Summer Salads

I love having salads in the summer. However, I don't always want the typical lettuce salad. This salad is prepared on the grill and on the stove. It's a Southwest Chicken and Rice Salad.

What I enjoy about this dish is all the flavors. Plus the next day I like to roll it up in a tortilla and make a wrap.

I like to make this salad using brown rice because it's better for you. However, if you prefer white rice it's just as good. I've made it both ways.

Southwest Chicken and Rice Salad
Makes 6 servings


3/4 cup olive oil
4 green onions, sliced
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon minced canned chipotle chilies*
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves
4 ears fresh corn, shucked** (can also use 2 cups frozen corn kernels)
2 poblano chilies, quartered lengthwise, seeded
2 red bell peppers, quartered lengthwise, seeded

3 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups long-grain white rice
(if using brown rice follow instructions on your package using same amount of water in this recipe, plus amount of rice required on package)


Whisk first 5 ingredients and 1/2 cup cilantro in small bowl. Season dressing to taste with salt and pepper. Place chicken, corn, chilies and bell peppers on rimmed baking sheet. Brush 1/2 cup dressing over both sides of chicken and vegetables. Let stand 30 minutes.

Bring 3 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt to boil in heavy large saucepan. Mix in rice. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Keep pan covered and let rice stand 5 minutes. Transfer rice to large bowl; fluff with fork. Pour 1/2 cup dressing over hot rice and toss; let cool.

Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Grill chicken and vegetables (use a vegetable grate) until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender and slightly charred, about 6 minutes per side. Cut chicken, peppers and chilies into strips. Cut corn off cobs (see photo for easy method). Toss chicken and vegetables in medium bowl with enough dressing to coat; add to rice and toss again. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Divide salad among 6 plates. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup cilantro and serve.

*Chipotle chilies canned in a spicy tomato sauce, sometimes called adobo, are available at supermarkets in the mexican foods or ethnic sections.

**Removing corn kernels from the cob can be messy—they like to bounce off the cutting board and end up scattered all over the counter and floor. To keep those kernels in their place, insert the tip of the ear of corn into the center hole of a Bundt pan. Cut the kernels away from the cob in long downward strokes, letting them fall into the pan. (see photo above)

Great served with fresh fruit and tortilla chips. Perfect to bring for a BBQ.

Can I learn to be a good cook?

The answer to this question is YES! I have always had a passion for cooking. Even when I may have messed up a meal I felt like I learned from what I did wrong and just moved on.

However, I was reading something yesterday and suddenly I started to laugh. I remembered when I would be cooking something in the broiler and the smoke alarm would go off. When that happened I would hear my husband yell, "DINNER'S READY"! The funny thing was, he was right. Dinner was ready. It often happened when I would be broiling lamb chops.

My point is, that we all have to start someplace. If you are one of those people that shy away from cooking or feel like there's no hope for you - YOU'RE WRONG. Just like anything, we can all be taught to do something that we want to learn.

So if you would love to learn to cook or improve your cooking skills please call or email me. I promise after I spend some time with you in YOUR kitchen, you will feel so confident that you'll be inviting friends and family over for dinner.

Learning something new can be a challenge but if you have the desire, you will succeed.

The holidays aren't that far away. Now is the perfect time to start practicing so that this holiday season you can invite those people over that have invited you for years. Make it your resolution. I promise you can do it!

Please contact me for your private in-home culinary class.

Vicki Bensinger
314.799.1633
vkb2@hotmail.com

Mexican Casserole

After a long day of biking and hiking in the mountains the only thing that sounded good to my family was comfort food or "junk food". So I decided to whip up a Mexican Casserole something I had not made in quite a while. So I went to the grocery store to find some ingredients that might work.

Of course you all know by now that my family regardless of how junkie they want to eat, they like to try and keep it on the healthy side. So this is what I picked up for my casserole (feel free to use regular ingredients rather than the lower fat versions):

Mexican Casserole
serves 6-8

2 pounds ground turkey
19 oz can enchilada sauce (Old El Paso)
15 oz. can mexican stewed tomatoes or Rotel mexican blend will do
bag of Baked Doritos
2 (2 cup) bags of shredded cheddar cheese (I used the fat free)
15 oz. can black beans (drained)
15 oz. can yellow corn (drained)
1 jar taco sauce (about 15 oz)
16 oz container light sour cream

First I took the ground turkey and placed in a skillet with the taco sauce and cooked all together. The reason I do this: I found that if I cook ground turkey with some sort of liquid or sauce then it actually cooks up like beef and isn't dry. Cooking it alone the turkey meat is dry.

Using a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish spray with non-stick spray. Then crumble up 3/4 of the bag of Baked Doritos and spread out over the bottom of the pan.

Lay the cooked turkey meat over the top of the Doritos. Then sprinkle 1 bag (2 cups) of cheese over the turkey meat and pour some of the enchilada sauce over the top. (sorry I don't have an exact amt. I just poured some but not to saturate the meat).

Spread tomatoes over the top and then drained corn and black beans.

Then pour rest of enchilada sauce over the top.

Spread sour cream over the top.

Sprinkle with the rest of the Baked crumbled Doritos and then top with remaining 2 cups of shredded cheddar.

Cover and bake in a preheated 350 oven for approximately 30-45 minutes or until the edges start to bubble.

Note: If using fat free cheese it doesn't melt in the same way as regular or low fat cheese does so covering is imperitive otherwise it won't do anything.

My family loved this recipe. If you don't get the ingredients in the same order I know it won't matter. This recipe is even good cold for breakfast if you're like my husband and like it in the morning as well.

I hope you enjoy this. It may not look beautiful like many of the recipes that I prefer to cook, but it really is yummy! My family has seconds and thirds.

If you make this for your family I'd love to hear what they say.

New Culinary Classes Offered

I'm adding two new classes to the already large list of classes that I currently offer, At Home with Vicki Bensinger, In-Home Culinary Classes. I hope you like them.

As always if you would like to tailor a class to meet your specifications just let me know.

These two classes are the perfect party menus to have when inviting friends over.

Sangria and Paella

We're traveling to Spain for this fun party menu. From appetizers to dessert you'll be partying with friends all night.

Crostini
Sangria
Gazpacho
Paella
Flan


Small Plates

Looking to have a friendly gathering with friends but don't feel like cooking a huge meal? Small plates are the perfect thing where there's something for everyone.

Tuna Wontons
Meatball Sliders
Stuffed Portobella Mushrooms over Tomato Couscous
Chicken Satay

New classes are always being added so please check out my blog or follow it for frequent updates!

How to Grill Perfect Chicken?

I love to grill chicken especially boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It's so simple but most people cook the chicken to death ending up with a piece that is so dry you can barely swallow it.

If you're one of those people here is a simple technique that you can use not just for chicken but for other meats as well. I call it the touch method.

When you are ready to put the chicken on the grill touch it. You'll notice how loose the meat feels. As in the first photo. If you were to take your left hand and let in lay limp, take your index finger on your right hand and touch it to the piece of flesh between the index finger and thumb on your left hand, in the web of your two fingers. Do you see how it feels like jello? Well that's how the chicken (or meat) feels when it's raw.





Next (photo #2) take those two same fingers on your left hand and touch the tips together. Then take the index finger on your right hand and touch it to the web between the two fingers. Do you see how it feels? It should feel slightly firmer. This is how your chicken will feel when it's cooked medium. This is how I like it.




Lastly (photo #3) take your left hand now and make a fist. Then take the index finger on your right hand and touch it to the web of your left hand between your thumb and index finger. Do you see how firm and tight that feels? This is how your meat/chicken will feel when it is well done. For chicken this is going to be tough and dry.




So my recommendation is before placing your chicken on the grill (or meat) touch it to see how it feels. This way as it cooks you will be able to judge how done it is by touching it.

Typically I grill my chicken breasts 3 minutes per side on medium heat. Of course it will depend on the thickness of the chicken. To insure that all chicken is done at the same time, make sure the thickness is the same otherwise place some plastic wrap over it and using a mallet make the pieces even. Your butcher can do this for you if you don't want to.

I hope if you typically serve dry chicken to your family and shy away from it when you have friends over please try this method and let me know how it turns out.

Bon Appetit!

Food Labels

Each week most of us go to the grocery store purchasing products. How many of you read the labels on the back of the packaging and if you do how thoroughly do you read them? Well I just recently discovered two new websites that help you sort out just what's on those food labels:

eBrandAid.com uncoveres marketing tricks some manufacturers use to make you think a product is healthful, when in fact it should be avoided.

One example is a bag of Baked Tortilla Chips with lime. Sounds great but if you don't read the food label carefully and actually understand what you're reading you could be buying something that's not so good for you.

I don't want to give it away but check out this site and sign up if you like. eBrandAid.com was created by a panel of marketing and nutrition experts, the site names names, so you can check brands you buy and learn what to look for.

LabelWatch.com also takes a brand-name approach, letting you look up ingredient labels of more than 27.000 products. Select an ingredient to get a definition and any research on it. You'll be amazed at what you can learn!

In addition these sites have much more to offer including great recipes. So check them out and tell me what you think.

Homemade Granola

My family loves granola. As I have mentioned before though they are funny about foods having too much fat in it. So after reading the nutritional content on several boxes as well as gourmet markets that make it fresh they decided I should try to come up with a lower calorie and lower fat version.

This is my version for a low fat granola.

Low Fat Granola
(makes approx. 6 cups)

4 cups old fashioned oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup apple juice
1/4 cup honey
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup raisins

Place oatmeal in a large bowl. In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, apple juice, honey and cinnamon; bring to a boil. Remove from the heat and stir in vanilla. Pour mixture over oats and stir to coat. Spread oat mixture onto a large sheet pan covered with heavy duty foil and place in oven. Bake at 350 degrees F for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occassionally. Cool completely before adding raisins. Store in an airtight container.

Feel free to add other ingredients: craisins or other dried fruits like blueberries and raspberries, nuts, etc. For added protein almonds or other nuts are perfect especially if taking the granola on hikes.

Granola is perfect with fresh berries and vanilla yogurt all placed in a parfait glass or whatever type container you have, as shown above

This is also great when traveling on the road for a healthy snack or added to your cereal.

It's so simple to make and makes a lot. When I make it I always double the recipe since it goes so fast in my home. I hope you enjoy it.








In the photos shown the first one is of the granola just out of the oven. Photo 2 is with raisins added after the granola has cooled. The last photo is with vanilla yogurt, fresh blueberries and granola added to the top in a cocktail glass.

What's New in Grilling?

I'm always looking for new gadgets or ways to make cooking a snap. After reading about these I had to share with all of you. I haven't received these yet but my order is in.

FireWire Flexible Grilling Skewers, professional-grade grilling skewers that are as practical as they are fun. The skewer is a stainless steel cable, twice as long as most skewers, that enables you to take your skewered food from marinating bag to grill to plate, all on the same flexible wire. Efficiently, FireWire can circle the perimeter of the grill like a necklace, enabling you to cook burgers, chicken, steak or corn in the center: You have new-found space on your grill surface. And the stainless steel stays cool, allowing you to turn or reposition the wire or remove the food from the grill without using tools. Probes on each end of the wire make it easy to both pierce food and to grab the wire.

Conventional steel skewers eventually rust and wooden skewers are one-time use; stainless steel Firewires last a lifetime. While you can’t hold the FireWire and eat your food upright as you can with a conventional ten-inch skewer, the fun of flexibility more than compensates. Of course, your kids may want to turn it into a food necklace!


Check out the FireWire video at www.firewiregrilling.com. You can buy them at Amazon.com. $9.99 for two wires. That’s a very cost-effective gift to bring to every cookout you’re invited to.

Happy 4th of July!

This 4th of July what are you cooking? Share your menu and recipes with everyone that views my blog. We'd love to hear from you.

Believe it or not I'm in the mountains right now where the clouds have recently rolled in and the temperature is in the 50s. Since we were all feeling a bit chilly I decided to make some chili.

I know you're thinking, "what no bbq?" But no we are just relaxing this evening after a day of biking and will snuggle up to a warm bowl of chili.

What was on your menu today? I'm looking forward to hearing from you.

Food Lover's Companion

I've been cooking for years and love to pick up as much reading material as I can to learn more about food and cooking. However, the one book that has become a bible to me is the Food Lover's Companion.

If you love to cook or even if you're unsure of cooking, this reference book will help you feel confident in the kitchen. You can find it in many grocery stores, bookstores or online. I highly recommend it for yourself or if you're looking for a nice gift to give to a food lover.