// roasted chicken bread salad //

Y'all know how I'm not huge on salad unless it has a protein accompanying it. When I stumbled upon this bread salad recipe, I immediately was curious. Toasted buttered bread, roasted chicken thighs? How could you go wrong with that? The only substitution I did was that I used toasted sunflower seeds instead of the pine nuts that the recipe calls for. Next time, I think I'd also add some herbs de provence to the chicken while it's roasting, too. Also, the arugula to bread ratio could be changed to MORE arugula. I know, insane coming from my mouth, but it's better with more of the greens. For the bread, I used Publix's White Mountain Bread.  You need to hurry up and try this recipe. It was soooo good! Now THIS is a salad I could get down with. ;)

the roasted chicken thighs

the toasted white mountain bread scraps

mixin' the bread, arugula, vinegar + olive oil

the finished bread salad

// quinoa salad w/lime-curry chicken //

This is a great summer recipe that my cousin, Thanh (who has guest-blogged here before), tweaked and shared with me. I left out the garbanzo beans and parsley in this pic, but it's up to you.

Thanh’s Quinoa and Kale

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup        quinoa

2 cups          chicken broth

1 cup            water

3 cloves        garlic, minced

1 bunch        kale

1 can             garbanzo bean, drained

2                   skinless, boneless chicken breast

¼ cup           Italian parsley, thinly sliced

1                   lime, juiced

3 Tbsp.        olive oil

2-3 tsp.        garam marsala (or a curry blend)

1                   avocado, diced into ½” pieces

Salt

1.     Rinse quinoa

2.     In saucepan, combine quinoa, chicken broth, water and salt to taste. Or cook in a rice cooker on the white rice setting.

3.     Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes

4.     Drain and set aside

5.     Split chicken breast into thin fillets. Season with salt and pepper

6.     In skillet, over medium-high heat, add 1 Tbsp. of olive oil until hot

7.     Add minced clove of garlic and cook for 30 seconds

8.     Add chicken breast to skillet. Cook 3-4 minutes on each side until done.

9.     After chicken is cooled, shred meat and set aside

10.  Strip kale from stem and cut into 1” pieces

11.  In large skillet or wok, heat 1Tbsp. of olive oil.

12.  Add remaining garlic and cook for 30 seconds

13.  Add kale to pan and sauté for approximately 5 minutes until soft

14.  Add garbanzo beans and warm in pan for 2 minutes

15.  In small bowl, mix garam marsala, lime juice and 1 Tbsp. of olive oil

16.  In large bowl, combine quinoa, kale mix, dressing and Italian parsley. Stir to combine. Season with salt to taste.

17.  Top with avocado before serving