Quick Single Serve Buffalo Chicken Salad

In our house, buffalo chicken dip is a frequent guest. With chips, in a fried wonton or on nachos, buff dip can do no wrong. I actually always try to keep the ingredients stocked in the fridge because they are all used in different recipes.

I try to prepare the night before with lunch for work etc. but let’s face it, it doesn’t always work out that way. This morning there were a) no lunch fixins to be found in the fridge and b) I wasn’t in the mood to make a PB sandwich. I had the Perdue shortcut chicken strips in the fridge so I thought buffalo chicken salad has to be a thing, right?

Google to the rescue and it is in fact something people eat on sandwiches!

What you need:

1/2 cup of cubed or shredded chicken (rotisserie chicken would also be delicious for this or any buffalo chicken concoction)

Hot sauce, I had Frank’s

Ranch dressing, any variety

Salt and Pepper

1 scallion, greens only chopped

1 TBS nonfat greek yogurt

Combine all ingredients but the chicken. I eye-balled the dressing, probably about 3 TBS. A quick note about hot sauce, you can add as much or as little hot sauce as you like but if you are making it for someone else, make sure you test it! I would hate to make something for someone without tasting it and hearing later that I burned their tongue off.

We usually have Butterbread in the house so I served it on that.

This recipe could be adjusted to make buffalo chicken dip as well by adding shredded cheese and it’s pretty light because there’s no mayo. For a different type of spice variation, you could also add Sriracha.

Quick, simple and c’est si yum!

Easter Pancakes

On the list of food items that I admit I am no expert at are pancakes. I am a fan of the Shake and Pour variety that comes courtesy of chef Betty Crocker. However, Easter weekend I was without and attempted to make not just pancakes from scratch, but Easter-shaped pancakes from scratch. Who hasn’t seen the video of those crazy detailed pancakes that look like The Beatles?

I Googled and found this basic pancake recipe from AllRecipes.com. The only adjustment I made was that I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract.

Now the fun part, making freehand animals and shapes! Easy? Not at all and my first attempt at an Easter bunny ended up looking like a pancake from the black lagoon. Plan B, cookie cutters! Lucky for me, my mother bought me springtime cookie cutters that I found while looking for anything that might resemble a bunny shape.

I made a pancake sheet using my griddle aka my new favorite kitchen tool, and cut them out! So simple and pancakes became pancake dippers, perfect for a breakfast finger food.

C’est si yum!

Baked Mashed Potato Cakes

My boyfriend and I ate lunch at Stockholders, a restaurant in Weymouth, MA and had their potato cake appetizer. It was amazing. While I didn’t have the meat debris or horseradish, I did have bacon and made a quick side dish version. My boyfriend ate almost all of them. The only thing I might add would be sour cream or Greek yogurt (plain with some garlic chopped in it) to dollop on top.

What you need:

1 package of instant mashed potatoes

2 slices of bacon, chopped

1/2 cup of panko breadcrumbs

1/2 cup of shredded cheese (any variety) + some for sprinkling

1 scallion chopped (optional)

1 garlic clove, minced (optional)

1 tablespoon of butter

nonstick cooking spray

black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Make mashed potatoes according to directions. Melt butter into the potatoes. Sprinkle in the pepper, cheese, bacon and scallion. I used a 6- muffin tin, put a piece of foil over the top and outlined the circles to keep the cakes in place. Spray with nonstick spray. Form the mashed potatoes into cakes and press into panko breadcrumbs (both sides). The bag of potatoes I had made 6 perfect sized cakes. Bake for about 15 minutes until the panko starts to brown and then sprinkle with additional cheese.

They came right off the pan! Serve warm. C’est si yum!

High Heel Cupcakes

NFL season means a few things, one of which is that my boyfriend’s seven year old daughter is not interested in NFL season. As he and her twin brother cheered on the Pats, we made high heel cupcakes! This is the finished product but I’ll add the other steps.

All you need:

Funfetti or any cupcake mix

Frosting, any color

Variety of Sprinkles

Milano cookies

Pirouette Cookies cut into about 4″ pieces at an angle at the top

Cook the cupcakes according to directions. Let them cool. I would recommend decorating the Milanos before you put them in the cupcakes. Frost and decorate the cupcakes once they’ve cooled. Cut a 1″ slit into the top of the frosted, cooled cupcake. Angle the Milano in and stick it in to the cupcake. We secured the Pirouette pieces with frosting but if I was serving these elsewhere I’d recommend something being stuck on the bottom so it does not slide.

They were easy and adorable. Pinterest for the win! C’est si yum!

Easy Salt & Vinegar Fried Green Tomatoes

Fried green tomatoes. I LOVE them. I am lucky enough to have a coworker who grows tomatoes and happens to be having a problem getting them to ripen! I also love the movie. If you haven’t seen it, rent it. Immediately.

They are so easy and a yum snack.

What you need:

1 Green tomato sliced thin (my preference) or into halves (also my preference)

1/2 cup of brown rice flour

1 egg white

salt and pepper

1/2 cup of salt and vinegar chips (any variety) crushed

Italian herbs from my spice mill

Canola oil

Heat the oil in a sauce pan or frying pan. Make sure the pan or whatever you use is deep enough to have a pool of oil (how unappetizing is that?) so that the tomatoes float. If I had a deep fryer I would have used that but I don’t. Whip the egg white with a splash of cold water. I like to see a lot of bubbles in the egg white. Season with salt and pepper. Season the flour with the herbs. I used a plastic bag for the chip part but it does make it a little messier. You could easily use a bowl. Coat the tomato slices in the flour, egg and then chip crumbs. Fry until crispy brown. Don’t put too many in the oil at once or it will lower the temp of your oil. Drain on a paper towel and season with a sprinkle of salt.

Serve hot or warm with your favorite dip. I would suggest combining, ranch, Greek yogurt and a splash of hot sauce.

C’est si yum!

Layered Hummus Dip

In the town where my boyfriend lives, the 3rd of July is a huge deal. Fireworks, fun and of course, food. This year I made a layered hummus dip. It was so quick to make and a lighter alternative to the star-sprinkle stuffed cupcakes or the tortellini pasta salad I made, which I’ll post after it’s been plated.

What you need:

Ok, let’s be real, you could totally make your own hummus from scratch. If I had time and tahini, I would have attempted it but for time sake. I went with Cedar brand.

1 16 0z tub of any hummus variety, I used Cedar Roasted Red Pepper

1 single serving of plain Greek yogurt, I used Oikos by Dannon because it was 10 for $10 at the grocery

1/2 a cucumber chopped into small pieces

1/2 an orange (or red or yellow) pepper, chopped in to small pieces

1 cup of sliced cheery tomatoes

1 garlic clove, minced

1 scallion, green and white, chopped

Salt and Pepper

Layer the hummus on the bottom of the dish. Season Greek yogurt with salt and pepper and garlic. Spread on top of hummus. Toss veggies together with a small amount of extra virgin olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Please note that I was in my boyfriend’s kitchen and had I thought of it I would have brought Zaatar spice or herbs de provence to toss with the veggies. It’s a simple but colorful appetizer. I’m serving it with pita chips. C’est si yum!

Grilled Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus

It’s finally grill season! New England has jumped from Winter to Summer (no seriously, where was Spring?) and I love dining al fresco. Even more than that, grilling tastes so good. It’s all a part of the experience of being outdoors.

I was in NH this weekend and we grilled steak, shrimp and chicken with prosciutto-wrapped asparagus. It was so delicious and if you bake it, it’ll still be good but a different type of flavor. I won’t go into the charcoal vs. gas debate but this recipe was done on charcoal and they were all eaten.

What you need:

1 lb of asparagus, trimmed. Break one and cut the rest where the break was OR break each individually.

Thin sliced prosciutto (one slice can wrap one piece depending on how much you want it wrapped)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Before you wrap the prosciutto, brush the asparagus with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap with prosciutto. You can brush with the oil again before you grill but that’s up to you. Grill until the prosciutto is crisp and the asparagus is tender (if you like it firmer then take it off sooner!). Serve with your favorite grill item.

It’s also good as an appetizer or side dish. C’est si yum!

Easy Baked Stuffed Lobster

My boyfriend love lobster. He loves lobster rolls, plain lobster and of course baked stuffed lobster. The presentation alone of a baked stuffed lobster is pretty impressive. It also seems like a lot of work. You have to remove the lobster meat and then stuff it all back in with other seafood and stuffing? Come on…and then there’s the question, do you have to kill the lobster first??

In true semi-homemade form, I decided to attempt this without having to kill my own lobster, for my lobster.

What you need:

2 steamed lobsters from the store

1 garlic clove, minced

1/2 cup of crushed butter crackers (I used Ritz but you could use Club or generic butter cracker or oyster crackers)

Salt and Pepper

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 TBS of Italian seasoning

2 TBS of extra virgin olive oil

6 scallops <– Here is the thing about scallops, they can be expensive and I didn’t see any that looked really great (and I hate bay scallops) so I bought one of those packs of frozen bacon wrapped scallops. There were eight in the package and it worked perfectly.

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Cook the bacon wrapped scallops for about 3/4 of the time on the package. You don’t want to overcook them and they are going back in the oven. When you take the scallops out, remove from the bacon and pour the bacon grease into you crushed cracker crumbs. I did not use the bacon for this. I ended up putting it back in the oven, cooking it crisp and giving a couple pieces to my pups, which they loved. The rest got thrown out but you could easily chop the bacon and put it in the stuffing.

Add herbs, half the extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, herbs and the scallops to the cracker crumbs.

Turn the oven on broil.

When that’s done, take your lobsters out and remove the tail meat but not the tail. I also recommend making sure you have claw crackers because I did not and ended up using scissors and the back of a knife as a hammer. This was not easy. I ended up removing the tail of one of them and then putting it back into the main shell to stuff (it worked). Take out the tamale, innards etc. I even rinsed it out so there was a “clear” space for the stuffing.

Put the lobster meat into the cracker/scallop mix. Stuff back into the lobster. Please note that had I had the claw crackers, I would have taken the claw meat out and added it to this stuffing.

Brush the remaining extra virgin olive oil over the lobster and the stuffing. Bake in the broiler for about 8 – 10 minutes until golden brown. Don’t overcook or it’ll dry out!

C’est si yum!

Baked Jalapeno Poppers

I love jalapeno poppers. They are so good and yet I imagine bad for you when you get them out of the box or in a bar. I was craving some and decided there must be a better way. If you search on Pinterest, tons of ideas come up, so I decided to try my own variation.

What you need:

4 fresh jalapenos, cut lengthwise

1/4 block of Velveeta cheese

1/4 cup of softened cream cheese

3/4 cup of panko breadcrumbs

4 slices of cooked bacon

1 bowl of water and a sink

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. To remove seeds, cut the tops off of the jalapenos and then cut them lengthwise. If you have gloves of some sort (latex or the plastic throw away variety) I would say you could use them. If not, just be sure to wash your hands after this part and don’t touch your eyes. Use a pairing knife to cut the white part and seeds out. For pesky seeds that wouldn’t come out, I put them in the bowl of water and got them out that way. I also put the sliced pieces in there as I went through the jalapenos.

Slice the Velveeta according to the size of the jalapeno slices. The stuffing part is up to you. Just pat the jalapeno dry and discard the water.

I stuffed each one differently and they all tasted delicious.

Option 1 – bacon pieces and cream cheese

Option 2 – bacon pieces, Velveeta and then cream cheese on top

Option 3 – bacon pieces and just Velveeta (if you do it this way, put the bacon in first)

Each of these options end the same way, in the panko. I did not use eggs or anything in this recipe. I simply pressed the cheese part and the back part of the jalapeno firmly into the panko. Place on a non-stick sprayed baking sheet and bake for about 10 – 15 minutes.

You want the jalapenos to be tender but watch to make sure the inside does not ooze out. None of this bat ch did. They were delicious and only took about 30 minutes total time to make (including baking). The most time-consuming part was the seed removal.

C’est si yum!

Sweet Chili Panko-Baked Shrimp

I made an impromptu shrimp dish last night. It could be served easily as an appetizer or accompaniment to a salad or pasta dish.
I did not take a photo of the finished product but I have some images of what was used.

What you need:

Salt and Pepper

1/3 Cup of Trader Joe’s Sweet Chili Sauce

I did feel the need to take a picture of the shrimp I bought. Look at how yum they look and they were already deveined (shells on though)!

 1/2 pound of shrimp (I would say you could do any size you want)

1 /2 cup of plain panko breadcrumbs

1 TBS of Extra Virgin Coconut Oil (I had Trader Joe’s)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Peel the shrimp and remove the tails. Pour melted coconut oil into the chili sauce. Toss shrimp in it to coat. Season the panko with the salt and pepper. Press the shrimp into the panko breadcrumbs and arrange on a non-stick sprayed cookie sheet. Bake for 10 minutes, flip shrimp over and bake for an additional five minutes.

I served them with a Caesar salad so I did not use a dipping sauce but you could use the chili sauce or sriracha-ranch sauce (1/3 cup of any ranch dressing with as much or little sriracha).

Serve hot and don’t overcook the shrimp! C’est si yum!