Spring Chicken Salad with Noodles

Hi guys!

Yes, I am back. Feeling so much better.

Even though I still have no clue what has been causing my health to deteriorate recently, I know for sure that I am getting better and feel new waves of energy entering my body. After almost four long months of living like a zombie.

It feels great to come to life again!

Oh, and the most important thing – I’d love to thank all of you who’s thought of me, or sent me a comment or an email. You’ve really helped lift my spirits. Big THANKS, guys! You are the best. I have always thought so. And I always will.

Love you !

 

So, with this new energy in me I walked into the kitchen the other day and I decided to prepare something very colorful, healthy and energizing.

It is this Spring Chicken Salad.

With noodles.

And it is yummy.

 

Here’s what we need.

 

If you feel inspired and would like to have this salad on your plate too, then this is how you can prepare it.

 
 

1. First, rinse the green onions under cold running water, pat them dry and slice them.

In this dish we are going for long strips of colorful vegetables.

 
 

2. Peel the carrot and cut it into thin strips too.

 
 

3. Core the red bell pepper and remove all seeds.

 
 

4. And, yes, strips again.

 
 

5. Then grab your herbs.

You can use parsley or cilantro (coriander).

And you can either use whole leaves or chop them finely.

Depending on what makes you happy.

 

And that’s it for the vegetable part.

Now let’s make some sauce.

 
 

6. To make the sauce, peel two cloves of garlic.

 
 

7. Press or mince the garlic finely.

Place it into a small bowl.

 
 

8. Squeeze half a lemon.

Add the juice to the garlic.

 
 

9. Add the soy sauce and the sweet chilli sauce.

Stir a little.

And that’s our flavorful sauce.

Easy!

 
 

10. Now we need two pieces of washed chicken breasts.

 
 

11. Slice each breast in half horizontally to make it thinner.

Then cut each piece into strips against the grain.

 
 

12. Pour the vegetable oil into a larger pan and heat it over medium-high heat.

 

13. Then add the chicken and salt.

 
 

14. Fry, stirring frequently, for about 6 minutes.

 
 

15. Then add the vegetables.

 
 

16. Add the parsley leaves and the sauce.

 
 

17. And stir-fry for about 5-6 more minutes.

The vegetables should still remain a little crunchy.

This is a salad, after all.

A warm salad.

 
 

18. Taste the chicken and add more salt if necessary.

 
 

And that’s it.

So simple.

All we need to do now is to prepare some noodles.

 
 

19. These are noodles.

I love noodles. So I’ve put this poem together.
 

MY ODE TO NOODLES:

Noodles are good.

Noodles are pretty.

They make this world a better place.

I love noodles.

If they were on facebook, I’d be a fan.

The end.

 

A little too sophisticated, I agree with you.

But that’s how I function.

 
 

20. Cook the noodles.

 
 

And serve your dish.

Like this.

 
 

Or like this.

 

Or mixed together.

The choice is yours.

 

Enjoy, dear friends.

 

Love,

Petra

 

(The recipe has been adapted from www.taste.com and makes 2-3 portions.)

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Chicken Stroganoff

Chicken Stroganoff is a lovely variation of the well-known and famous Beef Stroganoff.

 

Beef or chicken, frankly, this dish is amazing.

Just imagine – tender chunks of meat covered with flavorful creamy sauce served over hot noodles.

 

And I haven’t told you everything yet.

Ladies and gentlemen… there’s bacon!

See?

You just have to make this…
 
 

This is what you need.

Plus noodles.

 
 

1. First, chop the leek.

You can also use onion instead.

 
 

2. Cut the skinless and boneless chicken breast into strips or cubes, whatever you prefer.

 

I parted that chicken myself.

Early in the morning.

There’s nothing like parting a chicken while drinking coffee early in the morning.

There’s certain magic to it.

Horror magic.

 
 

3. In a large non-stick skillet or pan, fry the slices of bacon over medium heat…

 
 

… until crisp.

 

4. Remove the bacon from the pan and cut it into small chunks (or crumble it).

 
 

5. Add the leek to the drippings in the pan.
 
 

6. Then add the chicken cubes/strips.

 
 

7. Sauté together for about 6 minutes, stirring frequently.

 
 

8. Now we need our spices: ground black pepper, red paprika, pressed or minced garlic cloves, and salt.

 
 

9. Throw all the spices into the chicken-leek mixture. Add the bouillon and bacon.

 

10. Bring the mixture to a boil. Then cover, reduce heat, and let simmer for about 10 minutes.

 

You may want to transfer the whole mixture into a smaller pot if you don’t have a lid that large.

 
 

11. In the meantime you can cook the noodles.

 

12. Also, in a small bowl, combine the sour cream and the flour and stir until smooth.

 
 

13. Add the sour cream mixture to the pan/pot. Bring to a boil.

 

14. Then reduce heat and let simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly.

Your sauce will become thicker and creamier.

 
 

Serve your Chicken Stroganoff over hot noodles.

 

Enjoy, dear friends.

 

(This recipe was adapted from ivillage.com and make 2 portions.)

 

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Chicken Roulade Stuffed with Ham, Cheese and Peppers

This roulade, which by the way is just another word for a roll, is devilishly good.

There are countless variations of chicken roulades, in fact. They can be stuffed with basically anything you can imagine. Well, not anything maybe (chocolate chicken roulade might be a little too funky, I guess), but still there are many ingredients that just work perfectly in that lovely rolled up wonder.

Spinach, bacon, cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, shallots – these are just some of the ideas, and the list goes on.

 

What I love about chicken roulades is how cute they look. This is one of those dinners that will elicit a lot of oohs and wows.

And you know what?

They really are easy to make!

 

 

Here’s what we need.
 
 

1. First, preheat the oven to 400 °F (200 °C).

 

2. Place the chicken breast into a Ziploc bag (or between two sheets of plastic wrap).
 
 

3. Beat the chicken breast with a meat mallet until about 1/8 inch (3 mm) thin.

 
 

This is the ham I had on hand.

It’s beyond yummy!

 
 

4. Place two slices of ham lengthwise along middle of the breast.

 
 

5. Then place two thin slices of the cheese over the ham.

I use Edam cheese in this recipe. You can, of course, use any kind you like.
 
 

Blue cheese.

My true love.
 
 

6. Now divide the blue cheese into three equal parts and arrange one third crosswise at the near end of the breast.

We are starting to create the center of our roulade here.

 

 

These are red peppers.

I had some pickled ones in my fridge.

Yum!
 
 

7. If you are using fresh red pepper then place two thin slices over the blue cheese.
 
 

8. And two green pepper slices over the red ones.
 
 

9. Roll the chicken roulade from one end to form a cylinder, securing the seam with a couple of toothpicks.
 
 

11. Secure the ends as well.

We definitely want to keep those flavorful juices inside.
 

12. Repeat the process for each of the two remaining chicken breasts.
 
 

13. Brush a baking pan with some olive oil and place the roulades inside, the seam side down.
 
 

14. In a small bowl, mix the olive oil with salt.
 
 

15. And brush the roulades with the oil mixture.
 
 

16. Place in the oven and bake (at 400 °F – 200 °C) for 30 minutes.

There will be a little juice in the pan when your remove the roulades from the oven.

Keep it please, it’s precious.
 
 

17. Remove the roulades from the pan and let them rest for 5 minutes before doing anything else.
 

18. Then remove the toothpicks and slice the roulades crosswise into 1/2 inch (1 1/2 cm) rounds.

Then sit down for awhile and feast your eyes on that cute structure you’ve just created.

 
 

When serving these cuties, pour a little of that precious and flavorful sauce from the pan over them. That will make them even more moist and delicious.
 

You can serve these roulades warm with toasts.

Or, to create a more satisfying dish, serve them with mashed potatoes.

 

And most importantly, ENJOY, dear friends!

 

(This recipe takes about 1 hour to prepare and makes 3 servings.)
 

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Crispy Chicken Breasts

Here’s another quick and simple recipe idea for you.

It’s chicken breasts. Because I love chicken breasts. That’s the best kind of meat for me.

These are coated in delicious mixture of bread crumbs, ground nuts, Parmesan cheese and parsley. They are then fried to irresistible perfection.

Now I invite you to my kitchen to have a look at how I actually prepared them…

 
 

But before that, these are the ingredients.
 
 

1. First, place the breasts between two layers of wax paper or plastic wrap.

Then using a meat mallet or a rolling-pin (or anything that could do the job), pound the chicken breasts so that they’re evenly thin. They will spread out to at least 2 or 3 times their size as they flatten.
 

2. Slice each breast in half after flattening. That way you’ll achieve 4 nice portions.
 
 

3. Now salt the cutlets on both sides generously.

This is the only time we are using salt while preparing this recipe, so there’s no need to hold back.
 
 

4. Now, let the dredging begin. First, dredge a piece in flour.

 
 

5. Then dip it in lightly beaten eggs.
 
 

6. And finally cover your cutlet with a mixture of bread crumbs, ground nuts, Parmesan and chopped parsley.

I’ve used ground peanuts this time. But feel free to use any nuts you like and have on hand.

 

7. Set aside on a large platter (don’t overlap the pieces) and repeat with remaining chicken.
 
 

8. Pour the vegetable oil into a large skillet or pan and place over medium heat until a pinch of breading sizzles immediately when you drop it in the pan.
 

9. Place one breaded chicken cutlet into the hot oil and cook for about 4 minutes per side, turning once.

 
 

Both sides should be golden brown and crisp, and the chicken should be cooked through.
 
 

10. Now, this is optional but your chicken can be served over a nice layer of warm tomato sauce.

If you are into warm tomato sauce.

 
 

I’ve served this delicacy with very simple cooked potatoes.

But I can also imagine it paired with nice mashed potatoes or even fries.

 

Enjoy, dear friends!

This is definitely yummy!

 

(This recipe makes 4 portions and takes about 30 minutes to prepare.)
 

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