Make-Fast Mondays: Mango Macadamia Chicken Lettuce Wraps

These lettuce wraps are fresh, fast and packed with flavor!

Make-Fast Mondays: Mango Macadamia Chicken Lettuce Wraps 
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons orange juice
1 cup chopped cilantro
2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 pound cooked chicken breast, cubed or shredded
1 cucumber, seeds removed, peeled and diced
1 mango, peeled, cored and diced
1 avocado, stoned and diced
¼ cup diced red onion
1 head butter lettuce, leaves separated
¼ cup macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped

Make dressing by blending first five ingredients in a blender until smooth. Combine chicken, cucumber, mango, avocado and red onion in a large bowl. Add dressing to the bowl and stir gently to mix. Spoon the chicken mixture onto lettuce leaves and sprinkle with macadamia nuts.

Make-Fast Mondays: Ground Lamb Kebab Wraps with Cucumber-Radish Salsa

With summer so close you can taste it, I’ll bet you’re dreaming of grilling up something meaty and delicious. Give this a recipe a try the next time you feel like firing up the barbecue.

Ground Lamb Kebab Wraps with Cucumber-Radish Salsa 
1 pound ground lamb
½ cup finely diced white onion
2 tablespoons chopped parsley, divided
2 tablespoons chopped mint, divided
1 tablespoon minced garlic
½ teaspoon coriander
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup sliced radish
½ cup peeled and diced cucumber
½ teaspoon olive oil, plus extra for grilling
2 teaspoons lemon juice
Hummus
4 warm flatbread or pita rounds
Equipment: 4 12-inch skewers (I used metal skewers, but wooden skewers work great)

If using wooden skewers, place them in a shallow dish, cover with water and soak for at least 30 minutes. Drain skewers when you’re ready to use them. 

Get your grill started (medium-high heat).

Combine radishes, cucumber, ½ teaspoon olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine lamb, onion, 1 tablespoon each parsley and mint, garlic, coriander, cumin, cinnamon and salt. Divide meat mixture into four portions and form each around a skewer, making an oblong sausage shape. Brush lamb kebabs with a little bit of olive oil.

Grill kebabs for 5 minutes before turning once and grilling another 5 minutes, or until meat is brown and thoroughly cooked. Remove meat from skewer. Spread hummus on each flatbread, add meat and top with salsa.

The Great Green Smoothie Experiment

I’ve become quite the lean, mean, green smoothie-making machine. Smoothies are no stranger to our breakfast routine, but in the past they’ve been heavy on the fruit. Well, times are a-changing and we’re trying to work more vegetables into the mix. A few days I brought home a cornucopia of produce and started what we’ll call The Great Green Smoothie Experiment -- tossing a different mix of vegetables and fruit into the blender each morning aiming to create something that doesn’t taste like a sippable salad. We’re three weeks in and no epic fails yet!

A few notes about this ongoing quest for green-smoothie greatness:

1. Don’t overthink it or worry about exact measurements when adding your ingredients to the blender. 
2. A little prep work goes a long way. If you’re making smoothies every morning, spend a few minutes cleaning, peeling and chopping your ingredients in advance so all you need to do in the morning is throw some goodies in the blender. 
3. Water is your friend. No need for juice when you’re working with flavorful fresh fruits and vegetables! 
4. Each of the following recipes yields about 32 ounces (enough for two substantial smoothies). 
5. The ingredients for these smoothies vary but the directions remain the same: combine all ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. 

Green Smoothie No. 1 
1 ½ cups cold water
1 green apple, cored and sliced
1 cucumber, peeled
1 tablespoon peeled ginger
1 tablespoon flax seeds
2 handfuls green kale
2 handfuls spinach

Green Smoothie No. 2 
1 ½ cups cold water
1 navel orange, peeled
1 banana, peeled
1-2 tablespoons peeled ginger
1 cucumber, peeled
4 handfuls spinach
4 romaine leaves

Green Smoothie No. 3 
2 cups cold water
1 red apple, cored and sliced
1 Asian pear, cored and sliced
½ cucumber, peeled
1 carrot, peeled
4 handfuls spinach

Green Smoothie No. 4 
1 cup cold water
1 red apple, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon peeled ginger
Juice of 1 lemon
2 stalks celery
4 handfuls spinach
2 romaine leaves

Green Smoothie No. 5 
1 cup cold water
1 red apple, cored and sliced
1 stalk celery
1 banana, peeled
4 handfuls green kale
1 tablespoon flax seeds
Splash of lemon juice

What goes into your favorite green smoothie?

Make-Fast Mondays: Dill-icious Pasta Salad

Tonight’s Make-Fast Monday dinner is the end result in taking what I love about this recipe and ramping it up while scaling back the pasta. The end result is an entree-worthy pasta salad loaded with delicious shrimp, crunchy cucumber and a delightfully dilly dressing. It’s easy to prep all the components of this salad while boiling water and cooking your pasta. It’s also worth noting that I used Trader Joe’s Brown Rice  & Quinoa Fusilli Pasta, a new favorite, but a whole-wheat pasta would also yield similar results. 

Shrimp and Cucumber Fusilli with Dill Dressing 
¾ cup olive oil
5 tablespoons Dijon mustard
½ cup chopped dill
⅓ cup white wine vinegar
8 ounce fusilli, cooked al dente and rinsed with cold water
4 green onions, sliced
1 pound Persian cucumbers, halved and cut into thick slices (English cucumber would also work)
1 pound cooked medium shrimp, tails removed and deveined
1 cup fat-free crumbled feta

Blend olive oil, Dijon, dill and white wine vinegar in a blender until smooth and creamy. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl, and stir in dressing until everything’s evenly coated.

Tabbouleh Thursdays

I try to be good and bring my lunch from home on work days, but there some days when I just don’t feel like eating what’s waiting for me in the lunchroom fridge. I make a deal with myself on these days: I can go out to eat, but only if I walk (as long as it’s not raining or searingly hot). A 10-minute stroll is all it takes to reach a shopping center occupied by all sorts of tempting options. I try to fight off the urge to get a cheeseburger or jumbo froyo, opting instead for a big salad or the ready-to-eat section of Whole Foods. One of the dishes they seem to only offer on Thursdays is a flavor-packed bulgur tabbouleh that has quickly become my favorite summertime lunch. Here’s my attempt at recreating it.

Tabbouleh
8 ounces quick-cooking bulgur (I used Trader Joe’s 10 Minute Bulgur)
4 medium tomatoes, seeds removed, diced
4 medium Persian cucumbers, diced
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, chopped
1 bunch mint, chopped
2 green onions, dark green parts thinly sliced
Juice of 2 large lemons (about ⅓ cup)
3 tablespoons olive oil

Cook bulgur according to package instructions. Combine cooked bulgur with tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, mint and green onions. Whisk lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl before stirring into bulgur mixture.

What makes Friday fun when you’re 31

Oh, how Friday nights have changed.

While I fondly recall the Fridays of my younger days, rushing home to get ready for a big night out, I must say that I’m equally fond of the much more relaxed approach we now take when kicking off the weekend.

Happy hour? Sometimes.

Meeting up with friends for dinner/drinks/trouble? It still happens.

I find that more and more that the energy I used to dedicate to prepping for a blowout night I’m now redirecting into firing up the stereo when I get home, cracking open some beers or a bottle of wine, cooking a great Friday night dinner and relaxing with my sweets. Yes, this might seem a little sleepy compared to what some you have got going on, and yes, I’m only 31, not 101, but sometimes it feels really good to get home and just chill. And, all this relaxing on Friday night means we’ve got plenty of energy for weekend shenanigans Saturday and Sunday.

Last Friday was nice and warm, a prelude to the much warmer (OK, blazing hot) summer days we have ahead of us in Sacramento. It was the perfect night to fire up the barbecue for some delicious lamb burgers. I’ve only made lamb burgers a couple times and knew I wanted to top them with a little bit of red onion, possibly some cucumber too. My good friend Kimmy made the great suggestion to make a “quick pickle” of the veggies, and the result really made the flavor of the meat sing without overpowering it.

Last Friday’s pre-summer vibe also inspired me to mix up some frosty cocktails. I’ve recently developed a love for the sweet, clean flavor of elderflower liqueur thanks to friends Melissa and Mike, who recently hosted cocktail hour during a neighborhood progressive dinner. They served white linens, a drink they originally discovered at the Shady Lady Saloon and that features elderflower liqueur.

I found a couple recipes online and made a couple tweaks, using Hendrick’s Gin (tastes great with cucumber) and opting for agave nectar instead of simple syrup. This just might be my new summer cocktail.

Lamb burgers with Quick Pickle 
1 cup thinly sliced English cucumber
⅓ cup thinly sliced red onion
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
Pinch of sugar
Pinch of salt
1 lb. ground lamb
⅓ cup chopped fresh mint
¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 ½ teaspoon paprika
3 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup crumbled feta
Four sandwich thins or buns of your preference

For the quick pickle: Combine cucumber, onion, rice wine vinegar, salt and sugar in a bowl. Let sit for one hour and drain excess liquid.

 For the burger: Mix ground lamb, mint, cinnamon, paprika, garlic and feta in a bowl to combine. Form four patties. Cooking on the grill for 4-5 minutes each side resulted in some mostly done (not pink) patties. Place patty on bottom half of bun, add a scoop of pickled veggies and top with the other half of the bun. We rounded out the meal with a side salad of green-leaf lettuce, red bell pepper and the best (store-bought) dressing ever.

White Linen 
1 ½ ounces Hendrick’s Gin
½ ounce elderflower liqueur
½ ounce fresh lemon juice
½ ounce agave nectar
Two slices English cucumber, slightly muddled
Soda water
Ice

Combine first five ingredients in a glass (I used a mixer because I made two drinks at a time). Add some ice and some soda water and enjoy!

May 23 Salad

We stopped in Santa Rosa for lunch on our way home from a wine weekend in Healdsburg. This is a salad of mixed lettuces, shaved carrots, cucumber, roasted shrimp and herb vinaigrette from Jackson’s Bar and Oven.

May 18 Salad

Here’s a good, colorful lunchtime salad with mixed greens, grape tomatoes, chopped carrots, English cucumber and shaved Parmesan and Romano cheeses. In order to add some zest to this mid-day meal I made an Italian-inspired dressing by whisking together ¼ cup red wine vinegar, ¼ cup olive oil (infused with dried red peppers and herbs), a teaspoon of dried oregano and some salt and pepper to taste.

May 8 Salad

Curry powder is becoming one of my go-to seasonings in the spice cabinet. A little bit goes a long way, and really, what doesn’t taste better with a little curry essence?

This salad is the end result of a week-long craving I’ve had for Indian food. This recipe makes enough chicken salad for four entrée-sized salads.

Curried Chicken Salad
¼ cup mayonnaise
½ cup fat-free plain Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon curry powder
3 cups cooked, diced chicken breast (this came from two boneless chicken breasts)
1 cup peeled, seeded and diced cucumbers
1 cup red grapes, halved
Baby greens
Balsamic vinaigrette (See my May 5 post for the recipe)

Combine mayonnaise, yogurt and curry powder in a medium bowl until blended. Stir in chicken and cucumbers and stir until coated. Start out each plate with a couple handfuls of baby greens drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette. Add a spoonful or two of the curried chicken mixture and top with a handful of grapes. Serve with warm naan for an even better meal.

May 5 Salads: Double trouble

I doubled down on salads today. I assembled a delicious hodgepodge for lunch in order to knock out some remnants from the past few days (baby greens, taco meat, cilantro dressing, beans, red bell pepper).

For dinner, I crafted a sort of Cobb with butter lettuce, hard-boiled egg, crispy turkey bacon, blue cheese crumbles, grape tomatoes and diced cucumber. I also whipped up a batch of balsamic dressing, enough for this and a few more salads. The wonderfully fresh lemon — a home-grown doozy from our neighbor’s gentleman caller — yielded enough juice to easily quadruple this dressing recipe. I reserved the remaining lemon juice for an upcoming salad.

All you need to make some delicious balsamic dressing

Balsamic dressing
(thanks to the Bon Appetit Cookbook for inspiration)
 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
¼ cup olive oil

Whisk first three ingredients in a bowl to blend. Gradually whisk in oil.

Jolly good, indeed

May 4 Salad: Going Greek

I wanted a quick, zesty salad for dinner and so I went for a Greek-inspired number with romaine lettuce, garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed), diced red bell pepper, peeled and diced cucumber, feta cheese, Kalamata olives, a splash of red wine vinegar and a pinch of dried oregano. Totally hit the spot.

Presto Pasta Salad!

The meals I’ve had the last couple days haven’t really been leftovers material, so I put together a big, colorful pasta salad tonight. Now we’ll have something fresh and easy to pack into lunches this week.

Presto Pasta Salad
Two cooked boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
1 12-ounce box tri-color rotini, cooked al dente
1 English cucumber, sliced in half lengthwise and then sliced into chunks
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
One can black medium olives, drained
2 cups artichoke hearts, coarsely chopped
1 bottle fat-free Italian dressing
1 tablespoon Herbes de Provence
Salt and pepper to taste

Combine chicken, rotini, vegetables and seasonings in large bowl. Add salad dressing to salad ½ cup at a time and stir until everything’s coated. Chill and serve.

Celebrating the start of summer with a sassy salad

I thought we’d celebrate the first day of summer with something fresh and flavorful.

I’ve had steak on the brain the past few days, as well as Thai food, so this is the end result of some different cravings, with a little inspiration from this recipe I found online.

This dish will definitely make its way back to the dinner table once Sacramento starts hitting triple digits, both because it tastes great but also because it requires minimal cooking.

Thai Beef Noodle Salad
2 pounds flank steak
1 ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
½ cup honey
6 tablespoons and two teaspoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 Serrano chile, seeds removed and chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
6 tablespoons minced ginger
¼ cup rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 6-ounce package mung bean noodles
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 cup bean sprouts
1 cucumber, cut into chunks
¼ cup cilantro, chopped
¼ cup green onion, sliced

Whisk honey, 1 cup soy sauce, 6 tablespoons fish sauce, 1 tablespoon lime juice, half the serrano, 3 cloves garlic and 3 tablespoons ginger in bowl; add steak. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes. Heat grill to medium-high and cook steaks 4-5 minutes on each side, until medium. Let cool and slice thin.

Mix remaining soy sauce, fish sauce, lime juice, Serrano, garlic and ginger in bowl with sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. Cover and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Cook noodles according to package instructions, drain using colander and rinse in cold water before placing in a bowl.Place colander over noodle bowl and pour dressing into colander. Discard leftover Serrano, garlic and ginger left in the colander.

Toss noodles with bell pepper, cucumber, sprouts, cilantro and green onion. Scoop noodle salad onto plates and top with a few slices of steak.