Million Dollar Chicken

So the holiday ills are never ending with my family this season. I thought we were out of the woods but I was so wrong. Wini developed pneumonia and now that she's better my little Ruby seems to have caught the flu again. Our only outings have been to the hospital so I guess that's where we are picking up our new bugs. Damn those sick people! Not my sick people just the ones that are passing along the ickyness. If you see my posse on the street, give us a wide berth. You don't want what we have.

I did manage to get out last night. A couple glass of wine and some good friends sure can make three weeks of sick kids seem like a distant past. I am constantly amazed at how varied and interesting people's lives are. There are so many choices out there. Sometimes it's hard to figure out which ones to choose. I'm in the process of making some decisions myself and I'll fill you in when I know more. I am now officially ending the cryptic babbling.

Even with all the sickness, we still had a wonderful Christmas. Everyone got along and we were all in good cheer. We missed you dad. I have high hopes for 2011. 2010 was a little rocky in it's latter half and I'm looking forward to good friends, lots of family and new choices in the new year. I hope it's a good one for you too.

Million Dollar Chicken

My adorable friend Heather made this for my family the other week and we all loved it. It's easy, quick and tasty. Thanks for the recipe Heath!

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup almonds, slivered
2 cloves garlic, chopped
8 boneless chicken thighs (around 2 lbs)
1 cup bottled salsa
2 tbsp currants (Heather likes to add more)
1 tbsp honey
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Heat pan and add almonds until toasted. Remove almonds and set aside. Add oil to pan and allow it to heat up. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add chicken and brown on all sides. Mix the salsa, currants, honey , cumin and cinnamon in a bowl. Add mixture to chicken, reduce heat to medium low, and cover and cook for 20 minutes. Serve with rice and garnish with almonds.

Harvest

I love the bounty that my garden and other people's gardens provide me this time of year. A tomato picked right from the vine will never compare with a store bought one. The problem with all this bounty is that I don't want to eat it all. I want to see it grow, and look luscious in my backyard and I even love picking it. It's great when my bowls are overflowing with vegetables, but I want the yucky ones to simply vanish when they start to fade and lose their beauty.

I wish that some of my plants could just produce one or two edible treats. Do I really need a bucket full of chili peppers? I know I can dry them and save them all year, but really will I ever get there. Can't they do that themselves? Haven't I done enough already? I planted them and fed them all season. The least they could do is preserve themselves, jump in an attractive jar and nestle themselves comfortably amongst their alphabetical kin in my pantry. Am I asking too much? Am I the jerk here?

One of the prettiest and most horrid of the vegetables is the eggplant. It sure looks great in it's purple tracksuit getting all fit and fleshy on the vine all summer. Recently I picked a bunch from my front garden, and I've been watching them get a little wrinkly. I kept hoping they'd pass me a note that gave me a secret recipe that made them taste good. A recipe that didn't involve loads of tomato sauce and cheese. They said nothing. Who's the jerk now?

I did find a recipe on my own accord that worked fairly well with my Asian eggplant. It's still eggplant but at least it tastes better. If you have to eat eggplant, this recipe is not a bad one to try.

Asian Eggplant Salsa
from Bonnie Stern's Heart Smart

5 or 6 thin Asian eggplant, trimmed and diced
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp dark sesame oil
1/2 tsp hot Asian chili paste
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh ginger root, finely chopped
4 green onions, chopped
3 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro

Combine soy sauce, sugar, water, vinegar, sesame oil, and chili paste. Set aside.
Heat oil in large pan on medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and cook for 30 seconds, and then add the eggplant. Cook for a few more minutes and then add soy sauce mixture and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and continue to cook until mixture is thick. Add green onions and cilantro. Serve cold or room temperature.

Habits

It's been lovely these last few days. The sun is shining, the birds are singing and I haven't had to wrestle anyone into a snowsuit in the last few weeks. We even applied sunscreen today. What a March! Let's hope it lasts and doesn't turn around and slap us in the face. All these warm days make me want to drink beer and eat chips. It really doesn't take much for me to have those feelings so it may not be entirely because of the weather. I have been known to indulge even on the darkest, coldest day.

There was a period in my life when I had chips for dinner every night for about 8 months. Now I'm not a complete slob. They were nachos chips, and there was salsa and cheese on them. It seemed somewhat complete at the time. I was in university and continually slotted myself into the 4:30 to 6:30 classes. By the time I'd get home, either due to poor planning or bad eating habits, nachos always seemed like the logical and most desired dinner companion. And frankly they seem like a damn good choice these days as well. It just doesn't seem right to get in my jammies, watch TV and slobber over a plate of nachos while my kids are eating broccoli at the table. So for them I'll resist and wait until they all move out. I'll happily fill my empty nest void with chips once they are gone.

Aside from the classic nachos platter I also love my mango salsa. It's a bit more upscale from my younger days, and healthier. I've used canned corn for the recipe but only because corn isn't in season yet. This recipe is great for leftover corn.

Mango Salsa

1 398 ml can of black beans
2 mangoes finely diced
1/2 red onion finely diced
1 398 ml can of corn
2 tsp of rice wine vinegar or to taste
juice of 2 limes
handful of chopped cilantro

Drain and rinse the black beans and corn. Throw it all in a bowl, mix around and eat with corn chips and beer. Enjoy!