Spring Quickle Salad

Spring Quickle Salad

1 cup rice vinegar
3 Tbl honey
1 Tbl salt
2 cups thin sliced carrots, turnips, and/or beets
1/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbl lemon juice
1 Tbl rice vinegar
2 Tbl Honey
12 cups spring greens
¼ cup fresh herbs
Salt and Pepper to taste

Bring 1 cup of rice vinegar, honey, and salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and add carrots, turnips, and/or beets. Let sit just until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain. Combine oil, lemon juice, 1 Tbl rice vinegar, honey, and salt and pepper to taste in a small mason jar with a lid. Shake jar vigorously for 1-2 minutes. Combine spring greens, herbs, pickled vegetables, and salad dressing

Using a Whole Chicken

Chicken Finger Salad and Chicken with Rice

1 whole chicken, fresh or thawed most of the way

Chicken and Rice Ingredients:
1 split onion or 2 if small or 1 bunch green onions
1 bay leaf
3 sprigs thyme
2 cups rice
3 Tbl butter
Salt and pepper

Chicken Finger Salad Ingredients:
¾ cup buttermilk
¼ tsp each cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and paprika
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp each garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper
¼ cup buttermilk
Lettuce, spinach, carrots, peppers, broccoli, cabbage, other veggies
Cheese in small chunks
green onions, toasted pecans or croutons
Favorite salad dressing or these suggestions: honey with yellow mustard, extra-virgin olive oil and a splash of water or Pepper vinegar, extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper

For whole chicken: Remove breasts from chickens so you have 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Slice breasts into thin strips for chicken fingers. Stir sliced breasts into ¾ cup buttermilk, 1½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp each cayenne pepper, garlic powder, and paprika. Cover and place in fridge until next day. Place remaining chicken in large stockpot for chicken and rice.

 For Chicken and Rice: Cover 1/3 of chicken in stockpot with water, add onion, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and 2 tsps salt and pepper. Cover and bring to a simmer. Simmer for about 1½ hours. Turn off heat and let chicken sit covered for another hour. Remove everything from broth leaving the broth in stockpot. Let chicken cool enough to handle. Bring broth to a simmer, add rice and cook until rice is tender 10-25 minutes depending on rice. Meanwhile remove bite size pieces of the meat from the cooled chicken setting aside the bones, onion, and bay leaf. Add bite size pieces of chicken to rice and broth during last 8 minutes of cooking. Serve in bowls and freeze in meal sized portions. Then make a delicious bone broth to freeze. Cook bones, onion, and bay leaf in water to cover for 18 hours. Discard everything but the liquid and use broth for future meals.

For Chicken Finger Salad: Remove breasts from fridge and buttermilk onto a plate – let them stay drippy wet. Combine flour, 1 tsp baking powder 2 tsp salt, and 1 tsp each garlic powder, paprika, pepper. Stir in ¼ cup of buttermilk either from marinade or new. Dredge chicken fingers in flour sticking coating to chicken. Heat 2-3 inches oil in cast iron skillet or wok and heat to 365 degrees. Fry chicken fingers in heated oil for 2-3 minutes a side. Combine salad ingredients in salad bowl and top with chicken fingers and favorite dressing.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

Asian Lettuce Wraps

¼ cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb ground pork
1 large carrot, peeled and finely diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 spring onions, whites and greens, chopped
1 large head of lettuce, leaves separated

In a small bowl, combine the hoisin, soy sauce and ⅓ cup water. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork and cook, breaking up the pork as it cooks, until browned, about 8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Reduce the heat to medium and add the carrot and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then add the garlic and the scallion whites and cook an additional minute or two. Stir in the hoisin and continue to cook until the sauce thickens, another 1-2 minutes. To serve, place some of the mixture in a lettuce leaf, top with some of the scallion greens, and roll up like a tortilla.