I'm back ... Try these new recipes

After my hiatus from our blog, thought I should share the following new recipes I tried and liked.

Grilled Chicken with Wheat Berry Salad

For the Salad:

1 cup wheat berries
8 cups water
1/2 cup toasted walnuts
1 medium Granny Smith Apple, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1/2 cup golden raisins or dried cranberries
1 cup seedless grapes, halved
1 green onion, finely chopped
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste

For the Meat:

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/4 cup of vegetable oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp. curry paste or powder

For the Salad Dressing:

1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup apple juice
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 cup canola oil

To Prepare Salad:

In a large bowl, completely cover the wheat berries with 2 inches of water. Soak for at least 8 hours or preferably overnight.

Drain the berries and bring 8 cups of water to boil in a large pot. Add the wheat berries and cook until tender (al dente) approximately 30 to 4o minutes. Drain and rinse lightly with cool water. Drain again and place the wheat berries in a large mixing bow. and season with salt and pepper. Add the walnuts, apple, celery, raisins, seedless grapes, green onion and parsley. In a small bowl, mix the cider vinegar, apple juice, honey, salt, cinnamon, curry power, black pepper, nutmeg and canola oil. Pour the dressing mixture over the wheat berries and stir to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Place the chicken in a non-reactive bowl. Combine the vegetable oil, lemon juice and curry past. Pour over the chicken and marinate, refrigerated, for at least one and up to 8 hours.

To Prepare Meat:

Preheat the grill. Cook the chicken until just cooked through, depending on the thickness, 6 to 8 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and serve with the salad.


NOTE: I made the following changes, I fried the chicken with salt and pepper, chopped and added to the wheat berry mixture. I omitted the cinnamon and added another stalk of celery. I added another 1/2 tsp of curry powder to the mix. I omitted the parsley, because I didn't have any. It was delicious.


Granola Bars

2 cups rolled oats (not instant)
1 cup chopped or whole unsalted peanuts
1/2 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
1/2 cup raisin or dried cranberries
1/4 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1/4 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/3 cup unsalted butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp fine salt
1 large egg

Preheat oven to 350 F and grease and line a 9-inch square pan with parchment paper, so that the paper hangs over the sides of the pan.

Toss oats, peanuts, coconut, raisins, sunflower and pumpkin seeds together in a bowl. In a pot, over medium-low heat, stir peanut butter, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, spices and salt until melted.

Pour melted mixture over oat base and stir until blended. Stir in egg and spread granola into prepared pan, patting down to make even. Bake for 30 minutes, then cool for 20 minutes before chilling for 2 hours.

To cut, lift granola out of pan with parchment paper and cut into bars.


Honey-Almond Granola

4 cups large flake rolled oats
1/2 cup oat bran
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 cup unsweetened large flake coconut
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 cup unsalted almonds, roughly chopped
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1-1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup dried currants

Pre-heat oven to 325 F. Have ready 2 heavy-duty baking sheets

Stir together rolled oats, oat bran, wheat germ, coconut, sunflower and sesame seeds and almonds in a large bowl and set aside.

Heat the honey until melted. Add the vegetable oil and vanilla extract to the melted honey and stir until combined. Pour over the rolled-oat mixture and stir until the grains are evenly coated with the honey mixture.

Divide the ingredients between the two baking sheets. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes, stirring every five minutes. When ready, the oats should start to turn a light brown. Remove from the and place the oat mixture in a large bowl.

Stir the raisins, cranberries, and currants in a separate bowl. Then, mix into the oat mixture until the fruit and oats are well combined. When completely cooled, store in an airtight container. Keeps up to four weeks.

NOTE: Made a few changes, added pumpkin seeds and dried cherries instead of raisins and currants. Dried bananas are also a good addition. I also put the mixture on one large baking sheet.