Roasted Chicken Salad with Radish & Blueberries

One of the many perks of work is that we get scratch-made lunch everyday. It is family style and there’s salad. Every day! I know, so lucky! It is always a hot lunch but the other day, before the long weekend, we got some really amazing chicken salad. It was full of apples and dried cranberries. I put mine on top of my salad and was loving it. I was eating thinking,

“this is just so good.”
“I love the add-ins. I could make this.”
“I should make this.”

My sis brought over dinner of a roasted chicken with a Caesar salad kit for the perfect instant dinner. I used some leftovers for this chicken salad and it wasn’t just any chicken salad. You’re bananas if you think I would ever put celery into my chicken salad. Blech. This one gets crunch from radishes and some sweetness from dried blueberries.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Salad with Radish & Blueberries

Ingredients:

(for 1 serving)
1-2 slices of a roasted chicken, chopped
1 radish
2 tbs dried blueberries
1-2 tbs mayo
splash of milk

Directions:

Chop the radish into a fine dice
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Salad with Radish & Blueberries
In a bowl, add the chicken, radish, blueberries (and walnuts would be good!)
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Salad with Radish & Blueberries
Mix in a small amount of mayo and stir to combine. Add the splash of milk to ensure it is wet enough. Then add more mayo, if needed.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Salad with Radish & Blueberries
Sprinkle in some salt and pepper. Enjoy!

I put some on a sandwich loaded with arugula. Use good mayo for his. I like The Ojai Cook’s Lemonaise. The blueberries provide a sweet chewiness. My radish was from the farmers market. Those are zesty! Radishes from the grocery store have nowhere near the same flavor. It added the perfect zip and crunch. I didn’t have any apples and was using what I had on hand. The radish was my stroke of genius for the day.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Salad with Radish & Blueberries

Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken

I grabbed some baby bok choy at the farmer’s market without a plan for it. I went to trusty Pinterest and found a fun raw use for it on Culinary Hill. I tweaked the dressing by adding some stronger flavors of sesame oil and rice wine vinegar. We added some grilled teriyaki chicken for a really great speedy dinner.

The Three Bite Rule - Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken
Get some chicken on the grill, shake up some dressing in a jar, and then chop up a few veggies. Poof. Instant dinner with some great flavors.

Ingredients:

adapted from Culinary Hill
2-3 chicken thighs, marinated in teriyaki
2 baby bok choy bunches
2 large radishes
2 tbs sesame seeds
3 tbs brown sugar
1-2 tbs soy sauce
1 tbs sesame oil
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup almond slivers

Directions:

Grill the marinated chicken until cooked through, brushing with some teriyaki at the end.
Chop the bok choy, discarding the bottom pieces.
The Three Bite Rule - Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken
Chop the radishes into a small dice.
Toast some sesame seeds in a dry frying pan over medium heat. Watch carefully to toast them without burning.
In a small jar, add brown sugar, soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine vinegar.
The Three Bite Rule - Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken
Shake vigorously. Taste and adjust as necessary.
The Three Bite Rule - Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken
In a large bowl, add the bok choy, radish, and toasted sesame seeds.
The Three Bite Rule - Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken
Add in some dressing and toss. Sprinkle with almonds.
Top with chicken to serve. Enjoy!
The Three Bite Rule - Bok Choy with Sesame Dressing and Teriyaki Chicken
I liked the mild flavor of the bok choy. The almonds were pre-sesaoned with salt and pepper near the croutons. I might have toasted them if they were regular almond slivers. It was such a quick dinner that felt fresh, crunchy with juicy chicken.

The dressing was great. Make it, and then you’ll have sesame oil on hand for these (most Pinterest-pinned) sesame noodles and for Asian Broccoli Slaw with Peanut Butter Chicken and your next pork & veggie spring rolls, etc. You’ll use it, it isn’t such a crazy specialty ingredient.

Tuscan Herbed Chicken & White Beans

I was so excited about this meal! Maybe because it ended up all coming together so easily, but also because it was exactly what I wanted. I wasn’t going to blog it, but then sometimes I skip blogging one and it is really worthy of sharing. Deleting unused photos is easier than wishing I had snapped some pics. This is precisely the food I want to eat. The sides complimented the protein nicely and they weren’t just filler…they were flavorful and nice additions to the meal.

The Three Bite Rule - Tuscan Herbed Chicken & White Beans
Mr. J got a new grill after MUCH deliberation. Now we are grilling machines and I feel like I need to up my side-dish game! The spice rub is adapted from the Essentials of Grilling by Williams Sonoma. Do not swap the chicken thighs for breasts. Trust me. Chicken thighs are how chicken is supposed to taste. They’re juicy and flavorful and ohh-so-good.

Ingredients:

3 chicken thighs, boneless & skinless
1 tbs minced garlic
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs dried rosemary
1 tbs dried fennel, crushed
1 tbs dried oregano
salt & pepper
1/2 white onion, diced
1 tbs butter
1 can white beans
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 tbs chives, diced (or fresh parsley or oregano)
1 lemon

Directions:

Mix the dried herbs with salt and pepper. Pour the garlic and oil onto the chicken and then coat in the herbs.
The Three Bite Rule - Tuscan Herbed Chicken & White Beans
Set aside while the grill heats up.
In a medium pot over medium-low heat, cook the onion and butter until translucent and soft. Drain and rinse the white beans before adding them to the onions. Add in the broth and cook for about 5 minutes at a low simmer.
Cook the chicken on the grill, flipping and ensuring it cooks through.
Reduce the temperature of the beans to low and add in the chives. Cook for another 5 minutes then turn off the heat but cover until serving.
The Three Bite Rule - Tuscan Herbed Chicken & White Beans
When the chicken is mostly cooked, squeeze half the lemon over it and grill the other half of the lemon.
Serve the chicken with the grilled lemon. Enjoy!

I loooved this. This is what I like to eat. The herbs were distinct and flavorful but not too much. I never use fennel but love the flavor and then that lemon. It really brightened everything up and was a nice contrast. I liked the smokiness it got and how juicy it got on the grill!
The Three Bite Rule - Tuscan Herbed Chicken & White Beans
I served some quick marinated cucumbers and the beans were so good that now I want beans with every meal! This dinner was filling but didn’t leave me feeling grossly stuffed. I felt like we were dining in Tuscany, or what I think of as Tuscany. I’ll just need to get there to know for sure 😉

Teriyaki Chicken Wing Pizza

Seriously. I won’t run out of pizza toppings anytime soon. This pizza was inspired by teriyaki chicken wings. It was sweet and tangy from the teriyaki sauce and I mixed up the cheese using some cheddar. I loved it. I’ll put anything on a pizza! Hopefully by the end of this post I will have successfully learned to spell teriyaki correctly…not something my brain does naturally.

The Three Bite Rule - Teriyaki Chicken Wing Pizza

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken thighs, boneless & skinless
1 cup of teriyaki marinade
1/2 pizza dough ball
1 1/2 cups combined shredded mozzarella & cheddar cheese
2 green onions
1 cup bean sprouts

Directions:

Preheat the oven and pizza stone, if using one, to 400-degrees.
Dice the chicken into bite size pieces and saute over medium heat with 1/2 cup of teriyaki marinade until cooked through.
Work the dough into a thin circle and spread the dough onto the pizza stone, or roll it out with a bit of flour until the desired size. Poke a few holes in it with a fork and bake for 10 minutes, until the edges start to crisp.
Brush a few tablespoons of teriyaki marinade onto the slightly cooked pizza dough.
The Three Bite Rule - Teriyaki Chicken Wing Pizza
Top with cheeses and chicken. Then bake for 10 minutes, until the cheese melts and the crust gets brown & crispy.
The Three Bite Rule - Teriyaki Chicken Wing Pizza
Remove from the oven and top with bean sprouts & green onions. Let cool a few minutes before slicing.
The Three Bite Rule - Teriyaki Chicken Wing Pizza
The bean sprouts add a nice cool crunch, as do the green onions with a pop of color. I can’t picture this pizza without either one. The chicken thighs cooked in the marinade and then it functioning as the sauce adds some real flavor, moreso than just a drizzle over the top. The thighs have such a stronger chicken flavor than a chicken breast would, and they’re more like a wing than a breast would be too.

Ain’t no thing like a chicken wing!

The Three Bite Rule - Teriyaki Chicken Wing Pizza

Chicken Meatball Alfredo with Cranberries

About a month ago, Mr. J and I left the little one at home with the most qualified babysitters (his grandparents) and we went on a date! It was our first time out without him and boy were we rusty on date planning. I had been eyeing a pub-ish restaurant with fun burgers and a great beer menu. Turns out, it is closed. womp. womp. We then went through 2 more options and set out for a 3rd spot. On a whim, we checked in at Isabella Restaurant (which was our 4th restaurant idea, where the wait can be an hour on a TUESDAY) and they just had a table for two open up. Perfect!

It is sooo dark in there so there’s never a chance for a photo but the menu is always creative, pretty seasonal, the portions are substantial, and everything they make is excellent. I wish it were a bit more affordable, but this splurge was fun to celebrate our first date out. I got Turducken Meatballs that were turkey/chicken/duck meatballs with dried cranberries, spinach and red onions in a parmesan cream sauce. The meatballs were ah-mazing and I knew I wanted to recreate it at home, but I simplified it. Don’t get scared off by the cranberries. They’re such a great addition and this pasta dish wouldn’t be the same without them. Ditto for the red onion.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
I used frozen chicken meatballs and ready-made alfredo sauce to turn my #restaurantrecreation into a speedy weeknight dinner. Everything cooks quickly so I had to move fast and keep an eye on it to not overcook anything. The meatballs I used were fully cooked and I didn’t want to obliterate the kale, onions, or cranberries so they were very lightly cooked.

Ingredients:

chicken/turkey meatballs (about 2-3 per person, I used frozen caramelized onion chicken meatballs)
1 15-oz jar alfredo sauce
refrigerated pasta (I used a 9 oz pkg of linguine)
1 tbs chopped garlic
2 cups chopped kale
1/4 cup red onion, sliced fine
1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Bring salted water to a boil for the pasta.
While the water heats, defrost the meatballs (if frozen) and chop the kale and onion.
Add the alfredo sauce to a large pan and add in the meatballs, garlic, onions, and kale over medium low heat. Cook for about 3-5 minutes, to warm everything and to cook the kale a bit.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
Stir, and add in the cranberries to cook for another 2 minutes.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
Cook the pasta according to the package. My fresh pasta only needed about 2 minutes. When al dente, add it to the pan with the sauce to cook just another minute or two.
The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Alfredo Meatballs
Serve immediately and enjoy!

The fresh pasta makes a huuuge difference and is a great touch for a special treat. I like that the onions add a bite with the cranberries providing a tang and touch of sweetness. Spinach or arugula would be good in here too instead of the kale. If I were going all out, I’d make the sauce (and meatballs) myself but throwing this together was just so easy but became different flavors for us. I doubt I’d think to use red onion.

Fun fact: if red onion is too strong or overwhelming, or if you’re using it raw, you can soak it in cold water for 3-5 minutes. It’ll tone it down a bit while still giving some flavor.

The Three Bite Rule - Chicken Alfredo Meatballs