Chicken Avocado Salad Sandwiches

 

Ingredients

· 1/4 cup buttermilk

· 2 tablespoons lime juice

· 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

· 1 teaspoon sugar

· 1/2 teaspoon table salt

· 1/2 teaspoon pepper

· 1 ripe avocado, halved, pitted, and chopped

· 3 cups Shredded Cooked Chicken

· 8 slices hearty sandwich bred, toasted

· 1 head Bibb lettuce, leaves separated

· 2 tomatoes, cored and sliced thin

 

Steps

1) Combine buttermilk, lime juice, oil, sugar, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl. Add avocado and mash into dressing with fork. Stir in chicken until fully combined. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

2) Place heaping 1/2 cup chicken salad on each of 4 bread slices. Divide and arrange lettuce and tomatoes over chicken salad, then top with remaining bread slices. Serve at room temperature or cold. 

 

From: The Complete Summer Cookbook: Beat the Heat with 500 Recipes That Make the Most of Summer’s Bounty

By: America’s Test Kitchen

 

Irish Stew

 

Ingredients

· 1 1/2 pounds boneless lamb shoulder or lamb stew meat, cut into bite-sized pieces

· 1 1/2 cups baby carrots, cut into 1/2-inch pieces

· 1 1/2 cups frozen pearl onions, C&W

· 2 cups seasoned diced potatoes, Reser’s

· 2 cans (10 ounces each) condensed cream of potato soup, Campell’s

· 1 cup Guinness Stout

· Salt and pepper

 

Steps

1) In a 4-quart slow cooker, place lamb, carrots, onions, and potatoes.

2) In a medium bowl, stir together the potato soup and beer. Pour into slow cooker and stir thoroughly.

3) Cover and cook on HIGH setting for 4 to 6 hours

 

From: Semi-Homemade: Slow Cooker Recipes 2

By: Sandra Lee

 

September 14th - National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day

Does the thought of handing over your kitchen to your kiddoes instill some anxiety? I think every parent can understand the fear of eating a meal little ones cooked, not to mention the crime scene that is your kitchen afterwards! Here at BPL, we had very similar concerns when we heard that national Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day falls on September 14th. Lucky for you, we have all the books to help ease your worries and make cooking a fun and safe experience for the kids in your life. The titles, Kids Cook Dinner: 23 Healthy, Budget-Friendly Meals From the Best-Selling Cooking Class Series By Deanna F. Cook, and Super Simple Cooking for Kids By Jodi Danen, are both wonderful books with easy to follow recipes that only require a few ingredients. Will Bartlett’s book, Chef Junior: 100 Super Delicious Recipes By Kids for Kids also provides fun and easy recipes for young ones. These books help instill kitchen safety while showing how exciting the science of cooking can be. If you’re a fan of these, you can find similar titles for you and your children in the Nonfiction sections of both our Adult, and our Juvenile collections. 

If your child is interested in learning more about cooking and kitchen safety, BPL has just the program to prepare them for National Kids Take Over the Kitchen Day. On the third Tuesday of each month from 4:00 - 5:00, grades kindergarten through 5th can learn the basic kitchen skills and help build healthy eating habits. No registration is required for this program, but feel free to give us a call with any additional questions.

Black Pepper-Garlic Flatbread

 

Ingredients

· 2 garlic cloves, minced

· 1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano

· 1 1/2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

· 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

· 1 can refrigerated pizza crust dough

· Cooking spray

 

Steps

1) Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2) Combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl. Unroll dough onto a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; form into a 12x9-inch rectangle. Lightly coat top of dough with cooking spray; sprinkle evenly with garlic mixture.

3) Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes or until golden. Cool flatbread; cut into 6 slices.

 

Yield: 6 servings

Prep: 4 minutes

Cook: 15 minutes

 

From: Fresh Food Fast: 5 ingredient, 15 minute recipes: over 280 incredibly flavorful recipes

By: Cooking Light

 

Stuffed Baby Bellas

 

Ingredients

· 16 baby portabella mushrooms

· 1 pound ground chicken or turkey breast

· 1 teaspoon fennel seed, 1/3 palmful

· 1 small onion, finely chopped

· 3 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped

· 1 lemon

· 1 cup shredded asiago cheese

· 1/2 cup bread crumbs, a couple handfuls

· 1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung dry in a clean kitchen towel

· Salt and pepper

· 2 tablespoons EVOO (Extra-virgin olive oil)

· 1/4 cup pine nuts or chopped almonds

 

Steps

1) Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth. Remove the stems and finely shop them.

2) Preheat the oven to 400°F.

3) In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground meat, fennel seed, onions, garlic, lemon zest, half of the cheese, the chopped mushroom stems, bread crumbs, and spinach, and season with salt and pepper. Season the mushroom caps as well with salt and pepper. Brush lightly with EVOO and stuff the mixture into the caps.

4) Arrange the caps on a rimmed baking sheet or in a baking dish. Leave some room around each mushroom to prevent the caps from getting steamy. Sprinkle the remaining cheese and the nuts on the caps and transfer to the oven. Bake until the mushrooms are tender and the filling is cooked through, about 25 minutes.

5) Serve warm.

 

From: Rachael Ray’s Look + Cook: 100 can’t-miss main courses in pictures.

 

S’mores Cookies

 

Ingredients

· 1/2 cup (45 g) old-fashioned oats

· 1 cup (120 g) all-purpose flour

· 1 cup (113 g) whole wheat flour

· 1/2 teaspoon (1.3 g) ground cinnamon (optional)

· 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) baking soda

· 1/2 teaspoon (3 g) fine sea salt

· 1 cup (226 g) unsalted butter room temperature (2 sticks, 16 tablespoons)

· 3/4 cup (214 g) light brown sugar

· 1 large egg

· 8 ounces (170 g) bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, cut into 30 squares

· 15 large marshmallows, cut in half lengthwise

 

Steps

1) Begin by preheating the oven to 350° F (~177° C).

2) Using a food processor, grind the oats until fine. They will still be slightly coarse.

3) Add the all purpose and whole wheat flours, cinnamon if using, the baking soda, and salt, then pulse to blend.

4) With an electric or stand mixer, cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy. On low, beat in the egg.

5) With mixer still on low, stir in the dry ingredient mix until just combined. The batter will be chunky.

6) Using a tablespoon measuring spoon, scoop out dough and quickly shape into balls, flatten them lightly, then indent the middle with a slight thumbprint. You may have more than 30 cookies worth of dough so have some extra chocolate on hand.

7) Set the dough at least one inch apart on two cookie sheets and top each cookie with chocolate. Do not let the chocolate overhang the dough; stack as necessary.

8) Bake cookies for 11 to 13 minutes until lightly golden brown on the edges. Recommended: bake one sheet at a time for best results though both sheets can be baked together. Be sure to rotate the sheets halfway through if you are baking two at a time.

9) Remove the cookies when ready and top each with half of a marshmallow.

10) Move an oven rack to the second level below the top and turn on the broiler. Slide a cookie sheet all the way to one side, brown the marshmallow tops then slide the sheet to the other side, browning the other half of the sheet.

11) Cool the cookies on a wire rack.

 

From: Martha Stewart’s Cookie Perfection: 100+ Recipes to Take Your Sweet Treats to the Next Level

By: Martha Stewart

Note: The recipe featured above was an adaption from The Bake Dept. created to make the instructions more clear