30 Nights of Salad - Day 21

How do you "Jerk" chicken?

Jerk traditionally refers to the way the meat is cooked with certain spices dry rubbed onto the meat - usually beef or pork. Today this term refers to the spices itself. Jerk seasoning is a spicy and often slightly sweet concoction of fantastic-ness. The spicy comes from the Pimento A.K.A. Allspice and usually the sweet comes from the addition of dark brown sugar which still maintains some molasses which gives it a deep rich flavor. Although I have a good idea of the spices that go into making a good Jerk rub I have never made my own. I prefer the flavor of Blue Mountain's Jerk Season. A little of this stuff goes a long way. Then when my meat is cooked, I cook it even longer with some World Harbor's Jerk Sauce on top and your meat comes out so amazing and delicious - we can't stop eating the stuff until our mouth is burning and then we go drink some milk and get back to it!




For this Salad, I jerked some chicken breast, sliced it and spread it on top of the salad and we ate it all. We even went back and ate the leftover chicken that night. It was goooood!









Jerk Chicken Breast
-1 LB skinless boneless chicken breast
-1 Tablespoon of Jerk seasoning
-1/2 cup Jerk Sauce
***Since Chicken breast dries out easily, it's important to cook it fast and keep it covered. My meat was somewhat thick but I wrapped it in a foil package and cooked it at 350 degrees for about a half hour. Then I open the package up and added the sauce and let it cook for another 15 minutes or so.

Jerk Chicken Salad
-Sliced Jerk Chicken (see recipe above)
-Lettuce
-Tomato
-Corn
-Wonton crisps
***There wasn't much sauce left but we used the little bit as a dressing. The corn added a little bit of sweetness that goes well with the Jerk chicken. You can also add melon or mango to this salad. The fruit lightens the Jerk and keeps the spicy from being too overwhelming. Enjoy!

30 Nights of Salad - Days 14 & 15

No I am not taking shortcuts by posting two days at a time! I am condensing posts - If I make the same exact Salad two days in a row, no need to post it each day, right? But this salad deserves several posts because it is THAT good. You know when you eat something and you can't stop stuffing your face because it's so good and you don't even care who's watching you stuff your face like you're starving because its so yummy and you have to lick the plate and so what if people are looking at you cause it's that good? Yes, well, I licked the plate when we ate this salad. Absolutely amazing. Panko breaded chicken breast with mandarin oranges and dried cranberries - oh my word. The healthiest salad we've had? NO - the breading & frying pretty much takes this out of the running for healthiest, but we get all the nutritional value of eating our healthy greens and tomatoes as well as the yummy crispy chicken breast! The chicken breast is quick and easy to make. The recipe is below. The picture speaks for itself! Enjoy!


Panko Breaded Chicken Breast
-4 Chicken breast
-Flour
-2 eggs, beaten
-Panko Flakes
-Salt & pepper
-Canola oil (amount depends on the thickness of your chicken breast)
***Put the flour (add some salt & pepper to it if you like), eggs and Panko Flakes in 3 separate bowls. Take the chicken breast, coat it with flour on both sides, then into the bowl with the eggs, and finally coat it with the Panko flakes. Add the coated chicken breast into the pan with the oil and fry on medium heat on each side about 6 to 10 minutes depending on the size of your chicken breast.


Panko Breaded Chicken Breast Salad
-Panko Chicken, sliced
-Lettuce, chopped
-Tomatoes, sliced
-Dried Cranberries
-Mandarin Orange slices
-Pecan Pieces
***I did not use any salad dressing, this was flavorful enough! It was so good, we did it again the next day!

Father's Day Picnic

For Father's Day, I wanted to show my husband how much he was appreciated, so I put together a little picnic for us and took the gang to the Park. It was a gorgeous day today, a little hot but lovely nonetheless. We took our daughter out on her bike and rolled down the hill to Riverbank State Park. We were lucky to find a spot in the shade considering how crowded it was, but it all worked out! I made something he loves, Fried chicken wings with mango washed down with raspberry lemonade iced tea and for dessert! Ah dessert! We had chocolate pudding from a wonderful bakery called Sugar Sweet Sunshine - this pudding is amazing ohmygoodness out of this world and their Banana pudding is better than that! It's a treat and an indulgence we try not to overdo. But it was necessary for today, a small token of thanks to my man, an amazing husband and truly a wonderful father! The recipes are below! Enjoy!

Yummy fried chicken with mango
-15 Chicken wings
-Seasoned salt
-Bells seasoning
-Garlic Powder
-Onion Powder
-Badia complete seasoning
-some olive oil

***I fried these in canola oil very slowly. Low medium heat for about 10-15 minutes on each side.
***I use the amount of seasoning that I'm comfortable with. Try it your way and feel free to add or omit any ingredient!
***MANGOES!!!! Cut up some Mango slices and out them in a tupperware on top of the chicken so that the juices drip onto the chicken and flavor them that way! YUM!