Asian Flair Chicken Pasta Salad

I wasn't sure how this salad would come out so I wasn't planning on posting it, but it turned out great! I'm packing it along with the mini cheesecakes for the fireworks show tomorow night. Everyone around us with their fancy Whole Foods takeout will be jealous. ;)

REVIEW: Healthy, tasty, and simple. If you haven't noticed by now, that's the theme of my blog and this dish fits it perfectly. The Asian flavors created by the sesame seeds, soy sauce, and ginger really wake up the otherwise basic pasta salad ingredients. And of course it has cilantro - my favorite!

RECIPE:

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced
16oz whole wheat pasta
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar (don't use regular!)
3 tbsp white sugar
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 tsp ginger, minced fresh or ground
2 cups broccoli, chopped
1/4 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/3 cup green onion, chopped
1/4 cup sesame seeds, toasted optional
salt and pepper to taste

Marinate chicken with a coating of cooking spray, soy sauce, salt and pepper, and cook whichever way you prefer. I usually broil at 500F 8-10 minutes on each side until breast is cooked through, this seems to add a little crisp to the outside while keeping the chicken juicy on the inside. While chicken is cooling off, prep broccoli, green onion, cilantro, and carrot. Saute broccoli with cooking spray in a skillet over med-high heat for 5-7 minutes. In an airtight container mix together soy sauce, rice vinegar, oil, sugar, ginger, sesame seeds, and pepper and shake well. Toss soy sauce mixture with pasta until lightly coated. Dice chicken and add to pasta along with broccoli, carrot, green onion and cilantro. Add more salt and pepper if needed. Makes 10 servings. (per serving: 350cals, 15g fat, 16g protein, 38g carbs)

4th of July Mini Cheesecakes

In celebration of 4th of July coming up, I made these mini cheesecakes topped with fresh raspberries and blueberries (I so love summer berry season!) for a picnic under the fireworks I'm going to tomorrow.

REVIEW: Great for cheesecake freaks like me who can't control themselves when faced with an entire pie. :) These took me about an hour and a half to make start to finish. If I had more than one mini muffin tin it would've taken me less than an hour. There were a lot of recipes out there that said to use vanilla wafers as a crust, but I can be a cheesecake snob here (it's my blog, so there) and assert that nothing substitutes for graham cracker crust! The trickiest part was getting the crust onto the bottom of the liner, but I seem to remember having that problem when making a big pie too, so I guess that's the drawback to a deliciously wonderful graham cracker crust. Oh and make sure not to fill the liners too much or you can't fit the fruit on top (see pic above).

RECIPE:

2 8oz packages Neufchatel cheese, softened

2 eggs

1/2 cup white sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup butter, melted

fresh fruit topping

Heat oven to 325F. Line mini muffin tin with liners. Mix graham cracker crumbs with melted butter until it sticks together. Flatten 1/4" layer of graham cracker mixture in bottom of each muffin tin liner. Mix cheese, sugar and vanilla with mixer until well-blended. Add eggs and blend well. Spoon in cheesecake filling on top of graham cracker layer almost to the top of the liner. Bake for 25 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes, top with fruit and refrigerate at least 30 minutes before serving. Makes about 40 mini cheesecakes. (per serving: 95cals, 5gfat, 1g protein, 12g carbs)