Roman style chicken with edamame &corn salad

Mi dispiace, I have not been posting recently due to traveling and we've been busy with other stuff, so Michele and I have been skipping dinner a lot. Well, not entirely skipping, but our dinners have been replaced by cereal or fruit/yogurt or take-out, now that we are looking at houses or go running after work.

I have been craving for chicken recently. Whether its spicy wings, or a chicken salad, or a chicken panini...my body has been wanting chicken!!! Some nights I'm just craving for some really good hot wings. I even almost went into Chik-Fil-A the other day....

So here's a yum chicken recipe from Giada 's Roman Style Chicken. I just love her recipes because its never too heavy, and she uses alot of ingredients we already have at home. Also, incorporating fresh herbs are great because it's so tasty and healthy! I used less meat, and skipped the tomatoes, and added fresh rosemary to the chicken. I also paired this up with some broccoli and edamame & corn salad.

Oh! And I have to say thanks to Imedla, who gave me some beautiful precious fresh herbs from her garden. The herbs went straight to this dish =) thank you thank you thank you!

For the Roman Style chicken

Ingredients:
1 skinless chicken breast halves and 1 chicken thigh

1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus 1 teaspoon
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 ounce prosciutto, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 cup white wine
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary

1 tablespoon fresh oregano leaves
1/2 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons capers
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

Preperations:
Season the chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In a heavy, large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, cook the chicken until browned on both sides. Remove from the pan and set aside.

Keeping the same pan over medium heat, add the peppers and prosciutto and cook until the peppers have browned and the prosciutto is crisp, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add wine, and herbs. Using a wooden spoon, scrape the browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Return the chicken to the pan, add the stock, and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 to 30 minutes.

If serving immediately, add the capers and the parsley. Stir to combine and serve.

For Edamame and corn salad:

Boil edamame and corn in a pot of boiling water for 3 minutes. Strain and let it sit and cool down. Mix in fresh chopped parsley, salt, white and black pepper. Sprinkle just a small dash of onion powder. A GREAT summer salad or side!

Chicken spinach strawberry salad with balsamic vinaigrette

A healthy gorgeous salad, big on flavors!

This is one of my favorite salad dishes, and shamefully I have to admit that the first time I had something similiar to this was with my girls Em n Mon at Taipei's Macaroni Grill. It brings me back to those memories where we'd order one salad, one appetizer and one ( or maybe two ) deserts! GNOs!!! Romano's Macaroni Grill Insalata Florentine inspired me to make this summery salad, especially now strawberries are in season. I skipped the orzo ( although I do love orzo) and cheese to keep it light, but the salad is still so yummy and beautiful.

Ingredients:

One chicken breast
One fresh lemon
Fresh baby spinach
Mixed green salad
Fresh strawberries
half an onion
¼ cup of mushrooms

cherry tomatoes
Salt and pepper

spring onions ( optional)

balsamic vinaigrette
Pine nuts

Preparations:

Toast pine nuts in a pan until they are golden brown. Remove from pan and set aside.

Season the chicken breast with salt and pepper. Squeeze fresh lemon juice on top, lay a couple of slices of lemon on the chicken, and top with rosemary sprigs. Put into oven to broil for about 10 minutes - 15 minutes. This is a healthy and tasty way of making chicken, with no oil at all! The citrus and rosemary chicken goes really well with a salad. Remove chicken from oven and let it sit

In a sauté pan, use olive oil to sauté the sliced onions until they start to turn color. Add mushrooms and sauté together until brown. ( I also sneaked in some white wine to brighten up the flavors a bit)

Mix baby spinach, salad greens, cherry tomatoes, spring onions, sautéed onion and mushroom into a salad bowl. Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette, and toss well.

Place the salad servings onto a plate. Next, plate the sliced strawberries around the salad.
Slice the chicken breast into strips and leave them on top of the salad. Now, how can you not love this salad?

Asian Lettuce Cups

Prawn filled lettuce cups

Lettuce cups are a fun dish because it requires you to interact and assemble the filling into the lettuce, and eating with your hands make food taste better!

ingredients for filling:

1/3 pound ground turkey

1/2 pound prawns, peeled and cut into bite sized pieces

2 spring onions ( chopped finely)

3 garlic gloves ( chopped finely)

a bunch of chives

Lima beans 3 tablespoon

2 stalks of chopped celery

half of a red pepper, chopped

Hoisin sauce, 2 tablespoons

chili sauce, 1 tablespoon

sesame oil

Preparation:

In a skillet, heat up sesame oil and cook garlic and spring onions. Add ground turkey, stirring and breaking down the ground turkey to make sure it's not sticking together in lumps. Add in celery, red peppers, and Lima beans. Stir fry 5 minutes for 5 minutes. Then add prawns and chives, frying for only 2 - 3 minutes, and then stir in the Hoisin sauce and chili sauce. Turn off heat and remove the skillet from the stove.

Wash lettuce leaves and break carefully, and dry well.

Scoop filling into lettuce cup and serve!

Wasabi connection

If you accidentally skip some days at the gym or miss a spa appointment, eating light and healthy really makes up for it...yummy salads are guilt-free and I really feel pampered after having a scrumptious, crunchy, refreshing salad.

Here's what we had for dinner today: Seared Ahi Tuna Steak Salad w/ Wasabi Vinaigrette ( for two)

Ingredients:

1 large Ahi Tuna steak

sesame oil for searing tuna

rice wine or white wine to slightly marinate the tuna steak

1 tablespoon of wasabi paste

salt and pepper ( both black and white)

1/4 sliced onion

Fresh salad greens

2 roma tomatoes

baby carrots

1 sprig of spring onions

crushed wasabi peas

1 and half tablespoons of wasabi paste

2 tablespoons cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup sesame oil

1/4 cup olive oil
fresh cilantro
salt & freshly ground black pepper

For the wasabi vinaigrette salad dressing:

Whisk together wasabi paste, vinegar, sesame oil and olive oil. Toss in cilantro and add salt and pepper for seasoning. We like strong wasabi tastes, the kind where you have wasabi rushing straight to your nose with every bite you take...the kind where I have to pace myself because we enjoy the torture of wasabi =) so I generously use two tablespoons (or more than two tablespoons )of wasabi paste to make the wasabi dressing

Searing the Ahi Tuna Steaks:

Slightly marinate the tuna steaks in white wine/ rice wine, salt and pepper ( both white and black pepper), and smear some wasabi paste on top of the tuna steak. Let it sit for about 15 minutes. In a hot pan, heat up sesame oil with low heat and saute onions. Add tuna steak and sear on both sides until cooked. Cut the tuna steaks into triangles ( triangles always taste better!)

Assembling the salad:

Rinse and drain greens, toss in sliced roma tomatoes and chopped baby carrots ( for a good crunch). Drizzle wasabi vinaigrette. Lay the triangle tuna steaks on top of salad. Add the cooked sliced onions on top of the tuna steaks. Sprinkle chopped spring onions, and crushed wasabi peas. Toss before serving.

If you love wasabi, try this recipe! Or, try Emeril @ foodnetwork's recipe for Seared tuna salad with a wasabi vinaigrette and crispy wontons