and Bacon Crumb Topping
two years ago: 1970s Style Tacos
four years ago: Sweet and Spicy Blueberry Pork

Kale Salad with Sesame-Lime Dressing

Servings: 8
Time: 15 minutes
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dressing recipe from freshncrunchy

Ingredients:

1 bunch kale
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
juice of 1 lime [approximately 1/4 cup]
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons maple syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
1/2 cup dried apples, chopped
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:

Wash kale, then remove thick stems and thinly slice leaves into ribbons. Dry with a salad spinner or a kitchen towel. Place in a large bowl.

In a measuring cup, combine extra virgin olive oil, sesame oil, lime juice, vinegar, soy sauce, maple syrup, and ginger. Whisk to combine, then pour half the dressing over the kale. Toss together with salad tongs or your hands, and add as much of the remaining dressing as desired. For extra tender kale, massage dressing into the kale with your hands for a few minutes. Allow salad to rest for at least 10 minutes before serving to soften. Top with chopped apples.

Place sesame seeds in a cold skillet. Set on stovetop over medium heat, and toast for 3-5 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring often. Add sesame seeds to kale salad before serving.

Come check out what else we made this month!

Green Chile Chicken Soup – Chez CateyLou
Crockpot Chicken Chilli Stew – Yummy Healthy Easy
Spiced Apple Crisp – I Want Crazy
Kale Salad with Sesame-Lime Dressing – The Pajama Chef
Spiced Mini Skillet Apple Crisp – Culinary Couture
Pan Seared Pork Chops with Spicy Apple Chutney – Flavor the Moments
Matcha Swirl Cheesecake – Baking a Moment
Green Chile Cheese Pinwheels – I Dig Pinterest.
Baked Apple Donuts with Cardamom Cream Cheese Glaze – Joyful Healthy Easy
Vegan Gluten-Free Ginger Walnut Apple Pie Bars – The Sweet-Tooth Life
Apple Feta Salad with Toasted Sesame Seeds – The Well Floured Kitchen
Apple Cardamon Crisp – Blahnik Baker

Appetizers, Recipes

#10DaysofTailgate: Baked Blueberry Pork Egg Rolls

September 20, 2014May 18, 2017 Sarah

Egg rolls are easier than ever when you bake them up with a savory-sweet blueberry pork filling featuring Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup.

These Baked Blueberry Pork Egg Rolls are a fantastic way to kick off [sorry, I had to do it] the #10DaysofTailgate blogging event that I’m participating in over the next [you guessed it] 10 days. For more info on #10DaysofTailgate check out my intro post from yesterday here. There’s also a giveaway on that post that you do NOT want to miss. Fourteen prize packs, people!!! Wish I could win! 🙂 But no matter what, we are all winners with this fabulous egg roll recipe I’m sharing today. That sounds cheesy but it is so true, folks.

For me, football is all about the food. I’m not a football fan, even though my husband and my dad are obsessed. I’m super thankful that my husband Ben is willing to watch quite a bit of his games at home with the sound turned off. The announcers just drive me crazyyy with all their babbling, and I do try to sit with Ben while he’s cheering on his teams or just enjoying a good game [side note: I don’t understand this concept. Why watch a game where you don’t care who wins or loses? #makesnosensetome]. During these times, I always have a good book, my laptop, and a snack on hand to keep me occupied. I actually made these egg rolls a few weeks ago for the first football Saturday of the year [woohoo] and just couldn’t wait to share them with you! They’re incredibly tasty–the filling is a mix of leftover carnitas, though you could also used ground pork, coleslaw mix, and some seasonings… most notably Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup. This fruit-based sauce [sans tomatoes] has a ketchup-like consistency with tons of sweet, smoky, fruity flavor. It plays very well with soy sauce for a fun and easy dip for the egg rolls.

I’ve had homemade egg rolls before, but haven’t ever made them myself. It turns out they are super easy to roll up. Just follow the photos below! Just place the filling in the center, roll up the bottom, fold in the sides, and roll up! Some of mine looked a little wonky, but that’s part of the fun of homemade, right?! It’s how they taste that matters. 🙂

I baked my egg rolls for an easy/healthy way to enjoy this app, but if frying is your thing they could totally be fried. I was surprised how much crunch the baked egg rolls had. We even had a few leftover that I refrigerated and heated up in the oven later in the week. Boom! Back to crispy perfection. This is such a great snack, you guys! I hope you give it a try! If you’re interested in checking out more about Not Ketchup, be sure to follow them on social media: Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, or Instagram. Enjoy!

Baked Blueberry Pork Egg Rolls

Servings: 6-8
Time: 30 minutes
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Ingredients:

for egg rolls

16 ounces cole slaw mix [shredded green and purple cabbage, carrots]
8 ounces cooked pork [leftover carnitas or cooked ground pork]
3 green onions, green and white pieces, sliced
2 tablespoons Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 package egg roll wrappers [approximately 20 wrappers]

for dipping sauce

3 tablespoons Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon sesame seeds
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line two large baking sheets with foil and spray with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, combine cole slaw mix, cooked pork, green onions, Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup, soy sauce, and ground ginger. Stir and taste–season if necessary. I used leftover carnitas so I didn’t need more seasoning but salt, pepper, etc. may be necessary.

To fill egg rolls, consult the back of the package. 🙂 But seriously, directions should be there. The pictures above can help too. You’ll want to have a small bowl with water and a brush handy, along with a towel to dry your hands and work surface.

Set the egg roll wrapper as a diamond on your work surface. Put 2-3 tablespoons of filling in wrapper at a diagonal. Roll the bottom portion tight over the filling, then fold the left side and then right side over so it looks like an envelope. Brush with a little bit of water to hold everything together, then gently roll the rest of the way, brushing over the seams with water.

Mist with cooking spray, then bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

While egg rolls are baking, stir together ingredients for the dipping sauce.

Let egg rolls cool for 5-10 minutes before serving with dipping sauce. Enjoy!

Note: If you don’t have any Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup on hand or can’t find it locally, I’d recommend using blueberry jam/preserves instead.

Here’s what the team brought to the table…

Starters
Loaded Baked Nacho Supreme by Cheese Curd In Paradise
Baked Blueberry Pork Egg Rolls by The Pajama Chef
Gazpacho Shooters with Spicy Shrimp by OnTheMove-In the Galley
Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Meatball Sliders with BlueCheese Aioli by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventure

Dips
Soft Pretzels and Buffalo Cheese Dip by Things I Make (for Dinner)
Cheesy Bean Dip by Making Miracles
Garden Fresh Salsa by Eliot’s Eats
Pineapple Salsa by The Not So Cheesy Kitchen
Devilish 7-Layer Dip by Miss Laura’s Kitchen

Sips
War Eagle Sangria by Sew You Think You Can Cook
Spicy Strawberry Bourbon Shooters by CafeTerraBlog
Iowa Sunrise by From Gate to Plate

Sides
Deviled Egg Potato Salad by Cooking In Stilettos

Mains
El Diablo’d Lamb Lollipops by Culinary Adventures with Camilla
Ginger Chicken Kabobs by Summer Scraps
Chili by A Day in the Life on the Farm
Spiced Fig and Garlic Chicken Wings by girlichef
Baked Mac and Cheese with Bacon Pretzel Topping by Debbi Does Dinner Healthy
Asian Duck Sliders by Curious Cuisiniere
Pineapple Chile Lime Wings by The Girl In The Little Red Kitchen
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches by Love and Confections

Sweets
Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies by The Spiffy Cookie

Disclosure: I received a complementary bottle of Blueberry White Pepper Not Ketchup to try as part of my participation in #10DaysofTailgate. I was not compensated in any way–for my time, to create a recipe, or to publish positive comments. I was not required to use this product as part of my recipe. My opinions are my own.

Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes

Crockpot Asian Pulled Chicken

September 17, 2014September 16, 2014 Sarah

Dust off your crockpot–this Asian Pulled Chicken is perfect for a chilly night and is a snap to put together!

I don’t do crockpot recipes that involve multiple steps. Isn’t the point of the crockpot to set it and forget it? So this recipe is super simple: place chicken in crockpot, top with a bunch of seasonings/sauces–without even mixing it!, cover, cook, enjoy. Perfect, huh?! Since I prefer to not even have to CHECK on crockpot meals while they’re cooking, I always like to use a bunch of sauce so the meat doesn’t dry out. For this recipe, I combined orange juice, rice vinegar, honey, and some spices with a myriad of Asian sauces I had hanging about in my pantry: soy sauce, hoisin, and oyster sauce…and some of Star Fine Foods’ Asian Cuisine Cooking Oil to give everything a little extra soy/ginger ooomph. If you don’t have all those sauces, don’t worry. One would be more than enough to make this almost barbecue-like sauce shine.

Once you open the lid, you’ll be greeted with the awesome aroma of chicken bathing in a sweet and tangy sauce. There’s citrus and a little heat and ginger and all sorts of good things in there, making that tender, melt-in-your-mouth chicken tastes even better than it smells. Since it was so effortless, I bet you’ll make this recipe again and again and again! Enjoy!

three years ago: Corn Cake Salad
four years ago: Sausage Pepper Penne

Crockpot Asian Pulled Chicken

Servings: 6
Time: 4 hours
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Ingredients:

2 pounds chicken – a combination of chicken breast and thighs is good, or just one works too
1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup hoisin
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup Asian Cuisine Cooking Oil by Star Fine Foods [or 1/4 cup olive oil with 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger + 1 teaspoon soy sauce]
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
rice, for serving
cilantro, for serving

Directions:

Place chicken in crockpot. Add all ingredients to crockpot [except rice and cilantro], then cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Gently shred chicken with a fork. Serve with rice and cilantro.

Chicken, Main Dishes, Recipes, Sides, Vegetables

Pumpkin Chicken Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash

September 15, 2014September 19, 2014 Sarah

These Pumpkin Chicken Meatballs are a fun topping to a garlicky, buttery base of spaghetti squash. Though this dish takes awhile to prepare, it’s totally worth it!

I don’t know about you, but I’m on a quest to eat as much pumpkin in the next three months as possible. It’s my goal to make/blog about at least one pumpkin dish per week! We’ll see how I do. 🙂 So first…I have a confession to make. I made this dish last year. In fact, it was one of the first new recipes I made in our new Nashville kitchen after we moved here last year. And it just didn’t make it on the blog. Oooops! Moving to a new state and starting a new job kinda takes a lot of time. 🙂 But despite the length of time between eating this dish and sharing it here, I think it’s utterly fabulous! Most people think of pumpkin as a sweet ingredient [helllooo pumpkin pie, cookies, bread, muffins, yada yada yada] but I love it when used at dinnertime. Though pumpkin by itself is actually a little bland, it can add some color, moisture, and substance to sauces, meatballs, or soups when used in a savory sense. This was my first time using pumpkin in meatballs and I must say I’m super impressed! These meatballs were sooo flavorful and indulgent… if meatballs can be indulgent, haha.

And don’t forget about the spaghetti squash! It’s garlicky and buttery and just plain perfect. It was Ben’s first taste of spaghetti squash and he loved it… especially because of the bacon. Everything’s better with bacon, right? Even pumpkin! With this dish you’ll certainly have one of the more unique ways to enjoy pumpkin. And it’s awesome! Hope you enjoyyy!

one year ago: Autumnal Muffins
two years ago: Peach Raspberry Clafouti
three years ago: Peach Shortbread
four years ago: Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Pumpkin Chicken Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash

Servings: 6
Time: 2 hours, most of that not active so don't freak out
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from We are not Martha

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
1 pound ground chicken [ground turkey would also work too]
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons Star Fine Foods Butter Olive Oil – or regular butter or olive oil
3 large cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon dried sage
4 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Carefully poke holes all over the spaghetti squash with a sharp knife. Place in a baking dish and bake for 80 minutes, rotating halfway through.

While spaghetti squash is cooking, prepare meatballs. In a large bowl, mix together ground chicken, pumpkin, ginger, thyme, panko, parmesan, and egg. Scoop mixture into golfball-sized balls and place in a baking dish that has been greased with cooking spray. Bake for about 25-30 minutes or until cooked through and crisp on the outside. [Hint: put the meatballs in the oven after the squash has cooked for about 65 or 70 minutes–that’ll be good timing so everything is finished about the same time.]

After 80 minutes, remove squash from oven and let cool.

When cool enough to touch, carefully cut in half. Scoop seeds out, then use a fork to remove the “spaghetti” and set aside.

In a large skillet set over medium heat, add olive oil and cook garlic for one minute. Add squash, sage, and crumbled bacon, then cook for about 3 minutes until tender.

Serve meatballs over spaghetti squash with parmesan on top.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friends Friday.

Appetizers, Recipes

Layered Asian Dip

July 21, 2014July 25, 2014 Sarah

This layered dip is chock full of crunchy vegetables and chicken drenched in a yummy Asian-inspired sauce. The creamy peanut butter base adds a fun twist! Enjoy with crackers at your next party!

There’s nothing like a good appetizer to get the party started, right? I have a confession to make: I am terrible at appetizers. Most seem so finicky. If I’m hosting, I can totally make some hot little bites in the oven. But as things have it, in this stage of life, I rarely host [even though I’d love to]. We’re usually tasked with bringing x, y, or z to a gathering…and it’s just a pain to try to transport a hot dish, and sometimes those cute little bites just get gross if they sit for awhile. So cold dips are my go-to appetizers. Hummus, guacamole, salsa, I love them all. But they aren’t very fancy.

This Layered Asian Dip takes a normal dip up a notch! It’s a play off of Mexican Seven Layer Dip, even though it’s only a three layer dip. But it’s three layers of awesome: a creamy base of peanut butter and cream cheese; a wonderful medley of chicken, carrots, peanuts, cilantro, scallions, and aromatics like ginger and garlic; and last but not least–a slightly sweet, slightly spicy Asian dressing on top. This dressing is really what makes the dip, imo. Sure, chicken and peanut butter are staples of my diet, but the sauce brings everything together in a nice package. It’s tangy and delicious!

This dip is perfect for a party because you can make all the components ahead of time and chill them in the fridge, then go get ready, and then assemble at the last minute. I love it when things work out that way so I don’t have to worry about the dish losing its beauty while we’re waiting for things to get started. This dip is best enjoyed the day it is made, but the leftovers are still tasty the next day. By the way, you’ll have some extra sauce leftover–it’s perfect for tossing with some plain white rice and cooked veggies [I love those bags of frozen Asian vegetables] for a quick side dish during the week. Enjoy!

one year ago: Grandma’s Banana Nut Bread
two years ago: Jamaican Jerk Chicken & Pineapple Black Bean Rice
four years ago: Butterscotch and Chocolate Yellow Cake

Layered Asian Dip

Servings: 8
Time: 2-4 hours but only about 20 minutes active time
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from The Sweets Life

Ingredients:

for sauce

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons rice wine or white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
3 drops hot sauce [like Sriracha]

for topping

3/4 cup cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/4 cup chopped unsalted peanuts
2-3 sliced scallions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, minced

for base

8 ounces softened cream cheese
2-4 ounces creamy peanut butter [depending on how strong of a peanut butter flavor you like]
2-3 tablespoons milk
crackers for serving

Directions:

First, prepare sauce. Whisk brown sugar and cornstarch together in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Pour in water, ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire, and hot sauce. Cook for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens. Transfer to a small bowl to cool. When cool, cover and refrigerate to further thicken for 30 minutes or up to 24 hours in advance.

Next, stir together all topping ingredients in a bowl. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Just before serving, beat together cream cheese, peanut butter, and just enough milk to make mixture smooth. Spread on the bottom of a 10 inch pie pan or serving dish. Sprinkle topping over cream cheese mixture, then drizzle 1/2 cup sauce [there will be leftovers] on top.

Serve with crackers immediately.

Linked up with: Weekend Potluck.