Mustard Chicken Salad

These days my house pretty much either looks like this, is about to look like this, or has just looked like this:

So you better believe that if I am going to have a SALAD for dinner, it is going to be a nice, hearty, substantial salad that gives me the strength I need to shovel the driveway again.

Okay, so I don't personally shovel the driveway.  Ever.  But you get my drift.

This scrumptious chicken salad fits the bill perfectly, and in addition the recipe has forever convinced me that if you needed pieces of cooked chicken for something, you MUST roast it in the oven.  I used to be a poach it on the stovetop girl, and all these years I never realized that roasting it makes the cooked chicken taste one million percent better.  One million, not kidding.

Anyway, after you have roasted the chicken and gotten your fabulous-tasting cooked chicken, you quickly dunk some broccoli in some boiling water, just until it is cript-tender and a lovely bright green.  After that it is just a matter of mixing up the mustard dressing and tossing the whole thing together: the chicken, the broccoli, the dressing, some cherry tomatoes and a little tarragon. 

Now THAT'S a salad that a person can eat in front of a fireplace.

Mustard Chicken Salad, from Barefoot Contessa How Easy Is That?: Fabulous Recipes & Easy Tips 

• 4 bone-in chicken breast halves
• Olive oil
• Coarse salt and fresh ground pepper
• 5 cups small brocolli florets
• 1 1/2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup whole grain mustard
• 2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh tarragon
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Place chicken in a baking pan lined with foil and rub with olive oil.  Sprinke liberally with salt and pepper and roast for 45 minutes.  Cool, discard skin and tear chicken meat into bite-sized pieces.

2. Fill a large bowl with ice water and bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add broccoli to the boiling water and cook until crisp-tender, about one minute.  Drain and place the brocolli in the bowl of ice water.

3. make the dressing by whisking the mayo, mustards, vinegar 1 tablespoon salt and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt together.  Add enough dressing to the chicken to moisten well.  Add the tarragon, broccoli and tomatoes and mix gently to combine.  If you have time, cover and let sit in fridge for a couple of hours so the flavors can develop even more.  Serve at room temperature.

Click here for printable recipe

Welsh Rarebit Risotto

I hit the jackpot this Christmas with cookbooks - everything from the spectacular ALINEA, which is more of a fine art collection of the most glorious food photographs that I have ever seen in my life, to the book and DVD set of HAMBURGER AMERICA, which the Southern husband and I will be cuddling up together to watch very soon. But the one cookbook I cracked open first was from my oldest friend, who is always looking out for my health and well-being. She sent me a copy of MOOSEWOOD RESTAURANT SIMPLE SUPPERS, which is a collection of deliciously healthy, wonderfully simple meals that can be tossed together pretty much within my rigid weekday timeframe of 30 minutes or less.

So naturally the first one I started with was the Welsh Rarebit Risotto. I am a big Welsh Rarebit fan, and the thought of turning this classic comfort food into a risotto...I just couldn't resist. And since it was from the healthy living folks at Moosewood, it included not only the classic rarebit ingredient of tomato, but also some freshly steamed chopped brocolli as well. This risotto uses beer instead of the usual white wine as a starter base, and lots and lots of sharp cheddar cheese to finish. The Moosewood recipe calls for using vegetable broth, but I am a chicken broth girl when it comes to risotto and so that's what I used, and it came out great. But up to you -- go for that vegetable broth if you want to be a purist. It cooks up to be cheesy and creamy and comforting, and I am pretty sure the broccoli makes it TOTALLY good for you.

So there you go, with thanks to my wonderful friend and the Moosewood folks!

WELSH RAREBIT RISOTTO, adapted from Moosewood Restaurant Simple Suppers

• 1 quart vegetable or chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups arborio rice
• 12 ounces beer
• 3 cups chopped, steamed broccoli
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 4 cups loosely packed shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
• Fresh ground pepper

1. Bring broth to a boil in a saucepan and keep at a low simmer.

2. Meanwhile, in a second large heavy saucepan, warm olive oil over medium high heat. Add rice and stir until well-coated, then pour in beer and stir until beer is mostly absorbed, about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add broth one cup at a time, stirring often. Let the rice absorb most of the broth before adding the next cup (usually 5 minutes between additions). When the last of the broth is absorbed the rice should be just about done.

4. Add mustard and cheese and stir until cheese is melted. Stir in broccoli and tomatoes, season with pepper and serve.

Click here for printable recipe.

Baked Potato with Broccoli, Cheddar and Egg

I wasn't going to blog about this one, because it was going to be a little more trouble than usual to photograph. My usual approach to photographing all these dishes on the blog is to make a little extra, which then gets photographed after dinner and then popped into the fridge for the appreciative Southern husband to have for lunch later in the week. (I developed this method after my first approach, which was to photograph one of the servings BEFORE dinner. And since I am not the speediest photographer in the world...you guessed it. Lukewarm dinner. Or on some nights, cold dinner. Until it occurred to me that I could do it after dinner if I just made a little extra. D'oh!!)

Anyway, this meal shows up on the menu regularly because after macaroni and cheese and hamburgers, it is the teenager's favorite. Except for the broccoli, but I do have to get those vegetables in where I can. So when she was doublechecking to make sure it was on the menu, she also doublechecked to make sure I was photographing it. Which I wasn't planning to, because leftover baked potato and egg...not so much. The Southern husband is very agreeable, but even he has his limits. So I had only three potatoes on hand, none scheduled for a close-up.

That did not fly with the teenager. "It's my FAVORITE! You HAVE to put it on the blog! (Much of what gets said by the teenager involves capital letters and exclamation points.)

Good grief. Okay. So with a little fancy footwork in terms of an extra egg and some reheating, I managed to both take its picture AND serve it relatively hot, and everyone was happy, including the dog (who got the extra egg). In the meantime, the teenager and I both recommend this easy, filling, delicious dinner. You can substitute pretty much any veggie or cheese that you like.

BAKED POTATO WITH BROCCOLI, CHEDDAR AND EGG

• 1 Idaho potato, scrubbed
• 1/2 cup broccoli florets
• 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, either poached or fried
• 1 tablespoon butter
• salt and pepper

1. Prick the potato several times with fork and microwave until cooked through, about 15 minutes on full power.

2. Steam broccoli, or microwave for 3-5 minutes with a little water until crisp-tender.

3. Poach or fry one egg.

4. Split potato open and fluff insides with fork. Spread butter over top and season with salt and pepper. Arrange broccoli over top of potato and scatter cheese over broccoli. Microwave for 1 minute until cheese is just melting.

5. Place egg on top and break yolk so it spreads over all. Grind pepper over top and serve immediately.

Click here for Printable Recipe