Rosemary Ranch Kabobs with Strawberry Feta Salad

A summertime meal in the backyard: cool refreshments, a hot BBQ, lingering over the meal, and finally lighting citronella candles as the mosquitoes come out.

We invited our grandparents over for dinner on the deck, and decided to tackle the meal preparations ourselves. We started marinating the chicken early in the afternoon and tossed the salad just before serving the meal. As sides, we served hot rice and cold marinated asparagus. Our next blog post will be the spectacular dessert!

Rosemary Ranch Chicken Kabobs - from AllRecipes

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup ranch dressing

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary (we used 1 1/2 teaspoons dried)

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 tablespoon white sugar (optional --> we didn't add this)

5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes

Assorted chopped vegetables

• Stir together marinade ingredients (everything on the list except the chicken!) and let the mixture stand for 5 minutes. Put the marinade in a wide bowl or shallow baking dish and add the chicken, coating it in the sauce. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
• Thread the chicken and vegetables onto skewers. Grill over medium-high heat for 8 - 12 minutes, until the chicken is cooked thoroughly (juices will run clear). Discard the rest of the marinade.

Strawberry and Feta Salad - adapted from AllRecipes

1/4 cup slivered almonds

1 clove garlic, minced

1 teaspoon honey

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/4 cup raspberry vinegar --> we used cherry vinegar and it was perfect!

2 tablespoons balsamic vingar

2 tablespoons brown sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

1 head romaine lettuce, torn

1 pint fresh strawberries, sliced --> we used 3/4 cup frozen... and you should definitely use fresh

2/3 cup crumbled feta cheese

• Toast the almonds in the oven (350 F for 5 minutes) or in a skillet on the stove. Remove from heat and set aside
• To make the dressing, whisk together garlic, honey, mustard, vinegars, brown sugar, and vegetable oil.
• In a large salad bowl, toss together the almonds, lettuce, strawberries, and cheese. Add the dressing a little bit at a time - you won't need all of it! Toss and serve.

Summer Picnic Chicken Salad

It is way too easy to get lost in our grandma's library of cookbooks. She has an entire closet full... dozens upon baker's dozens... and she's also one of the best cooks we know (and most organized - she scans and uploads winning recipes onto her computer for easy access). When she recommends something, we know it will be good.

When we saw Best Recipes Under the Sun (Marion Kane, 1987) tucked away on one of her shelves, we picked it up because we own it too. We wanted to see what the colorful sticky notes were marking off her in her version.

A quick and easy summer salad looked like another promising addition to our parentless week... This was dinner for Lisa one night, and lunch for Amy the next day.

Summer Picnic Chicken Salad

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 chicken, or 2 - 3 chicken breasts (boned, skinned, diced) --> see tip below

1/2 cup seedless grapes, halved

1/2 cup sliced celery

1/4 can (14 oz, or 398 mL) pineapple chunks, drained

1/2 can (10 oz, or 284 mL) mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 can (10 oz, or 284 mL) water chestnuts - optional (we didn't add them)

Lettuce leaves

• Toast almonds: place on baking sheet in 350 F oven for 5 minutes.
• Combine mayo, curry powder, and soy sauce in a large bowl. Add almonds, chicken, grapes, celery, pineapple, and oranges. Feel free to leave out the water chestnuts, like we did (Amy doesn't like them). Toss everything together.
• Refrigerate overnight.
• Serve on a lettuce leaf, over salad, or on a sandwich!

Tip for extra juicy chicken:

Place chicken in roasting pan. Season with salt and pepper.

Sprinkle inside and out with onion powder.

Place 3 tablespoons margarine in chicken cavity, and 2 tablespoons around the exterior.

Cut 1 stalk of celery into 4 pieces. Place in chicken cavity.

Bake uncovered for 1 hour 15 minutes, to minimum internal temperature of 180 F.

Remove from heat, baste with melted margarine and drippings.

Cover with aluminum foil. Let chicken rest a half hour before serving.

Gouda, Apple, and Chicken Quesadillas with Orange-Almond Salad

Sandwiched between turkey dinners, we needed something a little different. The quesadilla recipe came from the lunch section of a cookbook, but it's hearty enough for a full dinner. Don't skip out on the gouda cheese! We didn't use smoked, but we made sure to get medium instead of mild to amp up the flavor.

We have to note that both recipes in this post came from a very special cookbook: Bravo! Best of Bridge Cookbook (Sally Vaughan-Johnston, 2009). Lisa and I won it in our grandparents' Christmas gift exchange, and we've been itching to try something out of it for ages. This weekend it was put to good use!

Smoked Gouda, Chicken, and Apple Quesadillas

Serves 4

4 flour tortillas (9-inches)

8 tablespoons peach or apricot jam

1 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese

1 apple, thinly sliced

1/2 green onion, thinly sliced

1 cup chopped cooked chicken

1 cup shredded smoked Gouda cheese (we used medium, unsmoked)

Salt

Olive oil

• Lay tortilla on work surface. Spread jam over half the tortilla, sprinkling Mozzarella over the jam. Layer apple, onion, chicken, and Gouda on top. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over everything.
• Fold uncovered half over filling.
• Heat large skillet over medium-high heat and grease with a little bit of oil. Cook quesadilla, flattening lightly with a spatula, for 3 - 4 minutes on each side. Cheese should be melted and sides will be lightly browned.
• Transfer to a cutting board and cut in half. Serve warm.

Mozzarella

Gouda

Assembling a quesadilla.

Cheese, apple, and chicken - oh my!

Since the quesadillas have a bit of a summer flair to them (the weather was warm this weekend!), we thought a citrusy salad would be a perfect match. The salad recipe below is loosely based off of two we found: "Green Salad with Orange-Walnut Dressing" from the Bravo! book, and "Orange Almond Salad" from the Company's Coming: Salads (Jean Pare, 1985). Sidenote: The latter recipe's description reads "Men like this as well." Okay, great??

Orange-Almond Salad

Salad greens

4 tangerines (or 1/2 tin Mandarin oranges)

1/8 cup toasted sliced almonds

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup orange juice

2 tablespoons / a splash vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

Pinch dried tarragon

Salt

Pepper

• In tupperware container, add olive oil, orange juice, vinegar, honey, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Put lid on container and shake it!
• To toast almonds, spread in single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated 350 F oven for 5 minutes.
• Peel tangerines and separate pieces.
• Put greens in large salad bowl, add almonds and tangerines, pour desired amount of dressing, and toss.

Orange dressing - a little frothy.

Toast the almonds to bring out a nuttier flavor.

We used fresh tangerines, but you can also try

canned Mandarin oranges.

Toss it all together!