Napa Chicken Salad

I use Pinterest a lot. It's probably one of my favorite places to find food recipes because they were made by real people

4 cups cooked chicken chopped into 3/4 inch dice.

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 cup sour cream

1 1/2 tablespoons dried tarragon

1 cup small diced celery

1 cup red or green grapes cut in 1/2

1/2 cup almonds

DIRECTIONS:

Place the chicken in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Add mayo, sour cream, tarragon, celery, grapes and almonds. Toss well and refrigerate for several hours. Enjoy over lettuce or as a sandwich.

Pita Bread

I've never had good luck with making bread with yeast. Maybe my house is never warm enough so it doesn't rise properly. Maybe I'm just impatient. It's something. This was no different. I let them rise longer than it said, but the pitas still didn't get the little pocket in them. Maybe you'll have better luck.

I only made these because I was craving chicken salad. That recipe will be coming up soon. Sorry for the lack of pictures, we eat things before I get pictures.

Pita Bread

1 tablespoon yeast

1 ¼ cup warm water

1 teaspoon salt

3- 3 ½ cups flour

Dissolve yeast in water for about 5 minutes in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add salt and 1 ½ cups flour and with the dough hook, beat to make a batter. Add additional flour until a rough, shaggy mass is formed. Knead 8 minutes until dough is smooth and elastic. Add more flour if it is too sticky.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into six pieces for large pitas or ten for smaller. I make all sorts of sizes to suit different snacks and meals. Form dough into balls, then flatten with a rolling pin into ¼ inch thick discs. Try and keep an even thickness as this is what helps them ‘puff’.

Let rest on the floured surface 30-40 minutes until slightly puffed.

Preheat oven to 425F.

With a large spatula, flip the rounds of dough upside down on to a baking sheet. Bake 10-15 minutes until light golden. Stick around for the first five minutes of baking when the pitas perform their magic and puff up from flat pancakes to proud, four inch high pitas.

Crunchy Asian Pasta Salad

I've had this recipe in a binder for a while now. Probably about three years. I've been looking for some new recipes lately and stumbled on this guy. 

It's a little overwhelming as a main course, but try it with burgers or hot dogs on the grill or something else summery. Matt loved it. I had it for lunch today with some yogurt and fruit and it was perfect. I thought of my friend Kristen when I had my lunch today. She was always getting on my case about eating multiple colors in my meal. This meal had so many colors I can't even start counting. Yummy.

Also, it counts for a Meatless Monday.

1 box Betty Crocker Suddenly Salad classic pasta mix
1 pkg (3oz) Oriental flavored Ramen Soup Mix
3 tablespoons sugar
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 bag broccoli slaw
1 cup snow peas or sugar snap peas, cut on the diagonal into ½ inch pieces
1/4 - 1/2 cup sliced, toasted almonds
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds)
2 cans (15oz) mandarin oranges, drained

Empty the pasta mix into a pot of boiling water. Gently boil for 10 – 12 minutes. Drain, rinse with cold water and shake to drain again.

In a large bowl stir together the seasoning mixes from the pasta and the soup mix, sugar, oil, vinegar, water and soy sauce. Add the pasta and the remaining ingredients. Toss to combine.

Just before serving, coarsely crush the dry noodles from the soup mix and stir into the pasta mixture. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet

My mom gave me this recipe a few weeks ago and I finally made it. It's pretty simple and quite delicious.

When she gave me the recipe, I was surprised to see that it was one of my favorite Bloggers, How Sweet It Is. Now that I have the iPad, I don't have the reading list of blogs like I used to. I must have missed this one because I definitely would have tagged it for making.

Spicy Parmesan Shrimp Skillet

from How Sweet It Is

Serves 2-4

1 pound raw, peeled and deveined shrimp

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons brown sugar

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

2 cups uncooked whole wheat penne

In a bowl, whisk together olive oil, Parmesan, brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, and red pepper flakes together. Add shrimp to a large zip-lock bag, pour marinade over top, then seal bag and shake to coats. Place in the fridge to marinade for 30 minutes to overnight.

When ready to eat, bring water to a boil in a large pot and cook penne according to directions. While pasta is cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add shrimp and marinade into the skillet and cook until shrimp are pink - about 2 minutes on each side. Be carful not to overlook. As soon as the shrimp is finished, add penne into the skillet and toss to coat completely. Top with additional Parmesan cheese, then serve.