Watermelon Asian Salad

This recipe was made by a guest speaker in my classroom. All 150 students loved it, so I knew it was a hit! I brought it to my family Christmas and they loved it as well. 

I serve it with chips and people are surprised that the recipe has watermelon and not tomatoes. It looks a lot like pico de gallo. Serve it with anything salty. It would be a great topping on pork chops.

Ingredients:

• ¼ watermelon, seeds removed, diced
• ½ cup rice wine vinegar or regular white vinegar
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1.5 tsp of ground ginger
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
• 1-2 serrano peppers, minced
• 1 tsp basil
• ¼ cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 2 scallions, sliced
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions 

1. Mix everything together except for the watermelon.
2. Add watermelon
3. Serve with chips or over pork chops

 

Soy Balsamic Chicken Thighs with Grilled Pineapple

This recipe was tried by the Markert family tonight and it turned out great! It was super easy and tasty. It's also pretty healthy for you. Try it out!!!

Ingredients:

• ¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 6 -8 chicken thighs
• Rice
• Pineapple

Directions

1. Mix together the soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper until the sugar is dissolved.
2. Put cleaned and dry chicken thighs in a large sealable plastic bag.
3. Add the soy mixture, force out excess air and leave to marinate for up to 24 hours.
4. Preheat oven to 425F
5. Transfer chicken and marinade to a large shallow baking pan (do not crowd chicken) then roast in middle of oven turning twice until chicken is cooked through for about 35-40 minutes.
6. Arrange chicken on serving dish. (I place the chicken in the microwave without turning it on to trap the heat.)
7. Pour the pan juices into a sauce pan. Add 1/3 cup water and bring to a simmer. Do this for about 5 minutes.
8. While making the sauce, place pineapple chunks into skillet and cook for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
9. Spoon sauce over chicken.
10. Serve with grilled pineapple over brown rice

Pad Thai

I absolutely love pad thai and have not been able to find a recipe that tastes like what I find at restaurants. The sauce always ends up tasting too much like peanut butter, but not this recipe! It tastes just like the pad thai at Pei Wei or P.F. Chang's. A couple things you need to know:

1. The recipe calls for rice noodles. These can be found at almost any grocery store and are found in the Asian aisle. Do NOT cook them like regular pasta noodles or they will turn to mush. They simply need to be put in warm water and will finish cooking in the skillet.
2.  If desperate, using angel hair pasta will work fine. Just cook the noodles according to the package and then add to skillet.

Ingredients:

Update

• 8 oz rice noodles
• 3 - 4 garlic cloves (minced)
• 2 green onions
• 6 sliced mushrooms
• 1 chicken breast thinly sliced

Sauce Ingredients (I loved the sauce so much I doubled it!)

• ½ cup chicken stock
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 -3 tablespoons natural-style peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon garlic chili sauce

Directions:

1. Place noodles into a big bowl of warm water. Let soak while you work on the rest.
2.  Place 1Tbsp olive oil or butter in large skillet over medium - high heat. Melt and then add chicken. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add garlic and other veggies. Continue sauteing until soft.
3. While sauteing, stir together vegetable stock, soy sauce, peanut butter, honey, ginger, coriander, red pepper flakes in a small sauce pan.
4. Cook over medium heat until peanut butter and honey melt and sauce is heated through.
5. Add noodles to stir fried veggies and meat in skillet until soft. Add sauce and mix thoroughly.

Banana Bread

This is my mom's recipe for banana bread and I have great memories of her making it when I was younger. The smell alone will make you seem like an awesome cook!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup shortening
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup sour milk (Just add 1 tsp vinegar to milk)
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ¼ tsp salt
• 2 cups flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cream together shortening and sugar
3. Add eggs, milk and bananas
4. In a separate bowl, mix baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour
5. Slowly combine dry ingredients into banana mixture.
6. Use extra shortening to grease bread pan and dust with flour
7. Pour batter into pan
8. Bake for 1 hour or until toothpick comes out of the middle clean