MORE SALADS

Still hot and steamy in New York, so, we'll have more salads. This is the only thing one can have in this heat, salads, salads, salads. The main idea is to make sure that you have enough variety so you don't get fed up of salads. Be creative: use leftover meats or chicken, try different kinds of beans and beans combinations, add new veggies or even fruits, or better yet dried fruits, raisins, figs or dates. Add cheese, spices, olives,nuts, actually anything you like to your salad, just make it delicious!

ARTICHOKE SALAD

                                                    

We love artichoke, but with this heat it's better to have it in a salad. I usually buy frozen artichoke hearts, and I keep a couple of bags of it in my freezer. I made this salad as a simplified version of the artichoke casserole that I make in winter: it has artichoke, peas, ground meat in white sauce. But since this is a salad, I'll only use artichoke and peas. I looked around to see what else can I use, and found 3 potatoes. That's enough, I'll use them in 2 salads. You'll need:

1 bag (14 oz) of frozen artichoke hearts

1/2 bag (15 oz) of frozen peas

1 1/2 cup boiled potatoes cubed

2 tbsp green olives stuffed with pimento, sliced

2 hard boiled eggs

Dressing:

2 to 3 scallions, white parts and some green

1 tbsp capers, chopped

2 tsp mustard

1 tsp vinegar

2 tbsp oil

Salt and pepper

Cook the artichoke hearts in salted boiling water for about 4 to 5 minutes. Just before they are tender, add the peas to the pot. Drain and let cool. Cook the potatoes in salted water. I actually had 3 potatoes only and decided to make 2 salads with them. When all the veggies are cool enough to handle, cut the artichoke hearts in bite size pieces, and add them to a large bowl. Add the potatoes. Thinly slice the scallions, add them to a small bowl to make the dressing. Add all the other ingredients, except the oil, salt and pepper. Mix well then drizzle the oil while mixing. You may add salt and pepper, but make sure that you don't add too much: your veggies are already salted and mustard is salted too. Slice the eggs and add them to the salad. Sprinkle some freshly ground pepper and serve.

GREEN BEANS SALAD

                                              

Two days ago I asked my husband to get us some fresh fava beans. It's the season, and I like to eat them raw with some feta cheese. But he got us the huge kind, each bean was almost one inch big. So we ate a couple, and found them too hard to eat raw. Would I throw them away? No way, they were fresh and tender on the inside, so I must find a way to use them somehow. When I tried to eat them raw, I had to peel the skin off each bean, so why not boil them for a couple of minutes, peel them and use them? That's exactly what I did. I made a salad, and it turned out to be real good, the fava beans melted in my mouth and were delicious. You'll need:

1 lb fresh fava beans, shelled

1 box of frozen green beans

1 1/2 cup cooked potatoes, cubed

Dressing from the previous salad

Cook the fava beans in salted boiling water for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and let cool. Cook the green beans in salted boiling water, drain and add to a bowl. When the fava beans are cooled enough to handle, peel them and add them to the bowl. Add the potatoes, drizzle the dressing and mix to coat. How easy is that?

                                                   

SALAD DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN

New York is burning. For the last couple of week we've been baking in an unprecedented heat weave with no end in sight. In such extreme conditions it becomes totally impossible to cook anything substantial: meats, chicken or fish, need heat to be cooked, and we don't need more heat around us. So what can we do? There are other options, better options: we can eat fruits and salads. And this is what we did for the last couple of weeks: we had salads, lots of salads. Actually we did enjoy it, mainly because I made sure that these salads were a complete meal, so you wouldn't miss any nutrition your body needs. A happy side effect for me is that I can take the leftovers with me at work for a good lunch the next day. The salads I'm making today can be made in advance, you can use a simple vinaigrette with them, or whip up a more elaborate dressing. I made one that I used on several salads, and it can be kept refrigerated for a week. Use my recipes as a blue print for your salads, use whatever you like and whatever you have at hand at home, you don't need to follow the recipe to the letter, tweak it to your liking, as I always do.

LIGHT POTATO SALAD

                                                 

I usually buy a big sack of potatoes at a time, I cook them in sauce, I stuff them, I use them in many ways. One way I know my family loves is to make them in a salad. Today I'm not talking about your typical potato salad, drenched in mayo, or not. I'm mainly talking about a dish that you can have as a complete meal, but light enough to eat in this horrible weather. I first got the idea from my usual salade nicoise, which I sometime like to serve "deconstructed" (that will be for another blog) meaning not tossed all together. I usually make it with a powerful vinaigrette, with mashed garlic and anchovies, but today, in this heat, I opted for a lighter dressing. I use yellow fleshed potatoes, I feel they have the right texture for the salad and are creamier than other kinds. For this salad, I got some fresh green beans, so try to get the best kind, the one that doesn't need peeling, just cut the stem, cut them in half, and you're good to go. You'll need:


2 lb potatoes (try to get them all the same size, they'll cook at the same time)
1 lb green beans
2 bay leaves
3 sprigs thyme
4 eggs
3 tbsp mustard
1 tsp mayo (optional)
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp chopped capers
2 tbsp finely chopped red onion
1 to 2 tbsp chopped dill
2 to 3 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper


Bring a big pot of water to the boil. Add salt, the bay leaves and the thyme, then add the potatoes. I like to season them while cooking. Adding seasoning at the end will not have the same effect, so season every element as you go. While the potatoes cook, bring another pot of salted water to the boil, then add the beans, and bring again to the boil for 3 to 4 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water, drain and set aside. Also cook the eggs in boiling water. To make the vinaigrette, put the chopped onions and capers in a small bowl. Add the mustard and the vinegar, and the mayo if you're using it. Actually we are more of mustard kind of people than mayo, but sometimes I like to add a little bit of it to the vinaigrette to make it creamier. Slowly whisk in the oil, then add the chopped dill. Taste it to check if it really needs salt or not. Remember that the potatoes are already salted and that the mustard is salted too. When the potatoes are ready and cool enough to handle, peel them and slice them in 1/4 inch thick slices or a little thicker. Put the potatoes in a large low bowl, add half the vinaigrette and toss them being careful not to break the slices (you can even do it by hand). Add some vinaigrette to the beans and toss to coat. Line a large serving platter with mixed greens, lettuce or arugula. Add the green beans to the potatoes and toss, then transfer to the serving dish. Peel the eggs and slice them or cut each one in 4, and add to the salad. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette on top before serving, with a sprinkle of fresh ground black pepper. You can serve it at room temperature.


CHEESE AND BROWN RICE SALAD

                                                   
One of the easiest meals you can ever make is this salad. You don't need a recipe, you don't need to shop for ingredients, or even cook to make this salad. I used some brown rice from Chinese take out, and all the other ingredients came from the pantry and the fridge. I even used the vinaigrette I had from the other day (the potato salad), it keeps well in the fridge. You'll need:


1 container of cooked brown rice
1 and 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes
3 cucumbers
2 slices of Cheddar cheese, 1/4 inch thick
1 can (15 oz) chick peas, drained
Fresh basil leaves


In a bowl, put the brown rice, and separate it, making sure that there are no big lumps. Cut the tomatoes in half and add them to the rice. Peel and cut the cucumbers in small cubes (cut in 4 lengthwise, then in slices), add them to the bowl. Cut the cheese slices in 4 lengthwise, then in small dice, and add to the bowl. Add the chick peas. Add the vinaigrette and toss. Put the basil leaves over each other and thinly slice them, then sprinkle them over the salad. 

CLEANING DAY MEALS

It's settled: Saturday is officially cleaning day. Working or not, I always end up doing all the chores leftover from the whole week on Saturdays. So, this is the best day to have the easiest meals possible. You may say "Why don't you order something in?". In this case you obviously don't know us. Saturday is part of the week-end, and we must have fresh home made meals. But I also have a plan: I figured out many ways to have home cooked meals the easy way. The obvious way is that if the weather allows it, you can grill something, whip up a salad and you're good to go. But what if it's raining, or, as it's happening lately in New York, it's too horribly hot to even open a window, let alone go outside and fire up the grill? Your only chance is to think of easy meals, that will please your family, and still don't leave you drained after a day spent cleaning and cooking. Hey, it's still the week-end, and you are also supposed to relax and enjoy yourself!

I thought of the first two dishes at my last visit to the butcher, during the week: that's pretty much what I do. I let myself go with the flow, whatever I find at the market that looks good on that particular day, I buy, then I think of what can I do with it. All the other dishes are from my "strategic reserve": the pantry and the refrigerator.

GRILLED CALF LIVER

                                         

Liver looked delicious at the butcher's. As my husband says "You can eat it raw". So I got some and asked the butcher to slice it. Since I was thinking of grilling it, I asked him not to slice it too thin: 1/2 inch, or a little thicker is fine. As soon as I got home, I prepared it. Today I am adding to my usual recipe something new, some fresh herbs from the garden. You don't need much to have a delicious meal in minutes. Depending on the size of the liver available, buy a slice per person, plus two extra. (The average slice is about 8 x 4 inches). You'll need:

Liver slices (I made 4 and 2 smaller ones)

2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

3 fresh sprigs rosemary + 4 thyme

2 or 3 tbsp fresh lime juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the liver slices, making sure that there is no blood clots in the veins. Transfer to a bowl. Chop the herbs as finely as you can. You have first to remove the leaves from the stems by holding it at the top, then pulling the leaves back. Add them with all the other ingredients to the liver. Mix to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from the fridge, let stand for some 10 minutes while the grill is heating up. Grill undisturbed for 5 to 6 minutes, turn until it reaches the desired donness. I served it with some mashed potatoes, from a dried package. Don't look at me like that, some of them are really really good!!

VEAL STEW

                                                    

Another item that looked really good at the butcher's was a clean cut of veal. I asked him to cube it for me. About 2 x 1 inches cubes. The night before you need to cook the veal, marinate it and keep it refrigerated overnight. The next day, while you are cleaning or doing your chores in the kitchen, you can cook the veal cubes. Just make sure that you are around while it cooks, because you still have to keep an eye on it. You'll need:

2 lbs veal cubes

2 to 3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

Salt and pepper to taste

1 tbsp butter

1/2 bag frozen pearl onions

To marinate the veal cubes: add the onion/garlic mixture, salt and pepper to it, mix well to coat, cover and refrigerate. If you don't have time to do it the night before, you start the day by doing just that and keep it refrigerated until you need to prepare dinner.

Put the veal cubes in a nonstick covered pan, and start cooking them on medium high heat. Don't worry about it, let it cook until all its liquid is absorbed, and you get a lot of browning in the pan. Add some water and stir to release all the browned bits and you get a brown sauce. Cover, reduce heat and let cook. Waiting for the liquid to be absorbed again, you can prepare a side dish or continue with your chores. I prepared a pasta dish: just boil some pasta, when it's almost done, add to it some veggies. Today I had only some carrots, so I sliced them the size of the rotini pasta I was making and added them to the boiling pasta pot. Drain the pasta, transfer it to the serving dish, toss it with a drop of olive oil and a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper, and some chopped basil. 

When the liquid is absorbed again in the veal pan, fold in the pearl onions and the butter. Stir for a couple of minutes, add a little more liquid, cover and let cook until the veal is tender to the fork. Serve with the pasta or even over the pasta if you wish. 

                                              

EASY ENTERTAINING

When you have to play host to a number of people, the best thing to do is to think of a menu that can be prepared ahead of time, you have to chose items that don't need a lot of work to prepare and dishes that you can have ready when your guests arrive, so that you don't spend your time in the kitchen and you can enjoy yourself with your guests. So my first rule is: no fried items. Beside the fact that fried foods are heavy and, as everybody says, not good for you, any fried food is better served immediately, because if you let it hang around it will become soggy, and lose all its appeal. One basic rule is to have fried foods only when you are going to eat them immediately, and in limited quantities. It's OK, every now and then to have a fried fish or chicken, but not every day. It's not good for you and it's a hassle you don't need to go through.

Today I was hosting a dinner for 15 people, so I thought of making a meat dish, a chicken dish and some easy side dishes. I had to make sure also that my menu takes care of the allergies of some of my guests, two of them are lactose intolerant, so no milk or cheese in the food. I thought we can crank up the grill in the back yard and have the dinner there, but I also have to make sure the the weather will allow us to do that. It's been terribly hot lately in New York, and going outside might not be the best idea. So, I had to revert to plan B.

I chose a chicken dish that can be prepared a day ahead, chicken ragout (in a May 2011 blog, to which I added some fresh rosemary and thyme from my garden) and for the meat I opted for a whole beef tenderloin. As side dishes I'll prepare a pasta dish, very basic and simple, and some salads. For dessert an ice cream cake, it's very hot outside!!

BEEF TENDERLOIN WITH MY SPECIAL SAUCE

                                   

                                          

This is the easiest dish you can prepare for company. It's big, it can serve a lot of people, it doesn't need a lot of work and it's delicious. Of course it is: it's one of the best cuts of beef you can get. You can buy it whole, or  peeled. Today I got a peeled tenderloin. If you cannot get it peeled, don't worry it won't take you minutes to peel the whole tenderloin yourself: You won't even need a knife, just "peel off" the excess fat around it. You'll be amazed at how easy it is to remove it. I also chose this cut for another reason: if we were going to use the grill, I would cut it in thick slices to get filet mignon and grilled them. But since I went for plan B and stayed inside, I am going to cook it whole in the oven and then slice it before my guests arrive. 

As a sauce to be served on the side, I first thought of serving a brown sauce with mushrooms, but finally opted for a light mustard based sauce. You'll need:

1 whole beef tenderloin (I got a 4.50 lb tenderloin)

3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

Salt and pepper to taste (I used Adobo seasoning)

Rinse and pat dry the beef, mix the seasoning with the onion mixture and rub it all over the meat. Put the meat in a baking dish, cover it with foil and refrigerate it to marinate 2 hours to overnight. I left it over night. The next day, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Remove the tenderloin from its dish, place it on a baking sheet and cover it loosely with foil. cook it in the oven, covered first for 15 minutes to make sure that it will be cooked from the inside. We prefer our meat well done. Remove the foil and continue cooking. It should take 12 minutes for the first pound and 10 minutes for each additional pound. Remove the tenderloin from the oven, cover it with foil to allow it to rest, about 10 or 15 minutes, before slicing it. Serve with the sauce on the side.

SAUCE

                                                     

This is a very simple sauce that you can serve with steak, with grilled meat or chicken. You can even use it as salad dressing, just by whisking some oil into it and you're good to go. You don't really need a recipe for it, but here are some guidelines. You can change or tweak the ingredients according to your taste and to the quantity you need to make. You'll need:

1 small red onion

3 to 4 tbsp capers

1 cup good mustard

1 tsp mayo

chopped dill

In the small chopper process the onion until very fine, almost pulverized. Remove to a bowl. Give the capers a couple of pulses to chop them. Add the capers to the bowl. Add the mustard, and the mayo and mix thoroughly. Add the chopped dill and mix to incorporate.

You can also add some chopped dill pickles or different herbs.

I also served a very simple pasta dish: Farfalle with peas and carrots. Simply cook the pasta according to package directions in salted water (remember this is the only chance you have to season the pasta), and just before it's done, add some frozen peas and carrots.

I usually make one handful of dry pasta per person, so depending on how many people you are serving, add the peas accordingly. Drain the pasta, transfer it to a serving dish and toss it with some olive oil and freshly ground pepper. You can serve the grated cheese on the side.

                                       

Other variations on a theme

I finally stopped asking my family what they want to eat. When I ask, I always get the same answer: "Anything". And if they want to be nice, they just add "anything you make is always delicious"!! So I decided to take matters into my hands and make my own decisions. Yesterday I woke up and announced: " We are having fish today". My husband was thrilled, mom too, but as usual she found a way to add a difficult item to the menu. She wanted baba gannough, which requires eggplant, and we didn't have eggplant. So tahini sauce it is. The menu is very simple: fried tilapia fillets, fish rice, tahini sauce and sauteed vegetables. The most important thing is that this time I am cooking the fish the same usual way, but with a twist.

FRIED FILLET OF FISH

                                                        

                                                   

I had some gorgeous tilapia fillets in the freezer. I decided to tweak my usual recipe a little bit and see how it will turn out. It's an easy dish to prepare for a Sunday family dinner. If the fish is fresh it won't take minutes, if you need to defrost it, just add the time you'll need to defrost the fillets, and still it will be easy and quick. I don't know why many people think that cooking fish is messy and difficult, so they tend to eat it exclusively in restaurants, where they are never sure of what ingredients are used in their meal. If you cook fish at home, even if you fry it, you are in control. You'll need:

4 tilapia fillets

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp each: garlic powder, ground coriander and celery salt

1  or 2 tbsp lemon juice

1 egg (never used it before with fish)

Salt and pepper to taste (I use Adobo seasoning)

1 cup flour

2 cups bread crumbs

Vegetable oil for frying

If you need to defrost the fish fillets, put them in a shallow dish with cold water for 10 minutes or so. Change the water a couple of times more until they become tender. You may have some parts still frozen, don't worry, they will be completely defrosted before you cook them. Transfer the fish fillets to a cutting board and cut them lenghtwise. They are already almost split in two, all you have to do is to separate the two pieces, and you'll have 8 strips. They will be easier to handle. Put the fish fillets in a bowl, add the spices, the lemon juice and mix to coat. Beat the egg, add it to the fish and mix again to coat all the pieces. Let stand for 30 minutes or so until you cook the rice and prepare the tahini. I a shallow dish mix the flour and the bread crumbs. Take one fillet and put it in the mixture to coat it. Lightly press on the fish pieces to make sure that the bread crumbs are sticking to it. Heat the oil when you have coated 4 pieces of fish and start frying. I usually put about an inch of oil in the pan. This way I sometimes don't have to turn the pieces I am cooking because they cook on both sides simultaneously. Cook the fish fillets until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels. Serve with fish rice and tahini sauce with a side of sauteed vegetables.

FISH RICE

I think I already gave you this recipe before. It's very easy and we traditionally have this rice with fish, hence the name "fish rice". You almost don't need a recipe for it. You just have to caramelize some thinly sliced onions (1/2 medium for 1 and 1/2 cup rice) in oil (about 1 tbsp). when it becomes dark brown, add some ground cumin (about 1 tsp, or more to taste) stir once or twice then add the rice. (I usually rinse the rice beforehand) Stir then add liquid according to rice package. Add salt. Cover, let boil, then reduce the heat until done. How easy was that?

You can find the tahini sauce or salad in a previous blog.

GRILLED CHICKEN

                                                  

Again, today I decided to grill some chicken. It was sunny outside, so I thought we should enjoy the weather. The menu couldn't be simpler: grilled chicken and salad. But again today it's a new way to cook the chicken, a tweaked recipe. I used chicken thighs because they give better results when grilled, especially if the person manning the grill is like my husband who either overcooks the meat or under cooks it. With thighs you cannot go wrong. You'll need:

8 chicken thighs, skin on

2 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

2 tbsp lemon juice

4 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Rinse the chicken pieces and remove the large pieces of visible fat, making sure that you keep the skin on. Put the chicken pieces in a bowl, add all the other ingredients, mix well to coat, cover with plastic wrap and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours. Heat the grill, arrange the chicken pieces skin down first and close the grill cover. Let the chicken cook undisturbed for 10 to 12 minutes, then turn them. You'll know they are done when the liquid from beside the bone runs clear.

Variations on a theme

I've always said that you never cook the same dish the same way twice. It's true. You have a recipe, you cooked it many times and you probably know it by heart. But you'll be amazed to know that in reality you never cook it the same way every time. Why? There are many reasons: you may not have all the ingredients, so you substitute, you try to improvise or give it a new twist, or even you get lazy and use what you have at hand. This is what happened this week-end when I was preparing the leg of lamb. You may remember that I gave you my secret recipe for lamb a couple of month ago; and now that I had to cook it again, I didn't quite follow my own recipe to the letter. It still came out perfect. So here it is:

MY TWEAKED SECRET RECIPE FOR LAMB

                                                

                                          

When I was preparing my menu for the family dinner I opened my spice rack to get some inspiration, and I found it. I came up with a new way to flavor the chicken cubes, and thought of a new way to spice up the leg of lamb. Instead of the usual spices, I found out that I had a container of Montreal Steak seasoning that had a couple of spoonfuls left, so I decided to try it in my recipe. It worked. You'll need:

1 (6 lb) boneless leg of lamb

4 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

3 tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning

1/4 tsp each: nutmeg, cinnamon, ground clove

3 bay leaves

6 to 8 whole cloves

2 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 to 3 tbsp plain yogurt

Remove all the visible fat from the meat. This will help you later on when you use the drippings to make the gravy. You may separate some of the pieces of the leg, since sometimes they are held together by the fat, it's no problem, you'll slice the meat any way when it's done. Put the meat in a baking dish, preferably a non-stick metal pan (you'll use it for the sauce). Rub the onion/garlic mixture and all the spices on the meat, add the bay leaves, and put a slice of garlic and one clove in between the chunks of the lamb. Add the yogurt and rub it all over the meat to coat. Cover the pan with foil and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, put the leg of lamb, still covered, in the oven, and let cook for at least 30 minutes before you remove the cover. This way you are sure that the meat will be fully cooked on the inside. You'll notice that there is a lot of liquid in the pan. Continue cooking until the surface is well browned, then turn the meat on the other side. When this side is browned, your meat is done. Remove it from the pan, and keep it covered until you're ready to slice it.

I made a delicious mushroom sauce to go with it. You'll need:

MUSHROOM SAUCE

                                              

1 (24 Oz) package each: white mushrooms and brown mushrooms, cleaned, stem removed 

4 to 5 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts and a little green

1 tbsp canola oil

2 heaping tbsp flour

Salt and pepper to taste

Slice the mushrooms. In a non-stick skillet cook the sliced scallions in the oil until translucent. Add the mushrooms and let cook turning once in a while until they wilt. Add salt and pepper and cook until all the liquid rendered from the mushrooms is absorbed. Sprinkle the flour and stir to combine. Fish out the garlic slices, the cloves and the bay leaves from the lamb pan and add the liquid to the mushrooms stirring frequently to avoid any lumps. If you feel that the sauce is too thick, add some boiling water to the original lamb pan and add some of it to the sauce. Keep stirring until you get the right consistency. I serve it on the side, but you can drizzle some of it over the sliced meat if you prefer.

SAUTEED ASPARAGUS

                                             

I served Brussels sprouts (recipe in November 25 blog) and sauteed asparagus. This is the easiest way to cook asparagus. Sometimes I roast it, but I feel that roasted veggies is a somehow a "grown up taste" for children. So I opted for sauteing it. You'll need:

2 lb of asparagus, ends trimmed                                                  

3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced, white parts and some green        

1 tbsp canola oil                                                                           

 Salt and pepper to taste
FOR THE SAUCE:
2 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp sour cream

In a non-stick skillet cook the scallions in the oil until translucent. Add the asparagus and turn once or twice with heat resistant tongs. Sprinkle salt and pepper and turn the asparagus again to make sure that they all cook evenly. If you feel that you need to make them more tender, add 1 or 2 tbsp of boiling water and keep cooking, uncovered on high heat, until all the liquid is absorbed. The whole process will take about 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the asparagus to a serving dish with the tongs, to leave any leftover scallions in the skillet.  Add the mustard and stir, then add the sour cream and stir to incorporate. Pour the sauce in a small bowl and serve on the side.

For dessert we had already the birthday cake, so I sliced a delicious Honey dew and serve it with some strawberries for color and flavor.

                                                      

Graduation and birthday dinner

I've been absent for a while. I was working during the whole month, and did not have enough time to cook something special, only repeat performances to get by. I also had some technical problems with the blog, because, as it seems, I needed to install a new program. Now I hope everything will be alright and that the technical difficulties are solved so that I will be able to resume my blog. I have to admit that I am very proud of myself, since I was able to solve these problems on my own, and that to start with, I taught myself how to use a computer.

During my absence we had a couple of graduations and birthdays in the family. We decided to have a nice big family dinner and celebration this week-end for the graduates and the birthday girls. Maha is going to college, Sarah to middle school, Salma is nine and Sophie just turned one. So I needed to think of an easy menu, easy to prepare and easy for the children to accept. In such situations I usually build my menu around a popular dish. In this case it's a leg of lamb. I know that everybody likes it. I will add a chicken dish, preferably something easy for the children to handle, meaning, no skin, no bones, just bites of chicken for them to eat, even with their fingers (in big gatherings I cannot control every one!!). Then I'll introduce some veggies that they usually don't have at home: this is how you set your trap. You give them a sense of security with familiar foods, then you lure them to the Brussels sprouts!! It worked, the veggies were a hit.

                                                  

YELLOW RICE WITH CHICKEN CUBES

When you need to make a dish that should serve a large number of people, you better go with chicken: it's easy to prepare in advance, to have it diced, so that you can serve it on a large platter and at the same time it can be like finger food. Also look for a way to cook it in one single process, no frying, and make sure that you go for a recipe that will please all tastes and ages. This is why I opted for this dish. Yellow rice is the only carb on the table, and the chicken will be well seasoned to give a new twist to the dish and keep it from being boring. Of course it's not that easy: we don't eat spicy or hot foods, so I have to find the right balance between the spices I'm going to use. So I stood in front of the spice rack, and here is what I came up with. 

You'll need (for a crowd of about 10 people):

8 chicken thighs, skinless and boneless

4 half breasts, skinless and boneless

2 to 3 tbsp frozen onion/garlic mixture

1 and 1/2 tbsp garam masala (Indian spices)

1 tsp curry powder

1/4 tsp nutmeg

2 to 3 tbsp lemon juice

2 heaping tbsp plain yogurt (I use Greek yogurt, it's creamier)

Salt and pepper to taste (I use Adobo seasoning)

Rinse and pat dry the chicken pieces. Remove all the visible fat from the chicken and cut them  into 1 inch cubes. Put the chicken pieces in a big bowl, add the onion/garlic mixture, all the spices and the lemon juice and mix well. Add the yogurt, mix to coat all the chicken pieces. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours to overnight. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and arrange the chicken pieces on it in one layer. Cook for about 20 minutes, then turn once and return the chicken to the oven for another 10 to 15 minutes. You'll know that the chicken is cooked when you'll notice that the liquid in the baking sheet is almost all gone and the chicken pieces are well browned. Serve over the yellow rice (recipe found in previous blogs).

                                       

NOTE: You can use only thighs, you'll notice that they are juicier and will never dry even if you overcook them.