Jun 282013
 

Chicken Salad with Pomegranate | My Little Gourmet

We’ve currently got a little bit of an obsession with pomegranates in our household. Arik and I sprinkle the delicious little sweet and sour seeds on our oatmeal or bircher muesli in the mornings or will just eat them by the handful as a snack. The only thing that bothers me about this fruit, is getting those seeds out of the white casing. I went on a little search to try and find an easier method than the one I was using, and actually found a way that seems to be the quickest and easiest method out there. Here are some step-by-step instructions in case you guys are also having issues with deseeding. If you are not, then please share your method because if it gets easier than this, I am all ears!

How to de-seed a Pomegranate easily | My Little Gourmet

What you’ll need is a medium bowl filled with some water, a knife, a strainer, and a big flat spoon like the wooden one above.
1.)To start you’ll want score the fruit horizontally with the knife. Don’t cut all the way through because then you’ll cut the seeds and that could get messy.
2.)Next take the fruit in both hands and twist it open.
3.)Take a half and place it open-side down in your palm and hold the spoon in your other hand. Now, over the bowl of water, whack (pretty hard) the backside of the pomegranate with the spoon. Continue doing this while turning the fruit so you get the seeds out of all of the sides.
4.)Repeat with the other half.
5.)Take a strainer or spoon and skim all of the white pieces off the top of the water.
6.)Dump the seeds out into a strainer and voila, you’ve got yourself some ready-to-eat pomegranate seeds in a matter of minutes.
You may want to put an apron on while doing this because every once in a while a little juice can squirt out. Well, now that you guys know how to get your pomegranate seeds out, you may as well try out this yummy harvest chicken salad.

Chicken Salad with Pomegranate | My Little Gourmet

There is absolutely no mayonnaise (only Greek yogurt) in this and it is still creamy and delicious! I season the chicken breasts with seasoning salt and pepper and cook them in a frying pan so that they are nice and golden brown. Usually I’ll just make this at the beginning of the week, so that numerous days of lunches are taken care of and all you have to do is toast some bread!

Chicken Salad with Pomegranate | My Little Gourmet

 

5.0 from 3 reviews
Harvest Chicken Salad with Pomegranate
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 1 lb./500g chicken breast, cooked and diced into small chunks
  • ½ red onion, diced finely
  • ½ apple, diced into small chunks
  • 10-15 grapes, quartered
  • 2-3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds
  • 2 tablespoons sliced almonds
  • ½ cup/100g Greek yogurt
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt and pepper
Instructions
  1. Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and add salt and pepper to taste.
  2. Serve on fresh bread or rolls.
Notes
*I season the chicken breasts on both sides and cook them in some melted butter in a pan.

 
Recipe adapted from Nature Box
 Posted by at 12:32

Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese

 Lunches/Snacks  Comments Off on Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese
Apr 192013
 

Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese | My Little Gourmet

So apparently last week was National Grilled Cheese Day in the states and I missed it. How humiliating! 🙂 To make up for this mistake I decided to make us some grilled cheesies this week. But not just any grilled cheese, no, a turkey and gouda grilled cheese topped with some tart apple slices. Sooo good!

Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese | My Little Gourmet

After making our sandwiches, I realized that this was Arik’s very first grilled cheese ever and right after eating it, he wanted his very first second grilled cheese ever. Go figure. For the cheese I used a mild gouda and the apple was a pink lady. These are nice and tart and paired perfectly with the melted gouda. Along with the sandwiches I made a roasted tomato soup, which according to Arik, who chose to have about 3 spoonfuls, paled in comparison to the grilled cheese. Oh well, more soup for me!

Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese | My Little Gourmet Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese | My Little Gourmet

 

Turkey and Apple Grilled Cheese
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
Serves: 1
Ingredients
  • 2 slices of whole wheat bread
  • 1 slice of turkey
  • 1-2 slices of cheese (we used Gouda)
  • a few slices of your favorite kind of apple (we used pink lady)
  • butter
Instructions
  1. Heat a pan over medium heat.
  2. Spread some butter on one side of each of the bread slices.
  3. Put one bread slice in the pan buttered side down, top it with the turkey, cheese and apple slices, and cover it with the other slice of bread, buttered side up.
  4. Once the cheese begins to melt and the bread turns golden brown, flip the sandwich and allow the other side to brown.

 

 Posted by at 12:58
Jan 182013
 

Tuna Salad Sandwich

Lunch at our house is nowhere near as diverse as our dinners. More often than not (ok, just about every day) Arik will get a cheese sandwich (he is absolutely obsessed with cheese) with some tomato and cucumber slices. If I’m feeling really crazy then we’ll have the left-overs from dinner the night before. As you can see, my lunch menus need some work. That is why I’ve made it my goal for the new year to gather lots of easy and delicious lunch ideas which, if they pass the Arik Taste Test, I will tell you guys about here.

As I started to brainstorm different lunch ideas, this tuna salad, which I used to eat when I was a kid, popped into my head. My mom used to always make this for my brothers and me, although she used mayonnaise. I decided to try this recipe out on Arik, but I substituted the mayo with greek yogurt. Everyone really liked it and I even liked it better than my childhood version…sorry mom. 🙂

Tuna Salad Sandwich

The recipe is for 1 can of tuna, but I just ended up doubling it so we would have enough for a few days. Our favorite way to eat this tuna salad is on toasted whole-wheat bread with a crisp leaf of lettuce (keeps the bread from getting soggy) and of course a slice of cheese for Arik’s sandwich. I hope you all enjoy and now I’m off to hunt for lots of new and delicious lunch ideas. If you don’t want to wait until I get around to writing a post on my finds (I tend to be a little slow :)) then you can follow my findings on Pinterest…and if you’ve got some great lunch ideas and recipes of your own I would love to hear about them.

Tuna Salad
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • 1 6 oz. can of tuna in water, drained
  • 1 small stalk of celery, chopped finely
  • 1 medium pickle, chopped finely
  • ½ tart apple (I used a Pink Lady), chopped finely
  • 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 3 tablespoons greek yogurt
  • salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
  1. Combine the drained tuna and all of the chopped ingredients in a medium bowl and mix thoroughly.
  2. Add the lemon juice and yogurt, mix well and season with salt and pepper.
Notes
We like it best served on whole wheat toast.

 Posted by at 13:31
Dec 212012
 

German Potato Salad

Since I come from a part-German, part-American family, I grew up with Christmas traditions from both sides.  This was great because I got the best of both worlds, but I’ve come to realize I also missed quite a few traditions, since there is only room and time for so many.  So, I’ve spent the past couple of weeks asking just about every German person I’ve come across what some of their family Christmas traditions are.  I was especially interested in knowing what sort of foods they eat on Christmas Eve because I needed some ideas. Surprisingly, the majority of them said “potato salad and bratwurst.”  Not stereotypical German at all, I know. 😉  I personally have never heard of this tradition, but after some thought, I decided I like it.  You don’t want to eat anything too heavy the evening before a huge Christmas meal and you also don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen.  Potato salad and brats seem like the perfect answer.  And luckily I have the perfect potato salad recipe for this tradition…

German Potato Salad

I’ve never been a big fan of potato salad.  I’ve always found it to be a bit bland and too “potatoey.” 🙂 That is, until I found this recipe for German (specifically Berliner) potato salad.  I don’t know if it’s the apple or the delicious dressing, but something makes this potato salad too die for.  I know we will be enjoying it, along with some brats on December 24th for our new Christmas Eve tradition!  What will you all be having for your Christmas Eve meal?

German Potato Salad

Hope your days are filled with lots of presents, delicious food and most importantly time with family and friends! Happy Holidays to all of you!

German Potato Salad

German (Berliner) Potato Salad
 
Prep time
Total time
 
Author:
Serves: 4
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs./1kg potatoes, Yellow Finn, Yukon Gold, and red potatoes tend to work best
  • 2 teaspoons mustard
  • 3 teaspoons sugar
  • ½ cup/100 ml pickle juice
  • ¼ cup/50 ml white wine vinegar
  • ½ cup/100 ml sunflower oil
  • 1 purple onion, chopped finely
  • 1 apple, a tart kind such as Pink Lady, chopped
  • 4-5 medium pickles, chopped
  • 3-4 green onions, chopped
  • salt and fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
  1. Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with cold water and tablespoon of salt, cook until tender and rinse with cold water. Once cool enough to handle, peel and slice potatoes.
  2. In the meantime put mustard, sugar, pickle juice, vinegar, oil, very finely chopped onion, some salt, and quite a bit of fresh ground black pepper in a sealable jar or glass and shake to combine.
  3. In a large bowl place one layer of potato slices, followed by a handful of pickles, a handful of apples, a couple of spoonfuls of dressing and salt and pepper. Continue to layer until all of the ingredients are used up and pour any excess dressing over the top.
  4. Allow salad to sit at least 3-4 hours, but preferably overnight and then toss to combine.
  5. Mix in the chopped green onions and serve.

Recipe adapted from Petra Regina 

 

 Posted by at 14:00