Chinese chicken salad (in crispy tortilla bowls)

Now that I finally have a new laptop, here is the recipe for the Chinese chicken salad I promised you. Obviously you can serve it on a plate or in a regular bowl, but it's more fun when you serve it in a crispy tortilla bowl.

The first step is to make Oriental Poached Chicken. You can use pieces of roast chicken as well, but this poached chicken tastes sooo good! You can make it a day in advance and put it in your fridge, if you want.

Oriental Poached Chicken

• 125 ml soy sauce (not the sweet kind!)
• 125 ml orange juice
• 4 dl water
• 3 pieces of fresh ginger of approx. 2,5 cm, flattened with the back of a knife
• 1/2 five spice powder (or 2 star anise)
• 4 chicken breasts (without the skin)

- Bring all liquids and spices to the boil in a pot or big pan. 
- Turn down the heat so the liquid simmers and add the pieces of chicken.
- Cover and turn the heat even lower, simmer for approx. 2 mins, turn the chicken and simmer for 2 more mins.
- Leave the chicken in the broth to cool down. (You can also put it in the fridge this way if you want to use it the next day.)
- Remove the chicken once it's cold and cut it into small pieces, suitable for a salad for children.

Chinese Chicken Salad

• The pieces of oriental poached chicken made using the recipe above, or at least 2 cups roast chicken in small pieces
• 2 or 3 spring onions, chopped
• 1 very big carrot (or a number of smaller ones), in small pieces (julienne or similar)
• 2 stems of white celery, in narrow strips
• 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
• 2 or 3 handfuls of soy sprouts
• 1/2 cup roast sesame seed

Dressing:

• 2 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

If preferred:

• 1 package oriental noodles (you can fry them instead of cooking them if you like, so they become crunchy)
• 6 or 8 crispy tortilla bowls

- Put the chicken with all of the vegetables and the sesame seeds in a bowl. Add in the dressing and stir well.

- If you want to, you can add either cooked or fried noodles to the salad, otherwise serve it without noodles in crispy tortilla bowls.

Crispy tortilla bowls

Before we had children I used to regularly make crispy tortilla bowls when we had friends over for dinner. You can use the bowls to serve a hot or cold starter or a side-dish. I tend to serve them with a cold Chinese chicken salad or a hot noodle dish. I found this recipe years ago in an Annabel Langbein cookbook. She's a cook from New-Zealand, but one day I found a Dutch version of one of her cookbooks in a bookstore here in Belgium and it has become one of my cooking bibles.

I hadn't made these in a while, but recently I suddenly thought that the children would probably love this, and they did.

Crispy tortilla bowls

All you need is (whole wheat) small or medium sized flour tortillas, some small oven tins (I use my souffle tins and some small glass oven tins that fit into them, see pictures), and an oven, obviously.

And this is how you do it:

- Preheat the oven to 200 C (180 C for a fan-assisted oven).

- Put the tortillas in small oven tins. You will need to fold them a bit, although they tend to do that automatically if you stuff them in. Just be careful not to tear them.

- Now put another tin on top of the tortilla to keep it in place.

This is what it looks like:

- Put your tortilla bowl(s) in the oven for 10 mins.
- Take them out and lower the oven temperature to 180 C (160 C for a fan-assisted oven).
- Remove the tortilla bowls from the tins. The bottom will still be soft.
- Put them on an oven tray and bake them again, for 10 to 15 mins.
- When you take them out again, the entire bowl should be crispy.

Now you can fill them with a salad or a hot (side-)dish. I will soon post the recipes for the Chinese chicken salad and a noodle dish that can be served in the bowls.

Making tacos part 4: Tomato salsas

There are 2 different types of tomato salsa that I like to make when we eat fajitas or tacos. I will give you both recipes, so you can pick your favourite (or make both of them).

Tomato Salsa

- 4 or 5 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

- 125 ml taco sauce (store bought, mild or hot, pick your favourite)

- 2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh coriander

- salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients, either with a spoon for a thick salsa, or in the blender for a thin one. You can keep the salsa in the fridge for 2 to 3 days.

Picco De Gallo

- 2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped

- 1 small onion, peeled and chopped

- 4 cloves garlic, crushed

- 4 tbsp. finely chopped fresh coriander

- 2 tbsp. lime juice

- 2 tbsp. olive oil

- salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients with a spoon and put the salsa in the fridge for 30 mins before serving it. This salsa should be eaten on the day you make it, it doesn't keep well.

Making tacos part 3: Sweetcorn & red bell pepper salsa

This salsa is one that my children absolutely adore. They both tend to eat rather large quantities of it. It's very nice with tacos, but obviously also can accompany any other Tex Mex food you may want to serve.

Sweetcorn & red bell pepper salsa

- 1 cup sweetcorn, cooked (fresh or from a jar or can)
- 1 red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 tbsp. fresh coriander, chopped (you could use fresh mint if you prefer)
- 1/2 tbsp. garlic, crushed
- a sprinkle of chili powder
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp. oil
- optional: 1 avocado

Mix all ingredients (except for the avocado). Keep the salsa in the fridge until you want to use it. You can keep it for 2 - 3 days. If you want to, you can add 1 chopped avocado to the salsa just before you serve it.

Making tacos part 2: Guacamole

Some of you have probably made guacamole before, but for those of you who haven't, here's a nice and quick recipe:

Thick Guacamole

- 1 large avocado
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 1 tsp. garlic, crushed
- the juice of 1 lemon
- salt and pepper to taste

Chop the avocado and mix it with all of the other ingredients. Serve within the next 2 hours, otherwise the avocado will start turning brown.

Easy as pie 3: Zucchini, peas & salmon quiche

Since both of my children love to eat salmon, I invented this quiche for them. It's delicious!

Zucchini, peas & salmon quiche

Serves 4

• 1 puff pastry pie base (from the supermarket)
• 1 (green) zucchini (peeled and sliced)
• 2 handfuls of frozen peas (the sweetest you can find)
• 2 salmon fillets (in cubes)
• a handful of  grated cheese (I think I used gruyere cheese)
• 150 g cottage cheese
• 1,5 dl condensed milk (unsweetened)
• 1 tbsp wheat flour
• 2 eggs
• olive oil
• tsp of dill
• (salt) & pepper

- Briefly steam or fry the zucchini slices (4 or 5 mins). They should still be crunchy, as you still have to put it in the oven. Season with dill and salt and pepper to taste.

- Cook the peas briefly in boiling water until they start 'floating'.

- Preheat the oven to 200°C (or 180°C for a fan assisted oven). Beat the 2 eggs and mix them with the cottage cheese, the flour and the condensed milk.

- Put the pie base in a quiche or pie pan (I tend to use a regular silicone pie pan, which means I have to 'fold' the dough a bit at the sides.)

- Now put the zucchini on top of the pie base. You can just throw it in and spread it out a bit, or you can create nice circles with it, that's what I do ;-). Then add the raw cubes or slices of salmon and decorate with the peas.

- Sprinkle with the grated cheese.

- Pour the egg 'mixture' on top of the vegetables and put it in the oven for 15 - 20 mins.

Enjoy!

Omelette with champignons & grilled bell pepper

This omelette is a bit like a frittata (Italian omelette).  My 3-year-old daughter loves mushrooms, so she asked for a champignon omelette. This one does take up a bit more time since you have to grill the bell pepper, and removing the seeds and skin afterwards is a bit of a messy job. But it's worth it, since grilled bell pepper has a fantastic taste.

Omelette with champignons & grilled red bell pepper

Serves 4

• 250 g champignons, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper
• 2 garlic cloves
• handful of grated parmesan
• 4 eggs
• pepper
• (salt)

- Wash a red bell pepper and put it underneath the hot grill in your oven. When the skin turns black, turn it (obviously you need oven mitts) and keep doing this until (almost) the entire skin has turned black. Then put it in a plastic bowl and put on the lid, so it can 'steam' inside the bowl. Once it has cooled down, take it out of the bowl and remove the seeds and skin.

- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 160°C for a fan-assisted oven.

- Heat the olive oil and fry the garlic briefly then add the sliced champignons. Season to taste with pepper and/or salt. Don't fry them too long, as you still have to put them in the oven.

- Cut the fried bell pepper into strips.

- Beat the eggs with salt and/or pepper in a bowl, and add the champignons, grilled pepper and a handful of grated parmesan. Stir well.

- Grease a (silicone) pie pan with a little olive oil and pour in the mixture. Put it in the oven for 20 - 30 mins.

This can be served with rice, pasta, potatoes,... and also eaten cold on a picnic or day trip.

(Dutch recipe available on demand)

Rice Salad with salmon, sweet chili-lemon sauce & peas

This is an ideal lunch for daytrips. I like to prepare it in the morning, put it in a Tupperware bowl and take it with me, but you could also prepare it the day before and put it in the fridge.

Rice salad with salmon, sweet chili lemon sauce & peas

Serves 4

• 4 fillets of salmon
• 125 ml Thai sweet chili sauce
• 60 ml freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup of boiled rice (preferably still hot)
• 1 cup of boiled peas (or more, and/or sugarsnap peas)

 - Put the salmon in an ovendish and season with pepper and/or salt to taste. Mix the sweet chilisauce with the lemon juice and pour it over the salmon fillet.

- Pre-heat the oven to 250°C or 220°C for a fan-assisted oven and leave the salmon in it for 5 to 6 minutes. Mix the fish and the chilisauce with the peas and/or sugarsnaps and chill for a couple of hours.

The salmon is also very nice as a hot dish, served with rice and spinach (and then you could replace the lemon juice with lime juice, as well).

(Dutch recipe available on demand)