The new year is approaching and I am so excited for 2013! All the possibilities and the chance for a fresh start. As I began writing this I was thinking about why there are new years resolutions and promises for fresh starts? After all, we could start fresh any day – what makes January 1st (or 2nd :)) that different?
- One 18.25 box of cake mix, any flavor (for the variety in the photographs I used Devil’s Food, but have made them with yellow cake mix and they are dynamite)
- One 15 oz. can of 100% pumpkin puree
Summer is here and I am loving it! I recently took a road trip and picked up a Food Network magazine to peruse while sitting by the pool. They had the most amazing recipe for Open Face Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches. I love the idea that this sandwich is open face (less carbs) and the addition of fresh veggies like radishes and carrots gives this recipe a delicious twist. A little bit sweet (from the honey), a little bit tart (from the lime and gherkins) and a little spicy (from the Sriracha), this sandwich has it all. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Open Face Vietnamese Chicken Sandwiches
Ingredients
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 medium carrots, shaved into ribbons with a vegetable peeler
4 radishes, thinly sliced
2 crusty hoagie-style rolls (I actually used the 100 calorie thin buns from Oroweat to cut down on the fat and calories)
1/2 cup mayonnaise (I used low-fat mayo to cut down the calories by half)
1/4 cup fresh lime juice (from about 4 limes)
2 teaspoons honey
2 tablespoons chopped cornichons or gherkins, plus 1 tablespoon brine from the jar
Kosher salt
3 cups shredded rotisserie chicken (from 1 small chicken)
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro, plus cilantro leaves for topping
1 tablespoon Asian chile sauce (such as Sriracha)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Soak the red onion, carrots and radishes in ice water for 5 minutes, then drain. Split each roll in half lengthwise to make 4 pieces. Transfer to the oven to toast. Whisk 1/4 cup mayonnaise, the lime juice, honey, cornichons and brine, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl. Add the chicken, onion, carrots, radishes and chopped cilantro and toss. Mix the chile sauce and the remaining 1/4 cup mayonnaise in a small bowl. Spread each piece of bread with some chile mayonnaise, then top with the chicken salad and cilantro leaves.
I LOVE bread. Never once did I think I cold ever do one of those low-carb diets. It simply is not in my DNA. I NEED unrefined, processed, bleached flour. Preferably with butter. Unfortunately my efforts to make bread haven’t been very successful. It is not from a lack of trying, but if I do end up with a worthwhile product, often times I can’t honestly say it was worth the effort. I mean really – you can pick up a good loaf of bread at most grocery stores now days with zero effort. All this has changed now with this recipe…
Seriously, it takes TIME (you know the dough rising and all that), but in terms of actual hands on time, it is maybe ten minutes for the whole recipe. You dump everything in your mixer, let it mix for a few minutes, then let it rise, covered with a cloth overnight (in the same bowl – no transferring the dough to an oiled bowl or anything). The next morning shape it into a loaf, let it rise for one hour and then pop it in the oven for thirty minutes. Voila! Crusty, warm, homemade bread. Delicious!
Country Bread
Adapted from King Arthur’s Flour
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups water (temperature doesn’t matter, you don’t need to proof the yeast – LOVE THIS!)
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground flax (if you don’t have this, just up the whole wheat flour up by another 1/4 cup)
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. active dry yeast
Directions
Stir together all of the ingredients in a stand mixer with the dough hook. The dough will come away from the sides of the bowl and look like this:
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a cloth and let it rest overnight or for at least 8 hours.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and shape it into the loaf shape of your choosing on lightly greased sheet pan. Let the dough rise for 1 hour. It will look like this:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and bake for about 25-30 minutes until the bread is golden brown. That’s it – how easy was that?!
