How to cut romaine lettuce for salads the fastest and easiest way possible.
I have another quick tip for you today. Maybe you already know this one. Maybe this is how you’ve always cut your romaine. Or maybe this is going to change your salad-loving life. I know it changed mine! This is the very fastest and easiest way to cut romaine for all of those January salads you’ve been making.
- Wash any visible dirt and debris from the outside leaves. Shake or pat dry.
- Starting an inch or two from the bottom, stab your knife halfway through the bunch in the middle of one of the ribs. Cut all the way up to the top of the leaf.
- Turn the bunch slightly and insert the knife between the rib you just cut and the next. Run the knife up to the top. Continue to turn and cut until you make it all the way around.
- Place your knife at a 45 degree and, starting at the center of the bunch, cut across the leaves.
- Turn your knife and cut the other side, creating a triangle.
- Cut off the tip of the triangle.
- Repeat until you get to the bottom.
- Rinse very well, spin dry, and top with something delicious!
Or in short…
A light and healthy Asian chicken salad. Simple, delicious, yum.
We’re in week two of our January salad series, (did you try last week’s Garlic Chicken Cobb Salad ? It’s sooooo good!) and I’ve got to say, I have a good one for you today. This is the salad that taught me to appreciate a little sweetness with my greens.
Most of my life, every time I saw sweet dressing on a menu, I would ask the universe, WHY WOULD YOU PUT SUGAR ON YOUR LETTUCE?? Then I made this salad and it was a light bulb moment. Oh, because it’s delicious. That’s why.
Healthy (i.e., not smothered in delicious creamy dressings) salads can start to feel a little samey after a while, especially when we’re eating a lot of them. So it’s great to bring in different influences to mix things up.
This one has an Asian flair to it, made with soy sauce, mandarin oranges, fried chow mein noodles, and a sweet dressing made with toasted sesame oil.
The toasted sesame oil gives the dressing a great, deep nutty umami flavor that makes it feel so distinct from your usual simple vinaigrette. And the ginger and garlic marinated chicken paired with the crunchy chow mein noodles and the plump burst of tart sweetness from the mandarins is AMAZING. Whenever I find myself growing tired of salads, I throw this one in the rotation to get me out of my funk!
As written, this Asian Chicken Salad recipe serves 4. To change the recipe yield, hover over the number of servings in the recipe below (or click if you are on mobile) and slide the slider–see recipe notes for further instructions.
Ingredients
Marinade
- ▢ 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- ▢ 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- ▢ 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil*
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Salad
- ▢ 1 pound (about 2 small) boneless skinless chicken breasts pounded thin
- ▢ 1 large head romaine chopped
- ▢ 1 11-ounce can mandarin oranges drained
- ▢ 1 cup ( 2 oz) fried chow mein noodles
Dressing
- ▢ 1/2 cup rice vinegar*
- ▢ 1/4 cup sugar
- ▢ 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/8 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Marinade
- Combine marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag and give it a shake. Add chicken and marinate at room temperature for 10 to 30 minutes.
Dressing
- While the chicken is marinating, bring vinegar to boil in a small pot. Once the vinegar is boiling, remove from heat and add the sugar, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved. Add the rest of the dressing ingredients and pour into a mason jar. Shake to combine. Set aside to cool.
Salad
- Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and grease with cooking spray. Add chicken to the pan and cook 5-8 minutes per side, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the breasts reads 160°F. Transfer chicken to a cutting board and allow to rest for at least 5 minutes before slicing into strips.
- Serve chicken over romaine, topped with mandarin oranges, chow mein noodles, and dressing. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional Information (salad only, no dressing) Nutritional Information (dressing, per 2-tablespoon serving) Adapted From: Iowa Girl Eats
This Easy Chicken Cacciatore is boneless, skinless chicken thighs and mushrooms simmered in a rich tomato sauce and served over a bed of egg noodles for a fabulous weeknight meal.
Looking for more easy pasta dishes? Try my Creamy Chicken Pasta With Bell Peppers and Chicken Asparagus Pasta for Two .
Chicken cacciatore is one of my mom’s best dishes (her Carrot Cake is another of them). Growing up, nights when we got to have it for dinner were a big deal. We were a busy family, and her recipe involved digging out the giant electric skillet, cutting up an entire chicken, and waiting for what seemed like hours for that to cook.
So between all the soccer games, play rehearsals, lessons, etc. of my childhood, we didn’t often have time for homemade chicken cacciatore, but when we did, it was happy times for all!
When I moved away to go to college, I think I tried the original recipe twice before I declared it too much work for one person. It took too long, and it never tasted quite like Mom’s. But a while back, I had a hankering to give this childhood favorite another try.
After a little tinkering, not only did I take most of the work out of the recipe, but I think I’ve managed to improve on the original (sorry, Mom!). This Easy Chicken Cacciatore has gone from a weekend-only meal involving the dismembering of a dead animal to a quick and simple-to-prepare dinner, perfect for busy weeknights.
No longer must you cut up an entire chicken or dig out a giant electric skillet to cook it all in! This version uses boneless skinless chicken thighs, which means no cutting, the meat all fits in one pan, AND it lightens up the dish considerably. The prep takes all of 15 minutes and once you get the sauce simmering, it’s almost completely hands off until it’s time to eat.
If you’ve never had chicken cacciatore before, you’re in for a treat. The long (but not too long!) low simmer with the white wine and brandy (optional if you don’t have it around) makes the chicken thighs fall-apart tender and gives the entire dish a deep and wonderful richness you wouldn’t expect from something that contains no heavy cream or cheese.
And bonus, this is one healthy meal. Serve with a side of steamed broccoli and you have an entire dinner for under 500 calories.
I make this all the time on weeknights, but it’s also really fabulous if you have guests coming over. This dish is practically full-proof since it’s simmered in liquid for a set time (you’d have to try real hard to burn/over/under cook this chicken), and like with my Bacon and Feta Stuffed Chicken , your house will smell soooooooooooo good while it’s cooking.
Accompany it with some nice crusty bread and hearty vegetable side, and I guarantee you will have happy guests who are begging you for this Easy Chicken Cacciatore recipe when the night is over.
More Easy Pasta Dishes
- Creamy Sausage Pasta
- Buttered Noodles
- Chicken and Broccoli Orzo
- Baked Ziti
Ingredients
Dredge
- ▢ 4 large boneless skinless chicken thighs *
- ▢ 1/2 cup ( 60g ) all-purpose flour mixed with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Brown
- ▢ 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ▢ 2 tablespoons diced green onions shallot or onion may also be used
- ▢ 3 cloves garlic minced
Simmer
- ▢ 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
- ▢ 2 cups ( 1 14.5-ounce can) chicken broth
- ▢ 2 cups ( 8 oz) mushrooms sliced
- ▢ 1/2 cup dry white wine*
- ▢ 2 tablespoons brandy or 1/4 cup Muscatel optional
Sprinkle
- ▢ 1 bay leaf
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon salt
- ▢ 1/2 teaspoon basil
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon thyme
- ▢ 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Boil
- ▢ 8 ounces egg noodles
Instructions
- Dredge the chicken in the flour mixture, coating completely.
- Heat oil in a large skillet (with a lid) over medium-high heat.
- Once the oil is hot, add the chicken. Brown the first side and flip. After you have flipped the chicken, add the green onions and garlic to the pan between the thighs and brown, being careful not to let the garlic burn (if it starts to burn, add a little of the chicken broth to the pan right away).
- While the chicken and garlic are browning, spread a large dollop of tomato paste over each of the thighs, using the entire can. Once everything is browned, pour the chicken broth over the top, and add mushrooms, white wine, brandy, bay leaf, salt, basil, thyme, and pepper. When you add the spices, try to sprinkle them as evenly over the whole dish as possible.
- Bring to a low simmer, cover, and cook for 25 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure all of the mushrooms are cooking in the sauce and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. If the cooking liquid is still very soupy after 15 minutes, simmer uncovered for the remaining time. The dish is done when chicken is tender and sauce is thickened.
- While chicken cooks, bring a pot of lightly salted water to boil and cook pasta according to package instructions. I usually start boiling water once the chicken begins to simmer and dump the pasta in when there are 7 minutes or so left on the timer.
- Divide pasta and cover with chicken and sauce. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutritional Information Adapted from: Joy of Cooking
