Avocado Goat Cheese Salad with Fried Egg

You know how I like a good salad... especially one that will actually keep me full. The lettuce I bought at Costco (in the photo below) inspired me, and can you blame me? Look at those beautiful greens!


So, after I washed the lettuce, I remembered that I bought an avocado at Kroger. I really really really really love avocados...in case you were curious. If you love them too, but have a little trouble getting the green goodness out of them in one piece, here's a little how-to:

How-To Open an Avocado:

1. Insert the knife in the middle and cut (gingerly - there's a pit, remember) it completely in half - all the way around the avocado.

2. Hold the avocado so that one hand is one either side that you've cut into.

3. Turn the avocado with your hands and pull!

4. Stick your knife into the pit and turn it...

5. Ta dah! Now, just take a large spoon and scoop out the inside! And there you have it! :)

Now, back to the salad... I crumbled some goat cheese over the lettuce and added fresh tomato slices, toasted walnuts, the avocado and.... a fried egg! Surprise! It's so delicious!

So, here it is - the salad of my dreams! It's healthy, tasty, and will keep you full. I put a simple oil and balsamic vinegar dressing on it, but you can put whatever dressing you would like! Enjoy!

~ Mari

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Spanish Couscous

I would be lying if I told you that Chicken is my favorite meat. It's definitely not. In fact, it can get pretty boring. But, they had some nice-looking organic chicken breasts on sale at Kroger and I figured I could come up with something tasty to make with them. So, I looked through Ina Garten's (she's pretty amazing) "Barefoot Contessa at Home" cookbook and she had a great recipe for Chicken stuffed with goat cheese that I decided to make. I made a few minor adjustments, but here it is:

Chicken with Goat Cheese and Basil

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

3 heaping Tbsp. of goat cheese

6 fresh basil leaves

Extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt and ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Finely chop three of the basil leaves and mix it with the goat cheese in a small bowl with a fork. Then add some salt and pepper. Put a Tbsp. of the goat cheese mixture into each of the three basil leaves. Put the chicken breasts on a cutting board so that the tenderloin is facing up. Take the basil leaves with goat cheese inside and stuff each little basil "package" underneath the tenderloin on each breast. Next, rub each breast with extra virgin olive oil. If you have "Silpat" (a nonstick surface for cooking on), you can use that, but if not, put parchment paper down on a sheet pan. Then place the chicken breasts on the sheet pan and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper. Put them in the oven and allow to bake for 35 minutes, basting them with olive oil (or spray with olive oil cooking spray) frequently.

After the 35 minutes, check that the internal temperature of the thickest part of the breasts is at 165 degrees F. Once it is, turn off the oven and turn the broiler on high. Watch the chicken closely as it will brown very quickly! Once the breasts are golden brown, take them out and allow them to cool.

While the chicken is cooking, you can make the couscous (it's so nice, they named it twice!):

Spanish Couscous

1 Tbsp. butter

1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup chopped onion or shallots

3 cups chicken stock or broth

1.5 cups couscous

1 ear, grilled corn, off the cob

10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup frozen, chopped spinach

1.5 tsp. chili powder

Melt the butter in a large pot and add the olive oil once it's melted. Add the onions/shallots and saute them over medium-low heat for about three minutes - until they become translucent. Next, add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Turn off the heat, stir in the couscous, add the frozen spinach, cover the pan, and set aside for about 10 minutes. The couscous will soak up all that yummy liquid and the steam will cook the spinach.

In a smaller pan, saute the corn and tomatoes with a little olive oil and some chili powder. After the couscous has soaked up the liquid, add the corn and tomatoes and stir until mixed well.

Now that your chicken and couscous are perfection, plate, eat, and enjoy!

Here's what the inside looks like with the melty goat cheese and flavorful basil leaf:

Hope you like it! Happy eating and buon appetito!

~ Mari

Tarragon and Cheddar Frittata

The incredible edible egg was calling my name today for lunch. Do you ever get in an egg mood? So, I decided to make a frittata (an Italian omlet thingy) with some fresh tarragon that I had in the fridge. If you are also feeling a bit eggish, here's the recipe:

Tarragon & Cheddar Frittata

1 large egg

1/2 cup liquid egg whites (or 2 egg whites)

1 Tbsp. fresh tarragon (1 tsp. dried)

1 tsp. dill

1.5 Tbsp. shredded cheddar cheese

salt and pepper to taste

fat free greek yogurt (for garnish)

salsa (for garnish)


Whisk all the ingredients together (except for the garnishes, obviously) in a bowl until combined. Heat a small non-stick skillet to medium. Once the pan is heated, put about a tsp. of olive oil in and pour the egg mixture in as well. Then put a lid on it and allow it to cook for about 5-6 minutes (until you can slip a spatula underneath the frittata without it still being liquid-y). Flip the frittata over with the spatula and allow it to cook, uncovered, for about 3-4 minutes more. The frittata should be fluffy and set. Next, flip the frittata out onto a plate and garnish with a dollop of yougurt and salsa.

Now... eat it! I think you'll like it.

Thanks for looking!

~ Mari

Fruity Curried Chicken Salad

I love chicken salad as much as the next person, but it's just downright bad for you. All that chicken swimming in mayo makes my cholesterol shiver in its little saturated fat booties. So, I wanted to make a healthy chicken salad with flavor out the wazoo (its a technical culinary term). Here it be:

Fruity Curried Chicken Salad

1 large boneless chicken breast, chopped into 1 inch x 1 inch pieces

8 cups water

1 chicken boullion cube

2 Tbsp. madras curry powder

1 Tbsp. olive oil mayo

1/2 cup - 3/4 cup fat free greek yogurt (I used Fage brand)

1 cup green grapes

1 ripe mango

1/2 cup toasted walnuts, roughly chopped

1 tsp. allspice

1.5 - 2 Tbsp. madras curry powder

salt and pepper to taste

Bring the water to a boil in a large sauce pot. Add the chicken bouillon cube and the curry powder. Wait until the cube has dissolved in the water and add the chicken. Boil the chicken for 5-10 minutes. Remove the chicken from the water and set aside to cool. While the chicken is cooling, slice the grapes in half and dice the mango. Put the chicken into a large mixing bowl and add the mayo and yogurt. Stir until all of the chicken is coated. Next, add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until it looks like the curry powder is evenly distributed. And there you have it!

I spread mine on homemade bread and ate it for lunch - delish! Enjoy!

~ Mari

New Favorite Food

It's a Lychee fruit! I had not eaten one of these things as of last week, and now I can't stop! Dang are they delicious little guys. The tree is native to China, but I got a bag of them at the Dekalb Farmers Market it Decatur, GA. Which is, by the way, the most amazing food store I've been to in the United States (possibly the world). LORD have mercy is it wondermous. Guess who I saw shopping there yesterday? Eli Kirshtein from Season 6 of Top Chef! Exciting stuff.

But, back to the lychee. According to Wikipedia, these little guys were so in demand in Imperial China that there was a "Lychee Task Force" of guys (with extra fast horses) that brought lychees from Canton. Yeah. They're kind of a big deal.

Another fun fact about lychee fruit is that the Chinese use it instead of a pacfier because of its healthly qualities.

The lychee has a hard spiny skin that is pink (and apparently turns brown when refrigerated). But, once you peel that dino-like skin off, the fleshy succulent fruit underneath is exposed. I wish I could describe how they taste, but it's almost impossible.


All I can tell you is that they are sweet and juicy and DELICIOUS!

And guess what the best part is? They are good for you! They are full of vitamin C and studies have found that they prevent the growth of cancer cells - especially breast cancer. How much better can it get? Better. They are even said to help the common cold and shrink swollen glands. As of right now, nothing is really ailing me, but that's not going to stop me from devouring them! I have a feeling this bag isn't going to last very long.

So, next time you're at a specialty grocery store (they might even have them at Kroger), grab a lychee or two (or 24...) and don't let their prehistoric exterior fool you. Enjoy!

~ Mari

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

So, sweet potatoes are delicious and nutritious. They are also one of my favorite foods. Also, who doesn't like French fries? So, I consulted someone that I seldom consult: Paula Deen. Nothing wrong with Paula, but I would never have dreamed that she would have a healthy sweet potato fries recipe. Surprise! She did. So, I tweaked it a bit... and here's what I made!

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

3 large sweet potatoes

extra virgin olive oil

salt

black pepper

sugar

cinnamon

allspice

paprika

onion powder

First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Then peel the sweet potatoes. Next, use a mandolin (or cut them by hand like moi...hehe) to cut the potatoes into French fry shapes (potato sticks). Place the sticks into a large bowl and drizzle olive oil over them. Toss the sticks to coat them with the oil.

Sprinkle the potatoes with 2-3 Tbsp. of salt, 2 Tbsp. sugar, and enough of the other spices to coat the fries. Don't overdo it, but make sure that the spices are on there enough that you can see it.

Spread the potato sticks onto a sheet pan (make sure that they aren't overlapping too much so that they cook evenly). Stick them in the oven and allow them to cook for about 25-30 minutes. You'll know when they're done if the edges are a little crispy and caramelized. Granted, these aren't going to be super crispy fries, but they taste DELICIOUS and are much better for you that fried fries.

Let the fries cool for 5-10 minutes. They are good to go now, but what are french fries without ketchup? And since tomato ketchup would not be the greatest with sweet potatoes, I made a maple butter sauce. All I did for the sauce was mix a little whipped butter with pure maple syrup.

And voila! They're done! Ryan and I ate them with homemade bison burgers. Yummers.

Hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

~ Mari

Summer Watermelon & Feta Salad

So, I can't claim this recipe as my own, but I do think it warrants sharing. Last year, Ryan and I had a romantic dinner at one of my favorite restaurants in Atlanta - Kyma. It's a fantastic Greek restaurant in Buckhead. And this salad is what they served us first...YUM.



First, get a watermelon. I found this cute little seedless "personal watermelon" at Kroger that worked perfectly! There's always soooo much left over when I use a big watermelon. Thanks, watermelon farmers, for growing creepy little hybridized watermelons! Haha.

Slice that little guy up and put the pieces into a bowl. Then grab an onion.

Sliver it as thinly as possible.

Then crumble some Feta cheese (I used fat free) and chop some fresh mint. Put those on top of the watermelon along with the slivered onion. Next, drizzle the salad with balsamic vinegar and extra virgin olive oil.

Now, toss!

The perfect summer lunch: avocado, ham, and arugula panini with watermelon & feta salad. I'm a happy camper.

Yeah... it was good. Not gonna lie. The sweetness of the watermelon balances the saltiness of the feta cheese. Then the mint and onion add a freshness that really pleases the palette. Se delicious and refreshing! Thanks, Kyma! :)

~ Mari