Thai Chicken Noodle Salad

We have officially moved out of our old apartment! I would say that we have moved in to our new place, but I am holding off on declaring that until we have unpacked a few more boxes. Our living room currently looks like we are hoarders. I might post some before and after pictures. 

Luckily we have unpacked a couple of our kitchen boxes and I found some time to make one of my favorite recipes. It's an Asian inspired chicken salad with angel hair pasta and a super awesome dressing. I got the recipe from my mom who got it from a friend who cuts our hair. I love recipe sharing. And friends.

In other news, Matthew has been down to Moab twice this week (rescue missions both times). I never really like it when he is out of town, but because of our lack of TV combined with our lack of internet I got quite a few boxes unpacked. It's amazing how productive I become without technology. 

I hope everyone is enjoying summer as much as I am, if not you should make this salad. It is a perfect summer food. 
p.s. We are going to the Avengers tonight with Mark and Neeley! I will tell you what we think. 

Thai Chicken Noodle Salad 

 from Kristen Powell

4 chicken breasts, grilled and shredded or sliced thin 

1 lb angel hair pasta, cooked al dente

1 tsp sesame oil, toss w/ pasta after cooking

1 cucumber, sliced thin

Bean Sprouts

Green onions, sliced

Cilantro, chopped

Peanuts, chopped

Dressing – blend the following:

¾ cup rice vinegar

½ cup soy sauce

3 Tbsp sugar, (honey would work too)

2 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp minced fresh ginger

1 tsp crushed red pepper (or less if you don’t like the heat)

2-3 tsp minced garlic depending on your preference

Prepare ingredients and arrange in separate bowls.  Let everyone make their own salads – starting with the noodles on the bottom and topping with the dressing.  

* A note about ginger: it is from this friend that I first learned the wonders of frozen ginger. If you keep your ginger in the freezer, not only does it last much longer, but it makes it possible to zest the ginger/ grate it on a fine cheese grater. Try it, you will never mince ginger again. 

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

I am trying to be healthier. Eat vegetables, fruits, drink water, not eat cake, all that jazz. To motivate myself I teamed up with my sisters in law and mother in law in a little competition. We get points every day for healthy things (drinking water, running, getting sleep) and lose points for unhealthy things (soda, treats, watching tv). It has been pretty fun, and a little hard too. I don't think I realized how much 8 full glasses of water is. Or how it might affect the bladder. Try it sometime.

In my effort to be healthy I made some fish, thats healthy right? Problem is, the first time I made this it was kind of ugly. I guess it tasted ok, but I didn't even bother taking pictures because it was funny looking (croutons do not turn into a fine breadcrumb when you crush it with your hands). So I tried again last night. Used a blender to crush croutons. And added a tomato so I would get a point for a vegetable. Give it a go!

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

4 tilapia fillets
1egg
2 T Italian Dressing
1tsp fresh garlic
1T Italian Seasoning
1 cup crushed croutons (again, try the blender)
1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Pasta Dish

1 cup penne noodles
1/4 cup italian dressing
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 tomatoes
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 T fresh basil
1/2 cup fresh baby spinach ( I didn't have this, but I am sure it would taste awesome in this recipe)

For Tilapia: Mix egg and italian dressing. Blend croutons, italian seasoning and parmesan cheese until fine. Dip fish one by one into egg mix and then coat completely in crouton crumbs. Lay in buttered baking dish (or olive oil). Bake at 400 F for 10-15 min.

For Pasta: Boil noodles until al dante, drain and return to pan on medium heat. Add italian dressing, vinegar and parmesan. Just before serving toss diced tomatoes and spinach in with basil. Eat.

Lemon Cranberry Scones

I really like lemons. I recently discovered that you can stick a whole lemon in the the freezer to save for later.

Just pull it out, stick it in the microwave and poof, brand new lemon.

 I also really like these scones, or biscuits or whatever you call them. You see in my family, scones were

fried dough with lots of honey butter. But apparently they are also like flavorful biscuits.

While we are on the subject of things I like, let's throw in the color of cranberries. Cranberries are pretty

great too, but their color is just awesome. Here is a recipe that combines all those things I like. They are

delicious. Bring them to work and your coworkers will love you.

Lemon Cranberry Scones 
(Adapted from Smitten Kitchen and Joy the Baker)

1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar plus 3 tablespoons additional if using fresh cranberries
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold butter (you can freeze this too), grated on a cheese grater to make flakes
1 1/4 cups fresh cranberries, chopped coarse, or 1 1/4 cups dried cranberries
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper (not wax paper, wax paper smokes)

Zest lemon with zester or fine side of cheese grater

In a large bowl combine, 1/2 cup sugar, baking powder, salt, butter flakes and zest until mixture is roughly mixed.

In a small bowl toss together fresh cranberries and 3 tablespoons sugar and stir into flour mixture. If using dried fruit, add to flour mixture.

In another small bowl lightly beat egg and yolk and stir in cream. Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir until just combined.

On a well-floured surface with floured hands pat dough into a 1-inch-thick round and slice however you want. You could cut them out with the rim of a cup, or slice into pizza shapes.

Serve scones warm.