Grilled Chicken and Cherry Salsa

Well, y'all, it's officially summertime in New Orleans.  When it's 101 degrees outside and at least 80% humidity, I like foods that are fresh, crisp, and can retain their cool flavors in the face of positively inhumane heat.

Yesterday, I turned to a recipe I found on Pinterest (withhold judgment till you've actually tried it!)  This is my first time cooking from Pinterest, and I was actually really pleased.  This recipe uses fresh berries and herbs to make a slightly spicy but refreshing salsa, and as the website touts, it's ready in 20 minutes!

I mixed roughly chopped cherries, fresh blueberries, minced red onion, lemon juice, fresh basil, fresh mint, minced jalapeno, balsamic vinegar, honey, and a dash of salt in a small bowl and let it marinate while I grilled the chicken.

Summery colors! 

 I brushed both sides of the chicken breasts with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper, then grilled for a couple of minutes per side in a skillet on the stovetop.

The only thing that could have made this better  would be cooking on an actual grill!  

 The whole meal came together so quickly, and the flavors were really nice together.  Plus I had leftovers to bring to work today!  And I've got a fresh mango back home that I'm going to add to the rest of the salsa to give it even more flavor.  Bon appetit :)

Balsamic Beets & Kale, Oh My!!

Everybody!  I'm back!  It's been awhile, and I've got SO many recipes to share with you, so let's get started.

Literally as I type this, I am eating this delicious and ridonkulously easy recipe for balsamic beet and kale salad.  You can find the original recipe here.

As usual, almost all of my ingredients are from the Hollygrove Market & Farm.  As many of you know I volunteer there every Sunday afternoon; it's a refreshing change of pace from the office life, I get to interact with approximately a million different people every time, and I get a great deal on fresh, local produce, grass-fed meats (namely pork, chicken, beef, and lamb), and locally produced goodies like jams, honey, and even fresh-roasted coffee.  WIN.

For this recipe, I peeled and sliced a handful of beets, shredded a whole bunch (literally, an entire bunch, approximately one pound) of kale, and finely minced a shallot.  In a separate bowl, I whisked together equal parts olive oil and some balsamic vinegar my mom gave me (for some reason I think she made it...?  Mom, do you make wineegar?!); the recipe calls for Dijon mustard, but I substituted what I had: creole mustard and honey.  I added salt and pepper to taste, then drizzled the dressing over the shredded/minced veggies in a large bowl.

Then I ate it.

I love this salad for its versatility; I've eaten it alone, added it to salads for pizzazz, stuffed it in quesadillas, eaten it over rice, eaten more of it alone, topped eggs with it, put it in an omelet, etc.  It's got a surprisingly complex mix of tart, sweet, spicy, crunchy, and delicious.  It would make a great side dish for a last-minute spring or summer potluck!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna cut this short so I can go eat some more....

"I made a sammich." ...We're so proud of you?

Welcome to Food Porn, where we get you all hot and bothered…in the kitchen.

Wink.

A brief intro: we're two sisters who love to eat and cook, and this year we decided to share a New Year's resolution to try at least one new recipe a week.  This blog came about as a way to share our recipes and our experiences with each other and with anyone who cares to peer voyeur-like into our kitchens.  

...ya creepers....  

Without further ado, welcome to our first post!  It's pretty simple, and doesn't even include a new recipe, but I’m committed to it because it features what is, to me, one of the most important things in the kitchen: fresh ingredients!

On this rainy, post-yoga Sunday, I wanted something quick and simple, so I made a bagel panini.  Literally, just a bagel, some toppings, and heat; that’s all it takes.  But don’t worry, I included pictures. 

I started with a salt bagel—I like to buy fresh bagels in bulk, cut them in half, and then freeze them, wrapping them individually in plastic wrap and then sealing them all together in a freezer bag to keep out the freezer burn. 

I toasted the bagel in grease from last night’s steak because I’m a gourmand and we can do that; then I added all these fresh ingredients:

Red onion, creole tomato, red leaf lettuce, and Rotterdam gouda

I buy all my gorgeous veggies from my local Market & Farm, which specializes in local, fresh, and often organic produce.  The fare changes based on what’s in season; each week the produce is brought in from farms within a 200 mile radius of the city; and each week they post recipes for some of the items found in The Box (which only costs $25), which just makes cooking that much easier.  Affordable local, fresh, seasonal produce...you really can't go wrong.  

My sister tells me there are several ways to paninize© a sandwich.  There’s the panini press (on the same level of multitasking as the strawberry shortcake maker, i.e. Level Zero).  You could also use a George Foreman grill if the grill lines are a mark of achievement for your panini. A resourceful colleague of my sister’s says that you could grab a brick from a construction site, wrap it in tin foil, and use that to seal your sandwich halves together.

But this Appalachian-blooded hillbilly used…a cast iron skillet.

Somewhere, a toothless man plays Duelin' Banjos

I served this mountain of fresh goodness with a side of leftover roasted veggies (radishes, eggplant, carrots, broccoli, onions, and garlic roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, bay leaves, and smoked paprika at 400˚ for 20 minutes ) for a quick, healthy, tasty, post-exercise meal.  

Then I had a beer, which negated everything.  Cheers!