Twenty Five Minute Meals: Chopped Salad Edition

Twenty Five Minute Meals: Chopped Salad Edition 

Twenty Five Minute Meals: Chopped Salad Edition 

I'm one of those people who believes that we eat with all five of our senses; we smell the aromas of the meals as they are being prepared, we see the plates visually before we consume them, we hear the sizzle or simmer of the food as it cooks, we touch the ingredients as we prepare meals and we touch the food as we eat. When we have a meal that stimulates all of our senses as we eat, that makes our dining experience that much more pleasurable. The chopped salad recipe included below does just that, it is pleasing to all of the senses with its variety of fresh ingredients with each bite you are greeted by different taste, and textures. I'm sure you didn't come here to discuss the five senses so I'll stop my yammering and get to the food.

Total Cooking Time: 25 Minutes

Prep Time: 10 Minutes

Cooking Time: 15 Minutes

Yields: 2 servings

Ingredients

Two Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast ( I like to flatten them a little so that they cook faster)

1 Whole cucumber

2 Whole Tomatoes

3 Boiled Eggs

1 Whole Red Bell Pepper

1 Bag of Pre-Washed Salad Mix

Cheese (Optional) 

Dressing (Optional) 

Sauteed Chicken Breast

*Cooking Tip* Start boiling your eggs before you begin your salad prep

1.Heat the oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until warm. 

2.Season both sides of the chicken breasts with salt and pepper, and place them in the pan. 

3.Cook, turning once, until firm to the touch, about 5-6 minutes per side.  (you want to cook the chicken evenly but the less you move it around the better the color you get on the chicken during cooking, which allows for better presentation)

4.Transfer the chicken breasts to a plate. 

5. Let chicken breast rest for a few minutes, then chop into bite sized pieces.

6.Chop the remaining salad ingredients so that they are all cubed shaped and roughly the same size, keep items all separate until you are ready to assemble salad. 

Assembling your salad

1. First place your chopped salad mix on you plate, the one by one add you ingredients in individual columns as pictured above. I chose to arrange my ingredients so that ingredients with complementary colors were placed next to each other. (yes I put that much thought into my food, I like my meals to looks as good as they taste). Once you have the items arranged as you would like, garnish a piece of lemon or and  your Chopped Salad is ready to be eaten, but first take a picture for instagram.

A salad like this does not need to be drowned in dressing in order to be enjoy, in fact I would suggest dressing it very lightly so that you will still get the flavor of the ingredients. Here is a video I found on YouTube featuring Chef Gordon Ramsey preparing a lovely light vinaigrette. ( This video is the property of the actual owner and is only presented here for informational purposes. 

I would have a salad like this for dinner lunch, its really filling, healthy, and of course delicious. It offers a wonderful presentation and is sure to impress your family and friends without a tremendous effort on your part. What are your favorite salad ingredients? Do you make your own dressings? Comment below.

Asian Inspired Shrimp with Vegetables

Every Wednesday at the appointed hour I sit myself in front of my TV to watch the ABC Wednesday night line up. So tonight as I prepared to began my normal routine of laughing at the antics of the ABC families my stomach growled which brought me back to reality I still need to cook dinner. Looking for a quick meal to fix I had some shrimp so I decided to whip up a stir fry which some how parleyed into something else... but  i'll stop my yammering and get to what you came here for the food.


Asian Inspired Shrimp with Vegetables

Total Cooking Time: 45 minutes         

Prep Time: 30 minutes 

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Yields: 4 servings

Ingredients 

1 whole yellow onion

1 half of a red onion

2 whole bell peppers ( I used 4 halves of 4 different colors of peppers)

1 pound of peeled and deveined shrimp

1 cup of chopped carrots

1 whole zucchini

1 whole squash

6 cloves of garlic

2 cups of broccoli 

Cooked brown rice

1/4 of a cup of low sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons of sugar ( I used raw sugar)

1 cup of broth

1 tablespoon of flour ( substitute with cornstarch) 

3 tablespoons of water

3 tablespoons of vegetable oil ( for stir fry)

1 tablespoon of Sesame oil (optional) 

*Tip* Prior to starting the actual cooking have all your prep done. The process of cooking goes really quickly if you have all your prep work done before hand. That means all the chopping and peeling should be done.

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together broth, soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar set aside.

2. In another small bowl or cup, stir together the tbsp of flour (or cornstarch) with the 3 tbsp of water and set aside. ( this is added later to help thicken the sauce) 

3. Heat the oil over medium-high heat in a wok; add onions and garlic cook briefly, and then add vegetables while continuously stirring. ( it’s a stir-fry after all, lol)

4. Stir-fry vegetables for approximately 5-6 minutes (just long enough to cook the veggies but allow them to remain firm), then add the shrimp.

5. Cook the shrimp 1 minute or until it barely curls and turns slightly pink.

6. Add the sauce mixture and cook 5-7 minutes more; then stir in the thickener (briefly stir first) and stir-fry until mixture thickens, about 1 minute.

7. Serve with hot cooked brown rice.

Here are a few pictures of the finished product:

This meal was delicious, and satisfying. it healthier than your normal take out, much less sodium, no msgs, and brown rice ( triple threat)  The beauty of this type of dinner is that it packs perfectly for lunch tomorrow. Tonight dinner combined with the laughs of ABC's Wednesday night shows equaled a blissful evening for me. Are there any quick fix meals you like to make on weeknights? Have you ever tried to make your favorite takeout at home? Comment below

xx. Toya

Lemon-pepper Sauteed Tilapia

When you want something quick, light and filling...

October is a busy month at my house there are a bunch of birthday celebrations going on among other festive occasions. So we have had quite a few dinners and lunches out and many treats were eaten. Which is perfectly fine in my book but I always stress balance so this week we are trying to eat a little healthier this at my house. Which is there this inspiration for this meal came form.

Cook Time: 25- 30 minuets 

Ingredients:

Tilapia filet ( or whichever fish you prefer) 

Fresh or frozen green beans ( or whichever green vegetable you prefer)

Whole wheat pasta

Garlic

 Two Tomatoes (diced) 

Fresh lemon

Thyme

Basil

Olive Oil

Salt

Lemon-pepper seasoning 

Prep:

Lemon pepper Tilapia:

1. Rinse tilapia fillets in cold water and pat dry with paper towels. Season both sides of each fillet with salt and lemon pepper seasoning.

2. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; cook the tilapia in the hot oil until the fish flakes easily with a fork, about 4 minutes per side. Give the fish a squeeze of lemon. Serve immediately.

Pasta with Tomatoes & Garlic:

1. Prepare pasta according to package directions, in a separate pan saute diced tomatoes, and garlic in a table for two to three minute over medium heat.

2. Add your cooked pasta to the pan, tossed pasta in pan add enough olive oil to light coat the pasta. Make sure to thoroughly mix contents, the salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Green beans with garlic (using fresh or frozen green beans)

1. Boil for steam your beans for about 5 minutes, you want them to be cooked with out loosing their bite. In a separate pan heat two tablespoons of olive oil then add chopped garlic. 

2. Drain your beans then add them to the pan with the garlic.Toss the beans in the olive oil and garlic for about 5 minuets or just long enough to cook the remain water out of them. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

The meal was light, delicious, quick, and extremely satisfying.

xx.Toya 

Breakfast Really is the Most Important Meal of the day.

It's a saying we have all heard time and time again as children "breakfast is the most important meal of the day," however it wasn't until I was older that I began to under how very important breakfast really is. What we eat for breakfast determines two very important things at the start of our day. The first is how we we feel for the rest of the day. If we eat a breakfast that is too laden with one food group such as carbohydrates, fats, or sugars we will notice that our energy levels are down and usually by 3 o'clock p.m. we are exhausted and hungry.  What we eat fuel's our body much like gasoline fuels our cars. Have you ever put some bad gasoline in your car and notice the car reacted negatively? A similar principal exist for our bodies.The second thing our breakfast decision determines is what food choices we make for the rest of the day. Sometimes if we make pour food choices at breakfast we think "well I've already started off bad there goes my day, might as well have that double bacon cheese burger and chili fries for lunch."Which of course isn't the case, after having a less than balanced breakfast lunchtime is the perfect opportunity to get back on track. I'm all about enjoying food but I believe the key to that is balance.  I usually have granola with milk or yogurt or eggs with spinach and maybe sausage or bacon. What do you think? Are you a breakfast eater? What do you typically have?

xx Toya