Chicken Almondine & Roasted Rainbow Tomato Salad

Chicken Almondine with Lemon Green Beans
& Roasted Rainbow Tomato Salad - June 16th, 2012

I was supposed to have made these two recipes on Friday, but we went to over to friends of ours instead. I made these for our supper yesterday.

Chicken Almondine with Lemon Green Beans - page 69

"Quick and simple, our Chicken Almondine is perfect to whip up on a frenzied weekenight yet elegant enough to serve your company. With savory, nutty almonds accentuating the natural sweetness of the chicken, this versatile dish could easily become a favorite in your household."

Roasted Rainbow Tomato Salad - page 41

"A simple Caprese salad is a quintessential summer dish and ours is a show-stopper addition to any table with its gorgeous rainbow of tomatoes."


I'm glad that I decided to pair up these two recipes. They went very well together. The timing on both worked well as the tomatoes had to roast for 20-25 min, so that gave me plenty of time to prepare the chicken.

I did run into another issue for not owning a food processor though. After toasting the almonds I did not have a food processor to then grind them. I had to put my knife work to use and chop/dice/mince those bad boys into submission. I managed to get them down to basically a fine bread crumb style. The kitchen took on a very almond-y scent (which isn't a bad thing).

The flavour of the tomatoes was soooo good. I WILL make this again. You could taste a backdrop of the balsamic vinegar and olive oil in the juices of the tomatoes. The fresh mozzarella melted on top with fresh basil...Mmmmmmm.

The chicken remained juicy and you still got little crunches from the toasted almonds sprinkled on top. I really enjoyed this dish. Just a simple dredging in the almond, flour and paprika mixture resulted in a really tasty meal.

The acidity on the green beans from the lemon juice & zest was a good contrast although the beans specifically needed to be blanched for longer than a minute as the recipe called for. They still had a bit too much of a "raw" crunch for my likes.


On Friday evening we did draw the next set of recipes for this week. They are as follows:

• Healthy Corn on the Cob - page 245
• Turkey Jacket Potatoes - page 102
• Roasted Salmon - page 107
• Suddenly St. Tropez Salad - page 171
  

There was a fifth recipe "Hidden Gem Cupcakes", but I'm holding it off till next week as I have another 'dessert' to make this week. We are having a Bake Sale at work on Wednesday to raise money for our "Christmas Family". I will be baking Icebox Cookies from 'Bake with Anna Olson' (My favourite baking show on the Food Network). I'll post photos of the cookies on here Tuesday night. I've never made Pate Sable dough before, but I'm going to give it a go.

With this blog, I want to also include other recipes I make and even creations of my own. Of course the main theme will continue to be my challenge of cooking through "The Best of Clean Eating", but I think it will be interesting to also keep a record of 'tales' from my kitchen. Please post your creations as well as I'd love to hear from you!!

In addition to my original challenge there is another mini one that I want to take on. I just discovered this one yesterday. Anna Olson has created a monthly baking challenge called "Anna's Bake Off". This month the recipe is Earl Grey Chiffon Cake with Maple Meringue. Not sure when, but before the end of the month I will bake this and post my results. Sure sounds yummy though!

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