Cooking on Snow Days

We've had quite a few snow days this month. This is so frustrating to me, but the kids love it. So, we pulled out "Rachael Ray" and made a few dishes. Here's what we have:

Special Fried Rice - 4 stars

We had never made fried rice before. This was easy and full of vegetables, and tasted pretty good. We thought it needed more salt, even with the added soy sauce. Full recipe can be found on p. 44.


Romaine Hearts with Lemon Chive Vinaigrette - 3 1/2 stars

Very easy salad to put together. Once again, our small town grocery stores were no match for Rachael Ray's ingredient list. We had to substitute lemon yogurt for the lemon curd. It was an interesting flavor combination. In the end, the family agreed that it was OK, just not something to write home about. 3 1/2 stars, and found on p. 97 of the book. Remember, we'll post the recipes that garner 4 1/2 stars or more.


Hot Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches - 3 1/2 stars

What an interesting idea -- take the flavors of hot buffalo wings with blue cheese sauce and put it into a sandwich. It wasn't bad, either. We think we would lighten up on the dressing; the blue cheese is a very strong flavor. But overall, pretty good. 3 1/2 stars. Found on p. 46 in the book.


Peas with Onions and Bacon - 3 stars

You should know up front that we have a few pea-haters in the family. But even the rest of us thought this dish was only OK. The peas seemed dry, and the bacon and onions didn't add the flavor I thought they should. Page 106 in the book.


Greek Grilled Chicken and Salad with Warm Pita Bread for Wrapping - 4 1/2 stars

Now, here's one you should try! This was very good, and we're not just saying that because we came home from Athens with a taste for Greek food! (Although, I'll tell ya, one taste of those kalamata olives, and I'm back in the Plaka in the shadow of the Acropolis!)
Anyhow, the many and varied flavors of this dish are so wonderful. And it's pretty easy to put together. The warm pita is so good, too! Here's your recipe:


Greek Grilled Chicken and Salad with Warm Pita for Wrapping
1 1/3 to 1 1/2 lbs chicken tenders
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
8 pita breads
zest and juice of 1 lemon
3 T red wine vinegar
1/2 c extra-virgin olive oil
2 T fresh oregano, stripped of leaves and chopped (i used 2 t. of the dried stuff)
3 cloves garlic, chopped
2 hearts romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 c. pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
8 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 vine-ripe tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 seedless or English cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 c. fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
Preheat grill pan over high heat. Place chicken in shallow dish and season with salt and pepper. Preheat oven to moderate heat.
Wrap pita breads in foil, and place in warm oven until dinner is served.
Combine lemon zest and juice with vinegar in a bowl and whisk in oil. Add oregano, garlic and whisk again to combine well. Pour half the dressing over chicken tenders and turn them to coat.
Combine veggies in a mixing bowl and toss well with the remaining dressing just until very lightly coated. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to a large serving platter.
Grill tenders, 4-5 minutes on each side, transferring them as they're done to the salad-lined serving platter. Remove pitas from oven and unwrap. Cut pitas in half and arrange around the edge of platter. To serve, each person can pile grilled chicken and veggies onto a pita, wrap up and enjoy! Makes 4 servings.

Until the next snow day, then!