Summer Chickpea Salad with Honey Garlic Lime Vinaigrette

I forgot to mention I made Summer Chickpea Salad with Honey Garlic Lime Vinaigrette last week:

Absolutely delicious. I had it for lunch like 4 days in a row (and the babysitter and some visiting family had some too). Highly recommend!

Garlic-Yogurt Baked Chicken

I tried Garlic-Yogurt Baked Chicken tonight, which was somewhat similar to Greek Marinated Chicken from a few months ago. I followed the recipe except I used boneless skinless thighs instead of breasts.

This one though... meh. Nothing to write home about and terribly bland. Edible and yet nothing I will be making again. Skip this one.

Mexican Chopped Salad

Last night I made the Mexican Chopped Salad:

(I took the picture before putting the dressing on or adding avocados, tomatoes, and homemade tortilla strips.)

I loved it, which is a good thing because that is a ginormous bowl which I'll be eating the rest of the week. I also added some leftover red cabbage and some sauteed chicken breast pieces to give it some  protein. It's nice and crunchy and very refreshing. Steve thought it was just ok... maybe I killed it for him with all the cilantro I added ;)

Brown Sugar Baked Peaches

Holy cow:

I don't even know what to say, you just have to make it for yourself.

People-Pleasing Chicken

The original name of this recipe is really lame so I refuse to use it. However it was delicious:

I followed the recipe as directed but used dried rosemary mixed in the sauce rather than fresh on top.

Good stuff! (Steve and I both liked it, Gigi thought it wasn't bad, Owen hated it but managed to eat it, and Camden wasn't touching dinner tonight).

Waffles

We've been doing Breakfast for Dinner at least once a month for as long as I can remember, it's clearly a kid-favorite. But I've always made pancakes/bacon/eggs etc. That changed tonight since I splurged on a waffle iron a few days ago (never had one!). I used this basic recipe:

(This is just one stack of three that I produced -- I doubled the recipe so we can freeze some for breakfasts)

 Per some reviewers' suggestions, I doubled the vanilla and separated the eggs first, whipping the whites up before adding in the yolks and the rest of the ingredients. I also added some cinnamon and ground flax seed and substituted half the white flour with whole wheat.

Needless to say, they were a huge hit all around the table. Steve's at a late meeting so it was a perfect night to have a carbs feast without Mr Atkins around.

Baked Tempura Vegetables

Tonight I made Baked Tempura Vegetables to go on the side of some rather unremarkable salmon. The vegetables totally stole the show (confession: I didn't even eat most of my salmon because the veg's were that good).

I made a few alterations to the recipe. First of all, the blogger who created the recipe must be feeding an army. I got about halfway through chopping the fresh veg's per the recipe and could see it was waaaaay too much for us (us, being Steve and me, and Gigi eating a ton of the broccoli, and the boys maybe tasting it). As it was, I filled two 9x13 pans and that was after stopping halfway through all the chopping. Also, I am not sure what "vegetable seasoning" is -- sounds pretty generic. Per google, I randomly mixed garlic powder, dried minced onion, onion powder, and my fake salt. Finally, the baking time ran a bit longer than what the recipe indicated. All that aside, this was a fabulous substitute for the "real" tempura veg's we order with sushi. Definitely a keeper! You only need the tiniest bit of lo-so soy sauce for dipping... the vegetables still had a ton of flavor and weren't dry at all. Hoping the leftovers re-heat well for tomorrow's lunch. I'm not even going to pretend to eat the salmon.

Oven Baked Fajitas

With company for dinner, I decided to try Oven Baked Fajitas:

(That's before we put the filling in tortillas with sour cream and cilantro).

So glad I made these! Sooo much easier than regular fajitas on the stovetop. Thumbs up from all around the table (minus the kids who had some chicken I set aside for Oven Fried Chicken Fingers which baked right along at the same time as the fajitas).  It was nice to throw the filling in the oven and have it be done in 40 minutes, and not be tethered to the stove with a sizzling skillet. I'll definitely be making these again.

Portillo's Chopped Salad

We have company in town this week so there's a lot of eating going on. I wanted to toss this recipe up, which I made for lunch for today (and tomorrow, and the next day, etc) and it's really really good. Portillo's Chopped Salad:

A tad bit more filling than plain salad, with the addition of the pasta. I omitted the bacon and used crumbled goat cheese in place of Gorgonzola due to the sodium. Keeping the dressing on the side is helping it last longer in the fridge, not getting soggy. The dressing has very strong flavor, so a little goes a long way!

Garlic Butter Shrimp

Tonight I tried this very basic recipe, Garlic Butter Shrimp:

Definitely heavy on the butter, but still good. Nothing so exciting though that I am looking forward to making it again ;)