Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Cooking With Kids

I love cookbooks and I have a lot of them, but sometimes cookbooks I am very excited about and love to look at never actually get cooked from. Probably because I am busy and it is so much easier to cook what I know works and not branch out. So I've decided to start a little project of using the cookbooks that I have, just one at a time to help keep me focused, and make all the recipes that I've been eyeing but never making. Not all the recipes in the book, mind you, and not chronologically, but just the ones I always think about making but never do. I decided to start with this very appealing children's cookbook I've had for a couple years now and have barely used. The recipes in here are all healthy, natural and fresh and look very very yummy. We're still getting meals delivered a few nights a week, thank goodness, so I can plan to make things from this book the other nights and I'll be posting what I make.

The first recipe was "Bang Bang Chicken" which I prepared Sunday night after getting home from our outing to the grandparents' house. I had a leftover rotisserie chicken someone had brought over, so it was perfect. We, especially Faith and I, just loved it, and we were really in the mood for something light and vegetable-y after all the pasta we've been getting. Here's the recipe.

Bang Bang Chicken
from Cooking With Kids by Linda Collister

This is a favorite cold salad from our local Chinese restaurant--ready-cooked smoked or "plain-roast" chicken is arranged on sticks of cucumber then topped with a creamy peanut butter dressing.

14 oz. ready-cooked boneless chicken, such as smoked chicken, cold roast chicken, or cold turkey [I used a cold rotisserie chicken, white meat only]
1 medium cucumber
1 large carrot
salad leaves such as crisp littuce or Chinese leaves, about 1 cup [I used more]

Bang Bang Dressing
5 T. crunchy peanut butter
1 scallion
1 t. sesame oil
1 t. soy sauce
1 t. sugar
1 t. Chinese rice vinegar or cider vinegar
1 t. rece wine or water
3 T. hot water
[I made more dressing too]

1. Remove any skin from the chicken and discard. Pull the chicken into shreds.
2. Chop the cucumber.
3. Make carrot ribbons by using your vegetable peeler.
4. Prepare the salad leaves. Arrange the leaves, cucumber, carrot, and chicken in a large salad bowl.
5. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients with a whisk. (Chop the scallion). Thin as necessary with hot water.
6. Spoon the dressing over the chicken and serve.

6 comments:

Laura said...

I am the same way about cookbooks!! I just finally bought Apples for Jam as a gift for myself and totally love it! I think you would too! See if your library has it...it is a precious book with beautiful photos and it is written by a mother of two young children!

I AM going to make Bang Bang Chicken plus I love the name :)
Happy Day,
Laura

Unknown said...

Oh man, that sounds yummy. I'm all over it.

Our Adventures As A Family of 4.... said...

I am just starting to get some more cookbooks. I also subscribed to Everyday Food and just got two books yesterday and today. I'm looking at some of the recipes and thinking they would be good to make. I showed some to my husband who said, "I'd eat that." LOL. I think this recipe looks good.

Molly

Gift of Green said...

Yum...trying to eat the picture...not working!

tess said...

cooking can be a great stress reliever and looking and cookbooks is one of my favourite things, this recipe sounds delicious.

ames said...

ooh, yum that looks good! That's the first recipe for Bang Bang chicken I've seen that's a salad, can't wait to try it!