Perfect Picnic Fare: Sesame Mango Salad with Grilled Chicken

This is probably one my favorite dishes that I have come up with to date.  It has a great mix of flavors.  The dressing is tangy and a little nutty.  If you want to step up the spice, just add more sriracha sauce.

This is a flexible dish that travels well for picnics and keeps well for lunches / leftovers for days after. Though, I do love it best when you can have the hot chicken on top of the cold salad, it works just as well with all the elements cold.

It’s nice because there is only one item you may have to buy gluten-free (soy sauce), so it is easy for folks with gluten-free loved ones that don’t have a gluten-free kitchen.

This is also perfect for vegan families, just substitute tofu for the chicken (I wouldn’t marinade tofu for as long, but otherwise, it would work very well).

Makes 4-6 servings.  Takes about 40 minutes start to finish.  Marinade the chicken the night before (takes about 5 minutes).

Chicken:

1-1.5 lbs boneless chicken

3T rice wine vinegar

3T tamari or any type of gluten-free soy sauce

1t red curry paste

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1 T sesame oil

1T sugar

dash of black pepper or chili flakes

1. Slice the chicken into thin cutlets or use chicken tenders.

2. Combine all the rest of the ingredients in a shallow dish.  Whisk together.

3. Add the chicken and toss it lightly with your fingers to ensure it is evenly coated.  Cover the dish and refrigerate for 12-24 hours.  Try to turn halfway through, but it isn’t the end of the world if you can’t.

You can also whisk the marinade together in a small bowl and then pour into a large Ziploc bag, add the chicken, zipper the top and then shake to coat the chicken.

The next day, make the salad and dressing and cook off the chicken:

Salad:

8 oz or 250 g of rice noodles

1/2 T sesame oil

8 oz or 250 g edamame

3-4 T sesame seeds

Small handful of basil

1/2 an English cucumber (or 1/2 of a regular cucumber, seeds removed)

2-3 green onions

1/2 mango or 1/4 of a pineapple

Dressing:

2T orange juice

3T tamari or any type of gluten-free soy sauce

dash of turmeric

1/2 t sriracha

1 t red curry paste

1 T sesame oil

1/4-1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Start by heating water in a medium saucepan to a roiling boil.  Add the sesame oil.  This will keep the noodles from getting sticky and clumpy.  Don’t worry about cutting the long threads down now; it’s easier to deal with that after the noodles are cooked.  Cook the rice noodles as directed.  During the last 2-3 minutes of cooking the noodles, add the edamame.

2. While the noodles are cooking, toast the sesame seeds in small pan over low heat, until they smell nutty.   Dice the cucumber, green onions and mango (or pineapple). 

3. Chiffonade the basil by stacking the leaves with the largest on the bottom.  Then roll the leaves together and thinly slice. 

4. By now the rice noodles will be done, they cook fast.  Drain them into a large colander in the sink.  Rinse immediately with cold water.  Using a pair of tongs, start to pull the noodles up in clumps and cut with scissors to the desired length. 

5. While the noodles finish cooling, make the dressing.  In a small bowl combine all the ingredients except for the oil.  Whisk together and then slowly stream in the oils.

6. Combine the sesame seeds, noodles, edamame, green onion, cucumber, mango and cucumber in a large bowl.  Toss together.  Then drizzle over the dressing and toss again.  I like to start by using half the dressing and seeing if that is enough and then add more as needed.  Taste for seasoning.

7. Put the salad in the fridge to cool further.  Heat a pan or grill and cook the chicken through, until no longer pink.  About 5-7 minutes per side, depending on how thick your chicken pieces are.  I like to slice the chicken before putting it on the salad.

8. Plate up the salad with the chicken on top.  You may want to add some additional green onions or basil, thinly sliced, for garnish.

I didn’t cut the pineapple here as finely as I should have.  I would probably do much thinner slices next time so the flavors blend in more with the rest of the dish.

When I made this, I didn’t think any of the components needed more salt than what was in the tamari, which is naturally pretty salty, but everyone has different taste, so you may want to adjust the seasoning a bit more.

Naturally Gluten-Free: Mussels

In New England, mussels always seem overshadowed by clams.  Don’t get me wrong, I love a good fried clam (I believe Woodman’s in Essex is actually gluten-free for the most part, since they coat their clam in cornmeal instead of regular flour, I promise to check that out and write a post about it soon), but mussels are worthy of the same attention and praise.  They are generally pretty inexpensive compared to most fish varieties and are easy to prepare. They are rich and meaty without being too heavy.
This version includes a light broth that gets an aromatic boost from fresh rosemary.  I use the broth in place of butter for dipping.

Since they are kind of messy to eat, these are great for summer cookouts / dinners on the patio.

Mussels go with just about anything (well except maybe a cheese plate), but I like to serve this with salad or some gluten-free rolls.

Serves 2, takes about 20 minutes, start to finish.

1 lb mussels

1/2 cup diced tomato

1/2 cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic, diced

1 cup dry white wine (like a Chardonnay)

1/2 cup water

3 T tomato paste

2 fresh rosemary sprigs

1. Clean the mussels by running them under cold water.  Look for any open mussels and discard those.  If you want to try to release the grit / sand from the mussels, add 1/4 cup cornstarch to a large bowl of cold water and whisk together.  Add the mussels and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.  The mussels should release the sand as they take in the cornstarch.  Rinse thoroughly under cold water.

2. In a large pot, over medium heat, saute the tomato, onion and garlic in a little olive oil.

3. When they are soft, about 2-3 minutes, add the tomato paste, rosemary, water and wine.

4. Raise the heat to high and cover the pot.  Bring the ingredients to a boil.

5. Reduce the heat to medium and add the mussels.  Cover and steam for 5-10 minutes or until the mussels have opened.  I would start checking at 5 minutes to see if they are ready.  Make sure you check once about every 2 minutes.  Every time you open the pot, the steam escapes and delays the cooking time, so you don’t want to check too frequently.

6. When the mussels are open, remove from the heat and serve with a large, empty bowl for the discarded shells.

It’s Too Hot to Use Your Oven: Endive and Apple Salad with Champagne Vinaigrette

As last weekend showed us, sometimes it is just too hot to cook. Which is why salad is one of my favorite go to dinners in the summer.  It’s fast and doesn’t involve an oven.

While salad is great in many ways, it’s easy to fall into a rut of lettuce, cucumber, tomato, etc.

To avoid lettuce overload, this salad uses endive instead.  Since I have not done a lot of cooking with endive, I was not sure what to expect in terms of its flavor.  It’s like a much smaller, slightly softer version of cabbage.  It’s actually very easy to work with because of its mild flavor, it can pair with a lot of other flavors.

I like this salad served with some grilled fish, rotisserie chicken (I get mine at Costco or Whole Foods) or a gluten-free roll (try Glutino’s, they are available at Whole Foods).

Serves 4 as a side salad or 2 as an entrée.

Endive and Apple Salad

3 small heads of endive

medium granny smith apple

3-4 medium beets

2 green onions

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

2 ounces goat cheese, crumbled (a sharp cheddar also works very well)

Make sure you are careful with your fingers when slicing the apple, keep them curled under slightly.

1. Thinly slice the endive, apple and green onion.

2. Dice or thinly slice the beets.

3. In a small pan, over low heat, toast the walnuts.  They will be ready when you can smell them.

4. In a medium bowl, combine the beets, onion, apple and endive.  Add the dressing a spoonful at a time and stir between additions.  Stop adding dressing when the salad is lightly coated, but not drenched.

5. Plate the salad.  Sprinkle the walnuts and cheese on top. 

Champagne Vinaigrette

2 T champagne vinegar

2 T orange juice

1 t mustard

1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

In a small bowl, add the vinegar, orange juice, mustard, salt and pepper.  Whisk together.  Slowly add the olive oil, while whisking the dressing.