The last supper salad of the summer
We’ve been eating a lot of salads for dinner this summer, but Sunday’s tiny bit of rain made me realize there is another kind of weather besides hot. What sounded good was meatloaf and baked potatoes — having the oven on was a pleasure.
Now we’re back in the 90s and a spicy, tasty salad sounds good — we’ve eaten this one four times in the last week because, well, it just kept drawing us back. The chicken thighs are tantalizing and good and the mango, avocado, bell pepper combo is zesty and delish.
The recipe is by Gaby
Dalkin, who describes it: These slightly spicy/smoky Chipotle Chicken Lettuce Wraps are equal parts addictive and delicious! It can serve 6 or two of you all week. Cutting the thighs in half, especially if they are thick is important for quick cooking and wrapping in lettuce. I can also imagine this wrapped in a tortilla.
Chipotle chicken lettuce wraps
Prep time is 1 hour and 15 minutes; cook time is 15 minutes and it serves six.
Chicken ingredients
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3-4 chipotle peppers in adobo
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1⁄2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1⁄2 teaspoon black pepper
• 10boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in half
Lettuce wrap ingredients:
• 1head butter lettuce
• 2mangos, cut into thin strips
• ½ red onion, thinly sliced
• ½ orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 2 avocados, thinly sliced
• fresh mint
• fresh cilantro
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS » Put the ingredients for the marinade in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Coat the chicken thighs in the marinade and refrigerate for 1-4 hours.
After marinating, heat an indoor or outdoor grill to about 400 degrees (medium high heat). Place the chicken onto the grill and grill 5 to 6 minutes per side, until the chicken is cooked.
Remove the chicken from the grill and let rest for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile — clean the butter lettuce and separate it into cups.
Combine the mango, red onion, bell pepper, avocado, mint, cilantro and lime juice in a bowl and toss to combine. Season with salt and pepper.
Assemble the lettuce cups with a piece of chicken, a few tablespoons of the topping and serve with extra limes if needed.
Having salad for dinner left us pining for a warm dessert and this recipe looked fun to try. Pears are in season, and the combination of pears and dried cherries seemed like a good idea. Pears alone can be kind of sweet and meh; the dried cherries add some tang and body to the cobbler. Serve it warm for maximum deliciousness.
Drop-biscuit pear and dried cherry cobbler
Not a big baker? This dessert is for you. The simple topping can be made in one bowl and results in an airy, tender biscuit no matter your skill level. Epicurious 2014. Makes eight servings. I skipped the pinch of cloves and added a pinch of cardamom — cloves can be overpowering.
Pear filling ingredients:
• 6 medium Bosc pears (about 3 pounds), peeled, cored, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
• 1cup dried tart cherries
• 2⁄3 cup (packed) light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1⁄8 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch of ground cloves
Topping:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 3⁄4 cup plus 2tablespoons sugar
• 3⁄4 cup (11⁄2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• Vanilla ice cream (for serving)
Pear filling instructions: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss pears, cherries, sugar, flour, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a large bowl. Transfer to a 13-by-9 inch baking dish.
For topping and assembly: Whisk flour, baking powder, salt and ¾ cup sugar in a medium bowl. Rub in butter with your fingers until a coarse meal forms. Gradually mix in 1/3 cup hot water until a soft wet dough forms (a few lumps are okay). Drop clumps of dough over filling; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar — it took me 2/3 cup water to get a soft wet dough. If you have any Turbinado sugar, sprinkle a bit on top instead of the regular sugar — it adds a nice crunchy texture to the cobbler topping.
Bake until filling is bubbling and top is golden brown and cooked through, 40-45 minutes; let cool. Serve with ice cream.
Happy first day of Autumn — I’m happy to have survived the summer and can’t wait for Oroville and Shasta to start filling so I can water my plants and take a shower.