Sometimes I like making dinner so much I get to do it twice in one night. Or, more realistically, Mike is a whole lot more excited about chicken than he is about tempeh, so I end up figuring out how to make a recipe two ways. (Although he did end up admitting that the tempeh was really good!)

If you’re looking over the recipe thinking that soy sauce seems out of place in a marinade for tacos, I can relate. I had the same thought, but forged ahead anyway and the results were delicious. Of course you don’t have to make this salsa to go with these, but I think fresh homemade salsa is so much better than store bought that I always make it from scratch.

Tacos
1 8 ounce package tempeh, cut in 1/2″ thick slices OR 2 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs

Marinade:
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp soy sauce
juice of 1/2 lemon

nonstick spray
corn tortillas
lettuce
sour cream
shredded cheese or crumbled queso fresco
habanero salsa (below)

To make the marinade, mix all ingredients except tempeh or chicken.
If using tempeh: Put the slices in boiling water and boil for 10 minutes, then drain and toss with the marinade. Put in a ziploc bag in the fridge for at least 2 hours.
Heat a skillet and spary with nonstick spray. Cook the tempeh for a few minutes on each side, or until slightly browned.

If using chicken, just put the chicken in a bag, pour in the marinade, and chill at least 2 hours.
Bake the chicken in a foil packet in a 375 degree oven for 30-40 minutes, or until done.
Let cool slightly, then shred with a fork.

Heat the corn tortillas in a 300 degree oven (I just put them directly on the rack) for a few minutes, or until warm and pliable. Assemble tacos with desired accoutrements.

Salsa
3 large, ripe Roma tomatoes
1 habanero pepper
juice of half a lime
a few pinches salt
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 white onion, chopped

Soak the chopped onion in a bowl of cold water for about 15 minutes, then drain in a mesh strainer.
Stir all ingredients together and adjust salt and lime juice to taste. I don’t bother peeling or seeding the tomatoes, I just cut the little area around the stem out and go to town!
I like to let the flavors mellow in the fridge for about an hour before I eat this, but that part is optional.

NOTE: Habaneros are pretty spicy. If you’re not up for that, this salsa can be made milder with half a diced jalapeno, seeds removed.

There is a mediocre (at best) restaurant in the town where I went to college, and I’m now ashamed when I think about how often I ate there. I always ordered the Asian Spa Salad which, in retrospect, was really pretty terrible: a bunch of iceberg lettuce in a fat free, chemical-laden, overly sweet dressing with chunks of rubbery chicken.

I realized that the idea of the salad was great – light and healthy with lots of lean protein, vegetables and a nice orange-soy flavored dressing – but the execution left a lot to be desired. To say that this is a big improvement on that horrendous salad is a gross understatement!

Weekends are my cooking project time. Last weekend it was vegan arroz con leche with brown rice (still working the kinks out of that one), and this weekend it was the Asian Spa Salad (new and improved). I started with Napa cabbage, but realized it looks a little anemic on its own.

I added some spinach because it’s just so healthy and beautiful and green.

There are also some thin slices of green onion in there.

For the dressing, I boiled some orange juice, soy sauce, and mirin until it was nice and syrupy (and finally broke my streak of adding sugar to salad dressing!) I marinated some chicken in soy sauce and chopped garlic and let it sit for about 8 hours. If you think marinades need to be fancy, complicated affairs with multiple spices, vinegars, oils, and fruit juices, think again! This 2-ingredient marinade was absolutely perfect.

Recipe:
2 bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts*
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4 cups shredded Napa cabbage
2 cups shredded spinach (cut the leaves into strips)
3 tbsp thinly sliced green onion
1 medium carrot, shaved into strips with a vegetable peeler
2 tsbp sesame seeds

Dressing:
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil

*I prefer bone-in, skin-on because I think the meat cooks up nicely and I love having bones around to use in stock. But if you prefer, boneless skinless will be fine – they will just cook faster.

Put the soy sauce, garlic, and chicken in a shallow bowl and turn the chicken pieces to coat well. Cover and refrigerate for 6-8 hours.
Cook the chicken in a 400 degree oven for about 30 minutes (check after about 20 if you’re using boneless-skinless) or until the internal temperature is 165 F.
Remove and set aside to cool.

While the chicken is in the oven, boil the orange juice, soy sauce, and mirin together until thick, syrupy, and reduced by half. Remove from the heat to cool, then stir in the sesame oil.

Pull the skin off the chicken and cut the meat off the bone. Cut into bite-sized pieces.

Toss together the cabbage, spinach, carrot, green onions, and add the dressing.
Toss in the chicken, then sprinkle with sesame seeds to serve.

I read a LOT of food blogs on a regular basis, and I’m starting to see a trend: I gravitate towards blogs with a) fantastic, beautiful pictures and b) original recipes. This is because my blog usually has c) none of the above (but I’m working on it! I really am) and I’m hoping that I’ll learn a thing or two from the blogs that inspire me so much.

A few months ago my husband challenged me to come up with one (or more) new, original recipe each week. Because we were traveling the last 5 months, I couldn’t stick with it, but now that I’m back to cooking daily, I’m taking up the challenge once again.

Today’s recipe was inspired by the bag of brown rice I recently purchased, and the beautiful bunches of spinach at the market. Since I pack my lunch every day, I knew I wanted to make something filling and nutritions, that could be eaten straight from the container without needing a spin in the microwave. I marinated some chicken in a little balsamic vinegar, cooked it up with some browned onions, and tossed that with citrus-scented brown rice, some raw spinach, and toasted walnuts. I know that sounds like a jumbled mess of flavors, but they come together really well.

1 cup brown rice
1 1/4 cups orange juice
1 1/4 cups water
1/2 cup walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast, diced
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 cups washed spinach leaves, roughly chopped

Combine the brown rice, water, and orange juice and cook (on the stove top or in a rice cooker).
Toss the chicken with the balsamic vinegar and set aside.
While the rice is cooking, toast the walnuts in a skillet over medium heat (shake the pan to keep the nuts from burning) and remove when fragrant.
Heat the oil in a medium skillet and add the onion. Over low heat, cook the onion, stirring minimally, until translucent. Add the sugar, give the onions one good stir, and continue cooking until onions are browned (about 15 minutes).
Add the chicken to the onions and turn the heat up. Cook, stirring, until the chicken pieces are cooked through.
Put the chicken and walnuts in a serving bowl and top with the spinach.
Put the cooked rice on top of the spinach and let sit for a few minutes so the spinach wilts slightly.
Toss, then serve warm or at room temperature.

One of the first things we made in that class was stir fry. And for months, I stuck with the recipe I learned. It was good, but basic, and it got pretty old. That’s one of my gripes about stir-fry. Too often, it’s just the same mix of vegetables with the same flavor of sauce.

But with my extraordinarily limited batterie de cuisine, stir fry is one of the things I can actually make, so I have made it my personal mission to come up with more interesting stir fry. Like this one.

I love the broccoli and almond combination, and I dressed it up with a lemon-based sauce. It’s a great, simple stir fry, and it’s just crying out to be served over brown rice.

A little note about lemon zest… I do not have a zester. I don’t even have a grater. But I improvised a little and came up with passable zest using just my knife. Check it out!

Cut thin pieces of peel, avoiding the white part as much as possible

Cut those pieces into thin strips

Chop the strips into little pieces. It doesn’t look as pretty as lemon zest, but if you chop the pieces fine enough, you get the flavor and don’t notice that you’re eating lemon peel.

Recipe:
Sauce:
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp lemon zest
2 tsp sugar
1 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbps broth or water
1 tsp cornstarch

Whisk together all ingredients and set aside.

Stir Fry:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 lb boneless-skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
1/2 a small yellow onion, chopped
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 large head broccoli, cut into florets
1/3 cup almonds, cut in half lengthwise

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium-high heat.
Add the chicken, onion, and ginger, and cook, stirring, until chicken is cooked through.
Add the broccoli florets and a few tablespoons of water. Cook until broccoli is crisp-tender.
Add the sauce and almonds, and stir until sauce has thickened and coats the chicken and broccoli.
Serve over brown rice.

My challenge for this week is to use up as much of that stuff as possible to make room for fun new finds.  One of the ingredients I had to choose from was a partially-full bag of dried white beans.  With those in mind, I perused the rest of the kitchen to see what I could come up with.

I also happened to have a produce drawer full of tomatillos and and jalapenos, and two chicken breasts in the freezer.  I had seen a few recipes for white bean chili over the past couple days, and decided to try coming up with my own version.  I defrosted the chicken, and cooked up some white beans (but canned would work fine too).  It’s a pretty healthy recipe, as long as you stay away from excessive amounts of cheese or sour cream as garnish!

1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
10 medium tomatillos, husks removed, rinsed, and chopped
3 jalapenos, stems removed and chopped
1 tsp salt
pepper
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
3 cups cooked white beans, drained
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/2 cup frozen corn

In a dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. 
Add the onion and garlic, and cook for several minutes, until the onions are soft.
Stir in the jalapenos and tomatillos and cook, stirring, for a minute or two.
Add the cubed chicken, salt, pepper, cumin, oregano, and cumin and stir well.
Cook for about 5 minutes, then tir in the broth and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes more. (The chicken should no longer be pink on the outside).
Stir in the beans and tomato paste, turn the heat down slightly, and simmer partially covered for about 20 minutes.  
Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Just before serving, stir in the frozen corn and let it heat through.
Serve with sour cream or a sprinkling of grated cheese.