Not long ago, I made an emergency trip to Grand Junction, Colo., where my younger sister lives, to comfort her and her family during a surgery she was having. It was a planned surgery, but things didn’t go as planned, and times were rough for a bit. But she’s through the difficult time now and is recuperating just fine.
While I was there, I didn’t spend a lot of time worrying about food, and mostly ate whatever was convenient. The hotel at which I was staying had a wonderful little bistro where I’d stop in on the way up to my room in the evening and grab something to eat.
One of the things I grabbed was a fantastic little grilled chicken salad with all kinds of little un-ordinary things tossed in. It was a winner, so that’s what I’m sharing today – along with another yummy recipe.
April is an fun “food” month. The biggest reason is because of Easter. Easter, a Christian holiday celebrating the ascension of Jesus Christ from the grave, usually means family and are friends getting together for a large, happy family meal. And it’s always double fun because it’s usually warmer, sunny weather. Usually. This year, the weather will be a surprise!
Also, in April, the Passover is celebrated. The eight-day festival of Passover is celebrated in the early spring, from the 15th through the 22nd of the Hebrew month of Nissan on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates the emancipation of the Israelites from slavery in ancient Egypt. And, by following the rituals of Passover, the Jewish people have the ability to relive and experience the true freedom their ancestors gained.
But that isn’t all that’s celebrated in April. Here are a few more things that make April a month of celebration:
April 1 – April Fool’s Day
April 2 – Peanut Butter and Jelly Day
April 3 – Chocolate Mousse Day (Yummy!)
April 4 – Cordon Bleu Day
April 5 – Caramel Day
April 7 – Coffee Cake Day
April 12 – Grilled Cheese Day
April 13 – Peach Cobbler Day
April 16 – Baked Ham with Pineapple Day
April 17 – Cheese Ball Day
April 20 – Pineapple Upside Down Day
April 23 – Picnic Day
April 26 – Pretzel Day
April 30 – Oatmeal Cookie Day
I don’t know about you, but I see several reasons to toss the diet and eat! Which is why I’m giving you a salad recipe. There are a few days in between the National Food Days in April that don’t have a celebration food. Maybe on those days we should redeem ourselves by eating a salad!
Here’s the recipe for the salad in Grand Junction. I don’t remember the name of it; I just wrote down the ingredients I saw. I’ll call it Grilled Chicken with Quinoa Salad.
Grilled Chicken and Quinoa Salad
2-3 grilled chicken breasts, chopped into bite-size pieces
1 cup of quinoa, cooked and chilled
1/3 cup of dried cranberries
Oranges, desired amount, cut into bite-size pieces
1/2 cup of walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup of green onions, chopped
Crispy rice, desired amount
Spinach, rinsed and drained
Red wine vinaigrette
To plate, place the spinach in a salad bowl, then add chicken. Sprinkle the rest of the ingredients over the top. Toss gently and drizzle with vinaigrette.
As you can see, there are a few things you need to do before you can put this salad together. First, you need to grill some chicken breasts. Or, you can make this with some leftover grilled chicken breasts.
Next: prepare the quinoa. That’s not difficult – it’s like making rice. You just need to make it ahead of time. Again – it would be a good way to use leftover quinoa.
For the crispy rice – again, use leftovers if you have them. Crispy rice is easy to make, though. All you have to do is to make some rice as directed on the package, let it hang out in the refrigerator for a day or two so most of the moisture evaporates, fry it in some peanut oil, and drain it on a paper towel. Easy! The main thing is that the rice has to be somewhat dried out for it to turn out really crispy.
So here is another recipe that would be good for Coffee Cake day in April! This is from Taste of Home, and it’s delicious!
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Maple-Walnut Coffee Cake
2-1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
1 cup packed of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup of cold butter
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon of baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon of ground nutmeg
2 eggs
1-1/2 cups of buttermilk
1/2 cup of maple syrup
1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce
5 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup of chopped walnuts
In a large bowl, combine the flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until crumbly. Set aside 1/2 of a cup for topping. Combine the baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg; stir into remaining flour mixture.
In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, buttermilk, syrup, and applesauce until well blended. Gradually stir this into flour mixture until combined.
Spread into a 13-inch x 9-inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with the reserved topping, then bacon and walnuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.