Buffalo Chicken Butter Lettuce Cups

A small, but beautiful head of Green Butter Leaf Lettuce (also known as Boston Lettuce) arrived in my vegetable box last Friday from Freshfully online market so I went to "the Google" to seek a more imaginative recipe than a plain salad. Disco. I found an easy-to-prepare recipe with a bonus video, which I prepared in great haste. 

Don't you love the feeling you get when a recipe tastes better than you could have imagined? The heat from the hot wing sauce balanced with the salty creaminess of the blue cheese and the slight sweetness of the lettuce, quick frankly, makes one forget their even eating vegetables. Bookmark this for football season. Fans can make their own and the calorie-watchers on your team will appreciate you even more.

Buffalo Chicken Butter Lettuce Cups
Recipe and Video, Clean & Delicious with Dani Spies
Yield: 4 servings


Ingredients

4 carrots, chopped
4 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 chicken breasts, cut into small bite size pieces (1lb)
¼ cup hot wing sauce
1 tablespoon onion powder
Cayenne pepper, pinch or to taste
3 tablespoons blue cheese crumbles
1 teaspoon olive oil (I used slightly more.)
Green butter lettuce leaves, center leaves for best cups
1 scallion, chopped (white and green)
Salt and black pepper, to taste

Directions

Heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a large sauté pan and add carrots and celery. Give it a pinch of salt and let it cook for four to five minutes. Add chicken and season with salt, pepper, and onion powder and, if using, the cayenne powder. Stir everything together and allow to cook for about three minutes (the chicken is small and will cook fast… do not let it over cook or else it will get tough!). Once the chicken is almost cooked through, add the hot sauce and cook for another two minutes or until the sauce is hot and the chicken is cooked through. Shut the heat off, stir in the blue cheese and chopped scallions. Scoop into butter lettuce cups.

Stir Fry Vegetables

Who needs take-out when you have this easy recipe? I was literally driving to a local Chinese restaurant when I took a sharp left toward the grocery store instead. With a few vegetables, a couple of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (on sale!), and a recipe I watched on You Tube, I made my own stir fry. If I say say myself, it was really, really good.

My previous attempts at stir fry did not include a sauce. I suppose this is a personal preference, but I thought the flavor made all the difference. The sauce was closer to the take-out I have always enjoyed.

Stir Fry Vegetables


Ingredients:
Raw vegetables, variety of your choice
I used: Red onion
Red pepper
Broccoli
Yellow squash
Asparagus tips
Mushrooms
Celery
Snow peas
3 Tbsp canola oil
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp rice vinegar
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp sesame oil
1 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp corn starch
Water

Directions:
1. Chop vegetables to similar sizes, about 1". Mince garlic.
2. Mix chicken stock, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar and corn starch. Put aside.
3. Heat canola oil over high heat. Add minced garlic and stir, about 1 minute.
4. Add chopped vegetables and continuously stir for about 5 minutes.
5. Add a couple of tablespoons of water and cover with lid for 1 minute. Pour mixture over vegetables while stirring. Continue stirring as it thickens. Plate and enjoy!

Variation:
In a separate pan, I skillet-fried 2 skinless, boneless small chicken thighs, sliced, and added to vegetables. You could also slice and cook the chicken with the vegetables and sauce.

Weekend Pinning and Grinning

Would you believe that part of my volunteer job now includes sharing on Pinterest? Who said dream jobs can't come true! Do you think if I'm really, really good that I can turn it into a full-time PAID career?

That said, the pinned food and recipes are mine, mine I say, all mine. The trick is preparing these recipes and not just admiring them on my computer screen. That is why it is called 'food porn', and that's all I have to say about that.

Maybe you'll find something you want to try, too. Here are a few of the recipes I pinned today:


Parmesan Crusted Pesto Grilled Cheese Sandwich


Cajun Shrimp Bisque


Lemon Ice Box Pie


Strawberry-Amaretto Frozen Yogurt


Honeydew Caprese Salad


See my other pins here at Food Blogging

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Feta

Lately I've been busy so I've been eating out more and eating at home less. At least I've been busy in Birmingham where my choices are limitless and almost always a delightful experience. What is that I advise other people, though? Being busy is no excuse for a quick and healthy meal at home.

It was 1 p.m. before I realized I was hungry and had not eaten lunch (okay, I was on 'pinning' on Pinterest). It would have been easy to get take-out or even walk to any number of restaurants close by but I opted for this spaghetti recipe I had bookmarked. In the time it took the spaghetti to cook, I had the other ingredients sliced and ready to go.

While I am happy with plain ole spaghetti mixed with garlic-infused olive oil, this salty mixture of traditionally Greek ingredients led me to believe I was the best chef on the block. This will be even better when summer tomatoes are available. Now happy and full, I can go back to the hard work of pinning.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives and Feta
Recipe, Food & Wine
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds tomatoes (about 3), seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used cherry tomatoes.)
1/2 cup Kalamata or other black olives, pitted
1/4 pound feta cheese, crumbled
3 tablespoons drained capers
3 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoons fresh-ground block pepper
3/4 pound spaghetti
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
1. In a large glass or stainless-steel bowl, combine the tomatoes, olives, feta, capers, parsley, salt and pepper.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until just done, about 12 minutes. Drain.
3. Meanwhile, in a medium frying pan, heat the olive oil over moderately low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the cooked pasta and the garlic oil to the tomato mixture and toss.

Variations, provided by Food & Wine.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Black Olives, Garlic, and Mozzarella
Use 3/4 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/4-inch pieces, in place of the feta.

Spaghetti with Tomatoes, Olives, Garlic, Feta and Fresh Herbs
Use 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 3 tablespoons mixed chopped fresh herbs, such as tarragon and chives, in place of the parsley.