We had this tonight for supper and it was a hit! The original recipe called for chicken, but I used thick, boneless pork chops. It worked wonderfully well with the cut.

Ingredients:

4 thick cut boneless pork chops
1/4 C melted butter
1 T. Dijon mustard
1 T. lemon juice (fresh or bottled is fine)
1 t. paprika
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper (or to taste)

Place pork in a casserole dish (with sides). In a small bowl whisk remaining ingredients until well mixed. Pour mixture over pork. Bake covered at 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Uncover and cook until finished (aprox. 10 more minutes or until juices run clear).

This is the simply the best chicken salad I have ever had. I have made it for Church suppers in the summer and it is always completely consumed! Also it is diet friendly! I got this recipe out of a Southern Living insert one year. I can’t even remember which edition it was. As you can see in the pictures below it is a very pretty and colorful salad as well.

Blueberry Chicken Salad
2 cups fresh blueberries
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
3/4 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced sweet red pepper
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
1 carton (6 oz.) lemon yogurt (I had a hard time finding plain lemon yogurt, but I used various lemon flavors successfully)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise (I used low fat sour cream instead)
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

Set aside a few blueberries for garnish. In a large bowl, gently combine the chicken, celery, red pepper, onions and remaining blueberries. Combine the yogurt, mayonnaise and salt; drizzle over chicken mixture and gently toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Serve on lettuce-lined plates if desired. Top with reserved blueberries. This is really good served with croissants. Yield: 4 servings.

This is a wonderful summer salad that we look forward to each year. I found it in a Light and Tasty magazine, and will link you to the original source of the recipe, below. I have used this salad as both a side salad and as a main dish. It’s very tasty, but not too hot or spicy.

Zippy Chicken Coleslaw
Light & Tasty
LINK to recipe source

“The ramen noodles give this hearty salad a little crunch, but it’s still just as good the next day when they’ve softened up,” says Kathy Egan of Oceanside, California.

Ingredients:
Coleslaw (salad)
* 1 tablespoon paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
* 1/4 teaspoon sugar
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
* 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
* 1/4 teaspoon pepper
* 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
* 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast
* 1 package (3 ounces) hot and spicy ramen noodles
* 4 cups shredded cabbage
* 2 cups broccoli coleslaw mix
* 3 green onions, chopped
* 2 tablespoons sesame seeds, toasted
* 2 tablespoons sliced almonds, toasted

DRESSING:
* 3 tablespoons sugar
* 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
* 4-1/2 teaspoons cider vinegar
* 2-1/4 teaspoons water
* 2-1/4 teaspoons canola oil
* 1/8 teaspoon pepper

Directions:
In a small bowl, combine the first eight ingredients; rub over both sides of chicken. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 5-6 minutes on each side or until juices run clear. When chicken is cool enough to handle, shred with two forks; cool completely.

Set aside seasoning packet from ramen noodles. Break noodles into small pieces; place in a large bowl. Add the cabbage, broccoli coleslaw, onions, sesame seeds, almonds and chicken.

In a jar with a tight-fitting lid, combine the dressing ingredients. Add the contents of seasoning packet; shake well. Pour over coleslaw and toss to coat.

Yield: 9 servings.

The recipe I used to make my Tadoori Chicken and Naan came from Saveur Magazine (hard copy), and I found it online as well. The link to the recipe is included below. It was a very good recipe, and I can say that the meal honestly tasted like Tandoori Chicken I have had in a local Indian Restaurant. The flavors were not as intense, but I did not marinade the chicken as long as the recipe recommends. I highly recommend marinading as long as possible.

Tandoori Chicken

SAVEUR Online
(Yogurt- and Spice-Marinated Chicken)
SERVES 4 – 6

This version of tandoori chicken—intricately spiced, juicy, and tender—tastes even better if you allow the chicken to rest in the second, yogurt-based marinade overnight. To re-create the heat of a tandoor oven, we placed a baking stone in our conventional one and cranked it as high as it would go.

4 skinless bone-in whole chicken legs
3 skinless bone-in chicken breast halves, halved
crosswise
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 3″ piece peeled ginger, coarsely chopped
Salt
3 tbsp. canola oil
1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar
1 tbsp. kashmiri red chile powder or paprika
1 1⁄2 tsp. cardamom seeds
1 1⁄2 tsp. garlic powder
1 1⁄2 tsp. ground bay leaf
1 1⁄2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 1⁄2 tsp. ground clove
1 1⁄2 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup plain yogurt
1⁄2 tsp. ground black salt (optional)
6 green thai chiles, stemmed and finely chopped
Chat masala (optional)

1. Make 2″-wide slashes about 1⁄2″ deep all over chicken pieces. Cut knee joints on legs halfway; transfer all the chicken to a large bowl.

2. Purée garlic, ginger, and 1⁄4 cup water in a blender; add to chicken along with 2 tsp. salt, half the oil, vinegar, 1 tsp. chile powder, and half of each of the following: cardamom, garlic powder, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, and ground ginger. Toss to coat; refrigerate overnight.

3. Put yogurt, black salt, chiles, and all remaining oil, chile powder, cardamom, garlic powder, bay leaf, cinnamon, cloves, ground ginger, and salt to taste into a bowl; mix. Pour yogurt mixture over chicken; massage into flesh for 2–3 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap; let marinate at room temperature for 1 hour.

4. If using, place a baking stone on the middle oven rack; heat oven to 500° (or 550°, if possible). Line a baking sheet with foil; place a baking rack directly on top of the foil. Arrange chicken pieces (with any marinade that clings to them) on top of the rack in a single layer. Bake, rotating baking sheet once, until crisp, lightly charred, and cooked through, about 25 minutes for breasts and 35 minutes for legs. Sprinkle with chat masala, if you like. Serve hot.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #102

Naan from Saveur

(Tandoori Flat Bread)

For this method, we use a cast-iron skillet and a baking stone to replicate a tandoor oven. Moti Mahal’s bread maker forms its naan into a triangle; we stretch ours into a circle that fits the skillet. Whisk together 4 cups flour, 1 tbsp. plus 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tbsp. salt, and 1 tbsp. sugar in a bowl. In another bowl, whisk together 1 1⁄4 cups milk, 1⁄3 cup plain yogurt, 2 tbsp. canola oil, and 1 lightly beaten egg. Pour milk mixture into flour mixture; mix into a dough. Knead dough on a floured surface until smooth, 10–12 minutes. Form dough into a ball; cover with towel; let rest for 30 minutes. If using, place a baking stone on the middle oven rack; heat oven to 500° (or 550°, if possible). Divide dough into 12 pieces; cover with towel. Working with 1 dough piece at a time, stretch it over a medium inverted bowl into a 6″–8″ circle. Heat a large cast-iron skillet over high heat until very hot. Peel dough off bowl; lay in skillet. Bake until puffed on top, 2–3 minutes. Brush naan with butter. Makes 12.

This recipe was first published in Saveur in Issue #102

This is another recipe I picked up at work after trying it at a luncheon. The woman who shared it with me only worked at our Institute for a short period of time. She moved to NC, but was a native of New Orleans. I won’t even brag here about some of the awesome dishes she brought to some of our luncheons! Wow! This was the only recipe I was able to beg her for before she left to fill the position she had moved to take. When she made this dish for our luncheon she combined the noodles in with the crawfish sauce and kept it warm in a crock-pot. I usually do the same.

Crawfish’s Pasta

1 stick of butter
1 tsp Italian seasoning; 1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Tony’s Chachere’s (Creole) seasoning (green container in spice aisle of your grocer)
1 clove fresh garlic
1 lb package frozen crawfish tails* (usually easy to find at your grocer — thaw and pat out extra moisture)
8 oz cream cheese
pint of half and half
Bowtie pasta, cook until tender and drain thoroughly

Melt butter and add seasonings and garlic. Add crawfish. Sauté meat in butter mixture for 5 minutes and coat well. Add cream cheese and stir until melted completely. Add pint of half and half and stir until well mixed. Serve over bowtie noodles.

*My kids never liked crawfish, so I always made a variation of this recipe. I would use blackening seasoning (often found in your grocer’s seasoning aisle) and blacken chicken breasts, chop and replace the crawfish with the chicken. It worked beautifully and the flavor was still very rich and delicious.