Chicken Satay Skewers and Strawberry Mushroom Salad

Last night I tried out the Satay Skewers from Good things Catered.
They were really yummy...however beware 'Curry Nail' *

*Curry nail occurs when you submerge your hands in anything with curry. They will turn yellow. I instantly panicked because not 2 hours before I just got my gel nails done and now they were a hideous shade of yellow. I ran to the bathroom and grabbed my nail polish remover and it came right off. Whew, crisis averted.

You can visit the link above to see the recipe for Satay Skewers, because her pictures are much nicer. I will however share my recipe for the Strawberry and Mushroom Salad.


As I may have mentioned before, I'm an 'avant garde' kinda chef...I don't really measure things, I like to experiment. I got the recipe from my BFF when I went to visit her last summer.

You'll need:

Spinach
Goat Cheese
7-10 Strawberries
7-10 Mushrooms
Sliced almonds or whatever nuts/seeds you have lying around

Dressing
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Brown Sugar
Clove of garlic (minced or put through a garlic press)
Pinch of salt

The quantity of everything depends solely on how many people you are serving. I go by 'parts' for the dressing - one part balsamic, two parts brown sugar and three parts oil. If it's just the hubby and me for dinner I'll usually use the 1/4 cup and measure everything out and it usually is more than enough. Recently I've started using less oil because I just love the taste of balsamic vinegar and also it was making way too much dressing for the two of us. So I have been doing 1/4 cup balsamic, 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup oil.

Now that you have decided how much you will need, throw all of the dressing ingredients in a blender (because I am wayyyyy to lazy to whisk it) and blend it until its...well...blended.

The salad is a very visual thing for me. You have to eyeball it and think about who is going to be eating it and approximate how much they'll eat. I put about 3/4 of a bag of spinach in a bowl (I use bagged spinach because I have not had much success with washing/drying spinach, plus as aformentioned, I'm lazy) and then I cut up the mushrooms, and strawberries and throw it on top.

I then sprinkle on sliced almonds usually...if I don't have any almonds, I've used pine nuts and flax seeds. Really, anything goes for the nuts/seeds portion of the salad. I imagine pumpkin seeds (especially toasted ones) would be fabulous. Again for the quantity, just put in as much as your little heart desires. There's no magic formula and it's not rocket science. It's a salad. If you really want to know how much, I will just grab a handful and sprinkle it around the bowl. That should be enough.

Lastly crumble the goat cheese on top. You can use a fork to scrape the cheese away so it crumbles nicely, or as I recently discovered, use your hands. Using your hands is fun because then you get to lick your fingers! How much do you like goat cheese? If you love it, then pile it on. The more the better. If you're so/so on goat cheese, then just sprinkle enough to cover the top. It really adds a nice flavor once you add the dressing.

When it comes to the dressing, I like to keep it seperate and pour it on once I've 'dished up'. There's nothing worse than having too much dressing or soggy salad. Spinach is particularly prone to sogginess.

This salad is fantastic as a main course when you add some grilled chicken or - my favorite - Beer Butt Chicken (recipe coming soon).

Pizza Time!

**Did I mention I need a new camera?**

Today I was feeling rather lethargic and could not decide what to make for dinner. There was talk of hamburgers...but that didn't really appeal to me today. Instead I came across a yummy recipe for Carmelized Onion and Goat Cheese Pizza at Good Eats 'n Sweet Treats. Being the goat cheese whore that I am, I got really excited as I read this recipe (yah, I'm a dork.) and decided to experiment and make a half/half pizza to share with the hubby. I made 1/2 the pizza in this recipe and the other half was my own re-creation of a pizza served at Earl's Restaurant.

At Earl's it's called the 'California Pizza', simply - basil pesto as the sauce, and for the topping I use sundried tomatoes, shrimp and goat cheese. Once it's out of the oven I like to squeeze some lemon juice on it. Mmmmmm, etc.

I'm not really one for measuring, either. I mean, seriously, it's a pizza, do what feels good! I love goat cheese and sundried tomatoes so I put lots on my side and not as much on hubby's side.

The final verdict
Hubby said the onion pizza needs meat. He's a man so I really can't blame him... plus I agree so I think I will add some grilled chicken next time.

Both sides were fantastic however I had some trouble with the crust, I baked the pizza on our new pizza stone (thanks Mr&Mrs W!)...the underside part of the crust did not bake/harden. I tried leaving it in the oven a bit longer but the side crust got darker as well as the toppings so I had to just take it out. It was still good I just wished it was a bit crispier.