recipe

KNR, p. 84 “Creole Chicken Salad for lunch, please!”

 

 

Creole Chicken Salad

It’s hot and humid and that means salad weather has arrived. But, I need more than a  lightweight veggie-only salad for lunch, so Sheila makes a great chicken salad with some real zip for us. We didn’t want to heat up the kitchen, so we picked up a cooked chicken from the grocery store. The deli counter sells garlic & herb, barbecue, and plain roasted chickens. We like the garlic & herb the best because the chicken already has a great flavor before we add any other ingredients. And, it can also work as a stand-alone roasted chicken for dinner.

 

As always, Sheila and I work as a team. She directs me toward the chopping board to make quick work of the veggies while she chunks the chicken. When all mixed together, the chicken salad can be served warm right away in a sandwich roll, or chilled for two hours in the refrigerator to be placed in the center of a salad platter later on. Depends on how hungry we are as to whether we can wait to eat, but we’ve had it both ways and liked it.

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Creole Chicken Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 3 cups cooked chicken
  • 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped (preferably purple onions)
  • 1 cup tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 cup celery, diced
  • 1/2 cup red bell peppers, chopped
  • 1/2 cup yellow (or green) bell peppers, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder (Hot Mexican)
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne powder
  • 1 cup mayonnaise
Instructions
  1. Pull the meat off the cooked chicken while it’s still warm from the store.
  2. Then cube into 1 inch chunks and dump into a large bowl.
  3. Add onions, tomatoes, celery, yellow bell peppers, and red bell peppers, but do not mix.
  4. Add mayonnaise – still no mixing.
  5. Add garlic powder, chili powder, sea salt, black pepper, and cayenne powder.
  6. Time to mix it all together.
  7. Taste and adjust seasonings or other ingredients as desired.
  8. Serve on toasted roll while still warm.
  9. Chill the rest of the chicken salad for two hours if you can wait to serve it as part of a salad platter.
  10. The recipe gets spicier overnight, so keep that in mind if you are making it the day before an event.

*Photo by Patti Phillips

 

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Visiting Detective Becki Green – “Mediterranean Potato Salad”

 

VisitingDetectiveBGMeditPotSalad copy

Remember Becki Green, the Visiting Detective that brought us the yummy brownies and then gave us the recipe? She and her sleuthing partner, Gina Monroe, took a few days off after solving their latest case and stopped in to say hello. We chatted about the success of the first book they co-wrote, “A Purse to Die For,” a really fun mystery, and the newly released second book, “A Killer Necklace,” even better than the first. Then we switched to another topic dear to Becki’s heart.

 

Becki is a vegetarian (no meat, fish or chicken in the diet and sometimes no milk or eggs) and is working toward becoming a vegan (no milk or eggs at all, not even as an ingredient in a dish). She has a great website that showcases her favorite vegetarian recipes, www.vegetariandetective.blogspot.com

 

Here’s Becki, making veggie food fun:

“I think eating veggie is mainstream these days. Everyone knows that it’s good for health, great for the environment and AWESOME for animals. My goal is to glam it up!”

 

Mediterranean Potato Salad

(No mayonnaise, no eggs, ultra-safe to take on picnics, and vibrant with fresh, summer-garden herbs.

Ingredients:
24 baby red potatoes, the larger ones halved
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons lemon juice
salt
pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint

 

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Spread the potatoes on a 9″ X 13″ pan.

Drizzle with the olive oil and toss to coat the potatoes.

Roast for 30 min. (If it’s way too hot outside to want to turn on your oven, or you want to speed up the process, prick the potatoes with a fork and microwave them in a covered casserole dish for 10 min. on high, stirring at intervals, then drain and continue as below, except you probably don’t have to transfer the potatoes to a large bowl.)

Transfer the potatoes to a large bowl and sprinkle with the lemon juice. Salt and pepper to taste.
Let cool.
Toss in the rest of the ingredients and chill.

Serves 4-8.

 

Trust me. Sheila and I wouldn’t steer you wrong about food. This one is a keeper. 😀

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Thanks to Cynthia St-Pierre for stopping by, the real-life good friend and writer who has been educating me about the values of going vegan. Don’t forget to check out her two mysteries, co-written with Melodie Campbell. You’ll find hi-fashion, a little vegetarian chat, some romance, and great mysteries to solve.

VisitingDetectiveBeckiGreenCYNTHIA 2015

CYNTHIA ST-PIERRE

vegetariandetective.blogspot.com

fashionationwithmystery.com

twitter.com/stpierrecynthia

google.com/+CynthiaStPierre

Member, Crime Writers of Canada and

International Thriller Writers

 

VisitingDetectiveBG-A Purse to Die For

http://viewBook.at/B008IKA022

 

VisitingDetectiveBG-A Killer Necklace

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://getBook.at/B0161QKW2C

 

 

 

 

Photos and cover images: courtesy of Cynthia St-Pierre.

 

 

 

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KNR, p. 112 “Chicken Veggie Feta Stir-fry”

 

Chicken Vegetable Feta Stir-fry

Sheila left me on my own for dinner.

 

I know. I’m a big boy and I could always have fired up the grill or ordered take-out if I needed to. But, I was on a mission to prove that I could throw together something tasty that did not involve cooking over hot coals.

 

I opened the fridge and found some cooked chicken cutlets (Sheila never leaves an empty refrigerator) and I scrounged around for other stuff to mix with the chicken.

 

Zucchini from the garden, tomatoes from the neighbor, and feta cheese left over from the Greek Salad we had for lunch. My mouth was watering already.

 

Easy dish, combining fresh produce and leftovers. Sheila gave me a thumbs-up when she saw the photo. Try it and let me know what you think.  🙂

 

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Kerrian's Notebook, p.112 "Chicken Vegetable Feta Stir-fry"
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Greek
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2+
 
Ingredients
  • 2 cooked chicken cutlets, cut into 1 inch chunks
  • 2 cups raw zucchini, cut into 1 inch chunks
  • 2 small tomatoes, cut into 1 inch chunks (about 2 cups)
  • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon oregano
  • 1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
  • 3 Tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
  1. Saute chicken, spices and veggies in the olive oil, until heated through.
  2. Tomato will start to disintegrate in about 8-10 minutes.
  3. Stir frequently.
  4. Add 2 tablespoons feta cheese and stir until cheese starts to melt.
  5. Remove from heat and place directly on plates.
  6. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon feta cheese over finished dish.
  7. Serve warm.
  8. Makes two generous portions.

 

 

KNR, p. 112 “Chicken Veggie Feta Stir-fry” Read More »

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