Galumpkis, Low Carb – High flavor

Tomorrow starts round two of my hubz and my diet which means no carbs. i.e. no sugar, no fruit, no pasta, no potatoes, no rice, breads, doughnuts, etc. So while today I eat all of the carbs as a sort of last hurrah (seriously, I made yeast doughnuts-glazed-and chocolate), I remembered this recipe I made a while back.

the mixin’s for galumpkis–not the cheese or wine, that was another thing.

Sometimes I get these urges to eat comfort food from other cultures. I love Korean or Vietnamese noodle dishes, Chinese hot pot, Samosas, just about anything caribbean or wrapped in a tortilla,  poatoe-y british and irish food, italian pasta-heavy dishes. Who doesn’t love anything warm and soothing? Its like not thinking puppies or kittens are cute.  Anyway, I have this plan to spend a day each weekend (when we have children and they are old enough to remember) to learn about and prepare a meal from a different culture. Just about every culture  has a comfort food, and I want to try each one. The challenge arises when you try to make those comforting foods healthy.

There happens to be a very amazing eastern european restaurant a block from my house and I have to keep myself from going once a week to get pierogis and german potato salad. A few months ago, I went for dinner and strayed from my normal choice to get cabbage rolls- or galumpkis (spelling changes depending on who you talk to). They blew my mind. I almost could not keep the conversation going they were so warm and delicious-  and even in the middle of August, they were a welcome warm treat. A few weeks ago I was salivating over the memory of them and decided I can make my own, but healthier and without all of the carbs, so the hubz can eat it. This switches out the heavier ground pork or beef for ground turkey, white rice switches out for riced cauliflower, and breadcrumbs are switched for a mix of soy flour and almond meal. They were almost as good and definitely as satisfying. You can only eat about 2 of these for a meal. 3 if you are starving. 4 and I think your belly explodes- Monty Python style.

The making of these is a little time consuming, so make sure sure you have a few hours to devote to this. However, you will have lunch/ dinner for the week or its good for a dinner party/pot luck. You will need: head of cauliflower, a head of cabbage (mine was the size of a baby), ground turkey, unsweetened evaporated milk-low fat or light if possible or you can sub milk I guess, a 32 oz can of tomato sauce, and the rest you should probably have in your pantry or fridge.

Lets get to it!

First, put on a large stock pot filled about 2/3 the way with water to boil. Core your cabbage, remove the outer leaves if they are damaged or icky. While you are waiting for the water to boil, rice the cauliflower by chopping it fine or grating it in your food processor. Pour half of the can of evaporated milk along with salt and pepper to taste over about 2 cups of the riced cauliflower, then chicken stock to just cover the cauliflower. Microwave on high for 7-10 minutes, until the cauliflower is just cooked.

By now the water in your stock pot should be boiling or just about as hot as you need to work on some cabbage leaves. Carefully, dunk the cabbage into the water and after about a minute, the outer two leaves can be carefully peeled off and soft enough to fold without cracking. The leaves should become slightly translucent when they are done. Once you have about 15-18 leaves, you can save the rest of the cabbage for another project, and then begin to mix the filling.

Saute about half an onion chopped with 2-3 minced cloves of garlic. Set aside to cool. In a large bowl, mix one pound of lean ground turkey with the sauteed onion and garlic, one egg, a tablespoon of parsley. Drain the liquid from the cauliflower and add it to the mix with about a tsp of salt and pepper to taste. Then add 1/2 c of soy flour or almond meal (or a mix of both), until it forms a tacky mixture.

Lay out one cabbage leaf, put in about 1/2 cup of the mixture in the center and roll up like a burrito. Repeat until all of the mixture is used.

1. Put filling on the cabbage leaf

2. Fold over the top

3. fold in sides and begin to roll

4. Roll tightly to meet the edge of the leaf. Trim excess as needed

Line a roasting pan with cabbage leaves and spread about 1/2 c of tomato sauce in the bottom.

Nestle rolls in cabbage lined pan

Lay the cabbage rolls in the pan until they are snug as a bug in a rug. Cover with the remaining tomato sauce and bake for 45 min to an hour at 350 degrees or until the filling has firmed and the outer cabbage is tender. Serve warm while you are wrapped in a blanket.

Presentation was not everything, sorry, I actually added the left over stock and evaporated milk mixture used to steam the cauliflower into the tomato sauce in an attempt to make something creamy and tomato-ey but obviously, that didn’t work out. so don’t do that. let the tomatoes do the saucing. I learned that the hard way. It still tasted awesome!

These rolls are so filling and delicious the carbs are not even necessary here. Try it. love it. I bet you will.
I’ll be posting more low-carb recipes as the diet progresses, but I promise that I wont post anything that the average carb-eater wouldn’t like. Pinkie swear.

-Stine

Salmon Night!

HELLO EVERYONE. The other night I made this dish that I got from my Epicurious app that was originally from Self magazine? I don’t know. It had a lot of extra steps that were completely unnecessary. After realizing that the recipe called for me to use SO MANY PANS and not combining anything until the plating, I decided to change the recipe to make it simpler. Let’s go!

It’s originally called coconut spinach snapper. I used salmon instead.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 salmon…steaks?

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp fresh ginger, grated

1/2 cup diced onion

1 can light coconut milk

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 tsp soy sauce

1 splash of hot sauce (I used Franks)

4 plum tomatoes, diced

1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and diced

1 bag of spinach, washed but not dried

1 cup of basmati rice, cooked (I used brown basmati rice)

lime juice, to taste

salt and pepper

 

So! In a large skillet, heat the oil. Season the fish with salt and pepper and place the fish with the skin side up in the pan once it’s hot. The fish will go back into the pan after we cook the other stuff, so give the fish probably 2 minutes (in a really hot skillet) per side. I’m not even sure if you’re supposed to put the skin side down when cooking salmon, but I did and it was fine.

Once you have pre-cooked the salmon, remove from the pan and add your aromatics. These guys are the onions, garlic, and the ginger. Let those guys soften and then add the peppers, tomatoes, and lime juice to taste (I just used half a lime). Once these soften a bit, then you can add the coconut milk, hot sauce, and soy sauce.

I also added the cilantro at this time, because I have cilantro frozen into cubes in the freezer (so the water would have to melt). Bring that to a boil, add the salmon, and then reduce to a simmer. Then add the spinach. 

Once the spinach wilts, and the salmon is flakey, you can take it out. I served this on top of brown rice, which I made throughout the process of making this dish. It was super easy and relatively quick! Most importantly, it was DELICIOUS.

 

Until next time!

–megz

Chicken Curry

Forgive me blog, for I have sinned. Its been three weeks since my last post, and I made many delicious things that I should have written about. But when it is really cold outside, I long for exotic and spicy foods like Indian. I had an amazing experience at this restaurant in Saratoga Springs last winter where it was snowy and freezing outside, but I was inside with probably the most delicious Chai Tea (though Kayla’s recipe might give that a run for its money). So I have been jones’n  for something reminiscent.

The hubz and I have gone around Albany and Troy searching out the ethnic food markets that have those special ingredients that Chopper just doesn’t or if they do, they are CRAZY EXPENSIVE. Highlights of the trip: DNIPRO – eastern european foods, deli items, and frozen foods, The Asian Supermarket- you really can’t miss this one, India Bazaar- fresh fruits and veggies (many of which you have never seen before) and a super friendly owner. There’s also a small Mexican market on central that is just behind a bus stop that is adorable and has very nice owners. SERIOUSLY- GO THERE FIRST. If you need spices or special ingredients or some slightly odd additive it is probably available at one of these markets. They rule. Go there. Don’t be scared, they don’t bite.

For Chicken Curry I went to India Bazaar on Central and got all of the ingredients I didn’t have for less than $15 (qt of yogurt- $2.99 8oz bag curry powder- $1.49) WHAAAT? And the yogurt was made in NY state. For realsies.
This recipe I had to tweak because I had a ton of chicken to cook but here is the rough recipe for a normal dinner size:

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced–I added more like 5
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger root-
• 1/2 teaspoon white sugar- LEAVE IT OUT- no carbs
• salt to taste
• 2 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves – cut into bite-size pieces
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 cup plain yogurt
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  1. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Saute onion until lightly browned. Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt. Continue stirring for 2 minutes. Add chicken pieces, tomato paste, yogurt, and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20 to 25 minutes.
  2. Remove bay leaf, and stir in lemon juice (and Zest) and cayenne pepper. Simmer 5 more minutes.

I also made Raita with 1c yogurt, 1/2 c seeded chopped cucumber, cumin, ground black pepper, salt, and some cayenne.
Serve with a dollop of Raita on top, and rice OR riced cauliflower for carb-o-phobes. Here’s how mine came out:

NOM

Now, I know there are multiple recipes for chicken curry out there, and this is probably a red-headed step kid American version of curry, but it was good, and it was spicy, and I loved it. Hope you try one of those recipes too!

– Stine

PIZZAPIZZAPIZZA

Hey guys,

It’s been kind of quiet around here! I know school has kicked back in, and that’s my main reason for not posting as frequently as I would like. Lately, my life has looked like this:

 So yeah. That’s my internship computer, filled with PDFs and highlighted text about….instant messaging. What is my life?

Anyway, so yeah, lately I’ve been eating things that I would totally be into blogging about, but realize mid-bite that I didn’t take ANY pictures and am too tired to blog. School be damned!

Here’s my pizza dough recipe. I wrote in my response to the survey that my favorite thing to make (or was it eat?) was pizza. HOLY CRAP I love pizza. This is based on joy the baker’s recipe (you guys also love her, right??), but I add more herbs and do more with the yeast.

1 teaspoon of rapid rise yeast

1 cup of warm water

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour (I’ve tried using more, but then the dough gets REALLY dense)

1 1/2 cups of AP flour

Honey

Olive Oil

Herbs! Crushed red pepper flakes! CURRY POWDER?

Put the teaspoon of yeast in the warm water and let sit while you put the flour in the bowl of a stand mixer. You could totally do this by hand, which is so bad-ass, but I have no idea how to do it without a mixer, so good luck.

I also, with the flours, add herbs. My boyfriend REALLY likes oregano, so I put a lot of that in there (probably 2 tablespoons), and then about a tablespoon of basil and two teaspoons of thyme. This is where you can get creative! Last week, I made a thai chicken pizza, so I put curry powder. I will often times put crushed red pepper flakes in, but it depends on what’s going to be on top.

I then add a squeeze full of honey. This is probably around a tablespoon, but it depends on how sweet of a crust you want.

I then add olive oil. I make sure to pour the olive oil (around 2 tablespoons) onto the dough hook so it doesn’t get stick.

Then, I add the water, and turn that baby on! The mixer that is, although the yeasty water should be nice and foamy. I let the mixer knead the dough until it forms a ball at the bottom of the bowl like this:

Then, I don’t bother kneading it again. I do touch it to make sure that it’s not too sticky. It should be sticky, but if it gets stuck to your hands, keep kneading it and you’ll have to add more flour. I usually add it by the 1/4 cup full, but it varies depending upon how much olive oil was used/how humid it is.

After it’s ready to go, not too sticky, etc, take out the hook and cover it/keep it in a nice warm spot for at least an hour. 

I keep mine on the stove because it’s an old school gas stove that always has an open flame. And will eventually explode from a gas leak or something. Yeeeeahhh…it’s the perfect place for the dough, since it’s nice and toasty!

After 45 minutes, I pre-heat my pizza stone. I throw it in the oven and put it up to 400 degrees. It’s super important to let your pizza stone come to temperature in the oven at a gradual pace so it doesn’t crack (which is my worst nightmare!). After 15 minutes, take the stone out, put some flour on it so the dough doesn’t stick, and punch down your dough (which is SO satisfying). I typically can stretch it out just using my hands, but sometimes I need to use a rolling pin. No big deal. Once it’s stretched onto the stone, top it with whatever you fancy! Tonight’s was sausage and pepper….mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

Oh yeah. That’s nice! 

So that’s that. ❤ PIZZA ❤

–megz

Pad Thai..for the carb conscious

The cravings for carbs continue, and I have had a hankering for pad thai. I mean the kind you get from that sort of shady place, but it is so spicy and peanutty it is just amazing. Plus Ms. Nyssa sent me a recipe swap email that got my hunger for peanutty thai food goin’. Last night I was STARVING, and had vowed earlier to make a psudeo pad thai, and some-how some-way I came up with my own little twist like every single day…that I ate aggressively as soon as it was cool. Who am I kidding, I burnt my mouth. So on our way home, we visited this beyond sketchy Korean grocery store in Latham, right after the traffic circle, to get fish sauce because I was fresh out. Lo and behold, I found a beautiful replacement for noodles that was wonderful. I didn’t even miss the carbs!

This stuff above, was ridiculous! And I don’t even like tofu! Also the package says it has 3g carbs per serving, nah son, that’s with 2g of fiber, so 1g net carb B!!!! And at $1.59 per package..so worth it.

Anyway, I kind of vaguely followed a pad thai recipe but I made it up as I went along.
First make the peanutty sauce, this is the final thing to add but the longer it sits and the flavors come together, the better.

The sauce:
2 tbsp peanut butter- teddie brand is my new favorite, but its pricey
1 tbsp almond butter, I had it on hand and it was crunchy so you can just add more peanut butter if you dont have it
1 tbsp chopped peanuts
1 packet of Splenda/stevia/cancer sugar/ or if you must follow a recipe, it calls for 1 tbsp tamarind paste (it is mad carby so I figured some kind of sweetness is needed here)
1 tsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp Sriracha chili sauce
2 tsp lime juice, some zest if you are feeling zesty
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp of garlic juice- the stuff you get from the minced garlic jars, no biggie if you have to leave this out though
1/4 c soy sauce
1.5 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes
maybe a shake or two of ground coriander

whisk it all together and let it sit, your patience will be rewarded (shut it, Alton)

Then I marinated the shrimp, about a one pound package of uncooked, frozen, EZpeels makes more than enough for 3-4 people. These were 16-20 counts so they were plump little buggers. Also I just added stuff till it tasted right so these are rough estimates

Shrimp Marinade:
1 tsp honey- you can take it out if you dont want the extra carbs
2 tbsp Lime juice
1 tsp coriander
1 tbsp Sriracha Chili sauce
1.5 tbsp Fish sauce
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp sesame oil
3tbsp soy sauce
few shakes of rice wine vinegar

Let those sit in the marinade for at least 15 min, longer is better.

In the meantime I browned some mushrooms and onions (1 c mushrooms and 1/2 c onions I think) in the pan with some vegetable oil and a drop or two of sesame oil, then added a cup or so (two handfuls) of shredded napa cabbage and a whole package of mung bean sprouts (save some for crunchies and garnish if you are fancy!). originally I was going to use these as a replacement for the noodles, once they were cooked and in the sauce I couldn’t tell what was sprout and what was noodle anyway.

Once the sprouts and cabbage are semi-cooked- they look more translucent than they were- add the noodles to the pan and sautee only until they are heated. The noodles are pre-cooked so they don’t need much time at all, just need to warm up. in the last few minutes, crack an egg or two in there, and scramble it up. Take all of these things out of the pan and set aside in a bowl.

Put shrimp in the pan, and sautee until just undercooked than add everyone back into the pan, let them all come up to temperature then, the most fun part, dump the sauce over it! toss it around and make sure everything gets coated with the nutty goodness. Then plate it! Garnish with plenty of chopped scallions, cilantro and some of those bean sprouts if you managed to save them.

Voila, craving complete, and without all the carb’ers-remorse. There weren’t any pics of this, but that is because it was thrown in a bowl when it was done (for hunger situation, see above) and I didn’t have the patience to take a pretty picture. Trust, it was good.

-Stine

101 Cookbooks Gougères Recipe

Hey guys! Do you like cheesey, beery, poofy bread things? Then I suggest you head over to http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/gougares-recipe.html to get the recipe. I literally followed it to a T, so I feel like it would be silly to re-write the entire thing. I did, however, make some small changes (okayokayokay, I didn’t follow it to a T, but VERY close).

Ooh, that cheese…

When looking at the recipe list and seeing that “ale” is listed, I asked my beer loving/brewing boyfriend, “WHAT IS ALE? DO WE HAVE ANY?” Turns out, his winter warmer (made with raisins!) is an ale, so I used that. I also didn’t put fennel seed in because, ew, licorice.

The finished product....and beer related stuff to be used for bottling his latest brew behind them! Beer things everywhere.

It was quite a process, but totally worth it. So delicious, and made a dozen. I’m currently storing them in a tupperware and plan on re-heating them in the oven. I served them with….

 

Roasted squash, bacon, and kale over spaghetti.

This recipe I got from thekitchn. Here’s the link: http://www.thekitchn.com/recipe-pasta-wi-1-15183. I changed a few things with this recipe as well and used acorn squash instead of delicata squash. These two things together made quite the evening for me. I roasted the squash while baking the gougères, and while those guys were doing their thing, caramelized the onions/cooked bacon (instead of pancetta), and got the pasta started. In the future, I probably will just cut slices of onion and let them roast with the squash. Before serving, I splashed some more balsamic vinegar on the spaghetti as I was tossing everything around. The pasta gets a little dry, so you may need to freshen up leftovers with some olive oil.

In conclusion, I like my carbs served with my carbs. With more carbs inside of said carbs. Both of these, while extremely time consuming, were awesome. I would highly recommend them. Thekitchn has been killing it lately with recipes that I WANT TO EAT and tomorrow I’ll be making a sautéed kale/chick pea in coconut milk dish that was on their site within this past week. I’ll let you know how it turns out!

 

–megz

a fish dish!

Hey you guys! So I think I was supposed to live by the ocean, because boy oh boy, do I love fish (I also really love the water). Tonight I made this dish that I found on epicurious and it was super delicious. The original recipe calls for halibut, but I found organic frozen tilapia at the grocery store on sale so I just used that instead. Be warned though: it is spicy! In the future, I may reduce the 1/4 teaspoon of red pepper flakes by half.

Although I only used two filets, I still made the entire amount of sauce. I think it was the perfect amount of sauce, especially with the couscous, but I like things really sauce-y.

I apologize for not showing all of the ingredients….my counters couldn’t hold it all. 

4 6-7 ounce filets of halibut (or tilapia!–I used 2 filets)

all purpose flour (I doubt this is really necessary for the browning process, but I used it anyway)

4 tablespoons of olive oil, divided

2 large shallots (I used half an onion and two cloves of garlic)

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes (might want to reduce this by half if you don’t like spicy things!)

4 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped (I used canned tomatoes, and just cut up 4 of those)

1/2 cup chopped pitted Kalamata olives

1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

1 tablespoon drained capers

1/3 cup of bottled clam juice (I omitted this, and I think it turned out fine)

1/4 cup dry white wine

 

Salt and pepper both sides of the fish and dredge in flour (I think you could just salt and pepper the fish without even using the flour). Over medium heat, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and start to brown the fish. Once the fish is browned, place on an oven-safe plate and pop it in the oven on low/warm setting. In the same pan, add the last 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the shallots (or onion and garlic!) and red pepper flakes for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes, capers, olives, 1/4 cup of the basil, and wine (also, if you’re using, the clam juice goes in at this time). Let this boil and reduce for a bit (stir occasionally).

 

Meanwhile, while this is reducing, start the couscous as per the directions on the package.

Once the couscous is about ready and the sauce has reduced, add the rest of the basil. Spoon a serving of couscous onto a plate, place the fish on top, and spoon on the sauce!

And there you have it! It did not take a long time, and was delicious! Now, what to do with the rest of the jars of olives and capers?  I plan on making pasta alla puttanesca, but any other ideas?

-megz

Mom’s Fried Chicken

My mom’s fried chicken! Do you guys see a theme here? My mom likes cooking, and it is usually pretty damn good. She emailed me this recipe a few weeks ago, and before I accidentally delete the email, I want to post it here to share! So here it is, straight from my email. I’m not sure why my mom wrote it in all caps…maybe she was just really excited about this chicken. I know I am.

I don’t have any pictures, because when I made this it was pre blog, but you know what fried chicken looks like—it looks like DELICIOUSNESS.

MARYLAND PAN FRIED CHICKEN

1 FRYING CHICKEN, CUT INTO PIECES (I used chicken breasts…because chicken off the bone freaks me out!)

1 QUART BUTTERMILK

1 TABLESPOON PLUS 1 TEASPOON SALT, DIVIDED

1 TEASPOON CHESAPEAKE SEASONING (OLD BAY)

1/2 TEASPOON CRACKED BLACK PEPPER

1/2 TEASPOON HOT PEPPER SAUCE

3 CLOVES GARLIC, PEELED AND HALVED

1 LEMON, JUICED

2 CUPS FLOUR

2 TEASPOON FRESHLY GROUND PEPPER

1 TEASPOON RUBBED SAGE

1/2 TEASPOON GROUND THYME

1/2 TEASPOON CAYENNE PEPPER

VEGETABLE OIL FOR FRYING

PLACE CHICKEN IN SHALLOW DISH.

IN MEDIUM BOWL, PLACE BUTTERMILK, 1 TEASPOON OF THE SALT, CHESAPEAKE SEASONING, CRACKED BLACK PEPPER, HOT PEPPER SAUCE, GARLIC AND LEMON JUICE. MIX WELL AND POUR OVER CHICKEN TO COVER. COVER DISH AND REFRIGERATE OVERNIGHT. This makes the chicken sooooooooooo tasty.

IN BOWL, PLACE FLOUR, 1 TABLESPOON OF THE SALT, PEPPER, SAGE, THYME AND CAYENNE. MIX WELL AND PLACE IN LARGE SEALABLE PLASTIC BAG. REMOVE CHICKEN FROM BUTTERMILK, BLOT EXCESS AND PLACE CHICKEN IN BAG W/ FLOUR MIXTURE; SHAKE TO COAT WELL.

IN LARGE CAST-IRON SKILLET, PLACE VEGETABLE OIL TO DEPTH OF ABOUT 1 1/4 INCHES. HEAT UNTIL HOT BUT NOT SMOKING, ADD CHICKEN AND BROWN BOTH SIDES, TURNING FREQUENTLY; DO NOT CROWD PAN. REDUCE HEAT TO MEDIUM, COVER AND COOK ABOUT 25 MINUTES, TURNING CHICKEN OCCASIONALLY. DRAIN CHICKEN ON PAPER BAGS. MAKES 4 SERVINGS.

If you decided to use chicken breasts or thighs, the cooking time will be reduced, so keep an eye on it.

PUT PAPER BAGS ON COOLING RACKS AND DRAIN SO THE CHICKEN STAYS CRISPY TURN THEM AND WHEN ALL THE OIL IS DRAINED JUST LEAVE THEM ON RACK WITHOUT BAGS.

So there you have it! My mom’s fried chicken recipe. I served it with mashed potatoes and sautéed some kale and garlic with olive oil and a splash! of balsamic vinegar.

–megz

Mom’s Chicken Salad

Hey there! So I know the season doesn’t really scream CHICKEN SALAD because it’s currently a nice, warm, 31 degrees. However, if, in the season of roasting, you decide to roast a chicken and then realize you don’t really like roasted chicken? Since the chicken off the bone kind of freaks you out and is kind of slimey? And you mostly ate the vegetables that you roasted (see: the occasional vegetarian’s brussel sprouts)? And now you have a lot of leftovers? You make your mom’s awesome chicken salad.

I’m not sure where she got the recipe. Each time I call her and ask her for it, she tells me it’s from Williamsburg (as in Virginia). So, I think she has a recipe of favorites from Williamsburg from one of her last trips there. Either way, here it is, and it’s delicious.

It originally calls for two meaty chicken breasts (what kind of measurement is this?). Meat off the bone freaks me out so I ate the breasts, but I just used the rest of the meat what we had left, and it was enough. I also omitted the sugar because that seemed unnecessary, and added some red pepper. I think when I read the recipe really quickly, I thought “red onion” meant red pepper, but it’s good in there. More crunch!

2 Meaty Chicken Breasts, chopped

1 cup of mayo

1 Tbsp of ranch dressing (I forgot that we didn’t have ranch, so I used creamy caesar instead, and it’s still so good)

2 Tbsp chopped red onion (I used white instead)

4 Tbsp chopped celery

1/4 cup shredded carrots

1 cup red or green seedless grapes, cut in half

1 Tbsp sugar (I left this out and didn’t miss it at all)

1/2 cup finely chopped pecans (I left these out as well, because I didn’t have them. Oops.)

Look at those grapes! Ignore my feet!

Mix everything together and let refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Eat on sandwiches for the rest of the week and pretend it’s warmer outside than it really is.

–meg