Cajun Chicken Salad

This salad is absolutely the best chicken salad ever to cross my lips. It started with our monthly Penzeys ad arriving in the mail. Kevin snatched it and hovered over every page. Then he announced that we simply had to go to Penzeys to buy some Cajun seasoning. Without checking the store hours, we arrived half an hour before they opened, and fiddled around in Uptown for a bit.

When we got home we started cooking. And cooking. And cooking. In all, we had three different Cajun spiced meals in three days. Was it extreme? Just really, really tasty.

Something about the chicken being coated with seasoning and pan-fried makes them incredibly tender and juicy. There is just enough of a kick of flavor to keep it interesting and make you want to dig in for another bite. And then another one.

Cajun Chicken Breasts with Salad

3 4-6 oz chicken breasts (or whatever)

2 T Cajun seasoning

2 T oil

Wash chicken and pat dry. Sprinkle with a thick layer of Cajun seasoning. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook for 4-6 minutes per side depending on thickness. Adjust the heat down a bit if the chicken is browning too quickly or up if it isn't sizzling. Remove from pan and let rest for 5 minutes before slicing into bite-sized pieces.

Salad:

1 head romaine lettuce

1 head leaf lettuce

1/2 tomato, diced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 avocado, thinly sliced

Dressing:

1 T Italian seasoning or salad dressing base

1 T water

1/4 C red wine vinegar or regular white vinegar

1/3 - 1/2 C olive oil.

Whisk everything together

Brown Rice Veggie Sushi Rolls

Rolling sushi is hard. I rolled it up. It was too loose so I tried again. No matter how I struggled, a tightly rolled sushi roll eluded me. Finally, I gave up and sliced the dang roll, even though it was not as tight as the professional ones.

One of my high school teachers had a sign "The Problem with 'Good Enough' is That it Never Is." It took me years and years before I realized that his sign was wrong. Although it had good intentions, it left out the need to prioritize. Some things are worth striving for perfection, and some things are meant to be done quickly just to get them out of the way. I could spend 6 hours trying to get the sushi rolls rolled tight enough, but in the end a loose roll is good enough. The extra 5 hours and 55 minutes to make it perfect would be a waste of time.

And me? I am good enough just as I am. Loose sushi rolls and all.

Note: Do no attempt to make sushi rolls with rice that doesn't have any rice vinegar. My first attempt was with over cooked rice and no vinegar. I figured that it wouldn't make much of a difference, but it was an unsalvageable flop. A little bit of rice vinegar makes a huge difference.

Sushi Rice:

2 C brown rice

2 C water for cooking rice

2 T sugar (or 1 T sugar, 1 T mirin)

4 T rice vinegar

Filling:

julienned vegetables including avocados, carrots, cucumbers, mushrooms, and bean sprouts

mayonnaise if desired

nori

Wash rice under cold running water until water runs clear. Drain for 15 minutes. In a heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine rice and water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Do not stir. Cook, covered, until all water is absorbed, 35 to 40 minutes.

While rice is cooking, combine sugar, vinegar, and mirin in a small saucepan and heat to dissolve sugar, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a large bowl add cooked rice and lightly fold in vinegar mixture. Let cool to room temperature but do not refrigerate.

If desired, lightly saute any crunchy julienned vegetables such as mushrooms and carrots.

To roll sushi:

Place a piece of plastic wrap over a bamboo sushi mat to make rolling easier. Place one sheet nori on top of plastic wrap. Sprinkle lightly with water. Spread about 6 T of rice evenly over nori, leaving 1/2 inch bar on the top and bottom. About 1 inch from the edge nearest you, put several rows of vegetables. Put the mayonnaise in a small baggie and cut a tiny hole in the corner. Squirt a thin strip of mayonnaise alongside the vegetables.

Roll up the nori, first rolling the mat over away from you and pressing to shape the roll, without catching the edge of the mat. Moisten the bare edge of nori (the furthest away from you) with a little water and press against the roll to seal. Try several times before giving up and calling it good enough. Repeat for each additional roll.

With a sharp, wet knife, slice each roll into 1" pieces. Serve with sliced pickled ginger, soy sauce, and wasabi if desired.

The Cowboy Monte Cristo

All the Monte Cristo sandwiches I have eaten were dipped in a flour batter and then deep fried and served with raspberry jam. They were yummy, but I ran across this recipe that uses a simple egg batter, and it sounded delicious and way healthier. It is more like stuffed French Toast than the deep fried sandwiches I ran across at Bennegans.

It is cowboy style because we used beef and turkey instead of ham and turkey. It is really simple to make: just put together a sandwich with cheese, tomatoes, avocados, beef, turkey, and anything else that suits your fancy. Butter the inside of the bread, then dip it into 2 eggs that have been beaten with a little water. Pan fry it like French Toast, then snarf it down.