Six yummy salads with chicken

It's summer, and that means salad! Now that you know how to make easy roasted chicken breasts, here are six of my favorite salads featuring chicken breast:

Chicken club salad with creamy balsamic dressing

Make-ahead Tex-Mex salad

Orange-cranberry chicken salad

Chicken salad with Asian ginger-peanut dressing

30-second Caesar salad -- shown here with deli turkey, but you could make it with shredded or thinly sliced chicken, too.

Almost-Panera's Asian chicken salad

Do you have a favorite salad that uses already-cooked chicken?

Easy roasted chicken breasts

One of the best things you can do to make quick, healthy dinners more doable is to have some already-cooked chicken on hand. The stuff you buy ready-cooked at the grocery is loaded with salt, probably has corn syrup in it, and doesn't taste all that great. Here is the simplest, lowest-hassle, and most delicious method I've found for make-ahead chicken.

If you want to be super efficient, make enough to stash for future use, plus enough for dinner tonight, and serve it straight out of the oven -- it's great on its own, too!

Recipe (really, just a method):

Chicken breasts, roasted to use in recipes

Bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts
Olive oil (about 1 teasp. per breast)
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Line a baking sheet with foil, and spray or oil it. Place the chicken breasts, skin side up, in the pan with an inch more more between them. Brush the tops liberally with olive oil, then lightly with salt and pepper, according to your taste. Place a meat thermometer 2" into the fleshy part of the largest piece, trying not to hit bone. (Which would make the temperature misread.)

Bake uncovered until the internal temperature hits 165 F. If you don't have an accurate thermometer, the skin should be a light golden-brown...

...but the juices should also run clear. To clearly see the color of the juices, slip a white dish under the edge of one breast and poke a hole just above it. Let some juice run into the dish, and look at it in good light. This test looked a little pink, so I stuck the chicken back in for about five minutes.

But also be careful not to overcook it! That's what makes chicken tough and dry. If in doubt, pull it out a little on the underdone side. The outer and smaller parts of the chicken will probably be cooked through, with a little more pinkness in the center. Save the more-done pieces for salads and sandwiches; use the slightly underdone pieces for dishes that will get cooked some more, like soups, casseroles, and enchiladas.

If you're serving the chicken right away, though, make sure that everything you serve is cooked through.

To store for future use, let chicken sit at room temp or in the fridge till it's cool enough to handle. Pull off and discard the skin. Pull the chicken meat off the bone. Discard the bones. You can bag the meat and store as is, or cut into bite size pieces, or shred -- whatever works for your use. Store in tightly covered containers or plastic bags.

The FDA says that cooked chicken can be kept three to four days in the fridge, or up to four months in the freezer.

Tomorrow I'll post a round-up of six of my salad recipes that use chicken!

Individual lemon icebox pies

When I was a kid, dessert was not a forbidden thing. We almost always had some ice cream in the freezer, and/or a frozen chocolate cream pie or lemon icebox pie. I loved the lemon pie, and would sneak small slivers off of it every now and then. I suspect that the reason I never got caught was that I wasn't the only one in the house doing it, and s0 my mom probably assumed my dad was the culprit!

These mini-pies are quick and easy to whip up at home, and they have that same sweet-and-tangy appeal as the freezer pie in my memory! But these are sugar-free, gluten-free, corn syrup-free, and you control whether there's food coloring, and what kind of sweetener goes in!

Recipe for:Individual lemon icebox pies

makes 6-8, depending on serving sizes

1/2 c. pecan pieces
8 oz. cream cheese
zest of one lemon
juice of one lemon (or 1/2 or 3/4, depending on how sour you like things)
4 pkts. Splenda (or sweetener of your choice, equiv. to 8 teasp. sugar)
1/2 t. vanilla
2 drops yellow food coloring (optional)
1/4 c. cream
whipped cream:
1/2 c. cream
1 pkt. Splenda
1/2 t. vanilla

See my recipe for No-bake lime cheesecake shooters for the crust-making and assembly method, using 4-oz. Mason jars as the serving dishes.

Once the jars are filled and topped with whipped cream, attach the lids and place in the freezer for at least three hours. I haven't tested them for longevity, but I'm pretty sure you could keep them frozen for up to several days at least with no problem.

Remove from the freezer 45 minutes before serving time and let thaw at room temp. Remove lids, garnish if you like, and serve!

Also, this recipe is fantastic turned into cheesecake-stuffed strawberries! No freezing, for that option.

Here's the nutrition info, via myfitnesspal.com; this is for a single serving (of eight servings), with the crust, but with NO whipped cream.

Nutrition Facts Per Serving   Servings 8

Calories 163

Total Fat 16 g

Saturated Fat 7 g

Monounsaturated Fat 6 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g

Trans Fat 0 g

Sodium 87 mg

Potassium 95 mg

Total Carbohydrate 3 g

Dietary Fiber 1 g

Sugars 0 g

Protein 3 g

Protein-packed snacks

TheKitchn posted a helpful list: 10 ways to get some mid-day protein. And here's a more extensive list from SheKnows.

A few words of caution, to keep out sneaky carbs: make sure your yogurt and PB or other nut butters are sugar free, and use fresh veggies, not pita chips, for dipping hummus.

Places to eat in Kansas City: Mestizo

We've made two visits to Mestizo in the last month. That alone should say something. The first visit was actually mixed, but there was enough good to bring us back. And I'm glad, because the second visit was more positive.

This relatively new addition to the KC restaurant scene is located in Leawood at Park Place (a collection of shops, restaurants and condos at 117th and Nall, just north of the AMC Town Center). You'd have to go looking for it. Unless you just happen to be strolling around this chi-chi mecca of high-end consumerism, you wouldn't happen across it. And if you go in for appetizers, drinks, and a large meal, it's going to be pretty pricey. But we just went for a light late lunch both times, and so we got out for under $15 per person.

Let's start with the salsa. Our first visit there, we were quite underwhelmed by it. It was okay, but didn't taste garden-fresh, which is what you'd expect from the expectations set by the menu. It tasted like the bulk of the sauce came from canned tomatoes. But that was April, and maybe they were short on good local tomatoes so they resorted to canned. This time, however -- midway through May -- the salsa lived up to our original expectations. It had both a sweetness and a pleasant kick (mind you, this comment from me, the spice-wimp), and the sweetness tasted like it came from homegrown t'maters, not from Heinz, or added sugar. A salsa-dipped chip did benefit from a little extra salt added at the table, as the chips are served pretty much saltless. (But I'd much rather have a dish lack salt than be overly salty.)

Other than lacking salt, the chips are great. They somehow manage to be both thick and light -- perfectly crispy.

On our first visit, we ordered guacamole, but none of us (and there were four that time) were impressed. We didn't even finish it, even though it was fairly small. It had a strange note in it; almost tasted mustardy to me. ($9. Sheesh!)

On my first visit, I ordered the "chipotle chicken" -- a simple salad topped with glazed, grilled chicken breast and a tamarind vinaigrette. The chicken was a little over cooked but still enjoyable, and the salad dressing was unique, with a bright, citrusy flavor. ($10.)

On our first visit, the two guys ordered two different kinds of tacos: one ordered grilled mahi-mahi, and the other, crispy pork belly. On our second visit, my husband, having tasted both the first time, ordered a mixed serving of both. (Two tacos, $9.)

The fish tacos, served with avocado slices and mango salsa on top:

Pork belly may sound weird, but these were bite-sized chunks of tender pork with a pleasantly crispy exterior. They weren't strongly smoked, but there was a hint of bacon-y flavor to them.

My husband's assessment of the two: He likes them both, but prefers the pork belly. ("I like El Patron's fish tacos better by a long shot," he says.)

Both kinds of tacos were served with a side of "drunken beans." No one liked the beans. My sister's fiance thought there was an "off" taste to them; I thought they just tasted bland.

The star dish, in my opinion, was the pepita-crusted scallops. My sister ordered it on our first visit, and I ordered on our second. (Her serving had three scallops, mine, only two. Perhaps measured by weight?) The scallops were perfectly done, sweet and tender, and served atop a creamy corn picadillo. Dictionary.com says that picadillo is "a traditional Latin American and Spanish dish of ground meat, onions, tomatoes, raisins, olives, and spices," but this one had grilled corn, small pear tomatoes and bits of jalapeno in a creamy, sauce that tasted of ancho chile to me. The slightly spicy, slightly smoky sauce was a great counterpoint to the sweet scallops, was contrasted nicely with the salty, crispy crust of finely chopped pepitas on top. Nothing to criticize! ($12.)

Our one main complaint about Mestizo: the atmosphere is just a little too slick, a little too chic. (It should be noted that both of our visits were mid-afternoon. Perhaps the decor feels more right after dark.) My husband also was a bit put off by the sterile, styled-ness of the plating.

In a "Welcome" note at the top of the menu, owner Aaron Sanchez says that the menu was inspired, in part, by family meals "freshly prepared by my mother, Zarela." And that kind of love for the flavors and the food came through in the dishes we tried, but I wish it would have also come through in the decor. The restaurant shouts STYLE, and feels like a corporate concept, not a homespun gathering place.

Mestizo website.

Summer squash topped with sausage and cheese -- or just cheese

This is a quick easy dish to prep ahead of time, and then assemble and cook in about 15 minutes. It evolved from a recipe for stuffed portobello mushrooms -- which is good, don't get me wrong! -- but I think I like it better on squash.

In these pictures, I was testing a batch without the sundried tomatoes, but I don't recommend skipping them. I think they add an important zing to the dish.

Recipe: Summer squash topped with sausage and cheese

 Ready In: 30 Minutes      Servings: 3

1/2 cup Jimmy Dean® Original Hearty Turkey Sausage Crumbles

1/2 cup shredded Italian cheese blend, divided

2 tablespoons ricotta cheese

1 green onion, thinly sliced

1 T. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated

1 medium summer squash

Optional for plain squash slices:

olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper

grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine sausage, half of the shredded cheese, ricotta cheese, onions and tomatoes in medium bowl. 

Lay the squash flat on cutting board, and cut off the bottom on a diagonal.

Slice the rest of the squash, parallel to the first cut, in approximately 1/2" thick slabs. 

You'll have some large diameter slices and some small ones. If you're prepping this meal early in the day, you can put everything in the fridge now to hold till you're ready to bake.

Lay the slices on the prepared baking sheet. Divide the sausage mixture among the slices; first just dump some on (shown upper left in the photo below), then pat it down with your fingers (shown in the top second one). Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the sausage mixture.

You may top all the slices this way, or you can use the two or three smallest ones without the sausage topping. If you're not topping all the slices, brush the bare ones with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until squash is just tender. Remove from the oven. 

Sprinkle the plain slices with grated parmesan. 

Serve it all up. Yummmm!

Places to eat in Kansas City: Eggtc.

Found another great breakfast place in KC! It's been there for several years, but we only discovered it recently.

Just a few blocks south of the Plaza on Main Street, Eggtc. is next door to Minsky's Pizza (same owners). On weekend mornings, expect a wait. And expect good food!

As is so often the case, I ordered an Eggs Benedict (on whole wheat toast, to make it a smidge healthier).

Tender, juicy, flavorful ham; not too thick, not too thin. The egg perfectly done. Nice job!

They offer nine different kinds of omelettes, plus a "build your own" option. With eight kinds of meat, seven kinds of cheeses, 16 different vegetable choices, and a partridge in a pear tree... (sorry!) ...you ought to be able to find or create something that suits your fancy. My friend ordered an omelette off the menu: Apple and Goat Cheese omelette, with walnuts and onion chutney. Not my cup of tea, but she enjoyed every bite.

I didn't snap a pic of her husband's plate, but he ordered the "Salubrious" omelette -- isn't that a great name? It's not often a menu item has you pulling out your smart phone to look something up on dictonary.com! (Salubrious means "conducive or favourable to health; wholesome".) It contains Monterey Jack and Swiss cheeses, asparagus, black olives, mushrooms and red onions, topped off with red onion chutney.

They also serve frittatas, crepes, breakfast sandwiches, breakfast pizza, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, waffles, french toast... you'd be hard-pressed to find a breakfast favorite that's not offered here.

There were eight of us at the table; I don't remember what everyone ordered, but I do know there were no empty plates at the end! It's a wee bit loud, but the service was prompt and friendly.

Definitely recommended!

Eggtc. website

Recipe roundup: Mother's Day menus

Here's a little gift for you: instead of wandering all over the internet for the perfect Mother's Day menu, here are four different options for you, each with its own theme. Almost all of these recipes can be made ahead, so you can enjoy the day without last-minute panic. And all (except the shortbread) are low carb. You get enough guilt from Mom; you don't need any from your food! ;)

Light lunch, light flavors

Want to treat mom to just a little something, perhaps before you head out to tour a local garden -- or mall? Serve this easy, make-ahead orange-cranberry chicken salad on lettuce leaves or in soft pita pockets...

 ...with this elegant, lightly-sweet and super tender almond poppyseed shortbread.

Neither of these dishes will weigh you down, but they will both delight Mom with their flavors!


Classic ladies' lunch, done low carb

What could be more classic than quiche? If Mom is doing South Beach or some other low-carb diet, you'll be happy to know that a crustless spinach quiche can be just as delicious as one with the traditional but high-carb pastry crust. I added a little Canadian bacon to the original recipe.

Serve a fruit salad on the side. Here, I've just drizzled fresh strawberries and blueberries with some sweetened cream. One cup of heavy cream or half-and-half, one packet of Splenda, 1/2 t. of vanilla extract. That will be enough for about six servings, and possibly some leftovers. So simple, but elegant and delish!

Oh, and about the quiche... be sure not to overcook it. You want it only just done, or maybe slightly underdone, in the center when you take it out. It will continue to cook a bit as it cools, and you want a creamy, custardy texture, not one like over-done scrambled eggs. A thin knife inserted in the center should come out looking pretty clean.

Finish things off with a vintage-y lemon icebox pie, updated by serving it in a cute little Mason jar! Just use my no-bake lime cheesecake recipe, use lemon instead of lime, freeze them a day or so ahead, and set them out on the counter 45 minutes before serving time.

Mother's Day with a Mexican twist

For something different, serve up my easy but elegant ancho-crusted salmon with avocado crema...

a make-ahead Tex Mex salad...

and no-bake lime cheesecake mini-desserts. Add a wee bit of triple-sec (if you're not philosophically opposed), and call it margarita pie.

Elegant and -- dare I say? -- impressive

If your mom is the fine china and real silverware type -- or you just want to treat her so -- here's a sure-fire trio. For the main dish, quick pork tenderloin with seasoned rub.

For a side dish, green beans with pine nuts -- which, trust me, is so much more than the sum of its parts, and as delicious as it is simple.

If you're not low-carbing it, some good bread would round things out nicely, then finish with a flourish by serving individual mini tiramisu cups.

And if mama ain't happy after one of these, well then, mama ain't gonna ever be happy at all!

The best low carb salads at Panera

I love Panera! Even though I rarely get bagels or sweets there any more, I love their salads and appreciate the fact that they provide some nutrition info right up front. The calories are listed right on the menu. Pretty bold!

However, I don't believe that counting calories is all that useful. (Here's why, at least partially.) So I went to Panera's website and downloaded the nutrition info and did a little spreadsheet work. If you're focusing on controlling diabetes and/or eating low carb (South Beach, etc.), a useful thing to consider is the protein to carb ratio. That is, are there more protein than carbs, and in what proportion?

Based on my personal study into food's effect on insulin and blood sugar, my approach to healthy eating is to try to keep an approximate balance between carbs and protein. More protein than carbs is okay; more carbs than protein is not. So in my protein-to-carbs (P-to-C) approach, I'm looking for a ration that 1 or higher.

Here's an example: If your "protein bar" has 10 grams of protein, but 30 grams of carbs, it has a  P-to-C  ratio of 0.33 -- not good! However, a spoonful of sugar-free peanut butter has 8 grams of protein and 6 grams of carbs; a ratio of 1.25 -- much better!

I looked at all of Panera's whole salads, including the dressing. Here are their four lowest-carb salads, with their respective ratios.


ALL of the other salads on their menu are below 1.0.

Of course, there's more to healthy eating than carbs and protein, but as I said, if you're looking to control your blood sugar (glucose) or trying to lose weight by watching carbs, these are some important numbers to know.


I am not employed by or affiliated with Panera Bread, and this is not a sponsored post. I am not a medical or nutrition expert; just someone who cares about my health enough to dig for the facts.

Recipe review: Chocolate cupcakes in a jar

A couple weeks ago, I happily volunteered to help fill the sweets table at the bridal shower of a family friend. When I asked the bride-to-be about her favorite cakes or pies, she said "Banana creme pie. Or anything chocolate!"

I really worked on the banana creme idea for a while, but because of a busy schedule that weekend, I needed to make the desserts a day in advance, and depend on someone else to deliver them. I was afraid the bananas would be brown and nasty in that time, so I went for something chocolate.

I decided to try this recipe for Super Easy, Super Moist Chocolate Cake from SimplyRecipes. It's an old recipe, and because it's made without eggs, butter or milk, it has been popular in times and places where dairy is hard to get. For that reason, it's sometimes called "War Cake" or "Depression Cake." It would also be a great cake for someone who's allergic to eggs or milk.

It uses vinegar to help give it the rise (along with with baking soda), but don't let that scare you! You won't taste it at all. 

Since I was making this for a shower and wanted something that would look cute on the table, I decided to bake them in 4 oz. Mason jars. Another advantage of cake in jars over cupcakes, is that little kids can eat them with a spoon, making much less mess than unpeeling a cupcake liner and stuffing into little mouths with little hands!

I followed all the directions on the SimplyRecipes version. (Except subbing cider vinegar for white vinegar. Not a significant different in taste or acidity between the two.)

Then I filled up some jars, sitting on a cookie sheet. This is the first batch that I made, using a scant 1/3 c. batter for each jar:

Those came out pretty tall, so for the second batch, I used a scant 1/4 c. of batter. Here's the difference between how the two batches came out:

So if you want tall cakes that pop out the top of the jar, go with the larger amount. If you want them shorter, use the smaller amount -- perhaps even less, if you want to frost them and then put the lids on for transport.

Elise at SimplyRecipes says to cook them for 18 to 20 minutes. I tested them using the toothpick test. (Insert a clean, dry toothpick in the center and pull it back out. If it's clean or just has one or two dry crumbs, the cake is done. If there's batter on the toothpick, put it back in for a few minutes.) I checked them first at 15 minutes, and added 5 minutes to the first batch; just 3 or 4 for the second. 

Elise also said the cake is so moist it doesn't really need frosting. She includes a recipe for a chocolate icing, but I decided to just melt some white chocolate chips and pipe decorations on top. I melted Ghirardelli white chips over simmering water in a double boiler, taking it off the heat when it was mostly melted but still with a few lumps. Then I stirred till the lumps were gone, and stirred a few minutes more, till I thought it was cool enough to not melt a baggie. Poured the chocolate into a sandwich baggie, snipped off just a tiny corner, and went to town: I piped a heart on most of them, and "L" and "M" on a few random ones, for the bride's and groom's initials.

I tasted them after they were cooled: I thought they were okay, but I wouldn't call them super moist. (Maybe hers came out better than mine. Quite possible!) I was thinking/hoping that after sitting closed up for a day, they might get moister. After tasting them the next day, however, I wish I would've done some icing or frosting before applying the initials. But they were cute, anyway!

If you're looking to do something similar for a baby shower, here's a simple decoration from Martha Stewart:

The "pacifier" on top is just two mint Lifesavers candies and one jellybean, held together with a bit of royal icing. I think these would be cute with pink and/or blue jellies for the passy, on top of chocolate icing!