Dinner last night was chicken salad salad (chix salad on a bed of greens) and mushroom risotto.
The chicken salad recipe is something I made up myself. I have
never liked chicken salad - too bland, too mayonnaise-y, too much of a paste-like consistency. Then the very first sorority alumnae event I went to was an afternoon tea with fabulous chicken salad sandwiches. Tasty, savory, and made with chunks of chicken, not shredded stuff that turns to paste when you add a ton of mayo. I've lost touch with the woman who hosted that tea so couldn't get the recipe, but I tried to remember what was in that chicken salad, did some recipe Googling, and finally just decided to wing it. I'm still not a fan of chicken salad sandwiches, but I really like this on top of Romaine lettuce.
Chicken Salad
makes enough for 2 large sandwiches
or salads
About 1/4 of a store-bought rotisserie chicken, skin removed, meat picked from the bones and diced. I like to use both white and dark meat.
Red seedless grapes, quartered. I use enough grapes to give me about a 2:1 chicken:grape ratio.
About 1/8 of a large red onion, diced fine. A little goes a long way with red onion. You can always add more if it's not onion-y enough, but it's a PITA picking it out if all you taste is onion!
Small amount of mayo or Miracle Whip, just enough to hold it all together. I used a little more than one regular spoon-sized dollop.
Dried dill weed, maybe 1/4 tsp. I don't measure, just sprinkle a bunch on.
Dice the chicken and onion, quarter the grapes, and mix them all together in a bowl. Add mayo/Miracle Whip and combine. Sprinkle with dill and stir. That's it! Refrigerate any leftovers immediately.
As for the mushroom risotto, it's more a technique than a recipe I guess. I will say one thing about
Le copain français, he taught me how to make a damn good risotto. That almost makes up for the way the relationship imploded. Almost.
A note on making risotto. Every recipe I've read makes it sound fussy and labor-intensive. It's not. You need to be near the stove and keep an eye on it, but other than the rice, I don't measure anything, I don't stir it constantly, and I sure as hell don't boil the stock ahead of time. Maybe it takes a few minutes longer to cook the actual risotto, but I'm not mucking about with all the prep work beforehand, so I think itimewise it's probably a wash. Also, risotto is filling and not at all healthy. See the tiny portion on my plate in the picture above? That's seriously all I can eat at once. The technique below makes twice that amount (hey, I like leftovers!)
Mushroom Risotto
makes 2 pretty small servings
Glug of olive oil
1/4 - 1/2 a medium sized white onion, diced
Mushrooms, sliced - I used 2 largish white mushrooms for the above and probably could have had another in there.
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/4 c Arborio rice - this is seriously the only thing I measure. It doesn't look like a lot, but it cooks up BIG.
Chicken stock - I use homemade in pretty much everything, but somehow every time I've made risotto it's been with low-sodium boxed broth. Plan on 4-6x as much stock as rice. I think.
Butter
Shredded Parmesan cheese - do NOT use the fake stuff from the green can.
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Saute the onions, mushroom, and garlic about 5 minutes, until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms begin to get soft. Stir in the rice and saute for a minute. Pour in some stock, but not a lot. I usually add about 1/4" of stock to the pan at a time. Bring to a simmer and continue to simmer until most of the stock is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat to med-low if you have to. When the rice has absorbed most of the stock, pour in some more and simmer again. Keep doing this 3-4 times, stirring occasionally. I usually start tasting after the 3rd round of adding stock to see how the rice is doing. If it's still hard/firm, add more stock. If the rice seems
al dente or whatever consistency you prefer, continue simmering until all the stock is absorbed. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat to low, add some butter (I use about 1/2 Tbsp for the above amount of risotto) and sprinkle on some Parm cheese. Stir the butter and cheese in until everything is combined and melty and delicious. Serve immediately.
This sounds more complex than it is. Risotto takes me about half an hour, start to finish. Same amount of time as a box of Rice-a-Roni, but much yummier.
