Recipe: Spinach Salad with Apple Chicken Sausage

About a week or two ago, I came across this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine and thought it looked delicious.  I made it on a week night and immediately after making it, I had gone to my computer to write up this post, but it somehow got deleted, so I'm writing it again!

This recipe was actually in an ad for Al Fresco Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage.  I couldn't find this brand at the grocery, but Johnsonville had similar sausages that were on sale, so I decided to give these a try.  This salad was delicious! I loved it and will definitely be making this again soon.

Ingredients:
1 package of Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage
2 tsp. EVOO
1/2 cup pecan halves
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
2 cups radicchio, thinly sliced
6-8 oz. spinach
1/2 pear, very thinly sliced
1/2 cup light blush wine vinaigrette
2 oz. goat cheese
pepper to taste
lemon zest for top

Directions:
1. Coat saute pan with EVOO over medium high heat.  Add pecans and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Add sugar and cinnamon and toss to coat.  Remove from heat.

2. Coat another saute pan with cooking spray and heat the sausage until browned.  Turn as needed.

3. Place the spinach in a bowl with red onion, radicchio, and pear slices.  Toss with blush wine vinaigrette.

4. Top with pecans, goat cheese, and sausage.  Add pepper and lemon zest to taste.

This was such an easy and delicious recipe!  After my first bite I was really impressed!  I loved the mix of sweetness from the pecans with the creaminess of the goat cheese.  The apple flavor from the sausage really stood out and paired nicely with the pears, pecans, and onion.  I didn't really care for the radicchio.  I hadn't really had it before, and it was a very strong earthy, pungent taste that I didn't care for.  I didn't have lemon, so I didn't add that, but it's up to you.
I really liked this dressing too, it was light and sweet but not too overpowering. It was great!

If you haven't had these chicken sausages, they are great.  I have used them in pasta dishes or you could grill them and serve on a bun or with peppers and onions.  They are lower in fat and calories, so they are a nice substitute for regular sausage.

This was a great summer salad recipe!  Hope you enjoy!

~Kate

Recipe: Grilled Chicken Salad with Grapes and Walnuts

Dewey's Pizza is one of my favorite places to get not only pizzas, but salads!  I love almost all the salads I have had there, especially their House salad and their Candied Walnut Grape salad.  I recently decided to make a salad inspired by their Candied Walnut Grape salad.  It turned out pretty great!  I don't know if it was AS good as Dewey's, but not bad for home made :)

Ingredients: (serves 2-3)
Romaine Lettuce
half a red onion, chopped
1/2 cup of red grapes, halved
1-2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts OR 4 chicken tenderloins
chopped walnuts, toasted
goat cheese

Dressing:
extra virgin olive oil
balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
salt and pepper to taste

My amounts of ingredients are not exact because I feel with salads you really just kind of eye ball the ingredients to your liking.

First, preheat your oven to 350 to toast the walnuts.  Next, I seasoned the chicken with salt, pepper, and rosemary and got the grill ready.

Next, I washed and chopped the Romaine lettuce and used a salad spinner to get it nice and crunchy, then put in the fridge to chill while I got the rest of the ingredients ready.  I put the walnuts in the oven and the chicken on the grill.  While those items are cooking, slice the grapes in half, chop your onion, and prepare your dressing.  Watch the walnuts though, I have a history of burning nuts when then are toasting!  They only take about five minutes.

To make the dressing, I poured about 1/3 cup of EVOO, then about another 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar together. I really just estimate and taste as I go. Squeeze in the Dijon, and add the garlic, salt and pepper and whisk it all together.  I put in the fridge to chill while everything else was coming together.

I grilled the chicken on each side for about 5 or 6 minutes then chopped it up.  Now, all that is left to do is assemble the salad!  Romaine on the bottom, put some grapes and onion on to your liking, add the walnuts and chicken then top with the goat cheese.  I prefer to use the "log" goat cheese as opposed to the pre-crumbled goat cheese.  Just add as much as you like!

Again, I thought this was a pretty great salad! It filled me up and there was left-overs for lunch the next day too.  You could serve this as a side salad sans chicken if you would like or even put it in a wrap!  You could also switch up the cheese, use gorgonzola or feta, you could use dried cranberries instead of grapes, or any other kind of nut.  Hope you enjoy!
~Kate

Recipe: Chicken-Orzo Salad with Goat Cheese

I just tried a great new recipe that I had to share with you all! It's very simple, healthy and delicious! I found it in Cooking Light magazine. The recipe can be found online here, but I typed it all out for you below. 

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup uncooked orzo
3 cup chopped, cooked chicken breast
1 1/2 cup trimmed arugula
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped red onion (which I omit because I hate them)
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1 tsp fresh oregano
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt & pepper
6 tbsp crumbled goat cheese

Start off by cooking your orzo pasta. If your chicken isn't already cooked, you'll want to do that while the pasta is cooking. Next, make sure all your veggies and herbs are washed and chopped as called for in the recipe. Once everything is prepped and ready to go, combine the pasta, chicken, and the next 6 ingredients (through oregano) in a large bowl and toss.
Combine your vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl and whisk it together. Drizzle it over the top of your pasta mixture, toss and sprinkle with the goat cheese.

This is so delicious, simple and versatile. You could really add a lot of different veggies and herbs to this depending on what you have on hand. You may notice in the photos that I added spinach to mine instead of arugula. I know they taste completely different, but I didn't have arugula so I thought it was better than no leafy greens at all. One tip: next time, I would saute the peppers and tomatoes a little before adding them. That way they're not raw and not as crunchy. Other than that, it was great and perfect for leftovers throughout the week! Enjoy!

~ Kris

Review: The Polo Grille

Before going to see The Hangover Part 2 at the Deerfield Regal Cinemas (which I thought was hilarious, by the way) my friend and I decided to grab a bite to eat at The Polo Grille, which is located very close to the theater. We've been there a couple times before and have never been disappointed, so we were excited to go back.

As an appetizer, I always go with my old faithful choice, which is the oven baked goat cheese with roasted tomato sauce. It's served with crispy flatbread and it is absolutely DELICIOUS! This is one of my favorite appetizers of all time. If you like goat cheese, you've got to try this!!

My friend decided to go with the Polo Citrus Salad. It was topped with golden raisins, oranges, apples, dried cranberries, gorgonzola cheese, peanut brittle (yes, you read that right!) and citrus vinaigrette. I'm not a huge fan of fresh fruit on salads, so this would not be something I'd order, but she really enjoyed it. I did try a bite with the citrus vinaigrette, and it was very light and refreshing. And the peanut brittle was awesome! The only problem was that the lettuce was wilted and a few pieces were soggy. That was disappointing.

I also ordered a salad but without all the fresh fruit. Mine came with spiced pecans, gorgonzola cheese, tomatoes, grilled chicken and balsamic vinaigrette. Luckily my salad was made with a spring mix, which was much better lettuce than the Citrus Salad. It was crisp and fresh.

Polo Grille is an excellent choice, especially if you're in the Deerfield/Mason area. They have a lot of different options including seafood entrees, pasta dishes, sandwiches, pizzas (which I've tried before and really enjoyed), salads, etc.

~Kris

Food: 3.5
Service: 4
Overall: 4

Secret Ingredient = Goat Cheese

Every week, Kate and I get together with a few of our friends for “Wine Wednesday”, which consists of a lot of chit-chat while drinking red wine and attempting to watch the newest episodes of Modern Family and Top Chef (if we can stop talking long enough to pay attention). I look forward to this night every single week! It’s a great mid-week treat. Several of us take turns hosting it, and typically the host will prepare a light, simple snack to munch on throughout the evening.

Last week we tried something a little different. Since it was the season finale of Top Chef, we decided to choose a “secret ingredient” (like they do in Iron Chef), and everyone had to prepare an appetizer using that ingredient. After some debating, we decided that the secret ingredient should be goat cheese – an ingredient unanimously loved by the entire group.

It was a lot of fun to show up on Wednesday and see what everyone created. Surprisingly, there were no repeats. I thought for sure there would be at least one, but we ended up with a wide range of things to try including: Savory Palmiers, Salsa Baked Goat Cheese, Goat Cheese and Spinach Pizza, Goat Cheese and Sun-Dried Tomato Spread and Goat Cheese and Balsamic Crostini.

The Savory Palmiers were from a Barefoot Contessa recipe on the Food Network website. My sister-in-law, Jen, made these for Christmas Eve last year, and I thought they were great, so I decided to give them a try. Mine were okay but not quite as good as Jen’s because I slightly overcooked them so they were a little too crispy. They make for a very pretty presentation – they look like little hearts. You can find the recipe here.   

Kate brought the Salsa Baked Goat Cheese with tortilla chips. This was actually my favorite dish – although I liked all of them a lot. I am a huge fan of cilantro but I wouldn’t normally think of pairing it with goat cheese; however it definitely worked! The goat cheese isn’t overpowering and the nuts add a nice crunch to the dip. You could play around with this with different salsas, nuts, add onions, or even add some black beans.  It would also be good with French baguette. It was a big hit! The recipe can be found here. 

Our friend Peppy brought the Goat Cheese and Spinach Pizza. This was also excellent – reminded me of something from Dewey’s. The pizza crust was a store-bought Boboli whole wheat crust. She sautéed fresh spinach in a tsp of olive oil and a clove of diced garlic until it was wilted. That went on top of the pizza crust with chopped tomatoes and crumbles of creamy goat cheese (generous amounts). This was so good and yet so simple. You could play around with this by adding other veggies (roasted red peppers and/or eggplant would be good), crushed red pepper, etc.

Our friend Abby brought the Sun-Dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Spread. This was also very good! (Kate’s favorite!) Heads up - the recipe calls for 3 cloves of minced garlic and Abby only used one. You could definitely still taste the garlic, but it wasn’t over-powering. I think 3 cloves would be way too much. Abby served the dip with bagel chips, which was an excellent choice! It would also be good with tortilla chips or pita chips. The recipe can be found here. 

The final appetizer we had was the Goat Cheese and Balsamic Crostini, which our friend Christina brought. She was really worried about how these turned out…and they ended up being a big hit! The sweet, creamy goat cheese paired with the honey-balsamic drizzle was delicious, and the bread gave it a nice crunch. The goat cheese was definitely the star of the dish, unlike some of the other appetizers. I don’t have the exact recipe, but I think it was similar to this recipe. 

If anyone else has any other great recipes with goat cheese, please share!