DIY Panera Bread Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

So who loves the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad from Panera? 

I do!  It is absolutely delicious and my favorite.
Well, now you can make it yourself with this easy recipe.

If you can't tell, I'm ready for spring and summer!  I'm getting 

 excited about  picking fresh lettuce and cilantro right from the

 garden. This recipe really tastes exactly the same as Panera,  but
you can feed your whole family for a fraction of the price
you'd pay at the restaurant.

Salad:

2 Wonton wrappers
Canola oil, for frying
2 tablespoons sliced almonds
4 cups romaine lettuce, torn into bite-sized pieces, loosely packed
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
3 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breast, grilled and sliced thinly on a bias
1/4 cup Panera Bread Asian Sesame Dressing (recipe follows)
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Asian Sesame Dressing:
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup toasted sesame oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
3/4 cup canola or vegetable oil



Directions: 
Preheat, the oven to 350 degrees F. To prepare wonton strips, cut wonton wrappers into ¼-inch strips. In a deep skillet, pour canola oil to a depth of 2 to 3 inches. Heat Oil to 365 degrees F. Carefully drop wonton slices into hot oil and fry for about 30 seconds, or until crisp and golden. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towel.

Arrange almonds in a single layer on a sheet pan. Toast in the oven for 5 minutes, toss nuts, then toast for an additional 5 minutes, or until golden. Remove from pan to cool.

To make the asian sesame dressing, combine all ingredients except canola oil in a medium mixing bowl with a wire whisk. Once ingredients are combined, slowly pour in the oil while whisking to form an emulsion.

To make the salad, toss the lettuce, cilantro, wonton strips, chicken and dressing in a large mixing bowl until combined. Place the mixture on a serving plate. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and almonds and serve.


Presented By: Panera Bread

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Baked to Perfection the Oven Fries Experiment!

 Who likes fries? Of course, just about everyone. I bring to you today a french fry miracle that  

tastes like deep fried but only uses 5 tablespoons of oil!  

But this comes with a warning--

they are addicting! 

A quick story behind my discovery of these started with a visit to

 some friends. They offered me these fries and my first response was 

"these are so good-are they fried?"

 "Nope. Oven fried." 

"Really? I need this recipe!"

Coming from Cook's Illustrated Magazine, 

here's what you'll need to try these out:

 (p.s. It's important to follow closely for great results.)

3 russet potatoes, peeled or skins on (your preference),

cut lengthwise into 10-12 evenly sized wedges

5 tablespoons vegetable oil or peanut oil

salt and ground black pepper

heavy duty baking sheet

large bowl for soaking potatoes

foil

paper towels or dry, clean kitchen towel

1. Adjust oven rack to lowest position. Preheat to 475.
2. Place potatoes in large bowl and cover with hot tap water for 10 min.

a hot bath works wonders to remove starches and reveal a creamy, smooth center

3. Meanwhile, coat a heavy duty rimmed baking sheet with 4 Tbsp. oil.
Sprinkle evenly with 3/4 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. ground pepper (suggested amount.)
 Set aside.

4. Drain potatoes and blot dry with cloth or paper towels. Spread out onto paper towels
or kitchen towel and thoroughly blot dry.
5. Wipe out empty bowl, return potatoes to bowl and toss with remaining 1 Tbsp. oil.

and add a little salt and pepper to taste so both sides are coated

6. Arrange potatoes in single layer on prepared baking sheet. Cover tightly with

foil and bake 5 minutes.

7. Remove foil and continue to bake until bottoms of potatoes are spotty golden
brown, 15-20 min, rotating baking sheet after 10 min.
8. With spatula or tongs, loosen potatoes from pan, then flip each wedge, keeping
potatoes in single layer.
9. Continue baking until fries are golden and crisp, 5-15 min. longer, rotating pan
as needed if fries are browning unevenly.

And here were mine when they were done! 

These taste great sprinkled with malt vinegar, or for a delicious 

low fat Indian-inspired dip, try mixing:

1/2 c. Greek yogurt

1 crushed clove of garlic

1/2 tsp. yellow curry powder

dash of salt

1/4 tsp. sugar

Ok, so now is your mouth watering? Go ahead and give it a try-you won't be disappointed.

Day After Holiday Turkey Soup

Got a lot of turkey left after a big Thanksgiving or Christmas feast? Here's an easy and delicious soup recipe that combines shredded turkey with broth, vegetables and a roux as a thickener. My family loved it! I served it with garlic bread and it filled and warmed us up on a cold winter's night.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 6 cups chicken both
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup uncooked wild rice
• 8 slices bacon
• 1/2 cup butter 
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 cups half-and-half cream
• 1 1/2 cups cooked, shredded turkey meat
• 1 16 oz. can Great Northern Beans
• 1 c. fresh or frozen kale, torn into pieces
• 2 cloves minced garlic

Directions

1. In a large pot over medium heat, combine chicken broth, water, green onions, garlic and wild rice. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Add beans.
2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Allow to cool and then crumble. Set aside.
3. When rice is tender, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper all at once. Cook, stirring, until smooth and bubbly. Stir in half-and-half and cook until thickened, 2 minutes. Stir half-and-half mixture into rice mixture. Stir in bacon, turkey and sherry. Heat through and serve.

Puffed Pancakes: A Simple Christmas Breakfast Idea

We made this for breakfast today for our out-of-town
guests. A different twist on regular pancakes-
baked in the oven. They are so easy and good and
can be topped with fruit, powdered sugar, cinnamon or
fruit preserves. Try this simple recipe below:

• 
  
• • 6 eggs
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 2 tablespoons salted butter

  Directions

  1. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
  2. Whisk the eggs, flour, milk, salt, vanilla extract, and cinnamon in a bowl; set aside.
  3. Put the butter in a 9x11-inch baking dish. Melt the butter in the preheated oven, making sure it doesn't burn, about 5 minutes. Pour the batter into the baking dish with the melted butter.
  4. Return to the oven and bake until the pancake is puffed and no longer moist in the center, 20 to 25 minutes.
  5. Top with desired toppings and serve immediately.

  
  

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Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread

I have been reading up on the health benefits of molasses lately and wanted to try it in a recipe and 'tis the season for baking warm, sweet treats in the house.This was my first time trying gingerbread and I searched through a few recipes to find a combination of ingredients that I liked.

I came up with an amazing healthier combination of pumpkin and apple pureed with lemon zest, with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
I tried cutting the amount of butter in half and it wasn't dry at all. I also used whole white wheat flour for a healthier kick.
My house smelled amazing and my family loved this version of gingerbread.
Want to try it? Follow the recipe below:

This recipe was modified from simply recipes

Pumpkin Apple Gingerbread REcipe

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups (200 g) all purpose flour* (I used Whole White Wheat Flour)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup (240 ml) pumpkin purée**
• 1/2 cup (1 stick, or 112 g) butter, melted (I only used 1/2 of a stick to reduce the fat)
• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup (120 ml) molasses
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 Tbsp water
• one peeled apple, finely chopped in a food processor or blender (I added this on)
• 1/4 tsp. lemon zest (I added this on)
• powdered sugar for dusting (I added this on)
• 1/4 tsp. vanilla (I added this on)

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Prepare a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan with non-stick spray or butter to keep the pumpkin gingerbread from sticking to the pan.

2 In a medium bowl, vigorously whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

3 In another bowl, use a wooden spoon to mix together the pumpkin purée, melted butter, sugar, molasses, fresh or candied ginger, eggs, and water, pureed apple, vanilla, lemon zest

4 Combine the wet and dry ingredients. Add the raisins if using. Stir only until incorporated.

5 Place the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, until a bamboo skewer inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Then gently run a knife around the edge of the loaf and invert the loaf to remove it from the pan. Let it cool on a rack for 30 minutes or longer.

After bread is cooled, dust lightly with powdered sugar and garnish with lemon zest.

Yield: Makes one loaf.

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Irresistible Chocolate Peanut Butter Popcorn

That's right Poppy Chow. No I didn't misspell "Puppy Chow"-the sweet treat you might be familiar with  using rice Chex. This recipe is even better than that one, in my opinion, because you use popcorn=Pop-py Chow!
 And it is an easy, delicious snack to make and place in a pretty tin as a Christmas gift  or whip up for those hungry house guests.

About a month ago I shared an amazing cookie recipe from a great blog called Brown Eyed Baker. This recipe is also hers. She uses my favorite combination of peanut butter and chocolate to make amazing things. It is a dangerous site! Here are the easy steps to follow:

pop a large amount of popcorn-I used a tall stockpot.

{Peanut Butter Chocolate Popcorn} 

Yield: About 8 to 10 servings (possibly more if you’re not chocolate/pb obsessed like me)

Prep Time: 25 minutes

9 cups plain popcorn
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
½ cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup unsalted butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups powdered sugar

1. Put the popcorn in a very large bowl.

2. In a microwave (at 50% power) or over a double boiler, melt the chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter until melted and smooth. Stir in the vanilla.

3. Pour the chocolate mixture all over the popcorn. Using a large spoon, stir until all of the popcorn is evenly coated with the chocolate/peanut butter mixture.

4. Sift the powdered sugar over the chocolate-covered popcorn and stir until each piece is evenly coated. Spread the mixture out onto a baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes or until the chocolate is set.

5. Break it up and serve! Store leftovers in an airtight container.

originally posted by: Brown Eyed Baker

I bet there are lots of variations you could try with this recipe (think melted M & M's, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups....mmmm...)  .

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The Amazing Peanut Butter-Oatmeal-Chocolate Chip Cookie Experiment

I'm excited to bring to you today the first recipe post on ReMadeSimple. (Mmmm... it is a good one!)  Since I also love to cook and bake I thought it would be fun to post some favorite recipes here and there. So, just in time for your holiday baking,  here is what I think is the best cookie recipe I've ever tried, courtesy of Brown Eyed Baker.

Now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, I decided it would be nice to start baking a little more than I used to, and I was determined to find the best recipe I could for chocolate chip cookies -and not just use the recipe off the back of the chocolate chips bag anymore.

Since I love the combination of peanut butter and chocolate (think Reese's), I wondered if the two could be combined into a great cookie. I found this great cooking blog called "Brown Eyed Baker" who had a recipe for peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so I decided to give it a try.

I modified the recipe slightly only because I ran out of regular oatmeal (I used only about half regular rolled oats called for in the recipe) and also only had salted butter. So, I used Gerber baby oatmeal for the rest, (yes, with a 9 month old in the house at the time, there is an abundance of that.) and salted butter and since I doubled the recipe, used only 1/2 the salt called for. I also used whole white wheat flour instead of regular white for more fiber.

I was a little nervous I'd ruin the cookies, but I guess I thought it would be fun to experiment. Believe it or not they turned out amazing! Jeff said the baby oatmeal made the texture smoother than regular oatmeal in cookies. It was a success! These are the best cookies I've ever made.

I also used a couple techniques mentioned on the blog to get a "bakery perfect" result. One technique to get the nice crinkly top to the cookies and not have flat ones was to form the ball (I used a 2 Tbsp. scoop) then pull it apart, turn about 90 degrees and put back together again, then place on the cookie sheet. The other technique was to take the cookies out of the oven after 10 minutes and let them finish cooking on the cookie sheet until they are cool-(not removing  right away or cooling on a baking rack).

I didn't even have to use parchment paper (well, I actually didn't have any left) just a regular cookie sheet, and I used a pizza stone for some of them, which worked well, too.  I used to get annoyed making cookies before because the batter would get too sticky to work with and would stick to everything, but this mixture was almost fluffy, not sticky, very easy to clean up--and irresistable to eat, too. After the cookies cooled down, I stored them in an airtight container at room temperature. This will be my favorite cookie recipe from now on!

two tablespoon measurements

breaking in half, twisting

reconnecting cookie to make "bakery perfect" crinkles

Peanut Butter-Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Makes about 16 cookies

1 cup all-purpose flour (I used whole white wheat)
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (I used 2 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Click here to view BrownEyedBaker

     Are you drooling yet? Now go try this recipe!

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