Roasted Asparagus and Red Pepper Chicken Salad

I was sad when I realized it's been a whole month since I last posted a recipe!  The past month has been very eventful and busy: 2 weddings (1 in Niagara Falls!), a fender bender which required lots of work, a trip to urgent care after biting it doing box jumps, getting to spend time with our families, a college reunion, a Girls on the Run 5k, and all the events that come with the last month of school!  I can't believe I'm almost done with my first year of having my own classroom!  It has flown by and has been truly great.  I am so thankful for this job, my wonderful students, and my amazing colleagues.  

Anyway, since summer is around the corner my goal is to post much more frequently!  Meanwhile, enjoy this yummy chicken salad that features roasted asparagus and fresh herbs.  It has tons of texture and flavor, and is fantastic served on a bed of greens.  

Roasted Asparagus and Red Pepper Chicken Salad

Originally from Multiply Delicious

Chicken Salad:
2 lb. cooked chicken breasts or thighs, cut into small pieces (I usually use boneless skinless thighs, place them on a foil lined pan, sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c unsalted, roasted almond slivers
1/2 large red onion, diced
1 bunch asparagus (woody ends trimmed, coated in about 2 T coconut oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, roasted in the oven at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes)
1/4 c fresh basil, minced
1/4 c fresh parsley, minced
1/2 jar roasted red peppers (or red and yellow peppers), diced
salt and pepper

Dressing:
1/3 c fresh parsley
1/3 c fresh basil
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T dijon mustard
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

Combine all chicken salad ingredients in large bowl.  For dressing, combine all ingredients except olive oil in food processor and blend OR in a bowl with tall sides, use an immersion blender to blend.  After the herbs, vinegar, mustard, garlic, salt, and pepper are mixed together, drizzle in olive oil as you blend until the dressing has a pourable consistency.  Pour dressing over the chicken salad and stir to combine.  Enjoy!  I like to eat this over a bed of spinach or mixed greens.  Makes about 6 servings.  

Greek Salad

If you know me you probably wouldn't believe that I used to hate all vegetables except for cooked broccoli.  Well, the way I eat now couldn't be further from that!  Part of my turn around actually happened in college when I studied abroad in Greece.  I started trying new vegetables and discovered that I loved them!  I really enjoyed the food I ate in Greece, especially the fresh fruit and vegetables I was able to get from the street market.   This is my favorite version of Greek salad, which was a dish I ate almost every day there.  If you eat cheese, it's also delicious with some feta!  Today I ate it mixed with diced chicken, avocado, and spinach- a great lunch!

Greek Salad

1 whole seedless cucumber, cut into coins then quartered

2 green peppers, diced

4 tomatoes, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

juice of 1 lemon

a few swirls of extra virgin olive oil

lots of oregano

a few shakes of salt

a few grinds of freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl, stir to get all of the veggies covered in the juice, oil, and spices, and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.  Makes 6-8 large servings.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers

1 lb. ground bison

1 onion, chopped

½ bag frozen peppers

2 lb. fresh mushrooms, chopped

Salt, pepper, garlic powder

1-30 oz. can organic diced tomatoes, with juice

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

Oregano

1 c Minute brown rice

3 green peppers

Brown the bison in a very large stainless-steel (and oven-proof) sauté pan over medium high heat.  Keep an eye on the bison as it cooks, chopping and stirring occasionally.  Meanwhile, chop the onion.  When only a little pink is left on the bison, add the onion and cook 2-3 minutes, stirring as necessary to prevent sticking.  As the onion cooks, clean and chop the mushrooms.  Add the mushroom and frozen peppers, then season the mixture with salt, pepper, and garlic powder, stirring as necessary to prevent sticking.  After the mushrooms have cooked down, add the tomatoes, tomato sauce, oregano and rice. Stir the mixture well.  Turn heat down to medium and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Now heat the oven to 350 degrees.  Clean the peppers then cut the tops off.  Chop the tops to use for something else later.  Cut each pepper in half.  After the bison, veggie, and rice mixture has simmered, nestle each of the 6 pepper halves into the mixture and fill each pepper half with the mixture, leaving some around the edges (as pictured).  Bake the peppers, uncovered, for 25-30 minutes.

If you don’t have an oven-proof sauté pan, cook the meat, veggie, and rice mixture in a regular sauté pan.  Before baking, place the pepper halves in a 13x9 glass baking dish and spoon the mixture into the peppers.  Then bake the whole thing in the 13x9 dish. 

I have made and eaten countless versions of stuffed peppers, but this is the most recent version I’ve made and it was very delicious.  Feel free to change it up however you like!

Some variations include:

-Instead of bison, use ground turkey or lean ground beef.

-Instead of mushrooms, use black beans.

-Instead of green peppers, use red, yellow, or orange peppers for a sweeter flavor

-Top the peppers with feta, cheddar, or any or type of cheese you like during the last 15 minutes of baking.

-Add any other veggies you like to the onions, peppers and mushrooms.  Celery or carrots would be good!