Chef's Salad with Spinach, Chicken, and Gouda

 

Having a salad for dinner is one of those things that always seems like a good idea... in theory. It's easy, it's healthy, and it generally doesn't require heating up your kitchen in the middle of August (that last part is particularly crucial if you blow a fuse every time you try to run the air conditioner and the TV at the same time--the apartment above an Italian restaurant is becoming less quaint by the day, people). But when it comes down to it, salad for dinner is kind of boring, right? This salad... definitely not boring. We've made this quite a few times this summer and it is going to stay in the regular dinner rotation.

In addition to the Gouda cheese mentioned in the title, we've also got some bacon and avocado going on in this salad. We've used turkey bacon a few times to make it healthier, but I suggest using the real stuff here. And while store bought croutons will save you some time, I highly recommend making your own (unless you have the aforementioned air conditioning problem and don't want to turn on your oven). Not only is it a nice way to use up some leftover bread, but they have a much more appealing texture than the croutons from a box (I made mine with some rosemary focaccia). This recipe makes more croutons than you'll need, so save the extras in an air tight container.

Chef's Salad with Spinach, Chicken, and Gouda

adapted from Cook's Illustrated

Garlic Croutons:

1 large clove garlic , minced to paste or pressed through garlic press (about 1 ¼ teaspoons)
1/8 teaspoon table salt
1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 slices white sandwich bread (6 ounces), cut into ½-inch cubes (1 ½ cups)

Vinaigrette:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
1/2  teaspoon minced garlic (1 small garlic clove)
1 teaspoons Dijon mustard
pinch  table salt
pinch ground black pepper

Salad:

1 bag spinach salad blend

1/4 cup fresh basil leaves , torn into bite-sized pieces
1/4 medium red onion , sliced very thin

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1 medium avocado, halved, pitted, and cut into 1/2-inch cubes

1 chicken breast, cooked and sliced into thin strips

4 ounces Gouda cheese (regular or smoked), sliced ¼ inch thick and cut into 2-inch-long matchsticks

4 slices thick-cut bacon (or turkey bacon), cut into 1/4-inch strips, fried in medium skillet over medium heat until crisp, and drained on paper towels

Instructions:

1. For the croutons: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Combine garlic, salt, and oil in small bowl; let stand 20 minutes, then pour through fine-mesh strainer into medium bowl. Add bread cubes and toss to coat. Spread bread cubes in even layer on rimmed baking sheet and bake, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 15 minutes. Cool on baking sheet to room temperature.

2. For the vinaigrette: Whisk ingredients in medium bowl until combined.

3. For the salad: Combine salad mix, basil, and onions in large serving bowl. Add dressing and toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Arrange chicken and cheese over center of greens; sprinkle with bacon, avocado, and croutons and serve immediately.

Makes 2 dinner-sized salads (plus extra croutons)

Download a printable recipe.

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M&M Blondies

I wanted to bake some blondies to bring to a coworker's baby shower, so I set about looking for an easy recipe. My first stop was, of course, my Cook's Illustrated bible (aka, The New Best Recipe). The recipe was indeed pretty simple, but it called for walnuts and white chocolate chips. Those ingredients are all well and good in other applications, but I feel like when it comes to most baked goods, they are wasting valuable real estate that could be taken up by chocolatier things. So I did what any chocolate-candy lover would do and swapped them out for M&M's. And the results were kind of amazing.

Note that the second step of the recipe asks you to fit your baking pan with foil. This is a nice technique to get the blondies out of the pan easily, but if it seems like too much work for you then please butter and flour as per usual.

M&M Blondies
adapted from The New Best Recipe

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (7 1/2 ounces)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2  teaspoon table salt
12 tablespoons unsalted butter ( 1 1/2 sticks), melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups packed light brown sugar (10 1/2 ounces)
2 large eggs , lightly beaten
4 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup M&M's

Instructions:

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Cut 18-inch length foil and fold lengthwise to 8-inch width. Fit foil into length of 13 by 9-inch baking pan, pushing it into corners and up sides of pan; allow excess to overhang pan edges. Cut 14-inch length foil and fit into width of baking pan in same manner, perpendicular to first sheet (if using extra-wide foil, fold second sheet lengthwise to 12-inch width). Spray foil-lined pan with nonstick cooking spray.

3. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt together in medium bowl; set aside.

4. Whisk melted butter and brown sugar together in medium bowl until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using rubber spatula, fold dry ingredients into egg mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Fold in chocolate and M&M's and turn batter into prepared pan, smoothing top with rubber spatula.

5. Bake until top is shiny, cracked, and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Cool on wire rack to room temperature. Remove bars from pan by lifting foil overhang and transfer to cutting board. Cut into 2-inch squares and serve.

Makes 36

Download a printable recipe.
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