Yes, I know. This is a FOOD recipe and not a dessert. Contrary to popular belief, my diet includes more than cookies, cakes, and pies. And, I sure hope yours does, too!
I have decided to make a few changes to Sweet Mary because I am currently finding it very difficult to bake on a weekly basis. No, I haven't lost my love for baking and tasting sweet things. Not at all. However, because I currently do not have a day job, not only can baking get expensive, but also I have a lack of eaters/tasters/testers in Baltimore. While in Providence at my last job, there were roughly 1200 employees and I was friendly with many folks who looked forward to trying my baked goods. It was great! My pool of eaters here is much smaller; consequently, we all feel like we've gained a few pounds since I arrived in late April and I've been driving around all over creation to deliver my goods. I'd like to avoid both of those scenarios for a while.
So, from time to time, I thought I'd share some other things I like to eat or try making in the kitchen. I tend to eat healthy when I actually cook! If not, I can easily gravitate towards carbs like toast and cereal. Certainly not the healthiest of habits. Consequently, I hope that adding some food recipes up here will push me to make more healthy food each week and continue to improve my cooking skills as well. I also do believe in eating a well-balanced diet and sometimes feel guilty about having an all baking blog. I definitely believe in fat, flour, and sugar in moderation only.
I am also excited because I realized my friends and family are very good cooks and healthy eaters. Some of them will be sharing recipes, photos, and stories, too. It will be great to hear from them and see what they are up to in the kitchen.
Now, on to the recipe. When I cook, I do tend to follow recipes or parts of recipes. I often like to make some protein and then create a salad around it based on what I've bought for the week and what I already have in the pantry, like this recipe for Apricot-Glazed Chicken Spinach Salad. The Apricot Glazed Grilled Chicken came directly from Cooking Light, the only food magazine I subscribe to, and was also inspired by/adapted from this Asian Salad Recipe. I think Cooking Light runs a tight test kitchen and I have a lot of respect for them. Their magazine is filled with healthy and relatively easy recipes. I really liked the chicken, as it was tasty and great on top of a spinach salad.
This was a good food for fuel kind of dish. It was actually hard for me to stop and measure things. When I bake, I measure everything exactly; however, when I cook, I definitely eyeball!
This should make 4 generous servings.
Apricot-Glazed Indoor Chicken from Cooking Light
3 tablespoons apricot preserves
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, minced
2 to 4 boneless chicken breasts
Combine the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and set aside. You can prepare an outdoor grill for indirect grilling or use an indoor grill pan. I did this on a rainy day so used a cast-iron indoor grill pan.
Let the chicken stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Heat pan to medium and spray with a little canola oil. Place chicken in pan meaty side down. Grill for roughly minutes or until browned. Flip chicken over and brush with apricot glaze. Grill another 10 minutes. Brush more glaze on as you go along. Turn chicken over again and brush with glaze. My chicken took 25 minutes total to be cooked all the way through over medium heat.
Cool chicken on a cutting board. When cool, slice diagonally.
Salad
4 cups of spinach
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1 cup snow pea pods
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
2 apricots, sliced thinly
Dressing
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar (or rice vinegar if you have it)
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon minced ginger
pinch of sugar or squeeze of honey to sweeten it a little
Arrange salad ingredients in bowl. Top with apricot and chicken slices.
Combine dressing ingredients and mix well. Drizzle over salad and toss.
Divide into four bowls. Serve.
