Salad season is upon us! Salads very often are misunderstood … an afterthought. A salad can be an amazing meal of various flavors and textures.
Funny how trends always have a way of coming back. You probably remember those unique bread bowl salads from the 90’s. They were huge, filled with all kinds of ‘goodies’ and loads of salad dressing. They looked so pretty, like having a dinner table decoration you could eat.
When you think about it, bread bowls can be and have been, used in a variety of ways. During the colder months for hearty soups and stews and in the spring or summer for salads, dips etc. A bread bowl moves the meal from humdrum to unique. Of course, whether you use a solid or a weaved bowl will dictate your filling.
I’ve always thought main course salads, especially during the summer months, were great. No turning on the oven (unless you make a bread bowl), easy to prepare, gorgeous to look at and a fabulous taste. Main course salad can have anything in it you like, there is no wrong way to make one.
To keep it simple today, I’m making my bread bowls from refrigerated pizza dough. The salad turned out to be a bit more time consuming but well worth it.
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Chicken Salad in Braided Bread Bowls
Votes: 1
Rating: 5
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Ingredients
Chicken - Marinade & Dressing
Ingredients
Chicken - Marinade & Dressing
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Votes: 1
Rating: 5
You:
Rate this recipe!
|
Instructions
Braided Bread Bowl
Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside Spray the outside of a medium-sized metal bowl generously with cooking spray or wrap with foil. Unroll pizza dough & slice lengthwise into 1/2-inch strips.
On a work surface covered with parchment paper, lay out pizza dough strips so they sit about 3/4-inch apart. Beginning in the center of the strips, weave the second half of the pizza strips in and out to create a basket base. Make sure to reserve a few strips for the braid at the top of your bread bowl.
Using the parchment paper, gently flip the weaved bread dough over the inverted prepared metal bowl on the lined baking sheet. Take the remaining dough strips, braid them together, then drape along the bottom to give a nice design on the top of your basket. Repeat with 2 pizza crust dough for the second basket. Brush the entire surface of the baskets with melted butter.
Bake for 18-23 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven & cool completely before gently removing bread bowls from the metal bowls.
Salad
Whisk together dressing/marinade ingredients. Pour half the marinade into a shallow dish to marinade chicken fillets for 2 hours at least. Refrigerate other half of marinade to use as dressing.
In a non-stick skillet, heat a teaspoon of oil & grill chicken fillets on each side until golden, crispy & cooked through. Once chicken is grilled, set aside to cool.
Wipe pan with a paper towel; drizzle with another teaspoon of oil & fry bacon until crisp. Blot on paper towel after frying & crumble.
Slice chicken into strips & prepare other vegetables. Make a 'nest' of torn Romaine in bread bowl. Arrange other ingredients on top. Whisk 2 Tbsp of water into remaining reserved dressing/marinade & drizzle over salad. Top with crumbled bacon & season with salt & cracked pepper to taste.
When it comes to the traditional flavor of paella, it all comes down to location. If you live by the sea, its common to use shellfish. For people living inland, other proteins are used that are readily available.
Confirmed as Spain’s best loved contribution to world cuisine, paella is typically prepared with rice, saffron, seafood, chicken and Spanish chorizo sausage.
In regards to the rice used, bomba rice absorbs the flavors of the oil, stock and other ingredients. Arborio will get a bit creamy, whereas jasmine and basmati add flavor instead of soaking others up. Long grain just doesn’t have the right texture for paella.
To put a little different spin on my paella today, I’m preparing it with Israeli couscous. Israeli or pearl couscous is a small, round pasta-like granule made from semolina and wheat flour. It should not be confused with the tiny, yellow North African couscous. Israeli couscous is twice as large and is toasted rather than dried, which gives it a nutty flavor and a hearty texture.It easily absorbs flavors, making it very versatile as a base for chicken and fish or in soups, salads, pilafs, etc.
I’ve made couscous with rice as well as the short vermicelli noodles. Today is the first time with couscous and we really enjoyed it.
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Couscous Shrimp Paella
Votes: 2
Rating: 4
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Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1/2" dice
- 1 medium sweet yellow pepper, cut into 1/2" dice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp EACH pepper, dried thyme, red pepper flakes, turmeric
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 250 grams Asiago/red pepper pork sausage
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 300 grams WILD, fresh large shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 240 grams (1 1/2 cups) Israeli or Pearl couscous
- 1/2 cup black olives, pitted & sliced
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 3 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 medium sweet red pepper, cut into 1/2" dice
- 1 medium sweet yellow pepper, cut into 1/2" dice
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp EACH pepper, dried thyme, red pepper flakes, turmeric
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup water
- 250 grams Asiago/red pepper pork sausage
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- 300 grams WILD, fresh large shrimp, peeled & deveined
- 240 grams (1 1/2 cups) Israeli or Pearl couscous
- 1/2 cup black olives, pitted & sliced
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Votes: 2
Rating: 4
You:
Rate this recipe!
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Instructions
In a large heavy saucepan, heat oil. Add onion, garlic & sweet peppers; cook until tender-crisp, about 8 minutes. Add all of the spices; cook 1 minute more, remove to a dish & set aside.
In the saucepan, scramble-fry sausage meat. Add broth, water & couscous; simmer, covered 10 minutes. Stir in peas & shrimp; simmer another 5 minutes or only until shrimp is cooked. Add seasoned vegetables, gently stir to combine. Serve, garnished with olives.
