No Pig, No Fish

Had some friends over for dinner the other night and had my first pork allergy guest as well as a request for no fish. So I decided to go with chicken but wanted to elevate the usually bland protein. Think it turned out really well ( and so did they!).

Cocoa Chile grilled Chicken Breast w/ sweet onion jam and cilantro walnut pesto

Chicken

4 large Chicken breasts

Olive oil for sauté

Spice Rub

1/2 Tbspn Cocoa powder

1/2 Tbspn Paprika

1/4 Tbspn Chili Powder

1/8 Tbspn Garlic Powder

Salt and pepper

Season the chicken with the spice rub and sear in a pan once you get the desired color set aside and finish in oven at 350 degrees.

Pesto

1 bunch of fresh cilantro

1 cup walnuts

Parmesan cheese

4 cloves garlic

1/2 lemon (juice)

1/2 cup Olive oil

salt to taste

Combine all ingredients minus the oil and salt in a food processor, add oil slowly to emulsify. Add salt to taste.

Onion Jam

2 Texas Sweet onions (1 if it's a large one), halved and sliced

2 Tbspn Sherry Vinegar

2 Tbspn Butter

Melt the butter in a pan then add the onion slices. cook until translucent then add the sherry vinegar and allow the liquid to cook down with the onions.

I made a cheddar chipotle polenta as a starch.

Odd flavor combos I came across yesterday that i thought looked....interesting. I'll reserve judgement until I get a good taste. Blue Cheese is one of my favorite meat/cheese pairings so really looking forward to trying it out!

Simple Summer Salad

A simple salad to me can be one of the most interesting and refreshing elements to any meal. This simple summer salad is easy to make and easy to eat!

Summer Grape salad w/ Sherry Vinagrette

Sherry Vinagrette

1.5 Tbspn Dijon Mustard

4 Tbspn Sherry Vinegar

1 Tbspn Local Honey*

1/4 cup Olive oil

1 Lemon

Fresh Cracked Pepper to taste

Combine the first 3 ingredients into a mixing bowl and whisk together until well blended. Then slowly drizzle the Olive oil into the bowl while whisking or you can cheat and use an immersion blender with a whisk attachment. Once blended give the dressing a fresh squeeze of lemon and some fresh pepper to taste. You can make this dressing ahead of time and refrigerate until your salad is ready to eat.

Salad

1 cup of red seedless grapes (halved)

1/2 Cucumber (sliced)

Spring Mix of greens

Parmesan cheese as desired

For the Spring mix of greens you should be able to get these fresh at your local grocer right now; greens like Baby Lettuces, Baby Greens, Endive and Radicchio, if not take the easy route and buy a bag salad. Combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl and dress with the Sherry vinaigrette and toss before serving.

Let me know how it goes.