All my spring birds are coming around again, and are more and more active everyday. Yesterday, I caught a Robin enjoying himself on the rocks at the water’s edge. He was so photogenic and seemed to love the attention.
I love it when I get to recreate my leftovers. 🙂 It just makes my day. When I made my Moroccan chicken Moroccan Chicken I had a lot of chicken leftover. I also had some of my Mediterranean vegetable medley leftover as well Mediterranean Vegetable Medley. I even had some pita chips too. Well I didn’t want to serve the exact same dish all over again, so I turned it all into a delicious summer salad instead. I topped it all off with a lemon vinaigrette.
The joys of leftovers! 🙂 It’s amazing what little bits of this and little bits of that can do. I added some Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, a little cucumber and a delicious Moroccan chicken salad was born.
I made a fresh lemon vinaigrette to dress up the salad. It was YUMMY! Sweet and tart at the same time.
Lemon Vinaigrette
1/3 cup olive oil
2 TBSP lemon olive oil, optional
1/4 cup lemon balsamic vinegar
2-3 TBSP lemon juice
2 tsp hot honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
fresh ground black pepper
Whisk everything together and set aside until ready to use. This is a great salad dressing, or you can use it as a marinade for chicken or fish. Nothing says spring or summer better than lemons. 🙂
Welcome in spring and enjoy the season. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
I just love my American Kestrels. They are so pretty and colorful. But don’t be fooled by their good looks. They are strong, powerful little hunters. Lately, I am seeing so many, perched up high in trees, always on lookout, watching for their prey.
I am currently working on yet another collaboration with Arlington Wine. It will be yet another fun and informative piece on wine. You just have to wait a little longer though. I still have yet to research and write it, but then I have to wait to publish it. Arlington Wine Make It A Wine Cocktail gets first viewing rights, and then I can publish it for all of you to see and enjoy. I just wanted to let you know something fun is in the works and on its way. Anticipation my friends. 🙂
My two resident white-tailed mule deer were back “at the farm” again, hanging out in their usual and favorite spot. I was looking for them, and they showed up for me, right on cue. One was a lot more curious and engaging, while the other one was hiding and just wanted to rest in the shade of the tree branches. Once again, they made my day. 🙂
Always be prepared for the unexpected. Those are often the best things in life. 🙂
I love how creative I am when using up little bits of this and little bits of that. I look at what I have that needs to be used up and create from there. As you all know, I do this on a regular basis too. It’s kind of a fun game I have created for myself. 🙂
This creative and colorful vegetable medley paired well with my Moroccan chicken. Moroccan Chicken
Isn’t this a pretty and colorful array of vegetables. No real recipe, just using up the little bits and pieces. It was a combination of mixed olives cut in half, baby tomatoes, a little bit of spinach, garlic, onions, one yellow crookneck squash, a few mushrooms, salt, pepper, oregano, olive oil and a little lemon olive oil, and … VOILA! For best results, try to cut everything close to the same size so they will cook more evenly. And cook in stages. Add the heartier vegetables first since they will need more cooking time, then add the softer vegetables later.
I added both oils to a hot skillet and cooked the onions, garlic, squash, and mushrooms first, for about 3 minutes.
Then I added the softer vegetables and seasonings, and cooked just until the spinach was wilted.
It was simple, easy-peasy, healthy and delicious. AND I got to use up all my little bits and pieces. It was a win/win. I got to check off all my boxes with this one. It was also very Mediterranean, using a lot of vegetables found in many Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes. I’ve always said the more colorful your vegetables are, the healthier they are too. Make cooking fun. Be creative.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
I see male Ringnecks swimming on the lakes by themselves quite often. I rarely see the females out on the lakes by themselves. But this time, I saw a lone female Ringneck swimming without a care in the world. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself too. I guess even the ducks need their own personal space and time too.
Once again, I was inspired by one of our very own. The Ohio Cook, at My Meals are On Wheels https://beatcancer2010.wordpress.com/, posted a recipe for Moroccan chicken that sounded too good to resist. And it was too. Thank you once again for an exotically delicious menu idea. 🙂
Of course my whole meal was Moroccan themed. It all has to go together after all, right?! 🙂 I served it with some lentil stew Lentil Stew with a Moroccan/Mediterranean vegetable medley, of my own creative imagination, and warmed pitas. It was a delicious combination that worked together perfectly.
Moroccan Chicken
Believe it or nor, I actually followed the recipe, for the most part, too. Something I rarely do, as you all know. 🙂 When cooking, I never really measure anything. I just go by guessing and estimating. Other than that, I forgot to add sugar, but added a squirt of hot honey on top before serving it. I think those are the only real differences between the original recipe and mine. But who knows. I cook by instinct, not by actually following recipes. 🙂
One of the many lessons we were taught in culinary school was to use our abilities to measure by sight rather than actually measuring everything out. After a while you’d be amazed at how accurate you really are. So I may not be exact, but I am usually pretty darn close.
1 1/2-2 lbs chicken breast
1 tsp ginger
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp corriander
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp turmeric
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 tsp sugar or honey
1-2 TBSP lemon juice
Pat the chicken dry with a paper towel.
Mix all the spices together. Pour the lemon juice over the chicken and generously coat the chicken on both sides with the spice mixture.
I let my chicken marinate in the refrigerator for about 2-3 hours before grilling it, then placed it on a hot grill and cooked it until it was done.
Once the chicken was cooked, I sliced it into thin slices and served it with the rest of my Moroccan/Mediterranean side dishes. I turned mine into a pita. My wine of choice was a cool, crisp Pinto Grigio (another one of ours that we just recently made and bottled) which accompanied the meal very nicely.
Recipes (for cooking) are never written in stone. Have fun and play around with them. Be creative and see what you come up with. But most importantly, have fun and enjoy yourself.
Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
All of my spring birds are beginning to come back for the season. They sing to me everyday while they are showing off their beautiful colors. My Says Phoebes are back too, happy to enjoy the start of spring. They like to perch themselves on the signs so they can see everything around them.
Spring has arrived. Enjoy the season. 🙂
It was a fishy kind of day – flounder that is. I crusted it with macadamia nuts then pan-fried it. I had some of my bearnaise sauce leftover Chateaubriand With Bearnaise Sauce so I used it to dress up my flounder. Then I served it over a bed of wild rice and used more of my leftover asparagus as well. Once again, it was a perfect combination.
I like food with character. Part of that character comes from adding a crust to certain foods. You can make a crust out of breadcrumbs or nuts or even cheese and/or herbs and spices. I do them all on a regular basis. But this time, I ground up some macadamia nuts to make my crust.
Crusting food has been around since the ancient times. It was a way of preserving foods for longer periods of time, as well as adding extra flavor and crunch to foods. Breading or adding a crust of some kind can also act as a thickener to soups and stews too. There is some form of crusting meats, fish or vegetables found in almost every culture – like Tempura foods, which are Japanese; chicken Parmigiano, which is Italian; or Schnitzel, which is German.
Macadamia Crusted Flounder
You can use any kind of nuts you like. I almost always have a variety of different nuts on hand at all times. I just chose macadamia nuts this time. You can also bread any kind of fish you like too. The method is the same regardless of the type of nut or fish you choose to use. You can also play around a little with the seasonings. This time, I just made it very simple. Sometimes, simple is best.
3/4-1 cup macadamia nuts
1/3 cup flour
salt & pepper to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
1 egg
dash of milk
flounder filets, patted dry
Place the nuts, flour and seasonings in the food processor and blend until the nuts are ground fine.
Whisk the egg and the milk together and set aside.
Place the ground nut mixture in a separate bowl.
Pat the fish dry with a paper towel.
Dip the fish into the egg mixture to coat thoroughly, then press firmly into the nut mixture. Generously coat both sides of the fish.
Get a large skillet very hot, then add some olive oil and butter. Carefully place the fish into the skillet without crowding. Cook at a medium-high heat for about 3-4 minutes per side, or until golden brown and a nice crust has formed.
Serve with whatever side dishes and sauce you like. It is delicious and easy-peasy; my kind of meal. 🙂
The bearnaise sauce went very well with the fish. I served it with white wine on the side. One of our own again, that we just bottled not too long ago. This time it was a nice, cool, crisp Pinot Grigio.
Even fishy days can be great days. It all depends on the kind of fish. Have a great day and make everyday a great day. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.
A Jeanne in the Kitchen 