Me love you long time!

I made this pico de gallo tonight and OH MY WORD! It was mighty fine! I don't want to brag, but my mom knows how to COOK! She has the best recipes and I just told her today that in all her 'free time' she should get all her recipes together and copied and given to me and the sistas... I thought that was better than what my dad recommended - that Mom just come over and teach us each recipe. Because when we (me and the sistas) make anything, we always have to call her ask her how to do it, or get some clarification.

My mother-in-law also is an awesome cook and I've called her on many a recipe too!

Here's what I like about a recipe - easy, quick, and I can remember all the ingredients in my head (no easy task).

Anyway this recipe is worth sharing and it fits my short criteria!

Pico de Gallo

6 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 bunch of cilantro, cut
1 large yellow onion, diced
6 jalapenos, diced and seeded (use the knife to do this or it will get under your fingernails and burn!)
the juice of one whole lemon (although I used lime tonight and it was good)
six to ten shakes of red wine vinegar (if I had to guess, prob about 1/4 cup)
lots of Lawry's season salt (sprinkle the top all the way across and back again)

Stir and let it sit for 30 minutes so the flavors marinate and it makes a juice. Then stir again. We ate with chips, but you can add it to anything and all the colors are beautiful!

The next time I bring something to a get together, this is what I'm taking! If you make it, let me know if you like it! And if you need clarification on anything, don't hesitate to call me!

Chicken Salad Recipe

Like always, I find something I like and make it into the ground! My latest offense, North Shore Chicken Salad. I first tasted this mixture of deliciousness when I was working at Children's. One of the dietitians brought it to a pot luck and holy moley, I was in LOVE! Another dietitian said really loud during the lunch, I'll never forget, "I love the way this feels in my mouth!" To which all the other dietitians laughed and replied, "That's called mouthfeel!" So bottom line, it has great mouthfeel, which is a dietitian tag word, so you might not totally appreciate that story, but I thought it was so funny!! It also has great color, so its presentation is beautiful!OK, here's the original recipe online.

http://www.chefonthegoinc.com/recipes/north_shore_chick_salad.htm

But here's how I make it, mostly the same, but with just a couple modifications. And I always make a big batch, so you could totally half this and be set! But it's a little bit of work, so I like to get my money's worth, so to speak.

6 chicken breasts, boiled and cubed
2 boxes of long grain and wild rice, cooked
2 bell peppers, red and yellow
4 green onions, chopped
1 bag of shelled edamame* (or two bags of edamame that you have to shell yourself)
*You could substitute sugar snap peas, cut in half. That's what the original recipe called for.

Dressing**, mix all in a blender:
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
2-3 garlic cloves
couple squirts of dijon mustard
LOTS of salt and pepper
**I usually don't use all of the dressing, there might be a little left over, but 1/3 cup each doesn't seem like quite enough. So just use enough to wet it all. (You'll be adding a few more things before serving, so keep that in mind, it will soak up a little more dressing. You can use any left over on chopped tomatoes and cucumbers as a side on another day.

It's good to let this all sit in the fridge and let the favors mix together, but if time is of the essence no big deal!

Before serving, add:
2 avocados, cubed (if you quarter, then peel the skin off, it's easier to cube)
3/4 - 1 cup roasted pecans, chopped (bake for about 5 minutes at 350 degrees)

I think that's about it. By the time it's all done, it takes about a good hour! This is my rule of thumb in the kitchen because I hate exact measurements, when in doubt, more is better - i.e. more pecans and more edamame, NOT salt. I always under salt because I'm scared to over do it, which can obviously ruin a good recipe. Plus, people can add that at the table. I know Hubby always does, and I NEVER take offense. (Read NEVER with sarcasm!)

Y'all let me know how it turns out!