Summer Fresh Recipe Series: Strawberry Crostini

When fresh berries are available Strawberry Crostini is the perfect summer appetizer!

 Strawberry Crostini 

We stopped by the farmers market today and found the most delicious strawberries.   These will be perfect used in an appetizer for this evening's get together with friends.  So playing off of a traditional crostini appetizer I decided to incorporate the strawberries. 

Toasted french bread is the base for a spread of goat cheese, topped with cut strawberries, and a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.  Luscious and creamy, bursting with flavor. YUM!

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• French Baguette
• goat cheese
• strawberries
• balsamic glaze

Substitutions and Variations

• use ricotta, marscapone, or cream cheese instead of goat cheese

• try roasting the strawberries

• add some chopped basil

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Balsamic glaze is a syrup like reduction of balsamic vinegar.  This is a good brand.

• By ripe organic strawberries for the best flavor.

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Strawberry Crostini

(make as many as you wish)

1 French Baguette, sliced thinly
1 log of goat cheese
organic strawberries, chopped in to bite size pieces
balsamic glaze

Toast the baguette slices in the toaster in place them on a cookie sheet and toast in the oven at 350 degrees 10 minutes.

Spread goat cheese on the tops of each slice.  Add the slice strawberries.  Drizzle each toast with balsamic glaze.  Serve.

Copycat Benihana Hibachi Chicken

Eveyone loves going to Benihana's for the scrumptious food. Now you can make your own Benihana Hibachi Chicken dish at home!

Copycat Benihana Hibachi Chicken 

I've always loved going to Benihana's.  The excellent food, the saki, and the show, make for such a fun night in my book.  While I can't re-create the show they put on I can make some of their dishes.  Let's start out with their Hibachi Chicken dish with all the trimmings.

Bites of chicken cooked in an amazing sauce is the star of the show.  But let's not forget about the side dish of sauteed carrots, mushrooms, zucchini, and onion.  The are a so easy to make and are the perfect side dish to the chicken.  Add in some fried rice and a mustard sauce and you have a whole meal that mirrors the one from Benihana.

Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• chicken breasts
• sesame oil
• soy sauce
• hoisin sauce
• garlic cloves
• fresh ginger
• rice vinegar
• dijon mustard
• mayo
• carrots
• mushrooms
• yellow onion
• zucchini
• Fried or steamed rice - homemade or frozen (I used frozen fried rice for ease of making the dish)

Substitutions and Variations

• Try making this with steak bites for Habachi Steak.  I would use a sirloin steak for this dish.

• Add yellow squash to the vegetables.

• Switch up the vegetables.  Don't like mushrooms, leave them out or add in broccoli.

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• Do your prep work first.  Cut all the chicken and vegetables so they are ready to go.  Make your sauce for the chicken and the mustard sauce before you start cooking.

• Take a little help from the grocery store and buy frozen fried rice or steamed rice.  This will cut down on cooking time considerably.

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Copycat Benihana Hibachi Chicken 

serves 4

Hibachi chicken

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp fresh minced ginger

Mustard sauce

• 1/2 cup light mayo
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp dijon mustard

Sauteed vegetables

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 carrot, thinly sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced in half
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce, plus salt & pepper to taste
• 
  

Fried or steamed rice (optional)

In a small bowl stir together the mustard sauce ingredients and set aside.

In a small bowl mix together the sauce ingredients for hibachi chicken.  Add chicken and toss to coat.   Cook chicken with sauce in a large skillet over med-high heat for 10 minutes or so, stirring occasionally until fully cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside. 

Add olive oil to the skillet to heat.  Once the oil has heated add the vegetables and season with salt & pepper and soy sauce, cooking for 5 minutes or so until veggies are tender-crisp. Remove from heat and set aside.

Heat the fried rice if using.  

Serve chicken, rice and vegetables with mustard sauce on the side.

Summer Fresh Recipe Series: Shirazi Salad

Shirazi Salad is a simple everyday Persian salad that is filled with fresh, crunchy ingredients that bursts with flavor.  The six ingredient salad perfect summer!

Shirazi Salad

If you are following the Mediterranean diet or like Middle Eastern, or Persian food then this is a great salad for you.  It calls for only 6 ingredients to make!

Use the best summer tomatoes you can find.  I like Roma tomatoes, which I core and seed.  Persian cucumbers are short thin, and seedless, plus they have a thin skin so they don't need peeling.  They are great to snack on and have a fresh flavor.  If you can't find these then English or hothouse cucumbers would be your next choice.  Use red onion, fresh mint, and some lemon juice if you like to provide a little acid.  Everything should be diced really fine.  To cut down on my knife work I used my Mueller Multi Chopper.  It was perfect for the job, making a fine dice of all the veggies that was done in minutes!


Try this simple salad today.  It will be one that you will make on repeat all summer!


Enjoy!

What Ingredients do I need?

• Persian cucumbers - English cucumber (or hothouse) will work as well

• Ripe Tomatoes - I love Roma, but any fresh tomatoes will work.  You will need to core and see them as you don't want any of the extra juice.

• Red onion

• Fresh Mint

• Lemon - for juicing

• Olive oil

Substitutions and Variations

• Leave out the mint if you don't care for it. Or use dried mint.

• Use your favorite type of tomato, even cherry tomatoes would be fun.  Just keep everything chopped around the same size.

• You want a cucumber that doesn't have seeds.  English and Perisan are great since you don't have to peel them.  If all you can find are regular cucumbers, make sure to peel and seed them on the inside.  You don't want the extra juices from the seed pulp in your salad.

Kitchen Tips and Notes

• It's best to add the olive oil to each serving.  If you toss it over the entire salad then any leftovers will get pretty soggy.

• Use a really good olive oil, with a good flavor.

• I love my Mueller Multi Chopper!  I made this salad in about 10 minutes using this chopper.  Saved me a lot of time and a lot of knife work.
• Leftovers should be placed in a sealed container and stored in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

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Shirazi Salad

serves 4

4 Persian cucumbers or 1 English cucumber
4 Roma tomatoes, cored and seeded
1/2 small red onion
1 lemon
olive oil
10-12 leaves of mint, chopped
kosher salt & black pepper to taste

Finely chop the cucumbers, tomatoes, and red onion in to a small dice and place together in a medium bowl.  Add the fresh mint and squeeze the juice of 1 lemon over the salad tossing the ingredients.

Add servings to individual dishes and bowls and douse with 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Serve at room temperature.