Sesame and Panko Crusted Chicken

Tasty, easy weeknight meal:  sesame and panko crusted chicken breasts served over an arugula salad with an Asian vinaigrette.  

The gingery, spicy vinaigrette it split in half at the beginning and serves both as a marinade for the chicken and as a salad dressing.  The crispy sesame and panko crust on the chicken is awesome. 

I added some romaine hearts to the arugula for crunch- I'm pretty sure you could use about any green for the salad.  Be sure to pound the chicken breasts flat so that they cook evenly- you don't want to accidentally burn the sesame seeds while trying to cook the fat part of the chicken breast.

Roasted Potato Salad with Corn, Tomato and a Jalapeno Lime Vinaigrette

Barbara requested a potato salad for her combo housewarming/birthday/last bash before the baby party... after the holiday weekend I felt a little over mayo-laden potato salads, so I decided to research some more funky potato salads.


This potato and corn salad recipe from the Splendid Table calls for lots of sunny summer produce, perfect for using up my fresh-from-the-farm corn on the cob, cherry tomatoes, jalapenos, and red potatoes. I didn't follow the directions exactly since I didn't feel like turning on the grill, but I roasted the potatoes (which I had cut into bite-sized pieces), toasted the corn, onion, and jalapeno in a cast-iron skillet, and just whisked the dressing together rather than busting out and dirtying the blender.

Fresh, tasty, a little spicy, and definitely not mayo-y!

Arugula and Beet Salad with Fried Goat Cheese Discs, Roast Beef, Hazelnuts and Orange Vinaigrette

Riffing off of a number of different recipes, we pieced this healthy and very brightly colored salad together after checking out the cherry blossoms on this random 80 degree day.

We mixed together arugula, roasted beets, toasted hazelnuts, and orange segments, then we topped that with sliced roast beef and this orange vinaigrette from Cooking Light, and finally, we borrowed the crispy fried goat cheese discs from this John Besh recipe.

We give thumbs up to the recipe as a whole, but think that the roast beef may have been unnecessary, as it gets lost amid all of the other strong flavors in the salad.

Pork Roast with Prunes, Red Wine and Rosemary

I had the girls over for "TV Club," which is basically book club, but instead of reading a book every couple months and talking about it, we watch DVDs of shows from the premium channels that all of us are too cheap to buy. Last round we watched the first 2 seasons of True Blood, which is bloody and campy (and a little confusing if you've read the books), and now we're watching United States of Tara, which is pretty funny and thought-provoking.

Today's meeting was over lunch. Roast pork loin in a rosemary, red wine and prune sauce was the main course. Yes, I know prunes have a bad rep... they even had to change their name to "dried plums" because everyone has such negative associations with prunes. But this recipe was really good! Earthy, rich, fruity, a little sweet... I pureed the sauce while the pork was resting, which I think was a nice touch. Served with Israeli couscous, kohlrabi/carrot/apple salad, and a green mixed salad, topped off with some totally addictive "puppy chow." Pretty tasty all around!

Bottom of the Jar Dijon Vinaigrette

I saw this "no waste" Dijon and red wine vinaigrette recipe in a couple different places on the internets recently- it's advertised as a way to efficiently use up those little bits of mustard left clinging to the side of the jar.I reached the end of a jar of stone ground Dijon when making some Dijon and rosemary grilled chicken thighs, so I threw some olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper into the jar, shook it up.... a tasty vinaigrette, perfect for a crispy salad!

Panzanella

Made this panzanella salad with cukes and mini-tomatoes from the CSA- yum! Very summery and delicious. I used a combination of the ingredients in this recipe and Ina's methodology and vinaigrette.
Awesome- it was a hit.I plan to try other panzanellas in the future... maybe in the fall I'll try a winter panzanella with butternut squash and brussel sprouts.

Caramelized Fennel and Pancetta Salad with Arugula

I got a bulb of fennel from the CSA this week, and this caramelized fennel and pancetta salad from Tony's other girlfriend caught my eye. It was pretty tasty- I made ours with arugula, also from the CSA. However, the fennel's distinct licorice taste was totally subsumed by the sweet, caramel flavor imparted on it when it was roasted. That's not bad, per se, but made the fennel somewhat superfluous. I think you could roast onions and accomplish the same flavor for the salad.

Spanakopita and Greek Salad

I love me some spinach pie. And yet, until today, I'd never made it. This recipe from Closet Cooking (whose recipes I always end up clicking on on Tastespotting and Foodgawker), was simple, easy and delicious. Plus it used up many of the veggies I bought from Star Hollow Farm last week: spinach, dill, green onion, parsley.If you wanted to make some self-contained empanada-sized spanakopita, or even little appetizer sized spanakopita, I think you could easily modify the recipe- just cut the phyllo into long strips and roll tablespoons of filling up.

Served with a Greek salad with this easy red wine vinaigrette.

Roasted Vegetables with Pomegranate Vinaigrette

Martha and Andrea cooked this recipe from the November issue of Martha Stewart Living a couple weeks ago and gave it two (four?) thumbs up... I don't think Martha Stewart has posted the recipe online yet, but I found this blog that had done a version of it. We had sweet potatoes and Romanesco cauliflower from the CSA, and some uncooked Brussel sprouts left over from Thanksgiving, so we gave it a try. Chuck had the day off, so she rocked the recipe.

Delicious! The pomegranate flavor compliments, but doesn't overwhelm the veggie flavors. Plus, the recipe is beautiful: great array of colors, and the Romanesco cauliflower is pretty much the coolest looking vegetable ever. I love the bright green color, and the shape is amazing. Natural geometry.... Wikipedia tells me it's a logarithmic spiral. Awesome.

Green Beans with Feta Vinaigrette

Originally, I planned to make this Green Bean Salad with Feta and Lemon that was in last week's Washington Post Food & Dining section, but after unsuccessfully searching for the requisite dill at two separate grocery stores, I decided to look for another green bean and feta recipe.

Google gave me this Green Bean and Feta Salad as the first hit, which is basically green beans, feta, and Vidalia onion with a vinaigrette. Pretty good, although the recipe made a TON of sauce. I didn't put it all on the beans. I also only let it marinate for like 30 minutes, not 4 hours. And I didn't cook the onion because I couldn't figure out what the recipe instructions were trying to get me to do with the onion... pour hot water over it? Meh.

Look closely at the photo and you can see my arm, nostrils and glasses. Photography = not my specialty.