Most of the time grill meals stand alone as do pasta meals. That changed the other night when the two meals collided. What could be better than pasta, grilled chicken and vegetables? It’s kind of the best of both/all worlds. This makes a wonderful dinner and the leftovers (if there are any) get better with a day or two in the frig.
The dressing does double duty acting as a marinade for the chicken and vegetables as well as the sauce for the finished dish. This can be eaten warm, at room temperature or throw it in the frig to get cold and call it pasta salad.
A few healthy words on the ingredients. Whole wheat pasta is really delicious. It turns out “al dente” just by it’s very nature. It’s bigger taste and texture allow smaller quantites to feel like more. Less pasta means more veggies and a big bowl of goodness for a lower calorie and carb investment. While there is a good bit of olive oil in the dressing/marinade, some goes away in the marinating process and when you split this dish four ways, the impact isn’t too serious.
Dressing: Zest the lemon and squeeze the juice into a container with a tight fitting lid. Add the balsamic, zest, mustard, and anchovy paste. Finely chop the parsley and add it to the jar. Mince the garlic on a cutting board. Add the salt and continue to chop/smash until a paste forms. Add this to the jar. Pour in the olive oil and a few grinds of fresh ground pepper. Shake vigorously until mixture is completely blended.
Place the chicken in a zip top bag. Add 2 tablespoons of the dressing and seal the bag. Squeeze to distribute dressing over chicken. chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Place the asparagus in another zip top bag and add 3 tablespoons of the dressing. Seal the bag. Turn and shake the bag to distribute the dressing over the asparagus. Chill at least 2 hours or overnight. Store the rest of the dressing in the refrigerator.
When it's time to grill, remove the chicken and asparagus from the frig. Peel the onion and cut it in half crosswise. Use two wooden skewers to hold the onion together. Brush with a little bit of the dressing. Grill the chicken and vegetables. (15-20 minutes or so). Remove to cutting boards when cooked.
Cook pasta in salted water until "al dente" while the chicken and vegetables grill.
Cut the grape tomatoes in half lengthwise. Roughly chop the olives. Tear the basil into small pieces
Drain the pasta and put in a large bowl. Slice the chicken into bite size pieces and add to the pasta. Cut the asparagus in thirds and add to the pasta bowl.
Add the tomatoes, olives, and basil to the bowl and toss gently to combine. Add the rest of the dressing to the bowl and toss once more to mix everything together.
Serve in pasta bowls topped with the crumbled Feta Cheese.
If I invited you to dinner and told you we were having cold soup, you’d probably think I had lost my mind. But if the cold soup was Gazpacho, you’d be quite happy, indeed. This Andalusian transplant is the consumate summer soup. Garden fresh vegetables are blended into a chunky soup that is hearty yet light, satisfying enough to fill you up, but light enough so you have room for dessert.
Traditionally this is made with tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers, but fruits and other vegetables can be included. Gazpacho can be chunky enough to eat with a spoon or smooth enough to drink as a remarkable Bloody Mary mixer.We had these at Mercat a la Planxa, a Spanish restaurant that has one of the most impressive Bloody Mary Bars I’ve ever seen. This is about my gazpacho, so if you want to learn more about the restaurant click here.
My gazpacho included the above mentioned ingredients along with some grilled corn. I used vegetable juice to keep things moving as well as sherry vinegar for a little tang.This is one of those dishes that I make differently every time. It’s usually based on what’s in season and what looks the most beautiful. Sometime I give it some spice with jalapenos and a plethora of peppers. Other times it’s a cucumber extravaganza. It all depends…
This recipe is a guideline that includes the techniques needed to make gazpacho. As I always say, make it you own. Add or subtract at your whim. Fruit gazpacho is quite tasty, so feel free to go there. Don’t let the summer go by without trying this recipe.
Peel the cucumber and chop into pieces about 1 inch.
Quarter the tomatoes. Core and seed them and chop into pieces about the same size as the cucumber. Put both in a large bowl.
Chop the onion into one inch chunks. Do the same with the bell pepper. Add them to the bowl.
Roughly chop the garlic, parsley, and cilantro and toss them in with the other vegetables. Mix everything together.
Cut the corn kernels off the cobs and set aside
Place a manageable amount of the vegetable mixture into the processor bowl. Add some of the vegetable juice and process until the mixture is slightly chunky. ( make this as smooth or chunky as you like) Put the processed vegetables back in the bowl.
Continue to process the vegetables with the vegetable juice until they are all the consistency you want. Add the corn to the bowl of vegetables and stir to mix everything well.
Add the juice of the lemon half, the vinegar, paprika, and cumin. Stir well and taste for seasoning. Add a little salt and any more of the flavorings that you want.
Cover and chill for several hours. Serve in soup bowls or goblets and garnish with cilantro or whatever you would like.
Heat a small non-stick pan over medium heat. Spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. Add the onions and cook for 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute, Remove from heat and allow to cool.
In a medium bowl combine the ground turkey, bread crumbs, cooled onion and garlic, vegetables and herbs. Toss to combine. Add the beaten egg white and stir gently to combine.
Take about 1 tablespoon of the mixture and form into a mini patty. Cook this in a heated small pan. Taste the cooked patty and make any needed seasoning adjustments to the remaining uncooked mixture.
Form into two patties. Plate and lightly cover and place in the freezer for 15 minutes or so.
Heat a medium skillet over high heat. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Add the patties and cook for 4 minutes. (turn on your exhaust fan at this point, trust me). You want a deeply browned crust before you flip the burger.
Turn the burgers over and cook for another 4 minutes until that side is well browned.
Lower the heat and cook for another minute or two on each side. Check that the burgers are cooked through. Serve on toasted buns with toppings of your choice.
Panzanella is a wonderful vehicle for the bounty of summer vegetables, It’s also a bread lover’s best friend. Any assortment of vegetables can be combined with toasted bread cubes. Toss it all with the vinaigrette of your choice and you’ve got a hearty salad that almost eats like a meal. Slice up some grilled meat or an interesting cheese and call it dinner. The ingredients listed below are what I made this time. I honestly make it differently every time. I’ve even grilled the vegetables. Choose a crusty bread that is just a little stale. This go round I used a multi-grain baguette, but sour dough would be wonderful, too. The bottom line for this recipe is use what you like to make the panzanella salad you’ll love.
Heat the oven to 325 degrees. Spread the bread cubes on a baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with olive oil cooking spray. Spray the bread cubes lightly with the olive oil spray. Bake 15 minutes until the cubes are lightly browned. Set aside to cool.
Quarter the tomatoes lengthwise. Remove the seeds and cut crosswise into 1/2 slices. Cut the onion in half crosswise. Cut each half in thin vertical strips.
Put the onions and tomatoes in a large bowl. Add the chopped pepper, cucumbers, and the bread cubes. Tear the basil leaves into bite size pieces and add to the bowl.
Dressing: Mash the garlic, anchovy paste and a pinch of salt in a mortar. It should be a fairly smooth paste. Combine the oil, vinegar, herbs, and the garlic anchovy paste in a jar with a tight fitting lid. Shake until the dressing is completely blended.
Pour the dressing over the ingredients in the bowl and toss to coat. Cover and chill for several hours. Serve.
Pasta salad meets lettuce salad in an easy one dish meal. This serves two very generously. Use the cut whole wheat pasta of your choice. The same goes for the herbs you use in the dressing.
Servings
2
Servings
2
Italian Salad with Pasta and Chicken
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Pasta salad meets lettuce salad in an easy one dish meal. This serves two very generously. Use the cut whole wheat pasta of your choice. The same goes for the herbs you use in the dressing.
Cook the pasta according to the directions on the package. Drain and rinse and put in a large bowl.
Slice the onion lengthwise into narrow strips and add them to the pasta in the bowl.
Slice the peppers into thin strips abut the same size as the onions and add them to the bowl.
Cut the tomatoes into halves or quarters depending on the size of the tomatoes and add them to the bowl.
Add the garbanzo beans, drained artichoke hearts, chicken, and olives to the bowl and toss to combine everything.
Dressing: Combine the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight fitting lid and shake vigorously to blend everything. Pour over the salad ingredients and toss to coat. Cover and chill for at least 2 hours.
When you are ready to serve, add the torn lettuce leaves and toss once more. Divide between two plates and sprinkle with the Romano cheese.
Most of the time grill meals stand alone as do pasta meals. That changed the other night when the two meals collided. What could be better than pasta, grilled chicken and vegetables? It’s kind of the best of both/all worlds. This makes a wonderful dinner and the leftovers (if there are any) get better with a day or two in the frig.
