Enjoy these great recipes for Chicken and Strawberry Salad and Strawberry
Ice Cream
Summer couldn't be a fitting time to talk about strawberries. It's
hard to imagine what more could be said about strawberries that hasn't already
been said? The only thing that comes to my mind is the word: MORE!
Can we ever get enough strawberries? Not really.
Here are two recipes that make great use of these luscious berries.
The first is an unusual salad that incorporates spinach, strawberries, chicken
breasts with a hot basalmic vinegar salad dressing. It really is interesting
and delicious and it's a great hot weather main dish.
The second recipe is a totally traditional recipe for Strawberry
Ice Cream. Nothing unusual here. Just good honest sweet, fresh berries, cream
and sugar all frozen into a wonderful custard-like confection.
Either way, these recipes make optimum use of the ripe strawberries
available locally.
Chicken and Strawberry Salad
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6 cups spinach, torn
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2 cups strawberries, sliced
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1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced
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1 tablespoon fresh chives, snipped
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4 chicken breast halves, skinned and boned
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1 tablespoon olive oil
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2 cloves garlic, minced
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1/4 cup honey
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1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
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1/4 teaspoon pepper, freshly ground
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2 tablespoons almond slivers
Instructions:
Wash and thoroughly dry the spinach. Place it in a large mixing
bowl with the strawberries, celery and chives. Set aside.
Coat an unheated skillet with cooking spray. Saute the chicken breasts
4-5 minutes per side, turning once. Remove the chicken from the pan and keep
warm.
Prepare the dressing by adding the oil to the skillet (without washing
from cooking the chicken), over medium heat along with the minced garlic.
Saute for 2 minutes. Stir in the honey, vinegar and pepper. Cook just until
all the ingredients are combined and thoroughly heated.
Divide the spinach and strawberry mixture among for plates. Thinly
slice the chicken breasts on the bias. Place the chicken slices on the spinach
mixture. Drizzle the hot dressing over the chicken and salad. Sprinkle the
almonds evenly among the 4 plates. Serve immediately. Serves 4.
This next recipe is the real thing, old fashioned Strawberry Ice
Cream. It's rich, creamy and wonderful. You can use a few more berries if
you'd like. This recipe easily makes 12 to 16 servings.
Strawberry Ice Cream
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2 cups sugar
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2 envelopes unflavored gelatin
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6 cups half and half or light cream
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6 eggs, beaten
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3 cups whipping cream
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3 tablespoons vanilla
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4 cups sliced strawberries
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1 tablespoon sugar
Instructions:
Place the 2 cups of sugar and gelatin in a large saucepan. Stir
in the half-and-half or light cream. Cook and stir over medium heat until
the contents almost (but do not) boil and the sugar is dissolved.
Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add about 1 cup of the hot cream mixture
to the beaten eggs and combine. Then place all of the egg mixture into the
saucepan and continue to cook and stir for 2 minutes. Do not boil. Stir in
whipping cream and vanilla.
In mixing bowl, combine the sliced strawberries and tablespoon of
sugar. With a potato masher lightly crush the berries. Pieces too large will
tend to be rock-hard when frozen. Add the crushed berries to the
custard.
Freeze in a ice cream freezer according to the manufacture's direction.
Makes 12+ plus generous servings.
About the Author: Dr. Thom Ris is the author of the Palm
Springs Lifestyle Cookbook, available at major area bookstores. Contact Dr.
Ris at 760-321-5354. His address on the Internet is:
Chefthomr@aol.com for additional recipes
and menu ideas. |
