BBQ Pulled Chicken Wraps With Avocado Bacon Salsa

Sometimes when I don’t feel like cooking, I get creative with leftovers and the end result is a new recipe. It’s not like I set out to make something new, it just happens because I’m hungry and create something with what I have in the kitchen.

It’s all about being hungry and taking risks, you know. That’s why this kitchen is fearless. What's the worst that could happen? If it bombs there's still food around to eat, but if it's amazing then I have something great!

First of all, I made this slowcooker pulled BBQ chicken but instead of using Bullseye BBQ sauce, I made the sauce from these maple chipotle chicken thighs and used that instead. Holy smoky , delicious flavor! The meat was piled on salads, in buns, you name it-but we still had lots leftover.  What to with it?

I’ll tell you what to do-pile it into a tortilla and top it with smoky bacon avocado salsa, that’s what.

Ingredients

2 cups of saucy pulled BBQ chicken meat, warmed slightly

4 ten inch soft flour tortillas

1 ½ avocados, diced

2 roma tomatoes, seeded and diced

5 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 lime

Salt and fresh cracked pepper

2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

2 tbsp minced red onion

In  a medium sized bowl, toss together the avocado, tomato, red onion, cilantro, and bacon. Zest the lime over top, cut the lime in half, then squeeze the juice over top. Stir gently. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Lay the tortillas out in front of you.  Divide the chicken between them in the center, and then pile on the avocado salsa on top of the meat. Fold the sides inwards, then fold the side closest to you up and over the filling, tucking it all in and the sides in as well. Roll the tortilla away from you. Slice the wrap in half and set it on a plate, seam side down.

 Makes 4 wraps

Want more fearless cooking? Check out my new blog on Yummy Mummy club and learn how to chop an onion, what Gordon Ramsay's new cookbook is like, and a recipe for coconut mango pancakes!

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Lentil Barley Salad with Feta, Spinach, and Tomatoes

Let's be honest, shall we?

 I don't really like green lentils. I'm not sure why-maybe it's the soup I've made before with them that seemed tasteless and horrible, or the fact that their texture was always a little weird to me, but I just never have liked them. Red lentils are fine in curry to thicken, but that's as far as it goes. So it seems a little weird that out of the blue I decided to make this salad, but I was trying to use up some of the ingredients in my cupboards and fridge, plus the photo in the cookbook looked amazing, so I thought I'd give it a go.

Have you done that before? Cooked something solely because the photo of it made it look delicious? I have. Once I made liver from a magazine because the photo looked amazing, and I completely ignored that it was..well.. LIVER. It tasted disgusting, as liver does, and was the one time I refused to eat my own cooking, excused 4 year old Kevin, and made us sandwiches.

I digress! Back to this tasty lentil salad!

So, the salad. It was really, very good. The barley and lentils give it a nice nutty, grainy taste, and the salty feta with tomatoes and spinach really add to it. Kevin had three helpings and we we still had enough to put in our lunches tomorrow. It would be really great alongside some grilled chicken seasoned with oregano, garlic, and lemon and a green salad for a little more veggie crunch. I would enjoy it just as a light lunch. You can do what you want with it-I ended up adding more feta because I'm a cheese lover, and then I bumped up the veggies too. You can change things up however you wish. I used only about half of the dressing, since we are a family that doesn't like too much dressing on anything. You can judge this for yourself, and use the leftover dressing on a nice green salad later in the week.


Ingredients:

1/2 cup dry green lentils
1/2 cup pearl barley
1 garlic clove, peeled
a handful of cherry tomatoes, halved
1 packed cup of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1/2 cup feta cheese
1/4 of a small red onion, chopped finely
fresh cracked pepper

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 Tbsp grainy mustard, or dijon
1 tsp honey

In a medium saucepan, stir the lentils, garlic, and barley together, then cover with a few inches of water. Turn the heat to medium and bring it to a boil, then let it simmer uncovered for about 45 minutes, checking now and then and adding a little more water if you need to. The barley and lentils should be tender with a teeny bit of bite, with barely any water left. Spread them out in a dish and let them cool. Remove the garlic clove and throw it away-or you could just chop it up and throw it in the salad, which is what I did.

Once the lentils and barley are cool, toss them in a medium sized bowl with the cherry tomatoes, spinach, cheese, and onion. Sprinkle with pepper and toss.

To make the dressing, measure the ingredients in a jam jar with a tight fitting lid, and give it a shake until it thickens and is well mixed.

Drizzle the dressing over the salad and toss well. We only used a small amount of dressing since that is how we roll, but you can use more if you wish. The leftover dressing would be great drizzled on a tossed green salad and will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Makes 4 servings

Adapted from Spilling the Beans

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What's in the Veggie Box?

Recently, a neighbour of mine told about Rick and Deena's Fruit & Veggies, a produce delivery service in my area. I have been looking for CSA boxes in Chilliwack but couldn't really find much. Most were quite expensive and it didn't seem like you got much for your dollar, so I held off and continued to shop at the market.

Once I heard about Rick and Deena, I thought I would give them a try and see how it goes! Today we found our box sitting on our back porch. What was inside?




Green onions
Cauliflower
Broccoli
Onions
Carrots
Strawberries
Russet Potatoes
Navel Oranges
Golden Delicious Apples
Romaine
Spinach
Roma Tomatoes
Bananas

All were clean and fresh looking, and non required much in the way of prep. I brought it in the house and unpacked, chopping up the broccoli and sorting through/de-stemming the spinach so that it could all go in the fridge. In fact I think I took more care than usual, which is interesting.

Do you get a CSA box? What do you like best about it? I felt like it was Christmas, and seeing what was packed in there made me excited. The funny thing is I already had quite a bit of produce, so now I have SO much I'm not sure what to do with it all.

Thus, here on Chasing Tomatoes you're going to hear about what's in my CSA box and what I'm doing with it. I have NINE bananas. Will we eat them all, or will I have to come up with something? What about all that spinach?  Instead of how I used to write-finding recipes and then buying ingredients to make them, I'm switching things up. Instead I'm going to look at the produce I have, and figure it out from there.

This could make for some really interesting food blogging.

Do you get a veggie and fruit box delivery?

PS.. I apologize that I've been so lame about getting comments going here. Promise to have that fixed by the end of the week! 

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A Healthier Chinese Noodle Soup Bowl

Being back at blogging is a little more challenging than I thought it would be. Partly because I have all these places to be writing-here, over at Notes From the Cookie Jar, on Yummy Mummy Club, and over at the Real Women of Philadelphia site. Sometimes, I just fall asleep on my couch and figure that you all won't mind if I sleep instead of write. Back when I was away from blogging, that happened a lot. These days it's happening less as the weather is getting nicer and I feel a bit more energized.

I've been cooking less. No longer am I pumping out the volume of recipe posts that I used to, so I've been allowing myself more time to play in the kitchen and create things that are really mine. This often comes about because now that it's just Kevin and I at home (John is still working in Sechelt during the week), I don't need to make as much and I can make all sorts of things that John normally wouldn't eat, like curries and Asian food. I've worked harder at getting our grocery bill lower and using up the things in our pantry. It's like a challenge some days to make dinner out of almost nothing left in the fridge, but even though the grocery store is a 5 minute walk away I find myself too lazy to make the trek.

Doing this inspired me to try to make a healthier noodle bowl. Do you remember those horrible noodle package soups that we ate as kids? Not content to even eat those as is, I'd always mince up some carrots and throw them in, along with some peas or corn to add some real veggies to the mix. Occasionally a lightly beaten egg would be stirred in as well, it's yellow strands thickening up the soup to make something thick and filling.

Kevin hasn't had those noodles in so long I daresay he likely doesn't even know what they taste like. In an effort to make something similar but with less sodium and more  veggies, the other night I made this. There's lots of veggies and noodles with just enough broth to slurp up at the end.


Ingredients:

1 lb prawns, peeled and de-veined  (you could use a cooked chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces instead)
2 green onions, chopped (green parts only)
1 can of mini corn cobs
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and minced
2/3  cup frozen peas
2 carrots, peeled and minced
4 cups chicken stock
2 tbsp soy sauce (or soy sauce substitute)
1 tsp sesame oil
4-5 oz fine Chinese egg noodles

In a large soup pot, saute the shallot and ginger in vegetable oil until softened and fragrant. Stir in the chopped carrots and continue to stir and cook for about a minute or two. Pour in the chicken broth. Bring to a boil.

Once the broth is bubbling, turn the heat down a little and cook for about 5 minutes, testing the carrots occasionally to see when they are tender. Drop the prawns into the broth and let them cook until they turn pink, before fishing them out with a slotted spoon and setting aside.  Add the noodles , corn cobs, and soy sauce to the broth. Cook for about 3 minutes, until the noodles are tender. Stir in the sesame oil, and peas.

Divide the noodle mixture among bowls, topping with the cooked shrimp and scattering with some sesame seeds if you wish. Garnish with the green onions.

Serves 4

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Home made Substitution for Soy Sauce

Going soy free is a pain. You think you're good other than the obvious, but then you start reading labels and realize that everything from Miracle Whip to salad dressings, bread and almost every kind of crackers, or cereal have either soybean oil or soy flour in it. Packaged food is fairly easy to give up, although now and then we whine that something we love is now on the "do not consume" list.

Oreos? Totally out. Kevin was SO SAD.

The one casualty of the new soy and corn free diet is Asian food. It's pretty hard to make Asian dishes without soy sauce-what about stir fries, sauces, and more? They all have soy! We struggled a little and I read a LOT of labels, but couldn't find anything. There is soy free soy sauce out there somewhere, I've been told, but in all my searching  I haven't found it. Many people have suggested Bragg's Liquid Aminos to us, but what they don't realize is Bragg's is made with non GMO soy. So it is good if you are avoiding GMO food, but it's still made of soy.

No soy for you! I still have some in the house, but only John and I eat it. (photo by Creative Tools)

At any rate, I wanted to make salad rolls and was trying to find a dip for them. Every Asian sauce I found had soy in it, until I finally stumbled across this recipe for a soy sauce alternative in the Times Colonist. After trying it I can say that it's really easy to put together, and while it doesn't taste exactly like soy sauce, I think it's a good alternative. You can adjust the amount of salt in it, which is good for us as we always found soy sauce too salty anyway. In a recipe such as the peanut dipping sauce for our salad rolls, it was perfect. I've thought about adding Worcestershire (Lea and Perrins is soy free) or a splash of sake, but we'll see.

I can't wait to try it in other uses and see how it turns out.

Ingredients:

1 cup beef stock (low sodium)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp plus 1 tsp cooking molasses
pinch of each pepper, garlic powder, ground ginger to taste
salt to taste

Mix the beef stock, balsamic vinegar, cider vinegar, and molasses together in a small saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Turn the heat down and continue to simmer it until the mixture is reduced to 2/3 of a cup.  Stir in the pinches of pepper, garlic powder, ginger, and salt.

Cool and store in a jar with a tightly sealed lid. The sauce will keep in the fridge for about 10 days.

Makes 2/3 cup

Adapted from the Times Colonist by Eric Akis

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Food Revolution Friday: BC Agriculture in the Classroom

(I just realized that comments are not working on the site yet. I will have that fixed tonight.)

It's not often that my day job and online life mix, but today at a pro-d event in Chilliwack I got to meet some ladies with BC Agriculture in the Classroom.

Agriculture in the Classroom is a non profit organization that works hard to bring BC's agriculture to students in BC through various school programs. One that I've seen (and Kevin has participated in) is their fruit and veggie program. Every other week a bunch of fresh fruit or veggies are brought to the school-enough for each classroom so that kids could sample fresh, local produce.

Fresh produce snacks in the classroom are a great way to expose kids to fresh foods that they may not have seen before or otherwise eat. I've seen kids wolf down oranges and apples, tentatively try a cherry tomato, or even grab them by the handful. When kids see their friends eating (and enjoying!) fresh local produce, they are far more likely to try some themselves. Some quotes from six year olds:

"I like ketchup and salsa, but isn't it weird that I just don't like tomatoes?"

"They explode in your mouth! I love them! I could eat them all day!"

"I tried one. I didn't like it, but I tried one."

"They are so juicy and sweet, they are better than candy!"

Having the fresh produce provides so much avenue for discussion. Kids can learn from their teachers or other staff where the fruit comes from, what it's used for, and more. Won't eat a tomato? Let them know that ketchup, salsa, and pizza sauce have tomatoes in them. Even if they don't like the item, most will at least try it and who knows? If they've tried it once, they may try it again.

Besides just supplying kids with fresh snacks, BC Agriculture in the Classroom also has a great Spuds in Tubs program. Schools apply to the program and are given a kit to grow their own potatoes. The kids tend the potatoes and get to see them grow until harvest time, when they get to eat the end result. Who says French fries are the only way to get your kids to eat a potato? when they've grown it themselves, I'll bet they will be more interested.

Want to get involved or find out more?

@BC_agintheclass on Twitter

Like them on Facebook

Check out their website

In honor of the upcoming Food Revolution Day and to get you started, I have a giveaway of the book Alfalfabet along with a bunch of goodies that I will personally select for you and send as your own little prize pack! How is that for fun?!



Who can enter:  Canadian Residents with a Canadian Postal address

How to enter: Leave me a comment below

Get an extra entry by tweeting: RT Enter to win a copy of Alfalfabet prize pack from @scatteredmom! http://www.chasingtomatoes.ca/2013/04/food-revolution-friday-bc-agriculture.html

Contest closes: May 8, 2013

The proof really is in the kids. When a basket of cherry tomatoes was in our room the other day, one little girl counted hers carefully and said,

"One for grandma, one for my sister, one for..."  Then she popped it in her mouth and grinned. "Oops. Too late. Can I have some more?"

PS.. I was not sponsored, paid, or compensated for this post in any way. When I met the ladies of Agriculture in the Classroom and asked how I would get a book to purchase to give away, they very kindly gifted me one. All opinions here are my own. I wasn't even asked to write this post. I am doing so because I'm so excited about their program!

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Baskets are Better: Especially When Cooking Asparagus

Sometimes, with some recipes you just need to blanch a bit of asparagus. And with the shape asparagus are, it can be a pain to fit them in a pot.  Large pot? Takes up so much stove top space it's a pain. They don't fit into a small pot unless you're going to cut them in half. What's a girl to do?

Well. That's when you get yourself the handy dandy All Clad Asparagus pot.

No. Seriously. There is such a thing.



Some time ago, the lovely and generous folks over at All Clad offered to send me one of these things, and I admit at first I thought the very idea of an asparagus pot was kinda silly. That is, until I tried one.

The last time I blanched asparagus I was fishing it out of the water with tongs (have you ever tried to do this? It's a pain. Literally. I burned myself.) and cursing the tiny spears that kept getting away from me. Now with THIS, you just grab the handle, plop it into the boiling water, and bring it out. The mesh keeps the asparagus contained in the basket, and voila! I think you could also blanch whole carrots (as in the photo) or use the pot to do 2 ears of corn, even.I'd try all different kinds of veggies in this, solely based on that basket and that I can pull them out when I need to. It's awesome. Now for the photo I would've had asparagus in that pot but the pesky little guys were being difficult and so I needed to use carrots instead  (read: they went all wilted and carrots looked nicer).

Inside view

It should be noted that All Clad didn't pay me for this post. They just sent me the pot to try out and see what I thought. I think it's pretty handy little gadget, and it's slim design means it's not taking up a lot of space in your cupboard. It's also very heavy and well made. I quite like it and if you blanch lots of veggies, I think it would really come in handy.

Sure beats fishing asparagus out of water with tongs, I tell ya. If you blanch things so you can freeze them, then this is a must have, I think.

Do you have a must have pot or pan in your kitchen?

PS... I know, comments still are glitchy or non-existent at this point. I'm working on that.

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