July 16, 2011

Tarragon and grape chicken salad

Apparently chicken salad made with tarragon and grapes is pretty common, but it was something I never had until a few years ago. We were in Baltimore and stopped at a small coffee and sandwich shop for some lunch along the waterfront. I got a tarragon chicken sandwich and thought it was absolutely delicious. This recipe is my attempt to re-create that sandwich. It's odd because the same thing happened to me with curry chicken salad, which I had for the first time at a small shop when we were in Vermont. I guess chicken salad just wasn't something I ate growing up... Anyways, this chicken salad may be my favorite. Tarragon has quickly become one of my favorite herbs and it pairs so nicely with the sweet grapes and chicken. I like to make this with leftover roasted chicken and/or chicken breasts. The recipe is not very exact because of that - you use as much chicken as you have have proportion the other ingredients accordingly.

July 8, 2011

Guacamole

Bowl of guacamole.
Honestly, I can't believe that I am into my second year of this blog and that I have never posted my guacamole recipe. Maybe it's because I used to make it so often that I started to get tired of it. Guacamole is the number one request (or demand) that I get to bring to family gatherings. I'm often asked for the recipe and I've converted many people from being afraid of this weird, green stuff to loving it. It's even loved by our four year old niece. So, when I was asked to bring this to a family picnic over the 4th of July weekend, I remembered to grab some photos so that I can finally post guacamole on this blog. It was delicious as ever and went quick. This recipe will make a snack-sized dish to pass.