The recipe for Asian Almond Slaw Salad was developed in partnership with Fisher Nuts.

Anyone have Spring Fever yet? I think it’s safe to say always have spring fever, for the most part. Our weather situation in Florida is nothing to complain about but I cherish the small pocket of time it feels like spring here, which is right about now. I spent most of this last weekend in the yard trimming landscaping and planning for flowers. Cleaning up my herb pots is next on the list. Nothing feels as good to me as a few hours of work in the sunshine (when it’s not sweltering hot).

This is the time of year that I am also ready to get back in the salad. I say that all the time but January is just not a big salad month for me, and I have to be honest, I’m missing raw, crunchy veggies in my life right now. I pulled together this Asian Almond Slaw Salad in honor of getting back in the salad and sharing a heart healthy recipe with you since February is American Heart Month. I think it’s safe to say you already know that fresh fruits and veggies are considered heart healthy foods, but did you know that nuts are too?

(more…)

The post Asian Almond Slaw Salad appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Click here to pin this Chinese Five Spice Pork Chops with Broccoli recipe!

One of my goals for the upcoming new year is to start cooking from my cookbooks again. I have a pretty massive collection of cookbooks that I cherish and love, but sadly don’t cook from as much as I used to. Over the years, I’ve become accustomed to creating recipes from scratch to share here on the blog and my cookbooks have been neglected in the process. One of my recent cookbook purchases is a fantastic and practical cookbook called Sheet Pan Suppers and today’s Chinese Spice Pork Chops with Broccoli was inspired from it.

Today’s post is also for this month’s Recipe Redux – the Recipe Redux is a monthly recipe challenge where we focus on a theme and recreate a recipe with a healthier twist. This month’s theme was Grab a Book and Cook, so I was excited to do just that! Since the Recipe Redux is celebrating it’s 54th month we were to find a recipe on page 54 or 154 of a nearby cookbook and reinvent a healthy version of it. I picked up Sheet Pan Suppers and found a recipe using an ingredient that I was defrosting for dinner – pork chops. It happens to be on page 123 (oops!!) because I missed the little page detail until later (I blame my holiday brain!).

(more…)

The post Chinese Five Spice Pork Chops with Broccoli appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Why don’t I make stir fry more often?  It’s such an easy meal to throw together, and you can change it up every time.  I was scrambling to figure out dinner for Larry and I the other night at um…let’s say 5ish, the kids were having pasta and I just wasn’t in the mood for pasta.  I had an oversupply of broccoli in the fridge (thanks to Publix’s $1  bags of florets this week!) so I knew broccoli had to be a main ingredient.  Looking in the freezer for ideas I saw shrimp.  Frozen shrimp are so great to have on hand because they are so quick to defrost and cook.  So stir fry it was.

I like to cook up the shrimp in the wok first with some garlic, ginger and a couple teaspoons of oil.  Once its cooked I set it aside and then add the veggies to the hot pan.  For this stir fry I used sliced onion, broccoli florets, water chestnuts and edamame.  The combination was perfect.  I put together a basic Asian sauce out of some staples and dinner was served.

Oh and don’t forget the chopsticks…I love eating with chopsticks at home, makes me feel like I’m having “takeout”, and I tend to eat slower with them.  Just one of those mental tricks I guess.  Larry was a big fan of this stir fry, he said it was the best one I’ve made so far.  I’m happy with that compliment! 🙂

Shrimp, Broccoli and Edamame Stir Fry

Ingredients:

• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp canola oil
• 1 tsp fresh ginger, minced (or from the jar)
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 can sliced water chestnuts
• 1 cup frozen edamame, defrosted
• 2-3 TB rice vinegar
• 2 TB soy sauce
• 2 tsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp chile garlic sauce
• couple of splashes of fish sauce

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, combine rice vinegar, soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, chile garlic sauce and fish sauce.
2. Heat wok over medium high heat. Add oil, garlic, ginger and shrimp and cook until shrimp are just pink, about 2-3 minutes. Set shrimp aside.
3. Add onion and broccoli to hot wok. Cook for about 2 minutes, then add edamame and water chestnuts. Continue to cook for about 2 more minutes. Add back in shrimp and sauce and toss to combine, cook for about 2-3 minutes longer. (I like my veggies crisp, but if you prefer, cook a little longer for softer veggies.)

Happy Friday to everyone!  What are your plans this weekend?  The Gators are playing a big game Saturday night so that’s what we’ll be doing…the rest of the weekend is up to the kids!  🙂

Have a great weekend!

The post Shrimp, Broccoli and Edamame Stir Fry appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

This salad is officially a new favorite in my book. I had no idea it would be this good! I made this the other night for dinner for a friend of mine and I. We served it over fresh spinach leaves for a light weeknight dinner and it was perfect. Leftovers for lunch the next day were even better.

The salad was really easy to put together. I had roasted the chicken earlier in the day so that it was ready to be shredded. I also blanched the asparagus at the same time and kept them in the fridge to chill. The dressing was a breeze to throw together – I just love making my own fresh salad dressings. I originally thought about serving this salad over some cold sesame noodles or even in a pita, but the fresh spinach leaves worked out wonderfully to make this a great dinner salad.

Thank you to Kenzie over at Kenzie’s Kitchen for choosing this month’s recipe…go check her out along with the rest of the Ina Garten fans over at Barefoot Bloggers! The Barefoot Bloggers are a group of cookers and bakers brought together to test out the talented Ina Garten’s always fantastic recipes…come join us!

Chinese Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

• 4 split chicken breasts (bone-in, skin-on) (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
• Good olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 pound asparagus, ends removed, and cut in thirds diagonally
• 1 red bell pepper, cored and seeded
• 2 scallions (white and green parts), sliced diagonally
• 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds, toasted

For the dressing:

• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup good apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
• 1/2 tablespoon honey
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 tablespoon sesame seeds, toasted
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Place the chicken breasts on a sheet pan and rub with the skin with olive oil. Sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove the meat from the bones, discard the skin, and shred the chicken in large bite-sized pieces.
3. Blanch the asparagus in a pot of boiling salted water for 3 to 5 minutes until crisp-tender. Plunge into ice water to stop the cooking. Drain. Cut the peppers in strips about the size of the asparagus pieces. Combine the cut chicken, asparagus, and peppers in a large bowl.
4. Whisk together all of the ingredients for the dressing and pour over the chicken and vegetables. Add the scallions and sesame seeds and season to taste. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Recipe from Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa Parties! and Food Network

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

PS…I will be posting my Craving Ellie in my Belly recipe tomorrow…it’s dinner tonight!!

The post Chinese Chicken Salad appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.

Before I get into this week’s Craving Ellie in my Belly recipe, I wanted to tell you all that Aggie’s Kitchen was included in RN Central’s Top 100 Healthy Mom Blogs! I was very excited and honored about this since this is my first time ever being included in any type of “list”…go check it out, there are so many mom related blogs listed full of lots of great information!!
Thank you so much RN Central!

Now on to this week’s recipe…Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens. This recipe was chosen by Joanne of Apple Crumbles…don’t you just love that name? 😉 Check out the CEimB group page to see how everyone cooked up this recipe!

I used a combination of Napa Cabbage and Bok Choy and served it with Mary Ann’s Zucchini and Chicken Stir Fry. I thought the greens turned out very good, but mine seemed to be a bit watery. I think it might have been my fault, I didn’t really take the time to dry them out after rinsing them so a lot of the leftover water must have landed into the pan. I am curious to see what everyone else in the CEimB group thinks of this recipe, I felt like it might have been missing something…maybe it needed a little kick or something? It still was a great, quick and light side dish…perfect for an Asian inspired meal. I think next time it would go perfect with a nice piece of marinated grilled chicken or fish.

Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 2 pounds baby bok choy or Napa cabbage, sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

1. In a wok or large frying pan heat the oil over high heat until very hot. Add the bok choy and stir-fry until they begin to soften slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil and cook until just done, 1 to 2 minutes longer. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve.

Recipe by Ellie Krieger

Follow AggiesKitchen on Instagram and show us what recipes you are making from the blog! Use the hashtag #aggieskitchen - I'd love to see what you are cooking up!

Check out Food Network for a printable version of this recipe!

The post Thursdays with Ellie Krieger… Sesame Stir Fried Chinese Greens appeared first on Aggie's Kitchen.