Beta Carrot Salad

Dinner tonight was pretty simple and pretty tasty. I took a recipe from Giada De Laurentiis' newest cookbook and adjusted it for what I had on hand and then while at the store this afternoon running around the produce section crazy as a hen, I decided to make a carrot salad as the side dish.

First:

Beta-Carrot Salad
Serves 2-3

3 medium carrots, peeled and shredded on a box grater, through the large holes
1 lemon juiced
Extra Virgin Olive Oil, about 1/3 cup
1 TB cilantro, chopped
1 TB thyme, chopped
Pinch of Salt/Pepper and ground coriander

In a medium bowl whisk the lemon juice, olive oil, cilantro, thyme, salt, pepper and coriander into an emulsion. You might need a little more or less olive oil, depending on how much juice the lemon has. Pour about 1/2 over the grated carrots and toss. If you need more, add more. I had a bit left over...I didn't want the carrots to be swimming. Cover and refrigerate for an hour or so. Toss before serving. Serve in a small bowl, or allow to drain a bit, so the liquid that draws out of the carrots doesn't spill all over your plate.

Done.

Yum!


And the second dish:

Pollo Spiedini
Serves 4, 2 kebabs per person

As mentioned, this is from Giada's Family Dinners. Giada says that Spiedini is Italian for kebabs. Her recipe calls for swordfish. Not something I could find at Giant and something I'm not sure I like. Or would be comfortable with. So, I replaced the swordfish with chicken.

2 TB Olive Oil
1 1/2 tsp Herbes De Provence
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into pieces, less than 1 inch square, any larger, they will need to cook longer than the next ingredient...
8 slices bacon
8 skewers, if wood, soaked for 30 minutes in water

In a large bowl, whisk the oil, herbes, salt & pepper to blend, add the chicken and toss to coat. Thread the chicken alternately with 1 slice of bacon onto each of the skewers, wrapping the bacon around the chicken cubes as you go.

Prepare a charcoal or gas grill for medium-high heat or preheat a ridged grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the skewers until the chicken is cooked through and the bacon crisp, about 8-10 minutes, turning as they cook.

Done.

The spiedini doing the dirty work!

And Yum!!! I used the grill pan (I'm sure a grill would be even better) and it worked well, just watch the temperature and how the spiedini are cooking, lower or raise heat accordingly, again, you don't want to burn the bacon or have under cooked chicken.

I think the carrot salad was lovely with the kebabs, great for refreshing the palette after bites of the chicken bacon kebab.


Enjoy!

The finished dinner. Pretty good, would do it again.
The carrot salad would be great in the summer...fyi!